But that would leave them in Caleb’s company even longer. Katy was sweaty, tired, and ready to go home. “But —”
“You have to be in charge.” Caleb slapped the reins into Katy’s hands. “Make him follow your directions — don’t follow his — or you’ll end up where you don’t want to be.”
Katy sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, Caleb was right. If she was going to lead Rocky, she needed to establish her authority early on. With tugs on the reins and several teeth-clicks, she convinced the horse to reverse enough to return to the east-west dirt road. They started off again.
“Crazy horse,” Caleb muttered, settling into the seat again with his arm behind Katy. “He’s got a mind of his own.”
Shelby leaned forward slightly and looked at Caleb. “Will he try to escape Katy’s corral and run home every time we get him out?”
Caleb puffed up importantly. “He might, but that’s why I want Katy to make him mind. That’ll let him know she’s his boss.” He tapped her shoulder again. “At least, for now.”
Katy angled her shoulder forward to avoid his hand.
“When you girls come to my party on Friday, he might get confused,” Caleb went on. “You’ll prob’ly wanna get him out quite a bit — drive him up and down the roads and then back to your place just for practice so he knows he’s supposed to be with you.”
Shelby looked at Katy. “We’re going to a party?”
Katy shrugged. “I’m —”
Caleb grinned. “Yeah! A singing and —”
“I’m not sure.” Katy cut short Caleb’s statement. “It’ll depend on how Aunt Rebecca’s doing.” She gave the reins a tug, guiding Rocky to turn north. “If she can’t be at the store at all, I’ll have more responsibility there. I probably won’t have time to go to parties.” Katy felt a little guilty using Aunt Rebecca as an excuse, but she wasn’t certain she wanted to attend Caleb’s party. Especially with Shelby along. It might be awkward. “As for your suggestion, Caleb, about driving to help Rocky figure out where he’s supposed to be right now, we’ll get plenty of driving in, taking the cart to Aunt Rebecca’s shop each day.”
Caleb scrunched his lips to the side for a moment and stared at Katy. His intense scrutiny made her ears go hot. Finally he said, “I’m sorry. About your aunt, I mean. It’s gotta be rough, knowing she’s got something like cancer.”
Just hearing the word spoken out loud sent Katy’s stomach into whirls of nausea. She swallowed and didn’t answer.
“Mom’s gonna go check on her, see if there’s anything she can do to help … with the kids and the house and stuff.” Caleb nudged Katy again, but this time she didn’t pull away. “If there’s anything I can do … you know, like mow their yard or something, would you let me know?”
Katy stared at Rocky’s swishing tail while tears stung her eyes. Caleb had never been so nice. “S-sure, Caleb. Thanks.” Rocky snorted, alerting Katy they’d reached Caleb’s lane. She slowed Rocky and guided him on the curve that led to the house. The crunch of the wheels seemed loud in her ears as she drew the horse to a stop right outside Caleb’s back door. She forced a smile. “Well, here you are.”
“Yeah.” But Caleb didn’t hop down. His arm rested against Katy’s back, warm and somehow comforting. “Rocky’ll be fine. You handled him real good, Katy.”
Real well, Katy’s thoughts corrected, but not in an unkind way. “Thanks.”
And still Caleb didn’t get down.
The back door squeaked open and Mrs. Penner stepped out. Her freckled face, usually wreathed with a smile, looked serious. She stepped to the edge of the cart and reached across Shelby to cup Katy’s hand with her soft fingers. “Katy, I heard about Rebecca. I’m so sorry.”
Katy nodded. Would cancer now be the subject of every conversation? If so, Katy wasn’t sure how she’d handle it. It was such an ugly word.
“Please let her know she’s in my prayers. I intend to take a meal over Thursday so she won’t have to cook after her first treatment.”
Katy nodded again, but her voice seemed to have escaped her.
Mrs. Penner shifted her attention to Shelby. A soft smile curved her lips. “You must be Katy’s friend from Salina. I’m Caleb’s mother.”
“I’m Shelby Nuss. It’s nice to meet you,” Shelby said.
“I’m sure Katy is glad to have you here, Shelby—you’ll provide a needed distraction.”
Shelby flicked a grin at Katy. “I hope so.”
