Katie's Journey to Love (24 page)

“You have more to offer than you think,” Ben said, his fingers tightening against hers.

Katie leaned her head against his shoulder. Only when the next curve came up did he let go of her hand. He gave her a brief smile before fixing his eyes on the road.

Katie sat up when the bright lights of a farmhouse came into view. As they drove closer, she saw people carrying lumber, swinging hammers, and sawing wood.

“Someone said we're helping to build trusses tonight,” Ben said as he turned down the lane. “Looks almost like an Amish gathering except for all the cars.”

“
Yah
,” Katie agreed.

The thought of Amish gatherings almost made her shudder. Ben wouldn't understand what she was feeling. He'd never experienced rejection or had people ignore him like she had. He probably wasn't aware how much she was different here than at Amish gatherings.

The buggy bounced to a stop, and Ben climbed down. He tied Longstreet to a hitch on the side of the barn. Katie waited for him to come over and help her down. Then they walked over to the worksite where everyone seemed to be scurrying around.

“Howdy there!” someone hollered out. “More help, I see.”

Ben laughed. “If you don't need any help, we can, of course, just stand around and supervise.”

“Grab a hammer!” a young man said as he pointed toward a pile of tools on the front porch.

Katie followed Ben and chose a small hammer.

“Just swing it,” Ben teased. “It drives nails.”

“
Yah
, I know. I did pretty well last time. You'd better behave or I'll swing it at you pretty soon.” Katie lifted the hammer in the air as if to strike him on the arm.

He grabbed his own hammer in one hand, took her hand in the other, and led her over to where a group of young women were pounding away.

“I have a little firebrand here who needs work,” Ben announced.

The girls all smiled and made room for Katie.

Ben left to help the boys with the lumber.

“Are you with him?” one of the girls asked, watching as Ben picked up several pieces of truss material and toted them across the yard.

“
Yah
,” Katie said with a smile.

“My name's Ronda Helmuth,” the girl offered.

“I'm Katie Raber. Is there something I can do to help?”

“Take a round at swinging a hammer,” Ronda said. “My hand and arm are about worn out.”

“You can say that again,” another girl said as she stood up and stretched.

Katie started swinging away at the nails, following the pattern already established. A familiar voice soon interrupted her work.

“There you are, Katie! I've been looking for you all over the place.”

Katie stood up and turned to the speaker with a smile. “Margaret! Hi! It's so
gut
to see you.”

“Yes, and you too. What have you been doing with yourself?”

Katie laughed. “It's not like I didn't see you last week!”

“Time goes by so quickly, don't you think?” Margaret asked, giving Katie a quick hug. “You look happy tonight.”

I should be!
Katie almost said, but she decided that might be a little forward. “Have you found out who gave me that
wunderbah
gift?” she asked. “And I want to thank you again for inviting me.”

Margaret laughed. “I'm not the one to thank for the money, and I don't know who is. Sharon doesn't know either. And if Nancy does, she's not talking.”

“It was so nice of whomever it was,” Katie gushed. “If you ever find out, be sure to tell me.”

“I will,” Margaret assured her, taking Katie by the elbow. “Come, let's go say hi to Sharon.”

Margaret and Katie headed off as another girl took Katie's place next to the boards with hammer in hand.

Sharon glanced up as they approached and greeted them with a smile. “I'm glad you came. And with Ben Stoll again. Are the two of you getting serious?”

Katie felt heat rising up her neck, so she figured she must be blushing, but Ben was worth being embarrassed over. “I don't know. We haven't been together that long.”

“Now, now,” Margaret said, “you don't fool me. I can tell by that look in your eyes that you're smitten!”

Katie laughed and changed the subject. “I want to thank both of you again for including me on our trip. I'm so thankful. I so appreciate the person who gave me the funds. And if either of you ever finds out who it was, please let me know!”

“I had nothing to do with it,” Sharon said. “But now that we have our full team, we can begin making definite plans.”

“I think I'll pack half my wardrobe,” Margaret said. “I don't want to get caught over there with nothing to wear.”

Sharon giggled. “Just think, none of us except Nancy knows a
thing about traveling in Europe. We'll be like silly girls over there, and we'll probably get lost on the first street corner. I can't even speak a word of German.”

“Katie can,” Margaret said. “And Nancy can.”

“It is a little scary,” Katie offered.

“We'll have lots of fun,” Sharon said. “I know we will. It'll be a trip to tell our children and our grandchildren about—the time their mothers took Europe by storm.”

Margaret laughed. “For now we'd better get to work or everyone will think we're three cackling hens.”

“Here's to the world's traveling hens!” Sharon said. “I can hardly wait.”

Katie cleared her throat. “Do you know what we need to take? Like a passport and such things?”

“That's about it,” Margaret said. “And that won't be too hard to obtain. Certainly not as difficult as praying in all that money.”

“Maybe I was praying more than I thought I was,” Katie said thoughtfully.

“That's a good girl,” Margaret said. “I'm sure we can use your prayers, along with ours, on the trip—for all the trouble we might get into.”

“I hope we get into
lots
of trouble,” Sharon said. “Like getting lost in the Swiss mountains. We'd have to live off of goat's milk for days, and find our way back out on foot.”

Margaret laughed. “Maybe you should change your mind, Katie. This girl might lead us into trouble on purpose.”

Katie couldn't hold back her smile. “I think it's going to be lots of fun. I still can't believe I'm really going.”

