Katy sat back in the seat. She couldn’t ask for more than that.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dad walked Katy into the school office so she would be excused for being late. The secretary gave her a pass for her third-hour class. “But it’s almost over,” the woman said, “so you might not make it in time. If not, throw the pass away and go on to lunch.”
Katy thanked the secretary, told Dad good-bye, and headed down the hall. Her head low and feet moving fast, she didn’t realize anyone was stepping into her pathway until she slammed into him. She bounced back and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oops!”
Bryce Porter waved his arms and rocked on his feet like he was about to fall. Just when Katy was ready to grab his arm and steady him, he smiled and made a little bow. “Well, Katy Lambright, how nice to run into you.”
She giggled. With his close-cropped hair, tucked in button-up shirt, and khaki pants, he could almost pass for a Mennonite youth. Except for those little spikes of redblond hair standing up in the front. The Mennonite boys always combed their hair flat. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I should’ve been watching where I was going.”
He shrugged. “No harm done.” He reached out, plucked the pass from her hand, and read it. “Ah…” He gave it back. “How come you were late?”
“Too much snow—we couldn’t get out,” she replied. She knew she should hurry on before the bell rang, but she enjoyed talking to Bryce. He made her feel…real.
“Didn’t the road crew clear your roads for you?”
She shook her head. “The county crew doesn’t come out to Schellberg. One of the men from our fellowship uses his tractor and snowblade to do it for us. But it takes a while.”
Bryce nodded. “Oh, cool. Nice to have someone around to handle it for you folks.”
He didn’t act like he thought it was weird that a Mennonite man driving a tractor took care of the snow, but Katy wasn’t sure what he meant by “you folks.” She didn’t want to think Bryce saw her as set apart from the kids at school. Especially not from him.
She waved her hand toward the classroom door. “I better hurry before the bell rings.” She inched her way down the hall.
“Oh, yeah…” Bryce started walking backward in the opposite direction. “I was heading to the office to grab some papers for Ms. Ingler, and she’s waiting for them. See you later, Katy.” He turned his back.
She stared after him. Did he sound disappointed to stop talking to her? She hoped so.
Suddenly, he whirled around and faced her. “Hey!”
“What?” Her ears went hot at being caught watching him.
“You’re going out for forensics, right?”
She nodded.
“It starts after school today.”
She nodded again. She’d had it on her calendar for a couple of weeks already.
“So I’ll see you then, right?”
Katy swallowed. He looked so hopeful it made her heart gallop. “Y-yes. I’ll see you then.”
“Cool. ’Bye, Katy.”
She reached the classroom door just as the bell rang. She wiggled her way past the stream of leaving students to give the pass to her teacher, then she turned around and followed the others. She caught up with Shelby and walked with her to the lockers.
“What did you do on your snow day?” Katy asked.
“Slept all day!” Shelby laughed. “How about you?”
Katy dropped her backpack in her locker and waited for Shelby to do the same. Then they turned toward the cafeteria. “Mostly shivered.”
“What?”
Katy laughed at Shelby’s expression. Then she explained the day without heat. Somehow talking about her frosty nose and having to stay in the kitchen all day seemed funny, and she and Shelby giggled as they went through the line. Jewel, Trisha, and Cora were already sitting at their table, waiting. They looked up when Katy and Shelby approached.
“What’s so funny?” Cora asked.
“Katy is,” Shelby replied. She plopped her tray onto the table and slid into a chair. “Tell ’em about your day yesterday, Katy.”
Katy sat down and folded her hands to pray. Then she raised her head and opened her mouth to tell the others about her heatless day. But before she could say anything, she spotted Bryce walking toward their table. She sat with her mouth open until he reached the table. Then she closed her mouth so suddenly her teeth clacked. What must he have thought of her sitting there with her jaw hanging slack?
But he didn’t act like anything was wrong. He grinned. “Hey, Katy, I just ran into— “ He winked, and Katy thought she might melt through her chair. She knew what that wink referred to! “—Mr. Gorsky, and he asked if you still had that letter from Journalistic Pursuits.”