Mrs. Penner gave Katy’s hand a quick squeeze and stepped back. “Caleb, come on in now and get your supper.” She waved at the girls then disappeared into the house.
Caleb slowly removed his arm from the back of the seat. His fingers brushed across Katy’s shoulders. Little shivers traveled down her arms to her fingers, and she tightened her grip on the reins. He climbed down then stood looking at Katy with a sad yet tender expression in his pale green-blue eyes. “Enjoy the cart now, Katy.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and scuffed to the back porch. Before stepping inside, he sent one more look toward the cart — a look Katy couldn’t quite decipher.
The moment the door closed behind him, Shelby said, “You know, he’s a little geeky, but he’s kind of nice too.”
Katy gave the reins a snap, setting Rocky in motion. She didn’t answer Shelby, though. Caleb had been nice. And somehow the nice Caleb bothered her more than the teasing Caleb. But she didn’t know why.
Chapter Four
During the first days of Aunt Rebecca’s radiation treatments, Katy and Shelby developed a routine that worked well for them. After Katy opened the shop, Shelby took up residence on a tall stool behind the cash register counter. Katy had showed her how to record the purchases and returns, so Shelby took over the bookwork and money exchanging while Katy cut fabric, straightened the shelves after shoppers rearranged items, and did the cleanup at the end of the day. Rocky dozed peacefully in a patch of grass behind the fabric shop, seemingly content with his new surroundings.
Aunt Rebecca came in each afternoon — sometimes for the entire afternoon, sometimes for only an hour or so — but it seemed to make her feel better to check in on the girls. So even though Katy believed they could handle the shop alone, she didn’t begrudge Aunt Rebecca’s visits. But seeing her aunt change day by day as the treatments robbed her of energy and appetite made Katy’s heart ache, and as the days slipped by, Katy found herself wishing Aunt Rebecca would just go home after her treatments so she wouldn’t have to witness their effect. Guilt for her selfish reaction nearly tied her stomach into knots.
On the second Friday of Aunt Rebecca’s radiation treatments — her seventh treatment — she entered the shop shortly after two o’clock, sank into a chair, and said wearily, “Katy-girl, come here, please. I need to talk with you.”
Her heart pounding, Katy shot a quick glance at Shelby. Shelby’s fearful expression did little to encourage Katy. She gulped and scurried to Aunt Rebecca’s side. “Yes?”
A wobbly smile formed on Aunt Rebecca’s lips. “I have good news. The tumor is shrinking much faster than expected. An answer to prayer, yes?”
Katy nodded so hard her ribbons bounced on her cheeks. Every night, Dad prayed for healing for Aunt Rebecca, as did Katy and Shelby. She was certain most of the residents in Schellberg added their prayers as well. The tumor shrinking was wonderful news, and Katy wanted to celebrate it. But her aunt’s nervous demeanor held her happy exclamation inside.
“What this means is my surgery has been moved up. I’ll go into the hospital first thing Monday morning. They expect to keep me for a couple of days to let me heal and gain a little strength, and then …” Aunt Rebecca blinked rapidly, removing a shimmer of tears from her dark eyes. “The chemotherapy starts.”
Suddenly Katy understood Aunt Rebecca’s sober reaction. According to Gramma Ruthie, chemotherapy was much harder to bear than radiation. Radiation only targeted one small spot — the site of the tumor—but chemotherapy would go into Aunt Rebecca’s bloodstre
am, affecting her entire body. Katy hugged herself. “Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say.
Shelby pushed off the stool and limped around the counter, leaning on her crutches. She stood beside Katy, looking at Aunt Rebecca with sympathy glowing in her eyes. But she didn’t say anything either.
Aunt Rebecca fiddled with a crease in her skirt as she continued. “I’m not sure what to expect. I still hope to come in part of the day. I’ll only have chemotherapy once a week, you know. But …” She lifted her head and met Katy’s gaze. “I’m so sorry, Katy. I know you didn’t expect to spend your entire summer in the store. Especially with your friend here.” Her gaze shifted to include Shelby. “I understand you didn’t even go to the Penners’ party last week. I hope that wasn’t because you were too tired from working here.”