“Well, believe it!” Sharon said, giving Katie a playful punch on her arm.

“Enough of this silliness,” Margaret said, taking charge. “We'll talk more about this later. Let's get back to work.”

The banging of hammers soon filled her ears as they helped nail sheets of plywood on the trusses. By the time they were finished, Katie figured it had to be after nine o'clock. It was too late to play a game of volleyball, but no one seemed to mind. With much laughter they gathered around to eat the cake and ice cream Albert and Mindy Brunson, the owners of the place, brought out.

Margaret and Sharon followed Katie to Ben's buggy afterward to give her quick hugs before she climbed in next to Ben. They stood waving as Ben guided Longstreet onto the driveway. They were the only buggy in the long line of cars leaving the Brunson place.

“Maybe I ought to get a car,” Ben commented once they were on the road.

“Please don't,” Katie said at once. “That would be terrible.”

Ben laughed. “I wasn't planning to. You know, I suppose, that we're being a bit strange about everything. We're attending Mennonite youth gatherings, but neither of us are really thinking about joining their church.”

“I don't want to think about that tonight.” Katie nestled against Ben's shoulder. “I just want to think about all the
wunderbah
things that are happening. I never want to stop giving thanks for them.”

Ben smiled as he reached over and found Katie's hand. They remained close as Longstreet raced along, the only light coming from the ones on the buggy.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Thursday afternoon Katie drove Sparky toward Dover, keeping one buggy wheel well toward the ditch as she approached town. A light dusting of snow lay on the ground, but the
Englisha
vehicles still zipped past her with hardly a check in their speed. She already didn't like coming into town on her own, let alone having the snow and traffic to contend with. In fact, she wouldn't have come except Ben insisted he accompany her to get her picture taken and then deliver it, along with the necessary forms, to the Dover Post Office so she could apply for her passport.

The thought of Ben brought a smile to her face. He was so manly, so protective of her. Just like a
gut
man should be! He promised to meet her in front of The Pancake House. From there they would travel together in his buggy to get the errands done.

Katie shivered. What would it be like to have someone point a camera at her? The Amish taught against it, but it must be done if she wished to travel overseas. Surely
Da Hah
would understand that she meant no vanity by having her photo taken. She would
make sure no one ever saw the picture except the government officials who had to see such a thing. And they probably saw thousands of photos every day and would think nothing of it.

Mrs. Cole, her supervisor at Byler's, had smiled when Katie asked for time off for the trip. Apparently news had spread through the store's staff about Katie's upcoming adventure.

“Care if I go along to Europe with you?” Mrs. Cole had teased, which was unusual for her. She usually was calm and collected, but a trip to Europe could unsettle anyone's regular pattern.

Katie's routine had certainly changed. There were nights in bed when cold chills would run up and down her back. Other times so much joy bubbled up inside that she had a feeling of almost exploding.

Katie caught sight of The Pancake House outline ahead of her, and in the parking lot sat Ben's buggy. He was already waiting for her.

Ben waved as Katie drove up and then leaped out of his buggy to grab Sparky's bridle. “Whoa, boy!” he said in mock panic.

Katie laughed and threw him the tie rope from under the seat. “I wasn't driving that wildly.”

“You drove in here like a wild woman on a mad dash into the world.”

“I did not!” Katie protested as she climbed down the buggy step. Ben stirred things in her she didn't even know were there. A sense of humor, for one. There hadn't been much laughter in her life when she and
Mamm
lived alone. But now, since the marriage, joy seemed to be bubbling up around them. Except for Mabel, but Katie wasn't going to think of her right now.

Ben tied Sparky to a light post. “Are you nervous, having your picture taken and all?”

Katie frowned slightly but she was pleased that Ben seemed
to understand her so well. It was comforting in a way—having a man who knew her heart.

“You'll be okay.” Ben took her hand when she didn't answer. “I'll be right there by your side. I might even have my picture taken!”

Katie gasped. “You wouldn't…would you? It's not right except for a
gut
reason.”

“Then I'll think of one,” Ben said as he helped Katie into his buggy.

She held the lines while he untied Longstreet and climbed in. Handing the reins to him, their fingers brushed against each other.

“I just thought of a
gut
reason.” His eyes teased. “I could go along with you!”

“You can't go with us.” She glared at him teasingly. “This is a
girls
-only trip.”

Ben laughed. “I meant my picture could go. Like with you. That way you wouldn't forget me. Wouldn't you like that?”

Katie thought about it for a moment. “But how would that be right, Ben?”

“You'd like it, wouldn't you?” he said, gently probing her emotions.

“Maybe…” Katie admitted, her voice squeaking a bit. Was she giving in to an awful temptation? But how could she resist? In a way, Ben was right. It would be a picture for the trip, and she could destroy it once she came back and had Ben with her in person.

His hand found hers again. “I'm glad you want me along on your trip. Maybe we can take an extra picture of you so I can have one of yours while you're gone.”

“What if someone catches us?”

Ben laughed. “We're not members of the church yet. What are they going to do? Burn the pictures? This won't harm anyone.”

Katie saw
Mamm
's face rising in front of her eyes. It had
disapproval written all over it.
Mamm
would burn Ben's photo if she found it. But she could hide the photo well. And if
Mamm
did find it, she would be honest and tell the truth—that she couldn't resist when Ben offered something like this.
Mamm
would surely understand that.