A Place at Our Table Read online

  “Ya, please,” he said.

  She turned toward Leon and Noah to offer them each a cup, and they nodded as well.

  Kayla set the tray on a small table behind her and filled three cups. She handed one to Jamie first, and he thanked her.

  “It’s gut to see you, Leon,” Kayla said as she gave him his cup.

  “How are you doing?” Leon looked concerned. Why?

  “We’re okay.” She shrugged. “We’re making it, but it’s tough.”

  “I’m sure it is.” Leon shook his head. “I think of your family often.”

  “Danki.” She lifted her tray. “Let me know if you need a refill.”

  Jamie fought the sudden wave of envy nipping at him. What did Leon know about Kayla that he didn’t? And why did it bother Jamie so much?

  “Excuse me,” Kayla said softly as she started to move past him toward another group of firefighters.

  “Kayla, wait,” Jamie blurted without forethought.

  She stopped and looked up at him, her blonde eyebrows knitted together. “What?”

  “Could I speak with you privately?”

  She hesitated, but then gave him a curt nod. “Ya.” She pointed to the far corner of the porch. “We can go over there.”

  He followed her. She rested the tray on the corner of the railing and then turned to face him. He took another sip of lemonade and then set his cup on the railing.

  “What is it?” She folded her hands over her middle.

  “I want to apologize.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry for butting into your business earlier. I didn’t mean to upset you by suggesting your bruder start training to become a firefighter.”

  Kayla looked across the porch to where Nathan and Willie stood talking to Brody. Then she swiveled toward Jamie, and her eyes narrowed to a steely gaze. “You have no idea what you did by putting those ideas into Nathan’s head. Now he’s trying to convince mei daed to allow him to sign up.”

  He blinked. Where is this hostility coming from? “I realize it’s none of my business, but I honestly don’t understand why you’re so upset. Are you really that worried about his safety? We don’t take risks with our youngest volunteers. He won’t actually enter a burning building until he’s older. It’s very safe.”

  “I can tell you it’s not always safe.” She took a step toward him. “I’d prefer you not discuss firefighting with mei bruder again. In fact, I think it would be best if you stayed away from Nathan.”

  He held up his hands in an attempt to stave off whatever this animosity was. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I only thought that—” Before he could finish his sentence, she was gone, stalking toward the opposite side of the porch with the tray in her hands. She stopped in front of two firefighters, smiling sweetly. Her hands shook slightly, though. What had he said to affect her so deeply? What had he done wrong?

  Noah appeared at Jamie’s side. “What did you say to her?”

  “You sure do have a way with maed.” Leon snickered. “I see now why you’re still single.”

  “Do I have to remind you that you’re also single, Leon?” Noah retorted as he lifted his cup to his lips.

  “That’s by choice,” Leon quipped.

  Jamie did his best to ignore their banter as he gazed at Kayla. Tension and confusion swirled in his gut as he mentally replayed their conversation. He couldn’t fathom what he’d done to warrant such a rejection.

  “What did you say to her?” Noah’s repeated question wrenched Jamie from his thoughts. He explained his conversation with Nathan and Kayla while Nathan was being treated at the ambulance and then his conversation a few moments earlier before she’d stormed off.

  “I don’t understand why she’s so upset with me.” Jamie turned up his palms. “I was just being honest with Nathan and her. I thought it would be safer for him to take the training than to run into burning buildings without any firefighting knowledge at all.”

  Leon’s smile faded, and his expression grew serious. “You don’t know who these people are, do you?”

  “What do you mean?” Jamie turned to Noah, who shrugged.

  “Do you remember Simeon Dienner?” Leon lowered his voice. “He was the firefighter killed last year. Kayla is his schweschder, and Eva is his fraa.” He nodded toward where Kayla now stood with Eva.

  Jamie gasped. Simeon Dienner and his company at Station 5 were saving a family whose farmhouse had caught on fire. Simeon was the last one to head for an exit, but he never made it. The floor in the mudroom gave way, and he fell into the basement. As soon as he hit the basement floor, the house collapsed on him. Simeon was crushed and died at the scene.

