A Gathering of Memories (33 page)

Minutes later Mandy came very close to dropping her load of plates on the kitchen floor when Pete’s voice came through from the dining room.

“Here, Amy, I’ll get those. Mandy and Ross can do dishes and I’ll help clear.”

“I can help them, Pete,” Carrie’s voice spoke after a moment. Mandy didn’t hear the reply, but Carrie joined them in the kitchen a few minutes later.

“You know this kitchen isn’t as large as I thought.” Carrie and Mandy stared at Pete, who was coming into the kitchen with the last stack of plates, as though he’d sprouted wings. “I
really think, Carrie, that Ross and Mandy would have more room to work if you were out of here.”

Mandy’s mouth dropped open when Pete winked at her and whisked Carrie out of the kitchen before anyone could object. Her eyes filled with suspicion, Mandy looked to Ross.

“Do you want to wash or dry?” His voice was as calm as you please, but his gaze was watchful.

Hesitating before she answered, Mandy hoped that something on his face would tell her what was going on.

“Carrie can come back in and help.”

“I don’t mind,” Ross assured her.

“I’ll wash then,” Mandy said after a moment and began to shave the bar of soap into the pan.

“Had you heard about the skating party Saturday?”

“At the pond you mean?” Mandy deliberately kept her voice neutral.

“Yeah.”

“I think Silas and Amy plan for us to go.”

“Actually, I was hoping you would accompany me.”

Mandy’s hands stilled in the soapy water and she turned slowly to face Ross. His hands were motionless on the plate he’d been drying, his eyes intent, hers questioning.

“You scare me to death, Amanda,” he spoke softly. “Not you specifically, but the thought of disappointing you. I’ve never met anyone who was in such need of cherishing. From the moment I met you I wanted to be the one to have that job, but all I’ve done is hurt you.”

“That’s not true, Ross.”

“Maybe not completely, but I have hurt you and the reason wasn’t clear until recently. I was trying to meet your needs in and of myself, trying to be too much to you. I didn’t want to get involved until I was sure of never hurting you or disappointing you again. But that was my idea, not God’s.

“There will be hurts and disappointments because I’m human, but Amanda, it won’t mean that I don’t care. In Christ I know you’ll forgive me.

“I thought that when the land was settled we could begin seeing each other, but it’s taking longer than expected and I want to get to know you
now
. I want to see and be with you
now
. If that sounds selfish, I’m sorry. Maybe all of this is too sudden.” Ross watched her a moment, wondering if he was about to be rejected.

“Is it too sudden, Amanda?”

Ross watched her hair swing against her shoulders as she shook her head no.

He would have understood if she didn’t trust him, but he really believed they had a future together and it had to start somewhere. The simple movement of her head made his heart fill and made speech a little difficult.

“Amanda, will you go skating with me Saturday afternoon?”

“I’d like that, Ross, very much.

Ross combed his hair for what must have been the fifth time and then laughed when he remembered he’d be wearing a hat the entire time they skated. The thermometer had risen some, but it was by no means warm. At least the sun was shining and it would be light for a few more hours.

Preston and Grandma Em would be coming any minute, and he had already heard Pete go downstairs. In less than ten minutes he would see Amanda. The thought made his heart pound. He wanted very much to give her time, but he also knew he was going to kiss her if the moment presented itself this evening.

He had done a tremendous amount of pondering on kissing in the last few days and had come to some serious conclusions, the most important being, you don’t kiss a woman unless you’re going to marry her.

He had kissed Sarah the times he’d gone away, and done so in the strongest belief that she would someday be his wife. For that reason he felt no shame. But the two other girls, the ones he had kissed before he came to Christ, brought him grief. Both girls had married men from his hometown, and Ross was profoundly sorry he’d kissed another man’s wife. That they were unmarried when he kissed them was beside the point. Faithfulness began even before you met your intended.

