by Amy Clipston
“I know. You made that abundantly clear last night.” James’s expression was serious as he nodded. “Like I said, I didn’t encourage him. In fact, Mark can attest to the fact that I told Nathan we shouldn’t discuss it at all. Nathan started asking me questions about the calls I’ve had. He brought the subject up, not me.”
She pursed her lips. “Fine. I put in your orders. They should be out soon.”
“Danki,” James said.
“I can’t wait to taste the meat loaf,” Mark added.
She hurried back to the kitchen.
“Eva told me James Riehl is here,” Dat said as he stood by the large stove.
“Ya, he is.” She placed two meals ready to serve on her tray. “He and his bruder came for lunch.”
“I’ll walk out with you when we have their food ready,” he said. “I’d like to say hello to him and meet his bruder.”
“I agree with Eva that we should give them their lunch for free.” Mamm poured salad dressing into small containers as she spoke. “I’m so grateful to him.”
“Ya, I am too.” Kayla hurried out of the kitchen to deliver the meals. Then she sat a couple who had just walked into the restaurant, took their drink order, and placed their food order in the kitchen. As she stepped back into the dining area, Eva approached her holding a tray stacked with empty cups.
Eva nodded toward James’s table. “I stopped by to say hello while I was delivering food, and he introduced me to Mark. They’re very friendly.”
“Ya.” Kayla’s back stiffened as she glanced toward James, who seemed deep in conversation with his brother.
Eva smiled at Kayla. “James is handsome. Mark is, too, but there’s something about James.” She balanced the tray in one hand and tapped her lip. “I can’t put my finger on what it is.”
Kayla took in James’s bright blue eyes and dark hair. He was ruggedly handsome, but she wasn’t interested in a relationship. She’d already had her heart broken by Abram. When they first met, everything seemed perfect, and she quickly fell in love with his handsome smile and sense of humor. Yet as the relationship wore on, she began to notice how he repeatedly took her for granted.
She’d loved Abram with all her heart, putting him before her friends, but her love wasn’t reciprocated. She’d wait on the porch for him to visit and he would never arrive. Later he’d tell her he’d been busy with his friends. Soon she realized he almost always chose their company over hers. Her frustration with his neglect grew, especially when he made excuses for his behavior.
But then when her brother died, she forgot all that. She needed him and expected him to be there for her. But Abram was mostly absent as her family grieved. He attended the wake and funeral, but while other members of the community sat with her family for several hours, he left as soon as possible.
She planned to confront him, but he ended their relationship before she had the chance. He said he wasn’t ready for a serious relationship. Abram had broken her trust, and she vowed to never allow another man to take her for granted. She wasn’t ready to risk her heart again, especially with a firefighter.
“James is okay.” Kayla shrugged, and Eva laughed.
“He’s okay?” Her sister-in-law eyed her with suspicion. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing. I have to deliver these drinks.” She took a step and Eva pulled her back. “What?”
“Are you afraid of getting hurt again?” Eva’s smile faded. “Kayla, Abram was immature. He wasn’t ready for a serious relationship, but that was his problem, not yours. Don’t let his mistakes affect the rest of your life. God will find you the perfect match. Just have faith and keep your heart open to the possibility of true love.”
“I will.” Kayla forced a smile. “We’ll talk later, okay?”
Eva nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.
Kayla delivered the drinks and took the couple’s order. Then she busied herself with checking on her other customers and refilling drinks. When she stepped back into the kitchen, James’s and Mark’s orders were ready.
Dat handed her one of the meat loaf platters. “I’ll carry one, and you carry the other.”
“Okay.” Kayla followed her father to James and Mark’s table.
“It’s so gut to see you.” Dat set the plate in front of James. “I’m glad you came by today.”
“Ya, it’s gut to see you too.” James shook Dat’s hand. “I didn’t realize this was your restaurant. Willie, this is mei bruder, Mark.”