  Jamie’s breath came out in a whoosh as a chill ran up his spine. Simeon was the older son missing from this family. Jamie and Noah were both assigned to a different fire station then, but Jamie had met Simeon a few times when the two fire companies responded to the same incident. Simeon had been friendly and a good firefighter. Jamie heard about the accident on that tragic day. “No. I didn’t make the connection with this Dienner family.”

  “I should have told you.” Leon leaned back against the railing. “I’m sorry, but I thought you knew Brody was Simeon’s chief. Brody moved to Station 5 just before that happened. It was horrible.”

  “I can’t even imagine.” Noah clicked his tongue. “I met Simeon a few times on calls, but I didn’t know this was his family. And I wasn’t assigned to this station until after he passed away, just like Jamie.”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t common knowledge, but some of the crew asked for reassignment after Simeon died, and Brody understood how they felt. That’s why you two ended up reassigned to Station 5.” Leon lifted his cup. “Simeon was a great guy. He was funny, but he was also serious when he needed to be. He loved his family.”

  Regret and guilt rained down on Jamie as he studied Kayla. “Now I understand why she’s so upset with me. I don’t blame her for not wanting Nathan to train.”

  “You didn’t know,” Leon said.

  Jamie cupped his hand to his forehead. How could I be so stupid? “I need to apologize to her.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Noah frowned. “She seemed pretty determined to avoid you.”

  “No, I need to tell her I was wrong and explain I had no idea Simeon was her bruder.” Jamie started toward Kayla, determined to make things right.

  “Would you like more?” Kayla held up the pitcher as she stepped over to where Brody was talking to Dat and Nathan.

  “Yes, thank you.” Brody smiled as she refilled his cup, emptying the pitcher. “We really didn’t expect you to feed us. Then again, my Amish friends are always so welcoming.”

  “We wanted to do something nice for you since you all worked so hard for us.” Dat patted Brody on the shoulder. “I appreciate what you and your company did, especially for Nathan and our horses.”

  Brody took a sip of his lemonade. “I’m sorry we couldn’t do more. Barns just go up so quickly, not only because they’re wood, but because of the hay. All we can do is spray the fire until it fizzles out.”

  “My family and I are grateful.” Dat glanced toward the barn. “You stopped the fire from spreading.”

  “Will we have a barn raising to rebuild?” Nathan asked.

  “Ya.” Dat rested his arm on Nathan’s shoulder. “I’ll see if I can get someone here right away to clear the land. Then we’ll rebuild.”

  “We can cater it for all the volunteers,” Kayla said.

  “That’s a great idea,” Eva said. “We’ll have to think about a menu.”

  Kayla nodded in the direction of the back door. “I’m going to get more lemonade. I’ll be back.”

  When she turned around, she slammed into James. The tray slipped from her hands and everything on it fell to the floor with a loud clatter. She could feel an embarrassing blush crawling up her neck and heating her cheeks.

  “I’m so sorry,” James muttered. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  �
��It’s okay.” Her face flaming, Kayla immediately bent down to retrieve the plastic tray, pitcher, and cups. But James did as well, and their heads collided with a clunk! She straightened and moaned in pain as she cupped her hand to her head.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” James repeated as he rubbed a red spot forming on his forehead.

  He grinned, and to her surprise, a soft laugh escaped her lips. James had a nice smile that lit up his entire face and made his blue eyes sparkle. She shoved the thought away as quickly as it popped into her mind.

  He swiped his hand down his clean-shaven jaw as he turned his gaze to the porch floor. “I really made a mess of things.”

  “It’s fine.” She looked down. Thank goodness everything was plastic. Relief flooded her as conversations once more resumed around them. She couldn’t stand the thought of everyone staring at her.

  “Let me get it.” He gathered up the cups and pitcher and balanced them on the tray. “Were you taking these into the haus?”

  “Ya. Danki.”

  She reached for the tray, but he held onto it as his smile faded. “I came over to apologize for upsetting you again.”

