An Unexpected Match Page 21

  “Did you know Bagel and I are living with Rachel? We moved in this afternoon.” She stepped away from Rob and to Rachel. She patted her hand. “We’ll talk at home, girlfriend.”

  “You’re living with Rachel?” For some reason that irritated him. “She’s living with you?” He looked at Rachel who shrugged.

  “Bagel and I got kicked out because he barks when I’m not there. Rachel kept me from the streets.”

  He scowled at Rachel who scowled back. On one hand she lied to him. On the other she took in Amy and her dog. How could she be such a complicated mix of bad and good qualities? It was driving him crazy.

  He turned to Amy. “So you knew she was Amish?” Did everyone know but him?

  “Found out yesterday.”

  “Huh.” Same day he found out. Somehow it made him feel better that Amy had been kept in the dark too.

  “She took a big risk taking me in,” Amy continued. “But her family’s so nice. And Bagel and I won’t be there too long. Just ’til I find another place.”

  Whereas he would have been there as long as they both should live if things had gone as he had begun to hope. So much for happily ever after.

  Time to go home to Charlie and a silence broken only by canine snores and sighs. At least Charlie’s love was true.

  He was trying to find something on TV to occupy his mind when there was a loud knocking on his door. He looked through the peephole and saw Win’s distorted face staring at him. He threw the door open.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Win stepped inside, forcing Rob to step back. “What did you do?”

  “What did I do?”

  Win all but snarled at him. “Amy called and said no Star, and I could hear Rachel crying in the background.”

  His chest tightened. She was crying? “It’s none of your business.”

  “Probably not, but I thought you and she had something special going.”

  He wanted to be mad at Win, to resent his interference, but the genuine concern in both his expression and voice broke Rob. His shoulders slumped. “So did I.”

  “It’s the Amish thing, isn’t it?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “Okay. I’m trying to understand. Wouldn’t that make her nice and kind and sweet and all kinds of other good things? I mean, the Amish are, you know, good.”

  “She wears pinned-together dresses and lives without electricity, Win! She drives a horse and buggy!”

  “She drives a black Honda.”

  “You know what I mean. Talk about different worlds.”

  Win thought about it for a minute. “But she’s so nice.”

  “Sometimes. But she’s also a liar.”

  “What did she lie about?”

  “About being Amish! She never said a word.”

  Win brushed away his statement as if it meant nothing. “It’s not like she killed someone here.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s like she lives at the North Pole and I live at the South. The distance between us is too great.”

  Win shrugged. “So move.”

  Rob stared at his brother. “I’m not going to become Amish.”

  “Why not?”

  “I never heard of Amish certified financial planners. And that’s not the point.”

  “What is the point?”

  “She lied to me.”

  “Did she lie or just not tell?”

  “There’s a difference?”

  Win wiggled his hand back and forth in a maybe, maybe not gesture. “Why did she come to class and wear normal clothes? Why did she learn to drive?”

  “She’s really smart and wanted an education.”

  “So she took a big risk just to learn stuff.”

  “Right.”

  “So maybe she’ll take another risk for you.”

  “But the cost! Her family, her community, her vows.”

  “She told you she wouldn’t pay the price?”

  “Well, no, but how could I ever ask that of her?”

  “If you feel about her like you seem to, you have to at least talk about it with her. She needs to have the choice.”

  Everything in Rob stilled.

  Win looked at him with something like pity. “For a smart guy, you’re awful dumb.”

  Rob didn’t have much option but to agree.

  “Okay.” Win rubbed his hands together. “Enough of your troubles. I’ve got some doozies of my own. Be right back.”

  Rob watched as he jogged to his car and pulled two duffels out of the trunk. He ran back to the apartment, bags in hand.

  Rob crossed his arms. “No way, Win. We’ve been through this before. You can’t stay here.”

  “She stole from me.” Win dropped the duffels on the hall floor as if they were too heavy to hold. Charlie took the opportunity to examine them thoroughly. “Four hundred and fifty dollars. Took it out of my top dresser drawer because she needed a tablet like yours but with a pink cover because your black one isn’t feminine enough.”

