by Amy Lillard
“About what?”
“The interrogation.” She grabbed her shoes off the counter and headed back to the bench, Ezra right behind her.
He sat down next to her as they started putting on their shoes.
“I know they mean well, but those guys . . .” She shook her head. “Well, they’re good friends to have.”
Ezra nodded. “I can see that. You’re a very lucky girl to have friends like them. That they care about you enough to, well, care.”
“I suppose it’s because I don’t have any brothers except Daniel. I know they mean well, but sometimes. . .” She shoved her feet into her shoes, tying them before she continued. “I thought they would understand.”
“That we’re friends?”
At the laughter in his voice, she whirled around to face him.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“Did you tell them that? That we’re just friends?” Sadie had mixed feelings about that. It was okay for her to go around saying it, but that tiny little piece of her that wanted to get married more than she knew she deserved, hated it. Wanted more, if only once in her life.
“I believe it was tell them that or end up bleeding on the floor of the men’s room.”
“They threatened you?” Sadie gasped. “They really are okay guys. I don’t think any of them would actually hurt you. But they like to go around acting tough.”
“Why would they want to do that?”
Sadie shot him a small smile. “We’ve all been friends for so long. We’ve all looked out for each other all these years. I’m kind of the last one out.”
“What about Chris?”
She shook her head, unsure of what she should say about Chris and the things he wanted from life. “I can’t speak for Chris.” At least it was the truth.
She wasn’t sure why she was so reluctant to tell Ezra that Chris had big plans that didn’t include her. It wasn’t like Ezra knew that all these years she had hoped that she and Chris would one day get married. Or maybe she didn’t want him to think she was pathetic, to hang on to a guy for so long only to have him reject her for a continent.
Mentally she took that thought away. She wasn’t being quite fair, but it was hard to be fair when her heart was half-broken. She had big dreams. And they hadn’t been crazy dreams. So why couldn’t she have them? Why did the one guy she thought could make those dreams come true want to go travel, see the world, and leave her behind?
No, she couldn’t tell Ezra that. She couldn’t stand to see the pity in his face.
Thankfully, he didn’t press, just took her elbow and led her back to the area where her friends waited.
She said her good-byes, completely aware that while she did, Ezra hung behind her, not really part of their group, not interacting the way she did. Was that too much to ask? Maybe it was. But if nothing else, she wanted Ezra to come and have a good time. She had a feeling he worked way too hard on that ranch of his. She saw no other signs of hands to help, just him and his mother—who was on crutches at best, in a wheelchair at worst—and then his cousin, Logan. But how much could Logan truly help if he had work of his own to do?
Ezra walked her through the parking lot back to his truck. He opened the door for her, and she murmured her thanks as she climbed into the cab. As he walked around to take his own seat, she watched her friends pair up, get on their respective tractors, and head out of the parking lot. Were tractors so different than the truck?
It didn’t bear thinking about. She wasn’t going to change the thoughts and views of others. And she might as well not try. She should have learned that lesson long ago, watching all the Englischers come in and whisper behind their hands in the restaurant. You would think that if people wanted to come to a restaurant and eat they wouldn’t talk about the staff where they could hear them, but some people did. Some people would never understand, be they Amish or Englisch, or maybe that was Amish or Mennonite?
* * *
“Does this mean you’re not coming out on Saturday?” Ezra kept his eyes on the road as he asked the question. He could pretend all he wanted that it was because it was dark, that his driving demanded all of his attention, but he also felt he needed to allow Sadie a bit of private time to form her answer. Frankly he wasn’t sure he wanted to see the look on her face when she told him no, she was not coming back out to his ranch on Saturday with Cora Ann.
The thought disappointed him for two reasons. One, he wouldn’t get to see Sadie again. And two, Cora Ann had been so excited to come see the animals that he hated to break her heart. The whole family was in black, and he knew that their father had passed away recently. It didn’t feel right to offer another blow like that to a thirteen-year-old girl. Perhaps there was another way. Perhaps he could get Cora Ann and Sadie’s mom to come out to the ranch. But that didn’t allow him to see Sadie, now did it?