Apparently Katy’s cousins, Lori and Lola, had told Aunt Rebecca Katy hadn’t shown up at Caleb’s party. Those two loved to tattle. She quickly assured her aunt, “We weren’t too tired. But after checking on Shadow and Saydee” — that’s all Katy had time to do … check on the horses rather than play with Saydee or ride Shadow — “Shelby and I just decided to stay home. That’s all.”
Aunt Rebecca nodded slowly, but she didn’t look as though she believed Katy. “Well, I’m sending you home early today so you’ll be able to go to the party at Annika’s this evening. I know she’ll want you to come, and I don’t want to spoil your entire summer. Once I start chemo, I have no idea how much more I’ll depend on you. So grab some fun while you can, will you?”
Tears burned behind Katy’s nose. Not once in all of her seventeen years had her aunt told her to have fun. In fact, the bossy, brusque, all-business aunt Katy had always known seemed to have disappeared. Receiving such frivolous instructions should have made her happy — hadn’t she always wished Aunt Rebecca would be more softhearted? — but instead it scared her. She clutched her hands together. “Are you sure? We can stay. We don’t mind.”
Shelby added, “We don’t mind at all.”
Aunt Rebecca propped her hands on her knees and rose. She shook her head. “No, I want you to go on home. I’m going to start closing the shop at noon on Saturdays until I’ve finished all of my treatments, so you’ll have a little free time on the weekends.” She pushed the door open and raised one eyebrow. “Now scoot.”
Katy and Shelby exchanged uncertain glances. Katy sighed. “All right. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have fun this evening, girls.” Aunt Rebecca closed the door, sealing Katy and Shelby outside.
Shelby looked at Katy. “Well …”
Katy shrugged. “Well …” After nearly two weeks of focusing on running the fabric shop, she wasn’t sure what to do with a free afternoon. “Should we go home, or …?”
Shelby adjusted her crutches. “Whatever you want to do is fine.” She released a light laugh. “Not to be rude or anything, but what is there to do in Schellberg?”
Not as much as there is to do in Salina. Shelby would probably enjoy browsing the mall or going to a movie. But those weren’t options in Katy’s little Mennonite town. She gestured to the café next door. “We could get a milkshake or something.”
Shelby nodded eagerly. “That sounds great. It’s really hot out here.”
“Then let’s go.”
The girls settled into a booth underneath a squeaky ceiling fan, one of three that stirred the air due to the absence of air conditioning in the café. Shelby flapped the neck of her T-shirt and grinned. “Feels good.”
The café owner’s daughter, Yvonne Richter, ambled to the table. Yvonne had graduated from the Schellberg school three years ahead of Katy, and even though the girls knew each other, Katy couldn’t call Yvonne a friend. Unlike most of the unmarried young people, who mixed with kids older and younger, Yvonne held herself aloof from those younger than her.
“Kind of late for lunch,” Yvonne said. “Dad already turned off the grill.”
Katy caught the hint. “We don’t want anything hot. Just milkshakes, please. Chocolate for me.”
“I’d like vanilla,” Shelby said.
Yvonne’s tennis shoe soles squeaked as she turned and headed for the kitchen. Soon the discordant hum of a blender carried through the open doorway.
Shelby leaned forward and whispered, “She’s kind of grumpy. Should we not have come in?” She glanced around the empty café. “I mean, there’s nobody else here …”
Katy shrugged. “If they don’t want business they should put out the closed sign.” Remembering Yvonne’s disapproving glare, she giggled. “She was probably hiding in the corner reading a romance novel and we interrupted her.” Katy risked a quick look toward the kitchen, then shared, “When we were in school, I saw Yvonne prop a romance novel behind her history book and read it when she should have been studying.”
Shelby laughed. “Really? Right there in the schoolroom?”
Katy nodded.
“That’s funny to think about.” Shelby tipped her head, her short blonde hair whisking against her jaw. “I guess I figured kids from Schellberg are … I don’t know … better behaved than kids in Salina. Because you’re so religious. You know what I mean?”
Katy knew what Shelby meant. But kids in Schellberg were still kids, and they still did things they shouldn’t sometimes. It was just harder to get by with bad behavior because parents and other members of the community kept a close watch on the town’s young people. “We aren’t perfect,” Katy said. Sometimes she thought Dad expected her to be, though.
