by Kelly Long
“Fine,” she said, still cautious.
“Gut!” He brushed a quick kiss against her temple, then bounced off the bed and went to the bureau they shared. He withdrew an envelope from one of the top drawers and handed it to her. “Here, use this until I get your checkbook set up, okay? And tell me if you need more.”
Grace peered inside the envelope. Without counting, she knew it was more than Silas had given her to spend in all the years of their marriage combined. She looked up at Seth.
“Danki,” she said with seriousness.
He smiled at her again. “You are more than welcome.”
CHAPTER 33
Seth hitched up his suspenders, pleased that he was able to provide well for his wife and sohn, but knowing that it was only through the Lord’s grace. “We’ll go Monday to the courthouse to start the adoption process,” he said. “Today we can simply have some fun.”
“Won’t Jacob ask about you taking off on Monday?” she asked.
“Jacob won’t say anything. Do you know how many days he’s taken off to help Lilly around the farm or to take Lilly or her mother to an appointment?” He arched one eyebrow. “Although I’m pretty sure I know what some of those appointments were about.” Grace giggled; it was a delightful sound, like a clear bell ringing.
He whistled softly as he left Grace to dress and went downstairs to start breakfast. When he got to the kitchen, Alice was already busy at the stove.
“How did you sleep?” she asked, giving him a wink.
“Just fine. How are you doing, sleeping with Abel and Pretty?”
“I think Abel would like to be a bedmate of mine for some time. We talked about it this morning.”
“Miss Alice tells me stories,” Abel piped up from the table.
“That’s great.” Seth ruffled the boy’s hair with a gentle hand.
But given his restlessness last night, he wasn’t sure lingering nights with Grace were a blessing or a curse. He sat down to scrambled eggs, bacon, and grilled tomatoes and was just beginning to eat when Grace joined them quietly.
She wore a dark blue blouse under a black dress. Grace dressed to hide herself and her beauty. He’d have to do something about that. Maybe he’d buy her violet fabric, he thought suddenly—a color that would match her eyes.
He talked to Abel and Alice as he ate, and then announced their trip to town. Jacob came in the door at that moment for a cup of coffee.
“Just stopped by to touch base on that new foal,” Jacob said. He stopped and looked at Alice.
“Jacob.” Seth waved a hand. “Meet Alice Miller . . . Grace’s Englisch friend.”
“Hiya,” Jacob said, extending a hand.
Alice smiled. “Where do grown men like you folks come from? I swear handsome men seem to rise from the ground wherever I look. But you’re far too young for me, and I bet you have a wife anyway.”
Jacob smiled politely at Alice’s ramblings, then sat down at the table.
Alice poured him a big cup of coffee.
“Jacob, we’re going to town today. We’ve got an appointment with fun, and I’m going to have another appointment on Monday,” Seth said casually.
Jacob raised an amused eyebrow. “Really, now?”
“Jah,” Grace said quickly. “On Monday we’re going to the courthouse. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Abel, but maybe now is a good time.”
Abel looked up. “Talk to me about what?”
Grace felt many pairs of eyes stare at her. She could, of course, take Abel outside to have the conversation with him; he might say something that would hurt Seth. But on the other hand, maybe this was the better way.
“Abel,” she said seriously, moving closer to him on the bench. “Seth has asked if he could adopt you.”
“Adopt me? But I belong to you.” The boy’s pale brow puckered with worry.
“Adopting you would mean that you would have the same last name as I do—Wyse.”
“My last name is Beiler.”
Grace bit her lip. “Abel, that’s right, but since your father died, you could be Abel Wyse now.”
“Abel Wyse, Abel Wyse . . .,” the boy sing-songed, trying it out on his tongue. He shook his head, then looked down at his eggs. “Okay, I like it.”
Grace breathed a silent sigh of relief, then Abel looked back up again in Seth’s direction.
“Can you adopt Pretty too, Seth?”
“You betcha.”
