Plain Promise (25 page)

She closed her eyes tight. Milo didn’t smell like Kade. He was taller than Kade, towering over her by almost a foot.
He isn’t Kade.

“Sadie,” he whispered. He held her tighter. “I couldn’t wait until spring.” He pulled away from the hug, but kept his strong hands on her arms. “I began my travels two weeks ago, but a blizzard kept me away for almost a week. I haven’t been able to phone you . . .” He paused and fused his eyes with hers. “Sadie, you are more beautiful than I could have pictured in my mind.”

“
Danki
.” She looked away, blushed. “Let’s go in out of the cold,” she said.

Milo followed her up the porch steps, and Sadie felt as though she were in a dream. She should have been walking on clouds in this dream she’d harbored for two years. But instead, the fantasy of Milo and the reality of him faced off like competing emotions, confusing Sadie so that she wasn’t sure what she felt.

Sadie prepared some hot cocoa, then sat down on the wooden bench at the kitchen table across from Milo.

“It’s so
gut
to finally be here.” Milo’s eyes shone. He was everything she imagined him to be. “I reckon that after all this time, you might have been thinkin’ I wasn’t coming.”

Sadie shook her head, though it had been exactly what she’d been thinking. “I knew that someday we would meet.” She sipped her cocoa. This man was a stranger, despite all their correspondences. It felt odd for him to be sitting here at her kitchen table.

But now that he was here, Sadie tried to reconcile her thoughts and recall how much she’d longed for this day.
Everything will be fine
now.
She planned to continue telling herself that for as long as necessary, until things were as God intended them to be.

“You have a fine homestead,” he said. “I’m anxious for you to travel with me to Stephenville. I read much about Lancaster County in the
Budget
and the
Die Botschaft.
And from what little I have seen of your fair county, it has much more population than where I come from. As I wrote in
mei
letters, our Order is small compared to Lancaster County.”

How much smaller?
She took in a breath and exhaled slowly as she thought about the possibility of living somewhere else.

“I will need to talk with Katie Anne and Ivan to make arrangements for you to stay with them while you’re here. They have been expecting for you to be their guest whenever you arrived.” Sadie hoped the last-minute notice would be all right with Katie Anne. “Katie Anne is at my shop right now.” Sadie pointed out the window, where she could see in the distance all the women still peering through the window toward her farmhouse. She was tempted to close the blind, but instead, she smiled to herself.

“I don’t want to be a bother for anyone, and I don’t mind getting a room in town or—”

“
Ach
, nonsense. Katie Anne and her husband, Ivan, will love to have you in their home. They haven’t been blessed with
kinner
yet, so it’s just the two of them.”

“Sadie, I feel like I know you so well.” He smiled at her, the way a man does when he’s smitten. She smiled back, but she wasn’t feeling like she knew Milo very well at all. She knew the voice on the other end of the phone, the penmanship in the letters she’d received. But the man before her seemed like a stranger, familiar yet unreal.

“
Ya
. It is so
gut
to finally meet you in person,” she said.
Very
handsome
, she thought again, as her eyes met his. “How long will you be staying?”

Milo’s forehead wrinkled. “Not as long as I’d hoped. Due to
mei
delays with the weather, I will need to leave in a few days. On Saturday.”

“That’s only three days from now.” After all this time, after two years, and he could only stay for three days?

He reached over and placed his hand on hers, which rattled Sadie a bit, but she didn’t move her hand. “Come to Texas with me on Saturday. I have two bus tickets for us to travel together. You can come before the harvest begins, and we’ll have time to get to know each other.”

It was so sudden. Sadie had never been out of Lancaster County before, much less across the United States to Texas. “Can’t you stay here a bit longer?” she countered.

“I would love to stay in your community, get to know your family and friends, but I must prepare the fields for harvest. We only have a small family harvest, and I work at my carpentry.
Mei
sisters and
mamm
will keep you company when I’m not able to, and they will introduce you to members of our community, in hopes that you will want to stay.” He paused, then smiled. “In hopes that you will want to stay with me and become
mei fraa
someday.”

