A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) (25 page)

She stared at Samuel, wishing he’d never seen the newspaper pictures. Clearly, he hadn’t been able to dismiss them as being just what they were…innocent pictures. Sullivan had made it look like a romance could be brewing between her and Nick. All she wanted was to get away to enjoy the ocean and a new environment in hopes she could resolve her negative feelings about her
daed
and make a decision whether to join the church or not. She had never been interested in meeting a young man in hopes of falling in love on the beach.

Folding her hands in her lap, she said in a gentle voice, “There was nothing at all between us. It was like I told you on the phone. We talked about our mothers and how it hurt losing them. Nick wasn’t even in Cocoa Beach very long. He left on Saturday to spend time with his dad. I went on one walk with him. If I’d known that he wasn’t going to watch a movie with Adam, I never would’ve gone swimming in the pool. As soon as he came out to the pool, I put Aunt Carrie’s cover-up on before we walked on the beach.”
Why was she explaining all this to Samuel? She never did anything wrong.

“I don’t think you should’ve walked with Nick by yourself. If Violet had gone with you, then the bench would’ve been too small for three people.”

She exhaled a deep breath. “Violet wasn’t available to walk with us. She was talking with her dad about her summer job. She’s going to work for him so they had things to discuss.”

“I’m sorry. I just was surprised to see the pictures.” Samuel leaned closer to her. “I believe you.”

Katie entered the store, looking worried. “Rachel, someone’s in the bakery to see you.”

Samuel smiled at her. “I bet a customer wants to know when you’ll be helping with the baking again.”

“He’s not a customer,” Katie said. “He’s talking to your Aunt Carrie right now. She was pretty surprised to see him.”

Could Nick be in Fields Corner? Who else could it be? Violet had overheard Nick asking for her address. Oh no, had Nick already gone to her house? Was this the time to tell Samuel that Nick had been interested in her, but she never gave him any encouragement? “Katie, did he give his name?”

Katie nodded. “Nick Foster. And it gets better. He flew here in his own plane.”

Unhappiness flashed across Samuel’s face. “Why would Nick fly to Fields Corner? Hey, we don’t have an airport.”

“He rented a car and drove from the airport. He’s resourceful.” Katie patted Samuel’s arm. “Don’t worry. Rachel loves you, big brother.”

“Rachel, he has to either think he’s already courting you or hopes to.”

She smoothed her black apron, trying to think what to tell Samuel. Finally, her eyes met his. “I told you the truth. We talked about our mothers. Nick has to realize that my feelings for you are strong and deep. When he made me feel a bit uncomfortable, I wore my Plain clothing around him.”

In a sharp voice, Samuel said, “I knew he did something. Did he kiss you?”

“No, but Nick looked at me once like he wanted to. And he talked about visiting me this summer, but I hoped he wouldn’t. After he left Cocoa Beach, Violet told me that Nick had asked Adam for my address, but I didn’t think he’d come here when I never gave him any encouragement. Adam also told him that I was serious about you.”

Katie briefly touched her hand. “I’ll tell him whatever you want me to.”

“I wish he’d go away but I better see him and get it over with.
Danki
for warning me that he’s here.” She looked at Samuel and hated seeing the hurt in his blue eyes. She couldn’t tell him about Nick’s tweet. Samuel might think she wasn’t telling the truth about how nothing had happened at Cocoa Beach. It seemed hard to believe that Nick barely knew her, but yet he tweeted how he met the girl he wanted to marry.

Then Nick flew to Ohio to see her. There wasn’t an airport in Fields Corner, so that meant he went to a lot of trouble to see her. How could he think he had a chance with her? Real love didn’t happen like that. Why did he have to come and spoil a
wunderbaar
day? She’d be firm and tell him that he needed to focus on meeting someone from his world.

As they left Samuel, Katie said, “I can’t keep a man and you have two. But I don’t envy you. I don’t think Nick’s going to leave right away. What are you going to do?”

“Tim’s a fool and he might realize he made a mistake.” She walked beside Katie on the sidewalk. “I’m sure Nick will leave soon. He doesn’t have any place to stay tonight.”

“He could book a room at Miller’s bed and breakfast.”

“Katie, don’t you dare tell him about it. I’m hoping he doesn’t realize there’s a place he can spend the night.”

