A Season of Love

by Amy Clipston

  “I asked her if she had any apples,” she said, her voice a mere whisper.

  “Why did you need apples while you were planting mums in the garden?”

  “I was going to make you a pie later,” she said. “Your favorite — apple pie.”

  Robert looked past her toward where Samuel and Matthew stood watching with uncomfortable expressions. “Didn’t I see that Mennonite bu over with your bruder earlier?”

  Katie hesitated, her heart thudding in her chest. She shouldn’t lie to her father. Not only was it a sin, but she’d only get caught in it later on, which would make things worse.

  “You don’t know the answer?” He looked past her. “I’ll find out then. Samuel! Matthew!” he bellowed. “Didn’t I see that Mennonite bu here earlier?”

  Katie faced her brother and Matthew as she held her breath. This is it. Starting right now, I’m going to be stuck at home for the rest of my life.

  “You mean Jake Miller?” Matthew asked.

  “Ya,” Robert said. “That bu. Elmer’s grandson.”

  “He was here earlier,” Matthew said. “He came to help me move a refrigerator.”

  “I helped too,” Samuel chimed in. “But Jake’s gone now.”

  Katie bit her lower lip as her father’s accusing eyes turned back to her. She knew she was in for it again; it was all her fault. When was she going to stop making stupid choices?

  “You weren’t going over to see Betsy about apples, were you, Katie Joy?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “I wanted to tell Jake I couldn’t be his freind anymore. That’s it, Dat. I wasn’t trying to disobey you, I was simply—”

  “You were simply disobeying me again!” His voice roared like thunder. “When will you learn?” He gestured toward the house. “Go! I can’t trust you at all. You’re to stay in the haus until further notice. And I’m going to talk to your mammi and tell her to watch over you at the bakery. You won’t leave the bakery under any circumstance, and you’re to stay away from that Mennonite bu.”

  “But Dat, I—” Her voice squeaked as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “This conversation is over,” he said, interrupting her again. “You’re not being truthful, and you disobey me over and over again. Go now before I drag you into the house myself.”

  With her tears flowing, Katie fled into the house, through the kitchen, and up the stairs, dodging siblings and her mother on the way. When she reached her room, she collapsed onto the bed and prayed for the Lord to give her a sign as to how she should handle her difficult father.

  “Katie,” Nancy’s voice rang out over her prayers. “Katie, I’m so sorry. I tried to keep him in the barn.”

  “I know you did.” Katie sat up and swiped her fingers over her fresh tears. “I never should’ve involved you.”

  “It’s okay.” Nancy sat on the end of their bed. “I can’t imagine how hard it is for you to like a Mennonite bu. I feel so bad for you.”

  “Danki.” Katie forced a smile. “You’re very thoughtful, but I got myself into this mess.”

  Nancy shook her head. “No, you didn’t. You didn’t mean to like him. It just happened, ya?”

  “Ya.” Katie sniffed. “It did. I never realized how kind he is until he came to work at the bakery. But we’re not allowed to like someone who isn’t Amish unless we leave the church. It doesn’t seem fair. Why can’t we care about someone who isn’t like us?” She blew out a sigh. “I know the answer to that. It’s because we’re all supposed to be loyal to the church and our community. I know what will happen if I keep disobeying Dat. I’ll be shunned, and I don’t want that. Having Dat ignore me at breakfast was enough to show me I need to be obedient from now on.” She shivered as more tears flowed from her eyes. “But I’m going to miss Jake so much. It’s just not fair, Nancy. I want to be his freind.”

  “Oh, Katie.” Nancy moved closer and hugged her. “I hate seeing you cry like this.”

  Katie leaned into her younger sister’s shoulder. “Why does this have to hurt so much?”

  “I don’t know.” Nancy rubbed her back. “I wish I could fix it for you. You won’t feel this way forever. I promise you. Someday you’ll meet a nice Amish bu who will love you and make you froh, Katie. I know it in my heart.”

