Surprised by Love

by Kathleen Fuller

  She nodded, looking down at her lap. Then her head sprang up. “So how will we do this dating thing?”

  “Easy. We geh out.”

  “Together?”

  “Ya, together.” He laughed. “That’s what dating is about. Being together.”

  “But we’re not really dating.”

  “Right.”

  “Then why do we have to be together?”

  Reuben rubbed his forehead with his fingers. He knew Emily wasn’t dumb. She was excellent with customers and knew everything about the goods her family sold. They talked often when he made deliveries, although the conversations were rather short. But right now she was being as thick as an oak log. “Because if we’re not together, we would be lying.”

  “Wouldn’t we be lying anyway?”

  “Ya, but . . .” He frowned. Now he was confused. This all seemed so clear a minute before. “Are you saying we shouldn’t?”

  She paused. “I don’t want to drag you into mei problems. At least any more than I already have. I’m really sorry about this.”

  “Don’t be. Like I said, this will be beneficial for both of us. We don’t even have to be specific that we’re dating. We can just geh out and do things. Give the illusion of being a couple without being a couple.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” Then a wave of self-doubt came over him. “Unless you don’t want anyone to think we’re dating.”

  “Nee, I don’t mind that. I mean, it’s all right with me.” But she didn’t look at him when she spoke.

  He frowned. This was new. He’d never had any girl cause him to doubt himself before. He shoved it aside. This was Emily after all. A little plain, a little odd, and just a friend. It wasn’t like they were really dating after all.

  “We should probably get back,” Emily said after several seconds of awkward silence.

  “It’s still early, though.”

  “I know. But the longer we stay out, the more questions Mamm will have.”

  Compassion filled him. “She’s been pressuring you that much?”

  Emily stared out into the field in front of them. “I think she’s worried I’ll never get married.”

  He laughed. “You’re what, only nineteen?”

  “Twenty. All my siblings were married by my age.”

  He lifted a brow. “Wow. That’s young.”

  She nodded. “I think it’s more than mei age, though.” She looked at him, tilted her head. “Do you think I’m seltsam?”

  The question caught him off guard. He took her in for a moment, her pale features, thick-lensed glasses, and small chin. She kept to herself a lot, which he guessed could be weird, especially for a girl. But she’d never struck him as being unhappy or discontented. And if she was happy with herself, wasn’t that what mattered?

  “Nee,” he said, shaking his head. “Yer not seltsam.”

  “I’m pretty sure Mamm thinks I am. She doesn’t understand why I don’t like to geh to singings, or that I’d rather have mei head in an astronomy book than a cookbook.” She gave him a sideways glance. “I can cook, by the way.”

  He wasn’t sure why she told him that, but the astronomy part got his attention. “You like the stars?”

  “I love them.” She angled herself toward him again. “My telescope isn’t very strong and I can’t see very far, but I’ve learned a lot from books. It’s amazing what God has created—billions of stars and planets and nebulas and quarks and—”

  “Quarks?”

  “They’re particles of matter. Scientists haven’t directly observed them, but theoretically they exist.”

  He was right. Emily wasn’t dumb. She was outright smart. “And you like studying about these things?”

  “Ya.” She glanced at her lap again. “I thought about going to college once and becoming an astronomer.”

  “What changed yer mind?”

  “I couldn’t leave mei faith. I realized I could enjoy astronomy as a hobby and teach myself what I wanted to know. I’ve never regretted mei decision.”

  “Must be nice to be that sure of yerself.” When she gave him an odd look, he added, “I’m serious. It took me a while to figure out whether I wanted to join the church or not. I didn’t even have anything else pulling at me. I’m happy working with mei daed and brother-in-law. I believe in our faith and follow the Ordnung.”

  “Then what held you back?”

  “The permanence of it, I guess.” Now it was his turn to stare at the field. “It’s a commitment, one I don’t take lightly. I wanted to be one hundred percent sure.”

