“Any time is gut for raspberry pie.”
As she was finishing up her last bite, complete with fresh whipped cream, Mamm asked, “So there really isn’t anything between you and Reuben?”
“Mamm!” She sighed. “I thought you were through meddling.”
“I am, I am. It’s just that yer daed and I both thought you made a gut couple.”
“Even Daed?”
“Yer daed isn’t as oblivious as he pretends to be.” She pressed her fork on the last tiny bit of crust on her plate, then put down the fork. “Never mind. Don’t answer that question. I won’t pry or meddle anymore.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. You’re trusting God with yer future. It’s time I did too. Now, it’s almost dark. I’ll get these dishes. Why don’t you go and do that stargazing you love so much?”
Emily bounced up from the chair and went to give her mother a kiss on the cheek. “I love you,” she said.
“Love you too.”
A short while later Emily was on the back patio, her telescope pointed at the stars. But she couldn’t concentrate on the night sky. Her mother’s question kept nagging at her. If things had been different, could she and Reuben date for real? It was pointless to think about it. She’d learned her lesson from pining for Wayne Jantzi. She wasn’t about to spend another minute wishing for Reuben Coblentz.
But that didn’t mean she was over him either.
CHAPTER 7
Emily looked at all the tables set out for the family reunion. The day was nice for it. She’d arrived with her parents two days earlier by taxi. They’d closed the store until they returned to Middlefield Tuesday.
She hadn’t spoken to Reuben since that day on her front porch. She’d seen him at church, but they avoided each other. She hoped that with a little time the ache in her heart would disappear, but if anything, it had grown stronger when she’d seen him. Yet she refused to behave the way she had with Wayne. She wouldn’t wish for something that could never be.
Spending some time away from Middlefield would help. It had been nice to see her siblings again, and she realized how much she missed them, and how ridiculous she’d been to let her past keep her from coming home.
She spent the next hour visiting with family—her brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and too many cousins to count. She was about to join some of her younger cousins in a game of volleyball when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and her jaw dropped.
“Wayne,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
He shifted on his feet. He was still handsome, with dark-black hair, nearly black eyes, broad shoulders, and a dimple in his cheek. She expected to feel the familiar pounding of her pulse she always felt when she was around him. Instead, she felt . . . nothing.
“I, uh . . .” He grimaced.
Now he was acting odd, not the confident young man she remembered. “Is something wrong?”
“Could we talk?” He glanced around Emily’s grandparents’ large yard where all her relatives were either eating or playing games. “Somewhere a little more private?”
She gestured to the large tree in the back corner of the yard. A tire swing hung from one of the huge branches. When they were standing under the tree, he turned to her. “I’m sorry,” he blurted. “I was a big jerk to you before you left Shipshe. I never should have acted that way toward you back then.”
His confession surprised her, and made her smile. “It’s okay.” And it was. She was over him, over the girlhood pain he and his friends had caused.
“Nee, it’s not. When I heard you were coming back for the Schwartz reunion, I knew I needed to see you. I had to make things right.”
“Danki,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
“So yer not mad?”
Emily chuckled. “Not at all.”
Relief crossed his face. “You’ve always been a nice maedel,” he said. Then he looked at her. “Do you want to get a cup of kaffee sometime while yer here?”
“Nee,” someone said from behind her. “She doesn’t.”
She turned at the sound of Reuben’s voice. For the second time her mouth dropped open.
“Sorry I’m late. The driver who brought me got hung up in traffic. Next time we’ll come together. No more of this separate ride business.”
Wayne looked at him, his gaze narrowing. “And you are?”
“A friend,” Emily said.
“Her boyfriend,” Reuben said at the same time.
Wayne’s gaze darted between them. “Never mind about the kaffee, Emily.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “I’m glad things are okay between us.”
“Me too.”
After Wayne left, Reuben moved to stand in front of her. “What was that all about?”
“That was Wayne.”
“I got that.” He took a step toward her. “What did he mean by things being gut between you?”
If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Reuben was jealous. But that wasn’t possible. “He apologized.”
“For what?”
She gave him a shortened version of the conversation, along with an even shorter version of her former crush. “Now that I’ve answered yer questions, it’s yer turn to answer mine. Why are you here?”
For the first time she could remember, she saw Reuben Coblentz look uncertain. “Because . . . because . . .”
“Emily!” her cousin Fannie called. “Are you playing volleyball or not?”
“In a minute.” She turned to Reuben. “My parents are sitting at the far end of that table over there.” She pointed across the yard. “I’m sure they’d like to see you. Help yourself to the food. We have plenty.” Emily started to walk across the yard toward the volleyball net.
“Emily . . . wait.”
She stilled at the warmth in his voice, the gentle urgency of his fingers on her shoulder.
“What?” she said softly as she looked up at him. When her eyes met his, her pulse sped up like it never had before.
“Let’s make it real.” He took a step toward her.
“Make what real?”
“You. Me.” He smiled. “Us.”
“But we don’t have to. Mamm said she’s going to stop interfering, and there’s nix between me and Wayne.” Which was true. But none of that explained the hitch in her breath as Reuben took another step closer.
Then he took her hand. “Come with me.”
She was too stunned to say no as he led her behind the tree, well out of the view of any watchful eyes. When he let go of her hand, his fingers lingered on hers before he drew away. “It’s time for me to come clean, Emily. When we started this, I was just trying to help you—and myself, of course. I’ve always been selfish that way.”
