The Loyal One

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  “Is it safe to come in yet?” Katie asked from the doorway.

  He heard the teasing note in her voice, which made him smile. When they’d first started tearing out the laminate countertops and original cabinets, she’d looked like she might cry. He was glad she had now put away the memories and was looking ahead to the improvements.

  “It is, but step carefully. There are nails everywhere,” he warned, taking a moment to gaze at her in appreciation. Today she had on a blue dress and apron, almost an exact match to her eyes. She had on black stockings and thick, serviceable-looking shoes. She looked like a bright blue jay in the middle of the dusty, dirty room.

  Entering the kitchen, Katie stepped carefully, looking a bit like she was playing hopscotch over the nails and chunks of wood he hadn’t swept away yet. When she stopped beside him, she looked about with wonder. “Wow, Harley. It looks so much bigger.”

  “I think it’s going to continue to feel that way after we put in the new cabinets and countertops, too,” he said with a nod. “They’re much sleeker.”

  “I’m glad we chose to do everything in white.”

  “Me, too, but you did most of the choosing.”

  “You advised me though.” She continued to walk around, even running a hand along the torn-up walls. “What’s next?”

  “I need to patch up the walls and bring in the plumber to put in that extra sink.”

  “How long is that going to take?”

  “Darren told me he could get here in a day or two. Once he gets here, it shouldn’t take more than another day or two to do his part.”

  “And then the new cabinets can be delivered?”

  “Jah.” He’d just checked the status of them early that morning. Right now they were supposed to be delivered on time, and he was grateful for that. He didn’t want to make everything harder than it already was. “Once your shiny new cabinets come in, Kyle and I can get them installed in just a day or two.”

  Her eyes widened. “There’re a lot of cabinets. You really think you two can put them in that quickly?”

  “We’re manly men,” Kyle joked as he walked back inside. Making a muscle with his left arm, he bragged, “Cabinets are no match for us.”

  “Oh, brother.” She grinned at Harley. “Remind me not to give you too many compliments, Kyle. If I do, your head will swell up.”

  “You mean it will swell up even bigger,” Harley quipped, grinning, too.

  “Ha-ha,” Kyle retorted before turning to Harley. “What now?”

  “I think this is it for the day. How is everything around the Dumpster?”

  “It’s gut. Clean.”

  “You checked for nails?” He really didn’t want Katie—or her horse—to step on one.

  “I did.” He held up a hand. “And jah, after I took a good look around, I did it again.”

  “Danke. I’m proud of you.”

  Kyle’s posture eased. “So?”

  “So, you can head on home. Ask Betty to save a plate for me if I’m not home by supper.”

  Kyle raised his eyebrows, but after darting a look at Katie, nodded. “Will do. See you later. Bye, Katie.”

  “Bye, Kyle. Have a gut night.”

  “You, too,” he said before walking back out the door.

  After the door shut behind Kyle, Harley waited for the vague feeling of tension that plagued him and Katie whenever they were alone together. Of course it wasn’t there to the same degree as it once had been, but it was usually there to some extent.

  Except now, all he felt was a sense of peace. With some surprise, he realized that he was glad they were alone. He felt relaxed around her.

  “You seem deep in thought,” Katie murmured, breaking the silence. “Is there something wrong with the kitchen that you are afraid to tell me?”

  “Hmm? Oh, nee. Actually, I was just thinking how different things were between us now.”

  “They’re better, aren’t they?”

  “I think so.” He smiled. “What do you think?”

  “I think . . .” She paused. “You know what? I was about to say that I think that things between us are now like they used to be, but that’s not quite true. It’s better.”

  “Maybe we’re better, too.”

  She smiled. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it? I’d like to think of myself improving by the day.”

  Harley almost corrected her, to explain that he hadn’t meant that each of them was better, but that their relationship had finally healed.

  But Katie’s observation was probably more correct than his was. This renovation wasn’t just revamping her house, it was restoring each of them to a certain degree, too.

