The Englisher (8 page)

She lifted her hand, surprised how his touch made her blush.
Does he notice?

Her heart complicated things, too, doing a weird sort of beat.
I can’t let this happen
. Even so, she was walking with him, in step, following.

What’ll Courtney say if she sees me?

Just that quickly, Sam let go, and she got in the line with the other girls. She wanted to shield her hand in her dress pocket, wanting to remember the feel of her hand in his at least for the rest of the evening.

The guitar strumming started again and the caller began the intros with a bit of patter chatter. He called the corner folk to come up to the middle and then back to their places, called ‘‘home.’’

Someone hollered, ‘‘Swing your own, ’n’ leave mine alone!’’ which was followed by a long string of Dutch and a burst of laughter by the group.

Yee-haw,
thought Louisa, glancing up the line and noticing Courtney doing the do-si-do with her own Amish partner.
Too funny! Who would’ve thought?

When it was time to meet Sam, lined up across from her with the other guys, she smiled freely, wondering if he might hold her hand again tonight, and not just during the barn dance.

Shaking off the thought, she realized what a fool she was.
What am I thinking?

After learning many new square dance moves, Louisa and Sam sat side by side in his enclosed carriage. Sam did much of the talking, for some reason wanting to explain that many of the more settled, baptized young men were no longer buying open buggies for courting. They were purchasing the enclosed gray buggies, skipping over the reckless time of youth, planning for their future as husbands and fathers. But he made it clear to her that he had no plans to join the church.

It was as if her reluctance to say much encouraged him to fill in the gaps. And talk he did. So much so that Louisa wondered if he talked the ears off other girls. Well, other
Amish
girls.

But there was a side to him she found incredibly appealing. The way he drew her into his private circle, his sphere of reality. And when she talked of her family living in Colorado, he wanted to know as much about them as she would share. Unlike Trey Douglas, who, though he continued to send email, did not seem to take much pleasure in her family-related remarks. As for Michael, the only one of her relatives
he’d
shown much interest in, besides her, of course, was her father.

But Sam’s focus was nearly entirely on family—his ancestry, the present family tree, and the all-important future one. Yet she wasn’t put off by his attempts to woo her, as she clearly knew he was doing. Or trying to.

Would Annie be freaked if she knew?

Maybe Annie did know. And maybe she wasn’t saying much because she was crossing her fingers . . . as Sam might be, as well.

‘‘That’s one fancy friend you’ve got,’’ he said, sitting on the driver’s side. ‘‘Courtney sure doesn’t look as Plain as you do.’’

She hoped that was a compliment.

‘‘
Auslenner
, she is,’’ he continued, ‘‘decidedly so.’’

‘‘Uh, back up, Sam.’’

‘‘Ach, there I go forgettin’ you don’t know Dutch.’’ He took off his hat. ‘‘Your friend’s a foreigner. Doesn’t much fit in here.’’

And I do? Now, that’s scary
.

‘‘Well, about now, I think Courtney might be really ticked off at me,’’ she admitted.

‘‘Courtney’s upset ’cause I brought you home?’’ Sam asked. ‘‘She and Annie got stuck riding back to Zooks’ with Omar and his girl? Is that it?’’

She laughed, breathing in the cold air.
That and more
. ‘‘Yeah, I’ll catch it tomorrow.’’

‘‘Why’s she visiting, anyway?’’ he asked.

I wonder, too
.

He smiled. ‘‘She’s not comin’ to talk you into returnin’ home, is she?’’

Louisa thought she noticed a worried look flicker across his face. ‘‘She wants to connect. We haven’t stayed in touch much since I came here.’’

He leaned back in the seat, reins in only one hand. ‘‘Why’d
you
come to Amish country?’’ he asked.

She hadn’t told anyone how close she had always felt to Annie, having been pen pals for so many years. She wondered if she ought to tell Sam—test his loyalty. ‘‘If I told you something, would you keep it quiet?’’ She felt suddenly compelled to step out of her comfort zone.

‘‘You’ve got a secret, I take it?’’ Sam looked at her curiously.

‘‘Annie and I both do.’’ She forged ahead, explaining their letter-writing relationship. ‘‘I’d always wondered what it might be like to spend time with my good friend.’’
There’s so
much more to it, but I won’t bore him
.

‘‘You weren’t runnin’ away from anything, then? Just wanted to see Annie in person?’’

Well, not entirely true. . . .

‘‘I craved a simpler life.’’

He was silent for a moment. Then he said, ‘‘A love gone sour?’’

Man—this guy’s good!

If she changed the subject quickly, Sam would know the truth. If she made up something, she’d be ticked at herself. ‘‘Maybe it’s best not to talk about where I’ve been and who I was . . . back then.’’

Back then? Who am I kidding?

‘‘Well, I know you live somewhere near Denver . . . and you were Louisa Stratford then, same as now.’’ He looked at her with serious eyes. ‘‘But what’re you hidin’?’’

Let it go already,
she wanted to say, but bit her tongue.

He reached for her gloved hand. ‘‘Your beau—your man—is he waiting for you to find your way? Is that why you’re here for the time bein’?’’

She shook her head. ‘‘No one’s waiting. And I guess I could say I had lost my way. But not anymore.’’

‘‘
Des gut,
then,’’ he said too quickly. ‘‘That’s just right fine with me.’’

Yikes . . .
Louisa sat back against the seat as the realization hit her full force.
He’s falling for me
.