  “I understand that.” She smoothed her dress. “It’s the same with marriage. Just because mei siblings knew early on who they wanted to marry doesn’t mean I have to. When or if I get married, I want to be absolutely sure.”

  “Exactly.” He grinned, glad they had something in common. That would make this thing they were doing, whatever it was, easier.

  They ended up talking so long, they were surprised when the sun dipped past the horizon. “Sorry,” Reuben said, gathering the reins. “You said you wanted to geh home an hour ago.”

  “It’s fine.” Emily sighed. “I’ll handle Mamm.”

  “Like you did this afternoon?”

  “I told you I don’t do well under pressure.”

  He laughed and elbowed her playfully. “I’m kidding.” He pulled on the reins to turn the buggy back the way they’d come. “Actually, Emily, I think this is going to work out well for both of us.”

  By the time Emily arrived home, she was fully relaxed, something she hadn’t been since her mother first brought up Wayne. She’d enjoyed her time with Reuben and was relieved he wasn’t upset with her. She was also glad she could help him out the way he was helping her. She’d had no idea he was dealing with marriage pressure from his parents too. What she did know was that he liked to date. A lot. Emily thought he was unusual in that respect, since most of her peers tended to date in secret and usually only when they were at least a little serious with each other. But that was his business, not hers.

  By the time he pulled up in front of her house, it was dark. “Sorry,” he said again. “Do you want me to geh inside and run interference?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.” He really was a nice mann. He could have left her out to dry after she lied to her mother, but instead he was helping her. And helping himself. But that didn’t diminish the fact that he was doing her a huge favor.

  “So what time should I be over for supper tomorrow?”

  She lifted a brow. “Supper?”

  “Ya. I’m sure yer mamm will ask again, so we might as well get it over with.”

  If they were really dating she might have been a little hurt by his cavalier words, but she knew what he meant. “How about six o’clock?”

  “Sounds gut. Want me to bring anything?”

  “Just yerself.” She smiled and turned to get out of the buggy, then faced him again. “Danki, Reuben. I really appreciate this.”

  She could see his brilliant smile despite the darkness. “See you tomorrow.”

  Emily watched him drive off, then took in a deep breath. The gas lamp was still on in the living room, even though her parents liked to retire early. She steeled herself and walked into the house.

  “Yer back so soon?” Mamm said. She was perched on the edge of her chair, while Emily’s father was napping in the chair opposite her, a seed catalog lying across his lap. “I thought you two would be out for a while.”

  “We both have work in the morning.”

  Mamm huffed. “That’s nee excuse.” Then she smiled. “When are you seeing him again?”

  “He’s coming for supper tomorrow.”

  Her mother’s squeal woke up Daed. “What?” he said, the seed catalog hitting the floor as he bolted upright.

  “Reuben’s coming over for supper tomorrow!” Mamm clasped her hands together, her eyes shining.

  “Oh.” Daed yawned. “That’s nice. I’m going to
bed.”

  “Andy, how can you sleep at a time like this?”

  He glanced at the clock. Then back at his wife. “That’s what I do at bedtime.” He looked at Emily. “Gute nacht.”

  “Night, Daed.” Emily couldn’t help but smile. She counted herself lucky that her father was so uninterested in her social life. She couldn’t bear it if both her parents were chomping at the bit for her to get married.

  “Oh!” Mamm’s eyes widened. “What does Reuben like to eat? What’s his favorite dessert?”

  “Um . . .”

  “Surely you know such a common thing about the man yer going out with.”

  “We, uh, haven’t talked about food.”

  “Really?” She lifted a doubtful brow. “But all men like to talk about food.”

  “Reuben doesn’t.” At least she hoped he didn’t. This drove a point home—they needed to exchange some basic information before supper tomorrow. “Mamm, we haven’t been dating that long.” Two hours to be exact, but she didn’t need to know that.

  “No bother. I’ll make some baked chicken and dumplings,” she said. “That’s something everyone likes.”

