“You look very handsome, Silas,” Kayla smiled.
He nodded, unsure of how to respond. It wasn’t their way to heap on compliments.
“I hope Bailey and I are dressed appropriately to meet your family. I was unsure of what to wear but I figured a dress would be best.”
“It’s fine.” He smiled. “I hope you are hungry.”
~
Kayla fidgeted as Silas drove them to his family’s home. He’d been mostly quiet, and she wondered if he was nervous about bringing them home. She knew that she was nervous.
Bailey, on the other hand, bounced on the plush buggy seat remarking about each and every thing they passed. She was super excited to meet Silas’s sister. It would be wonderful if her daughter could make a friend. If they ended up staying in this area, she would need friends her age.
Kayla wondered what a future here in Indiana would look like. Was there a school nearby that Bailey could attend once the school year began again? Would they have regular contact with Silas and his family? He had said that he was taking care of the property where they’d stayed the last couple nights. She wondered how often he stopped by there.
Just the thought of him not being there, now that the road was clear, brought a touch of sadness. She enjoyed having a man in the house. Bailey had taken to Silas like gum on a horseshoe. She adored him. And he seemed to be inching his way into Kayla’s heart as well. No, not inching, more like catapulting. She hadn’t known many men like him. He was a rare breed indeed.
Now that she had no chance of rekindling a romantic relationship with Josiah, perhaps she would consider opening her heart to someone else. She hadn’t dated at all. As a matter of fact, Bailey’s father had been the first boy she’d ever kissed. And she’d fallen head over heels for him. When he never contacted her, she’d thought he’d just used her, broken her heart. She didn’t know if the reality of the situation was better or worse. She supposed it was a little bit of both. She was glad that to know Josiah had loved her, as he’d declared. But sad that Bailey would never know her father.
“You’re quiet back there.” Silas’s voice pulled her out of her musings.
“Just thinking.”
He nodded, then maneuvered the horse and buggy into a driveway. “Well, here we are. Are you two ready to meet my family?”
“Ready as we can be, I guess.” Butterflies still flittered about in her stomach.
Bailey bounced on the seat. “I’m ready to meet my new friend!”
Kayla and Silas shared a smile.
“I’m sure Emily is excited to meet you too. As soon as I unhitch Strider, I’ll take you inside to meet her.”
“Denki, Mr. Silas.” All her teeth showed in her smile. Well, except for the missing one in front. Her “Mister Silas” sounded more like “Mithter Thilath.”
Well, this was it. For better or for worse, she would be meeting Silas’s family. She blew out a breath as her stomach turned over. At least Silas would be at her side.
~
Silas made quick work of releasing Strider, then led the way to the house. Mamm, Martha, and Susan were busy finishing up the meal preparation, while Emily helped out by setting the table.
“Mamm, Martha, Susan, Emily, this is Kayla and her dochder, Bailey,” Silas introduced.
“Hello, it’s gut to meet you. Silas tells us that Bailey is—”
“Uh, Mamm!” He abruptly shook his head. “Jah, Bailey is five. Just a year younger than Emily.”
His mother frowned.
“She doesn’t know about her father,” Silas said the words in Pennsylvania Dutch so Bailey wouldn’t understand.
“Mr. Silas taught me some Amish words too!” Bailey beamed.
“Well, Emily is learning English in school, so maybe you can teach each other,” Silas suggested. “Emily, why don’t you go show Bailey your room? If it’s all right with her mudder?”
Kayla nodded. “Yes, that’s fine with me, if Bailey’s comfortable.”
“I’m fine, Mommy.” Bailey latched on to Emily’s hand and smiled. “I’m ready.”
The adults grinned as the two young girls disappeared in short order.
“I didn’t realize that Amish children didn’t speak English,” Kayla commented.
“They can understand most of it. They learn to speak it more once they start school. Pennsylvania Dutch, what we call Amish, is spoken in the home, then they’ll learn English and a little German in school,” Martha explained.