  Katie closed her eyes. “Danki, Nancy. You’re a gut schweschder.”

  Frosted Carrot Bars

  Bars

  4 eggs

  2½ teaspoons cinnamon

  1 cup brown sugar

  1 cup white sugar

  ¾ teaspoon salt

  2 cups sifted flour

  3 cups grated carrots

  1½ cups vegetable oil

  1½ cups shredded coconut

  2 teaspoons baking soda 1¼ cups walnuts

  Beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in sugar. Add oil and flour sifted with baking soda, cinnamon, and salt alternately. Mix well. Fold in carrots, coconuts, and walnuts. Pour into 13x9x2 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into bars. Allow to cool.

  Icing

  1 tablespoon milk

  3 ounces cream cheese

  A pinch of salt

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  2½ cups powdered sugar

  Combine until smooth. Spread icing onto cooled bars.

  12

  Katie was almost convinced Monday would never end. She’d been working in the kitchen since she’d arrived, and she hadn’t set foot in the front area of the bakery. Knowing Jake was out there working was driving her to distraction, but she’d been aware of her grandmother’s frequent glances throughout the day.

  The whole situation was so embarrassing and heartbreaking that she didn’t want to discuss it anymore. Yet she couldn’t keep her thoughts from gravitating back to Jake Miller no matter how hard she tried to think of anything else. However, she was determined not to disobey her father.

  “Katie,” her grandmother called. “It’s nearly one o’clock. You may go eat your lunch now, mei liewe.”

  “Danki,” Katie called. After cleaning up her workstation, she retrieved her lunch box and headed out to the bench by a little playground. She prayed and then pulled out her turkey sandwich. She watched her younger cousins play while she ate. She wished she had someone to talk to, but she knew it was best she stay alone with her thoughts.

  Katie was finishing her sandwich when her grandmother sat down beside her.

  “Your dat came to visit me yesterday,” her grandmother said. “I’m sorry he was so upset with you over the weekend.”

  “Danki,” Katie said, wondering what her father had said to her grandmother. How serious was the conversation?

  “I defended you,” Elizabeth said.

  Katie studied her grandmother’s face. “Why would you defend me?”

  “Because I felt your dat was overreacting a bit.” Her grandmother patted Katie’s lap. “You had no choice but to get a ride heemet from Jake on Friday. It was my fault for not realizing you were still in the bakery. I thought you’d gotten a ride with Samuel again. The whole situation was an honest mistake that was blown out of proportion, but my son is very stubborn and very strict. It made me recall the heartache mei freind endured when she fell in love with the Mennonite bu. I wanted to try to soften the blow for you as much as I could.”

  “Danki.” Katie studied her grandmother’s expression. “I never said I was in love with Jake. He and I are simply freinden. I enjoy talking to him, and I think he likes talking to me too.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “I’m not blind. I see how you and Jake look at each other, and I know there are feelings blossoming between you two.” Her expression then became grave. “I promised your dat I would watch out for you and keep you and Jake apart as much as possible. I need to keep that promise, Katie. You know that.”

  “I know.” Katie pulled an apple out of her lunch bag and studied it for a moment while contemplating her grandmother’s words. “What happened to your friend who fell in love with the Mennonite bu?”

  “She
was shunned, Katie. She left the community and married him.” Elizabeth took Katie’s hands in hers. “Katie, you’re mei grossdochder, and Ich liebe dich. Of course I’m going to wish you a life of happiness. However, I’ve seen a situation like this end badly.”

  “What do you mean?” Katie tried to contemplate her grandmother’s words. “How can falling in love end badly?”

  “The repercussions of leaving the community will be difficult to manage, mei liewe.” Her grandmother squeezed her hands. “Could you really handle walking away from your family and freinden who love you so much? And how would you feel breaking your parents’ hearts?”

  Katie swallowed as the reality of what she was doing trickled through her. “I see what you’re saying and what the results of my actions could mean.” She pulled her hands back. “I promise I won’t disobey mei dat, and I won’t talk to Jake ever again.”

