Naomi gave the house a doubtful glance. “I doubt we’ll use the electricity.”
“It’s easy as pie,” he told her. “You just flick a switch.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not making fun of me, are you?”
“Teasing,” he said. “Sorry. Do you need me to go in with you both and see if you need anything?”
“I think I can manage,” she said dryly.
They got out of the car. Naomi thought she could smell the scent of the ocean on the cool evening air. But maybe that was her imagination.
Leah just stared at the cottage. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”
Nick nodded as he opened the rear of the vehicle and began taking out their luggage. “We are indeed, ladies.”
He carried the suitcases into the house and set them down by the front door. Then, looking around, he leaned in and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “Before we left I heard one of the Lancaster County men who’s visited here say that what happens in Florida stays in Florida.”
There was a steady stream of visitors the next day, starting with Ida, Daniel’s mother.
Naomi watched the two women embrace and knew she’d done the right thing helping her grandmother travel here to visit her longtime friend.
Ida held out a basket of oranges. “I picked these for you from my own tree.”
She placed them on the kitchen counter along with a coffee cake and some farm-fresh eggs.
“The cottage is perfect,” Leah told her, gesturing for her friend to take a seat at the kitchen table. “But there was no need for you to stock the refrigerator and cupboards with food.”
“Of course there was,” Ida said, accepting a cup of tea from Naomi. “How’s the ankle?”
“She always says ‘fine,’” Naomi told her. “I’m hoping she’ll stay off it for a few days before we start exploring.”
“Maybe a day or two,” Leah said, pulling the coffee cake over and cutting pieces for them.
“So what’s on the agenda?” Ida wanted to know.
Leah held up her hand and began ticking off on her fingers, “Naomi and I read the copy of the Pinecraft Pauper newspaper you left on the table. We’re looking forward to all sorts of activities, starting with Nick driving us to Pinecraft Park tonight for shuffleboard—”
“Shuffleboard?” Naomi nearly shrieked. “What? What’s he thinking? You can’t be playing shuffleboard right now!”
“I won’t be playing, I’ll be watching,” Leah said mildly. “Really, liebschen, do you think I’ve lost my senses as well as my ability to get around?”
Naomi bit her lip. “No.”
Leah tilted her head to one side. “Did you think Nick would let me do something like that?”
“Well, I think Nick’s smarter than that,” Naomi said slowly, thinking about it. “But I know you, and you do what you want to do.”
Ida laughed and set down her cup of tea. “She knows you well, Leah.”
“Ya, indeed she does.” She put a slice of coffee cake on a plate and set it before Naomi. “But if you’re worried, then maybe you’d like to go along and make sure that I don’t do something foolish.”
Naomi stared at her grandmother. “Well,” she said finally, “I did see you take a flying leap out of the store not so long ago.”
Her grandmother pursed her lips, and then the crinkles around her eyes deepened and she chuckled. “I am quite the athlete, am I not? Who knows what I could do on the shuffle-board court!”
6
Before Ida left, she had a surprise for them.
“My cousin is coming in on one of the chartered buses today,” she announced. “Everyone turns out to see who’s on a bus from up north. Sometimes they have a relative or friend, but even if they don’t, it’s fun to see the new arrivals and say good-bye to those going back home.”
There was a knock on the door. “That’ll be Caleb,” she told Naomi.
Caleb, her husband, had a surprise of his own. “I brought a wagon for you, Leah, if you’d like to come with us,” he said. “Kumm, see how you like it.”
Naomi helped Leah with her crutches and they walked outside.
Leah laughed. “Well, it’s no coach, but it’s no pumpkin either.”
Caleb had fixed up a small wagon—bigger than a child’s wagon, one that a small woman like Leah could fit in—and lined it with a pillow and blankets to make it more comfortable to sit in.
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Ida told her. “Caleb just wanted you to have a chance to if you wanted. It’s one of the social events here, seeing who’s arrived.”
