A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) (5 page)

Katie raised her eyebrows. “
Pleased
, that’s putting it mildly. I was surprised you two didn’t throw a big party to celebrate.”

“I don’t know why she had to die so young.” Her
mamm
had been so full of life and love for their family. No wonder her
daed
seemed lost without the love of his life. She wondered if he’d ever move on and get remarried. In some ways, she hoped not. It’d be hard to see another woman trying to fill her mother’s shoes.

“It was God’s will.” Mrs. Weaver squeezed her hand. “Don’t stay away too long. I’ll miss my future daughter-in-law.”

What could she say?
She might not marry Samuel. Although she loved him, she just felt doubts about everything. She couldn’t believe Timothy was also having reservations about getting married this year. Time would tell what she felt was God’s will for her. It might be to marry Samuel or it might not be His will for her life. “Samuel’s a
wunderbaar
man. And part of a
gut
family.”

* * *

On Saturday night, they ate popcorn and drank homemade grape juice while playing the game, Sequence. When it was her turn, Samuel decided to tell her something. “I called Adam.”

“Oh, does Adam want you to make furniture for him again?” Rachel showed one of her cards before placing a chip on a space on the board that matched her card exactly.

“No, it wasn’t about furniture. We talked about your visit.” He watched Rachel toss her card on the discarded stack.

“What about it?”

“I asked Adam to look out for you. You are so beautiful that I’m afraid a college guy on spring break or someone else might take advantage of you in some way. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

She looked surprised. “I don’t think Cocoa Beach is a top spot for college students to visit during spring break.”

“How do you know it isn’t?” What was Rachel doing, he wondered. Was she checking out Cocoa Beach to see how much fun she could have during her
rumschpringe
?

“Violet told me it’s not a party spot for college students. Obviously, she should know since she’s one.” Rachel cleared her throat. “I know you meant well but you shouldn’t have called Adam. I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

“Some guy might sweet talk you into riding in his car to get ice cream or something.”

She straightened her body and glared at him. “Give me some credit for having some sense. I’m not going to hop into a car with a stranger.”

Great, now I made Rachel upset with me. Not a good thing right before she leaves on her trip.
“You’re going somewhere you’ve never been before, and you told me how you want to experience new things. I love you so I’m concerned about you being somewhere new and outlandish.”

“Are you forgetting that I’ll also be with Violet and Aunt Carrie?” She frowned. “Would you like to call them too? Maybe Adam can’t handle me. I might be too wild for one adult to control.”

He should’ve kept his big mouth shut and not mentioned his call to Adam. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I have no reason to worry.”

She exhaled a deep breath. “I love you, Samuel. But if I’m old enough to marry you, then I should be old enough to visit my aunt without you calling my cousin to keep track of me.” Her green eyes filled with kindness. “But it was thoughtful of you to go to the trouble of using a phone to talk to Adam. I know you felt like it was an emergency.”

“Don’t forget to write to me.”

She nodded. “I’ll write you a lot of letters. And if I get in a car with a man, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

Before exploding at her comment, he noticed the mischievous look in her gaze. Even though he realized she was teasing him, he wasn’t reassured.
I need to get off this whole topic of her being in a new environment with new people. Her appearance should be a safe subject.
“You look pretty in your green dress. Is it new?”

Glancing down at her dress, she said, “
Ya
. Judith finished sewing it for me while I did some baking yesterday. Our year of mourning is over so she’s been making us new dresses that aren’t black. She picked out the fabric and said it made my eyes look greener.”

“
Ya
, Judith’s right.” He knew it was his turn to play, but suddenly he became worried about something Rachel said about writing. “If you plan to write me lots of letters, then it sounds like you are going to be away for a long time.”

“I don’t know how long, but even if I should stay in Kentucky for a couple of weeks, I’ll be writing you a lot.”

He grinned at Rachel. “I’d rather you’d be kissing me a lot and be here.”

She swallowed what was left of her grape juice. “At least, you don’t have to worry about me kissing an English guy on the beach.”

“Why’s that?”
Please say you only want to kiss me.

