Dear to Me (25 page)

Gabe stared out the window of the van. He and his father had hired Ed Wilkins to drive them to Branson this morning, and after meeting with the owners of the bed-and-breakfast, Pap had signed a contract to make five new tables with matching chairs for their guest kitchen. Gabe wouldn’t know until later how much of that job he would be allowed to do, but he had enjoyed his time in Branson.

 As they traveled along the main street, he observed several fancy theaters with parking lots full of cars and tour buses. Melinda had told him that this was one of the towns where her mother used to perform, and he wondered if it had been in any of the theaters along this stretch of road.

 Gabe grimaced. They still hadn’t talked things through, and the truth was Gabe had been avoiding the subject whenever he’d seen Melinda. He wanted her to stay Amish and become his wife, not run off to some fancy school and go English. As much as he wanted to be with her, the thought of leaving the Amish faith turned his stomach sour.

 “Did you enjoy the lunch we had at the Country Buffet?” Pap asked, breaking into Gabe’s disconcerting thoughts.

 Gabe nodded and patted his stomach. “I had more than my share of peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream at the dessert bar, too.”

 His dad chuckled. “Same here.”

 “What have you got lined up for us to do after we get home this afternoon?” Gabe asked.

 “A couple of doors need to be sanded. But since there won’t be many hours left to work by the time we get back to the shop, I think you can take the rest of the day off.”

 “You mean it?”

 Pap nodded. “Said so, didn’t I?”

 Gabe smiled. He figured if he headed straight for the woods after they got home, he’d have plenty of time to do some target practicing before Mom had supper ready.

Melinda tromped through the tall grass, making her way to the woods behind their house. She was glad to finally have some time to herself. All day as she and Mama had canned tomatoes, she’d grieved over failing her test. Maybe being in the woods awhile would help her gain some perspective.

 As Melinda passed the deer feeder Gabe had made, she wondered if she could survive in the English world without him. She hadn’t seen Gabe for a couple of weeks, but he’d left a note in the birdhouse yesterday saying he and his dad would be going to Branson to look at a job today. Melinda wished she could have gone with him. She hadn’t been back to Branson since she was a little girl. A couple of times during her growing-up years, she’d asked about going there, but Mama always said Branson was part of her past and that she had no desire to go there again.

 As Melinda stepped into the woods, her mind whirled with confusion.
English or Amish? Forget about taking another GED test or try again? Marry Gabe or become a vet?

 She shook her head, trying to clear away the troubling thoughts. Three deer—a buck and two does—showed up on the scene, and she quickly took a seat on a tree stump. Pulling her drawing tablet and pencil from the canvas bag she’d brought along, she watched in fascination as she sketched the beautiful creatures.

 The deer bolted into the bushes, and Melinda groaned.
Just one more thing to ruin my day.

 She tossed her artwork into the canvas satchel, slung it over her shoulder, and headed toward the gunfire, keeping low and, hopefully, out of danger. Whoever was shooting was in for a good tongue-lashing.

 A few minutes later, she came to a halt. Gabe stood next to her little brother, and Isaiah held a gun in his hands!

 Melinda marched over to them, jerked the gun away from Isaiah, and thrust it at Gabe. “What are you doing here?”

 “I’m showing Isaiah how to shoot.”

 Her heart pounded, and her mouth felt so dry she could barely swallow. “What would make you do such a thing?”

 “Isaiah saw the gun stock I made for Aaron when he was over at the Zooks’ playing with Aaron’s younger brothers,” Gabe explained. “When he and your daed dropped by our shop the other day, Isaiah asked if I’d teach him how to shoot.”

 “Did my stepdaed agree to that?” Melinda’s question was directed at Gabe, but it was Isaiah who responded.

 “When I asked Gabe about shootin’ a gun, Papa was busy talkin’ to Gabe’s daed. I didn’t think he’d mind since I’m twelve years old now.” Isaiah looked at Melinda as though daring her to say otherwise. “I can hunt with a youth permit as long as I’m with an adult who’s licensed to hunt.”

 Melinda’s attention snapped back to Gabe. “You said you were giving up hunting.”

 He frowned. “I never said that.”

 “You told me you were sorry about our disagreement and that—”

 “I
was
sorry. Sorry we had words but not sorry for shooting my gun.” His jaw clenched, and the late afternoon shadows shifted on his cheek. “I don’t see anything wrong with hunting deer when it’s for food, not just a trophy.”

 Melinda realized Gabe was right. He hadn’t actually said he wouldn’t hunt anymore. She’d just assumed that’s what he meant when he’d apologized. And after he gave her the deer feeder he’d made, she thought he felt the same way about the forest animals as she did. She also knew that many men hunted deer for food, not just the sport of it. Even though she couldn’t save every deer in the woods, the ones in these woods were hers, and she didn’t want any of them hurt. She also didn’t like the idea of Gabe teaching her little brother how to hunt.

 “It’s obvious to me,” she said in a shaky voice, “that you don’t care nearly as much about animals as I do, which is probably why you won’t—”

 Gabe held up his hand and nodded toward Isaiah.

 Melinda knew it wasn’t a good idea to discuss their problems in front of her little brother. In her irritation with Gabe, she’d almost forgotten Isaiah was still there.

 “You’d better head for home,” she told her brother.

 He jutted out his chin. “You ain’t my boss.”

 Gabe intervened. “Isaiah, I think it would be best if you did go home. Your folks might be missing you by now.”