“No, but you’re a lot closer to perfect than most people I know.” Shelby traced her fingertip over the green squiggles in the table’s Formica top. “Sometimes I feel downright heathen next to you in your little white cap and knee-length dress.”
Katy gaped at Shelby. “Really?”
“Really.”
Since Shelby was being honest, Katy admitted, “And sometimes I feel like a — a bumbling imbecile around you. You know so much more than I do …”
Shelby snorted. She tucked her hair behind her ear and grinned. “Well, I guess our hanging out together proves heathens and imbeciles can still be friends, huh?”
Katy laughed, amazed at how good it felt after worrying so much about Aunt Rebecca. Rosemary was right — having Shelby there was a blessing. “I guess so.”
Yvonne came from the kitchen, carrying two tall milkshake glasses. She set them on the table — chocolate in front of Shelby and vanilla in front of Katy. She plucked paper-wrapped straws from her apron pocket and laid them between the two sweating glasses. Looking at Katy, she said, “Are you going to the Gehrings’ tonight? Annika said we’ll be making sundaes with homemade ice cream.”
Shelby switched their glasses so they’d each have what they’d ordered. Yvonne didn’t even glance at her.
Katy unwrapped her straw and pushed it through the thick milkshake. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. We might, though. Are you going?”
Yvonne nodded. She coiled one of her cap’s ribbons around her finger. “I’m taking my cousin Jonathan — he’s visiting from Lancaster County.”
Katy had seen a tall, blond-haired boy sitting with Yvonne’s dad and brothers in worship service the Sunday before. But since Shelby had been with her, she hadn’t asked anyone about him. “That’s nice.”
“He’s staying all summer, helping at my oldest brother’s farm. But he said he wished he could stay for good. He likes it here because he can drive a car. Motorized vehicles aren’t allowed in his fellowship.”
That’s kind of a selfish reason to want to stay in Schellberg. Katy sipped her milkshake, uncertain how to respond. Why was Yvonne being so friendly? The girl had rarely spoken more than two or three words to Katy in the past.
“I think Annika’s a little sweet on Jonathan.” A coy smile played on Yvonne’s lips. “She specifically requested he come.”
Katy nearly rolled her eyes. Everyone knew Annika liked Caleb. “I’m sure she’s just being polite.” She stirred h
er milkshake with the straw, leaving a swirl in the thick chocolaty drink. “It would be pretty rude to invite you and leave your cousin out.”
Yvonne shrugged. “I suppose.” She continued to look directly at Katy, as if Shelby weren’t there. “I suppose you’re invited, since you’re Annika’s best friend.”
“We’re invited,” Katy confirmed, hoping the other girl caught the emphasis on we. Would Yvonne ever acknowledge Shelby’s presence?
“I’ll be sure and introduce you to Jonathan,” Yvonne said, moving slowly toward the kitchen. Her gaze still hadn’t drifted to Shelby. “If he stays in Schellberg, he’ll want to get to know everyone.” She slipped through the doorway.
Katy let out a huff of annoyance. “Honestly! I’m sorry, Shelby. She was really rude to you.”
Shelby shrugged with one shoulder, lifting her straw to lick drippy ice cream from the plastic tube. “No big deal. Like you said, kids are kids. She doesn’t know me, so why should she talk to me?”
“Still …” Yvonne’s behavior reminded Katy of Annika when Annika had first met Shelby. Katy had invited both girls to a sleepover shortly after she started attending Salina High North, and the evening had been a disaster. Annika was still a little withdrawn around Shelby, but at least she talked to her. “The party won’t be much fun for you if the others act like you aren’t there. Do you want to go or just stay at my house this evening?”
Shelby slurped the last of her shake and then pushed the glass aside. “I don’t want you to have to hide the whole summer just because I’m here. I think we should go.” A teasing glint entered her eyes. “If they ignore me, I’ll just clop ‘em one with my crutch or something. That’ll get their attention.”
Katy giggled, imagining it. “So you want to go?”
“Why not? I love ice cream.” Shelby glanced at the empty milkshake glass and giggled. “Obviously.” She sobered. “And maybe if I’m around a little more, the kids will start to be more comfortable around me.” She leaned back and sighed. “Sometimes, when you’re different, it takes a while to settle in.”
KL04 - Katy's Decision Page 3