Rebecca's Promise (3 page)

“We’re engaged now,” he said. “Remember?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” she answered as they arrived at the buggy.

John stowed the tie rope, walked to his side, and climbed in as had Rebecca. As he let out the reins, the gelding pulled the buggy out onto the road and the covered bridge. Its hooves made echoing sounds in the enclosed area, and Rebecca let her shoulder lean against John’s.

John let the sensation flow all the way through him as she looked at him—her presence, her smile, her eyes, all rolled into one. “I’m glad you said yes,” he told her playfully.

“I am too,” she said, as they headed out of the covered bridge.

Around the curves going west and then up the hill, John drove the buggy to her place. Keeping his face forward, he allowed the corner of his eye to fill with the side of her face. Breathing in deeply, he thanked God for having made the world so good.

W
here’s Rebecca?” Mattie Keim asked her husband, Lester, as she rose from the couch to walk to the front window. “Wasn’t she coming home with John?”

“I suppose so,” Lester faintly replied, his mouth full of Sunday afternoon popcorn. The bowl sat on his lap, the white kernels stark against the dark gray color of the container. His hand stopped halfway to his mouth, giving him time to reply, “They probably stopped somewhere.”

“There’s no place to stop,” Mattie said.

“Young people
always
find places to stop,” he said before his hand completed its trip to his mouth. “
We
did.”

“Maybe they stopped at the bridge?” she mused. “You think it’s warm enough?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Depends, I guess, on what you want to do.”

“The bridge,” she stood looking out the window in the direction of her thoughts. “I hope…”

“John’s a pretty upstanding boy,” Lester said. “I’m sure they’re fine. Wherever they stopped.”

“Well, there’s no place else to stop,” she told him.” You don’t just pull over on the side of the road. They certainly wouldn’t have gone all the way into town.”

“They’ll be here,” he said, absorbed in his popcorn. “It’s about time for the chores, isn’t it? Rebecca helps tonight. She’s always good about being here at choring time.”

“Yes, that she is,” Mattie sighed. “That’s why I’m worried. She doesn’t just turn up late for no reason.”

“They’ll be here,” he repeated, seeking to reassure her. “Rebecca is almost twenty-one. Remember? Sit down and have some popcorn before I eat it all.”

Flustered, she reached for a handful and picked at the kernels one at a time.

“Get a bowl and relax,” he said. “You and I can have a date.”

“Us?” She glanced sharply at him. “Are you going English?”

“Me? English? Surely not.”

She shrugged, still keeping an eye on him. “Then where is this romantic stuff coming from?”

He stared at her and replied, “Now how do you, a good Amish woman like yourself, even know the word ‘romance’? That’s English, if you ask me—using words like that.”

She bounced up for another look out the window. “There’s still no sign of them. Don’t you think you should go look for them?”

“No,” he said, still concentrating on his popcorn. “Tell me where you learned of romance.”

“Oh,” she replied and waved her hand weakly in a half circle, “You know…books. They are all over the place nowadays. Every young woman has a loved one…and all the troubles that follow the English.”

“You shouldn’t be reading those books,” he said mildly. “They don’t settle the constitution well. We don’t need romance…we’re in love. After all these years.”

She continued to look out the window, her face concerned.

“We are, aren’t we?” he asked in her direction.

“Are what?” she replied absentmindedly.

“In love.”

“Of course,” she replied without hesitation. She turned toward him suddenly and asked, “Why are you asking all these strange questions? We have been married for nearly thirty years.”

“And in love too,” he said, a twinkle in his voice.

“You’re certainly acting strange.” She turned away from the window, the missing couple forgotten for the moment. “Is something wrong with you?” She crossed the room and gently laid her hand on her husband’s forehead.

He allowed it, saying nothing.

“No.” She shook her head. “Feels fine. You’re not picking up that flu are you?”

“Of course not,” he said. “I feel as fit as a fiddle.”

“Then what’s wrong with you?”

“Maybe it’s all this love in the air,” he said, reaching for the last of the popcorn.

Mattie was silent for a moment, then said, “Oh, you mean Rebecca and John? Surely not.” She resumed her vigil at the window. “Where are they anyway?”

“Yes,” he said quietly, “them.”

Sure that she had not heard him, he was about ready to rise from the couch to look out the window himself when she turned back toward him. “You have already married off two children. None of them affected you this way. What’s wrong with you?”

He settled back down and replied, “Nothing’s wrong, really. It’s just different, these two are.”

“They seem the same to me. Maybe it’s because it’s Rebecca. You were always closest to her. But you can’t hold on, you know.”

“I’m not holding on,” he said. “Just remembering.”

“If they’re not here in five minutes, you’re going after them,” she told him firmly, turning away from the window.

