Dear to Me (6 page)

 “Then how come Melinda’s priorities are so messed up? And how come she’s late to church so often these days?”

 Barbara offered Faith a look of sympathy. “I noticed that she came in after the service had already begun, but I figured she’d been using the bathroom.”

 Faith shook her head. “She went to the barn.”

 “Why’d she go there?”

 “To see a batch of busslin, of all things.” Faith grimaced. “I have nothing against animals, mind you, but Melinda is consumed with them. It’s getting so bad I’m beginning to think we live at the zoo.”

 Barbara gave Faith’s arm another pat. “Is it really that bad?”

 “Jah, it is. You should have seen the mess my kitchen was in yesterday after Melinda’s chicken got into the house, with Isaiah’s dog right on the rooster’s tail feathers. Melinda ended up tripping over the dog and dropping a pie all over my clean floor.”

 Barbara’s lips twitched, but then her face sobered. “No one ever said it would be easy to be a parent. Not even when our kinner are on the verge of leaving the nest.”

 “Puh!” Faith said with a wave of her hand. “At the rate Melinda’s going, she’ll be old and gray before she’s ready to leave home and make a life of her own. For that matter, if she doesn’t grow up and start acting more responsible, it’s not likely she’ll ever find a man who’ll want to marry her.”

 “What about Gabe Swartz? Aren’t the two of them courting?”

 “Jah, but I’m not sure how serious they have become.”

 Barbara opened her mouth, but she closed it again.

 Faith leaned closer to Barbara. “Do you know something I don’t know?”

 “No, not really. It’s just that my boy Aaron’s a good friend of Gabe’s, and he’s mentioned a couple of times how smitten Gabe is with Melinda.”

 “Well, if Gabe’s really interested in my daughter, then he’d better be prepared to put up with all her critters.” Faith grunted. “Either that, or he’ll have to do something to make Melinda see where her priorities need to be.”

 Barbara lifted the coffeepot in her hands. “Let me put this in the kitchen, and then we can take a little walk. I think you need to talk about this some more.”

Gabe was glad when the church service was over so he could be outside. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the sermons or time of singing, for he’d listened intently to the verse Bishop Frey had quoted near the end of his lengthy sermon. It was Proverbs 18:22: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.”

 Those words made Gabe even more determined to make Melinda his wife, and if everything went well tonight, he might get up the nerve to propose. If Melinda accepted, he hoped they could be married sometime this fall.

 From Gabe’s vantage point under the shade of a walnut tree, he’d seen Melinda on the front porch awhile ago, talking to her mother, but now Faith was speaking to Barbara Hilty.

 Gabe flopped onto the grass and leaned against the trunk of the tree. He was nearly asleep when he heard female voices nearby.

 His eyes popped open, and he spotted Faith and Barbara heading his way.

 “I wish I knew what to do about my daughter,” Faith said.

 Gabe’s ears perked up. He wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but he was curious to hear what Melinda’s mother was saying.

 “Sometimes, raising teenagers can be just as hard as when they were kinner,” Barbara said. “I guess we’ll be trying to steer them in the right direction until they get married and leave home.”

 “Jah,” Faith agreed. “I just need to keep praying for Melinda and try to give her direction without being too pushy.”

 “I agree,” Barbara said. “You know, my Aaron claims he’s never getting married. It makes me wonder if he plans to stick around home and be told what to do for the rest of his life.”

 As the two women strolled past the tree where Gabe sat, he yanked his straw hat down over his eyes, plucked up a blade of grass, and stuck it between his teeth, hoping to look inconspicuous. Faith and Barbara continued on their way, apparently unaware of his presence.

 Gabe drew in a deep breath and said a prayer for himself and Melinda. Someday, Lord willing, they would have their own kinner to worry about.

Chapter 5

I
t’s nice of you to drive us to the young people’s gathering, but I don’t see why we couldn’t have walked to the Hiltys’ place. It isn’t that far,” Melinda said to Grandpa Stutzman as she settled herself on the buggy seat between him and Susie.

 He grunted. “I won’t have my youngest daughter or my granddaughter out walking in the dark no matter how close we live to the Hiltys.”

 Melinda glanced over at her aunt to gauge her reaction. Susie shrugged.

 “I’ll be back to pick you both up around ten,” Grandpa said with a nod.

 “Oh, Melinda won’t be needing a ride,” Susie blurted out. “She’s already been promised one from—”

 Melinda poked Susie on the arm. “Hush.”

 “Uh—what I meant to say was, I’ll be the only one needing a ride home tonight.”

 “How do you know some young fellow won’t be asking to bring you home?” Grandpa’s bushy gray eyebrows lifted clear into his hairline. “Huh?”

 Susie stared at her hands. “I don’t know who it would be.”

 Melinda’s heart went out to her aunt. It wasn’t right that a woman Susie’s age didn’t have a steady boyfriend. Especially when she was so kind and pretty.

 “How about I come by a little later than ten?” Grandpa asked, smiling at his daughter. “Just in case all the young men are too shy to ask and you find yourself without a ride.”

 Susie gave a quick nod. “I guess that would be all right.”

 As much as Melinda wanted to spend time alone with Gabe, she couldn’t stand the thought of Susie being picked up by her father. It was bad enough he had insisted on driving them here. “If Susie doesn’t get asked, Gabe and I will bring her home.”

 Grandpa chuckled. “Gabe, is it? I might have known.”

 Melinda covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. “I—I meant to say, Susie can ride with me and my date.”

 “I know,” Grandpa said with a grin. “And if Susie’s okay with that, it’s fine by me.”