“Are you saying you don’t want me to come out to the ranch?”
He was making a mess of this. “That’s not what I said at all. I got the feeling that your friends don’t like us hanging out with each other. I was trying to save you the trouble of telling me yourself.”
“So you do want me to come?”
A loaded question if he’d ever heard one. “I want you to do what you want to do. I’m going to be at the ranch either way come Saturday night.” Mainly because he wasn’t dating anybody. Never really had. Traditionally, the Mennonite guys got with their honeys on Saturday night. The boy would be invited to the girl’s home, and the two young people would sit in the parlor and talk. It was as good a way to get to know each other as any, he supposed. But he would much rather walk around the ranch and show Cora Ann all the animals and Sadie the new emu he’d brought on the property this week. She was a pretty thing, a lot smaller than the ostriches. Now if he could find a male to go with her, he’d be all set. For now, anyway, until he finally got the alpacas he was always talking about.
He shook his head, trying to bring his thoughts back in line. He was tired, or not thinking right because of all the emotional baggage that came along for the ride tonight. They’d gone bowling. That sounded easy enough. But he should have known that nothing would be that simple when a Mennonite and an Amish were involved.
He pulled his truck onto the side of the road and left his lights on in case any oncoming traffic needed to see him.
“Listen, Sadie, I like you. You’re fun to be around. But I understand. You have a life. So does Chris, right?”
Sadie nodded.
“I’ve got the ranch. It’s not like we have tons of time on our hands to explore any of this.”
“Can you tell me exactly what you mean? I’m confused now.”
He reached down and flipped on the interior lights so he could see her expression. She was cute when she was muddled. And he had to stifle back a small laugh.
“I enjoy spending time with you.”
“Me too.” She appeared nervous in saying those words and rubbed her fingers down the black skirt in her lap.
“But I have a lot to do these days. And I don’t have time for a girlfriend.”
“I’m busy too,” Sadie said. “I’m not looking for a boyfriend.” He heard the words, but somehow felt she didn’t mean them. Maybe it was the way she looked at her fingers instead of at him when she said that she didn’t want a boyfriend. Or maybe there was something still going on with Chris.
Oh, the drama, he thought. He could do without that. “I think we would make good friends, don’t you?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Jah. I do.”
Was that relief on her face? Was she thankful that he didn’t want her as a girlfriend and that she would have another friend to lean on? He might not ever know.
“So it’s official. We’re friends, right?”
Sadie nodded.
“Just friends.”
“Yeah,” Sadie agreed. “Just friends.”
* * *
She was fairly certain that the conversation she had with Ezra at t
he side of the road on the way home from bowling was the most bizarre conversation she’d ever had with a man. But something he said made her feel warm inside like someone had let loose a small ray of sunshine. She did want to be his friend. The thought was kind of strange, considering she’d been friends with Chris for so long and when she finally wanted more from him, he was leaving. But it was good to know that she had Ezra. She would have a friend after Chris had gone to Europe. She didn’t want to say that Ezra would take Chris’s place, because that couldn’t happen. But she was sure she could find room for Ezra in her life.
He pulled his truck to a stop and put it in park, though he didn’t turn off the engine. “Do you need me to walk you in?”
Sadie shook her head. Her mamm was still at the restaurant, another of the reasons that it was okay that Ezra came to get her for this outing. Maybe with a little time, Mamm would to get used to the idea that her daughter had a Mennonite friend. Sadie was sure they would go through the whole boyfriend-just-friend conversation four or five more times before it finally took hold. But she was okay with that. Ezra was worth it.
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for going with me tonight. And I’m sorry if my friends—”
“Say no more.” Ezra shook his head and held up a hand to reinforce his words. “I had a really great time, and as strange as it may seem, I’m kind of glad that you have friends who look out for you like that. There’s a lot of girls out there who need someone to watch out for them, and you’ve got three.”
