“You heard me.”
“Your dad came up with that? Your dad, who’s on the elder board?” Lil never missed an opportunity to rub it in that Megan and Katy’s dads both served on the elder board. Lil’s dad was too busy farming.
“With the help of my mom. They’re real smug about it, too.”
“But are they serious?”
“Dead serious. That’s why you’ve got to come up with those bids fast.” Katy lowered her voice to a whisper again, “Because if this whole doddy house thing isn’t going to fly, then I for sure don’t want to go through with all three dates.” She worried her lip. Mostly, she didn’t want to hurt David’s feelings.
“But … then you’re going to do it?”
“Well yeah. He’s actually a sweet guy. Good-looking, too.”
Lil stared at her with stricken eyes. Her face paled. “You like him?”
Feeling uneasy at her friend’s unwarranted fear, Katy replied, “No. Of course not. But he’s been asking me out for a while.”
Lil crumpled her napkin into a ball and tossed it onto her plate. “Well, he’s not your type.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Wait a minute.” Katy narrowed her eyes. “Do you like him?”
“No–o. You just need somebody with more spunk. Since you’re so … inflexible.”
Katy instantly bristled. She wasn’t a goody-goody like Lil always insinuated. And she was tired of hearing that she was stubborn, too. Lil pushed sometimes just to see how far she could push. Like the time she actually wore a toe ring to foot washing. Katy still cringed over that. She’d covered it with her palm and slipped it into her pocket while Lil snickered. Giggling at foot washing was a sin in itself. Katy often overcompensated to keep Lil in line. But this wasn’t the time to make a case of it, so she turned the heat back at Lil. “Did you ask your folks?”
Lil pushed her plate back and took a sip of her soda. “I did. Round one down. About two more to go, and then we’re good. Honestly, Dad seems preoccupied for some reason. And Mom’s lost her fight lately. Now I can tell them what your dad said”—she lowered her voice—“without the David part. So don’t worry about them. You know that even if they don’t agree, I’m going to do this.”
Dread rippled through Katy’s stomach. She hoped Lil didn’t end up in a fight with her parents, although that had happened often enough in the past. Their relationship seemed to survive somehow. It was good Lil wasn’t the oldest in her family. Her folks at least had practice before she came along. She glanced sideways.
Lil was rubbing her temples, staring down at the table. “I guess this can work.”
Thinking of David’s feelings again, Katy’s meal turned sour. She whispered, “It doesn’t feel fair to David. Think I need to tell him what my folks are up to? Warn him up front and see if he’ll just play along? That way I don’t hurt his feelings. He is a really nice guy.”
“What if he won’t? Then you won’t meet your dad’s criteria. Or what if that’s even more humiliating for him? You better wait and tell him on the last date that you’re not interested and hope that he doesn’t ever find out.” She gripped Katy’s arm. “Wait. Did he even ask you out?”
Twisting away, Katy replied. “No. Dad said he was going to ask me to the skating party this afternoon.”
“How would he know that?”
Katy shrugged. “I have no idea. The grapevine, I guess.”
“The elders’ grapevine,” Lil added another dig. “But he didn’t ask you yet?”
Katy shook her head. “You think I need to go flirt with him or something?”
Lil suddenly grinned. “I’d like to see that happen.”
Lil’s taunting attitude raised Katy’s hackles again. She wasn’t afraid to flirt with a guy. Katy just hadn’t been interested in anyone since Jake. And she loved to prove Lil wrong. Slanting a brow, Katy scooted her chair back.
Lil clapped her hand over her spreading smile.
During their conversation, Katy had kept tabs on David, scoping the situation. He’d been watching her, too. In fact, he’d smiled once when their gazes had met. Now he loitered by the trash can, the sole of one shoe propped against the wall’s baseboard. Her pulse raced with indecision.
David swiped a hand through brown hair that fell neatly back in place—shiny hair a lot of girls would envy—then took a swig of soda pop. Trying to act cool, she thought. Normally, the idea that he intentionally waited for her to dump her trash so he could pounce on her would be pathetic enough to make her leave the table empty-handed. But under the circumstances, she decided to put him out of his misery.
