The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 (6 page)

The miles sped by. Naomi watched the landscape change as they left the state and headed into the next.

“How good’s your geography?”

“It’s been a while since school,” she admitted. “And it wasn’t my favorite subject.”

She hadn’t been a daydreamer in school, doodling designs like Mary Katherine had, or already certain that she knew who she wanted to marry and followed him everywhere like Anna. But she hadn’t really been all that much better at applying herself to subjects she didn’t think were interesting or something she’d use later in life.

“Look in the glove compartment,” he said and gestured at it with one hand. “I made something for us.”

She opened it and looked inside. “Why do they call it that when you don’t have any gloves in here?”

“Why do they call it a pocketbook when it doesn’t have a pocket and it’s really a purse?”

Naomi shook her head and laughed. “I have no idea. I call it a purse.”

“My grandmother calls it a pocketbook.”

She pulled out a stack of papers with directions and maps. “Is this it?”

He nodded. “I have a GPS but I had AAA make it up for our trip in case you or Leah wanted to follow it. They estimate the trip’ll take about seventeen hours.”

“Where are we stopping for the night?” she asked, looking up from the trip itinerary. “We
are
stopping for the night, right?” She yawned.

“Yes. When I talked to Leah yesterday, she and I thought we’d stop in North or South Carolina. I was a little concerned about her being cooped up with that ankle and it swelling.”

“Sorry,” she said when she had to cover her yawn with her hand again. “I was up late.”

“Why don’t you take a nap?”

“That doesn’t seem polite.”

He chuckled. “I’m used to having people fall asleep while I’m driving them. I won’t mention names but several people do it on their way home from work sometimes after a long day.”

Naomi shifted in her seat to get more comfortable.

“Want me to get you a pillow? I packed a couple in the back.”

“No, I don’t want to wake Grandmother.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

The endless stretch of interstate and the sun shining through the windshield didn’t help. She couldn’t keep her eyelids open.

In her dream she was running, running from a man. She hadn’t gotten a clear look at him, just heard her name spoken and she knew she had to run for her life.

Her heart was racing and her lungs burned as she ran faster, harder than she ever had. It was dark out. No one was around. Her scream for help had gone unheard.

But as the footsteps behind her grew closer she knew she’d never outrun him. Her fear should have outpaced his anger, but his anger was too great. There was no reasoning with him now. She had to run and pray he wouldn’t catch her. His hand grasped at her sleeve and she fought it off without slowing.

Sweat ran down her back. Tears ran down her cheeks. She couldn’t go on. With the last of her breath she screamed for help, knowing no one was around.

She prayed for God’s help, prayed and prayed, but still could almost feel the hot breath of the man behind her breathing down her neck. And then, with a prayer on her lips, she tripped and sprawled on the road, the breath whooshed out of her, and she cried out in pain.

The man yanked her over to face him and her head banged against the concrete. “You’re mine! Mine! Do you hear me?”

Jostled awake, Naomi jerked against something that constricted her and she screamed and tried to fight it off.

“Naomi, wake up!” a male voice demanded. She stared in horror at Nick, her breath heaving in her chest.

The vehicle shuddered to a stop as he pulled it over to the shoulder and killed the engine.

“What happened?” Leah leaned forward. “Did we have a flat tire?”

“Naomi had a nightmare,” Nick told her, looking over his shoulder at her. “Are you okay, Leah? I tried to pull over without jostling you too much.”

“
Ya
, I’m fine,” she said, reaching out to touch Naomi’s shoulder. “Calm down. You’re safe.”

Naomi hugged herself for warmth and tried to take a deep breath. The dream had felt so real. But she wasn’t lying in the road with a man leaning over her, his hand lifted to strike her.

Glancing over at him, she saw that Nick was staring at her in concern, quietly waiting for her to calm down. He twisted the cap off a bottle of water in the drink holder and offered it to her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, taking the bottle from him with shaking hands. “I hope I didn’t scare you when you were driving.”

“Just a little,” he assured her. “A good driver always stays in control.”

“Do you need a break?” Leah asked Nick.

“I could stretch my legs,” he told her.

“What do you say we do that and then look for a place for supper?”

“Good idea. I saw a sign for a rest area two exits up. While we’re there I can check the Internet for someplace local to eat.”

He was silent for a moment, studying Naomi. “That was some nightmare. You get them often?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Could we go to the rest area now?”

Color rose in her cheeks. Nick winced inwardly. He hadn’t thought about asking her if she needed a break when she woke from the nightmare.

“Oh, sure.” He started the van, checked that it was safe to get back on the road, and accelerated out into his lane.

She sensed his curiosity, but other than a couple of glances at her, he stayed silent.

Nick stretched his legs by walking around the rest area a couple of times.

He wondered if it was a law or something that all rest areas looked alike: squat concrete buildings without personality; restrooms that smelled of antiseptic but most of the time didn’t look so clean. Vending machines full of the same snacks and soft drinks. Parents with children who rushed them into restrooms, and people who walked their dogs in areas where they were allowed—and where they weren’t.

A state trooper sitting in his car doing paperwork eyed Naomi and Leah curiously. Nick figured that the man didn’t often see Amish in this area.

Getting back into the van, Nick pulled out his iPhone, checked for local restaurants, and jotted them down on a notepad he kept in the car. There were no Amish restaurants in the area but he thought that his passengers might enjoy something different. Just the fact that Leah was enthusiastic about going
to Florida for a vacation told him she was a bit of an adventurer. As for Naomi, she usually deferred to wherever the others wanted to go, from what he’d noticed.

