Plain Promise (18 page)

Val’s real estate development company was successful, yet considerably smaller than Kade’s corporation. They’d often combined resources to score ahead of the competition, with Kade always pulling most of the load. And he’d never minded. Val was his friend.
Was.

If Val had come to him, told him that he was in love with Monica—that would be one thing. At least he’d have known that Tyler would be raised by a good man. But to lie and sneak around like this . . .

“Hey, partner,” Tyler repeated again with a giggle.

Kade rose abruptly, put his hands on hips, and began to pace. His heart pounded, his stomach churned, and he resisted the urge to verbalize the thoughts in his head.

“Your face is red,” Sadie said cautiously.

“That happens when I’m mad, and I am madder than—” He caught himself as Sadie warned him with her eyes to choose his words carefully.

She rose from the rocker, sighed, and said, “’T’will be completely dark soon. Might be best to get Tyler to the cottage before nightfall.”

Kade nodded, even though heading back to the cottage was the last thing he wanted to do. The weather was crummy. His mood was worse. Last thing he wanted to do was be alone with Tyler at the cottage. He started the bundling process. First, Tyler’s coat and mittens, then his boots. Working slowly, he glanced at Sadie and decided, for once, to say what was really on his mind.

“Sadie.” He watched her expression take on a hint of wariness, but Kade pressed on. “I’m having a really bad day.” He quit struggling to push Tyler’s wriggling foot into the boot, sighed in frustration, and sat on the couch. Tyler stood with one boot on but didn’t seem bothered. Sadie waited for him to go on, but she clearly wasn’t going to make any offers to console him. He took a deep breath. “Can we stay for a while?”

“I—I don’t know if—”

“If it’s appropriate,” he finished.

“
Ya
.” She pulled her eyes from his—her big, blue eyes that, for an instant, seemed to defy her words. And it was enough to give Kade hope.

“We wouldn’t stay long. I thought maybe we could have a cup of coffee and talk. We’re both alone out here and could be for days evidently.”

Her eyes locked with his in a way that confirmed Kade’s initial thoughts.
She wants us to stay.
But Kade also knew that if he didn’t work fast, she’d boot them out anyway. He grinned in a playful way. “It’s cold outside.”

She smiled back. “
Ya
, it is.”

“Sadie, no one will ever know that we’re unsupervised under the same roof together, I promise. No one is going to be out in this weather, and I won’t tell a soul. I would really enjoy talking with you. My life is a mess.” He shook his head. “But you seem to have a clearer picture of how to have a more peaceful existence. I’d be interested to hear about that.”

“We live in very different worlds, Kade.” Something in her tone sealed the deal, and Kade knew they would be staying.

Sadie lit more lanterns than were probably necessary in her kitchen. It was light and bright—nothing like the weather outside, Kade’s mood, or the fear she felt at him being here. If Bishop Ebersol knew about this . . . But she knew her fear ran much deeper than getting caught by the bishop.

She tried not to think about it and pulled a container of beef stew from the freezer. As she ran it under the hot water from the sink, she wondered what Lillian would say about this. Of all her friends, Lillian was the most lenient when it came to the Old Order ways, but mostly because she hadn’t grown up Amish. Sadie knew that Lillian still struggled with the rules from time to time, but never with her faith—an area Sadie seemed to be having trouble with these days.

Sadie remembered how vibrant she used to feel, how her spirited characteristics had brought her and Lillian together as friends in the first place. Lillian had the same zest for life that Sadie had. Until recently. Sadie’s lighthearted spirit had darkened, and it scared her.

She bowed her head but cut her prayer short when she heard Kade returning from the bathroom with Tyler.

“Here is coffee for you, and some milk for Tyler,” she said when Tyler and Kade walked into the room. She carried the semi-thawed stew to a pot on the stove and dumped it in. “Tyler, I think I might have some tapioca pudding in my refrigerator just for you.” She turned her head to face him. “Would you like that?”

Tyler didn’t respond and seemed more interested in the streams of light shining brightly throughout the kitchen.

“Wow. It’s bright in here.” Kade walked to the lantern Sadie had placed on her china hutch across the room. “Do you mind if I turn this one off?”

Her eyes grew wide. “
Ya!
I mean, no! Don’t turn it off.” She turned around in time to see that side of the room grow dark and Kade’s brows rise in surprise. “It’s all right, I reckon,” she added, and then spun quickly around so Kade wouldn’t see the pink in her cheeks.

“I can turn it back on, if you’d like,” he said cautiously.

Sadie vigorously stirred the stew. “No. It’s okay.”

She glanced around the room. Darker than she would prefer. A tad too intimate.

Supper was uneventful, except that Tyler burst into laughter for no apparent reason on several occasions, which kept the mood light. And his outbursts had been contagious. Sadie and Kade both laughed along with the boy, and Sadie realized what a long time it had been since she’d had a good, hearty chuckle, the kind of sidesplitting laughter that Tyler’s bubbly giggles brought out in her.
Such a sweet sound—a child’s merriment
, she thought as she began to clear the dishes.

“Let me help you.” Kade stood from the wooden bench.

“No, it’s fine,” Sadie said. Besides, she doubted Kade had cleared too many tables in his life. For that matter, neither had Ben. In her community, men didn’t help with cooking or cleanup. It was work for the womenfolk. But Kade walked toward her with his and Tyler’s plates and placed them in the sink.

“I don’t remember the last time I’ve laughed like that,” Kade said. He turned around, leaned against the counter, and watched Tyler playing with his lunch box full of letters at the kitchen table.