She set her shoulders and maneuvered through the crowded room, lifting her plate once to avoid a rowdy child. She reached the gray plastic can and plopped her trash in its black liner. Casually, she stepped aside and allowed her gaze to rest on David. “Oh hi,” she said.
“Hi, Katy. Good food, huh?” Even though his trim physique was hidden beneath his plain brown suit jacket, overeating didn’t seem to be a problem for him.
“Yes. But you’re used to that. Your mom’s a good cook.”
His hazel gaze darted to the table of casseroles and empty platters. “What about you? Do you like to cook?”
“I can cook, but being friends with Lil, I’d rather not compete in that area. I guess that’s why I like to do housekeeping. A girl wants to shine someplace.” That was a stupid pun, she thought.
He grinned. “I like that about you. You’re considerate.”
Feeling the light-headed zap that follows an untruth, Katy studied the ground.
“Modest, too,” he said.
“No I’m not.” She raised her chin. “I’m not as good as everyone thinks.”
She didn’t know why it bothered her so much today. She wanted to be good. Still, it hurt when Lil called her inflexible or old-fashioned. The paradox confused her. One thing was certain: David didn’t suspect her ulterior motives and didn’t deserve them, either. She felt herself shrinking back from her dad’s plan.
He quirked an eyebrow. She allowed herself to study his pleasantly angular face. He gave her a confident grin, but not presumptuous. “I better not go there. You going to the skating party this afternoon?”
She swallowed. She absolutely wouldn’t go through with this.
“If you are, can I take you?”
His eyes pleaded and twinkled at the same time. He widened his smile, and his cheek creased on the left side of his mouth. She’d never noticed he had dimples. And he really was a nice guy. And a great skater. But she had no intentions of stringing him along, doddy house or not. So much rested on her decision. Finally she determined, she’d go with him, but at the first opportunity, she would tell him about her dad’s deal.
“Sure.”
His shoulders relaxed a tad. “Great. How about three o’clock?”
“Perfect. But you’d better wear knee pads and a helmet. I’m not that good.”
“There you go again. I’ve been watching you, Katy. I know if you can skate or not. You make a pretty picture on the ice.”
A spurt of pleasure surprised her. “Thanks, David.”
She glanced around and saw that the crowd was starting to disperse. “Guess folks are leaving. I need to put something on the bulletin board before they lock up. See you later.” She spun, feeling his gaze on her back, and fought to deny the strange pleasure it brought her.
After she pinned a paper to the church bulletin board that would let others know she was looking for more work, she made her way toward the exit. The moment she stepped into the parking lot, Lil grabbed her arm.
“You did it, didn’t you?”
She shrugged away. “Shh! He might be following. Walk me to the car.”
“Well?”
“He’s taking me to the party.” Katy reached for her Chevy’s door handle. “Get those bids fast, Lil. Okay?”
“Of course. I can’t believe this is finally happening. I’ll see you at the party.”
Katy start
ed to get in the car, but thought better of it. She jumped back out and leaned against the roof. “Lil!”
Her friend turned, and Katy motioned her back. “Be careful how you act at the party. Don’t give me away. And don’t tell anybody about this except Megan.”
“Duh. I’m not stupid.”
“Fine. See you later.”
Katy slammed her car door and looked in the mirror to straighten her covering. Her scheming reflection caught her off guard. Was she becoming a stranger to herself? What was happening? She reached up and gave the mirror an angry twist so that it only showed the rectangle of the back windshield. And there was David Miller walking behind her car.
She fastened her seat belt and started the ignition. When she backed out, David was already sitting inside his shiny black sedan. She edged her car onto the street when an angry thought shot through her mind. It’s all your fault, Jake Byler. You’ve ruined me for everybody else. She allowed a ball of resentment to expand in her throat. Yes, it was all his fault.