He sensed a strength in her today, though, when she’d refused to stop and talk to John. Nick figured he wasn’t the only one who saw John’s angry expression and his hands clenched at his sides. It must have taken a lot for her to not even wave at him as they left.

She probably thought he hadn’t seen her lips trembling and tears running down her cheeks before she wiped them away.

“We’re back,” Leah announced as she maneuvered with her crutches toward the vehicle. “Where shall we eat?”

Nick jumped out, helped her into the backseat, and opened the door for Naomi.

“I got you another bottle of water,” she said, putting it into the drink holder. “Thank you for the one you gave me.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” he said, waiting to shut her door.

“I wanted to,” she told him.

Her eyes looked suspiciously bright, as if she’d been crying. She looked away, reaching for her seat belt.

Nick climbed into his seat and got them back on the road. He gestured with his hand at the list he’d made. “You and Leah look at that and decide where you’d like to eat. There are no Amish restaurants around.”

“That’s fine with us, right, Naomi? We want to experience some new things on vacation,
ya
?”

Naomi nodded. “Southern cooking, steak house, endless buffet, sushi.” She leaned around the seat and looked at her grandmother. “Sushi?”

“Raw fish,” Leah told her.

Wrinkling her nose, Naomi glanced at Nick. “Why would anyone want to eat raw fish? Even you
Englisch
who are so obsessed with time?”

“It’s … an acquired taste,” Nick told her.

“Acquired, huh?” She thought about that. “Who wants to acquire a taste for raw fish?”

“Lots of people.”

“Have you ever tried it?” When he nodded, she asked him, “Did you like it?”

He laughed and shook his head. “It tasted … spongy. I kept chewing and chewing and finally spit it into my napkin when no one was looking. My friend suggested I try the next piece with some wasabi. I’d never tried wasabi. It’s like inhaling fire.”

“So, spongy fish that hasn’t been cooked, wasabi that tastes like fire, and it’s expensive. I think I can resist that.”

Nick grinned at her. “What about you, Leah? Want to try sushi?”

“I’ll pass. That all-you-can-eat buffet sounds like a good idea. They should have something for all of us there, don’t you think?”

“As long as it’s food, it’s good enough for me.”

“Except for sushi,” Naomi said.

“Except for sushi,” he agreed.

Naomi leaned back in her seat. The nightmare had faded to a distant memory. It had probably happened because she was so overtired from getting ready for the trip and because she was feeling guilty about not talking to John when he showed up in the driveway.

She had a faint headache from the intensity of the nightmare and the tears she’d shed in the cubicle in the rest area. Washing her face had helped, and she had some ibuprofen in her purse if the headache didn’t go away. If Nick had noticed
that her eyes were red when she climbed back into the vehicle he’d said nothing.

The all-you-can-eat buffet was a welcome sight. It had been a long time since they’d stopped and eaten the sandwiches Leah had packed for lunch.

A long steam table revolved, offering selections that went into a cutout in the wall so that the cooks in the kitchen could keep the containers constantly filled with hot food.

“Well, this is my kind of place,” Nick said with satisfaction. “You know, Leah, this’ll make it easy on you. Pick whatever you like as it goes past and I’ll fill your plate and bring it to you.”

She chuckled. “I think someone just improved on passing a platter up and down the table.”

He carried her plate to a table and then joined Naomi at the food. She served herself and sat with her grandmother. Nick joined them a few minutes later, set a loaded plate down, and took a seat.

“Did you get enough?” Leah asked tongue-in-cheek as she grinned at Nick.

“I can always go back,” he assured her. “You should see the dessert buffet.”

They bent their heads in silent thanks for the meal, then began eating.

“How much further will we go today?” Leah asked.

“It’s up to you,” he told her. “How’s the ankle?”

“Not too bad.”

“You’d tell me the truth, right?”

“
Ya
,” she said, looking at him.

“Be better if we don’t push it too much. We can find a nice place to stay for the night, get some ice on your ankle, and then start out bright and early in the morning.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Leah looked up and smiled at the waitress who came to fill their coffee cups. “Tell me, young lady, what’s the best thing on the dessert buffet?”

“It’s a toss-up between the cherry cobbler and the blackberry pie,” the woman said. “How ’bout I go get you a little of both?”

“That would be
wunderbaar
,” Leah told her with a smile.

“We don’t see many Amish in these parts,” the woman told her. “Where you headed?”

“Pinecraft. It’s on the Gulf Coast, in Sarasota, Florida. It’s a little place some Amish and Mennonites go for vacation.”

The waitress turned and looked out the window that overlooked the parking lot. “Y’all got your horse and buggy out there?”

Nick laughed. “No, it’d be too difficult to travel from Lancaster County to Florida,” he told her. “They have to settle for my van.”

Chuckling, the woman left them and returned with Leah’s desserts. “I don’t know if this can measure up to yours, ma’am. Paula does nothin’ but bake her award-winning pies all day, although I hear there’s nothing better than an Amish lady’s cooking.”

“You’ve got that right,” Nick said. “Especially these two Amish ladies.”

The waitress left them and Nick took a bite of the lemon meringue pie he’d gotten. “Not up to the lemon meringue you make, Leah,” he whispered, looking around him to make sure he wasn’t heard.

Naomi patted his hand. “Try to bear up,” she said as he plowed through it with his usual enthusiasm for sweets. “We’ll be in Pinecraft soon and there’ll be Amish ladies cooking and baking there.”

She pulled a paper napkin from the little wicker basket on the table. “Here, you have some meringue on your chin.” She dabbed at the fluffy white stuff with the napkin and then happened to look up and saw his eyes darken at her touch. Quickly, she withdrew her hand and focused on her cobbler.

But when she glanced up a few minutes later, he was studying her.