Sadie smiled. Noah, Will, and Mark were like the three older brothers she never wanted. But she was still glad to have them on her side.
“About Saturday,” Ezra started. “You get off at three again?”
“Jah.”
“Pick you up at three fifteen?”
“That’d be good. I’ll see you then.”
Ezra nodded, and acted as if he want to say something else. Then he gave her a small wave and headed back down the driveway.
Sadie started toward the house, not really understanding why her footfalls seemed so heavy. She had such a good time with Ezra, if she took out the interrogation she got from her friends over the matter. Being with Ezra was a lot of fun. She was glad to have him as a friend. She was to the door of the house before she realized she had left her bowling ball in the back of his truck.
She’d have to get that later, she thought as she let herself in.
“There you are!” Her mamm jumped up from the rocking chair and rushed toward her. “I cannot believe what I am hearing.”
A thousand questions popped into Sadie’s mind all at once. Topping the list were “Why are you here?” and “What can’t you believe?” But she refrained from asking either.
Instead she looked at her mother’s hand wrapped in a pristine white bandage. One finger had been splinted with some sort of metal. The bandage ran from the end of her pointer finger on her left hand all the way to the wrist. “Mamm! What have you done?”
“I cut myself at work. It’s no big deal.”
It looked like a big deal to Sadie. It was obvious her mother had gone to some kind of medical facility to seek help. Which meant she had to leave the restaurant. Which meant somebody had to take her. “How did you get to the doctor?”
“Esther took me.” She shook her head as if not wanting to think about such matters at this time. Esther Fitch ran the bakery at the end of the same building that housed the restaurant. Esther was a good friend to them all. They looked out for each other, being in the same building and all. And it didn’t hurt that Esther and her new husband Abe Fitch shared an apartment in the back of her shop, the same apartment she had once shared with Caroline Hostetler before Caroline married Abe’s nephew, Andrew Fitch.
“Who took care of things at the restaurant?”
“Sadie! Hush up. I want to know about this Mennonite boy.”
Sadie’s concerns burst inside her chest, invading every part of her, or maybe it was anxiety. How many times was she going to have to defend her relationship with Ezra Hein? Or her lack of relationship. They’d decided tonight to just be friends. It was a decision they both made, they both agreed upon, and she couldn’t help what anybody else thought.
“You’ve met him. His name is Ezra. He’s a rancher. He raises the bison that we bought to serve in the restaurant. Among other things.”
“Jah, I know all this,” Mamm snapped. “I want to know why you saw fit to go bowling with him tonight.”
How had her mother found out about that? “Mamm, we’re just friends.”
“You know what your father always said.”
“Jah, I do. But that doesn’t apply. He’s a nice guy, and he wants nothing more from me other than friendship.” Her heart gave a funny flip-flop when she said the words. It felt like a fish out of water, gasping for air, tossing around to find what it needed to live. Why she felt that way was anyone’s guess.
Chapter Eight
Sadie wasn’t the only one counting down the days till Saturday. Cora Ann was about as excited as any one girl could be. Sadie couldn’t help but smile as she bustled around Saturday, humming under her breath as she waited tables, filled water glasses, and otherwise floated through the restaurant.
She half expected Mamm to tell them they couldn’t go, but when three fifteen came and the blue pickup truck pulled up out front, she only said for them to be careful and not come home too late.
Sadie grabbed her coat while Cora Ann slipped her arms into hers, and together the two of them walked arm in arm out of the restaurant.
Ezra smiled when he caught sight of them, giving them a tiny wave as they approached.
“Hi,” he said as he came around and opened the passenger side door.
“Hi,” she said. It wasn’t a date. They had decided that. They were friends. Nothing more. So why was she standing there acting all nervous?
