Dear to Me (18 page)

 “She’s accepting them!” Melinda clapped her hands. “Oh, Gabe, you’re so schmaert. I should have thought to do that.”

 Gabe took Melinda’s hand as they stood. “Are you ready to go to Seymour?”

 She nodded toward the hen. “I’d better wait and see how things go. She might decide not to stay on the nest.”

 Gabe’s face heated as irritation set in. “You’d give up an afternoon at the market to stay home and babysit a bunch of pheasant eggs that may never hatch?”

 She shrugged.

 “If your animals are more important than me, then I guess I’ll head to Seymour alone.”

 Melinda’s eyes were filled with tears. “Please don’t be mad.”

 Gabe hated it when she cried, and he pulled her quickly into his arms. “I’m not mad—just hurt because you’d rather be out in the chicken coop than spend the afternoon with me.”

 “That’s not true.” Her voice shook with emotion. “I do want to go to the farmers’ market with you today.”

 He glanced at the setting hen. “Does that mean you’ll go?”

 She nodded. “Jah, okay. I’ll check on the eggs after we get back.”

“Since I don’t have to work today, I thought I’d go into Seymour and check out the farmers’ market,” Susie said to her mother as they finished cleaning up the kitchen.

 Mama turned from washing the table and smiled. “I think that’s a good idea. You’re always complaining that you don’t get to do anything fun, but going to the market should be enjoyable.”

 Susie smiled. “Would you like to go along?”

 “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve developed a headache, so I think I’ll go to my room and lie down awhile.”

 Susie felt immediate concern. “Are you
grank
?”

 “I don’t think I’m sick; just have a headache is all.” Mama reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “Probably slept wrong on my neck.”

 “Maybe it would be best if I stayed home.” Susie placed the broom she’d been using into the utility closet and shut the door. “That way if you need anything, I’ll be here to see that your needs are met.”

 Mama shook her head. “Don’t fret about me, daughter. I’ll be fine once I lie down and rest my head. You go along to the market and enjoy your day.” She patted Susie’s arm. “I insist on it.”

 Susie sighed. “Oh, all right. Is there anything you’d like me to pick up while I’m in town?”

 “Hmm…” Mama pursed her lips. “Maybe some peanut brittle if anyone’s selling it at the market. I haven’t had time to make your daed any for quite a while, and it’s his favorite.”

 Susie nodded. “All right then. If I see any peanut brittle, I’ll be sure to bring some home.” Feeling a sense of excitement, she scurried around to clean off the kitchen counters and wipe them dry. She could hardly wait to hitch up a buggy and head for town. Maybe she would see Melinda at the market. Maybe they could go out for lunch together.

Chapter 16

W
hen Gabe and Melinda pulled into the parking lot at the farmers’ market, Melinda felt a sense of excitement. She’d always enjoyed coming here and remembered several times when she was a little girl and had spent the day with her mother. She thought about one time when she and Mama had met Papa Noah at the farmers’ market, before her parents were a couple. After leaving the market that day, the three of them had gone to lunch at Baldy’s Café, and Melinda had enjoyed Mama’s jokes and listening to country music on the radio.

 “Maybe we can eat at Baldy’s today,” she suggested to Gabe.

 “Or how about Don’s Pizza Place?”

 “Either one is fine, I guess,” she said. “We can look around the farmers’ market awhile, eat lunch, and head over to the bed-and-breakfast where they sell Grandpa’s rhubarb-strawberry jam and some of my drawings. I want to see what’s sold and ask if they want me to bring any more in.”

 “That’s fine by me.” Gabe jumped down to help Melinda out of the buggy. “So where shall we start first?” he asked as they walked toward the tables on the other side of the parking lot.

 “Wherever you like.”

 He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I like it when we’re not arguing.”

 “Me, too.”

 They walked hand in hand until they came to a table where an English man had some wooden holders for trash cans for sale. They resembled a small cupboard, but the door opened from the top, and the trash can was placed inside.

 Gabe seemed quite impressed and plied the man with several questions. They soon learned that he lived near Kansas City and had been heading to Branson to sell some of his wooden items to a gift shop there. He said he’d heard about the farmers’ market in Seymour and decided to rent a table before he went to Branson.

 “I think I could make something like those and probably sell them for a lot less money than his are going for,” Gabe whispered to Melinda as they moved away from the table. “I believe I’ll make one to give Mom for Christmas this year.”

 “Have you ever thought that you could make and sell wooden items if you lived in the English world?” Melinda blurted without thinking.

 Gabe frowned so deeply his forehead was etched with wrinkles, and Melinda knew she had spoiled their day together.