Abel went back to his eggs, but he hummed a little and sang to himself, “Pretty Wyse, Pretty Wyse.”
Grace sought to change the subject. “Jacob, how is Lilly feeling?”
“Right as rain and growing rounder by the day. The midwife says she’s doing well. You go and have fun in town. My brother’s done my work for me on more than one occasion. But don’t be too late—there’s supposed to be a storm tonight. I heard it from old Deacon Zook, and he’s always right about the weather.”
Jacob drained his coffee cup and put it in the sink, then waved good-bye and left. Alice came to the table. “We’re taking a special trip to town? Let me go get my pocketbook.”
“Let it be my treat,” Seth said. “I’ll treat the ladies and the young gentleman to a day in town.”
Going to town was not something Grace did very often before she married Seth. She had seen no real reason to go—mostly she felt like avoiding people, truth be told, and had probably been a little bit depressed.
But the prospect of town with her husband, sohn, and good friend seemed more than fitting, and there was a skip in her step as she went out to the buggy.
They all crowded in together, she and Seth in the front, Alice and Violet in the back, and Abel sitting on a small stool in the front between them. Seth made the ride merry with stories and jokes that had even Abel smiling. For the first time in a very long while, Grace felt a thrill of joy go through her.
Tobias crept through the tall corn until he reached the border of the Wyse farm. He’d seen Grace drive off earlier with her pretty-boy husband, the kid, the sister, and some other woman. None of the older folks were around. It was the perfect opportunity to make the first move in his mission.
The plan was pretty simple. Grace was fragile enough that it wouldn’t take much to terrify her. With the right kind of threat to her son, or her sister, or even the new husband, he could drive her out of Pine Creek and straight into his net. Once before, with Silas, she had sacrificed herself for the sake of her family. She’d do it again. And then Tobias would have it all: the farm, the inheritance, the woman.
He approached the shaded area where the young dog lay on a comfortable tether. He fed her the remainder of his bacon from breakfast, then bent to rub the soft head. “It’s okay, girl,” he said quietly. “Everything’s fine.”
He and Silas had a puppy once when they were young. Their father had drowned it as punishment when Tobias had forgotten to close the barn door.
He pushed away from such memories and turned his attention to the empty house.
CHAPTER 34
Seth navigated the buggy through the small streets of town. The Englisch people didn’t look up much; they were accustomed to the Amish being about, and many stores had a hitching post next to a parking meter. They passed Emily’s Mystery and Seth shot Grace a grin.
“What’s the mystery of Emily?” Alice asked from the back of the buggy where she and Violet were crowded together. “It sounds like they might have some exotic things to look at in there.”
Grace craned her neck around to look at her friend. “No, Alice, that’s actually a shop for . . . women’s undergarments.” His wife spoke softly and glanced meaningfully at Abel. But it was too late.
“Underwear!” Abel said. He began to repeat the word in different intonations, louder and louder. Seth could not contain his laughter, and soon Grace and Alice and Violet were joining in. Fortunately, Abel settled down as they stopped at the library.
“If it’s okay, I think I’ll take a walk around town,” Violet said.
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Grace waved her on with a smile.
“I like going to the library,” Alice announced. “Maybe I’ll pick me up a good Amish romance to read. Although I hardly need a book. I could just look as far as you two.”
Seth shook his head and held open the heavy wooden door for them to enter.
The library was a long, squat white building made of cinder block. It had survived the terrible flood of twenty years before, and the permanent smell of musty books seemed to drift in the air.
“Do you have a card here?” Seth asked Grace.
“Nee. I haven’t had the chance to visit yet.”
“Well, we’ll fix that right now.”
At the front desk, an owlish Englisch woman perched on a swivel chair. She had gray hair, tightly permed, glasses perched on her small nose, and a kind smile.
“I don’t think I’ve met all of you before, although Seth, I know.”