“It’s great to meet you.” Mark shook Dat’s hand. “Danki,” he said as Kayla lowered his plate to the table.
“Gern gschehne,” she muttered as she folded her hands in front of her apron.
“Your lunch is on us today.” Dat pointed to their food. “Let us know if you’d like any dessert too.”
“Oh, no.” James shook his head. “I can’t accept—”
“Of course you can.” Dat patted James’s broad shoulder. “You earned it earlier today. I’m glad I can give you something as a thank-you. Please enjoy your lunch. It’s our pleasure, right, Kayla?” Dat turned to her the same time James and Mark did.
Kayla nodded and felt her cheeks heat.
“I’m really excited to try your meat loaf,” Mark told Dat. “A few of mei freinden have eaten here and raved about it.”
Dat grinned. “I’m froh to hear that. Again, enjoy.”
“Mark and I were wondering if you’re going to plan a barn raising.”
“Ya, we’d love to come and help you,” Mark said.
“That’s so generous of you.” Dat rested his hands on the edge of the table.
Kayla bit back a glower. Now James wanted to help with their barn raising? So much for her plan to keep him away from Nathan.
“I’m hoping we can do it next week,” Dat continued. “I made some calls earlier today, and I found a company that can clear the lot either tomorrow or Friday. If that works out, then I can order the supplies and have the barn raising early next week. Maybe Tuesday.”
“That would be great.” James glanced at Mark, who nodded. “Our mamm and schweschdere said they’d like to bake for it too.”
So James has more than one sister. Not that she really cared.
“Oh, that’s very kind, but it’s not necessary. We would close the restaurant and cater it. We don’t expect volunteers to bring food too.”
Kayla glanced toward the front of the restaurant, where two men stood waiting to be seated. She hadn’t even heard the bell. She rushed over, led them to their table, and took their drink orders. As she walked past James’s table, her father was still there.
A feeling of foreboding took hold of her as she moved past the three men. James was worming his way into her life, and she was going to have a difficult time convincing him to stay away from her family.
Still, he had saved her brother, and she determined to be as nice as she dared.
SIX
“Don’t tell Mamm, but that was the best meat loaf I’ve ever had.” Mark leaned back in his seat and rested his hands on his flat abdomen.
Jamie swallowed the last of his Coke. “It was gut. Are you ready to go?”
“Would either of you like dessert?” Kayla was back.
“No, danki.” Mark shook his head. “I don’t have any more room.”
“Are you sure?” She turned to Jamie. “I can pack something up for you to take with you. Mei mamm’s strawberry cupcakes are very popular with our regular customers.”
“No, danki.” Jamie patted his own middle. “I have to be careful or my turnout gear won’t fit.” He wanted to take back the words as soon as he said them, but to his surprise, she smiled. And her smile was electric, lighting up her entire face and making her eyes sparkle. She was beautiful, and he suddenly wanted to know her better.
“All right.” She stacked their plates on her tray. “Danki for coming in to see us today.”
“We’ll see you next week at the barn raising.” Mark lifted his cup and took
the last draw of Coke before setting it back on the table.
“Oh. Gut.” She glanced from one to the other as she lifted the tray onto her shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, Mark. Have a gut afternoon.”
“You too,” Jamie called after her as he pulled his wallet from his pocket. He took out a few bills and set them on the table.
“What are you doing?” Mark asked. “Lunch was free.”
“I know, but I’m still leaving her a tip.” Jamie stood and shoved his wallet into his back pocket. “Are you ready to go?”
“Ya.” Mark stood. “I still say you should ask her out.”
“Please just drop it.” Jamie pushed in his chair. “It’s not going to happen, so let it go.”
“Listen to me. She would go out with you if you asked. I really think she likes you.”
“She doesn’t like me. She’s just being nice today.” Jamie followed Mark toward the exit. He waved at Nathan as they passed a table he was wiping down, and Nathan waved back.
