by Leslie Gould
But he chuckled as if he understood. “Jah,” he said. “I’m very aware of that. You are opposites. Absolutely.”
She took his agreement as a compliment, but his words didn’t lessen her disappointment. She’d never been a patient person. A pout started to form on her face. Perhaps she should have taken time for her Rumschpringe after all. She’d been waiting forever for Reuben to set a wedding date.
“I’d hoped we’d marry sooner too.” Reuben turned off the highway onto Juneberry Lane. “But it would be a lot for your family to host two weddings close together. This way, we can be supportive of Lila and Zane, and your Dat will have some time to regroup before another big event. Besides, your Dat’s under extra stress right now.”
Rose bristled. “Did you say something to your Dat about them?”
Reuben shook his head.
“Are you sure? Because they’ve been avoiding each other. Something’s going on.”
“A lot of people have noticed the amount of time they’ve been spending together,” Reuben said. “Not just me.”
Reuben wouldn’t lie to her. Someone else had brought it up with Bishop Byler. As they reached the driveway, Rose focused on the autumn clematis growing along the fence. She wouldn’t think about Dat and Beth. No, she’d concentrate on the things she longed for. Marriage. Sharing Reuben’s home. A kiss.
She’d shared a couple with boys she’d gone to school with, but they hadn’t really counted. A kiss from Reuben would help her accept the delay in their plans. It would give her something to think about during the month of chaos before Lila’s wedding.
Reuben parked the buggy by the barn, with the chicken coop blocking sight of the house. Rose turned toward him. He smiled at her, placed his hand on her shoulder, and leaned toward her. It was as if he could read her mind. She lifted her mouth toward his.
A car horn honked and then a horse neighed loudly.
Someone yelled, “Whoa!”
Reuben’s horse jerked backward, sending the buggy lurching.
Reuben quickly set his brake as the horn blared again.
“Knock that off!” Dat yelled.
Rose’s curiosity won, and she jumped down from the buggy, quickly stepping to the other side of the coop where she could see what was going on. Zane handed his reins to Lila, jumped down, and walked back toward a red sports car.
An Englischer climbed out. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, the sleeves tight against his arms.
“Anderson!” Zane called out. “What are you doing?”
“Your parents said you might be down here.” The man wore his sandy hair short and his face had a sculpted look. He could have passed for one of those celebrities on the cover of the magazines Rose saw in the stores—and sometimes bought.
“Dude, you really did it, didn’t you? You joined the Amish.” The man shook his head. “Suspenders, a hat, weird pants. You’re the real deal.”
“Who’s that?” Reuben asked as he stepped to Rose’s side.
Rose shrugged. “Maybe one of Zane’s Army buddies.” His hair looked like an Army cut.
“What’s he doing here?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
Reuben took a step closer to the action and then asked, over his shoulder, “Do you think he’s here for the wedding?”
Rose shook her head. “It’s too early. Besides, no one said anything about a friend coming.”
Zane put out his hand, and the men shook hands. Then they hugged. “Trevor,” Zane said, “it’s great to see you.”
Lila jumped down from the buggy and grabbed Zane’s horse, holding him steady.
An alarming sound—a sob, it seemed—escaped between Zane and the Englisch man. Rose stepped away from Reuben so she could see better. She couldn’t imagine Zane was crying. The other man’s shoulders shook.
Zane patted his back.
Neither Rose nor Reuben said anything for a long moment, but then Reuben took off his hat, ran his hand through his hair, and said, “I’d better get going.”
“Jah,” Rose replied, wishing he’d take her with him, but she knew he wouldn’t. She’d never been in his house alone with him, and he wouldn’t change his thinking on that now.
Rose’s hand brushed against Reuben’s. For a moment she thought he might grab hers, but he didn’t. She wished he’d pull her close and say something like, We’ll pick up where we left off. But he didn’t. He didn’t say anything at all. Maybe he was taking her for granted, thinking she should be happy to wait until spring to get married.
She gave him a heartless good-bye and started toward the house.
Zane had taken the reins back and softly spoke to his horse, the Englischer standing beside him, his back to the rest of them. Rose reached her sisters, and they walked toward the house.
“Who is that?” Rose asked as they climbed the back steps.
“Hush,” Lila answered.
When they reached the kitchen, Trudy hurried toward the dining room window, but Lila called her back. “His name is Trevor Anderson,” Lila explained. “He served in Afghanistan with Zane. He was the driver of the vehicle . . .” Her voice trailed off. Rose remembered that Zane had been in some sort of big van or something that ran over an explosive. Lila probably didn’t want to say any more in front of Trudy. “He’s been having some problems,” Lila added.
“What kind of problems?” Trudy asked.
“Depression. Maybe PTSD.”
“What’s that?” Trudy stepped back toward the window.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder. From combat.”
“Does Zane have that?”
“I don’t think so,” Lila answered.
Trudy wrinkled her nose. “How about Simon?”
“Hush,” Rose said to her little sister.
“No, it’s fine.” Lila stepped close and patted Trudy’s shoulder. “I don’t think Simon has PTSD.” He’d been in Afghanistan but was stateside again. He’d seen his girlfriend, Casey—who had served with Zane—but hadn’t made his way home yet.