  “Danki.”

  “And rhubarb pie. The rhubarb he brought over today looked appenditlich.”

  Emily stood. “That sounds perfect.” She feigned a yawn, taking the opportunity to end the conversation before Mamm drilled her any further and she couldn’t answer her questions. “I’m heading upstairs to bed.”

  “Nee stargazing tonight?”

  She wanted to. It would be another cloudless night and she would see tons of stars. But since she was pretending to be tired, she needed to play it through. “Not tonight.”

  “All right. Have a gut night.”

  “Gute nacht, Mamm.” She started up the stairs.

  “Emily?”

  “Ya.” She paused on the third step.

  “Are you happy?”

  She saw the hope and sincerity in her mother’s eyes, which reminded her that no matter how annoying her mother could be about the marriage topic, she did honestly mean well. “I am. Truly.”

  Mamm’s smile beamed. “I’m so glad. That’s all I want for you.”

  Emily returned her smile, then went upstairs. She changed into her nightgown and kerchief, said her prayers, and slid between cool sheets and a worn, soft quilt. She thought about her mother’s question.

  She really was happy. She and Reuben got along, which would make dating for appearances easy. She actually looked forward to supper tomorrow night. She enjoyed her job and her hobby and was content in the community. And her mother was pleased, which added to her happiness. Even when she and Reuben eventually “broke up,” she would get some kind of respite from the pressure of getting married.

  But what made her happiest was that she would never have to see Wayne Jantzi again.

  CHAPTER 3

  Reuben found himself looking forward to supper at Emily’s. When he told his mother he was going out again, she gave him a stern look. She’d been giving him such looks for years. As usual he ignored it, told his father good-bye, and headed out to get the buggy.

  He pulled into Emily’s driveway and continued down to the barn. The store was across the driveway from their house and there were several hitching posts there. He wondered if he should park there instead when Andy came out of the barn.

  “Evening, Reuben.” He wiped his palms across his pants, which no matter the season seemed to have grass and dirt stains on them. He was a man of the land, that was for sure.

  Reuben understood that, since he too felt a kinship with the land as a farmer. “Gut to see you, Andy.”

  “You can bring yer horse into the barn. I’ve got to geh inside and clean up. Louwanda’s picky about that.” The older man smiled. “Nice to have you over. Just come through the back door when yer done.”

  Reuben nodded and settled his horse in the barn. He was about to geh inside when he heard a shriek coming from the front yard. He ran around the house and saw Emily up in a tall oak tree. She was dangling from a thick branch.

  “Emily!”

  “Help!”

  He ran toward the tree. She wasn’t too high up, but high enough that if she let go, she could be injured. He positioned himself under her, his foot landing on a hard object. Assuming it was a rock, he kicked it to the side and held out his arms. “I’ve got you, Emily.”

  “You want me to let geh?”

  When he looked up at her, he noticed she wasn’t wearing her glasses. “Ya, I want you to let geh. I’ll catch you.”

  “What if you don’t?” She tightened her grip.

  “You want to hang there all day?”

  She looked up at the branch, then squinted down at him. “You promise you’ll catch me?”

  “Emily, I promise.”

  Closing her eyes, she let go of the branch. When she landed in his arms, the force of her weight caused him to stagger back. She wasn’t heavy, but he hadn’t been fully prepared for impact. He tripped and fell backward, landing on his backside with Emily on top of him.

  “Ooof!”

  Reuben tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him, but found it difficult with her face so close to his. Without her thick glasses, he could see what her mother was talking about. She had blue eyes that were the clearest he’d ever seen, and long black eyelashes. The bottom ones reached almost to the top of her cheek. Her dark eyebrows were perfectly shaped, her complexion flawless. When she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, he couldn’t breathe at all.

  “Danki, Reuben.” Her eyes were wide and misty. “I could have broken mei neck.”

  His hands tightened at her waist. “Yer . . . welcome.” He gazed into her eyes, feeling a tingle in his chest like nothing he’d felt before.