 Melinda was tempted to tell Gabe he should have thought about that before he dragged her little brother into the woods and placed a gun in his hands, but she decided to keep quiet. Enough had already been said in front of Isaiah, and she didn’t want him going home and spouting off everything he’d heard her and Gabe say.

 “Okay, I’ll go,” Isaiah mumbled. “But it’s only because Gabe asked me so nice.” He cast a quick glance at Melinda and wrinkled his nose.

 Melinda folded her arms and said nothing.

 “Maybe we can target practice some other time,” Isaiah said, smiling at Gabe.

 “We’ll have to wait and see how it goes,” Gabe replied.

 “Jah, okay.” Isaiah tromped off toward home.

 Melinda waited until he was out of sight before she spoke again. Drawing in a deep breath to steady her nerves, she looked right at Gabe. “You don’t have to worry about me leaving the Amish faith. At least not any time soon.”

 He blinked a couple of times as though he didn’t quite believe her.

 “I failed my GED test.”

 “You…you did?”

 She nodded solemnly.

 “So you’ve given up on the idea of becoming a vet?” he asked with a hopeful expression.

 “Well, I—”

 “It’s for the best, Melinda. You’ll see that once we’re married.”

 Melinda drew back like a turtle being poked with a sharp stick. “You don’t even care that I failed, do you?”

 “Of course I do, but—”

 “You know what I think, Gabe?”

 He shook his head.

 “Even if I was to stay Amish and we did get married, we would probably always be arguing.”

 “I don’t think so, Melinda.”

 “Jah, we would. We’d argue about all my pets that you think are silly. We’d argue about whether it’s okay for you to hunt or not. We’d argue about—” Melinda’s throat felt too clogged to say anything more. All she wanted to do was run for the safety of home. And that’s exactly what she did.

Chapter 24

G
abe watched Melinda’s retreating form as a sense of despair washed over him. He had made such a mess of things. It seemed as though that’s all he did anymore—clutter everything between him and Melinda and make her upset. “I never should have brought Isaiah into the woods to target practice,” he mumbled. “Especially not without getting Noah’s permission.” He gathered up his gun and ammunition. “This whole thing between me and Melinda stinks about as bad as when the two of us got sprayed by a skunk!”

 Gabe knew the first thing he needed to do was apologize to Melinda’s stepfather. Then he had to come up with some way to patch things up with Melinda. There had to be something he could do to make her realize how much he loved her. Either that or they would have to go their separate ways, which seemed to be what she wanted. But it sure wasn’t what Gabe wanted. Why couldn’t Melinda just be happy with the way things were? Why would she want to give up her family and friends just to take care of some dumb old animals?

 Gabe swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat as he started walking toward the Hertzlers’ place. He’d been in love with Melinda too long to let their relationship go, no matter how much they disagreed on things. No, he couldn’t give up on them yet.

Melinda paced the length of the front porch, waiting for Papa Noah to show up. Usually he had Saturdays off, but he had worked at the Christmas tree farm today because Hank Osborn was shorthanded.

 Melinda thought about the tree farm and how much she had enjoyed visiting there when she was a girl. It had been exciting to see the rows of various-sized pine trees that would eventually become some English person’s Christmas tree. She hadn’t visited Osborn’s Tree Farm in several years.

 Melinda glanced at the darkening sky, knowing she needed to go inside and see if her mother needed help with supper. She was about to turn when her stepfather’s buggy rolled into the yard.

 Melinda bounded off the porch and sprinted out to the buggy in time to see Gabe walking across the open field between their house and the woods. She hurried to Papa Noah’s side as soon as he stepped down from the buggy. “I need to tell you something,” she panted.

 “What is it? You look
verlegge
.”

 “I am troubled. I’ve just come from the woods, where I discovered Isaiah and Gabe. You’ll never guess what they were doing.”

 “What was it?”

 “Gabe was teaching Isaiah to shoot a gun.”

 Papa Noah’s eyebrows furrowed. “He was?”

 “Jah.”

 Before Papa Noah could say anything more, Gabe stepped between them, all red-faced and sweaty. “I need to speak with you, Noah.”

 “Is it about you teaching my son how to shoot?”

 Gabe nodded. “When Isaiah asked me to teach him to shoot a gun, I figured he’d gotten your permission and that you had a youth permit for him.” Gabe gave Melinda a sidelong glance, but she looked away.

 “Isaiah has never said a word to me about wanting to hunt or even asked about shooting a gun,” Papa Noah said with a shake of his head.

 “I’m sorry. I should have asked you first. Please know that it will never happen again.” Gabe’s expression was somber, but Melinda couldn’t help but wonder if he really was sorry. Maybe he was simply trying to keep himself out of trouble with her stepfather.

 “I accept your apology, Gabe,” Papa Noah said. “I appreciate the fact that you had the courage to come talk to me about this matter.”

 A look of relief flooded Gabe’s face.

 Papa Noah glanced over at Melinda. “I need to put my horse away. Would you please tell your mamm I’ll be in for supper soon?”

 She nodded. “I’ll give her the message.”

 Papa Noah headed for the barn, and Melinda turned toward the house. She’d only taken a few steps when Gabe touched her shoulder. “Listen, about our disagreement—”

 She halted and turned around.

 “I’m sorry about your GED. I understand how much it meant to you.”

 Melinda shook her head. “I don’t think you do understand, Gabe. If you did, you might be more willing to do some things just for me.”

 “Like what?”

 She pointed to the gun in his hands.