A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) (15 page)

While her feet were still on the ladder rungs, she heard, “Hey, it’s Nick. I’m sitting out here. I said something to you when I first came out, but I guess you didn’t hear me.”

She glanced around the pool until her eyes focused on Nick. Only a light in the pool itself illuminated the area with several color-changing shows.
How long had Nick been watching her swim,
she wondered. “Didn’t you like the movie?”

“I felt restless so decided to go for a walk on the beach and thought I’d see if you’d like to join me. I could use some company.”

“Well, I’m wet so it’ll be too chilly for me. You might ask Violet.” Why couldn’t he spend time with Violet instead of seeking her out? She could see why Violet was attracted to Nick. To say he was good-looking wouldn’t be a strong enough adjective in describing him. Violet would say that Nick was a hottie because of his charming smile, perfect facial features, and athletic body. Before meeting Nick, Violet mentioned to her how he resembled actor Michael Weatherly, who played Tony on one of her favorite television series. She’d watched an old episode of the action drama, NCIS, with Violet before Nick and Adam had arrived. Violet was right. Nick was a younger version of the actor. She pulled a towel off a chair and rubbed her limbs quickly before wrapping it around her body.

“She’s still talking to her dad,” Nick said.

Her Aunt Carrie had said that it might be a good thing for them to share their feelings about their mothers’ deaths. Surely, she hadn’t meant the very first night Nick arrived. They barely knew each other, but what could it hurt? Violet would understand and Nick seemed to want someone to walk with him. She could wear Aunt Carrie’s cover-up dress over her suit while they walked on the beach. It might be better to go now because Nick wouldn’t be able to see much of her. Instead of clothing covering her body, the dark night would.

“Okay, I’ll walk with you.” She put the towel down and picked up the cover-up.

“Here, let me help you.”

Nick put the crochet dress over her head before she could refuse. Then he lightly touched her shoulder. She decided not to take offense at him touching her like this, and murmured, “
Danki
. I mean thank you.” She edged quickly away from Nick. An Amish man would never have been this familiar with a woman, especially when first meeting her.
I wish I was wearing my dress and kapp.

It better be a short walk,
she thought as she slid her feet into flip flops. “Okay, I’m ready for our walk.”

He stared at her for a moment. “Your long hair is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She followed him down the steps to the beach, but uneasiness never left her as their feet touched the sand. She should have suggested they stayed by the pool and talked instead. Maybe Violet would’ve joined them. Okay, he just was being nice by commenting on her hair, but he seemed too personal to her.

She wasn’t sure if Nick was aware that she was Amish. “Usually my hair’s pinned up under a prayer covering. Violet talked me into wearing other clothes. Well, actually I wanted to try to wear English clothing on the beach too. It’s been an adjustment not to have my normal Plain clothing on.”

“Adam mentioned you’re Amish and his mom was raised Amish. I’m afraid I don’t know very much about this faith except that you travel in buggies instead of cars.”

“We’re Christians so have that in common with a lot of people. But are different in that we avoid many conveniences of modern technology.”

“Other than the clothing, have you enjoyed experiencing new things?”

She nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Are you warm enough?”

“I am.”

He sighed. “One reason I wanted to come to the beach with Adam was because my mother loved the ocean. I’m from Indiana and we went to the beach a couple of times a year. I thought maybe I’d feel close to her here.”

“Did you come to this beach with your mom?”

“We did come here a couple of times, but we went mostly to Myrtle Beach, Outer Banks, and Ocean City.”

“This is the first time I’ve been to any beach. I always wanted to see the ocean.” She paused for a moment. “I’m sorry about your mother. I lost mine too. It’s been a year since she passed on.”

He stopped walking and touched her arm. “I’m sorry for your loss too. It sucks everything out of you when you lose your mother. Everyone tells me that time heals. Has it for you?”

The pain in his voice struck her hard. Nick’s honesty about his feelings gave her the courage to speak what was in her heart. “I haven’t gotten over losing my
mamm
. We were close. She was only forty-four when she suddenly died from a heart attack. How old was yours?”

“Mom was forty-six. She was beautiful and full of life. She never complained about anything. It seems so unfair that someone like her was killed in an automobile accident. Just a tragic and senseless thing to happen.”