  “I just want you to be careful with your heart.” Elizabeth pointed toward Katie’s chest. “I know how sweet and sensitive you are, and Jake is a very nice bu. However, you need to think about what the consequences could be if you allow yourself to be swept away in the moment without a care in the world.”

  Katie thought of her two best friends and frowned. “It’s not easy being the only one without a boyfriend when Lizzie Anne is getting married and Lindsay is dating Matthew.”

  Her grandmother’s face assumed a sympathetic expression. “I know that has to be difficult, but your time will come. Have patience and faith.” She suddenly brightened. “Remember the verse from the service last week?”

  Katie shook her head. “Which one?”

  “It was from the second of Thessalonians, verse sixteen,” Elizabeth said. “ ‘May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.’ Keep that in mind, Katie. Always keep your faith and hope. Your time will come when it’s right. You’re very young. You don’t need to fall in love at eighteen, even though your friends have.”

  “Ya,” Katie said. “I know.”

  Elizabeth waved to a few of Katie’s cousins who were climbing the jungle gym and laughing. “I remember when you were out there playing. It’s amazing how quickly mei grandkinner are growing up. Soon you’ll be married and having kinner of your own. It will happen in God’s time.”

  Katie frowned at the thought. Would she ever find an Amish boy to love?

  Her grandmother looped her arm around Katie’s shoulders. “I wish I could take your sadness away. You’re so young, and you have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let this situation color the rest of your youth, Katie.”

  Katie bit into the apple. She knew her grandmother meant well, but the words seemed meaningless in her disappointment. All she knew was she and Jake had to go their separate ways and pretend they were never friends.

  Elizabeth stood. “I’m going to go start making sandwiches for the kinner.”

  “Do you need help?” Katie asked, wiping her hands with a napkin.

  “No, danki.” Her grandmother smiled. “You enjoy your lunch. I’ll take my break when you come back in.”

  Katie finished the apple, wrapped the apple core in her napkin, and pulled out a zipper storage bag filled with frosted carrot bars she, Janie, and Nancy had made Saturday. She glanced toward the parking lot and spotted Jake sitting on the tailgate of his truck and eating lunch. She wondered if he missed her as much as she missed him. He turned toward her, and their gazes locked. She wished she could speak to him, but she’d heard her father’s rules loud and clear. The last thing she needed to do was disobey him and have the word get back through one of her relatives.

  When she could no longer take the pain of staring from afar, Katie turned back toward the playground and wondered what she could do to make this day end faster.

  By Friday, Katie was tired of spending her days stuck in the kitchen at the bakery. Although she loved to bake, she was ready to venture outside of the hot kitchen for a change of scenery.

  At noon, she crossed to her grandmother’s office and found her sitting at her desk. “Mammi?” she asked as Elizabeth looked up from her ledger. “I was wondering if I could go for a walk during my lunchtime today.”

  Placing her pen on the desk, Elizabeth looked curious. “Why do you want to go for a walk, Katie Joy?”

  Katie leaned on the doorframe. “Janie’s birthday is next week, and I was thinking about heading to the fabric store. I’d like to make her a new dress as a special gift.”

  “That’s very nice,” Elizabeth said, smiling. “Did you want to go now?”

  Katie nodded. “Walking in the nice cool air sounds like a gut break from the hot kitchen.”

  Elizabeth motioned toward the door. “Go on. You can eat your lunch when you get back.”

  “Danki.” Katie nodded at her aunts and cousins and the other bakers as she crossed the kitchen and grabbed her cloak from the peg by the back door. Pulling on her cloak, Katie crossed the parking lot and noticed Jake’s pickup truck wasn’t parked among the tourists’ cars. She wondered why he was absent from work and hoped he was okay.

  She started down Gibbons Road and hugged her cloak closer to her body while thinking of Jake. She’d missed talking to him all week, and she wondered if he missed her as well. Did he think of her as a good friend too? She contemplated if Nancy and her grandmother were right and she would meet and fall in love with an Amish man someday. But how could she possibly forget her special friendship with Jake Miller, even if it had lasted only a short time?

