Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two (31 page)

“That was careless of me to forget about the lights,” he insisted, holding Katie aside
so he could focus on Rosemary. “And I’m sorry if calling you so many times made Titus
grouchy with you. I—I was just hoping I hadn’t lost my chance to see you again, Rosemary.
To court you.”

She felt lighter now that they’d both apologized. But she had more to say, and she
couldn’t allow Matt’s dazzling smile to divert her. “I know a lot of changes are coming
for your family now, Matt. Just as they are for mine,” she said. “I hope you’ll understand
that I want to be myself for a while. Not a man’s widow and not another fellow’s wife.”

“Ah. So that’s to be the way of it, then?” Matt closed his eyes to think while Katie
toyed with his shirt collar.

“Maybe that sounds odd to you,” Rosemary continued. “But today, for the first time
since Joe died, I feel…like
me
again. Open to new opportunities. Ready to see this move as an adventure rather than
a problem to be overcome.”

His lips twitched. “Maybe I should look at Dat’s new job the same way,” he remarked.
“Could be that an adventurous woman will help us all see our new challenges in a fresh
light.”

Rosemary considered this as she headed toward the road and the tall white farmhouse
on Lambright Lane. It pleased her that Matt hadn’t dismissed her need for more time
to adjust. “Do you suppose we could take a look inside the Bontrager house after I
see if Beth
Ann’s opened her birthday present? It would help me think about what to bring from
Titus’s house, or what I might try to talk him into selling off. He and his wife tended
to stick stuff away—”

“And now’s the perfect time to unload some earthly possessions, ain’t so? Especially
since they’re not
your
possessions.”

Rosemary laughed as Matt fell into step beside her. “That’s a wonderful-gut way to
put it. With all due respect to Alma—”

“She had her ways, and they’re not your ways. Just like Titus isn’t your husband.”
Matt swung Katie up over his head, shaking her to make her laugh out loud. “And while
Titus has gotten used to you running his house, it won’t be that way forever. Ain’t
so?”

There was no missing his meaning as he looked at her. “True enough. But meanwhile
I’m going to set up my business in his kitchen,” she reiterated as they strolled up
the lane to Matt’s home. “So if you convince Titus to go along with these ideas when
you’re talking to him, the move will be easier for all of us. Even though the kitchen’s
not his territory, he’ll be more inclined to listen to you, as another man.”

“And then you, as a woman, would be more inclined to listen to me.”

Oh, but this fellow had a smooth tongue in his head! And yet, as they stepped onto
the Lambrights’ front porch, Rosemary realized that Matt’s attention felt totally
different from the way Joe had treated her. Her husband had loved her and provided
well for her, but he’d kept his thoughts to himself, mostly. Joe hadn’t been one to
discuss her dreams and ideas, while Matt seemed to be taking them in stride—even if
it meant putting his own hopes on hold.

As Matt held the door open, Rosemary paused so her words would be for him alone. “Thank
you for understanding what I need,” she murmured.

He set Katie on the kitchen floor, and as she toddled toward where Beth Ann, Ruthie,
and Abby sat at the table, he placed his hands lightly on Rosemary’s shoulders. “You,
Rosemary, are exactly
what
I
need,” he whispered. He looked ready to kiss her, but then nodded toward the ladies
at the table, silently promising her his affection when they could be alone.

Girlish laughter filled the kitchen. “Shall we go to another room?” Ruthie teased.
“Easy to see what you’ve got on
your
mind, Matt!”

“Isn’t that what courting buggies are for?” Beth Ann piped up, but then her face flushed.
“I mean, we’re having an early birthday party here, and you two are
welcome
to join us!”

Rosemary raised an eyebrow, as her mother had done when she and Malinda had smarted
off. “Someone here is sounding very—
thirteen
,” she teased as she approached a table littered with wrapping paper. She winked at
Abby. “But then, some days the rest of us wouldn’t mind being that age again. What
have you got here, young lady?”