“
Mamm
told me that you should only kiss the guy you’ll be marrying.” She playfully snapped his suspender. “I’ve already kissed you so I can’t kiss anyone else.”

“So you’re stuck with me.” His heart felt lighter with her mention of marrying him.
Rachel might miss me and return home quickly to start her instructions to join the church. Then we can get married in the fall.

“That is if I decide to join the church and get married, you’ll be my husband.”

He placed his fifth chip in his row on the board. Why did she have to add
if
to her statement? He’d have some heavy praying to do in the next few weeks. He hoped it would be God’s will for Rachel to marry him. “How about a kiss right now? I already won the game.”

Chapter Four

Rachel glanced around at all the young Amish men and women present for the Sunday sing at Weavers. Some were at or near age sixteen while others were older teens. Several were her age and Samuel’s. She felt huge disappointment that Judith stayed home.
Why couldn’t Judith, for once leave her comfort zone and attend with me?
Obviously, her sister wasn’t interested in anyone from their district, or she’d have started going to these social nights. Or maybe she was interested in someone but too shy to do anything about it. How would her sister find a life partner if she never socialized? Most young adults found their spouse during the Sunday evening gatherings. If she’d been like Judith, Samuel might have another girlfriend now. It was at a Sunday sing that he’d asked to take her home. She remembered being nervous riding the first time with Samuel in his open-topped courting buggy.

Well, they might have become a couple just because their mothers were close friends. Before her mother died, they’d enjoyed spending time with the Weaver family.

She noticed Mary Zook talking with another young woman close to the long tables. She stared at Mary for a moment before turning to Katie. “Maybe Mary will meet someone this evening. There are a lot of people here from other districts.” Judith popped into her mind again.
I should’ve tried harder to convince Judith to stay for the evening singing, but she wanted to go home with their daed and boys.

“I forgot to tell you yesterday that Mary came to the bakery on Friday,” Katie whispered. “She asked when you were leaving.”

She grinned at Katie. “Should I warn Samuel? Of course, he might like attention from Mary while I’m away.”

“I’m glad you find it amusing. She’s always had her eye on my brother. I don’t want her for a sister-in-law.”

Mrs. Weaver touched Rachel’s shoulder. “Are you and Samuel staying for the singing?”

She nodded. “Yes. He went out to feed the livestock.”

“Where did Timothy go?” Mrs. Weaver directed her question to Katie.

Katie sighed. “He left after the church meal because he had a few things to do. He didn’t say what he had to do and I didn’t ask.”

Rachel hated seeing Katie’s downcast eyes. Was Timothy seeing an English woman instead of spending time with Katie?

“You two better take your seats. Samuel’s back.” Mrs. Weaver smiled at Rachel. “You don’t want a certain young woman to sit across from Samuel.”

Rachel felt a flash of irritation that even Mrs. Weaver knew Mary was interested in Samuel. Why didn’t Mary find her own young man? She followed Katie to the long table where the boys sat on one side of the long table and the girls sat on the other side. The Weavers had a removable wall which separated the kitchen from the living room in their split style farmhouse. Whenever they hosted the Sunday church service and singing, the wall was removed so a long open space existed. The area seated over a hundred people.

After sitting across from Samuel, he winked at her. “It’s been a long time since I saw you. Did you miss me?”

She giggled. “Of course.”

* * *

After the singing was over, they went outside to Samuel’s buggy. Once she was seated, he threw a small blanket over her knees. “It’s a chilly spring night so I brought hot chocolate for us to enjoy.”

“Does that mean we aren’t going back to my house right away?” Maybe he wanted a few sweet kisses between them. Pleasure went through her body just thinking of Samuel hugging and kissing her.

With a slap of the reins, Samuel set his buggy in motion. “If it’s okay with you, I thought we’d go to town.”

“I don’t know. I hate going there late at night. I’m afraid some driver will hit the buggy with their vehicle. I know you have orange reflectors on the back of the buggy and lights on the top but it still worries me. There are accidents even when there are reflectors on the buggies.”

“I understand. I can show you the picnic table some other time.”

She touched his arm. “I thought maybe you wanted to go to the store to kiss me.”