  “She stole from you?” Though the real question might be how Win had four hundred and fifty dollars to be stolen.

  “A new low, even for her. I can’t stay there anymore. I can’t trust her.”

  Rob studied his brother. Could he trust him? He’d thought he could trust Rachel and look how that turned out.

  Rob’s cell played and he answered as he tried to stare Win down.

  “Rob!” His mother’s shrill voice hit his eardrum and he put the phone on speaker. “He left! What am I going to do? I can’t be alone! I don’t like to be alone. I’m scared to be alone. Make him come back. Tell him I’m sorry. Tell him he can use the stinking tablet whenever he wants. I mean, it was only $400. It’s not like it was a bundle.”

  “So where’s the other fifty?” Win muttered in a low voice.

  “Are you worried about him?” Rob asked. “Are you concerned he might be in trouble?”

  There was a moment of utter silence.

  “Why would I worry about him?” She sounded completely at a loss. “He’s a grown man. It’s me I’m worried about. It’s me who’s alone. It’s me who’s suffering here.”

  Rob looked at Win who shrugged.

  “I’ve got to go, Mom.” Rob got ready hit the off button.

  “Don’t leave me! What will I do? Where will I go?”

  “Mom, you won’t go anywhere but to bed. You’re safe in your own house.”

  “Alone. I’m alone. I can’t be alone. I don’t do alone.”

  “You should have thought of that before you robbed your own son.”

  “Robbed? Who said I robbed anyone? I only borrowed—” There was a short pause. “He’s there, isn’t he? He’s there telling lies about me. See what I have to put up with? My own son telling lies.”

  “Talk to you later after you’ve had a good night’s sleep.”

  “How can I sleep? I’m alone!”

  Rob hit the off button and slid the phone into its holder. He eyed his brother.

  “Where’d the cash come from, Win? Just a few weeks ago you were begging me for money.”

  “Yeah. Not one of my finer moments. I’ve been working.”

  “Really?” Rob hoped his skepticism didn’t show too much. “Where?”

  “At the Star. Breakfast and lunch shift.”

  Rob blinked. “Doing what?”

  “Waiting tables. I’m their only waiter though they call me and the girls servers. Waitress and waiter are sexist these days.” He seemed proud of his job.

  “How did this happen?”

  “When I met you guys that first night, I got to talking to Patsy. You know Patsy? Her family owns the place?”

  “I know Patsy well. We went to school together, remember?”

  Win made a mumbly noise that sounded like “Oh, right.” Then he continued. “Anyway she told me they needed another server and I asked for the job. I figured why not? I had to start somewhere. Isn’t that what you told me? I saved that $450 as the start to getting my own pl
ace.”

  Rob studied his brother for a moment and then held out his hand. “Congratulations, Win. I’m proud of you.”

  Win flushed with pleasure as he shook it. “Thanks. I thought maybe you’d make fun of me. I mean, it’s only a serving job.”

  “It’s an honest job and a start. And the empty room is down the hall on the right. You’ll have to use a sleeping bag on the floor because I haven’t gotten furniture yet.”

  “Really?” Hope lit his face. “I can stay?”

  “Really. I’d be glad to have you stay.”

  Win grinned. “I think maybe I’ll use the sofa. It’s softer.”

  Chapter 31

  Max opened the door Saturday mid-morning to find Rachel standing there in her Amish clothes. She looked sad and the skin beneath her eyes looked bruised. Her usual spark and zip were missing. Something was clearly wrong.

  Beside her was the English girl who had come here the other night looking for Rachel. Accompanying them was the cutest beagle she’d seen in a long time.

  “Come in.” Max stepped aside for them. “This is a nice surprise.”

  As the girls took chairs, Max settled back onto Buddy’s recliner. She felt comfortable there. It wasn’t as good as a Buddy hug, but it made her feel closer to him somehow.