“Yer not selfish—”
He held up his hand. “Ya, I am. And despite what you said, I’m a jerk. At least I have been to the maed I’ve dated. But that ends. Now.”
Her heart did a backflip. “You like me?”
Reuben nodded. “Ya, Emily. I definitely like you. I came all the way to Shipshewana to tell you that. And to ask you if you’d like to geh out with me when you get back to Middlefield.” He paused, his expression growing serious. “I’m finished with breaking hearts. Yers is the only one I want.”
His words reached into her soul. “Really?” she asked, her trembling voice nearly swept away by the warm afternoon breeze.
He chuckled. “Are you just going to stand there and ask me questions?”
“What—”
His lips met hers in a gentle, quick kiss. “You were saying?”
She pressed her lips together, savoring the moment. Then she smiled, completely at peace. She knew she could trust this man with her heart and her future. Reuben Coblentz never committed to anything unless he was absolutely sure. God will provide. And it looked like he had, in the most unexpected way.
“Nix,” she said. “I wasn’t going to say anything. Except ya. I will geh out with you when we return home.”
/>
“Exactly what I was hoping for.” Reuben grinned. “We better get back before we’re missed.”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “I wouldn’t mind if we were.”
A week later a car pulled in the driveway of her parents’ home. Reuben had stayed in Shipshewana overnight with her older brother and his family before returning to Middlefield, much to her mother’s delight. “I knew there was something real between you two,” Mamm had said. “I’m rarely wrong about these things.”
“Yer always wrong about those things,” her father said.
“Well, this time I’m right, and that’s what counts.”
Now the taxi was here to take her to pick up her new glasses. Reuben opened the passenger door, stepped outside, and called to her. “Ready to geh?”
She nodded and got in the car. A short while later they were inside the optometrist’s office. “Hi, Ms. Schwartz,” the optician said. “The glasses just arrived yesterday. I’ll go in the back and get them.”
When she returned and handed Emily the glasses, Emily frowned. “I don’t think these are right,” she said.
“They are,” the optician said with a confident nod. “Try them on.”
She slid on the light frames and looked around. Everything was crystal clear. “Wow,” she said, amazed.
“How do they feel?”
“Great!” They were so light on the bridge of her nose that it would take a little while to get used to them. “Why do they feel so different?”
“We used the thinner lenses.”
Confused, Emily said, “But I only paid for the regular ones.”
The optician leaned forward. “Yer young mann made up the difference.”
She looked at Reuben, who was whistling on the other side of the room trying to pretend he wasn’t listening. She went to him and batted him lightly on the arm. “Why did you do this?”
He looked down at her, his eyes turning a little smoky. “Those glasses definitely suit you.”
“I can’t take them,” she said, slipping them off.
He took them out of her hand and put them back on her face. “Ya, you can. Now you’ll be more comfortable and you’ll still get yer telescope.” He leaned forward. “And if you say another word about it, I’ll kiss you right here in front of everyone.”
He hadn’t kissed her since they left Shipshewana, and she was almost tempted to call his bluff, if there hadn’t been so many people around. She gave him a playful grimace and went back to the optician. “I’ll take them.”
After they left the store, Reuben took her to the planetarium. “Another surprise?” she said, pleased.
He leaned and whispered in her ear. “Where else can I hold yer hand in the dark while we get to watch a fantastic light show?”
And as soon as they were seated and the lights dimmed, Reuben made good on his words.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.What advice would you give Emily about how to handle her mother?
2.Do you think Reuben was being too hard on himself? Why or why not?
3.How should Emily and Reuben have handled things differently when it came to lying about their “relationship”?
4.Do you think Louwanda will mind her own business after Emily and Reuben marry? Why or why not?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always a huge thank you to my editors, Becky Monds and Jodi Hughes, for their help and expertise. And a big thank you to you, dear reader, for going on another reading journey with me. I hope you enjoyed visiting with more characters from Middlefield, and the families from An Amish Home and An Amish Summer, while visiting some old friends from An Amish Second Christmas and An Amish Cradle.
READ MORE FROM THE AMISH FAMILY COLLECTION!
Available as an e-book
OTHER BOOKS BY KATHLEEN FULLER
THE AMISH LETTERS NOVELS
Written in Love
The Promise of a Letter
Words from the Heart
THE AMISH OF BIRCH CREEK NOVELS
A Reluctant Bride
An Unbroken Heart
A Love Made New
THE MIDDLEFIELD AMISH NOVELS
A Faith of Her Own
THE MIDDLEFIELD FAMILY NOVELS
Treasuring Emma
Faithful to Laura
Letters to Katie
THE HEARTS OF MIDDLEFIELD NOVELS
A Man of His Word
An Honest Love
A Hand to Hold
NOVELLAS INCLUDED IN
An Amish Christmas—A Miracle for Miriam
An Amish Gathering—A Place of His Own
An Amish Love—What the Heart Sees
An Amish Wedding—A Perfect Match
An Amish Garden—Flowers for Rachael
An Amish Second Christmas—A Gift for Anne Marie
An Amish Cradle—A Heart Full of Love
An Amish Market—A Bid for Love
An Amish Harvest—A Quiet Love
An Amish Home—Building Faith
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kathleen Fuller is the author of several bestselling novels, including A Man of His Word and Treasuring Emma, as well as a middle-grade Amish series, the Mysteries of Middlefield.
Visit her online at www.kathleenfuller.com
Twitter: @TheKatJam
Facebook: Kathleen Fuller
Surprised by Love Page 7