“May I help with dinner?” Kayla offered.
“Sure. You may set this on the table.” His mother handed Kayla a pitcher of lemonade. “Silas, will you call in your brother and father?”
“Sure.” He nodded to Kayla to be sure she could handle being amongst the womenfolk, then went to do his mother’s bidding.
A couple of minutes later, the men entered the house.
Paul hung back and stared at their guest. “Schee, bruder. No wonder you got all dressed up and put cologne on. Ach, Josiah had good taste,” he half-whispered in Silas’s ear.
“Shh…” He elbowed his brother. “Kumm, supper is ready. Don’t embarrass me.”
“Ach, now would I do that?” Paul’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
Silas shook his head. He’d be holding his breath the entire time they sat at the table.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Silas sighed once the meal was finished. Somehow, unbeknownst to him, Paul—and everybody else, for that matter—managed not to embarrass him or Kayla during supper. Wonders never ceased!
Kayla currently helped wash dishes, conversing with Mamm and his schweschdern. They seemed to be getting along great so far. Emily and Bailey went straight back to Emily’s room to play immediately after supper had finished. He had a feeling Kayla might have a hard time talking her into leaving tonight.
As soon as Kayla finished up in the kitchen, Silas hoped to whisk her away on a walk around their property. They needed to be alone so he could tell her how his phone conversation with Josiah’s folks went. He’d planned to talk to Jerry Bontrager too, but there hadn’t been enough hours in the day. Perhaps he’d take a ride out to the bishop’s place tomorrow instead.
He currently waited in the family room. His father read The Budget, while he and Paul indulged in a game of checkers. He’d been lost in thought, not paying much mind to the game at hand.
“Crown me.” Paul grinned.
“What?” Silas blinked, then stared down at the board. “I didn’t even see that.”
“Seems like you’re not seeing much of anything these days…well, maybe one thing.” His brother glanced toward the kitchen where the women worked, then shot him an accusing look. “So, what’s going on between you two?”
Silas frowned. “Going on? Nothing.”
“Right.”
Silas shook his head.
Paul leaned in close and whispered, “According to Mamm, you and Kayla spent two nights together. Alone. In the same house.” Paul’s brow lifted.
“She told you that?” He’d never known his mother to be a gossip.
“Nee. I was eavesdropping on her conversation with Daed.” He winked.
“Ach, Paul.”
“Well?”
“It was innocent. Nothing happened.”
“Have you seen the way she looks at you? Why on earth not?”
Silas frowned at his brother. “Because I’m not that type of man. And I’m not in rumspringa anymore.” He pointed his finger at Paul’s chest. “And you shouldn’t be that type of man either.”
“Tell me you didn’t do anything like that in rumspringa.” He challenged.
“I didn’t do anything like that in rumspringa.”
“Uh-huh.” Paul’s brow shot up. “And Josiah was your best friend?”
Silas crossed his arms over his chest. “This conversation is over, and so is the game.” He abruptly folded the game, sending all the red and black checkers to the middle of the board before his brother could protest.
“What’d you do that for? I was winning.”
“Okay, so you won. Game over.”
“You’re testy when you’re in love.” Paul prodded. “I want a rematch.”
“Another time, bruder. And I’m not in love.” He growled, frustrated with his brother’s careless words.
“Mm…hm.”
Silas stood as the women walked into the room. His gaze couldn’t help but single out a certain somebody. Okay, so maybe he was attracted to Kayla.
“Kayla, would you like to see our farm?” He grinned like a fool. He knew his brother was staring at the exchange, but he ignored him.
“Sure. Let me just check on Bailey.”
“I’ll show you where they are,” Martha offered.
Silas stared after Kayla as she walked out of the room toward Emily’s bedroom.
“Martha will go with you,” Mamm stated.
Silas turned and looked at his mother. “Nee. I want to speak with her alone. There are things we need to discuss.”