“I feel the same way. I don’t think my mom should’ve died at her age. She’ll never see my brothers grow up and have had a chance to become a grandmother. She was looking forward to my brother and his wife starting a family. I think she would have survived her attack if she could have gotten medical care right away.”

“How about we stop and sit on a sand dune? I’m leaving Sunday to spend time with my dad, so I might not get a chance to talk to you privately again about my mom.”

She hoped Violet wouldn’t miss them. Her Uncle Scott was probably still telling Violet more about her summer job. And how could she refuse Nick’s request? Sadness filled his voice when he spoke about his mother. She understood how he felt. Maybe venting to each other would ease the pain a little. “Or we can sit on a bench that’s at the top of those steps.” She pointed to a spot under a light. “I sat there yesterday when I watched the waves. It was peaceful. And if people use the steps, there’s plenty of room for them to walk by us.”

“Sounds good.”

They crossed the beach to the bench. He sat close to her but she didn’t say anything. The bench was smaller than she remembered. At the whiff of his pleasant fragrance, she realized he wore men’s cologne. Amish single men shaved but never splashed any cologne on after shaving.

He ran his fingers through his light brown hair. “The man who killed my mother was driving with an expired driver’s license and had a few too many drinks. Why did he have to be driving drunk that night? Mom was on her way home after volunteering at the children’s hospital.”

“My grandparents were killed by a teenager using his cell phone while driving.”

“That’s awful.” His gray eyes widened as he stared at her. “I remember now that Adam mentioned going to their funeral and how the media showed up to tape his dad being there.”

She nodded. “They had their cameras filming us as we rode in our buggies. After my grandparents’ funeral,
Mamm
complained about being tired. I figured she wasn’t sleeping well because of losing both her parents suddenly. I tried to help her more with cooking and everything. I worked at a bakery in town but cut my hours some.”

“How’s your dad doing? Mine isn’t doing well. I worry about him all the time.”

“My dad’s been sad and he misses her a lot.”

“It’s too bad that he didn’t come with you to the beach. Maybe it would help him to get away. I’m going to tell my dad we should go away after my spring quarter ends. I don’t have to start my summer job immediately.”

She exhaled a deep breath. “There’s been tension in our home between me and my dad. When Aunt Carrie invited me to spend time with her, I was glad to leave home. I haven’t been able to make certain decisions, and also have always wanted to see the ocean. It seemed like a good thing to do.”

“Does he expect too much from you?”

“I blame him for not putting a phone in our barn or building a shanty for a phone. See, the Amish don’t believe in having phones in our houses, but our bishop allows us to have phones for emergencies and for business. We think family should spend time together instead of talking on the phone to others. Keeping the phone outside the house helps us to remember it’s only to be used when necessary. When my mom had her heart attack, our English neighbors were on vacation so we couldn’t use their phone. I think if we had been able to call for medical help right away, my mom might have lived.”

“That has to be rough knowing having access to a phone nearby might have helped your mom to survive her attack.” He squeezed her hand. “Did your dad put a phone in now?”

She shook her head. “He hasn’t. My older brother Peter has a phone in his barn now so that might be why. It takes twenty minutes to get to his place, and we can use our English neighbors’ phone when they are home. I have twin brothers, Matthew and Noah, who are ten and can be mischievous. Maybe he’s afraid those two will use the phone if he puts one in now.”

“I can’t forgive the driver who killed my mother. I know I should but I feel a lot of anger at him.”

“He had no business driving in his condition.” She was quiet for a few minutes while watching the waves hit the beach. “It’s not just the phone why I can’t forgive my dad. My mom wanted him to take her to the doctor and he didn’t. Of course, she could have gone herself but I think she must have been too tired to drive the buggy. I wish she had asked me. I didn’t know about the pain she had but just thought she was tired.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“That’s what my boyfriend said.”

“Adam mentioned being friends with Samuel. He said Samuel wants to marry you.”

She grinned at Nick. “It sounds like you guys are as chatty as women.”

He chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about that. I suppose Samuel is Amish too.”

“Yes and we have an understanding. We aren’t engaged but are serious. Before my grandparents and
Mamm
died, I planned on joining the church and getting baptized so we could get married. I came here to get answers before I make any big decisions. Right after my mother’s death, I quit my job and stayed home to take care of my family. I’m thankful that Aunt Carrie gave me this chance to come here. Being away from home will give me the perspective I need to decide what to do about my life. Or I hope so anyhow.”