Beth Ann sprang from her chair and grabbed the corner of a twin-sized quilt while
Ruthie took hold of the opposite side. “Isn’t this the most wonderful-gut comforter
you ever saw, Rosemary?” she gushed, gesturing at the crisp, fresh Friendship Star
design. “And look at these colors! I can’t wait to move into my new room—and Abby
was just saying that, as gut as I can sew, she wants me to help with some of her Stitch
in Time orders so she can spend more time managing the mercantile.”

Abby nodded, her face alight. “Best idea I’ve had for a long time, too. Gail and Phoebe
have already agreed to work at the store now instead of in Lois’s bakery. They’re
experienced at shelf stocking and they’ve helped with the ordering, so the place will
be in a lot of gut hands when Sam can’t be there.”

“And what do you know about that?” Rosemary felt a rush of goose bumps, a sure sign
that everything was working out in a marvelous, mysterious way none of them could
have planned. “I just told Aunt Lois I’m buying a new cookstove and a new oven so
I can help with her baking. So everybody’s jobs are covered—”

“Because it was meant to be!” Ruthie crowed. “I knew it from the moment I first met
Beth Ann at Zanna’s wedding. Life is a mighty happy place, you know it?”

Rosemary felt caught up in the gladness that filled this kitchen. She hoped the girls’
happy attitude would carry over. Once the rest of the Lambrights returned from visiting
over at the Grabers’, the realities of Sam’s new preaching responsibilities would
sink in. She glanced at Matt and was momentarily stunned by the intensity of his smile.

“Couldn’t have said that any better myself, Ruthie,” he remarked. “Anybody want to
join me for a look inside the new Yutzy homeplace?”

M
att matched his stride to Katie’s as she toddled between him and her mamm. Was it
his imagination, or did the grass shine with a brighter green now? Did his ewes look
fluffier, clustered out there with their lambs in the pasture? And wasn’t it a fine
sensation, crossing the road and feeling like a family? His pulse thrummed as he held
the tiny hand of the little blonde in braids, who beamed up at him with such trust—such
love—that for a moment he couldn’t speak.

Beth Ann and Ruthie raced ahead toward the house the Bontragers had vacated. Matt
knew that any words he might speak to Rosemary as they explored their new home wouldn’t
remain private in rooms that echoed with the emptiness of bare hardwood floors.

“Rosemary, look! The paint’s here, along with the rollers and ladders,” Beth Ann called
out. She opened her arms. “Katie, come see your new house! Help me pick out my room.”

Katie hurried toward her aunt and then the three girls disappeared inside. Matt held
the door for Rosemary, watching her reactions so he could gauge the details that didn’t
suit her. While this
was Titus’s house, and he would have the final say on who would have which rooms,
Matt intended to influence his new partner’s thinking. Titus was much better at raising
sheep than he was at housekeeping; he would choose options that seemed easiest for
him
rather than asking Rosemary for her opinions.

Rosemary gazed around the front room. “Jah, now that I’m standing in it, this front
room’s bigger than what we’ve had…Titus’s couch and recliner would fit on this side,
and we could put the table his dat made there by the picture window,” she remarked
in a faraway voice. As she looked at the paint Owen Coblentz had brought, rapid footsteps
thundered above them. “Looks like we’ve got antique ivory, some white enamel, and
a can or two of pale butter,” she said. “Beth Ann will want that yellow for her room,
no doubt. It would look nice in the kitchen, too. Who do we pay for this paint, by
the way?”

“Rosemary.”

She straightened to look directly at Matt. The sparkle in her green eyes told him
she’d been stalling…fully aware that with the girls upstairs, they had a few moments
alone.

“Matt.” She clasped her hands in front of her. Even in her black dress and apron,
Rosemary had a new radiance about her today.

He closed the space between them, his pulse thundering. Did he dare kiss her a third
time? With his hands on either side of her face, Matt lowered his lips to hers. She
accepted his kiss, tentatively at first, and then with a sweetness that made the concerns
of the day melt away. He savored the pleasure of having Rosemary all to himself, focused
on giving and receiving affection. While his parents obviously loved each other, he’d
never witnessed more than the occasional squeeze of a shoulder or the way they sat
close together on the porch swing…so he relied on instinct. As Matt kissed her again,
he hoped Rosemary would find him as desirable as Joe—

No, better than Joe! She’s with me now.

