[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  A cool breeze blew into the buggy, and Suzanne shivered. “It scares me to think some child might fall prey to any of those ferocious animals.”

  Titus looked over at her with obvious concern. “If you’re too upset to drive, I’d better take you home.”

  She shook her head. “After my horse threw a shoe, she started limping. Then when the dogs showed up and started chasing her, she ran like there was no tomorrow. I’m afraid if I try to take her the rest of the way home, she might become lame.”

  “She won’t if we go slow and easy, but I think it might be best if we take her to my place. It’s closer, and you can leave Dixie there until you’re able to get someone to come out and give her new shoes. As soon as we get the horse settled in my barn, I’ll drive you home in my rig,” he said.

  “That’s nice of you.” She managed a smile, despite the fact that her eyes still stung with tears. “I’ve already been gone longer than I’d planned, and I need to get home and help Mom with supper.”

  “Where were you coming from?” he asked.

  “I’d been to the Beilers’ store.”

  Titus gave Suzanne’s fingers a gentle squeeze. “During lunch today when our conversation was interpreted by the customer, I was about to ask you a question.”

  “What were you going to ask?”

  “I was wondering if you’d like to visit the Jefferson Davis Monument with me on Saturday. I really liked it when I went before, and I thought it would be fun to see it again before the bad weather sets in.”

  “Saturday’s the day of the produce auction, remember?”

  “I was thinking we could go to the monument in the afternoon, after things wind down at the auction.”

  Hope welled in Suzanne’s soul. Titus was asking her to go out with him. That must mean he was interested in pursuing a relationship with her.

  He nudged her gently with his elbow. “So what do you say? Would you like to see the monument with me?”

  “Jah, I would.” You have no idea how much I would.

  CHAPTER 45

  Fairview, Kentucky

  Titus had arrived at the auction early on Saturday morning, bringing with him a pet carrier he’d borrowed from Suzanne so he could transport three of Callie’s kittens. To his relief, by noon he’d found homes for all of them. It made him feel less guilty about getting rid of the cats, knowing they’d all have good homes. It had done his heart good when he’d seen the look of joy on the face of the little girl who had taken the smallest of the three cats and told her mother how happy she was that she’d come to the auction.

  After he’d given the last cat away, Titus stepped into the auction building, where many Amish and English folks had gathered.

  “Do I hear fifteen?” the auctioneer hollered as he pointed to a basket full of squash and pumpkins. “Fifteen … fifteen … yep!”

  Titus stayed and watched awhile as various produce items were auctioned off. Then he glanced out the door at the parking lot and noticed Ethan heading toward Suzanne’s table, which was full of baked goods. A feeling of jealousy coursed through him, wondering if he had a rival. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so hasty when he’d asked Ethan to take Suzanne home last Sunday night. Maybe it would have been better if he’d taken her home himself, even though he’d smelled like putrid manure.

  Think I’ll head over there now and see if I can tell if anything’s going on between those two, he decided.

  “Heard you had some good banana bread over here,” Ethan said, stepping up to the table where Suzanne stood. “Thought I’d better buy some now, before it’s all gone.”

  She smiled. “It has been selling quite well. Almost as well as my potted mums.” She motioned to one of the loaves of bread. “How many would you like?”

  “Have you got any I could sample?”

  “Sure.” She handed him a napkin and cut a slice from the loaf she’d been using for samples.

  Ethan wasted no time eating it, and when he was done he said, “That was sure good. Think I’ll take two loaves.”

  Suzanne put the bread in a paper sack and handed it to him.

  He grinned at her. “If I’d known you had such good banana bread, I’d have been over here sooner.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”

  Ethan gave her the money and then leaned on the table. “Say, I was wondering if you’d like to go to the next singing with me. Heard there’s gonna be another one in a few weeks.”

  Suzanne glanced to her left and noticed Titus heading her way. “Well, I … uh … don’t know. I might already have a ride.”

  “With who?”

  “I’ll have to let you know later, Ethan. I have to keep working here for the next hour, so I really can’t talk about this right now.”

  “Oh, okay.” As Ethan walked away, Suzanne couldn’t help feeling a bit irritated that he’d never paid her much attention until he’d tasted her banana bread. Was food the only way to a man’s heart? Was the fact that she was learning to cook the reason for Titus’s sudden interest in her, too, or did he see her for the person she really was?

  “Looks like you’ve done well selling your banana bread today,” Titus said when he joined Suzanne by the table.

  “It has gone fast.” She smiled at him. “Maybe I’ll bake more and bring it out to the woodshop for lunch sometime next week.”

  “That’d be nice.” He moved a little closer. “Are you still planning to go to the monument with me this afternoon?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good. We can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

  “I’ll probably have to stay here for another hour or so, but after the auction winds down, I’ll be free to go.”

