Hope Chest (18 page)

She nodded.

“Mind if I ask who?”

“It’s Silas Swartley.”

He winked at Rachel. “Should I be askin’ your mamm to start makin’ a wedding quilt?”

Rachel grimaced. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. Like I stated before, Silas and I are just friends.”

“Then why the big secret about meeting him?”

“I—I didn’t want anyone jumping to conclusions.”

Dad gave her arm a gentle pat. “Your secret’s safe with me. Now run along and catch plenty of fish. Some nice, tasty trout would look mighty good on the supper table.”

Rachel grinned and climbed into the buggy. Maybe Dad thought there might be some hope for her and Silas, too.

***

As Silas sat on the dock with his fishing line dangling in the water, he noticed several small boats on the lake, but no one else was on the dock or shoreline. Maybe he and Rachel would be alone all day. Did he really want to be alone with her? He’d thought he did yesterday when he asked her to meet him here. Now that he’d had ample time to think about it, he worried that he might have been a bit hasty making the invitation. What if Rachel thought he was interested in her as more than a friend? What if she thought this was a real date?

Silas stared across the lake, his gaze settling on a crop of trees where several crows sat, making their distinctive call of
caw, caw, caw.
Truth be told, he really did enjoy Rachel’s company. The fact that she liked birds and fishing was a benefit, but it was her sweet spirit and appreciation for the simple things in life that had really captured his attention.

She isn’t too bad-looking, either.
Silas closed his eyes, and Rachel’s pleasant face flashed into his mind. Her pale blue eyes and soft, straw-colored hair made her appear almost angelic. Whenever she smiled, those cute little dimples made him want to reach right out and touch her cheeks.

What am I thinking? Rachel is Anna’s little sister. She’s five years younger than me and isn’t much more than a kinner.
He shook his head.
Of course, I do know of some married couples where one is older than the other. Guess five years isn’t really so much.

Silas was driven from his inner conflict when he heard a horse and buggy coming. He turned and waved as Rachel directed her horse onto the grassy spot near the dock.

***

Rachel smiled and waved at Silas, who sat on the edge of the dock, holding a fishing pole and wearing an eager expression. Was it possible that he was as happy to see her as she was to see him? She prayed it was so.

“Catch anything yet?” she asked, as she stepped down from the buggy.

He shook his head. “Not yet, but then I haven’t been here very long.”

Rachel grabbed her pole from the back of the buggy, along with the can of night crawlers she’d caught last evening. When she walked onto the dock, Silas slid over, making room for her to sit beside him. “Sure is a nice day. Should have our share of trout in no time.” He winked at Rachel, and her heart skipped a beat.

Does he have some feelings for me?
She would cling to this glimmer of hope.

The sun shone brightly, the sky was a clear aquamarine, and the lake looked smooth as glass. Rachel felt a sense of peace settle over her as she cast out her line. It felt so right being here with Silas. If only...

No, I mustn’t allow myself to start daydreaming. Today, I’m just going to relax and enjoy the company of the man I could surely spend the rest of my life with, if he was willing.

By noon, Silas had caught six trout and four bass, and Rachel had five of each. They both cleaned their own catch, then put the fish inside the small coolers they had brought along.

Silas eyed the picnic basket Rachel had taken from the buggy and placed upon the quilt she’d spread on the ground. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” he said, as a dark flicker came into his eyes.

“I made plenty, so I’m glad you’re hungry.”

He dropped to the quilt. “What’d you bring?”

Rachel knelt next to the cooler and opened the lid. “Let’s see now ... ham-and-cheese sandwiches, dill pickle slices, ribbon salad, pickled beet eggs, iced tea to drink, and for dessert ... chocolate chip cookies.”

Silas licked his lips. “Yum. Let’s pray; then we’ll eat ourselves full!”

As Rachel and Silas ate their lunch, they shared stories, told jokes, and got to know each other better. By the time they’d finished eating, Rachel felt as though she had known Silas all her life. Actually, she had, but not on such a personal level. Silas, being five years her senior, had always hung around her older sister, so she’d never had the chance to learn what many of his likes and dislikes were. Today he’d shared his aversion to liver and onions, a dish his mother seemed intent on fixing at least once a month. He’d also talked about his love for God and how he had been praying for the Lord to have His will in his life.

“I believe strongly in prayer,” Silas said with obvious conviction. “It’s the key to each new day and the lock for every night.”

“You’re right about that.” Even as Rachel said the words, she wondered if she was being sincere. Oh, she believed in prayer, all right. The problem was, she didn’t pray as often as she should anymore. Since she’d been keeping so busy helping Silas’s mother and trying to keep up with her chores at home, Rachel had let her personal devotions and prayer time slip. It was something she needed to work on, and right then she promised herself that she would spend more time with God.

Silas chewed on a blade of grass as he talked about Reuben and how he had persuaded Anna to go English with him. “If I ever have any kinner, I’m gonna hold a tight rein on ’em so they don’t decide to leave the faith.”

Rachel leaned back on her elbows and let his words digest fully before she answered. “Holding a tight rein could turn someone’s head in the opposite direction. Take a baby robin, for example. If its mamm never taught it to fly and always kept it protected inside the nest, do you think that bird would ever learn to soar in the air?”

Silas scratched the back of his head and squinted. “Guess you’ve got a point. You’re pretty bright for someone so young.”

Rachel felt as though Silas had slapped her on the face with a wet rag. Why did he have to bring up her age? And just when they were beginning to have such a good time. “For your information, I’ll be nineteen next Saturday. My mamm was married by the time she was my age, and—”

Silas held up one hand. “Don’t get your feathers all ruffled. I sure didn’t mean to offend you.”