  Pushing the thoughts of Jake away, Katie walked down the road and thought about her little sister’s birthday. She contemplated what color fabric she should get for Janie’s dress. Her little sister loved the color pink, but she thought she should get a more traditional color, such as cranberry or maybe purple.

  “Hey!” a voice called, interrupting her thoughts of her sister’s gift.

  Katie looked behind her and spotted three young men following her. They each were clad in stained, ripped jeans and dirty denim jackets. Their long, greasy hair fell past their shoulders. Two carried beer bottles while the third held a fancy cell phone.

  Assuming they weren’t speaking to her, Katie turned her gaze toward the road ahead of her. An uneasy feeling gripped her, and she picked up her pace, wishing she’d asked Amanda or Ruthie to walk with her to the store.

  “Hey, Amish girl!” one of the men yelled. “We want to ask you a question.”

  Oh no. They are talking to me! Katie walked faster, hugging her cloak closer to her body. Only two more blocks, and I’ll be at the fabric store. I can make it!

  “Wait up!” one of the men yelled.

  Katie heard footsteps rushing up behind her, and she considered running to the corner. However, a strong arm grabbed her and spun her around, forcing her to face the three men. Her heart thudded in her chest as they sneered at her.

  “You know, it’s rude to ignore someone who’s talking to you,” the tallest of the men, who was holding a beer bottle, said. “We were calling you.”

  “What do you want?” she asked, her voice a strangled whisper.

  “We just want to ask you a question,” the second man said. He reached over and touched the tie to her prayer covering. “Where do you get these pretty bonnets you Amish chicks wear?”

  Katie stepped away from his touch. “We make them.”

  “How do you make them?” the third man asked. He smiled, revealing yellowed, chipped teeth.

  “We make them by hand,” Katie said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I must go.” She turned.

  “Wait,” one of the men said, grabbing her arm with a forceful grip that made her wince. “We’re not done.” He threw down his beer bottle, which smashed into pieces by her black sneakers.

  Katie’s stomach lurched as the man stood close to her. His breath smelled of onions, and she feared she might vomit from the stench. “Please let me go,�
� she said.

  “No,” he said with an evil grin. “We want to take your photo.” He nodded toward the short man. “Hank has an iPhone, and we want to get a photo with you so we can prove to our friends we really met a pretty Amish chick today.”

  “It’s against my religion to have my photo taken,” she said, her voice quaking with fear. “Please let go of me. You’re hurting me.”

  Hank held up his phone. “Be a nice girl. Just let me get a photo with you.”

  “Let go of me!” Katie called, tears pooling in her eyes. “I have to go!”

  “Come on, babe,” the third man said, throwing his beer bottle into the street. “Why don’t you have a little fun with us.”

  Katie tried to pull away from them, but the man was still holding onto her wrist, and the third grabbed her prayer covering, yanking it off her head and causing her to yelp as the pins and ribbon were ripped from her hair.

  “Stop!” she yelled, tears spilling from her eyes. “Let me go!”

  “Let’s see your dress, babe.” The man who was holding her wrist looked at his friend. “Help me get her cloak off, Nick.”

  “Stop!” Katie screamed as the two men held her and pulled off her cloak. “Please! Let me go! Stop it, please!” Her sobs cut off her voice as they threw her cloak to the ground and began to paw at her dress. She prayed someone would come and help her. Why hadn’t she asked one of her cousins to walk with her to the store? How long would this nightmare go on?

  “Are you getting this on video, Hank?” the first man asked with a grin. “Look at her pretty dress. Do you make your clothes yourself too?” He grabbed at her waist, and her dress tore with a loud rip.

  “Please stop!” she pleaded with them. “Let me go.”

  “What’s your name, babe?” the first man asked, pulling her to him. “You’re awful pretty for an Amish girl.”