Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two (7 page)

“And I’m assuming you had enough money?” he interrupted with a purposeful gaze.

Rosemary reached into her skirt pocket for his change. “Denki for letting us choose
a few things. Beth Ann will be busy sewing up dresses for herself and Katie and new
work pants for you, too.”

“And did you find anything for yourself, Rosemary?” Sam Lambright asked with a kind
smile. Weddings were one of the rare occasions when Amish men assisted their wives
with meal preparation so the young girls could socialize: he was pulling a high-sided
wagon loaded with clean dinner plates, and he had stopped to chat with these friends
on his way to the greenhouse. Sam was more outgoing than most of the other men, probably
because he did business with so many folks in his store. He chucked Katie under the
chin, which made her wiggle her feet and giggle again.

“I found several things, jah,” Rosemary replied. “It was awfully nice of Abby to take
us inside, considering how busy you’ve all been with the wedding today.”

“If you think of other supplies you want later, I hear our Matt will soon be coming
your way with some rams,” Sam remarked. “He’ll be glad to bring along whatever you
need.”

Rosemary smiled politely. Why was everyone so set on telling her that Matt Lambright
would be driving to the Yutzy farm? Sam’s son seemed like a nice enough fellow, but
she had absolutely no interest in getting better acquainted with him. What would be
the point?

“We’ll eat our supper here,” Titus said. “It’ll save you from having to cook after
the long drive home, when it’ll be time to put Katie down for the night.”

Rosemary nodded, hoping she appeared more grateful than she felt. It was indeed a
treat to eat a meal someone else had prepared, but she sensed that a certain pair
of playful brown eyes would be seeking her out again. Soon it would be time for the
tradition of “going to the table,” when Zanna and Jonny would pair up the unmarried
wedding guests for supper, so Rosemary decided to disappear to the kitchen, where
she could wash dishes. She certainly had no place among the unmarried folks, though,
at twenty-three, she was younger than some of them.

She hadn’t gone ten steps toward the house, however, when she
noticed Matt Lambright leaning against a tree. Katie laughed at the silly face he
was making, clapping her hands over her eyes to imitate him. Had Matt been the reason
her daughter was so wiggly while she was talking to Titus? Had Matt been waiting to
see
her
?

He stepped toward her, smiling. The breeze sifted through his wavy brown hair and,
as he closed the distance between them, Rosemary noticed how his black vest accentuated
his broad shoulders…how fit and strong he was compared to the older men she’d been
spending her time with lately. “I was hoping we’d have a chance to visit before they
call us to supper,” he said.

“Puppies?” Katie piped up. She pointed toward the pasture gate.

Before Rosemary could nip that idea in the bud, Matt put his fingers to his lips.
With a loud, piercing whistle he summoned his border collies, and even as Katie covered
her ears with her hands, she was squirming to get down.

“I’m not so sure this is a gut idea,” Rosemary protested, struggling to keep hold
of her child. “I was going to help your mamm and Abby set out the supper.”

“With all the neighbor ladies and the Lambright women—Dat and I are the only two fellas
in the family, you know—I’m thinking our helpers will be tripping over one another.”
Matt turned toward her again, a smile lighting his entire face. “How about if you
be our guest for the day, Rosemary? It’s your turn to be the served rather than the
server.”

Her heart fluttered, yet she frowned. Matt’s words were very thoughtful, but she had
no intention of spending the rest of the day with him. Had he told Zanna he wanted
to be matched up with Rosemary for supper? “I’m about to put Katie down for a nap—”

“No nap!” Her daughter squealed and clapped her hands together. Matt’s two black-and-white
dogs were loping toward them, their tongues lolling and their gazes alert. “Puppies!
Play with the puppies now!”

Matt held out his arms, entreating Rosemary with his chocolate-colored
eyes. “Maybe if I hold her, down here where she can pat the dogs—”

“Pleeease?” Katie pleaded as she reached for Matt. “Wanna play with the puppies, Mama.”

Utterly frustrated, Rosemary turned her daughter over to Matt…and was dismayed by
how rapidly Joe’s child grabbed this stranger around the neck. Katie danced in the
air as Matt lowered her to the ground. Thank goodness the two dogs sat with their
ears pricked up, remaining absolutely still while Katie fussed over them.

“Stand right here with me, Katie, and I’ll show you some tricks my dogs know,” Matt
instructed quietly. “It’s always best to get their attention first, calling them by
name. Can you say ‘Panda’?”

