An Unexpected Match Page 19

  “I have my GED.”

  “Huh.” Amy finally took a seat and Rachel thought their friendship just might survive her deceit.

  “Will they kick you out if they find out?”

  Rachel took a deep breath. “Probably.”

  Amy looked pleased. “Then you’ll be like me, free as a bird.”

  “But I don’t want—”

  “Was your husband Amish?”

  Rachel nodded. “Aaron was.”

  “Was he harsh? Did he make you obey? I bet he told you that you shouldn’t go to college.”

  “Aaron was gentle and kind, and he didn’t know I wanted to go to college.” Saying it made her realize again how little of her real self Aaron had known. How very sad that was.

  “No wonder I like you so much.” Amy seemed to have forgotten her problems with her landlord and Bagel, who was making himself at home, exploring and sniffing. “You had the same kind of awful life I did.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  Amy didn’t seem to hear. “Rules, rules, and more rules. Didn’t you hate it? Didn’t you hate them for making you keep them?”

  Rachel checked her clock, the one shaped like a teapot. Eight-forty-five.

  “Come with me.” She walked to the door, Bagel padding beside her.

  “What about him?” Amy pointed at the dog.

  “He can come.”

  “Where are we going?”

  Rachel pulled the door shut behind them. “I need to show you something.”

  They walked down the road to the farm lane, then up to Mom and Datt’s. Bagel ran back and forth across the lane as if afraid he might miss a fascinating scent if he stayed on one side. Pepper slipped to Rachel’s side to say hello, then slid away before Bagel had time to notice her.

  The soft glow of lanterns shined from the first floor windows.

  Amy hesitated when Rachel started up the steps. “Who?”

  “My parents. Just don’t let it slip that I’m going to college, drive a car, and wear Englisch clothes.”

  Amy’s eyes sparkled with what had suddenly become an adventure. “Secrets, secrets.”

  “We can’t tell them where we met.”

  “Right. College. Forbidden topic.”

  Rachel knocked on the door and let herself and Amy in. Bagel was so busy exploring he didn’t mind being left outside.

  Mom looked up from the kitchen and Datt from his easy chair where he held a picture book and a sleepy Abner. A small dish with the residue of ice cream sat on the end table, and Abner wore a chocolate mustache and beard.

  “Rachel!” Mom smiled her greeting from the kitchen, Ruthie beside her. “I didn’t expect to see you again tonight.”

  Rachel pulled Amy forward. Her jeans, short hair, and makeup set her apart from the other women in the room. “This is my friend Amy. She stopped to see me, and I wanted her to meet you all.”

  “Well, we’re about to have root beer floats,” Mom said. “Levi and Davy, where’s that root beer?”

  “Coming, Mom.” Levi clattered up the cellar steps, Davy on his heels. They both held bottles of homemade root beer in their hands.

  “I hope it’s fizzy,” Datt said as he stood with the sleepy Abner.

  “It should be,” Levi said. “It’s had long enough to carbonate.”

  “I’ll take Abner, Datt.” Ruthie hugged her sleepy little brother and started upstairs to put him to bed. “And Levi, don’t take all the ice cream!”

  “There’s a little bit of peach and lots of vanilla,” Mom said. “Don’t worry. You’ll get plenty.”

  “Save me some of the peach, please.”

  “I had chocolate.” Abner’s little voice floated down as they disappeared upstairs. “I ate it all.”

  “Have a seat, Amy.” Mom indicated a place at the kitchen table. “How did you and Rachel meet?”

  Amy looked wide-eyed at Rachel as she slid into a chair.

  “Mom, do we have any pretzels?” Rachel asked. If she could avoid this one question…

  “We do,” Mom said. “In the can in the closet.”

  “Got them.”

  Mom looked at Amy. “Ruthie’s friend Annie is working at the pretzel factory and got us a can at a good price.”

  “They’re great pretzels.” Levi opened the root beer while Mom scooped ice cream into waiting glasses. “They’re the big fat ones.”

  Ruthie came back downstairs, and they all sat around the table enjoying their floats.