“That too.” He grinned at her. “You know me too well.”

“We can drink our hot chocolate at your property. It’s on the way to my house.” Since they were not going to the furniture store, she knew Samuel would like to stop at his newly purchased land. Pride was a sin but she thought God understand Samuel’s sense of accomplishment at buying his piece of property.

“I like that suggestion.”

“Katie mentioned you saw Timothy with an English woman. Do you think he might date her instead of Katie?”

His blue eyes met her green ones. “When I saw him with the young woman, they were laughing and talking together. She gave him a hug before she got into her car.”

“Poor Katie. She has reason to be concerned about Tim. Did he know you saw him?”

He shook his head. “I was across the street and he never looked my way.”

“I hope that’s not what changed his mind about waiting to marry Katie. I thought God specifically wanted Katie and Timothy to marry. They seem so right for each other.”

“It might still happen.”

Before passing the buggy, a driver gave a quick beep. Samuel frowned. “I wish they wouldn’t honk. At least, this driver didn’t continually honk his horn. When they do, it startles Susie and she rears up.”

“That’s one thing I don’t miss about working at the bakery. Buttercup is usually a good road-safe horse except she does get spooked from fast-moving motor vehicles. And in the mornings, many English drivers are in a hurry to get to work so they would beep their horns and pass my buggy a lot.”

“I hope you have a safe trip to Florida. Maybe I’ll call Violet’s cell phone during your road trip to see how far you are.”

“Aunt Carrie’s a good driver.”

“Is Violet going to drive too?”

“I think so. I don’t want Aunt Carrie to have to drive all the way herself.”

“Whoa, Susie.” Samuel pulled on the reins after they pulled into a wide path on his land. “We won’t stay long. The wind is picking up. I don’t want you to get too cold.”

She smiled. “I can take a little cold weather and wind.”

“I don’t know. You’re so small. The wind might just pick you up and carry you away.”

“I’ll miss your teasing.”

He unscrewed the thermos cup and poured hot chocolate into it. After he handed her the drink, he poured again in a Styrofoam cup.

While sipping their hot beverages, Rachel gazed at the twinkling stars. “The hot chocolate is
gut
. Thank you for bringing it.”

“I grabbed some of your cookies when we decided not to stay for snacks. Would you like one?”

“I’m glad we didn’t stay after the singing so we could spend time alone before I leave tomorrow.”

As he leaned to get a cookie out of a paper bag, his hand brushed against her leg. Warmth shot through her body. “No,
danki
. You can take some of my cookies in your lunch and think of me.”

“I’ll definitely be thinking about you. I want you to have a good time, but not so much fun that you decide not to come home.”

She sipped her drink, enjoying the sweetness of the mixture. “This hot chocolate is as sweet as you.”
What would happen if I can’t remain Amish? I can’t imagine losing Samuel.
“If I don’t join the church, what will we do? You’re already baptized. I couldn’t bear for you to be shunned by your family.”

“I’m praying you’ll forgive your
daed
and come home to all of us.”

“It’s not just about forgiveness but how strict the
Ordnung
is. Since my
mamm
passed on, I’ve been noticing how Amish women look older than their age.” She stared into her cup, thinking how Aunt Carrie looked so much younger than her age. “I suppose some of it is because we don’t wear makeup like English women, but a lot of it might be because we work hard all day.”

“English people don’t have it easy. They have a lot of different demands on their time than we do. I think it might be harder for them to stay focused on God. They have many distractions that we don’t have to put up with.”

“
Ya
, that’s true, but their daily distractions don’t cause them to have heart attacks at age forty-four, like my
mamm
.”

“It was God’s will for your
mamm
to die when she did. Even if she’d gotten medical attention in time, she might have still died. We don’t know. Your
daed
is grieving too.”

“I heard in another Amish district, the bishop gave permission to business owners to have cell phones to use to conduct their business. He said to charge them at the English neighbors’ houses. I’ve thought of getting a cell phone because that way if one of us has a medical emergency, I’ll have the means to call to get help instantly.” She put the empty thermos cup on the buggy seat.