  She smiled at Rachel’s friend. What was her name? “So you found Rachel, I see.”

  “This is my friend Amy who’s going to be living with me for a while.” Rachel pointed to the dog. “And this is Bagel, the reason she’s living with me.”

  “He barks,” Amy said.

  Max looked at the dog sitting beside Amy’s chair like a perfect gentleman. She listened as Amy told the story of the cranky lady who lived beneath her and caused her eviction.

  “So Rachel took me in.” She beamed at Rachel who smiled back with so little joy it broke Max’s heart.

  “How do you girls know each other?” Max found the Amish and English aspects of this friendship fascinating—and potentially troublesome for Rachel. Maybe Amy was the reason for the air of sorrow hanging over Rachel.

  “We’re in class together,” Rachel said. “We met the first night.”

  “Rachel’s the first person I met. I moved down here to go to Wexford and didn’t know anyone. She sat next to me the first night.”

  Max nodded. “And you’re the one she went out to eat with.”

  “Right! And you’re the one who didn’t need to come pick her up.”

  Max and Amy grinned at each other.

  “I wanted you to meet Amy because she’s going to need to come over here to use your electricity if it’s okay with you.”

  “Sure. Anytime. I love having the company.”

  “I can’t stay long this morning,” Amy said. “I have to go to work at eleven today. I’m a waitress.”

  “Do you have time for a cup of coffee and a piece of coffee cake? I made Buddy’s favorite this morning, and I’ve been sitting here wondering why.” And feeling stupid for making it with no one to eat it.

  “Buddy isn’t home?”

  Max shook her head. “No, he isn’t.”

  Her expression must have become distressed because Amy looked stricken. “Buddy was your husband.”

  Max nodded, forcing a smile.

  “I’m sorry. I knew you were a widow, but I didn’t know your husband’s name.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t let it worry you.” She rose. “Let’s go sit in the kitchen.”

  Everyone told Max her life would be just fine once she adjusted to her new normal, whatever that was. The problem was she wanted her old normal back. She wanted Buddy in that old chair. She wanted Buddy sniffing the air as he walked into the kitchen saying, “I smell me some good stuff!”

  She sighed. She wanted her husband.

  Once she was up and moving, feeding people, Max felt better, almost normal. Having people sit around her kitchen table was common for her whether it was the women in her weekly Bible study or just a drop-in friend. Entertaining was her joy.

  She pulled out three mugs, the cheery ones with bouquets of daisies tied with graceful ribbons on a vivid blue background. She grabbed the cloth napkins with daisies sprinkled over them and the sugar and creamer that matched the mugs. She put slices of coffee cake on the daisy plate Buddy had given her “just because it’ll make you smile.”

  She ran her fingers gently over the daisies in its center and realized it still did.

  As they ate, Amy chattered away about how lucky she was to have Rachel as a friend, how fun it was to live with her, and how interesting learning to live Amish was. Amy was a pixie of a girl with her cropped blonde hair and her big eyes, a sprite whose hands flew as she talked. She would be a good person for Rachel to have around. Max loved Rachel’s questing mind and her courage, but she needed someone to make her laugh.

  Amy ate the apple coffee cake and umm-ummed with delight. Rachel broke off a small piece and played with it. Max glanced at her and looked away. Something was seriously wrong and it pained Max to see her friend this way.

  After she’d eaten her second piece of coffee cake and finished her second mug of coffee, Amy glanced at the daisy clock on the wall and gave a little bleat. “Gotta go. I’m going to be late! Can’t be late. They don’t like that.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on, Bagel. Let’s go.”

  He jumped to his feet from his nap beneath the table.

  “I’ll leave him at the house, Rachel. I don’t want him barking for Max. Thanks so much, Max! See you later, Rachel! Come on, Bagel!” And she was gone.

  Max and Rachel sat in silence as though waiting for the air molecules to settle back into place after Amy’s little whirlwind.

  “I like her,” Max finally said. “Perky little thing.”

  Rachel gave a wan smile. “Very true.”