Paul came up behind Silas and slapped his shoulder blade. “Alone, huh? You’re doomed.” He laughed, then continued on outside.
“You can watch us from a distance if you’re worried about anything happening.” Silas told his mother. “We’re adults, Mamm.”
“Leave them be,” his father finally spoke up. “Silas is a gut boy. He knows how to behave himself.”
“Thank you, Daed.” At least someone trusted him.
~
Kayla peeked into the room where Bailey and Emily sat playing on the floor.
Emily stood up and moved behind Bailey. She took a hairbrush and started brushing Bailey’s hair. “Okay, this might hurt a little bit. Try not to cry.”
Kayla wondered if she should step in.
Emily parted Bailey’s hair down the middle, then pulled it back tightly. “Does that hurt?”
“A little, but I’m okay.” Bailey winced.
“I cry sometimes when Mamm does mine.”
“I won’t cry. I’m five now.”
“Well, I’m six and I cry once in a while ’cause it hurts.” Emily twisted Bailey’s hair, then stuck a bunch of pins in to keep the bun in place. “Sorry, I think I poked you.”
“That’s okay.”
“Does it feel tight? ‘Cause it’s supposed to feel tight.”
“It does.”
“Gut.”
“That’s means good, right?”
“Jah.” Emily placed her prayer kapp on Bailey’s head.
That was when Kayla noticed her daughter was also wearing an Amish dress. She had to get Silas and show him. She hurried to the other room.
“Silas,” she whispered. “Come here. You have to see this.”
He nodded, then followed her to Emily’s room.
She put her index finger to her lips to signal silence.
He nodded.
They both looked into the room.
“There. Now you’re Amish just like me.” Emily surveyed Bailey’s attire. “And you can come to my school too. We’ll be friends.”
Kayla looked at Silas and they shared a smile. He’d been right about the girls getting along.
He motioned over his shoulder for her to follow him.
They walked back to the living room, then he finally spoke. “The girls look like they’re having a good time.”
“Yeah, they are.” Perhaps it had been God who brought Silas and his family into their lives. This was beginning to seem like more than just coincidence. She pushed the thought away just as quickly as it had surfaced.
“You ready to take that walk now?”
“Sure. Let’s go while the girls are occupied.”
His mother said something to him in Pennsylvania Dutch that Kayla didn’t understand.
He replied back in their language as well.
They stepped out the door.
“My mother said not to be too long because she will have dessert and coffee ready soon,” Silas translated.
“Mm…sounds good.”
Silas looked around. “My brother is probably spying on us somewhere.”
“I get the feeling that your family isn’t used to having non-Amish people over often.” She glanced back at the house and noticed some of Silas’s family members peeking out the side of the curtain. She giggled. “I think they’re watching us.”
“Kumm, let’s go where they can’t watch us.” He cocked his head. “And, jah. We do sometimes have Englisch folks over, it’s just a different situation with you.”
“How so?”
He led her to a wooded area. “Watch your step. It might be muddy.”
She frowned at her sandals. Perhaps she should have thought a little more practically.
He continued. “Well, for one, you’re an attractive, single young woman. Two, you have a child with no father present. And, three, we spent two nights together alone in the same house.”
“Yeah, I guess that does sound bad from their standpoint.” She smiled at Silas and lightly punched his arm. “You think I’m attractive?”
“Ach, very much so.”
“Well, you’re pretty hot yourself.”
He chuckled and shook his head.
“You don’t think so?” She smiled.
“I think Englischers speak too freely.”
“Well, it’s the truth.”
Silas cleared his throat. “I brought you out here to talk about Josiah’s folks.”
“Change of subject, huh? Okay, I’ll take the bait. What about them?”
“They would like to meet their grossdochder.”