Turning his head, Nick looked directly into her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here. I feel a connection to you, even though we just met. Unfortunately, we have both suffered a lot from losing loved ones. So where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean? I suppose we should go back to the house. We can’t stay out here all night.”

“I meant I’d like to stay in touch with you after I leave here on Sunday. I usually call and text friends but not sure how I can remain in contact with you. If you don’t use a phone often, I’m sure you don’t text people or send emails to friends.”

Nick’s question surprised her. How could she answer him? She couldn’t bear to hurt his feelings but staying in touch with each other wasn’t a good idea. Or was it? She might not join the church and marry Samuel. “God might just mean for us to vent our feelings to each other during this time. And we might not want to continue after this weekend. But we can decide later what to do if we want to stay in touch.” She smiled at him. “By Sunday, you might be tired of me and that will be it.”

“I seriously doubt that will happen. There’s something about you that makes me want to get to know you better.” His hand grasped hers. “I’d like to meet your family. Maybe I could visit you sometime this summer and experience Amish living. My home’s in New York so it would just take a short time to fly to Fields Corner. I already checked the distance.”

His intimacy wasn’t appropriate. And Nick visiting in Fields Corner wasn’t a good idea. Besides, Violet wanted Nick to be interested in her.
I better get back to the house quickly before Nick says something else that he shouldn’t.
She didn’t like the way he looked at her and was afraid of what he might say next. “Let’s walk back. It’s getting late and the others will be wondering what happened to us.”

She stood and walked down the steps. Getting her Plain clothes out to wear tomorrow might be a good idea.

Chapter Fourteen

Kevin snapped a few more shots of them. What luck that Rachel and a young man were on the bench in front of his aunt’s place. He’d gotten some fantastic shots with them sitting close. He couldn’t wait to zoom in on their faces back at his aunt’s. Hopefully, a romance would develop between the two. A non-Amish guy with an Amish woman. He had a feeling that the guy was definitely enamored of Rachel. His friend wanted to do a documentary about Amish teens going wild during
rumschpringe
. Beautiful and demure Rachel would be awesome for it, but he wasn’t going to worry if it didn’t happen. That might be pushing it, and she’d been pleasant to him about including her with his beach photos. Of course, she might not be as thrilled when his pictures were published, and she realized how many more he took of her.

Obviously, his pictures of an Amish girl would interest many people. There was a big interest in anything Amish. Over a year ago, he’d watched with great curiosity the TV coverage of the funeral procession for Carrie Robinson’s parents. There were many buggies following the black, also horse-drawn hearse. Geez, it was hard to imagine people driving buggies instead of cars and not having electricity in their homes. No wonder there was such a fascination with their unusual and simple lifestyle.

After he received a hefty paycheck for these pictures, he’d be back on his feet. Maybe he’d purchase an Amish quilt for his ex. When they were married, Tammy mentioned seeing a handmade bedspread that was beautiful but expensive. He probably should have bought it for her for an anniversary present, but he’d never been very good in the gift buying department. Thinking about his ex-wife wasn’t a good thing, because now depression pulled at him. He’d been lonely for a long time… ever since the divorce.

Only problem was what happened between him and his aunt today. She blew up at him and told him to stop taking pictures. She was upset that the owner Marlene called to see if she had intentionally told him about the Robinson family visiting. Aunt Donna liked Marlene and enjoyed taking care of the beach house for her. When Marlene mentioned her neighbor was going to use their place, Aunt Donna mentioned to him that it had to be Carrie Robinson coming with her daughter and niece. She remembered a prayer shawl Marlene had knitted while staying at the beach and telling her how Carrie Robinson started the ministry of giving shawls to cancer patients. Marlene had gone on and said how Carrie was the best neighbor. Apparently, Marlene felt that Carrie made a wonderful political wife, because she was sweet and supportive of her husband’s aspirations, even though she was a private person. When Marlene told her to get groceries for three people, she’d figured out which neighbor was visiting. She’d been so excited that a senator’s wife would be next door. Aunt Donna had even researched on the Internet everything about the Kentucky senator and his family.