Katie gazed into Matt’s face as he crouched beside her. “Pan-dah!”

“Jah, you’ve got it. Can you say ‘Pearl’?”

The toddler frowned, as R’s were still difficult for her to pronounce. She studied
the way Matt’s mouth moved as he said the dog’s name again, more slowly. “Puhh-el?”
she mimicked.

“Jah, that’s the girl dog’s name,” Matt confirmed, “the one with the white face. Now
say, ‘Panda, speak!’”

“Pan-dah—speak!”

The male dog
woof
ed and wagged his fluffy tail. Beside him, Pearl quivered with the same excitement,
waiting for her turn to perform. While Rosemary enjoyed watching well-trained dogs—and
she realized how important Matt’s two helpers were in his sheep business—it was another
thing altogether that Katie had become so enthralled with this man and his border
collies.

“Now let’s give Pearl a turn,” he suggested as he kept an arm crooked around Katie’s
waist. “Say, ‘Pearl, shake hands.’”

Katie focused intently on the white-faced dog. “Puhh-el,” she said as clearly as she
could, “shake hands!”

The female dog immediately lifted her paw.

“Nice and easy now,” Matt murmured, “you can shake Pearl’s paw.”

Rosemary held her breath. Katie loved every animal she met. She had to be reminded
that horses were easily spooked when they were approached from behind by little girls
they couldn’t see and that birds and squirrels weren’t as tame as the kitties that
lived in the barn. As her daughter reached for the dog’s paw, it was a wonderful thing
to behold Katie’s enthralled grin even as Rosemary realized this was a game her daughter
would want to play every time she saw a dog.

But isn’t it nice when something so simple can make someone so happy?

Rosemary blinked. Where had such a thought come from? And while she knew Katie should
be around men besides her grandfather, her mother’s heart—her widow’s heart—was reluctant
to let go…to allow her toddler to delight Matt Lambright the way he was so effortlessly
enchanting Katie. It was too soon after Joe’s death to even consider the attentions
of another man. Rosemary simply didn’t have time for a new relationship. Keeping house
for Titus, raising Katie, acting as a stand-in mother for Beth Ann, and baking pies
for two cafés required every ounce of energy she could muster.

How could she tell Matt she wasn’t interested in him without ruining the joy he’d
created for Katie? As Rosemary considered her words, a loud voice rose from the crowd
of young people who’d gathered near the greenhouse.

“It’s time for our unhitched friends to partner up,” announced Jonny Ropp, standing
behind them. “As we read your names, you fellows are to take your girl by the hand
and go inside. We did our best at matching up all you cousins and friends from out
of town.”

Rosemary’s heart pounded painfully. She turned to look at Jonny Ropp, the handsome
young groom, as he stood beside his new wife. Their faces glowed with happiness—and
a hint of mischief.

“Oh my,” she gasped as she reached for Katie. She wanted no part of this matchmaking.
Such a wedding game was for folks who were still searching for their life partner,
and that didn’t include her. “Come on, punkin, it’s time for your nap.”

“Nooo!” Katie howled, struggling against the hands around her waist. “No nap! Play
with the puppies!”

Rosemary’s face felt like it was on fire. No doubt her daughter’s outburst had brought
Jonny’s announcement to a halt, and the whole crowd was gawking at her, thinking she
had no control over her child. But this was a minor, momentary humiliation compared
to sitting beside some poor fellow she didn’t want to talk to as they endured the
evening meal.

“Rosemary, it’s all right.” Matt leaned closer to make himself heard above Katie’s
wailing. “I’d be honored to sit by you—”

“You don’t understand.” Rosemary held Matt’s gaze as best she could, considering she
had a toddler kicking and screaming in her arms. “I still miss my husband too much
to— Surely Zanna’s picked a nice girl from Cedar Creek for you to sit with.” Holding
fast to her crying child, Rosemary hurried toward Abby’s tiny white house. Like Katie,
she needed a place to settle down so she wouldn’t spoil the matchmaking game for the
other guests.

But Matt didn’t take the hint. He raced ahead to open Abby’s front door, and then
he gazed earnestly at her. “Can I call you tomorrow, Rosemary?”

Her mouth fell open. “I—I bake pies on Friday mornings, to deliver in the afternoon,”
she insisted as she stepped inside. Katie’s wails echoed in the simple, clean front
room, yet Matt didn’t seem to notice.