She took a deep breath as Katie opened the front door of the bakery for her. Nick sat at the table with Aunt Carrie. He saw her instantly and waved to her. No doubt about it, Nick Foster was a handsome man with charisma. Actually now that she thought about it, his personality seemed a little like her uncle’s. Too bad Nick couldn’t be interested in Violet. They’d make a cute couple. When she saw how his eyes filled with eagerness and hope at her arrival, she became worried.
She prayed silently, Please help me to make Nick realize that I will never be interested in him without hurting his feelings.

“Rachel, I was just telling Carrie how beautiful the countryside is here. I like the way everything looks without electrical wires. All the farms with their large white houses are amazing. I stopped before I got here to see a greenhouse business. Mr. Miller showed me the diesel engine he uses to run his greenhouse business.”

Oh no, that meant Nick saw the Miller’s bed and breakfast. Shouldn’t he be going back to college, she thought. “When does your college start again?”

“I’m going to fly back tonight. I just wanted to see you before my classes start.” He flashed her a big grin. “Unless you’d like me to stay tonight. Mr. Miller told me there was an available room at the Blue Ridge Inn.”

“Excuse me, but I want to get yarn for my shawls before I start back home.” Aunt Carrie stood and said to Rachel, “I’ll come back and drive you home.”

Before she got a chance to thank her aunt, Nick said, “I can take Rachel home.”

Aunt Carrie laughed. “That’s not a good idea. Amish don’t believe in fighting but Samuel might decide to make an exception if he sees Rachel in your car.”

“
Danki
, Aunt Carrie.” She wasn’t just thanking her aunt for the ride home, but for trying to get in Nick’s thick skull that Samuel might feel like fighting for her.

Katie stopped by their table and asked, “Would you like more coffee?”

“Yes, please.” After Nick thanked Katie, he said, “Your town and surrounding area is beautiful with all the farms. It’s such a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere that I feel like telling Mr. Robinson I can’t work for him this summer. I could instead work on my thesis for my Master’s here.”

“I’ll be right back.” She picked up her glass to get more iced tea. She needed to think what she should say to Nick. While she watched her glass fill with liquid, it hit her that Nick became interested in her to get past the sadness in his life. By his instant romantic interest, he was grasping for someone to get him out of the deep well of grief he’d been experiencing from losing his mother. Having her in his life gave him something new to think about so his pain would lessen a bit. When he felt a need to talk about his mother, Nick felt comfortable talking to her. She was one person who could relate to his pain and knew what it was exactly like to lose a beloved mother.

She pushed on the spigot to stop the tea flow.
Nick seems to like that I’m Amish. I think that’s another reason he’s attracted to me… something unique. I definitely don’t want him coming this summer to work on his thesis.

On her way back to the table, Katie whispered, “He’s all yours. Good luck.”

Before sitting, she asked, “Why did you want to see me? I’m surprised you would fly here.”

“I told you I’d visit you. You didn’t tell me not to.”

“That would’ve been rude.” She gave him a little smile. “I love Samuel and you being here is hard to explain to him when I don’t know why you’re here.”

“I’m fallen in love with you.”

“You barely know me.”

“My Dad fell in love with my mother at first sight so it can happen.” Nick leaned forward in his chair. “Maybe you were meant to meet me. You left Fields Corner to experience new things because you’ve lived a shelter life. I bet Samuel’s the only guy you’ve ever dated.”

It wasn’t Nick’s business if Samuel was the only one she’d dated. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to fall in love with you.”

He grinned. “Don’t be so sure about that. I’ve been told I can be downright irresistible to women.”

“I talked to Bishop Amos about joining our church this morning. I’m going to start taking instructions and will be baptized. Then I’ll be able to marry Samuel.”

He looked at her hands. “I don’t see any engagement ring on your finger.”

“Amish women don’t wear jewelry. Engagement and wedding rings are not exchanged by Amish couples.”

“Your aunt didn’t marry an Amish man.”

“Aunt Carrie had to be deep in love to leave the world she grew up in. It’s good she has always had such a strong love for my Uncle Scott because I don’t think they would’ve made it otherwise.”