  TWENTY−SEVEN

  “Not just in our underwear. The girls put on Andy’s T-shirts, too,” Marie added primly.

  ONE WEEK LATER

  Church was at Miriam Schrock’s house that morning. Though she knew it wasn’t nice, Katie heaved a sigh and half-contemplated not going. No matter what time of the year it was, something always, always went wrong when Miriam hosted. Either her field was so muddy people’s buggies got stuck, or she ran out of food, or something broke. Once, the bishop’s table had wobbled so much that his bowl of vegetable soup splashed all over him.

  Miriam had been apologetic, of course. And the bishop? Well, he’d just laughed and said that a little bit of spilled soup never hurt anyone. But the rest of them? They’d inwardly groaned.

  After all, serving vegetable soup had been a silly idea in the first place. The kinner didn’t like it, people had to carry around hot bowls, and it was a mess to clean up. No one wanted to stand around and wash forty or fifty bowls after a three-hour church service and another two-hour lunch. But that is what they’d all done . . . all while Miriam had wrung her hands and apologized.

  There was no telling what minor catastrophe was going to happen today. She just hoped whatever did occur didn’t happen to her.

  Just as she finished the thought, Katie felt ashamed. That wasn’t fair to Miriam, to any of the people in her church district, or to the Lord. After all, this was His day. Why, she could practically feel Him shake His head in dismay. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Please forgive me, Lord. I know I have many faults and I will try to be better.” After a pause, she added, “Um, also, please look out for Miriam today. I’m sure she could use your prayers and guidance.”

  Feeling better, she slipped on black tennis shoes over her black tights, put a black bonnet over her white kapp, and got out her bicycle. Two years ago, she’d bought herself a sporty blue bike with a lovely handwoven wicker basket. After popping her purse in the basket, she headed out to Miriam’s. Though clouds were forming, the sun was still peeking through. She had much to be grateful for. It was going to be a brilliant day.

  • • •

  But then the clouds got darker. An hour later, it started raining. Eventually, the light drizzle turned into a downpour. And then, because it was at Miriam’s house, half of the food and all of the serving dishes that had been neatly set outside on tables became soaked.

  All this was before Libby Wengard’s youngest slipped and fell and likely broke his wrist.

  Soon, even the kindest and most patient members of their church district began to wear a glazed look. Even Bishop Thomas looked pained. And who could blame him? Their day of worship and rest had become one of stress and cleaning.

  After Libby and her husband got small Anson into their buggy and headed to the hospital, Katie joined the other men and women her age and started the cleanup. Feeling guilty about her continued uncharitable thoughts, she took one of the worst jobs, cleaning out the now-muddy and soaked serving bowl of potato salad. Who knew that mayonnaise would make such a terrible mess?

  Soon after she deposited the soggy remains into the trash and squirted a liberal amount of dish soap in the sink, Harley walked to her side.

  “Hey, do you need a hand?”

  “Harley.” This was the first time all day they’d had the chance to visit. She was
so happy to see him, Katie couldn’t resist teasing him. “Hello to you, too. I am doing well, danke.”

  He smiled sheepishly. “Hiya. I was going to talk to you as soon as the service was over . . .” He paused, then continued. “But I wanted to clear things up with Melody.”

  She’d noticed from the way Melody was reacting earlier that she wasn’t very pleased with what Harley had had to say. “I saw the two of you speaking.”

  Looking wary, he raised a brow. “And?”

  “And, I hope it went all right?”

  “It went as well as could be expected. I told her that I wasn’t pleased with her insinuating that we were back together.” He shook his head. “At first, she tried to deny it, but then she kind of tossed her head and walked away.”

  “Oh, my.”

  “It wasn’t easy, but it needed to be done. That’s all that counts, I think.”

  “Thank you for talking to her.” Unable to help herself, she reached out and pressed her hand on his bare forearm. “It means a lot.”

