Promise Lodge by Charlotte Hubbard Page B

“I’m so glad you girls understand what I’ve told you,” she said softly. “Your mamm and your aunt Mattie and I are getting our second wind now, after we’ve lost important people in our lives. And you know what? We’re finding out that unattached women don’t have to follow so many rules, ” she pointed out. “It’s not a bad thing, being single. But don’t say that to Preacher Amos. Bless his heart, he wants us to be happy in the traditional way.”
    â€œHe wants Aunt Mattie to cook and keep house for him, too,” Laura remarked.
    Rosetta chuckled. “They were sweethearts for a long time before Dat steered Mattie toward marrying Marvin,” she said. “After the way he treated her, though, your aunt is determined not to marry again. We’ll see who wins—your aunt, or Amos.”
    Phoebe frowned, stopping before they descended the back stairway. “Why was Uncle Marvin so mean?” she whispered. “We loved playing with Roman and Noah when we were kids—but not when their dat was home. We never knew when he might get cross with us, or with Aunt Mattie.”
    â€œMamm always told us not to gossip about it,” Laura chimed in earnestly. “She said we shouldn’t talk about the Schwartzes’ personal business, nor quiz Aunt Mattie about any bruises we might see.”
    Rosetta listened to her nieces with a sad heart. Their words confirmed the way folks in Coldstream—and in most Amish colonies, she suspected—looked the other way when a man mistreated his wife. If she and her sisters were to end the cycle of abuse here, they would need younger women of Phoebe and Laura’s generation to help them carry out their vow.
    â€œPart of Marvin’s moods had to do with his diabetes—and the fact he didn’t want a doctor telling him how to manage it,” Rosetta replied. “But I always believed that he could’ve controlled his sharp tongue and his temper, had he wanted to. Unfortunately, Mattie had no way out of their marriage until he died. And we all wonder how Deborah got that big handprint on her neck, too, don’t we?”
    Rosetta gave the girls a moment to consider what she’d said. “Your mamm and Aunt Mattie and I are determined not to keep looking the other way now that we’re starting fresh here in Promise,” she continued earnestly. “We probably shouldn’t quiz Deborah about that bruise, but we can encourage her to talk about what’s been going on in Coldstream. We want her to stay as long as she needs—”
    â€œBut won’t her parents wonder where she’s gone?” Phoebe interrupted. “Why hasn’t she called home?”
    â€œDeborah’s never been in trouble,” Laura said with wide eyes. “I can’t believe her dat —or anyone else—would grab her neck so hard.”
    Rosetta sighed. “I agree. And I suspect that within another day or two we’ll know more about it,” she speculated. “Meanwhile, we’re glad Deborah came to us when she was running from trouble. Jah? ”
    Both girls nodded again.
    â€œShall we go downstairs and see those treasures you found?” Rosetta asked in a more cheerful tone. “We’ll keep Deborah in our prayers. And we’ll keep believing that God knows the truth and that He’ll reveal it when we’re ready to understand it.”
    As they started down the narrow wooden steps, Laura’s chuckle echoed in the stairwell. “We learned some truth about you today, Aunt Rosetta,” she teased. “No matter what you think, I’m not giving up on Mr. Right finding you here at Promise Lodge.”
    â€œMe, neither,” Phoebe insisted in a lighter tone.
    Rosetta laughed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Meanwhile, I’m moving ahead with my plans for these apartments and my new life,” she told them.