[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey by Wanda E Brunstetter Page B

a wife if I don’t get a grip on my anger toward Phoebe. And I won’t make any points with Isaac if I don’t start being kinder to his granddaughter
.
     
    Yesterday, after Suzanne had come into the shop and made a nuisance of herself, he’d stupidly said something to Isaac about his granddaughter being a pest. The elderly man had shaken his arthritic finger as he looked Titus in the eye and said, “Suzanne may be a
pescht
sometimes, but she’s my
grossdochder
, and I’d appreciate it if you kept any negative remarks about her to yourself.”
     
    A verse from Proverbs 15 that Titus had heard at church last Sunday popped into his head: “A
soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
He knew he’d been unkind to Suzanne several times, and he owed her a thank-you for the flowers she’d planted for him.
If she’s still outside, I should probably speak to her before I leave for work
, he decided.
     
    He pushed his chair aside and opened the back door. Suzanne’s horse and buggy were gone. “Should have come out here sooner,” he mumbled. “Shouldn’t have let her leave without saying thanks.”
     
    When he got to work, he’d stop by the Yoders’ house first and talk to Suzanne.
     
    Titus returned to the kitchen and halted. Callie was perched on the table, lapping milk from his bowl of cereal.
     
    He clapped his hands and shouted, “Get down from there, you stupid katz! I should have left you trapped in that soup can.”
     
    Callie leaped off the table and raced outside. That’s when Titus realized he hadn’t shut the door when he’d gone out to look for Suzanne.
     
    He groaned and set his bowl in the sink. This was not starting out to be a good day. Hopefully things would go better after he’d spoken to Suzanne.
     

     
    When Titus arrived at the Yoders’, he put his horse in the corral and went up to the house. Suzanne’s mother answered his knock.
     
    “Guder mariye,” she said. “If you’re looking for Nelson or my daed, they’re already out at the shop.”
     
    Titus shook his head. “I’d like to speak to Suzanne.”
     
    “She’s not here. Left right after breakfast. Said she was taking some primroses over to your place to plant. Didn’t you see her there?”
     
    He nodded. “She did come by, but she left before I did. Figured she’d be here by now.”
     
    “She may have stopped at the Beilers’ store on her way home. Said something about needing a few things from there, too.”
     
    “Guess I’ll have to wait and speak to her later on then.”
     
    “Maybe you can talk to her when she brings lunch out to the shop around noon.”
     
    “Okay. I’d better get to work now. Sure don’t want to be late.” Titus turned and sprinted to the shop.
     
    He’d just entered the building, when Nelson rushed up to him and said, “There was a message for you at the phone shanty from your mamm.”
     
    “What’d it say?”
     
    “Your sister-in-law’s been taken to the hospital.”
     
    “Which sister-in-law?”
     
    “I think she said it was Hannah. I didn’t erase the message, so you’d better go out and listen to it yourself.”
     
    Titus opened the door and raced down the driveway to the phone shanty. Once inside, he took a seat and listened to the message.
     
    “Titus, it’s Mom. I wanted you to know that Hannah’s in the hospital and may lose the boppli. Timothy left Mindy with us, and he’s at the hospital with Hannah. He seemed pretty upset when he was here earlier. Please say a prayer for them, Titus.”
     
    Titus dialed his folks’ number and was surprised when someone picked up the phone.
     
    “Hello. Who’s this?”
     
    “It’s Samuel. Is that you, Titus?”
     
    “Jah. What are you doin’ in Mom and Dad’s phone shanty?”
     
    “I dropped by the house this morning to visit with Mom and was on my way out when I heard the phone ring.” There was a pause. “How are you? Is everything going okay with your new