Rachel grabbed their empty paper plates and the plastic containers the food had been in and began slinging them into the picnic basket. Her face felt hot, her hands shook, and tears stung the backs of her eyes. She had wanted this day to be perfect. Maybe it would be better if they ended it now.

She stood and proceeded to move toward her buggy. “Guess I’ll head for home.”

Silas jumped up and ran after her. “You can’t go now, Rachel. We haven’t spent any time looking at birds.”

She shrugged. “Maybe some other time. I’m not much in the mood anymore.”

Silas placed a restraining hand on Rachel’s arm. “Please, don’t go. I’m sorry if I made you mad.”

She swallowed hard, struggling to keep her tears at bay. Silas stood looking at her with those big brown eyes, and he really did look sorry. “I’m not exactly mad. I just get tired of everyone thinking I’m still a kinner.” Her arms made a wide arc as she motioned toward the lake. “Could a child catch as many fish as I did today? Could a child have fixed such a tasty picnic lunch or baked a batch of cookies you kept on eating?”

Silas continued to stare at her a few more seconds, then in an unexpected gesture, he pulled her to his chest. “No, Rachel, only a feisty young woman could have done all those things.”

Rachel held her breath as Silas moved his fingers in gentle, soothing circles across her back. Was he about to kiss her? She wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her head against his shoulder.

Then as quickly as Silas had embraced her, he pulled away. “Now that we’ve got that all cleared up, how’s about I get my binoculars and bird-identification book, and the two of us can spend the next hour or so lookin’ for some unusual feathered creatures?”

Rachel nodded as a sense of embarrassment rattled through her. Silas’s sudden shift in mood hit her like a blow to the stomach, and she wondered what he must have thought about her brazen actions. Even though it was Silas who initiated the hug, she had taken it one step further. Truth be told, Silas had never led her to believe he had any romantic feelings for her. The embrace was probably just a friendly gesture.

“You get your gear, and I’ll put away the picnic stuff,” she said, scooting away quickly before he could see how red her face must be.

A short time later, Silas and Rachel were seated on the grass, taking turns looking through his binoculars as though their physical encounter had never taken place. In no time at all, they had spotted several gray catbirds, a brown thrasher, a few mourning doves, and several species of ducks on the lake. Silas looked each one up in his bird-identification book, and they discussed the various traits and habitats of those they’d seen.

“Do you have a bird book or binoculars of your own?” he asked.

Rachel shook her head. “Whenever I save up enough money, some other need always comes along, so I just jot notes on a paper about all the interesting birds I see.” She was tempted to tell Silas that here lately, she’d spent most of her money buying more things for her hope chest, but she thought better of bringing up that subject. He might think she was hinting at marriage, and she wasn’t about to say or do anything that would spoil the rest of the day. Except for that one misunderstanding, their time together had been almost perfect. Even if she never got to be alone with Silas again, she would always cherish the memory of this day.

***

Rebekah sniffed as she sat at the table reading the letter she’d received from Anna the day before. She’d been so busy when the letter arrived that she’d set it aside and had forgotten about it until she’d spotted it a few minutes ago, lying on the desk under a stack of bills that had also been in the mail.

Anna was doing well and wanted to come home for a visit—maybe for Rachel’s birthday. That thought put a smile on Rebekah’s lips. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the whole family together to help celebrate Rachel’s special day? Rebekah would fix a special dinner and bake a cake. Maybe she could talk Daniel into making a batch of homemade ice cream. How wonderful it would be to see Anna again.

“I’ve got the horse and buggy hitched. You about ready to head out to your brother’s place?” Daniel asked, stepping into the room.

Tears gathered in Rebekah’s eyes as she lifted the letter she’d been reading. “I heard from Anna again yesterday. She wants to come home for Rachel’s birthday.”

The corners of Daniel’s mouth drew down, and he leaned against the counter with his arms folded. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“She’s under the ban.”

Rebekah released a frustrated sigh. “It’s not as if we can’t speak to her, for goodness’ sake. I think it would be good for her to be here to help celebrate her sister’s birthday. I think—”

“No. Absolutely not!” Daniel’s lips were set in a thin line, and his eyebrows furrowed, nearly meeting each other at the top of his nose.

“Won’t you at least consider this?”

He shook his head.

Rebekah nearly choked on a sob. “She’s our daughter, Daniel. Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive her for leaving us?”

No comment.

“She’s married now, whether we like it or not, and her responsibility is to her husband.”

“She can stay with her husband, then. We don’t need her around here filling our other kinner’s heads with fancy ideas about her new way of life.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t do that.”

“We were both sure she was being courted by Silas.” Daniel grunted. “Yet she lied so we wouldn’t know what she was up to with Reuben. Does that sound like someone we can trust?”

Rebekah opened her mouth to respond, but Daniel turned on his heels and headed for the back door. “The kinner are waiting in the buggy, so whenever you’re ready to go, we can be on our way.” He stepped onto the porch and closed the door.

Rebekah released a shuddering sob. How could she write Anna back and tell her she couldn’t come to Rachel’s party? What would it take to get through to her stubborn husband?

CHAPTER 16

After their enjoyable day at the lake, Rachel had expected Silas to be friendlier the following week. He wasn’t. In fact, she saw very little of him, and when he did come to the house for meals, he seemed aloof and kind of cranky whenever someone spoke to him. Something wasn’t right. She felt it in every fiber of her being. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but there never seemed to be a good time, what with his family always around.

By Saturday, Rachel was fit to be tied. She had been forced to stay home from the Swartleys’ again because Mom and Dad went to town for more supplies. That meant she was needed at the greenhouse, and even worse, it appeared as though her family had forgotten about her birthday. Not one person had said, “Happy birthday” during breakfast, and there was no sign of any gifts. It was such a disappointment not to be remembered on her special day.