  “Okay.” He started to move away but turned back around. “Oh, thought you might like to know that I brought three of Callie’s overgrown kittens here today and found homes for all of ‘em.”

  “That’s good news. Was Callie upset when you took them away this morning?”

  “Not really. I think keeping one cat as a companion for her was a good idea because when I headed out, she and Buttons were sleeping side by side on the porch.”

  “Buttons?”

  He nodded. “I decided to call him that because the little black spot on his head looks like a button.”

  She smiled. It was good to see the way Titus had learned to like—or at least tolerate—cats.

  Just then another customer showed up, looking to buy a pot of mums.

  “I’d better let you go,” Titus said. “I’ll be back to pick you up in an hour.”

  Paradise, Pennsylvania

  Fannie stepped into the phone shanty to check for messages, and was disappointed to find none. She thought it was strange that she hadn’t heard anything back from Arie yet.

  Maybe Arie hasn’t responded to my message because she doesn’t want me to have Phoebe’s address, Fannie thought. Maybe she thinks I want the address for myself and that I might write something to Phoebe that will cause her never to come back.

  Fannie left the shanty and headed up to the house. When she stepped inside, she found Abraham in the utility room, taking off his dusty work boots.

  “Why the worried frown?” he asked, touching the wrinkles in her forehead.

  “I just checked our voice mail for messages and can’t figure out why Arie hasn’t responded to me about Phoebe’s address.”

  “There’s a good reason for that,” he said, removing his straw hat and placing it on one of the wall pegs. “Arie and Noah aren’t home right now. They went to Michigan for her niece’s wedding and won’t be back until sometime next week.”

  “Oh, I see.” Fannie smiled with relief. “Hopefully, I’ll hear something back from her as soon as she gets home.”

  Fairview, Kentucky

  When Titus and Suzanne stepped off the elevator at the top of the Jefferson Davis Monument, she gasped. “This is wunderbaar! If I’d known you could see so far, I would have come up here sooner.”

  “I can
’t believe you’ve lived here since you were a girl and have never visited the monument,” Titus said.

  She laughed lightly and shrugged. “I guess that’s how it is with most folks. They travel to other places to see things instead of visiting places close to home.”

  Titus nodded. “I remember when Harold, my mamm’s son from her first marriage, came to Lancaster to visit for the first time. He was anxious to see all the sights in our area—some things we’d never seen ourselves until we went there with him and his family.”

  She smiled as she peered out the viewing window. “I’m glad you invited me to come here, because it’s certainly worth seeing.”

  Titus was pleased that Suzanne had been willing to go up to the top with him. She obviously wasn’t afraid of heights the way Esther was.

  “Should we go down now and take a look inside the museum?” he asked. “There are some interesting displays about how the monument was made.”

  “Sure, I’d like to see that.”

  They went back down in the elevator, and when they stepped outside, Titus took Suzanne’s hand and led the way to the museum. After they’d seen everything there, he bought them both an ice-cream bar.

  “This has been fun,” Suzanne said as they headed to his buggy a short time later. “I’m glad you invited me.”

  “I’m glad you came. Oh, there’s something I forgot to tell you,” Titus said as he helped Suzanne into the buggy.

  “What’s that?”

  “I called the Humane Society, and the man I spoke to said they’ve had several other calls from people in our area who’ve seen the wild dogs. They sent someone out to patrol the area and managed to capture the dogs.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “It sure is.” Titus gathered up the reins. “Guess it’s time for me to get you home.”

  “Would you like to have supper with us again? Knowing Mom, I’m sure there will be plenty of food.”

  “I’d be happy to stay.” Titus smiled. If things kept going this way, he and Suzanne would be officially courting soon. Maybe by this time next year, she might even be his wife.

  CHAPTER 46

  For the next two weeks, Titus saw Suzanne as often as he could. She’d begun working in the woodshop a few days a week, which gave them more time to visit. To makes things even nicer, Titus had been invited to the Yoders’ for supper several more times, and he’d taken Suzanne to the last singing they’d had.

  Today, the old trailer would be taken away, which meant Titus would need a place to stay for a few days until the new manufactured home was hauled in and set up. Verna Yoder had invited him to stay at their house and share a room with Russell, which meant he wouldn’t have far to go to work each day.

  Titus was glad it was Saturday and he didn’t have to work in the woodshop, because he still had some packing to do before Allen and the crew he’d hired to move the trailer showed up. Most of Titus’s things would be stored in the barn until he moved into the new house, so he’d take only the clothes he needed while he stayed with the Yoders. He planned to take his horse and buggy to the Yoders’ later in the day and would come back to his home every evening to check on things and feed Callie and Buttons. Titus had come to appreciate the cats for keeping the mice down, and he had to admit it was kind of fun to watch the two cats play.

