“You don’t understand! Can’t you see me for me? Why do you have to see me through her?” Tears sprang to her eyes, and she angrily brushed them away.
“I am seeing you.” His response held a note of impatience. He pulled up on the reins, and the buggy shuddered to a stop. Josiah’s dark brown eyes pierced the distance between them.
She clamped her mouth shut, and shoved down the tangle of anger and hurt and loneliness that threatened to consume her.
“Ach, Mary. Quit fighting me.”
Her lower lip trembled, and she shivered beneath the quilt.
Josiah’s hands formed fists around the reins. “You make me crazy, Mary Lehman. Insane. When I’m around you, I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time.” For a long moment, he stared at her and then he sighed with resignation. His voice softened. “I’m sorry. I’ll behave from here on out.”
“Thank you,” she sputtered. She gave him a wooden nod, and her earlier instinct to flee dissolved into a hollow nothingness. Her eyes froze on his lips, and she wanted to take back every nasty thing she’d ever said. With shame burning through her, she yearned for him to misbehave again. She wanted him to grab her and kiss her. She couldn’t deny the blinding effect his kisses had on her. Nor could she deny the way her heart pounded like an unbroken colt when he was near.
But he’d turned away, and his profile was grim.
“Josiah?”
He grunted in reply.
“You make me crazy, too.” It was her olive branch, and she prayed he would take it.
His gaze darted to hers and held. A touch of humor appeared around his mouth and near his eyes, and a new contentment spread across his face. “Not mad anymore?”
Her tight expression relaxed into a half-smile. “Nee, not mad anymore.”
“That’s something,” he said, urging the mare forward.
They sat in uneasy silence for the rest of the trip. Mary had no idea where they stood; all she felt was confusion. When Josiah guided Rosie into her drive, Dat was outside pacing on the porch.
“Why is Dat out in this weather? Is he worried about me again?”
Eight
The buggy rocked to a stop, and Mary tossed the quilt from her lap and opened the door. She slid out onto the frozen ground. “Dat! What’s wrong?”
She took the steps as quickly as she dared.
Dat stopped pacing and faced her. “It’s young Jack. He’s missing. I checked the barn. Even went out to the shanty to call that Pete fellow’s mother. He’s not there.”
“What?”
Josiah joined them on the porch. “Jack’s gone? Are you sure? It’s wicked cold. Where would he have gone this time?”
“This time? What do you mean this time?” Dat grabbed Josiah’s shoulder.
Josiah quickly looked to Mary.
Mary rushed forward. “We didn’t know he’d gone to Pete’s last night. He just ran off.” Mary’s spirits plummeted. If Jack had run again, there was probably no stopping him.
Sally came around the corner of the house, bundled up to her neck. “He’s not there Uncle Benjamin! He’s nowhere!” She saw Mary and rushed up the steps. “Did he go with you to Hope’s? Is he there? He won’t answer his phone.”
Mary shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Mamm burst through the screen door with Ann at her heels. “We’ve rechecked the house. He’s not there.”
Dat took a step toward Mary. “So you didn’t know he was going to Pete’s? He didn’t tell you?”
“No, Dat. That’s why Josiah and I were out looking for him.”
Dat grabbed his forehead. “Ach, I’m a fool. I didn’t put it together.” His gaze pierced Mary. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He came home. I thought all was well.”
Sally moaned and tears filled her eyes. “We don’t have time for this! We have to call the police! He’ll freeze to death!” She yanked her phone from her pocket. “And now my phone is dead! Just perfect!”
Ann began to cry. “He couldn’t have left without saying good-bye.”
“What other friends does he have?” Mamm asked. “Where else would he run?”
“Who knows?” Sally cried, her voice rising. “I’m calling the police! Oh, why doesn’t anyone have a car here? This is just ridiculous!”
Mamm flinched and watched Sally tear across the yard to the phone shanty. She turned to Mary. “You’ve not seen him?”
“Nee, Mamm, sorry.”
“I’ll head out in the buggy,” Josiah said. “I’ll go north. He can’t have gotten far.”
Mary’s stomach twisted and a wave of nausea rose to her throat. This couldn’t be happening again. Surely, Jack wouldn’t be so foolish. She watched Josiah hurry to his buggy, and started after him without thinking. “Wait! I’m going, too!”
“Mary, nee. You stay here with your mamm and Ann,” Dat said. “Josiah, I’ll hitch up Chocolate and head south.”
But Mary couldn’t obey. She had to help find Jack. She climbed into Josiah’s buggy and perched on the edge of the seat. “I’m going,” she called to her father. “I’m going.”
Josiah gave her an unbelieving glance but said nothing. He clucked at Rosie and turned the mare toward the road.
“Mary!” Dat called.
She turned back and yelled through the window. “We won’t look long. I’ll be back by dark.” Her father hurried after their buggy, reaching toward her. She leveled him a steady look and added, her voice determined, “I’m sorry, Dat. I have to go.”
His face went hard, and his jaw tensed. Then he dropped his arm and nodded tersely.
Josiah slapped the reins, and Rosie started up again. Mary’s body remained taut as the buggy creaked down the road. She breathed heavily, stunned at her nerve to disobey Dat. How many times over the years had she wanted to disobey? Yet every time, she had crumpled under the pressures of tradition and training.
But not this time. This time, she had followed her own decision.
“So, that’s what a husband of yours will have to look forward to,” Josiah said matter-of-factly.
“What husband?” she answered, hardly hearing and scarcely aware of her own voice. Her gaze focused on the road ahead, scanning the icy white canvas for any trace of a troubled fourteen-year-old boy.