Chapter 6

O
n Monday morning, Courtney arrived early enough to join the Zooks for breakfast. Annie observed her reaction to Mamm’s overflowing platters: eggs, bacon, and sausage, along with homemade waffles and cornmeal mush, all laid out in a neat row in the center of the table. Or maybe it was not the variety of food that caught
this
Englischer’s attention. Still, Courtney’s soft green eyes were wide with something that looked like wonder, and she had little to say during the meal, as if she had many more thoughts than words.

Omar and Yonie were exceedingly friendly, almost too much so, Annie thought, asking Courtney about Colorado weather and suchlike. Luke eyed Courtney suspiciously, though, and held back, as was his usual way.

My brothers must wonder how many worldly women I’m
going to invite into the house! Daed and Mamm must be wondering,
too,
thought Annie, hoping Courtney’s stay wouldn’t ruffle too many feathers. Her arrival in Paradise had already raised Mamm’s eyebrows, beginning with Courtney’s staying at the B&B rather than at the Zooks’ home. Still, Mamm had cordially welcomed Courtney this morning, though Annie noted her parents were not overly friendly. Even Mammi and Dawdi were quieter than usual.

Daed’s stern words of rebuke were still floating in Annie’s head. Goodness knows she was not interested in yet another straight talk from her father. In no uncertain terms Daed had let it be known that her sinning days were to be a thing of the past. And she felt his eyes on her too often.

Six months is a long time to stay far from my art,
she thought.
But, then, so is forever
. She contemplated the life vow she was expected to make to the church come next fall, feeling she had little choice as each day passed. She also knew that her promise to her father would be up in mid-July.

‘‘Pass the bacon, Annie,’’ Daed spoke up.

Quickly she reached for the large plate and passed it to her right, to Luke, who then handed it on. ‘‘Would ya like some sausage, too?’’ She leaned forward, able to see Daed sitting at his usual spot at the head of the table.

‘‘Jah, sausage.
Es gut
.’’ Her father’s gaze caught hers briefly. He wore his black work suspenders and a bright green shirt. ‘‘And more coffee, Mamm.’’

Her mother jumped to her feet. Courtney looked shocked, as if she’d never before seen a woman wait on a man.

Well, won’t she be surprised all round?

Annie’s thoughts flitted back to the first few weeks of Lou’s visit, back last November when she’d arrived here in a yellow taxi cab. Late into the night, the first several weeks, they had whispered about the vast differences between the Plain life and the fancy. The role of husbands and wives being one of the bigger discussions, she recalled. According to Lou, worldly men often catered and even kowtowed to their women. And English women, more often than not, were eager to be the boss of the house. Eager, too, to run things in general.
The empowered
female,
Lou had kept saying, as if that were the right way to do things.

Annie still found such a thing fascinating, although she had no way of relating to it, mainly because she’d only known one English fellow her whole life.Well, Cousin Irvin was English, too, but he was as conservative a Mennonite as there ever was, so he didn’t really count.

But Cousin Irvin’s tack shop employee and
her
new friend, Ben Martin, was mighty fancy. No question about that! Even so, Ben had shown no indication of such nambypamby behavior toward her or Lou, who had often been on hand to witness the interaction between the Englischer and Annie. Lou had been a sort of safety net, but one that Annie was beginning to feel she no longer needed.

‘‘More raspberry jam for anyone?’’ Mamm asked, reaching for the pint jar.

‘‘I’ll have some,’’ Luke spoke up for the first time this meal.

Omar reached over, after Luke had scarcely dipped his table knife into the jam, and snatched it out of his hand.

‘‘Ach, boys . . .’’ Mamm said, a twinkle in her eye.

‘‘Say, here, we’ve got ourselves company.’’ Daed’s was a more serious tone.

Annie glanced at Courtney, her long and thick eye- lashes blinking quickly as she observed the rather ordinary interplay between the boys.
Guess she’s never seen homemade
preserves, either,
Annie thought, trying not to smile too much.

‘‘Please pass the raspberry jam,’’ Courtney said suddenly.

Annie didn’t think she’d ever heard anyone Amish say
please
at the table. Such a fancy sort of word it was, used by the English, which was maybe the reason the People didn’t say it, as a rule of thumb. Was their snippy English guest trying to teach
them
manners?

To say they were much too far from home was not an exaggeration. Annie was still scratching her head, trying to figure out how Lou had managed to get Mamm to say Annie could go along to the Rockvale Square Outlet mall, with its 120-plus shops to choose from.
Sugar talk was part of it,
she realized. Goodness, but Lou had even talked Mamm into allowing Annie to skip eating at home so the three of them could go to a restaurant at noon. Annie enjoyed every minute of it, even though the place Lou chose ironically had been the same establishment where Rudy Esh had sometimes taken Annie during their long courtship.
Maybe it was
a good thing for me to eat here again,
she thought, taking in everything around her, relieved and grateful she felt no remnants of sadness.

Has Ben so completely captured my thoughts?

She hurried to catch up with Lou and Courtney, who were eyeing a pair of blue jeans with an accompanying longsleeved jacket. ‘‘One sweet-looking outfit,’’ Courtney called it. Lou, on the other hand, seemed more interested in the pure white lace blouse beneath the jacket. For Annie, though, the pretty lace and the blue denim didn’t go together.

But what do I know about worldly clothes?
She wondered if the blending of the simple look of the jeans with the fancy lace was likewise how the outlet shoppers must be viewing her and Lou in their Amish dresses and shawls, with Courtney in her tight tan stretch pants and black leather jacket.
Like we somehow don’t quite belong together
.