“Everyone, this is Viv, librarian extraordinaire.” Seth bowed slightly as Grace and Alice shook hands with the other woman. Grace couldn’t help but notice that Seth and the librarian were well acquainted. Here was another facet of her husband she did not know: he must love to read.
Abel pulled at her skirt, pointing to an open, light blue room with a carousel of children’s books. “Mama, can I go there?”
“Jah,” she answered. He scampered off alone.
“I’ll set everyone up for a library card,” Viv said. “We’re sort of old-fashioned here; we only need your name and phone number. But I guess you all won’t be having phones, right? Never mind. I know where to find you if a book goes missing!”
She laughed easily and Grace found herself liking the woman, especially when she offered to go help Abel find a book.
Grace drifted down the quiet aisles, feeling the delicious freedom of being alone and untroubled for a moment. Only a few people were in the library at this time of the morning, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when Seth came up behind her as she reached for a book.
“Fashions of the 1800s? Is this really what you want?” he teased.
“Well,” Grace said, “I know it may be vanity, but I do like to look at skirt patterns.”
“Do you now?” He took a step closer. The library row was cool and intimate; the books seemed to speak in whispers of time and love and mystery. She clutched her choice to her chest for a moment, then slid it back onto the shelf.
Alice selected three Amish romances from a shelf near the main desk at the library. “Bet these are popular,” she said, smiling at Viv. It was the first time she’d met someone in the community who was Englisch and near her own age.
“Oh yes,” Viv agreed. “It’s easy to explore issues in the simpler setting of those books. That one deals with loss in particular.”
Alice nodded and started to return the book to its place on the shelf. Viv must have read the expression on her face. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to imply that the books are heavy reading. They’re actually very inspirational. I guess we can all use a little of that now and then.”
“Yes,” Alice admitted in a low voice. “That’s why I came to visit with Grace—looking for something to take my mind off the usual.”
“What is usual in your life?” Viv asked.
Alice looked into Viv’s eyes and recognized a kindred spirit. “I lost my husband a few months back,” she said. “Took it harder than I thought I would. Actually got to be afraid in my own house.” She swallowed hard. “I guess I ran away for a while, but sooner or later I’m going to have to face home again.”
Viv touched her arm. “I lost my Ernie two years ago. Felt like I was losing my mind in that big old house. I wanted to die, to be with him in heaven, but I have slowly come to understand that grief is a journey. Once you start out, there’s no going back. God makes it that way until our minds and bodies and spirits can adjust to the loss and then go on in His strength. I don’t mean to be forward, but you are also seeing love in its earliest beginnings with Seth and his wife. Surely that must be hard on you?”
Alice thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, it encourages me somehow, reassures me that life goes on.” She cleared her throat, then tapped the paperbacks in front of her. “I’ll take out these. And . . . thank you, Viv.”
Viv stamped the books and smiled. “Anytime you want more company than the books, let me know.”
Alice clutched the novels to her and felt in her Pink Lady bag for a brochure. “And anytime you want a free beauty consultation or new eye makeup, let me know.” She gripped Viv’s hand for a moment, then sniffed.
“I’ll go and check on the boy.”
Well, well, what do we have here?”
Grace looked up to see an Amisch girl—a beautiful blond Amisch girl with green eyes—headed down the aisle toward them. The girl’s voice dripped with sarcasm, a distinct and unattractive contrast to the beauty of the young face.
“Kate, good morning,” Seth said easily. “Do you know my wife, Grace?”
Grace nodded to the younger girl. She had met Kate Zook at church Meeting but had never had any real personal contact with her.
She watched as the girl laid a proprietary hand on her husband’s arm. “Seth, I’m thinking about buying the new mare that I saw running about in your pasture—the palomino.”
“Then talk to Jacob. He’s handling that horse.”
A nervous discomfort flooded through Grace and she turned to leave. But Kate Zook blocked her path. “Running away, Fraa Wyse?”