“What’s Trevor doing here?” Rose stepped toward the window. Zane now had one arm around the Englisch man. Rose couldn’t help but feel sorry for Trevor.
“He wrote Zane a while back and said he wanted to visit.” Lila’s gaze drifted toward the window. “He didn’t say he wanted to visit now though. I thought he’d come after the wedding.”
2
The next evening a chill filled the air, causing Lila to pull her cloak tighter as she breathed in the acrid smell of the lingering smoke from Dat’s leaf pile. The day before, after Trevor drove back to Shani and Joel’s house, Zane had asked her to meet him at their old fort tonight, at eight. He said he had a surprise for her. She hurried through the gate and into the field, anticipating what he wanted to show her.
After returning from the Army last year, Zane had immediately taken a construction job, started taking instruction to join the Amish church, and moved into Monika and Gideon’s Dawdi Haus. That, along with Lila’s job at the Plain Buffet and her chores, didn’t give them much time together. After he joined the church last November, and people started to accept that he was sincere, they had more freedom, but for the last three months Zane’s spare time had been taken building a little house for them near his parents’. She hoped he planned to show it to her tonight.
She walked along the poplar trees and then stopped at the bank of the creek, casting her flashlight beam down into the water. The level was low after the hot summer, but still the creek murmured along. Below, their fort stood sturdy after so many years. Above, the trees swayed in the breeze. Lila breathed deeply, relishing the crisp air. She’d spent the afternoon cooped up inside, addressing the wedding invitations she and Zane would deliver over the next week.
There were moments when she had to pinch herself to truly believe that she would marry Zane in a month. There were other moments when she feared something would still go wrong.
Zane was her person, the one she most wanted to be with,
to spend her life with. Sometimes she feared she loved him too much, held on to him too tightly. Sometimes she feared God had a lesson for her to learn to trust him more and Zane less, but then she told herself she was simply being superstitious.
A rustling caused her to turn toward the field. Zane called out, “Sorry I’m late!” He held his hand on top of his hat as he ran, and he wore his old down jacket instead of his new black coat. Under his hat, his blond bangs were pushed to the side—a sure sign that he’d been working hard.
Lila nodded toward their fort. “Do you want to talk down there?”
He grinned and grabbed her hand. “No. I have a surprise. Remember?”
She smiled, anticipating that he was ready to show her the house. When he first planned it, he’d asked her opinion about the layout and the details, but then he’d asked her to stay away. She was excited to see what he’d done.
He led her through the field. “Trevor’s going to stay with Mom and Dad for a few days, although Mom doesn’t seem thrilled to have him around. She says he’s too charming.” Zane shrugged. “Dad told him to go down to the Center and get some help.” Zane’s father worked for an organization that assisted veterans. “He says he enjoys construction and his back seems to be doing okay.” Lila knew, from what Zane had said a few months ago, that Trevor had a rough time after the accident in Afghanistan. First he was at an Army hospital in Texas. Then he went home to Delaware, to live with his father. Now he’d found his way to Lancaster County.
“Is he going to be okay? He seemed pretty upset yesterday.”
“I think so,” Zane said. “He’s been having problems with his girlfriend—he’s been a little vague, mostly saying she nags him all the time. But I wonder if he has a hard time committing. Plus, it sounds as if he had a drinking problem, but he says that’s all in the past.”
Lila winced. Zane’s little brother, Adam, was only ten.
Zane shrugged. “Trevor has promised not to drink—at all—while staying at our house.”
“He’s only staying for a few days? For sure?”
Zane hesitated a moment. “Well, Dad said he’ll look for another place if he decides to stay in Lancaster County longer. Charlie and Eve might take him.”
Lila wrinkled her nose. Her aunt and uncle had taken in vets who needed a place to stay in the past, but they’d recently started caring for a foster child.
“We have too much going on right now with the wedding and everything to give him much time.” He smiled down at her. “Anyway, let’s not think about Trevor right now.”
She handed him the flashlight.
Zane took it and pointed it toward the Becks’ barn. “Like I said, I have something I want to show you.”
“Not your horse again.” She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ha ha. I am going to take you up on your offer to work with him.”
Lila halfway regretted saying she’d train Billie, but Zane hadn’t grown up driving a horse and buggy the way she had. He wasn’t firm enough with the horse, which had turned out to be quite spirited.
“All right,” Lila said. “I’ll start tomorrow.” She’d take him on her regular errands, that sort of thing. “So, if we’re not going into the barn, are we . . .” She pointed toward where the little house was.
Zane wrapped his arm around her, shining the light toward the grove of trees. “Jah,” he said. “Finally. You don’t know how many times I’ve regretted asking you to stay away.” He pulled her close. “Although, I should probably show you tomorrow, in the light.”
“No!” Lila laughed at her reaction.
Zane pulled her closer. “I take it you feel strongly about this?”
“Jah,” she answered, her heart swelling. They stepped through the opening in the hedge and then around the Becks’ old Hinkle coop that Zane had repaired. She’d buy chicks once they were married and start a flock. She’d share the eggs with Shani and help with her garden too, although she suspected she’d still tend the garden at her Dat’s place as well. Rose had grown up a lot in the last couple of years, but she would still need help managing the house.