  Max reached across the table and held out her hand. “What’s wrong, Rachel?”

  Rachel stared at the hand for a moment, her eyes filling with tears. Then she looked up, and one tear slid down her cheek. “Oh, Max!”

  A mixture of compassion and yikes-what-do-I-say flashed through Max. God, please give me wisdom! And Buddy, maybe you were right. I shouldn’t have interfered.

  Max thought of a young Ashley sitting in that chair, tears in her eyes over some social disappointment or boyfriend problem. Then it had been hard enough to say the right word, the helpful word without sounding condescending or critical, but at least she and her daughter had a common world—if you didn’t count teen culture with its constant turns and twists. But Rachel! The English/Amish differences went so deep.

  “Are your parents upset about an English girl living with you, even if it’s only for a short while?” It seemed a reasonable enough guess. One thing for sure, Rachel’s distress would not come from anything academic.

  “Amy?” Rachel looked surprised at the thought. “No. Well, maybe a bit, but not enough to make an issue of it.” She managed a tight smile. “If I can keep from having to say where we met, I think it’ll be fine.”

  “So they’ve met her?”

  “The other night. I took her over. Mom was definitely fishing, but I was able to change the subject when the question came up. Datt seemed happy to leave the questioning to Mom, but Levi watched with eagle eyes. Nothing gets past him.” She paused for breath. “Amy loves that my family loves each other. So far everything’s good.”

  “So if it’s not Amy bothering you, then what?”

  Rachel took a deep breath. “His name’s Rob.”

  Rob. Max sighed and waited. A single woman having sleepless nights so often meant a man. She’d learned with Ashley that the words finally erupted like a volcano whose pressure had built beyond the point of containment—if you waited.

  “He found out I’m Amish. He saved Johnny and…” The whole story poured out somewhat disjointedly, a sure sign of Rachel’s distress. “And he was so distant last night at class and wouldn’t go out to eat and hasn’t contacted me since!”

  “Oh, honey.”
The fact that it was only a couple of days meant nothing when the heart was involved.

  “And not only is he Englisch, Max. He’s an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His brother’s a charming wastrel and his father’s in jail for fraud.”

  Max felt a flash of foreknowledge. “What’s Rob’s last name?”

  “Lanier.”

  “Eugene Lanier must be his father.” Max wondered how much like father, like son applied here. “Several of our friends lost their life’s savings because of him. I wanted us to put our money in his care because he had such great rates of return. Buddy said no one could honestly make that much money and refused to consider him.” Max outlined the daisies on her mug with a finger. “I don’t know where I’d be today if Buddy had listened to me and all our friends.”

  “Rob thinks I’m a liar.” Rachel rested her elbow on the table and her forehead in her palm. “I am a liar.”

  She looked so desolate Max’s heart broke for her. “Honey, if he’s worth his stuff, he should understand that you didn’t intend to trick him.”

  “But honesty is big to him, Max, because of his father. And I deceived him.”

  “You must care for him a great deal.”

  “I think I may…love him.”

  “Love is an awfully strong word, Rachel.”

  “I know I feel more attraction to him and affection for him than I ever did for Aaron, and that makes me feel terrible too.” Another tear fell.

  “Aaron was kind, considerate, and convenient,” Max said.

  “Yes, and isn’t that so sad?”

  “Was he unhappy in your marriage?”

  Rachel thought a minute and then shook her head. “I’ve thought a lot about that, and I don’t think he was. He loved me and I loved him, but not with the intensity or depth I feel for Rob.”

  “So don’t waste guilt there. You did everything you knew to do at that time.”

  Rachel sat up a little straighter. “I did. I really did. If he’d lived, I would have continued as his wife, committed and faithful.”

  “So your problem is that you haven’t heard from Rob, and it makes you sad?”

  “That’s half of it. It breaks my heart, but if I do hear from him, then what do I do?”

  Buddy, you were right. All I did was help her reach a point of hurt and choice. Still she couldn’t feel she’d done wrong. “So you’d be forced into making a decision.”