In Plain City, she braked for a red light. Jake was a rat, but it really wasn’t all his fault she hadn’t moved on with her life. Maybe this date was a good thing, and her dad was doing her a favor. It was time to test the waters and see if she could date somebody besides Jake.
If she gave David a chance, he might even grow on her. Maybe they’d marry and tell their children the funny story of how their mom tricked their daddy into a date. They’d laugh and say the joke was on their mom, because their daddy wanted the date all along. Wouldn’t that make a happy story?
Honk! The blare of a car’s horn brought her back to her surroundings, and she placed her foot on the accelerator. She needed to get home and get ready for her foolish date.
CHAPTER 4
Dashing toward the door before the bell disturbed her dad’s nap, Katy snatched up her skates. She didn’t need her dad telling David to take care of his dumplin’. As she passed, her mom looked up from her quilting frame and mumbled, “Have fun with that nice boy.”
“Sure.” Katy’s black, quilted snow boots pattered across the wood flooring. It was bad enough that earlier in the week she’d caught her mom staring at a double wedding ring pattern. Gratefully her siblings, who liked to tease, were sledding out back. Her pulse accelerated. She gripped the handle and swung open the door to be instantly thrown off balance by David’s hazel gaze—part warm and part mischievous, as if it held some secret.
David tilted his head, his wind-ruffled hair accentuating his boyish appeal. “Hi Katy.” When his mouth quirked at the corner, she realized he was waiting on her, probably expecting to get invited inside.
“Just a moment.” She ducked back inside and dove into her wool coat, throwing a scarf around her neck. David held the door for her as she stepped onto the porch. The crisp air nipped her cheeks, and she crunched down the walk with David toward a rumbling, black sedan puffing steam from its exhaust.
“Wow.” The word slipped from her mouth unbidden. Impressive, she kept to herself. She could have sworn the car was even shinier than it had been at church.
He grinned and opened its passenger door for her, and she slipped into its warm interior. While he went around the outside, she stroked the plush seat with her thumb, inhaling David’s intimate ride of leather and aftershave.
He hopped in and paused before placing a gloved hand on the gearshift. “You’re stunning in that white scarf.”
When she had opened the hand-knitted Christmas gift, her mom had mentioned it would make a nice contrast with her black hair. Usually her mom didn’t compliment her children’s outward appearance unless it was to affirm neatness or modesty.
Katy had been taught that a woman should be more concerned about her inner beauty and not prideful about the outer, which was fleeting anyway. But Katy couldn’t help but be appreciative when she looked in a mirror because her face didn’t need the forbidden cosmetics. She had been blessed with good features, and the plain Conservative hairstyles she wore only emphasized them.
Thin like her figure, her face was a perfect oval, and she had dark prominent brows and black-lashed brown eyes that were more exotic than plain. Her mom told her that a missionary ancestor married into Spanish blood. Her nose even protested her Conservative lifestyle for it appeared aristocratic, thin and long. Her lips must have come from the Spanish ancestor, too, because they were full and expressive. She knew that her striking eyes and mouth caused people to imagine more intensity in her emotions than she usually felt or meant to display.
Self-consciously flicking her ponytail out from under the scarf, she said, “Thanks.” She dropped her skates on the floor mat, careful to keep her eyes from flirting. With a fluid movement, he put the car in reverse, and they backed onto the country road. “How do you keep your car so clean?” She motioned toward the snowy countryside. “In this?” His cheek muscle twitched as if she’d touched upon a sensitive subject. When he didn’t have an immediate comeback, she asked, “What? Am I embarrassing you?”
He shot her a warm glance. “I’m just wondering how you are with secrets.”
“Really?” Involuntarily, she leaned toward him. “I’m great with secrets.”
His raised brow challenged, “Never knew a woman who could keep secrets.”
“Try me.”
“I haul buckets of hot water to the barn and wash it, towel dry it.”
“How often?”
“Once or twice a week.”
Katy rested her head back on the headrest. “Wow. Does your dad know?”
“Yeah. He thinks it’s prideful.”
“I think it’s great.”
