Page 22 of A Hidden Hope
Sharing supper with Evie and Fern in the cozy kitchen at Windmill Farm had quickly become a routine for Charlie.
Even the basement remodel didn’t keep him away, though after supper he’d scooter back to Dok’s to work on it a few more hours.
Nearly done, he would say when Fern asked about it.
Fern’s eyebrows would lift high, as if to say, That seems hard to believe .
Evie wondered, too, if he was being overly optimistic. The month of June wasn’t even over yet.
Fern always invited Wren to supper, but she begged off, saying that she needed to stay focused on studying for the boards, and everything was spread out in the buggy shop.
She said she had stocked Charlie’s small refrigerator with food.
Evie had never been invited inside, but she sometimes wondered if Wren ate much at all; her slender figure suggested she didn’t.
Nevertheless, Fern would always set a place at the table to include Wren, and always send Charlie over to the buggy shop to invite her to supper. That was just Fern’s way.
Today, Evie could see Charlie from the kitchen window of the farmhouse.
He was tinkering with something out in front of the buggy shop.
As Fern took a savory-smelling meatloaf out of the oven, she nodded in the direction of the shop.
“Why don’t you go on over and tell those two that supper is about ready? I’ll finish setting the table.”
Evie set down the forks and walked outside, passing by Fern’s garden and the horse pasture, to reach the buggy shop.
As she drew near, about fifteen feet away, she could see what Charlie was fiddling with—adding an electric motor to a scooter.
She stopped for a moment to watch him, his hands covered in grease, his intense focus, and she couldn’t hold back a smile. She knew the backstory to this scene.
Yesterday morning, Wren had asked Dok if she’d given any more thought to providing a car for them.
Dok had been vague in her response—kind of a “we’ll see if you stick around” kind of answer.
Evie knew Dok well enough by now to know that was her way of saying no, that she’d never given it a moment’s consideration.
But Wren didn’t seem to catch Dok’s meaning, so she persisted: “It seems like a reasonable expectation to have a car, don’t you think?
After all, in a rural area like this, a country mile can feel more like two or three city miles. ”
Half-focused on the conversation, Dok skimmed through the day’s patient list. “Why don’t you just buy a used car if you need one so badly?”
Right then, Charlie came up from the basement, catching enough of the exchange to laugh. “Because she’s broker than broke,” he said, grinning. Wren shot him a frown, but he didn’t notice. He was already moving on to something else. “Dok, how do the Amish feel about motors?”
“How do you mean?” Dok had said.
“I’ve seen Amish farms with gas lawn mowers,” Charlie said. “Weed eaters. Lots of diesel generators. Batteries for electric fences. But I haven’t seen any bicycles, so I’m guessing those aren’t kosher. I thought I might try to add a small motor to one of Fern’s spare scooters.”
Dok gave that some thought. “That could probably work. It’s the dependence on the public utility grid that the Amish want to avoid.
As for bicycles, the Lancaster Amish just prefer scooters to bikes.
Lots of other Plain communities permit bicycles.
” She lifted a finger in the air. “Say, Wren, I’ve got an old ten-speed bicycle at home. I can bring it in for you to use.”
A look of alarm came over Wren. “Thank you, no.”
A snort-laugh burst out of Charlie. “She doesn’t know how to ride a bike!
I’ve tried to teach her and it’s hopeless.
” He started laughing again, and it only got worse when Wren jabbed him with her elbow.
He tried to pull it together, tried to swallow his smile, but he just couldn’t.
Still chuckling, he turned and went down the basement steps.
Grinning at the memory of Wren’s embarrassment—so rare!
so delicious!—Evie took another step but froze when the door to the buggy shop flew open and Wren charged out.
She headed straight for Charlie, who was hunched over the scooter, a small motor in one hand and a screwdriver in the other.
They had their backs to Evie and didn’t notice her.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, Evie tiptoed to the side of the buggy shop to eavesdrop.
She pressed against the wall, holding her breath, standing there like a silly middle school girl who should know better.
She did know better! But she couldn’t help herself.
“I’ve finally found them!” Wren said. “It took all this time to figure out his system. It’s a terrible system.”
“Oh yeah?” Charlie didn’t even look up from his work. He seemed only mildly interested in what Wren had to say.