“Schur, I’m willing to give it a try,” Leah said and let Naomi and Caleb help her get seated.
“Take or leave?” Naomi asked, holding up the crutches.
“Leave,” Leah said without hesitation. “I doubt I’ll want to get out and walk around if there’s a crowd of people.”
Caleb picked up the handle and began pulling the wagon along the sidewalk.
They’d traveled just a few feet when Leah burst out laughing. “I bet I make quite a sight.”
Ida’s laugh was rich and deep. “Ya. But wait until you see how everyone gets around here. There are no horses and buggies so we use three-wheelers and bicycles and wagons like Caleb’s to get groceries. Neighborhood seems too small to do anything else.”
She shot a glance at Caleb. “Until you go to haul some Yoder’s produce home. Then you’re grateful for the wagon, eh, Caleb?”
Leah laughed. “Just pretend I’m a load of produce, Caleb.”
Naomi smiled. It was wonderful to see how much her grandmother had cheered up. She couldn’t wait to tell her cousins.
People were hurrying toward the spot where the chartered bus, its side decorated with a mural of a train, sat. If you were a little nearsighted, you could almost think a train had pulled in and passengers were stepping down from it.
“My cousin from Indiana is on the bus,” Ida said. “I can’t wait to see her.”
Female passengers wearing a variety of dress styles and kapps descended the steps, some of them carrying tired-looking children who blinked in the glare of the bright Florida sun. The men went to retrieve luggage from the belly of the bus.
Greetings were exchanged and the visitors were escorted off to stay with relatives and friends or went to places they’d rented for their stay.
Ida went off to get her cousin settled at her place and Caleb pulled Leah home in the wagon.
“Hey, stealing one of my favorite passengers?”
Naomi’s eyes widened as she saw Nick strolling up. Her heart lifted and the day seemed just a little brighter.
Caleb turned and chuckled. “Ya, and I’ll be taking her all the way back to Pennsylvania in my fine conveyance here when she’s ready to go home.”
Nick reached out his hand and helped Leah up from the wagon.
“Let me get her crutches,” Naomi said quickly.
“No need,” he said, scooping up a surprised Leah and carrying her up the walk.
Naomi fished in her pocket for the key and unlocked the front door. Nick set Leah down inside and handed her the crutches that Naomi had left nearby.
“You do love the grand gesture, don’t you?” Leah said and reached up a hand to pat his cheek affectionately. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Love one.”
Naomi rushed into the kitchen so her grandmother wouldn’t have the chance to get near the stove. Nick winked at her, showing her he was aware of what she was doing.
He pulled out a chair and got Leah settled at the table with her ankle on another chair, seated himself, and gave his attention to the plate of cookies Naomi set before him.
“I came by to see when you wanted to go to the shuffleboard court this evening,” he said around a mouthful of cookie. “Mmm. What’s in these?”
“Butterscotch chips, oatmeal, walnuts.” Naomi pulled a plastic baggie from a box and slid half a dozen inside before handing it to h
im.
“Well,” he said. “I’ll have to stop by more often.”
“Have you left yet?” she asked as she met his gaze.
He laughed. “You just love to zing me, don’t you?”
She just smiled.
“So. Shuffleboard court?”
“I’m game anytime,” Leah said. “But Caleb just took the wagon.”
“I can do better than that.” Nick took another cookie from the plate. “My wheels are parked outside. Guess you didn’t see when you came home.”
Naomi hadn’t. She’d been too happy to see him. It had been a little boring that day, she told herself. She wasn’t used to being so idle. To not have Mary Katherine and Anna around. To not have her quilting. And while the visitors who stopped by were nice, she felt a little cooped up.
In the very next moment, she felt a stab of guilt. The reason she was here was to help her grandmother. Any fun was a bonus.
“So what do you say? Shall we go check out the shuffleboard?”