  “There’s no need to—”

  “Ya, there is,” he said, interrupting her. He looked serious. “Leon just told me you’re Simeon’s schweschder.” He nodded over his shoulder toward Leon and Noah, who looked on with interest. “I met Simeon a few times, and he was a really gut man. It would be devastating if I lost one of my siblings, and I’m so sorry you went through that. If I had known Simeon was your bruder, I never would have talked to Nathan about volunteering. Please forgive me.”

  “Of course I forgive you. It’s our way.” She yanked the tray out of his hands and took a step back. “Excuse me. I need to make more lemonade.”

  As Kayla stepped into the house, she felt James’s gaze follow her, and she tried to ignore the wild thumping of her heart.

  FOUR

  “Thank you.” Jamie handed Blake Morris some money and then pushed open the passenger side door of the driver’s pickup truck. “I hope you have a great day.”

  “You too.” Blake waved. “Call if you need me.”

  “I will.” Jamie climbed out of the truck, swung his duffel bag onto his shoulder, and started up the rock driveway toward the large two-story farmhouse where he and his three siblings had been born and raised. The white clapboard structure was a sight for sore eyes. His sore legs felt like two blocks of cement, and his whole body ached. He swallowed a yawn as he approached the large dairy barn. His father and younger brother, Mark, stood in the doorway.

  “Jamie!” Dat called. “How was your shift?” Dat’s graying light-brown hair and matching beard betrayed his age—double Jamie’s—but his blue eyes still sparkled with youthful energy.

  “It was busy.” Jamie shook his head. “I think I got maybe two hours of sleep before my alarm went off this morning.”

  “What kind of calls did you have?” Mark asked.

  “Yesterday was quiet. We spent the day washing the trucks. But then things heated up late last night.” Jamie set his bag on the ground. “We had a car accident around eleven, and we were there a little over an hour. As soon as Leon and I got back to sleep, we were called to a barn fire.”

  “Yikes.” Mark grimaced and picked up Jamie’s bag. “You must be exhausted. You should take a nap.”

  “No, I’ll help you clean out the barn.”

  Dat clapped Jamie on the shoulder. “You need your sleep, sohn.”

  “I can sleep tonight.”

  Dat grinned. “Why don’t we argue after breakfast?”

  “That sounds gut.” Jamie turned to Mark. “Danki, but I can carry my own bag.”

  “You look like you’re going to fall over. I’ve got it.” Mark made a sweeping gesture toward the back porch. “Go on.”

  “All right.” Jamie followed his father up their back-porch stairs and into the mudroom, where Mark dropped the bag. The aroma of eggs, bacon, freshly baked bread, home fries, and coffee caused his stomach to growl. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he stepped into the house.

  In the kitchen his two sisters and mother were finishing preparations for their breakfast.

  “Hey, Jamie’s home.” Laura set some plates on the table as she smiled at him, her blue eyes dancing. Jamie always got a kick out of her coloring matching his but not Mark’s, despite those two being twins. Mark’s hair was a much lighter brown, like Dat’s. “How was your shift?”

  “Busy toward the end.” Jamie moved to the sink and greeted his mother as he washed his hands. “Breakfast smells appeditlich.”

  “Danki.” Mamm smiled. “I assumed you’d be hungry when you got home.”

  “Mamm always thinks of her kinner, right?” Dat sidled up next to Mamm and rubbed her shoulder. “Danki for another wunderbaar meal.”

  “Gern gschehne.” Mamm gazed up at Dat with the light-blue eyes she’d passed on to Jamie and Laura. Jamie noted that, only a few years younger than Dat, she could boast that her dark hair still had little gray in it.

  Dat kissed her cheek and moved to the sink to wash his hands. “I checked the voice mail messages, and you had one from Ruthie Glick. She asked you to call her back.”

  “Oh ya?” Mamm smiled. “I’ll call her back later. I saw her at the market the other day and she told me she and Seth are going to Pinecraft in October. They’re going to rent a van and a few couples are going to join them. She invited us too. I imagine Florida in October is so schee. We haven’t been able to go with them in the past. What do you think, Vernon?”

  Dat frowned. “I don’t think so. We have so much to do around here in the fall.”

  Mamm’s smile faded. “Oh.”