They’d talked about it on the phone many times, and corresponded about it in letters as well, but hearing Milo recite their plans right here at her kitchen table was almost overwhelming. This was her home. There was her shop, her friends . . .

Milo’s expression was kind, sympathetic. He still had his hand atop hers, and Sadie feared her hand was growing clammy at the thought of leaving. “I know how hard it would be to leave your community, the only place you’ve ever known. Don’t think I would take that lightly, Sadie.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “But our life will be
wunderbaar gut
, and
mei mamm
, sisters, and the rest of the district will welcome you with their arms and hearts open. Leave with me on Saturday, Sadie? Stay as long as you like.” He smiled. “Perhaps, forever.”

Sadie couldn’t help but smile. He was offering her everything she’d dreamed of. But yet, she felt almost relieved to have an excuse not to go. “I would love that, Milo. But I have a renter in the cottage. He will stay through March, and he has his young child with him.”

Milo’s face sank, and he took a deep breath. “I understand.” Then he forced a smile. “Then we shall enjoy the time we have while I’m here.” He gave her hand another squeeze.

“
Ya
. For sure we will have a
gut
time.” But all Sadie could think about was whether or not he would be leaving in time for her to prepare supper for Kade and Tyler.

She heard footsteps coming up the steps. And then a knock.

“Excuse me.” She pulled her hand from beneath Milo’s and walked to the door. When she opened it, she wondered if her face lit up the way her heart did. “Kade, Tyler, come in.” Sadie stepped aside and motioned them into the kitchen. “You two come in here out of the cold.”

Milo stood up when Kade and Tyler walked into the kitchen. “Milo Troyer,” he said, extending his hand to Kade.

“Kade Saunders.” Kade returned the handshake, but his eyes cut to Sadie’s, his expression reserved.

“Hello there,” Milo said to Tyler. As was his way, Tyler’s eyes were all over the place, until they landed on Sadie.

“Tyler loves Sadie.” He ran to her. “Hug.”

Sadie wrapped her arms around Tyler. “Sadie loves Tyler too.” She looked up at Milo. “And this is Tyler,” she said proudly. “Sit down, everyone.” She ushered Tyler to the bench and helped him get situated.

“Uh, no. We can’t stay,” Kade said. “We came to say thank you for telling us about the off-the-beaten-path tour. We had a great time.”

He doesn’t look like he’s having a great time
, Sadie thought, as she tried to catch his eye. But Kade refused to look at her. And his tone hinted that he’d returned to the man who arrived a few weeks ago—cold, aloof.

“I’m getting ready to make supper.” Sadie smiled. “Beef stew. Please stay.” Her eyes were pleading with Kade, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Milo noticed.

“No, I know you’ve been waiting a long time to meet Milo, so Tyler and I are going to excuse ourselves.” Kade walked toward Tyler. “Tyler, let’s go to the cottage so Sadie and her friend can spend some time alone.”

“No, that’s not necessary. I have plenty . . .” Sadie was feeling desperate.

“Sadie’s right. Please stay,” Milo said. “I was just telling Sadie how I’d hoped she would be able to travel with me to Texas on Saturday, but she explained that she had a renter. It’s nice to meet you.”

But Kade didn’t sit down. He stared hard at Sadie and then looked at Milo. “There’s no reason Sadie can’t go to Texas with you. Tyler and I will be fine. As a matter of fact, Sadie, maybe you should take this opportunity to go while we’re here. I can take care of your animals.”

“But you know nothing about taking care of animals,” Sadie said.
Why is he doing this?

“I’m sure Milo can give me a lesson or two before you leave.” Kade smiled and arched his brows toward Milo.

“I would be happy to.
Wunderbaar
news!” Milo glanced at Sadie. “Isn’t it, Sadie?”