  As he headed to the kitchen to pack a few more boxes, he thought about the other night, when he and Suzanne had been sitting on her porch, drinking hot apple cider and eating popcorn. Samson, one of Suzanne’s cats, had joined them, sitting at Titus’s feet, begging to be fed.

  Titus chuckled as he remembered how comical it had looked when a piece of popcorn fell on the porch and Samson started batting at it. Then, when the popcorn got stuck on the cat’s claw and he’d tried to shake it off, Suzanne and Titus had a good laugh.

  Titus smiled as he bent to close up a box of dishes. Except for when he’d been with Phoebe, he couldn’t remember having such a good time with any woman the way he did when he was with Suzanne.

  He grimaced. I can’t believe Mom still hasn’t been able to get Phoebe’s address for me. The last time he’d talked to Mom, she’d said Phoebe’s folks had gone to Michigan for a wedding, but surely they must be back by now. At this rate, he’d never get a letter written to Phoebe.

  As Suzanne headed down the driveway to get the mail that morning, she heard a loud meow. She turned and saw Samson, following in her footsteps. This was not unusual for the cat, because ever since he’d been a kitten he’d liked to go for walks with Suzanne.

  Suzanne’s thoughts went to Titus, and how, when he’d first moved to Kentucky he’d made it clear that he had no fondness for cats.

  she chuckled to herself. I think Callie coming to live with him and giving birth to those kittens changed all that. Sometimes when people were around someone long enough, they’d begin to see them in a different light. That had certainly been true of Suzanne and the way she felt about Titus. When he’d first come to work in the woodshop, she could barely tolerate him. Of course, she was sure the feeling had been mutual.

  Since she and Titus had become better acquainted, she’d quickly discovered how much they had in common, and now saw him in a completely different light. What she’d previously seen as arrogance, she now realized was his way of disguising his feelings of inadequacy. Thankfully, he seemed more sure of himself now, as did she.

  She’d come to realize more fully that Titus had a caring attitude toward others. He’d proven that when he’d helped out while Grandpa was recuperating from his fall. Even the way Titus had taken care of Callie and her brood was proof that he cared.

  Suzanne looked forward to the time Titus would be staying at their house while he waited for his new home to be set up. She realized that since she and Titus had started courting, she been happier than she ever thought possible. All this time she’d been saying she didn’t need a boyfriend and didn’t care about getting married, but now that seemed to be all she could think about.

  By the time Suzanne reached the mailbox, she’d convinced herself that Titus was the perfect man for her. She just hoped the feeling was mutual.

  Paradise, Pennsylvania

  When Fannie entered Naomi and Caleb’s store, she spotted Arie talking with Naomi at the front counter. She waited until Naomi had rung up Arie’s purchases and placed them in a paper sack; then she stepped up to Arie and said, “It’s good to see you. I heard you went to Michigan for your niece’s wedding.”

  “That’s right.”

  “How long have you been back?”

  “We got home a week ago,” Arie said, avoiding eye contact.

  “Did you get the message I left on your voice mail?”

  “Jah.” Arie’s cheeks turned pink as she dropped her gaze to the floor.

  “Then why haven’t you responded?”

  “Let’s go outside.” Arie motioned to the door. “I’d rather not discuss this in here.”

  Fannie glanced at Naomi and noticed a look of concern on her face. “I’ll be back to do my shopping after I speak with Arie,” she said.

  Naomi nodded. “Of course. Take your time.”

  Fannie followed Arie out the door and around back to the hitching rail where Arie’s horse and buggy were parked. She waited until Arie had put the paper sack in the buggy, then touched Arie’s arm and said, “If you got my message and have been home a week already, how come you haven’t replied by now?”

  Arie’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why would you need my daughter’s address? Are you planning to write her because you’re still upset that she jilted your son?”

  Fannie shook her head vigorously. “Of course not. Titus asked me to get the address for him.”

  “Titus did? Whatever for? Is he hoping Phoebe will come back to him?”

  “I’m sure that’s not what he has in mind. He just wants to set things right—to apologize for the ill feelings he’s had toward Phoebe and to let her know that he’s forgiven her for hurting him the way she did.
”

  Arie sucked in her lower lip and her eyes narrowed. “Is that all there is to it?”

  “Jah.”

  “All right then, I’ll give you Phoebe’s address, but I won’t guarantee she’ll answer his letter. For the last several months, she hasn’t responded to my phone calls or any of the letters I’ve written.” Arie sighed deeply, and tears welled in her eyes. “Unless God performs a miracle and changes Phoebe’s heart, I’m afraid Noah and I will never see or hear from our daughter again.”