Grace didn’t respond. Seth cleared his throat. “Kate,” he said in a warning tone. The girl laughed and left them with a lingering look at Seth.
Grace sighed and turned to him. “How old are you?”
“What?”
“I asked you how old you are.”
“Why?”
“Because Kate is a young girl and I—I—”
“Twenty-four.”
“Oh.” She looked up at him with some alarm.
“Disappointed?” There was an edge to his voice.
“No, I—it’s only that I’m twenty-seven.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her. “A nice number.”
“Seth, I—”
“Look, can we drop the whole age thing? It doesn’t matter one bit. There’s always going to be someone older or younger. I don’t care.”
Grace drew in a deep breath, then straightened her spine. “All right. No more age worries, young girls or old.”
“Gut!” He laughed out loud, only to be shushed by Viv.
“Tell me one thing, though,” she whispered. “Was Kate Zook part of your . . . past?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. No. She wasn’t. And let’s just admit that we’ve had very different pasts. I was making out in buggies while you were trying to survive.”
She nodded. “It’s true.”
“Well, it’s also true that I haven’t so much as looked at another woman since we married.”
She shrugged. “I haven’t looked at another man either.” Then she started to laugh at the sheer absurdity of her response.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because I only look at you.”
“Now that, my sweet, I can live with.” He reached down and caught her hand. “Come on. We’d better find Alice before she picks all the Amish romances.”
She gave him a shy smile. “She could look right here,” Grace said, echoing Alice’s earlier words.
“So she could, my fraa. So she could.”
Luke King suppressed a groan when he recognized the voice of Violet Beiler behind him. Did the girl have some sort of sixth sense? Here he was, loading feed bags into the back of a wagon. It was hot, heavy work, and he was soaked with sweat. He tried to concentrate on counting the sacks as he lifted them, but her voice distracted him.
“Hello there, Mr. King.”
“Three . . . four . . . five.”
“Be polite, now,�
� she said.
He turned. “When are you going to act like a proper girl? I tell you, I don’t know what to do with you.”
It was true. One minute he wanted to turn her over his knee, and the next minute he wanted to kiss her. Unfortunately, he’d had little experience in either.
She stood there looking at him, saying nothing, her blue eyes wide and innocent. He never thought he understood women, but in that moment, he understood her. She wasn’t playing games with him. She wasn’t being coy. She wasn’t flirting.
She genuinely wanted him. This beautiful woman with the clear blue eyes and dazzling smile wanted him, Luke King, bachelor farmer.
He couldn’t help himself. Despite his best intentions, he stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. Filthy as he was, sweaty with work and covered with grain dust from the feed sacks, he pulled her close and kissed her.
She didn’t move away. Didn’t turn up her nose at his smell. Didn’t shrink from the dirt.
She kissed him back.
How long they stood there, Luke had no idea. He finally pulled away when he heard the distant sound of a wagon. He stared down at her beautiful face and saw unshed tears in her blue, blue eyes.
He thumbed his dirty hands across her cheeks and exhaled heavily, trying to slow his breathing.
“You . . . you can call me Luke.”
And then she smiled.
So,” Grace asked in the sweetest tone she could muster. “Is there anyone else I should be prepared to meet? I mean, there’s a girl on the other side of the street . . .”
He glanced across the way. “Nee,” he murmured. “I don’t know her.”
She gave in to the giggle that bubbled from deep inside her and elbowed him hard in the ribs.
“Are you laughing, Grace?” He rubbed his side and peered down at her from beneath the brim of his straw hat.
“Jah, I guess I am.”
“Well—” He seemed at a loss for once. “I praise the Lord for that.”
She laughed again. “Me too.”
CHAPTER 35
As they neared home, Grace seemed to be pressed closer to him on the buggy seat than she had been on the way in. Seth was about to remark on this proximity when he looked up to see Jacob riding fast toward them on Thunder, his black gelding. Immediately Seth had a gut feeling that something was wrong, and he started to pray beneath his breath.