Ross suddenly wondered if Mandy had ever kissed a man. He knew for the first time, in that instant, that he was capable of jealousy. He didn’t feel enraged, but the thought of someone else kissing his Amanda was not a pleasant one. When the time
was right he would apologize to her about the girls before he was saved and explain about Sarah. And if she had kissed other men he would need to feel the same forgiveness
for
her as he wanted
from
her.

“Ross, are you coming?” Pete called from the stairway. Ross hit the door at a run, his hat and gloves in hand.

“We couldn’t have asked for a clearer day,” Amy said as their wagon pulled up to the pond. There were two bonfires blazing to ward off the cold and to heat the cocoa, the aroma of which was already filling the air.

“Let’s get cocoa.” Levi’s first love was his stomach.

“You’re supposed to wait until you’re a little colder. We just got here,” Carrie informed her brother even as the four youngest Jacksons started that way.

“Mandy, honey, I’m a little worried about you,” Silas spoke with a gleam in his eyes. “You look so depressed this afternoon.”

Mandy laughed at his teasing which made her sparkling eyes even brighter, if that were possible. Her scarf and hat were white against her navy coat, all of which framed her beautiful face and dark hair. Silas looked at her with pride, thinking a man couldn’t ask for a lovelier daughter.

“You’re not upset about meeting Ross here?”

“No, Silas, not at all. It didn’t make any sense for him to drive all the way to our house.” She spotted Ross just after she said this, and Silas watched as she bit her lower lip, much the way his wife did when she was upset. With Mandy it was uncertainty.

“Have I told you that you look wonderful?”

“Do I really, Silas?” She looked so anxious, his heart turned over.

“Yes, honey, you do. Now go and have some fun.”

He watched her walk toward Preston’s wagon and for an instant, felt like he was losing her. It almost gave him a feeling of being cheated. She’d lived with them such a short time.

“She’s not married yet, Si,” Amy read his thoughts. He smiled as he took her hand to follow the kids.

“I haven’t done very much of this.”

“You’re doing fine.” Ross spoke the soothing words as he held Mandy’s hand and led her out to the middle of the pond. He turned suddenly and skated backwards, taking both of her hands in his and guiding her progress.

“I thought you said you hadn’t skated for years!” Accusing him, she watched him glide backward, seemingly without effort. The words were a mistake because they caused her to take her eyes off of their feet. In the next instant both skates went in different directions. Ross caught her as she started down, laughing at the surprised look on her face.

“That was close,” Mandy said breathlessly.

“You didn’t really think I would catch you, did you?”

“No, I guess I didn’t.”

“O ye of little faith.” And then, “Amanda, look at me.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I’ll fall.

“Then I’ll catch you.” But still she kept her eyes glued to the ice. Nothing he could say would make her raise them.

“You’re going to get a stiff neck,” Ross finally told her, but she had no chance to reply because Becca and Eliza skated into them just then and all four went down in a laughing heap.

“Becca, I thought you were going to stay with Silas.”

“I was, but Eliza’s helping me.”

“I can see that.” The skeptical tone was lost on the little girls who were once again on their skates and making unsteady progress across the pond with shrieks and giggles.

“Ross, wouldn’t you rather move a little faster? I mean, just because you asked me to come with you doesn’t mean you have to hold my hand the entire afternoon.”

“Maybe I want to hold your hand the entire afternoon.” He had her on her feet now and they stood still for a moment on the ice. Mandy loved the way he looked in his hat, especially when he pushed it back a bit on his forehead, like it was now.

Ross thought Amanda, with her white hat slightly askew, was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. He slipped one glove off to brush a few flakes of snow on her cheek. She never took her eyes from his, as he replaced his glove and took her mittened hand, not even when Ross guided her forward across the ice.

The hot liquid in the cup burned Mandy’s tongue a little, and she blew across the top in an effort to cool it.

“Do you want a little snow in that?”

“No thanks, I like it pretty hot.”

She and Ross stood near one of the fires and watched April Nolan on the ice. April was a charming picture of controlled movement, her hands held gracefully at her sides, giving her balance as she glided along the ice.

“She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”

“She sure is,” Ross agreed.