“This can’t be exciting for you,” Leah said as they climbed into the van a little while later.
“I’m enjoying everything,” he said, at ease behind the wheel as he threaded the vehicle through narrow streets and watched out for people suddenly jaywalking without looking. “Besides, I’m going fishing later in the week.”
Naomi started to say that she loved fishing—that she always tagged along with her older brother. But that might look like she was trying to get herself invited along. Maybe Nick was even going with someone.
She sighed.
“What?”
Looking at him, she shook her head. “Nothing.”
Pinecraft Park seemed like it was the place to be. Dozens and dozens of Amish and Mennonite visitors swarmed the place playing shuffleboard, chatting in groups, and just generally enjoying the balmy temperature. Back home in Lancaster County it was in the thirties, and even colder in other parts up north.
Nick dropped Leah and Naomi off at the courts and had to drive around and around to find a parking place. When he returned, he found Leah sitting on one of the wooden benches that surrounded the court, her foot propped up on an upside-down pail someone had found.
And Naomi was deep in a discussion with Daniel Kurtz, Ida and Caleb’s son who he’d met back in Paradise. Daniel was a big strapping blond Amish guy who seemed to be paying a little too much attention to Naomi as far as Nick was concerned.
Nick’s stomach sank. Which was really stupid when he thought about it because he had no claim on Naomi. After all, she was engaged to John Zook. Was he going to be jealous of two men now?
He strolled up casually. Daniel appeared to recognize him. He stood and offered his hand.
“Nick, right? You have a transportation company in Paradise? Are you enjoying your vacation?”
“Having a great time.”
“Gut. So glad you could drive Leah and Naomi down.” He waved a hand at the bench. “Saved you a seat.”
They watched the action for a while. The Amish loved sports, enjoying volleyball, basketball, and softball—back home and here. The shuffleboard court seemed especially popular, and not just with the older crowd.
“Naomi’s catching me up on what’s happening back in Paradise. We went to schul together.” He gave a heavy sigh. “Says she’s engaged.”
“It’s not flattering to have you acting like that when I know you were interested in my cousin Mary Katherine,” Naomi pointed out.
He grimaced. “Sorry. But think how I feel. We have a small Amish Mennonite community here, so when all the visitors come down during the winter I try to meet someone. But they’re only here for a week or two and then they go back home. It feels like my time is spent with the ‘tourist of the week.’”
“Someone female,” she inserted, grinning.
“I’m ready to get married,” he said earnestly. “Maybe you know someone. Look around,” he told them, gesturing at their surroundings. “What could be a more beautiful place to live?”
Naomi had to agree. What she’d seen of Florida so far was lovely. The sky seemed a more vivid blue here. There were warm temperatures and flowers blooming in the midst of winter. It was truly paradise.
Thinking of the word made her think of home—Paradise, Pennsylvania. And John. She hadn’t talked to him since she came here. Nick had offered her the use of his cell phone on the trip—and since—and Leah had taken him up on the offer and checked in with Mary Katherine and Anna at the shop during business hours to see how things were going.
But even though Nick looked curious at her refusal, he said nothing.
“Excuse me,” Daniel said as he stood. “Mary Graber said she’d bring her niece tonight after she came in on the bus.”
Naomi saw an older woman gesturing from the other side of the court. Beside her stood someone Naomi’s age. The young woman smiled shyly at Daniel as he hurried over to her.
“That’s tough about Daniel. I hope this girl isn’t the latest ‘tourist of the week.’”
The crowd shifted as games ended and new people took to the court. Naomi felt a prickling at the back of her neck, as if the hairs rose. It was the strangest feeling—as if someone was watching.
She glanced around but no one seemed to be paying attention. People chatted with one another as they watched the shuffleboard action and generally milled around. A man’s hat bobbed as he walked behind the line of spectators, but she couldn’t see his face. Naomi frowned and then shook her head. Must have been her imagination, she decided.