Silas waited while she stepped over some branches that had fallen in the path. He took her hand to stable her, and his gentleness once again stirred her heart. She glanced up to see if the emotions she was feeling were one-sided. His eyes sparked with something dangerously akin to desire. Then he must’ve realized his hand still held hers, and dropped it. The moment had been broken, but she wouldn’t be forgetting the look in his eyes anytime soon.
What were they talking about? Oh, yeah. “Bailey’s grandparents. What should I do? Do you think I should make a trip out to Pennsylvania to meet them?”
“You said you were in need of money, ain’t so?”
“In a way, yes. I do have money from my parents’ life insurance policy, but I wanted to save that for Bailey’s college. I’m trying to use as little as possible so she has a little nest egg.”
“I see.” He frowned.
“But I can still pay rent to Mr. Yoder.”
He nodded. “Josiah’s folks will likely come here.”
“Oh. When?”
“They did not say. I’d suspect maybe on a holiday.” He shook his head. “And I don’t know how long Dan Yoder will want to rent out his place. He had planned to sell it.”
“Oh.”
“He thinks I am the one renting.”
“Oh. Do you think he’d approve of me renting?”
“I can’t say. I think not. But I might have a solution if he doesn’t.”
“What?” She laughed. “Marry me?”
Silas’s eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets.
“I was joking, Silas. Take a deep breath.”
His lips pressed together in a thin line. Had she offended him?
She backpedaled. “Not that we would be bad together. I just…it would be absurd, wouldn’t it?”
“I am only allowed to marry an Amish woman.”
Of course. “And I’m not Amish.” She shook her head. “What solution were you talking about?”
“I could rent it and you and Bailey could stay in my folks’ dawdi haus, where I live now.” He shrugged. “I haven’t discussed this with my folks, but they might agree.”
“Dawdi haus?”
“Yes. It is a very small house attached to the main home. It’s mostly used for grandparents, but mine are still in Pennsylvania with my aunts and uncles. So, when mei fraa and I got hitched, we moved in there.”
“But if I move in there a
nd Mr. Yoder plans to sell, where would you live?”
“Ach, I hope he’ll sell it to me. But if not, I can move back into my old bedroom in the big house.”
“Really? You want to buy that large farm?”
He stared out into the field as they came to a clearing. “I hope to have a family someday. I will most likely not be a widower forever, Gott willing.”
Somehow, the thought of him being married to some Amish woman brought an inexplicable sadness.
“No, I wouldn’t think so. A hot Amish guy like you.” She winked, loving the color that crept up his neck.
“Ach, Englischers.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Silas dreaded dropping off Kayla and Bailey. He hated the fact that they’d be alone in the house. Ach, he wished he could stay too. But he couldn’t. He’d already caused enough stir amongst his family. It wouldn’t do if gossip started in the community.
“I had a good time with your family tonight, Silas. They seem like nice people,” Kayla spoke from the seat behind him.
Bailey had leaned over and laid her head in her mother’s lap. “Me too. Emily and me are best friends now.”
“Emily and I, sweetheart.”
“Emily and I. We’re twins too. Mommy, can I be Amish like Emily?”
Silas’s brow raised, curious how Kayla would respond.
“There’s a lot more to being Amish than dressing like Emily, honey.”
“Like what?”
“Well, like they don’t drive cars. They have to use a horse and buggy.”
“All the time?” Her voice filled with wonder.
Silas chuckled. “Not all the time. Sometimes we pay Englisch people money to take us places if we have to go further than we want to take our buggies.”
“Isn’t that cheating?”
Silas laughed. “No. It’s in our Ordnung.”
“What’s Ordnung?”
“It’s a list of rules that our people follow. Every year, the leaders get together, and they decide if we want to keep things as they are or add new exceptions to the rules we have.”
“I don’t understand that.” Bailey mumbled, obviously exhausted from her playtime.
“They’re just rules their church follows, honey,” Kayla explained.
The buggy turned quiet for a little while.
The Trespasser (Amish Country Brides) Page 6