He cast her an uncertain glance. She leaned forward again and jutted her chin. “I feel flattered to ride in a clean car. I think every guy should take note and learn from you. And I don’t think it’s prideful to take good care of your stuff. You know Megan?”
“Megan?” He seemed confused at the sudden turn of the conversation. “Yeah.”
“Her parents are always harping on stewardship. And it’s rubbed off on me, too. It makes good sense to take care of your stuff.” He beamed, and she relaxed her shoulders. “All I mean, is I understand. I like things sparkly, too. I clean houses, remember? I just never carried it over to my car in the winter.” She troubled her lip. “Maybe I should.”
“Maybe I should do it for you.”
She glanced over. It was a generous, flirtatious offer. “Ah. I don’t think so.” She snuck another sideways glance. But was this guy her clone or what?
He shrugged and concentrated on the narrow gravel road lined by low snowbanks and ditches. But the simple offer hung in the air. David Miller had ingratiated himself in only five minutes. She liked him.
He pushed a button and classical music flowed through the car’s speakers.
“Can I use your mirror?” she asked.
“Sure.”
She lowered the visor and pulled a soft beanie out of her pocket. Staring into a gleaming mirror, she placed it over her covering and pulled it snug over her ears. When she finished, she flipped up the visor and glanced sideways.
He grinned. “And a matching hat. Even more stunning.”
“I figured I’d ease you into it, you know, so I didn’t knock you off your feet or something.”
“You practically ran us into the ditch. Took my brute strength just to keep us on the road.”
Lowering an embarrassed gaze to the floorboards, Katy noticed her skates. “You’re pretty good on the ice, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
Katy sank back against the seat, listening to the music, enjoying the thrill of masculine attention that purred along her spine.
Ten minutes later, David turned into the lane next to the Stuckys’ mailbox and drove to the back of the property. Several cars were already parked there. He helped her out, and they trudged over the frozen clods of a dormant cornfield toward a patch of box elders that banked the Big Darby Creek. Lil wasn’t among the dozen other young adults already mill
ing down by the ice, and Katy remembered Megan was home sick.
He pointed out a fallen log where the surrounding ground was littered with boots and shoes. “Shall we put on our skates?”
“Sure.” Katy dropped to the log, trying to hide the excitement that washed over her. She bent over her gray wool culottes and removed her quilted boots, quickly slipping her black stocking-clad feet into white skates. As she laced, she glanced at David, who was already finished. His elbows propped on his knees, he was watching the skaters. The rink was a wide patch of ice about 150 feet in length, most likely cleared by the Stuckys’ red snow thrower that now sat parked against the far bank.
“Ready?” she asked.
In response, his masculine grip warmed her hand through their gloves. At the bank, he glided backward and dug his toe pick into the ice, then skated forward. With surprise, Katy allowed him to clasp her by the waist and lift her down onto the ice.
“Easy. There you go.”
At first they stroked forward, hand in hand, and after one circle of the rink, he pulled her into a Kilian position. The back of her left shoulder pressed against the front of his navy jacket, and his hand rested at her waist. She didn’t feel uneasy at the intimacy of his touch because skating was one of the permitted group dating activities that allowed such familiarities. Several other couples skated in the group of teens and young adults.
Their skates cut the ice sending sprays of white shavings. The bumpy, air-pocketed river ice didn’t hinder their skating; it was all Katy knew. But relying on David’s superior skill, she quickly relaxed, their skates crossing in sync and bodies leaning and drawing across the ice as one, even when they dodged in and around other skaters.
When they’d tired of that, he drew her to the middle where a few skaters practiced spins. He twirled her, steadying her when she lost balance. Once she sailed into him, practically knocking his breath away. They laughed, visible puffs of air separating their faces. When she looked up, she saw Lil ahead on the bank, frowning at them. “Oh look, David. It’s Lil.” Katy waved. “Can we go talk to her?”
Whispering against her soft hat, he replied, “You can call me Dave.”
Plain City Bridesmaids Page 4