“Are you positive you want to be Amish and marry Samuel? You’re young yet and might change your mind later.” His eyes bored into hers. “While we were on the beach, you didn’t protest about me visiting you here.”

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but I didn’t exactly encourage you to visit either. I want to be Amish and to marry Samuel. He’s bought land for us so we can build a house on it.” Should she mention Violet to him? If he’d be interested in her cousin, that would be wonderful. Violet would be happy and she could see those two as a couple. No, probably not a good idea to bring up Violet. Nick might jump to the wrong conclusion and think that was why she wasn’t interested in him. He’d feel she wanted to avoid hurting her cousin. “It was good for us to express our feelings to each other about our mothers. It helped me to vent to you. And I hope it helped you to talk to me about your mother.”

He nodded. “You said that on the beach how maybe we met for that reason only. I want more. I want you in my life, Rachel.”

“I’m sorry but what you want isn’t possible. It’s time for us to move on with our lives. Our mothers would want us to be happy. I’m looking forward to becoming Mrs. Samuel Weaver. You have a lot in your life to focus on. And maybe you’ll meet someone special this summer while you work for my Uncle Scott.”

He shook his head. “I won’t forget you that fast. If I lived in your world and became Amish, would I have a chance with you?”

“It’s hard for an outsider to become Amish. Our world is so different. I can’t see you driving a buggy and going without electricity.”

“For some reason, I can’t see you in my world either. You belong here. I can see that now.”

His sad expression spoke volumes to her.
Where was Aunt Carrie? How much yarn was she buying?
“When I left Fields Corner, I thought about not joining the church. After praying on the beach and living briefly in the English world, I realized I wanted to always be Amish. This is my home where I can best serve God.”

“I think I knew this was going to be a wasted trip but I wanted to see you again. Even though I haven’t been successful in convincing you to give me a chance, it hasn’t been a wasted trip. I’ve enjoyed talking with you.”

“I wish you’d called first. You could’ve saved yourself some time and money.”

“How could I call when you don’t have a phone?”

“You could’ve called my aunt’s cell phone. But we do have a phone now. My father put a phone in while I was at the beach. It’s in small building outside our house.”

“Hey, that’s progress.” He drank his coffee. “I’d like to meet your family.”

She glanced at her watch. “School will let out soon. How about you meet Judith and my brothers here in town before you leave?”

“Sure. That sounds good.” He winked at her. “What about Samuel? I’d like to meet him and tell him how lucky he is.”

She grinned. “He already knows that.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

On the way home, Rachel decided to tease her
aenti
. “I should’ve offered to drive on these back roads.”

“You must be feeling better to joke about driving.”

“It seemed you were gone a long time at the quilt shop, but it turned out okay. I probably needed the extra time to talk to Nick. I just worried a bit that Samuel would ask Katie how long we chatted.”

“Samuel knows enough to trust you.” Aunt Carrie glanced at her. “I enjoyed my conversation with Sarah. If your
daed
ever decides to remarry and I’m not saying he should… but Sarah might be someone he should consider. She’s sweet and is a widow, but you probably know that.”

She frowned. “I never even gave Sarah a thought. Her daughter, Abigail, is the same age as Noah and Matthew. Judith enjoys having her in class. Sarah isn’t in our church district so
Daed
has never met Sarah.”

“Well, if it’s meant to be, David will remarry sometime. I know he’s not anxious to date Barbara. I took a big liking to Sarah immediately.”

“Did you meet her English co-owner, Laura? She’s nice too.”

Aunt Carrie shook her head. “No. She wasn’t around.”

“I can’t see
Daed
with anyone else but
Mamm
, but I do like Sarah. Maybe I can invite her and Abigail to supper sometime.” They were almost to the Hershberger farm, and she hated to see Aunt Carrie leave. “I’m going to miss you.
Danki
, for everything. I had a
wunderbaar
time at your house and on the beach with everyone.”

“I’ll miss you too. I can’t wait until summer when we get together at Outer Banks. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure we keep it quiet so there will be no photographers. I’ll tell Adam not to bring Nick either.”

“Maybe Nick will see Violet as someone he can date instead of just looking at her as Adam’s younger sister.” Meeting Nick had helped her work through feelings of grief. “It was
gut
to vent our grief to each other.”