Mark glanced over his shoulder. “Look at her over there, Jamie. She’s really schee. Any guy in his right mind would snatch her up if he had the chance.”
Jamie craned his neck. Kayla was laughing with some customers. Mark was right. She was stunning, and he was certain the right man would snatch her up. “She probably already has a boyfriend.”
“I doubt it after the way I saw her looking at you.” Mark pushed open the front door.
“You just want me to ask any maedel out. That’s why you’re always pressuring me to go to your youth group gathering, even though I’m way too old for your group.”
“You talk like you’re eighty,” Mark deadpanned.
“Well, you already called me old when you said I was almost thirty.” Jamie glanced back at Kayla once more and found her looking at him. When their gazes met, she quickly turned her head. He faced his brother. “We’d better get going. We have a lot to do at the farm.”
They started down the sidewalk toward his buggy. As Jamie climbed inside, one question filled his mind. Does Kayla have a boyfriend?
When they arrived home, Jamie and Mark unloaded their supplies and stored them in the barn.
“I’m going to put my work clothes back on before we muck out the stalls.” Jamie started toward the house.
“Wait for me.” Mark caught up with him.
Laura waved as she walked back from the henhouses. She was holding a basket full of eggs. “The prodigal sohns have finally returned from their trip to town. I was beginning to wonder if you two had run away.”
“We would’ve been home sooner, but we ran into Jamie’s girlfriend when we stopped for lunch.” Mark elbowed Jamie in the ribs as he snickered.
“Knock it off,” Jamie grumbled as he climbed the porch steps.
“Jamie has a girlfriend?” Laura gasped as she picked up speed. “What’s her name?”
“It’s Kayla Dienner. Jamie met her last night at her family’s barn fire, but he failed to tell us about her.” Mark faced his twin. “Her family owns Dienner’s Family Restaurant down the street from his fire station and she’s really schee. I just have to convince him to ask her out.”
“Oh, that’s wunderbaar!” She grinned at Jamie. “Maybe we’ll have a wedding in the fall. It’s about time you met someone and settled down. You’re almost thirty.”
“You sound just like your twin.” Jamie rolled his eyes as he stood by the back door.
“Your whole problem is you need to be more outgoing and try harder.” Mark climbed the porch steps and leaned against the railing. “If you would just put yourself out there and let the maed know you’re interested, they’ll respond to you.” He gestured widely. “You’re too quiet and maed find that intimidating.”
“Don’t take advice from the man who leads maed on and never asks them out.” Laura rested a hand on her hip as she scowled at Mark.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He gave her a feigned look of annoyance.
She shook a finger at him. “You enjoy having a group of maed following you around, but you refuse to commit to any one of them.”
Mark shrugged. “I’m just choosy, that’s all.”
Jamie wrenched open the back door. “I don’t have time for this. I have chores waiting for me in the barn.”
“Wait a minute, Jamie. We’re just trying to encourage you,” Mark countered. “Kayla seems like the perfect maedel for you. She’s outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind.”
“What do you mean?” Laura asked.
“Apparently Kayla is upset that Jamie was telling her little bruder about firefighter training.”
Jamie went into the house, closing the screen door behind him and leaving their conversation on the back porch.
“Oh, you’re back.” Mamm met him at the door leading from the mudroom to the kitchen. She paused, tilting her head. “Was iss letz?”
“Your twins are trying to marry me off.” He kicked off his boots and set them under a bench.
She chuckled. “What do you mean?”
“Every time one of them sees a schee maedel talking to me, Mark and Laura start pressuring me about getting married. It gets old.” He rested his forearm on the doorframe.
“Don’t worry about those two. It will happen for you when the right maedel comes along. God has the perfect plan for all of us.”
“Right.” He started toward the stairs. “I’m going to get changed.”
“If you see Cindy, would you please ask her to come down and help me with some baking?”
“Ya, of course.”