“
Ach
, no. It wouldn’t be right.” Sadie shook her head with determination. “I provide Mr. Saunders with groceries, and it’s not his place to tend to my farm while he is leasing the cottage. I won’t hear of it. No. It wouldn’t be right.” She continued to shake her head.

“No, no. You take this opportunity,” Kade said. “Tyler and I will be fine. We are quite capable of getting our own food and taking care of ourselves.” He paused. “Unless, you don’t trust us here or—”

“Of course I trust you,” Sadie snapped.

“Then that settles it.” Kade extended his hand to Milo. “Milo, a pleasure to meet you. Enjoy your time with Sadie. She seems like a fine woman. You two go to Texas, and I’ll keep an eye on things here.”

“You know nothing about a farm.” Sadie folded her hands across her chest.

Milo stood up to shake Kade’s hand, and as if Sadie wasn’t even in the room, he said, “
Danki
, Mr. Saunders. Sadie and I have been waiting for this for a long time.”

“As much as I would love to go, I’m afraid Mr. Saunders had a tragedy recently, and he probably has to leave soon. When he leaves, I can come to Texas then.”

“No. I’m not leaving. In another six weeks, perhaps I’ll be ready to go back to L.A., but for now, Tyler seems to like it here, and I can conduct my business via conference calls.” Kade helped Tyler to his feet.

“Milo, will you be staying here with Sadie?” Kade still refused to look at Sadie.

Milo looked as shocked as Sadie. “Uh, no,” Milo said. “I will be staying with friends of Sadie’s, of course.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose anything else would be
inappropriate
.” The way Kade said the word
inappropriate
made Sadie want to swat him, a feeling she’d never had before.

Sadie stood dumbfounded as Kade and Tyler walked out the door. “Have a good evening,” Kade said.

As he closed the door behind them, Milo said, “What a nice man to offer to tend to the place so you can join me.” He sat down across from her. “Sadie?”

“
Ya
?”

“Are you sure you want to come with me to Texas? You seem to be puttin’ up quite a fight.”

Maybe it was the kind, honest way he directed the question to her, but Sadie said, “Of course I want to come.”

He put his hand on hers again. “I know you’re nervous. I’m nervous too. But I feel like this is God’s plan for us. Everything will be fine.”

“
Ya
,” she said, forcing a smile. “I should start some supper. Why don’t you go rest in the den, warm yourself by the fire.”

“I am a mite tired from my travels,” Milo said. He stood and walked toward the den, but he turned around before he rounded the corner. “Sadie, you really are a vision. I’m glad I came.”

“Me too.” She smiled back, although at the moment, Sadie wasn’t glad about one single thing. And she’d like to get her hands on that Kade for pushing her into a situation that she didn’t have time to think on.

Her eyes were filling with tears, and she was glad Milo was resting on the couch and not insistent on helping her in the kitchen, the way Kade had. No need for him to see her with such worry in her heart. And anger. And hurt. She had thought there might be something between her and Kade. Clearly, she was wrong. He’d practically insisted that she leave with Milo. If he cared one bit, he wouldn’t have done that.

The pain in Kade’s heart was immeasurable. It was one thing to hear Sadie talk about her past with Ben, but entirely another to envision her with Milo. The thought of her running off to test a potential new life with him was a concept Kade had trouble comprehending, but if he’d learned one thing from Sadie, it was that he wanted to be a better man. Holding her back would be a selfish thing to do. She had an opportunity with this man, a chance at happiness with someone of her own kind. Offering to stay here, alone with Tyler, and pushing her to go with Milo was indeed the most unselfish thing Kade had ever done. She was going to go eventually; might as well be now.

The truth was, he should be going back to L.A., but with or without Sadie here, he wasn’t ready to face the real world yet. He planned to use this time to get to know his son. As he watched Tyler rolling across the floor in the den, giggling, Kade thought about how much things had changed between him and his son since Monica had dropped him off. They still had difficult moments, but he was learning about Tyler, finding out the things that made the boy laugh, things that made him sad. Tyler had his own personality, despite his challenges.