  “Because you all worked so hard for Jonah,” Mom explained.

  Twenty minutes later Rachel, Amy, and Bagel walked back to Rachel’s.

  “Are they always that nice?” Amy asked.

  “They are. I know they’re rule-bound, but they’re Plain. It goes with the territory. They follow the Ordnung and the Bible, but Datt isn’t like your father.”

  “He was reading to your little brother.” There was wonder in Amy’s voice.

  “If Aaron had lived, he would have been a father like Datt.”

  “Do you miss him a lot?” Rachel heard the concern in Amy’s question.

  “Yes and no. It’s complicated. My friend Max who you met?”

  “Where I thought you lived.”

  “Her husband died about a year ago and she’s still full of pain. She misses Buddy with all her heart. I miss Aaron in that he was too young to die. He was a good man and his death was very sad. But it was three years ago. I’ve done many things on my own since.”

  “Like become a rebel.” Amy laughed.

  Rachel forced a smile. She couldn’t tell Amy that the main reason she didn’t feel a hole in her heart like Max did was Rob. In fact she knew losing him when he learned who she really was would cause much greater pain than anything she felt when Aaron died. That realization, yet one more sign of the growing gap between her two lives, filled her with guilt.

  They walked a few minutes in silence. Then Amy gave Rachel a gentle nudge with her shoulder. “Okay, you win. Your family is nicer than mine.”

  Rachel gave her a nudge back. “You can see why I don’t want to leave.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t help me with the Bagel problem. We need a place to live and fast!”

  “When do you have to be out?”

  “Saturday.”

  “That soon? How can they break the lease like that?”

  “I’m an unsatisfactory tenant. Or my baby is.”

  Rachel led them inside and they took seats before the stone fireplace. Bagel jumped onto Amy’s lap and licked her face. He settled quietly.

  “See what a good boy he is?” Amy stroked his head and Rachel swore he smiled complacently.

  A scuffle and grunt sounded, and Johnny came stiff-legged down the stairs.

  “Where’d you go?” he mumbled around his split lip.

  Bagel began to bark like a wild thing at the unexpected apparition, and Johnny stared, surprised, at the pair in the chair.

  Rachel jumped to her feet and hurried to the stairs. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out of bed.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I got hungry.”

  “Well, sit down and I’ll get you something.” She headed for the kitchen. “I could have brought you whatever you want.”

  “A sandwich?” He sank into the chair Rachel had vacated. “I was bored up there alone.”

  “Poor baby.”

  Johnny shifted and flinched at the jab of pain “You know it.”

  “Amy, this is my brother Johnny who’s staying here for a few days. Johnny, my friend Amy.”

  Amy gave a little wave and said, “Hi,” more lip read than heard over Bagel’s barks.

  “Yeah. I saw you at the Star with Rach and Rob and some guy.”

  “Really? That was Win Lanier, Rob’s brother.”

  “He your boyfriend?”

  “Johnny!” Rachel turned from the counter where she was making a sandwich.

  “What? It’s a legitimate question.”

  “It’s an impolite question.”
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  Johnny shrugged and flinched again at the discomfort. “Is he?”

  Amy shook her head as she tried to quiet Bagel.

  Moving carefully, Johnny held out his hand. “Hey, doggie.”

  Bagel jumped down and came over to investigate, curiosity winning over protection detail.

  Amy studied him. “Are you okay?”

  “A bit stiff,” he said. “Accident.”

  “Ah.” She sat back as Rachel brought Johnny a glass of milk and a ham and cheese sandwich made with ham from Mom’s dinner.

  Rachel sat on the hearth. “I’ve been thinking, Amy. You can stay here until you find a place.”

  Amy’s face lit up. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

  “Really?” Johnny asked around a mouthful of ham and cheese.

  “BFFs and all that. I’ve got several bedrooms upstairs and Johnny’s only filling one.”

  “You sure this is a good idea, Rach?” Johnny asked. “Nothing against Amy.”

  She wasn’t the least bit sure, but waved his comment away. Amy needed help, and she was her friend.