Gabe gritted his teeth as he and Melinda walked away from the English man’s table. Melinda had obviously not given up her idea of going English, and it seemed as if she was trying to convince him that he would be happy giving up the only way of life he had ever known.
Could I be happy living in the English world?
he wondered.
Would l have more opportunity to have a woodworking shop of my own there, and would I be successful at it if I did?
The English man who had wooden trash holders for sale was obviously doing all right. Of course, that didn’t mean Gabe would do well, but it did mean there was a need for well-crafted wooden items in the English world, as well as here in his Amish community.

 Gabe grimaced.
Why did Melinda suddenly have to decide she wanted to become a vet? Why couldn’t she be happy with the way things were? Maybe I should go see Dr. Franklin and ask if he’ll try to talk Melinda out of leaving the Amish faith.

 “Let’s look over there at the table where Mary King’s selling peanut brittle,” Melinda suggested, nudging Gabe’s arm.

 “Jah, sure,” he mumbled. Maybe a hunk of peanut brittle would help brighten his spirits. He sure needed something to make him feel better right now.

 “Wie geht’s?” Melinda asked, stepping up to Mary’s table.

 Mary smiled, her brown eyes looking so sincere. “I’m doing well. How are you?”

 “I can’t complain.” Melinda scanned the table full of baked goods, candy, and fresh produce. “Are you here alone, or is the rest of your family around someplace?”

 “Ben’s got our two oldest boys, Harvey and Walter, helping him do chores around our place today,” Mary replied. “And the younger children are with Ben’s sister, Carolyn.”

 “Is it hard for you to be on your own here today?”

 Mary shook her head. “To tell you the truth, it’s kind of nice. If Dan and Sarah were here, I’d be dealing with them wanting to run around, and then I’d probably end up having to work alone at the table anyhow.”

 Melinda chuckled. “That’s how my little brother is, too. He always wants to run around and play when he should be working.”

 Gabe cleared his throat a couple of times. “I thought we were going to buy some candy, Melinda.”

 “Of course we are.” Melinda picked up a hunk of peanut brittle that had been wrapped in cellophane paper. “If we break it in two, this one should be big enough for both of us.”

 “Whatever,” he muttered. Melinda sure wanted to be in control of things. She couldn’t even let him pick the peanut brittle he wanted. Well, there were some things she couldn’t control, and him going English was one of them!

 As Melinda and Mary continued to visit, Gabe glanced around the market area. He spotted his friend Aaron across the way, talking to his younger brother, Joseph.

 Gabe cleared his throat, hoping to get Melinda’s attention, but she kept right on yakking. Finally, he nudged her arm. “I’m going over to speak with Aaron.”

 “Okay. I’ll join you there in a few minutes.”

When Susie stepped down from her buggy and secured the horse to the hitching rail, she spotted Melinda on the other side of the market talking to Mary King. She was about to head that way when she noticed another buggy pulling in. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Jonas Byler sitting in the driver’s seat.

 “I’m surprised to see you,” she said when he jumped down from his buggy. “I figured you’d probably gone back to Montana.”

 “Nope, not yet. I thought it would be good if I stayed awhile and spent some time with my family.”

 A sense of excitement bubbled in Susie’s chest. If Jonas wasn’t going back to Montana right away, maybe there was a chance he might take an interest in her. “What can you tell me about Rexford, Montana?” she asked, hoping to let him know in a subtle way that she had an interest in him.

 “What do you want to know?”

 “What’s the weather like, how many Amish people live in the area, what do the homes look like—”

 Jonas held up his hand. “Whoa! One question at a time, please.”

 Susie’s cheeks warmed. Ever since she’d been a little girl, she’d had a habit of running off at the mouth. No wonder she still had no boyfriend. Who would want a
blappere
woman for a girlfriend?

 “You don’t have to be embarrassed for asking questions.” Jonas leaned against his buggy and smiled. “I just can’t answer more than one at a time.”

 Susie felt herself begin to relax. Maybe Jonas didn’t think she was a blabbering woman after all. “Let’s start with the weather,” she suggested.

 For the next several minutes, Susie listened with rapt attention as Jonas told her about the cold, snowy winters they had in Montana, and how he went deer hunting every fall. He said most of the Amish homes there were built from logs, and that many of the Amish men in the area made log furniture.

 “Even though we’re a small community, I still enjoy living there,” he concluded.

 Jonas cleared his throat a couple of times. “Guess I’ll wander around the market now and see what’s for sale.”

 He shuffled his feet a few times then gave his horse a pat on the neck. “Well, I’ll be seeing you around.” Before Susie could open her mouth, he strode off toward a group of tables.