Upstairs, he headed down the hallway, past Mark’s room, and stopped in the doorway to the sewing room. It was next to the bedroom his sisters shared. Jamie stuck his head in the doorway. The room was crammed with two sewing machines, a desk, and a mountain of material. Cindy sat at the older sewing machine, working on a quilt.
She glanced up and gasped, placing her hand on her chest.
“I’m sorry.” He leaned his right shoulder against the doorframe. “I didn’t mean to startle you. What are you working on?”
“It’s a quilt one of Mamm’s customers ordered. A lone star.” She held it up and he took in the pattern of a multicolored star in the center of the large quilt.
“That’s fantastic. You’re so talented.”
She shrugged and looked down. “It’s pretty basic.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“How was your trip to town?”
“Gut. Mark and I had lunch at Dienner’s Family Restaurant.”
“Oh, I heard that place is great.” She leaned toward the sewing machine. “We’ll have to go there sometime.”
“Ya. That’s a gut idea. Mamm asked me to tell you she needs your help with some baking.”
“Oh.” She jumped up. “I hadn’t realized I’d been up here so long. She must be upset I haven’t come back down to help her.”
“She wasn’t upset.” He tapped the doorframe. “I’m going to get changed so I can get started on chores. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Okay.”
He continued down the hallway to his bedroom, the largest room on the second floor. As for all the walls in the house, his walls were plain white. His double bed was adorned with the blue-and-gray log cabin quilt Cindy made for him for Christmas last year. Shelves filled with his favorite books and mementos from his childhood and two dressers furnished the rest of the space.
As he opened his closet and pulled out his work clothes, Jamie’s thoughts returned to Kayla and her stern words about his discussions with Nathan. While it was clear she didn’t want him to influence her brother, he had an inexplicable longing to see her again. He needed to wipe her from his mind, but her pretty face and gorgeous eyes kept creeping into his subconscious. Did that mean he liked her? And wasn’t she a bit more friendly when she offered them dessert?
No, Jamie needed to concentrate on his responsibilities and forget about Kayla Dienner—even if that did seem an impossible t
ask.
Since the restaurant didn’t close until seven, Dienner family dinners at home were late—unless they ate in shifts at the restaurant before closing.
Eva fed spoonsful of baby food to Junior as the rest of the family ate. His baby seat was propped up in his high chair.
“James told me an interesting story today when I stopped by his table at lunchtime,” Nathan began when there was a break in the conversation. “He said he once got lost in a fire at a large warehouse where they sell furniture. The smoke was so bad he got disoriented. He had to follow the hose back to the door.”
Kayla stopped chewing her chicken potpie and stared across the large kitchen table at her brother.
“He said it was one of the times he was really scared.” Nathan grinned. “I guess that means even if you’ve been serving for years, you’re still reminded of how vulnerable you are in a burning building.”
Kayla glanced at her mother, and in the light shining from the nearby propane lamp she could see her blue eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
“Nathan, I think we should change the subject.” Kayla forced a smile and turned toward her father, sitting in his usual spot at the head of the table. “The restaurant was busy today. I heard a lot of compliments on the strawberry cupcakes. I think they were a hit.”
“Stop trying to change the subject on me,” Nathan growled. “You never let me talk about firefighting. You’re not mei mamm.”
“Nathan,” Dat warned. “Don’t talk to your schweschder that way.”
“I’m tired of her telling me I can’t talk about firefighter training.” He dropped his fork onto his placemat. “It’s not her decision if I start training. It’s up to you and Mamm. It’s not Kayla’s place to tell me I can’t do something I want to do.”
Kayla opened her mouth to respond but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned toward Eva, who shook her head as if to tell her to be quiet. Kayla closed her mouth as Eva pulled her arm back and returned to eating.
“I really want to start training.” Nathan looked at each of their parents. “I’m fourteen now, and I’m old enough to help our community. It would mean a lot to me if you’d let me do it.”