  Johnny gave another very careful shrug. “If you’re not worried, I’m certainly not.” He smiled at Amy. “I won’t be here long, so I won’t be in your way. I’m thinking of going to California.”

  “California?” Rachel frowned. “Do Mom and Datt know?”

  “No, and you won’t tell them. It’s not a done deal.”

  Rachel studied this brother she loved and felt such concern over. “There was a man asking for you tonight.”

  Johnny tensed. “What did you say, you who can’t tell lies.”

  No, she just lived them. “He asked Jonah, and he doesn’t know, has never known where you’ve been living, let alone where you are now. I didn’t have to answer.”

  Johnny looked at Amy like they shared some secret. “She’s so Amish!”

  Amy smiled. “I’m not Amish but I love Jesus and I don’t lie either.”

  Johnny’s eyes went wide, then narrowed. “Huh.”

  Rachel wanted to laugh at his comically suspicious expression. She was certain not many people he knew made statements like Amy’s.

  He took his last swallow and stood. “I’m off to sleep, ladies.”

  The two women watched in silence as Johnny slowly made his way upstairs, Bagel following as if shepherding him to bed.

  Amy stood. “I’ve got to get going. It’s almost ten. Breakfast comes early at the restaurant.”

  Rachel rose and followed her to the door.

  Amy paused with a hand on the doorknob. “Did you mean it? I can stay here?”

  Rachel nodded. If she could keep from answering Mom’s question about where she and Amy met, there should be no big issue. It would only be for a short time.

  “You won’t get in trouble for having someone…um…who’s not Amish in your house?”

  “It’ll be fine.” She hoped.

  “Does Rob know?” Amy waved an arm, indicating the whole Amish thing.

  She swallowed. “No.”

  “You’ve got to tell him, you know. You’ve got to.”

  Chapter 28

  As Rachel set Johnny’s dirty dish and glass on the counter, she began to rethink having Amy here. Not that she would rescind her invitation. She’d never do that to her friend, because she had a real need. Still her presence would bring her two worlds dangerously close.

  Be sure your sin will find you out.

  The Bible verse, a favorite of Bishop Dan Esch, flared in her head and refused to leave. She rotated her shoulders, trying to ease the tension drawing them up, making her whole body feel as tight as Jonah’s bow string when he prepared to shoot deer.

  A knock sounded at the door, making Rachel jump. Had Amy forgotten something? She searched the room as she walked to the door. She opened it and felt her heart fall.

  Rob.

  He was wearing dress slacks and a dress shirt, his tie loose at the neck. She imagined a suit jacket draped over the car seat. She’d never seen him in anything but the casual clothes he wore to class. He looked a man of the world, a business man, a professional. He was Rob, familiar yet strange.

  An Amish man might wear his best clothes, but they didn’t change him that much. Same trousers but newer, same shirt, same hat, jacket added. Aaron always looked like Aaron.

  But Rob, dressed up…

  He swept her into a hug and, closing her eyes, she hugged him back. This handsome man, this Englisch man stirred feelings of such depth it terrified her. She blinked at the tears stinging her eyes.

  He leaned back and studied her face. “Are you all right after last evening’s chaos?”

  Her heart turned over at his concern. “I’m fine.”

  He looked relieved. “And your brother?”

  “Hurting, but he was well enough to come downstairs for something to eat. He’s moving slowly, but he’s moving.”

  They stood in the living room, arms still around each other. She reached out and pushed the door shut.

  He gave her that half smile she loved so much, like he was glad just to be with her. She knew it was vain and foolish, very un-Amish, but she felt embarrassed that he would see her in her real clothes for the first time when she was wearing her oldest and grubbiest.

  “I left my business meeting as soon as I could and drove right here,” he said. “I wanted to make sure you and Johnny were all right.”

  Oh, my! “Johnny’s upstairs. He’s still awake if you want to say hi.”

  He gave her a quick kiss and released her. He studied her as if trying to figure out why she looked different.