Lester leaned back and closed his eyes. Yes, he did remember. Rebecca, his third child, still so young and yet mature for her age. The seriousness in her eyes after church still bothered him. Had something happened that he was not aware of? Why would she seem troubled today? She’d be twenty-one in just days. A grown woman. Lester could almost see it, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Oh, here they come!” Mattie announced. “Where could they have been so long? They so worry me sometimes.”

“They’ll be fine,” Lester reassured her as he pulled himself up from his chair. “They’ll be just fine,” he repeated since Mattie wasn’t listening anyway. He needed to hear himself say it and found comfort in the words.

J
ohn checked for oncoming traffic before letting the gelding slow to cross the little creek and head up the Keim driveway.

“You think your parents are worried?” John asked.

“Mom might be,” Rebecca said, “but she’ll get over it. Dad’s fine as long as I’m home to help chore.”

“Are you going to tell them?” John asked, without looking at Rebecca.

“You mean right now?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll have to see,” she said. “I doubt it. Not in front of everyone.”

“It’s not everyone,” he protested. “Just your mom and dad.”

“Maybe not since it’s Sunday afternoon. The younger ones could be around.”

“You afraid of what they’ll say?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” she said, mildly offended. “My parents like you. Why should I be afraid?”

“I guess you’re right. Your parents have always been nice to me.”

“Okay, then stop worrying about it,” she said. “Let’s not say anything for a while though.”

John pulled the buggy to a stop in front of the house. The Keim place lay on a knoll just off the riverbank—a white two-story house with a prominent front porch and two smaller, white pole barns in the background. Lester Keim farmed a hundred and twenty acres, a large part of which was river bottom. The Keim farm was neat, the
buildings in good shape, the barns clean. To John it spoke of a well-ordered life. That was what he wanted in a wife. And he found it in Rebecca Keim, of that he was sure.

“You worried?” she asked over her shoulder.

“I’m okay,” he said quickly. “Just a little nervous.”

“It will be fine.” Rebecca’s eyes were lit up now, her smile certain.

They stepped into the living room, and John took off his hat and immediately began fiddling with it. Both Mattie and Lester were seated on the couch, the empty popcorn bowl between them.

“Ah,” he started to say, not sure where to go from there.

Lester, seeing his confusion, came to his rescue. “Mother’s been just a little worried. She didn’t know where you were. I told her you probably stopped at the bridge.”

“Ah,” John stated again, “that’s where we were. I’m so sorry,” he said in Mattie’s direction.

“It’s nothing to be sorry about,” Lester told him, reaching for the empty popcorn bowl and rattling it. “Why don’t you get more, Mother? John might want some. I could use more myself.”

Rebecca spoke up. “John’s staying for chores. To help me. For supper too since there’s no singing in our district tonight. You shouldn’t have worried, Mother. We were perfectly safe and sound.”

“Well, you know how I am,” Mattie said, a little sheepishly. “You know how it goes with children. Nowadays you never know what can happen. I guess I worry too much.”

“Yes, Mother, you do,” Rebecca told her. “I’ll make some more popcorn while you visit.”

“That’s fine.” Mattie’s face broke into a smile. “John, it’s good to see you looking so well. Has anyone ever told you that you have a kind face? Did it come from your father or mother’s side?”

John felt himself relax. He even allowed a slight grin to play on his face. “I didn’t know I was that good looking,” he told her, finding a chair across the room to sit on.

“Oh, it’s not just that, although you are good looking, I must say. But it’s deeper than that. You must have inherited it, I think. You’re not old enough to have it on your own. There’s wholesomeness in your face. It must come from your family line somewhere.”

John felt a little touch of red gather at his collar. “I’m not sure,” he managed. “We try to live right. As all of us do, I’m sure.”

Lester chuckled, remembering his own awkwardness as a young man in the presence of Mattie’s parents. “She’s trying to say she likes you,” he explained. Truth was he liked this boy too, and there was no need to have him feeling ill at ease in his living room. “She just takes the long way around saying it sometimes,” he continued, while smiling in Mattie’s direction.

“The boy’s just fine,” she said facing Lester. “He needs to get used to us one way or the other. That’s if he wants to be around Rebecca, don’t you think? I was just trying to make a point.”

John cleared his throat, wondering if he should say what happened this afternoon. But no, they had decided not to. Besides, it would be Rebecca’s place to tell them, and also his Amish instincts were kicking in. You simply didn’t really go around announcing such things.

“I’m glad you think I come from a good family,” he said instead. “You have a nice family yourselves. Your place looks good too.”

“We like to think so,” Lester said, receiving the compliment with ease. “Not as big as some folks have, but comfortable. We are blessed of the Lord.”

John nodded. “All of us are here on Wheat Ridge. We are really blessed.”