When Lila was a girl, she used to dream of marrying Zane and having a home on Juneberry Lane. They’d have chickens and sheep and horses and cows. A big garden. Six Kinder. That had been her dream. However, she never believed the dream could come true.
But now it was.
Zane held the flashlight higher, and the beam fell on their house—right in front of them.
It was small, jah, and it would only work for a few years. Once they had more than a couple of babies, they’d need a bigger home. But by then they’d hopefully have enough money saved for a down payment on a property of their own. She hated the thought of leaving Juneberry Lane someday, but it was probably inevitable.
The beam of the flashlight darted from one side of the house to the other.
“Zane, it’s beautiful.” And it was. The exterior was painted white, like most of the Amish houses in Lancaster County. A wide front porch led to the door. Two gables were pitched above the first-story windows. Zane had built a concrete ramp into the house, instead of a step, to make it easier for his father, who walked with a cane.
“Come inside,” Zane said, squeezing her hand and pulling her along. They hurried up the ramp onto the porch and then into the house. Zane turned to a table right inside the front door and quickly turned on a battery-powered lamp. The light filled the small living room. All the walls were wood and stained a rich maple color. Lila knew Zane had gotten all of the building materials from Reuben’s lumberyard.
The far wall was lined with bookshelves, an old-fashioned braided rug covered a good portion of the wood floor, and a wood stove sat in the far corner. The room was cozy and warm.
“We’ll get a rocking chair for you,” Zane said, pointing to the opposite corner. In less than a year, they could be parents, God willing. The thought warmed her soul almost as much as her love for Zane did.
He held the lamp high and turned to the left. “Come see the kitchen.”
As she stepped through the doorway, Lila gushed, “Oh, Zane.” She’d never seen anything like it. The countertops were made of stone, and the sink, refrigerator, and stove were all stainless steel. “This is too much,” she said. “It must have cost a fortune.”
He shook his head. “The granite was left over from a project we did at work. And the stove and refrigerator both have dents, but on the sides. No one will ever know.”
“How about the cabinets?” They appeared to be high quality.
“I got a deal from a contractor we work with. An Amish man near Paradise.”
She opened a cabinet door. It was smooth and easy to maneuver, nothing like the old cupboards back home. She pulled open a drawer—the spoon, fork, and knife dividers were all built in.
“I’ve never been so spoiled,” she said.
Zane put his hands on her shoulders. “I’d do anything for you.”
She swallowed hard, unable to speak. She knew he would.
He pointed to a doorway past the refrigerator. “There’s a small pantry there.”
Lila stepped to the door and opened it as Zane held the lamp up. It was perfect.
“And then there’s a little half bath.” He opened the next door. “But I haven’t done anything with it yet. I’ll finish it up last.” She knew Zane had included the half bath so his father wouldn’t have to go upstairs when he was visiting. The room wasn’t any bigger than a closet, but a toilet and sink would fit. Right now it was an empty shell with capped pipes.
“I’ll show you the second floor,” he said.
The staircase was open with a simple but well-constructed banister, and the little landing at the top had a matching, high railing with slats that were close together. All designed with future children in mind, Lila was sure.
Zane pointed to the door at the far end of the landing. “Here’s our room.” The door was closed, and Zane stepped forward and opened it wide, holding the lamp high again.
The first thing Lila noticed was the window seat.
“Oh, Zane,” she said.
He smiled.
“It’s lovely.” She could imagine someday stealing an hour to read, with children at her side.
There was already a bureau in the room. And a bed with one of the quilts her mother made on top of it. It was the shadow quilt Aenti Eve had given Zane’s mom, and then Shani had given it back to Eve. Made from jewel-toned squares and diamonds—sapphire, burgundy, and forest green against a black background—it had always been Lila’s favorite. She had intended to use the crazy quilt she’d made, but she was thrilled to have the quilt her Mamm designed. Regardless she said, “Eve shouldn’t have given it back.”
“Of course she should have.” Zane broke out into a smile.
She sat down on the bed, running her hand over the soft fabric and fine stitching. A branch outside the window swayed in the wind. An owl hooted in the woods behind the house. Zane plopped down beside her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. He smelled of wood stain and the crisp fall air.
This was their house. Their room. The future she’d longed for since she was eleven had finally arrived. Well, nearly. Another month and it would be here.
She turned her head up to him and their lips met. Waiting for each other hadn’t been easy. Passion filled her.
Zane pulled away. “This was a bad idea,” he said, struggling to his feet. “I shouldn’t have brought you up here, not like this.”
Lila exhaled.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be.” She smiled a little and then scooted off the bed.
He headed to the door. “Want to see the Bobbli’s room?”
She shook her head. “Not tonight. Let’s come back tomorrow afternoon. We can bring your mom with us. . . .”
“I volunteer at the station tomorrow.”
“Oh,” Lila said. “I thought we’d get started delivering the invitations.” They were on the landing now, walking past the Bobbli’s room with its door closed, headed to the stairs.