  He placed one hand over hers. “Don’t thank me for that. I’m sorry she caused you any worry.” After smiling at her softly, he dropped his hand. “Anyway, I was planning to come right over to see you but—”

  After making sure poor Miriam wasn’t nearby, Katie said, “But the rain came.”

  His eyes lit up. “Exactly. So, would you like me to help you clean up anything?”

  “Nee. I’m sure there are other things you could be doing.”

  “Katie, that wasn’t what I asked. I asked if you would like my help. Would you?”

  His voice was warm. Until recently, she didn’t imagine that Harley was capable of speaking that way. At least, to her. Now that he was different, she wasn’t sure how to respond. “If you would like to stand here and talk to me while I finish, I would like that.”

  He chuckled. “That’s you, ain’t so? Always so intent on being independent.”

  No, that wasn’t how she was. If she was independent, it was because she’d had to be. She’d learned not to depend on other people. If she did, they often let her down.

  But Harley didn’t need to hear all that, so she kept her voice light. “Washing a bowl is hardly anything to worry about.”

  “Did you enjoy the service?”

  “I did.” Preacher Josiah had talked about forgiveness and turning the other cheek. Both were noble pursuits. She’d often found that they were always far easier to talk about than to practice. But, of course, she was imperfect. “Did you?”

  “Hmm? Oh, jah. I did.” He watched her again.

  At last, the bowl was clean enough to rinse and dry off. Seeing a dish towel on the counter, she handed it to him. “You may dry.”

  He took both the towel and the giant bowl and dried it. “What are you doing the rest of the day?”

  “I am planning to read a new mystery I got from the library and maybe bake some banana bread. What about you?”

  “I was planning to take a walk. But since it is raining I won’t be doing that.”

  “Where were you headed?”

  “Nowhere special. Just walking to clear my mind.”

  “Ah.”

  He rolled his eyes. “What does that mean?”

  “It means we’ve known each other most of our lives, Harley Lambright. You are a man who walks with a purpose. Not one who wanders fields and thinks about nothing.”

  “You don’t know everything about me. Maybe I am.”

  “I would agree that I don’t know everything about you. But I canna believe that you have taken up a new hobby like that without my knowledge.”

  He gazed at her. Seemed to come to a conclusion. “Would you like to go for a drive with me instead?”

  “I rode here on my bicycle.”

  “I could drop you off here later to pick it up. What do you say?”

  She wanted to say yes. But still, she hedged. Riding off with him in front of their friends and his family felt like a big step. “Well . . .”

  He snapped his fingers. “I know. We could drive over to Sugarcreek.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know. Wherever you want to go.” He grinned slowly. “We could head over to Schlabach’s farm.”

  “Harley, I can’t believe you brought that up!” She hadn’t been anywhere near Mr. Schlabach’s farm since they’d gotten run off on Andy and Marie’s graduation day.

  His eyes lit up. “What do you say?”

  If she said yes, she risked bringing up so many memories there were almost too many to name. Sweet, almost painful memories of Andy and the way they’d all been years ago. But if she said no, she would always regret it and wonder what would have happened if she’d been brave enough to say yes.

  She was a lot of things, but she had never been one to shy away from something because she was afraid. “I say yes to the drive, no to the farm.”

  “Fair enough. We’ll leave as soon as you are ready.”

  She agreed and told him that would most likely be in fifteen minutes or so. But as she watched him walk away, she wondered if she would ever be completely ready for where they were heading.

  TWENTY−EIGHT

  Tricia gasped. “I cannot believe you all did that.”

  “It wasn’t our finest hour,” Marie mumbled. “Or even our finest couple of hours.”

  Harley nodded. “Especially when Andy’s friends got word that he was having a party and brought beer.”

  “Mamm, I’m gonna be going soon.”

  His mother was sitting on Miriam’s back porch holding a baby and talking with Will Kurtz’s mamm.

  They both looked at Harley curiously.