“Nor do I.” Sadie added dishwasher soap to the running warm water. She turned briefly toward Kade, but Kade was still gazing at his son. “He is such a joy, Kade.”

“He’s so handsome to be so . . .” Kade sighed.

“Special? Is that the word you are searching for?” Sadie placed the first clean dish in the drainer. Kade didn’t answer, but instead picked up the plate and began drying it with the dish towel nearby. “No, please. I’ll do that,” she said. Not only was it not a man’s place to take on the chore; it wasn’t
Kade’s
place to act in such a familiar way.

But Kade finished drying the plate. “Where does it go?”

“Top shelf of the cupboard.” Sadie pointed upward to the cabinet on the wall in between them. He edged closer to her, pulled the door open, and put the plate away. He smelled good. Like cologne she smelled on the
Englisch
men in town. Unease settled over her again.

Tyler ate most of his beef stew. Sadie was hoping both Tyler and Kade had forgotten about the tapioca pudding and that they would be on their way soon.

“Thanks for having us for dinner, Sadie. When I asked if we could stay, I didn’t necessarily mean you had to cook for us.” He smiled his crooked smile, the one that always showed a kinder side of him. “But that stew was fabulous.”

“
Danki
.” Sadie glanced at Tyler in hopes that Kade would go join the boy at the kitchen table and not stand so close to her.

“My mom didn’t cook a lot when I was growing up. But every once in a while she’d take over the kitchen from Nelda, and when she did, she’d always cook a roast or stew.” Sadie turned to face him as she dried her hands. He was far away, his eyes reflective of times past. “Your stew reminded me of those times when my mother cooked.” He paused and looked toward Tyler. “They were good times.”

“Was Nelda your servant?” Sadie couldn’t imagine such a life. Kade grinned. “
Servant
might be a strong word. She was our cook, and she also handled parties that my parents hosted, things like that. And she oversaw the other staff—my nanny, the housekeeper, and the yard guy.”

Sadie didn’t understand. “Then what did your mother do?” Right away, she realized the shock in her voice. “I mean . . . I, uh, didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I just—”

Kade chuckled. “It’s all right. I know what you meant. And, believe it or not, she stayed really busy. She was involved in a lot of charity events, played tennis twice a week, hosted a literary club once a month, and spent a lot of time traveling with my father.”

“Oh,” Sadie said.

“It must sound like a shallow way to live to you.” Kade cringed a bit.

“
Ach
, no. I would never judge.” She recalled Lillian’s comments about that very thing, and then added, “I’m sure your
mamm
is a
gut
woman.” But how fulfilling could a life like that be? Sadie wondered. Some of her most gratifying moments had been serving Ben his meals, taking care of their home, and growing her own vegetables. And she continued to dream of the day she could mother children of her own.

“Maybe we could have our tapioca pudding in the den where it’s warmer? I noticed you trembling.” Kade walked to the kitchen table.

Sadie didn’t move for a moment. She knew that her trembling had nothing to do with being cold.

“Tyler, let’s put your letters in the lunch box and take them into the den,” Kade said. Tyler looked like a fit might be coming, but he allowed Kade to move him into the den.

“I’ll be in with the pudding shortly.” She pulled the container from the refrigerator and filled three bowls.

“Do you have all these people in your home in the city?” she asked when she handed Kade and Tyler each a bowl of pudding. “What?”

“These nannies, cooks, and other servants.” She didn’t wait for an answer, but went to go retrieve her own bowl. Then she took a seat in the rocker across from the couch where Kade and Tyler sat.

“I do have people who live in my home and help with things. I work a lot,” Kade said.

“Will these people take care of Tyler when you return home?” “I suppose so,” Kade said after he finished a spoonful of pudding. Then he shook his head, as if something had suddenly angered him. “My so-called friend Val is supposedly checking into someone to care for Tyler.”

“This man is no longer your friend, no?”

“No,” Kade huffed. “But let’s not talk about that. Tell me about you. Parents? Brothers and sisters?”

“
Mei
parents have both passed.
Mei mamm
when I was young, and
mei daed
died a few years back. I have one sister who lives in Ohio.” “My father died when I was nineteen.”

Sadie waited for him to mention his mother and whether or not he had brothers and sisters, but he took another bite of pudding. Tyler was starting to get restless, Sadie noticed. He handed Kade his empty bowl and began to bang his head against the back of the couch.

“I guess he’s getting tired,” Kade said.

Sadie stood from the rocker. “I’ll take those.” She reached for Kade’s bowl as he took the last bite, and then she grabbed Tyler’s empty bowl from the coffee table.

They’ll be leaving now
, she thought as she headed to the kitchen. She washed the bowls and put them in the rack to dry.

She rounded the corner back to the den, prepared to help Kade bundle Tyler up so that they could be on their way, although it didn’t appear they were going anywhere. Tyler’s head was in his father’s lap.

“He must be really tired,” Kade said. “Usually he makes it until eight o’clock.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s only seven.”

Sadie slowly backed her way into the rocker.

Tyler’s eyes closed, and Kade leaned back against the couch, giving Sadie the strangest look. “You’re nervous to be around me, aren’t you?”

“What?” She fought the tremble in her voice.

“I mean, I know you’re worried that someone will find out that we spent time together, but I also think I make you nervous in general.” He paused and tilted his head to one side. “Why is that?”

Sadie sat up straighter. “I assure you, Kade, I am not nervous.” He was arrogant, but intuitive as well.