“What about Saturday?” he insisted. “Or if Sunday after the preaching service would
be better—”

Rosemary muffled Katie’s cries against her shoulder. Her temples were starting to
pound, and all she wanted was a quiet place to be alone. “All right then, Saturday
afternoon,” she rasped. “But please understand, Matt. I’m not ready for another man
in my life. And maybe I never will be.”

“And maybe I can change your mind about that.” He placed his hand lightly on Katie’s
shuddering shoulders. “After what Titus has
told me, I hope you and I can be gut friends, Rosemary. Close friends, in time.”

What could she say to that? It seemed much too soon to consider a relationship, yet
he was already counting on one. And how was it that Matt’s touch seemed to be calming
her daughter’s crying fit?

“I’ll call you around two then—after dinner and before you’d be starting supper. Will
that work?”

She blinked. Men seldom had any notion about timing their activities around hers.
“I—I suppose I could talk for a bit then.”

“Wonderful-gut!” Matt gazed at her, still rubbing her daughter’s shoulders. “Katie
seems more ready for a nap, so I’ll slip out now. Talk to you on Saturday.”

As he departed with a shine in his brown eyes, Rosemary could only stare after him.
What had she just gotten herself into by agreeing to take his call?

At a serving table inside the greenhouse, Abby cut a peach pie into eighths and slid
the pan over so her friend Emma could place the slices on plates. A pleasant breeze
came through the open windows and the places were set at the long tables draped with
white cloths. The sandwiches and salads had been put out, awaiting the young couples
who would enter as Jonny called out their names. The white wedding cake graced the
eck, the raised corner table where the wedding party would eat. Once the plates of
pie were arranged on this serving table, she and Emma could relax.

Emma lifted a wedge of pie with her metal spatula. “Do you suppose Zanna and Jonny
matched us up with anyone?” she asked as she glanced at the crowd outside.

Abby was wondering the same thing. She had declared herself a maidel when she’d had
her home built, after starting her Stitch in Time business, and yet…it would be a
nice surprise if she got to sit beside James, wouldn’t it? But if her sister had matched
her up with another fellow because there wasn’t a more suitable young woman to
pair him with, well, she was beyond feeling the evening would be ruined because of
that. Emma, however, was a few years younger than she, still eager to court and marry.

Abby raised her eyebrows at her best friend. “Anybody who’s between sixteen and thirty
is usually included in the bride’s pairing up,” she pointed out. “That includes us—and
you’d be mighty happy to be matched up with Matt. Am I right?”

Emma’s expression wavered between hope and despair. “Seems he’s mighty interested
in that gal with the little girl, showing off his dogs and—”

A loud wail made Abby glance outside, but with such a crowd around Jonny it was impossible
to see whose child had begun to fuss. “Rosemary Yutzy came with her father-in-law,
Titus, today, not so much because she wanted to but because he refused to let her
stay home.”

“And they drove all the way from Queen City?”

“Jah. Seems Titus wanted to talk to Matt about his sheep.” Abby heard envy and frustration
in her friend’s voice, and she understood Emma’s predicament perfectly. She, too,
loved a man who seemed to have no notion of her feelings for him. The fact that she
and Emma were sweet on each other’s kin and lived right across the road from them
added an ironic twist to their situations.

“Maybe Matt’ll lose interest in her,” Emma replied tartly. “James has driven us to
Queen City for the last few holiday dinners, and it’s a long couple of hours. Or maybe
the trip seems endless because Mamm fusses at Dat, and he doesn’t want to hear her.”

Outside, Jonny’s voice carried over the crowd around him. “Owen Coblentz and Phoebe
Lambright,” he called out. He waited for a few teasing whistles to die down before
announcing the next couple. “Gideon Ropp and Gail Lambright.”

“Oh, that’ll make Gail happy,” Abby murmured. The wailing of that fussy child got
louder, and she caught sight of Rosemary Yutzy heading down the lane toward her house
with a squirming,
screaming Katie on her hip—and Matt jogging ahead to open the door.

Abby glanced at Emma, relieved that she was too busy cutting pies to notice the way
he was talking to Rosemary in the doorway. “I’ll take these empty pie pans to the
house,” she said, carefully starting toward the rear exit of the greenhouse with a
stack of them in her arms. “I’ll be back in a few.”