“I’m pretty sure,” she said, her voice filled with excitement, “that it won’t be long until we’re ready for the next step.”
At this, Charlie gave her his full attention. “Slow down, Wren. There’s a lot to consider.”
“But this is what we’ve been planning for. This is why we’re here.”
“There’s no need to rush into anything. I’m nearly done with the basement. Just waiting on a few things to get delivered. That’s why I had time to make you a motorized scooter this afternoon.”
“I don’t need a scooter. I need a car. I need a residency that’s actually letting me practice medicine. Look, Charlie, things going faster than we expected might be a blessing in disguise.”
“Yeah, but we want to do things right. I don’t want to leave here—”
“Why not?” Wren interrupted.
Leave here? Evie wondered. Why? Why would you leave?
“Charlie,” Wren said, “this was always just a stepping stone to somewhere else.”
He scoffed. “Maybe for you.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll always make sure you’ve got a good opportunity. Always. I promised you that years ago, and I’ve never let you down, have I?”
“No, of course not. You’ve been incredible, Wren. But I’ve got a good opportunity here. I think I can really learn from Dok.”
Now it was Wren’s turn to scoff. “We hardly see her to learn anything, Charlie.”
“That’s why I’m trying to get that basement done as fast as I can. You heard Dok. She said she’d start our residency in full mode when there was space for us.”
A long pause. So long that Evie inched forward to better hear them.
“I suppose,” Wren said, “I could keep digging.” She let out a sigh. “And keep studying for the boards.” Her voice tightened. “They’re not far off, you know. You might try cracking open a book.”
“I will, I will. As soon as I get the basement finished.”
“Charlie, I know there’s another reason you want to stay here.”
Evie held very still. What? What could it be?
Charlie’s voice dropped to an indistinct murmur, and Evie could only hear a scrap of a sentence. She edged closer to get a better listen.
“Oh yeah?” Wren said. “Try living with Merry Sunshine every day—”
Unfortunately, as she inched forward, Evie neglected to notice a bucket on the ground in front of her. When her foot kicked it, the clattering sound startled both Wren and Charlie. They spun around to see Evie right at the corner of the buggy shop.
Wren’s eyebrows knitted together. “Were you eavesdropping on us?”
“No! Absolutely not.” Busted. “Fern just sent me to let you know supper’s ready.”
Wren folded her arms, a skeptical look settling on her face. “And you just happened to end up on the side of the buggy shop?”
“I was, uh, admiring Fern’s hydrangeas.” Brilliant. That sounded so convincing.
“Thanks, Evie,” Charlie said. “I’ll be right over.”
What was that expression on Charlie’s face?
Kind of a forced smile. Was he embarrassed?
Guilty? As Evie turned to walk back to the farmhouse, feeling as foolish and immature as she had sounded, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that continued to gnaw at her—there was definitely something going on between Wren and Charlie, far more than she’d realized.
A few days later, after the office had closed, Dok was wrapping up her usual end-of-day routine—planning for the next day’s appointments, reviewing patient histories, and ordering lab tests. It was a habit she’d picked up to make the next day run more smoothly, and it really paid off.
After her ADHD diagnosis, Dok had learned to rely on every organizational trick in the book to keep her days on track, and those tricks made a world of difference.
She’d gotten better at managing her ADHD, but it still had her by the heel.
Juggling her own chaotic schedule was one thing—she thrived on the adrenaline—but structuring a plan for Charlie and Wren required a different kind of focus.
And once again, she pushed it to another day.
Seated at her desk, she looked up when she heard a knock at her open door. “Charlie? You’re still here? I thought everyone had gone home.”
He had a funny look on his face, like he was trying to keep a grin at bay. “If you have a minute to spare, I’d like to show you something in the basement. Go out the front door and I’ll meet you there.”
Curious, but hoping this wouldn’t take long, Dok set her computer in sleep mode and went out the front door.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows over the parking lot.
It was later than she thought, and Matt had asked her to get home early tonight.
He was making his world-famous lasagna. Famous in their world, anyway.
Charlie stood at the top of the cellar steps, a look of satisfaction plastered across his face.
The once scruffy, overgrown path to the cellar now boasted a tidy path of decomposed granite leading from the parking lot to the steps.
“Welcome to your new and improved office space,” he said, gesturing grandly as he descended the steps and swung open the door.