Katy nodded. She intended to paste it in her scrapbook.
“Could you maybe bring it to school tomorrow? He forgot to make a copy of it, and he’d like to have it for his records.”
“Yes. Sure. I’ll do that.” Why did her voice sound all squeaky? And why was she breathing so hard? Must be all the laughing she and Shelby had done. Yeah, right.
“Oh! And about forensics…You were gonna do original oration, right?”
Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded.
“Great. Do you know what you’ll write about?”
Oh, yes. Over the past few days, Katy had decided on a perfect topic. One she knew she could address with passion. “Uh-huh,” she gulped.
Bryce flashed a bright smile. “Figured you’d be ready to go. Can’t wait to hear it for the first time. Bet you’ll knock the judges’ socks off.” He took a backward step, his eyes never drifting from hers. “See you after school in forensics, Katy.” He spun on his heel and strode toward the end of the lunch line.
Katy stared after him. He paused to high-five a friend. Then a few steps further he bent forward to whisper something to someone and then laughed. Bryce was so cute, so confident, so easygoing. And he chose to talk to her.
“Earth to Katy.”
Katy jumped. She looked at Jewel, who sat smirking. Trisha and Cora snickered.
“Looks like our Katy has a crush,” Jewel said.
Katy’s ears flamed so hot she feared smoke would rise.
Shelby nudged Jewel’s tray with her own. “Aw, c’mon guys, don’t make fun.” She grinned. “I think it’s kinda cute that Bryce likes Katy. And if she likes him back, then…”
Katy jerked her head toward Shelby so fast the ribbons from her cap flew in the air. “You think he likes me?”
Shelby gawked at Katy. “Duh!” She laughed, and the other three girls joined in. Then Shelby sobered. “That won’t get you in trouble, will it? I mean, if you like someone who isn’t Mennonite?”
Oh yes, it could definitely cause trouble…But it wasn’t as if Bryce had asked to court her the way Annika hoped Caleb would ask to come courting. And how would anyone in Schellberg even find out? Nobody else attended this school. They’d only know if Katy told.
Suddenly, she felt sneaky again, and she didn’t like it. She said, “It doesn’t matter because Bryce and I are just in forensics together. We’re not even really…friends.” The admission made her sad.
Jewel shrugged. “Well, too bad. He’s kinda cute, in a geeky sort of way. And he goes to the Bible study group all the time. I even see him pray before he eats. He’d probably be perfect for you, Katy.”
No he wouldn’t, because he isn’t Mennonite.
By forensics time, the muscles in Katy’s neck were as tight as knots in a wet rope. She tried to stay focused on Mr. Gorsky’s instructions and avoid looking at Bryce. She didn’t want to give him ideas. Yet she couldn’t stop sneaking glances at him. When she didn’t catch him looking back, she felt like crying. You’re acting like a ninny, she told herself, but it didn’t matter. Jewel was right; Katy had a crush. And even though she shouldn’t even be thinking about Bryce, she couldn’t seem to help herself.
Mr. Gorsky handed out packets of information about the cate
gories for competition. She strained to see which packet Bryce took and caught the word “duet.” Duet meant two, so whatever he was doing, it was with someone. But who? She looked around the room at the other students. She hoped Bryce wouldn’t pair up with Marlys or one of the other really popular girls. How could she possibly compete with the pretty girls, with their stylish clothes and airs of confidence?
Katy, knock it off! She needed to stop worrying about Bryce and his partner and think about her own category. Mr. Gorsky expected her to win medals. She couldn’t win medals if she was thinking about Bryce instead of the competitions. She hunched over her desk and began reading the expectations for a person competing in the original oration category. A shrill giggle interrupted her focus. She glanced over her shoulder. Disappointment hit as hard as if a piece of the ceiling had fallen on her head.
Bryce had his head close together with Marlys, and they were laughing together.
When the bus pulled up to Katy’s stop, she noticed Grampa Ben’s car waiting instead of Dad’s truck. She climbed in, greeted her grandpa with a kiss on his cheek, then asked, “Where’s Dad?”