  “Where are you going off to?” Mamm asked. Looking just beyond him, she frowned. “It’s still raining.”

  “It’s already lessened, I think it’s about to stop.”

  “All right . . .”

  “So I’m going to take Katie for a drive.”

  “Say again?” Mamm asked.

  “You heard me, Mamm. I just offered to take Katie out for a drive and she said yes.”

  Mrs. Kurtz smiled. “So it’s like that, is it?”

  It felt nice to have everything out in the open. “Hope so.”

  But his mother, on the other hand, was still looking at him in confusion. “You like Katie Steury, so you’re going to take her for a buggy ride in the rain?”

  Put that way, he had to admit that it didn’t sound like the best idea, but he was committed now. “Mamm, I’m letting you know because you’ll have to go home with Jimmy and Beth. Betty is staying late with her friends.”

  “Do they know about this change?”

  “Jah.” He was definitely not going to share all the teasing jibes they’d cast his way.

  “I can take you home later, or Will can,” Mrs. Kurtz offered.

  “Danke, Mary.” Mamm smiled at her before shifting her attention back to him. “I’m mighty happy about you and Katie, Harley. I’m glad you’ve come to an agreement.”

  “Mamm, it’s a buggy ride. That’s all.”

  “But—”

  “I’m not talking about this now.”

  “Not that it is any of my business, but people are going to talk whether you want them to know or not,” Mrs. Kurtz said practically.

  “I don’t mind anyone talking about me and Katie.” As far as he was concerned, the more they got things settled between them, the better they would be. “However, I only came over here to tell you so you could find a ride.”

  She chuckled. “I see. Well, you have put me in my place, haven’t ya? Enjoy your outing, dear. And please take care with Peanut. She don’t care for rain much.”

  “I will.”

  After glancing toward the front yard and not seeing Katie, he walked over to the covered carport, where Will was standing with Logan and a few of their other longtime buddies. They all stopped talking when he approached, a sure sign that he’d been the topic of conversation. He decided to nip the gossip in the bud. “Okay, let
me have it. What’s on your minds?”

  “Nothing other than the fact that you have finally made your move toward our Katie,” Logan said.

  “How did you discover that?”

  “Tricia told me.”

  “I didn’t even see Tricia over near us.”

  “She wasn’t,” Logan said. “But Betty was.”

  “I should’ve known she wouldn’t have waited a moment to share her news.” His little sister could relay information faster than most.

  “Oh, don’t be upset with her for talking. It’s natural to want to share that.”

  Though it was on the tip of his tongue to point out that just because something was easy, it didn’t mean it was a good idea, he fought the urge. Comments like that were his father’s forte. “I guess so.”

  Benjamin Weaver folded his arms over his chest. “You’ll be glad to know that I don’t care who you are seeing.”

  “Thank you for that.”

  “Anytime. Hey, at least the rain stopped.”

  Surprised, he looked out beyond the covered area. “I’m glad of that.”

  “Perhaps you should run home and get your courting buggy,” Will teased.

  “Stop. And listen, don’t tease Katie about this none.”

  “I won’t.” His expression turned serious. “Of course I wouldn’t do anything to embarrass her. I may not want to court Katie but I still care about her.”

  “Sorry. You’re right. I knew that.” As usual, he considered telling Will that he was feeling a little unsure, and so because of that, he was handling things wrong. But he didn’t.

  “I hope so. You know, unlike Logan, I never thought of the two of you together.”

  Feeling a little stung, he said, “Why not?”

  “Probably because she’s so vulnerable. I always thought she needed someone who wouldn’t mind her needing an extra dose of care and affection.”

  “And you didn’t think that could be me?”

  Will raised his hands like he was fending off an attack. “I’m not saying you’re an ogre or anything. Only that I didn’t think you were a good match. I’m glad I was mistaken.”

  “I don’t know what is going to happen between us but I’m well aware of the type of person Katie is. Of course I’m kind to her.”