  She ran a hand over her scarf and secured hair and forced a smile. “I was planting trees this evening.”

  “Planting trees?” He laughed.

  “Little trees.” She held her hands a foot apart. “Sixty of them. My brother Jonah got a rush order at his nursery, and the family helped him fill it.”

  “Sounds more interesting than my evening.”

  She raised her eyebrows in question.

  “Business dinner with a couple of guys who spent the whole time trying to out-brag each other. We were about to descend to my-dad’s-bigger-than-your-dad when the bill finally came. Trees would be a great improvement. You’ll have to tell me all about it when I come down.”

  He took the stairs two at a time, and she soon heard him and Johnny talking, though she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

  She sat in her favorite chair and stared at the empty fireplace, waiting. She felt like she was kneeling with her neck exposed and the guillotine ready to fall.

  Twice in one night.

  Amy had been so easy. She understood conflicting lives. She accepted that friendship could cross chasms, even the canyon of an unintended deceit, if both people were willing.

  But Rob? He thought the Amish were strange, alien. “Do you ever wonder what they think?” And what a friendship might survive, a romance might not.

  She heard footsteps in the upstairs hall. She took a deep breath and willed her stomach to stop churning. It did not obey.

  “Be nice to her!” It was Johnny.

  Rob came downstairs laughing. “Okay,” he called back. “I’ll do my best.”

  Johnny knew what was coming.

  Rachel stood, and Rob looked at her, really looked at all of her. His eyes slid first to her hair.

  “I like it loose.”

  She knew that. And she liked it when he fingered a curl or brushed it back over her shoulder.

  He studied the scarf and frowned slightly. A scarf in the house? That would be his Englisch thought.

  Then he took in her dress, its pins, its style. And her apron.

  His hand waved up and down, indicating her outfit.

  “Old,” she said, trying to force a smile. Her lips were trembling as were her legs. “Dirty. Planting trees is hard work.”

  “Mmm.” He looked around the room, then back at her. He studied her a minute longer. His face filled with pure disbe
lief. “This isn’t Johnny’s house, is it?”

  She shook her head as a vise tightened around her heart, squeezing, squeezing.

  “It’s yours.”

  “It’s mine,” she admitted in a whisper.

  “And you’re Amish.”

  She wanted to sound proud of her heritage, proud in a proper, non-sinful way. There were centuries of tradition and history behind her and her People. They had stood their ground and lived their lives for God and community against great odds.

  Her voice shook instead. “I’m Amish.”

  He studied her for a moment in silence, his disbelief slowly changing to anger. She could see it in his face. He’d been tricked, or so he must think. She forced herself to stand still under his scrutiny. She was the offender, and she deserved any embarrassment or pain she suffered.

  “What are you doing at Wexford?” His voice was edged with his mounting irritation “I don’t know a lot about Amish life, but isn’t eighth grade all you’re allowed?”

  “I never meant to deceive anyone.”

  He just looked at her.

  “I didn’t. I just wanted to learn.” She took a deep breath and spoke her heart. “I didn’t plan on you.”

  He didn’t respond by as much as a flicker of an eye. He just looked away and studied the lantern on the end table. “Do your people know you take classes and run around in…civilian clothes?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Couldn’t you get, like, shunned if you get caught?”

  “I could.”

  He looked upstairs. “Is Johnny shunned?”

  “Johnny never joined the Gmay.”

  “The Gmay?”

  “Short for gemiende or community.”

  “But you did.”

  She nodded again.

  “So you could get shunned.” He dropped into one of her chairs but didn’t settle back. He finally looked at her. “What does that mean exactly?”

  She sat in the other, on its edge like him. “It means I lose my family and my community. I’m excommunicated.”

  “Can you never see them again?”

  “I can see them and talk with them if they want, but I can never be part of them again. I’d never belong.” Her voice caught, and she felt overwhelmed with sorrow at what might be.

  Neither said anything for a few minutes, and Rachel wished it was winter and there was a fire in the fireplace. Then there’d be someplace to look, the flex of flames and the crackle of wood to absorb some of the tension.