  Then she rolled off him and began searching the ground with her hands. “Mei glasses. They fell off when I lost my balance on the branch.”

  He stood and went to help her. She was crouched down and squinting. “Can you see them?”

  He looked around and saw the sun glinting off an object a few feet away. As he neared, his stomach dropped. “I think so.” He bent down and picked up a pair of broken, thick-lensed glasses. This must have been what he kicked out of the way. The frame was bent and one of the nosepieces was gone. He turned to her.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” She walked toward him, her nose scrunched as she stumbled along.

  Cute. But there was nothing cute about this situation. He held up the glasses. “I accidentally stepped on them when I was under the tree.”

  She squinted harder as she took the glasses from him. “Oh nee,” she said, moving them closer to her nose. Then she sighed. “It’s mei fault. They’ve been slipping down a lot, and I should have taken them to get readjusted a long time ago. I kept putting it off.” She looked up at him. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’ll pay for them.”

  “It’s okay, really.” She smiled. “This will teach me to be more careful with them.”

  “At least let me take them to get repaired.”

  “I would need to go with you. They usually take a few measurements when I get new frames.”

  Even better. He could pay for the new frames, because despite what she said, it was his fault they were broken. Another upside was that they could spend a little more time together. To keep up the ruse. That was the only reason. Now that he was committed to this, he was determined to see it through. “I’ll get a taxi and pick you up tomorrow. Unless you need to make an appointment.”

  “I can walk in for a repair.” She looked at the broken glasses in her hand. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “All right. I have an extra pair inside that I use for emergencies.” She turned toward the house.

  He followed. “What were you doing in the tree?”

  “Trying to get him down.” She turned and pointed to one of the branches. A small cat, a little larger than a kitten,
sat there calmly washing his paw.

  “He seems fine,” Reuben said. “He’ll come down on his own.”

  “I felt so bad for him. He’s a stray, and he’s come around here a few times. When I saw him up in the tree meowing . . . I couldn’t leave him stuck up there.”

  Suddenly the cat raced down the tree. As if knowing Emily was his would-be rescuer, he rubbed against her leg. She knelt and squinted at him. “Don’t you do that again.”

  “Uh, yer talking to his tail.”

  “Oh. Right.” She stood. “I’m sure he heard me.” She walked toward the house and slowly made her way up the porch steps.

  Reuben chuckled as he followed her. He had no idea she was so visually impaired. The thick glasses were a clue, but she really couldn’t see anything. When they entered the living room, she said, “I’ll be right back.” She touched the back of the couch, then grabbed the banister, fumbling a bit as she went up the stairs.

  Delicious smells came from the kitchen. Emily came downstairs a few moments later, and Reuben was stunned. This pair of glasses was in almost worse shape than the ones that were broken. The middle piece was taped together, and only half a frame surrounded one of the lenses. He had no idea how it was holding the lens in place. “Can you wear those?”

  “Temporarily. They’re not mei prescription anymore, so things are a little blurry. But at least I can see enough to get around.” She frowned. “I look stupid, don’t I?”

  “Nee.” He reached out and touched the thick piece of tape covering the nosepiece. “You look fine.”

  “You don’t have to tell a fib.”

  “I’m not.” She did look fine. Once he was used to the glasses, he could see past the lenses to those beautiful eyes. He remembered how he had gazed into them, and his heart started racing.

  “I’m sure Mamm has supper ready.” She headed for the kitchen.

  He paused, willing his heartbeat to slow. He’d never felt like this around any of the girls he dated. And he wasn’t even dating Emily, but his pulse thrummed. What was going on here?

  Emily had been embarrassed plenty of times in her life. Being a klutz and wearing thick glasses tended to cause more than her fair share of humiliation. But her face had never been so hot as when she was lying on top of Reuben. She never should have climbed up that tree. But thankfully he had been there to break her fall, or she might be sitting in the emergency room right now.