Beside her, Josiah held the reins with a sturdy hand. “Can’t blame yourself this time, Mary.”
Mary glanced at him and met his kind expression with a modicum of relief. He was right. Jack’s running away this time wasn’t on her. Or was it? Was he angry with her now because she’d rejected his help? She sucked in her breath, and the cold air burned down her throat.
She stared down the road. “Do you think we’ll find him?”
“Of course, we’ll find him,” Josiah reassured her. He moved a few inches closer to her, and his thick arm brushed against her side. It felt strangely intimate, and Mary didn’t move from him. She exhaled and inclined slightly his way, feeling for the first time since she could remember that someone might someday truly understand her.
Despite the temperature, a warmth spread through her. Shocking herself, she laid her head on Josiah’s shoulder. She felt his muscles tense beneath her and then relax. She glanced up at his face, and watched his smile broaden. He rested his head on top of hers for a quick moment and then chuckled.
“In spite of it all, we’ve got something, haven’t we?” His voice was tender, almost a murmur.
She pressed her hands to her heart. “Seems so,” she whispered and then stiffened as she realized what he’d said earlier. “Wait? Did you say husband?”
Josiah laughed, and the joyous sound mixed with that of Rosie’s hooves echoing across the fields. Somewhere in the far distance, a chunk of ice broke free from a branch with a sharp snap.
“Jah. That’s what I said.”
She heard the distinct promise of a future in his voice, and she snuggled deeper into his broad, ample shoulder. Josiah clicked his tongue and snapped the reins on Rosie’s back.
“All right, then, let’s go find Jack.”
The End
Thank you for reading this book! Are you wondering what to read next? Why not read Amish Days: The Decision? Here’s a sample:
“Hey,” I hollered as Abbie continued to whiz back and forth, “are you sure this swing will hold?”
“It will hold,” came a deep voice from behind.
I swirled to see Zeke standing there. Amusement flickered in his eyes, and an easy smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“Oh! I didn’t see you,” I said, feeling my face grow warm.
He stepped closer, and I smelled the spring fields on him. “I see you’re entertaining my sister.”
I glanced back around at Abbie, still happily sailing toward the sky. “She’s so cute.”
He tipped his head to the side. “Jah, that she is. What brings you here?”
I picked up the willow stick I’d dropped earlier. “Oh, nothing really. Just taking a walk.”
Why does he make me so jumpy? I was an expert at talking to guys, but around Zeke, my skills dropped off like so much dead skin. I opened my mouth to tell him about my trip, but then clamped it shut. I was being way too obvious. And presumptuous. As if my attendance at the frolic was life or death to him.
“I guess I’d better be off.” I looked at Abbie. “Thanks for playing with me, Abbie! See you soon.”
“Bye, Sally!” she called, wiggling her toes to the sky.
“Wait,” Zeke said, following me toward the road. “About Saturday’s frolic. You never said for sure if you were coming.”
I blew out my breath in relief. Now I could tell him. “I’m going to Ohio on Saturday.”
He stopped, and so did I. “To Ohio?”
“Yeah. I’m going to visit Jack.”
His shoulders visibly relaxed. “For the weekend?”
“No, just for the day.”
The blue of his eyes was like a warm wave, pulling me in.
“You going by bus then?”
“Uh, no. A friend is taking both me and Mary.”
He nodded. “Mary’s going, too. That’s good. And your friend, she’s nice to drive you.”
“The she is a he,” I said, my gaze unblinking.
He made a backward movement, so slight it was hardly noticeable.
“Oh.”
I felt an odd compulsion to ramble on. “The he is Bryan, my friend from school. He’s really nice, and he’s a good sport to drive me so far. I mean, drive us so far, Mary and me.”
Zeke held up his hand and cleared his throat. “I understand. It is nice of him. I hope your trip is good. Give Jack my greetings.”
He gave me a questioning look and turned away.
“I will,” I murmured to his back. I couldn’t take my eyes from him as he walked off. The set of his shoulders, his firm stride, the way his brimmed hat sat on his straw-colored hair—all of it set my heart pounding and my lungs gulping for air.
He reached the middle of the yard and glanced back to scrutinize me. “He likes you? This Bryan?”
I stared into his eyes and nodded. He raised his head an inch, cocked it to the side, and then turned to continue toward his house.
A deflated feeling crept into my gut as he disappeared, and a strange trickle of guilt shuddered through me—like I’d betrayed him or something.
Which was ridiculous.
Simply ridiculous.
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More Hollybrook Amish Romance Books:
Amish Days 1: Missing Abram
Are Hope’s dreams of Abram only a fantasy?
Will his cousin Josiah try to step in?
Amish Days 2: Abram’s Plan
Mysterious relatives force Hope
to leave her Amish home.
While gone, her fiancé Abram is hurt.
Will he heal? Can she ever go back?
Amish Days 3: Abram’s Bride
Why is Abram refusing to marry Hope?
Hadn’t he promised her a November wedding?
Was she to be a jilted bride?
Amish Days: The Decision
For Sally, leaving the Amish would mean leaving Zeke.
Can she ignore her feelings for him and turn her back on her dreams?
And all for a brother who doesn’t want her around?
Amish Days: Second Thoughts
Sally promises her brother she will leave the Amish community where she has lived since her mother died. She latches onto Bryan, determined to be his girlfriend and forget everything Amish. But her best intentions throw her into a mess…
Amish Days: The Stranger
Who is this stranger? And does he have the legal right
to take Sally away as he claims?
How can she convince the stranger to let her go?
And how will she ever get back to Zeke?
www.brendamaxfield.com
Amish Days: The Runaway: An Amish Romance Story (Hollybrook Amish Romance) Page 6