  “Mark and I can manage.” Jamie leaned his back against the counter as he dried his hands with a paper towel. “Right, Mark?”

  “Of course.”

  Dat shook his head.

  “Really. We can handle it all,” Jamie insisted.

  Dat looked at Jamie and then Mark. “Not by yourselves. You’d have to feed all one hundred animals twice a day, including the calves that have to be bottle-fed. You’d have to haul the manure, milk our sixty cows, care for the animals that get sick, and harvest and bale the hay. That’s not even mentioning how often we have to clean the milkers and the barns. Then there’s upkeep on the buildings and fencing.”

  He sighed as though the burden was almost too much for three men. “It takes all three of us to keep this dairy farm going, and you know how important that is to our family. And you’re so busy with the fire department too, Jamie.”

  Jamie opened his mouth to protest but then closed it.

  Dat turned back to Mamm. “I’m sorry, Dorothy, but I don’t think it’s a gut idea for us to leave the farm.”

  “I understand.” Mamm cleared her throat and turned toward Cindy. “Do you need any help?”

  “No, danki. I’ve got it.” Cindy set a platter of home fries on the table and then turned to Jamie. “I thought of you last night when I heard sirens. Did you have a call nearby? Was anyone hurt?”

  At seventeen, the youngest Riehl, Cindy, was usually the first member of the family to ask Jamie about the people he served. He loved that about her.

  “Ya. We were called to a car accident out here on Route 340 around eleven.” Jamie pointed in the direction of the main road that ran through their town of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

  “What happened?” Cindy’s own light-blue eyes widened. Her light-brown hair turned a golden hue in the summer sun, reminding Jamie for a moment of Kayla Dienner. But he pushed that thought aside, noting Cindy had recently grown taller than both their mother and Laura.

  “A woman rear-ended a truck.” Jamie tossed the paper towel into the trash can.

  “Was it bad?” Laura began filling each mug on the table with coffee from the percolator.

  “Ya.” Jamie stepped over to his usual seat beside Mark and across from Cindy. “The front end of the woman’s car was smashed. W
e had a tough time getting her out, but I think she’ll be okay.”

  “That sounds terrible.” Cindy put a platter of scrambled eggs and a basket of bread in the center of the table.

  “And then he had a barn fire,” Mark chimed in while washing his hands.

  “Where was the fire?” Mamm asked.

  “In Ronks.”

  Once the food was served, the family sat down, and after the silent prayer they loaded their plates.

  As Jamie buttered a warm roll, his thoughts turned again to Kayla. He hoped she’d been able to get some rest last night. He’d wanted to talk to her again before he and his company headed back to the fire station, but when she returned to the porch with a full pitcher of lemonade, he could have sworn she turned her back to him to start a conversation with someone else before he could speak.

  Despite her forgiveness when he apologized, it was apparent Kayla had meant it when she told Jamie to stay away from her brother. And that meant staying away from her.

  Why did her rejection bother him so much?

  “Hello? Jamie? Are you awake?”

  Jamie’s head snapped up and he found his brother grinning at him.

  “What?”

  “I asked you what family lost the barn.” Mark spooned eggs into his mouth.

  “Oh, it was Willie and Marilyn Dienner.” Jamie broke the bread in half and took a bite, savoring the warm sweetness.

  “Willie and Marilyn.” Dat turned to Mamm. “Do we know them, Dorothy?”

  “The names sound familiar.” Mamm tapped her chin. “Do they have any kinner?”

  “Ya.” Jamie scooped some home fries from his plate. “Their oldest sohn, Simeon, was a firefighter. He died in that fire last year when the haus collapsed.”

  As if on cue, the three women all gasped.

  “That’s so bedauerlich.” Cindy was already wiping her eyes. “How terrible.”

  “Do they have other kinner?” Laura asked.

  “Ya. Kayla, who I would guess is about my age, and then Nathan, who’s fourteen. Simeon’s fraa and sohn live there too.” Jamie considered sharing how Nathan wanted to be a firefighter, but he’d rather keep his embarrassing conversations with Kayla to himself.