“I think I’ll take a walk,” she told her grandmother and Nick.
He dragged his attention away from a game. “Mind if I go with? I have a hankering for some ice cream at Big Olaf’s.”
“Who says I’m going that way?”
“Don’t be silly,” he said. “You need ice cream.”
He rose and turned to Leah. “What can we bring you?”
“Maybe a root beer float?”
“Turning wild and crazy there, Leah,” he said, and her chuckle followed them as they walked away.
Nick slid a glance at Naomi as they moved through the crowd. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
“You looked a little rattled there for a minute when we were at the court.”
Naomi shrugged. “I thought I saw someone I know, that’s all.”
He scanned the crowd. “It wouldn’t surprise me. A lot of people here came down from Lancaster County. I’m getting better about recognizing what area of the country they come from by the clothing.”
Naomi’s prayer covering was made of a rather delicate material that was translucent so that her hair showed beneath, and it had a back that was shaped rather like a butterfly. The kapps worn in other parts of the country were opaque, sometimes with a sort of cylindrical shape made of stiff, tucked cotton.
There wasn’t a lot of difference in the men’s clothing, she noted: dark pants, shirts, suspenders. Children wore a miniature version of their parents’ clothing, and since it was so warm here, many of them ran barefoot.
“Looks like we have a wait,” Nick told Naomi as they neared Big Olaf’s. “Do you want to go someplace else?”
He saw her eyes widen as a young boy walked past with a strawberry sundae. The strawberries were a rich, deep red, and huge.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “It looks like it’s worth the wait. And the line’s going fast.”
When their turn came, they ordered—the strawberry sundae for Naomi, a banana split for Nick, and Leah’s root beer float—and then they walked back to the shuffleboard court to enjoy them.
Nick’s cell went off and he set the banana split down on the bench between them to take it. One of Nick’s drivers had an important question about work that was soon resolved.
Nick started to put the phone back in his pocket and then turned to Naomi and Leah. “Would either of you like to call home? The shop’s still open.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” said Leah. “I don’t want Mar
y Katherine or Anna to think I’m checking up on them too often.”
She continued to drink her float and they heard a gurgling noise as she sipped the last of it. Grinning, she set it down. “My, that was good. Makes me remember my childhood when my mamm made them as a special treat for us.”
Nick turned to Naomi. “Would you like to call your fiancé? I can get his number at his work, if you like.”
“No,” she said quickly, a little more quickly than he expected.
“Okay.” Tucking the phone in his pants pocket, he picked up the banana split and resumed eating.
There it was again, he thought. The quick snap of Naomi’s head as she turned to look at something to the far right, her eyes scanning the crowd.
“What is it?” Leah asked, looking curiously at her granddaughter. “Naomi?”
“It’s so strange,” she said. “I feel like someone’s watching me.”
“I don’t see anyone doing that,” Leah told her.
Nick glanced around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Do you want me to take you home?”
She shook her head. “No, it must just be my imagination.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re not usually around so many people at one time,” Leah offered, patting her on the back.
“Maybe.”
But even though she brushed off the offer to take her home and seemed to go back to watching the shuffleboard players and eating her sundae, Nick noticed that she was merely stirring the ice cream and strawberries on top until it was a melted puddle in the dish.
Nick finished his split and disposed of the container in a nearby trash can. He took his seat again and looked at her sundae. “You gonna eat that or stir it to death?”
She laughed. “It was a little too much for me, I guess.”
“Here, I’ll finish it for you,” he said.
“I’ll go get you another spoon,” she said, starting to rise.
He gave her a look. “I’m not afraid of you having cooties.”
“Okay,” she said, sitting again.
But maybe he shouldn’t have spoken so soon. As he put the spoon in his mouth, he thought about how she’d slid the utensil between those perfect pale pink lips of hers and tried not to let his reaction show on his face. He didn’t want to shock Naomi’s sensibilities.
The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 Page 7