 Susie shook her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

 “Why not?” Melinda wondered what her aunt could be thinking.

 “I’m not going to be a fifth wheel on the buggy,” Susie said with a shake of her head.

 “It’ll be fine. We’ll drop you off first; then Gabe can take me home.”

 Susie sighed but finally nodded. “Jah, okay.”

 A short while later, they pulled into the Hiltys’ driveway. Grandpa drove past the house and the harness shop, stopping the buggy near the barn. “Here you go. I hope you both have yourselves a real good time.”

 “Thanks, Papa.” Susie hopped out of the buggy and sprinted toward the barn, where peals of laughter and chattering voices drifted on the night air.

 Melinda turned to face her grandfather. “She’ll be fine, Grandpa. You’ll see.”

 “I know, but it sure would be nice if she found herself a beau.” He picked up the reins. “Now go have some fun, and be sure to tell Gabe Swartz I said he’s gettin’ one fine girl.”

 Melinda’s face warmed, and she leaned over to kiss her grandfather’s wrinkled cheek. “I love you, Grandpa.”

 “That goes double for me.”

 She patted his arm then climbed out of the buggy. “See you soon.”

 “Jah.” Grandpa Stutzman backed the horse up and headed down the driveway.

 As Melinda hurried to the barn, the rhythm of her heartbeat kept time with her footsteps. She could hardly wait to see Gabe.

Gabe stood at the refreshment table, about to ladle some punch into a paper cup for Melinda, whom he’d spotted on the other side of the barn.

 “Gettin’ some sweets for your sweetie, are you?” Gabe’s friend Aaron teased as he stepped up beside Gabe.

 “What do you think?”

 “I think you’d get down on your hands and knees and lap water like a dog if Melinda asked you to.”

 Gabe grunted and rubbed the side of his nose. “Would not. Besides, she’s already got plenty of pets.”

 “Jah, well, she might want one more.”

 “Are you trying to goad me into an argument this evening?”

 Aaron chuckled. “Who me? Never!”

 “Jah, right.” Gabe grabbed two peanut butter cookies, a handful of pretzels, and a wedge of cheese then piled them on a paper plate.

 “Are you taking Melinda home tonight?”

 “What do you think?”

 “You sure do like to answer my questions with a question.” Aaron bumped Gabe’s arm, nearly knocking the plate out of his hands.

 “Hey, watch it!”

 “Sorry.”

 “Are you planning to offer anyone a ride home?” Gabe asked, hoping to get Aaron out of his teasing mode.

 “No way! I’m not ready to get tied down yet.”

 “Who said anything about getting tied down? You can take a girl home without proposing marriage, you know.” Gabe wasn’t about to tell his friend that a marriage proposal was in his plans for the night. If he did spill the beans, he was sure Aaron would only taunt him that much more.

 Aaron snatched one of Gabe’s cookies and bit into it. “That might be true, but as soon as you give some female a ride in your buggy, she starts thinking you want to court her. After that, the next thing on her mind is marriage.” He shook his head. “I’m not ready for that. All I want is to own my daed’s business.”

 Gabe lifted his eyebrows. “Is Paul planning to quit working at the harness shop?”

 “Not yet, but someday he’ll want to retire. When that time comes, I’ll be ready to take it over. My real daed wanted me to have the shop he started, you know.”

 Gabe nodded. “I’m sure Paul does, too.”

 “Maybe so. Maybe not.”

 Gabe moved away from the table, and Aaron followed. “To tell you the truth, I think my daed still sees me as a little kid who doesn’t know nearly as much as him about making things. It isn’t easy being the youngest in the family, with four sisters who are all married and out on their own.”

 “What’s that got to do with anything?” Aaron asked.

 “Ever since I was little, Pap, Mom, and even my sisters have treated me like a
boppli
. I believe my daed likes being in charge of everything and telling me what to do.”

 “I’m not really treated like a baby, but my stepdad sure likes to order me around. The truth is I think our relationship was better when I was a boy.”

 “I guess in the eyes of our parents we’ll never be grown up,” Gabe said with a frown.

 “You’re probably right.” Aaron bit off the end of one fingernail and spit it on the straw-covered floor.

 Gabe wrinkled his nose. “That was so nasty. Where are your manners, anyhow?”

 Aaron lowered his gaze and looked kind of sheepish. “Sorry. Nail biting’s a bad habit that I probably should break. Least that’s what my mamm thinks.”

 “So why don’t you quit?”

 “Maybe I will someday…when I have a good enough reason to.”

 “You mean when you find an
aldi
?”

 Aaron shook his head vigorously. “No way! I don’t need a girlfriend complicating my life.”

 “Well, Melinda’s waiting for me, so I’d better get over there with this food,” Gabe said, deciding it was time to move on.

 Aaron thumped Gabe on the back a few times. “You do that, you lovesick
hundli
.”

 Gabe shrugged his friend’s hand away. “I’m not a lovesick puppy.”

 “Okay then, you’re a lovesick man.”

 Gabe swallowed a retort and headed across the room. Aaron was only funning with him, and if the tables were turned, he’d probably do the same. Right now, though, he had other things on his mind.

 For the next couple of hours, Gabe relaxed and enjoyed visiting, playing games, and eating with the other young people. Shortly before things wound down, Melinda was called on to lead the group in some singing and yodeling. Her face turned red, but after some coaxing from Gabe and a few other friends, she finally agreed. While several others in attendance could yodel fairly well, nobody did it as expertly as Melinda.

 Gabe glanced around the room and saw that all eyes were trained on his girlfriend. He figured he was the luckiest man there and that the other fellows must surely be envious.