Charlie rushed to the car and started hefting suitcases out of the trunk. Evie and Wren quickly joined him.
“Dr. Stoltzfus,” Wren said, “I’ll come too. I’d like to accompany you on the emergency.”
Dok was already in the driver’s seat. “No. This is a home birth. Too stressful for an Amish mother to have strangers arrive without warning. Go get settled in with Fern. I’ll be in touch.” In record time, she made a three-point turn and headed down the driveway.
“What does she mean?” Wren said. “Get settled where?”
“Right here.”
All three spun around to face the small gray-haired Amish woman with bright, piercing eyes. “I’m Fern Lapp. You’ll be rooming here, at Windmill Farm.”
Wren’s perfectly arched eyebrows shot up. “Here?”
“Except for the boy.” Fern pointed in the opposite direction of the farmhouse. “He’ll be over at the buggy shop.”
Charlie burst out with a laugh as he realized that Fern was referring to him. “A boy in the buggy shop!” he said, delighted. “Sounds like a children’s book.”
Fern ignored that. “The buggy shop has living quarters in the back. Luke Schrock did the work on it. He and his wife Izzy live here and help me with the farm, but they’re away for a while.”
Charlie picked up his two beat-up suitcases. “I’ll be off, then. Ladies, I bid you farewell.” He gave them a bow and then headed off to the buggy shop.
Fern peered at Wren and Evie. “Follow me.”
Inside the modest, dimly lit farmhouse, Evie kept glancing at Wren, whose eyes grew increasingly wide as she took in their new living conditions. She was staring at the oil lamps hanging from the ceiling and the woodburning stove.
Fern pointed to the stairwell. “First room on the right is yours.”
The pale green room had two twin beds with a braided rug covering most of the linoleum floor. A row of wooden pegs hung on the wall, and a flashlight stood upright on the nightstand between the beds. Also on the nightstand was a small oil lamp.
Wren set down her suitcase and looked around the room, a shocked look on her face. “Don’t tell me that she expects us to share a room.”
“Um, looks that way.”
Wren’s perfect nose wrinkled, like she was sniffing something unpleasant.
Was sharing a room with Evie really so awful? The sting of being openly disliked left an uncomfortable knot in her chest. The truth was, she wanted Wren to like her—despite the complicated mess of emotions tied to Charlie. As easy and natural as it would be to feel jealous of Wren, she just refused to feed that green-eyed monster.
The weird thing was that Evie actually admired Wren. She had this way about her—so sure of herself, so confident in every step she took. It was like she had her life all mapped out, and all she needed to do was follow the trail.
Evie, on the other hand, could barely see beyond the next bend in the road. She was always caught up in the here and now, unsure of what lay ahead, and somehow, that made her feel like she was always just trying to catch up. Or keep up.
She hadn’t expected to be living in such close proximity to Wren either, but now that it was happening, she couldn’t help but wish some of Wren’s self-confidence would rub off on her—just a little, like a sprinkling of pixie dust.
Enough, at least, to catch Charlie’s eye.
She couldn’t deny the flutter of hope that she and Charlie might spend a lot of quality time together in Stoney Ridge.Quality time alone. But even as the thought crossed her mind, it felt like an impossible dream. Wren had a way of filling up the space, and Evie had a way of shrinking back into the shadows.
Wren pulled her cell phone charger out of her purse and looked around the room for an outlet. “Wait, there’s no electricity?” Her voice was tinged with disbelief.
Evie suppressed a smile. “Nope.” No air-conditioning either. Not such a big problem now, but she could guarantee it would be in July and August. Best not to bring that up right now.
Wren shot Evie a panicked look. “How am I supposed to charge my phone? And what about Wi-Fi?”
“There’s no Wi-Fi either, Wren.”
“But Dr. Stoltzfus received a phone call.”
“Pager.” Evie couldn’t help but find Wren’s panic a bit amusing. “Welcome to Amish country. You’ll get used to it.” She would’ve thought Wren knew what she was walking into, but what did she really know about Wren? The train trip today was the most time she’d ever spent with her outside the hospital, and when she wasn’t sending disdainful looks at Evie, she had kept her nose in a medical textbook. Preparing for boards, she said.