She eased away. “Got quiet upstairs,” she whispered.

Matt nodded, clearing his throat. “Like I’ve told Titus, I’ll help you folks bring
the sheep and furniture over here whenever you’re ready,” he said in a loud, purposeful
voice. “So what’ve you got in mind for your kitchen? What with getting a new stove
plus an oven, we might need to ask Amos to make a few adjustments.”

“Did the Bontragers have gas? Or did Salome cook with wood?” Rosemary asked as she
preceded him into the kitchen.

Matt was no expert, but this room looked the worse for wear…dingy compared to his
mamm’s kitchen. “Well—there’s a gas pipe where the fridge would’ve been and another
one here for the cookstove. So if all you need’s a hookup for an oven, it would be
pretty easy for Jonny Ropp to run you a new line.”

“Jah, Aunt Lois said he was the man for this job. I’ll check my Lehman’s catalog and
call my order in to Sam tomorrow.” Rosemary’s eyes glimmered. “Do you know how nice
it’ll be to have all new appliances, Matt? And with a fresh coat of white enamel,
these old cabinets will sparkle!”

His heart skipped in his chest. If Rosemary was happy, he was, too. Above them, his
sister’s giggles rang out and Beth Ann’s joined in as their footsteps clattered in
the hallway. While he’d grown up with three younger girls in the house, Phoebe and
Gail were out of school and worked most days—and they were beyond the giggling stage
now—so Ruthie led a pretty quiet life when she got home from school. It was good to
hear her laughing. This house felt homier already, just having the girls spreading
their sunshine upstairs.

And Rosemary—she makes it feel like a home, too. What man wouldn’t want her in his
kitchen…in his life?
Matt had a quick vision of a long table where he sat at the head with Rosemary at
his left while kids of various ages filled the chairs along each side. He could almost
smell ham and redeye gravy served up with fresh biscuits…

But this wasn’t his house. It belonged to Titus Yutzy.

Matt caught Rosemary watching him. Had she guessed at the pictures in his mind? Did
he dare ask his dat if he could build a home down the blacktop a ways, on their property?
Most young couples lived with the bride’s parents until they could afford a house,
but with Rosemary’s mamm living in Queen City that would hardly be his case.

Since Rosemary had been married before, maybe she didn’t want to live with his family
until he could have a place built. He wasn’t too keen on it himself. What with his
grandmother staying in the dawdi haus and his parents and three sisters sleeping down
the hall from his room, all of them sharing the one large bathroom, he and his new
wife would have no privacy whatsoever.

“What’re you thinking about, the way you’re frowning, Matt?”

He stuffed his thumbs under his suspenders. Would Rosemary think he was jumping the
gun if he asked her preferences in a house? Or, if he had Amos Coblentz draw up some
floor plans, would she think he was a good provider, a man who planned ahead for his
family? “Truth be told, I—”

“Rosemary!” Footsteps echoed in the stairwell, and Beth Ann burst into the kitchen
with Ruthie close behind her. “Have you seen— Is Katie down here with you?”

Rosemary’s eyebrows flew up. “No, I thought she was with you.”

Beth Ann’s stricken expression sent Matt’s pulse into high gear. “Have you looked
in all the upstairs rooms? Checked the closets?”

His sister’s expression matched Beth Ann’s as she took off to search the main level.
“Katie?” Ruthie called out. “Katie, are you playing hide-and-seek?”

“We were just— I’m so sorry, Rosemary!” Beth Ann replied in a tight voice. “We got
busy chatting about which room I’d like, and—”

“It’s all right, Beth Ann. Let’s spread out and look for her,” Rosemary murmured.
“She’s probably poking around in all these new rooms. You know how she likes to have
us chase after her now that she can go down the steps on her bottom.”