Grampa grinned. “In town. At the market.”
Katy’s heart leaped into her chest. “Is he…shopping?”
Grampa put the car in gear and laughed. “Oh yeah, but not for food.”
And Katy knew what Dad was doing—following her advice. She’d told Dad to try to reconcile with Mrs. Graber, but a part of her still worried about all the changes that would come into her life if she gained a stepmother. Two different hopes battled for prominence in her heart. On the one hand, she hoped Mrs. Graber would say yes for Dad’s sake—but on the other hand, she hoped Mrs. Graber would say no so Katy wouldn’t have to worry about changes.
Neoteric…no change, no opportunity to explore something new. The sentence she’d constructed for her assignment came back to haunt her. She closed her eyes and winged a quick, silent prayer to heaven: God, let whatever is best for Dad, me, and Mrs. Graber happen. It helped her to give God responsibility for solving the problem. But a little bit of her still worried.
“I’m s’posed to take you into town to meet him,” Grampa was saying. “There’s a good sale on canned goods, and your dad didn’t know what you had left in the cupboards. He wants you to stock up.”
As if she could think about canned goods at a time like this! But she said, “Sure, Grampa.”
When they reached the store, Katy saw Dad standing inside the main door. She thanked Grampa for the ride and dashed inside the market. She gasped out, “What did she say?”
Dad didn’t smile, but he didn’t frown either. He raised one shoulder in a shrug. “She’s going to think about it and pray about it.”
“What if—what if she decides not to marry you?” Katy thought she’d be able to understand how Dad would feel if Mrs. Graber chose to reject Dad. Her heart still stung from seeing Bryce and Marlys so friendly with each other.
A very small smile quivered on the corners of Dad’s lips. “I’m planning to be in prayer too, Katy-girl. Rosemary and I want God’s will first, for us and for you.”
Katy nodded slowly. Maybe she should be praying for God’s will concerning her friendship with Bryce instead of worrying about it.
Dad slung his arm around her shoulders. “Now c’mon, let’s get this shopping done so we can head home.”
“Okay, but…” Her mind raced. She wanted to do something but didn’t want Dad to know about it. Not a sneaky thing—a good thing. She pulled a squeaky rolling cart from the line and pushed it toward Dad. “Could you maybe get started picking out cereal and bread? I need to…” She waved her hand in the direction of the back of the store.
Dad grinned. “Sure, Katy, go ahead. I’ll wait for you in the cereal aisle.”
“Thanks.” She escaped. She felt a little guilty; she’d led Dad to believe she was going to the bathroom. But she couldn’t tell him what she really wanted to do. He might think she was interfering again.
She darted into the little cubby where the town’s telephone hung on the wall. On a little shelf below the telephone, Katy spotted the notebook where people recorded the calls they made so they could come in and pay when the bill arrived. She had no trouble locating Dad’s name and the number. Mrs. Graber’s number. She didn’t know whether it would connect directly to Mrs. Graber—were the Mennonites in Meschke allowed to have their own phones?—or a public place, but she’d either deliver her message directly to the woman or leave it for her.
Resting the handset in the cradle of her neck, she underlined the number Dad had dialed with one finger and used her other hand to dial. A blaring ring carried through the line, and Katy squared her shoulders. She’d apologized to Dad. Now she needed to apologize to Mrs. Graber and let her know she had Katy’s blessing to become Mrs. Samuel Lambright.
Chapter Twenty-three
On Friday morning, Katy’s alarm clock rang a half hour earlier than usual so she could have a little extra time. She intended to go out to the barn and talk to Caleb when he arrived to help with the milking. Dad had given her a funny look when she’d told him at supper the night before that she needed to talk to Caleb in private, but he hadn’t questioned her. She was glad. It would be hard enough to apologize to Caleb. She didn’t want to have to tell Dad how awful she’d been.
As soon as Caleb’s car pulled into the lane, she dashed outside. She met him as he slipped out of the driver’s seat. “I need to talk to you,” she blurted, and his freckles faded under a blaze of pink. She ignored the blush and pointed to the barn. “In there. It’s cold out here.”