Her gaze snagged Ezra’s and they stood there for a moment just looking at each other while Cora Ann chatted on about all the dishes she had made with the bison meat.
Sadie rustled herself around and turned to her sister. “Cora Ann, I’m sure Ezra isn’t interested in your bison-stuffed bell peppers,” she admonished as gently as she could.
“He might be.”
Ezra laughed. “Only if you make some for me.” He waited for them to get in the truck, then shut the door behind them and went around to the driver’s side again.
“Of course I will!” Cora Ann clapped her hands together in excitement. “When do you want them?”
Sadie opened her mouth to protest, to tell Cora Ann that after today she’d probably never see Ezra Hein again unless they ordered more bison meat. And who said even then they had to see him? But Ezra spoke first.
“I’m supposed to deliver some emu oil to the compounding pharmacy on Tuesday. How about then?”
“Deal.” Cora Ann stuck out one hand to shake Ezra’s. “Unless you’d rather have the bison steak I made. I put horseradish sauce on it. Yum.”
“Either one is fine with me. They both sound delicious. You decide.” He leaned forward a little as he pulled the truck back onto the road.
Sadie wanted to believe that he did that so he could see her and not necessarily to watch the traffic. But it was a dream of her own making. Hadn’t they decided they could just be friends?
Ezra and Sadie rode in silence while Cora Ann chatted nonstop all the way to Taylor Creek. She didn’t mind, though her thoughts went around in a circle the entire time. And she was more than glad when they pulled in front of the turnoff with its wrought iron sign declaring it “Hein’s Exotic Animal Ranch” for all the world to see.
Ezra pulled his truck to a stop, and they all scrambled out, Cora Ann nearly climbing over Sadie in her haste to get out of the cab and see everything all at once.
A rusty-colored dog with long, pretty hair came sauntering up, nudging Sadie’s hand as she watched Cora Ann run to the fence much like Daniel had when he first saw the exotics.
Sadie didn’
t fuss at her sister. Instead she patted the dog on the head and he sat down obediently. He wagged his tail and waited for her to touch him again.
“Silly dog. That’s Rustyanna,” Ezra said.
Sadie looked down at the dog, who merely blinked at her and continued to wag his tail. Her tail, she supposed. “That’s a very interesting name.”
“Yeah.” Ezra laughed. “I thought we were getting a boy puppy when we got her.”
Sadie raised one brow in his direction, but said nothing. “You couldn’t tell?”
“Well, I was only ten. And I had my heart set on a boy dog. But she was the one that picked us, and I had already decided to name my new dog Rusty, so she became Rustyanna.”
Sadie patted the dog on the head again, for the first time noticing the little gray hairs on her face. The pooch had to be at least fourteen. Sadie wasn’t sure, but she thought that was very old for a dog. “I’m sorry he gave you such a silly name, sweetie.”
“I’ve more than made up for it.” Ezra reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a dog treat. The dog’s tail wagged fiercely as she waited for him to toss it toward her. He did, and quick as a wink, she snatched the treat from the air. Then she trotted off, back into the barn.
Sadie turned to look at her host. It was easier to think about him that way instead of a great-looking guy who had taken the time out of his day to go and get them from another town, then bring them here just so her sister could see his ranch animals. Yes, “host” was a much better word. Ezra had moved closer to Cora Ann, pointing out the different birds he had in the field. He truly was a remarkable kind of guy. This might be all they ever had, this friendship, but she was still thrilled to call him that.
* * *
After their walking tour of the ranch, Ezra returned to his guests. “Are you ready for some hot chocolate?” he asked. “Or some coffee? Logan’s mom brought over some sugar cookies. We can eat some of those if you’d like.”
“That sounds terrific,” Cora Ann said. “Are they good cookies?”
“The best.” Ezra smiled at the young girl. She really was adorable. Not so much like Sadie. Her hair was lighter and her eyes blue. But Cora Ann held the same kind of humming energy that Sadie trailed behind her like a cloud of dust.