He followed her to the barn, breathing so hard little clouds hovered on her shoulder. They stepped inside the big structure, and Katy whirled around to face him. She’d rehearsed the apology so many times in her mind last night that it tumbled out in a rush.
“I’m sorry about what I said to Annika. It was rude and hurtful, and I should have kept it to myself. I know I hurt your feelings, and I’d like to ask you to forgive me.”
He stood with his mouth slightly open, staring at her for a long time. Then a little grunt sounded. “So you meant it?”
She blinked and took a step backward. “What?”
“What you said that day…You just told me what you said was rude…and hurtful…and you shouldn’t have said it.” He flicked his fingers in the air one by one, counting off her remarks. “But you didn’t say you didn’t mean it. So you really think I’m stupid and ugly?” He didn’t repeat her exact words, but he remembered the meaning.
Heat grew in her ears, all the more intense because of the cooler temperature of the barn. She gulped.
He shrugged. “It’s okay, Katydid. I know I wasn’t the smartest kid in school, and I know I’m not good-looking. You didn’t say anything I didn’t already know.”
The burning in her ears increased. Even though he tried to act like it didn’t bother him, she could see by the look in his eyes he was still hurt by her words. Katy threw away the practiced speech and shared honestly with Caleb. “Do you know why I said those things?”
His gaze flicked to the side. He scuffed his toe in the dirt. “Not really. I guess you were mad?”
She nodded and yanked on his arm so he’d look at her. “Yes, I was mad to see you coming. Because you tease me and say things that irritate me.”
Streaks of red colored his freckled cheeks.
“You call me Katydid even though I’ve told you over and over I don’t like it. You made fun of my cooking.” Katy kept an even tone so Caleb would know she wasn’t mad now. “You stick your nose in when I’m talking to Annika instead of giving us privacy. Caleb, sometimes you just aren’t polite, and it bugs me.”
He sniffed and seemed to examine the barn rafters.
“But even so,” Katy continued, “I was wrong to say what I did. No matter how angry I am, I shouldn’t be deliberately hurtful, and I was that day. I am sorry, Caleb. Will you please forgive me?”
“Sure, Katy.” His
reply came so fast it seemed like his tongue tripped over his teeth. “I better get to work now.” He darted around her and shot into the milk room.
Katy sighed and headed back to the house. She met Dad halfway across the yard.
“Did you get things settled with Caleb?”
She nodded. She’d said her piece. Now it was up to Caleb to keep pestering her or stop it.
“So is he going to ask if he can court you?”
“Dad!”
Dad laughed and held up both hands. “Okay, okay!”
Then Katy thought of something else. “Speaking of courting…have you heard from Mrs. Graber?”
Dad’s laughter died. He said, “I’m supposed to go to the market tonight at seven o’clock. She’ll call then.”
“So you’ll know tonight?”
“I’ll know tonight.”
Katy drew in a big breath. “Tonight…” Neoteric—new, or same-old, same-old? She’d know by bedtime.
Dad jerked his chin toward the house. “Go eat your breakfast now and get those dishes out of the way. We’ll leave for the bus soon.”
Katy thought the day would never end. Although she needed to pay attention in class, her thoughts kept drifting to Meschke and Mrs. Graber. What would she say to Dad tonight? When she’d talked to the woman, she’d been very kind. She’d thanked Katy for apologizing and assured Katy she understood why she had reservations. They’d had a nice, air-clearing chat, but she hadn’t given Katy any clues as to whether she’d marry Dad.
If she said no, how would Dad react? If she said yes, would Katy be able to accept it? Again and again she looked at the clock on the wall, willing the hands to go faster so the evening would come and all the worrying and wondering would be over.
At home, she fixed a simple supper of omelets and toast. It wouldn’t have mattered what she fixed—neither she nor Dad ate much. Katy kept searching Dad’s face, hoping for clues for what he was thinking. But if he was scared or nervous, it didn’t show. If he hadn’t kept glancing at his wristwatch instead of eating, she might have thought it was a normal evening on the dairy farm.
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