The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 (9 page)

Then, too, he was pretty realistic about why a woman might or might not be interested in him. He surely didn’t have the looks, personality, or money as enticements to have a relationship—not that Naomi could ever be considered someone interested in him for money. The trip had shown him that. She’d been upset when he paid for their coffee and snack yesterday and had asked a number of times how they were going to reimburse him.

He glanced in the rearview mirror. Leah was glued to her window. When she realized he was looking at her, she grinned. “Do you need directions to the cottage?”

“Already got them in the GPS,” he told her.

They traveled down a wide boulevard with waving palm trees and then Nick turned at a light.

“I see I won’t have to miss Amish food,” he said with satisfaction as they caught a glimpse of Yoder’s Amish Restaurant to the right.

“You know you’re going to be eating with us a lot,” Leah told him. “We wouldn’t let you starve after you went to all the trouble of driving us here.”

“That’s hardly a vacation for you if you’re cooking,” Nick said.

“But I love to cook,” Leah protested. “And here I’ll have more time than I do after a workday.”

“You’re staying off that ankle,” Naomi told her firmly.

Dozens of charming little houses came into view, all with scrupulously tended lawns. Brightly colored flowers bloomed
in pots everywhere. Nick half-expected to see little bluebirds fluttering from the trees.

“They look like little fairy tale cottages,” Naomi mused. “Don’t they look like the ones in the storybook I had when I was a girl?” she asked, turning to her grandmother.

“They do,” Leah marveled. “What a pretty place to vacation.”

“There are some year-round residents, I’m told,” Nick said. He wasn’t as fanciful as Naomi, guessing these were the smallish cottages built in Florida after World War II. But he’d never seen homes so meticulously kept up.

He drove slowly around the streets—they were packed with visitors dressed in Amish and Mennonite garb—past the shuffleboard court where people played one last game as dusk fell. Others were cleaning up from what appeared to be a community barbecue dinner. Nick had opened the windows on the van and the sweet, smoky flavor hung on the warm air.

Nick was being so careful of pedestrians that he must have turned down the wrong street, because the GPS spoke up, saying, “Reconfiguring” in its flat, almost metallic voice.

He drove a little bit longer—the community wasn’t that big, more a neighborhood or village in Sarasota than an actual town—and as he pulled into the drive of a little cottage painted a sunny yellow, the GPS announced that they were at their destination.

Turning to Naomi, he saw her staring at the house. Curious, he glanced back and saw nothing unusual.

“Someone left a light burning.”

“Yeah. Nice of them, since we weren’t sure if it’d be dark when we arrived.”

“Does this mean the place is wired for it?”

Nick spied a window air conditioning unit. “Yes. And that’s an air conditioner—probably for when the place is rented during the summer.”

Naomi gave the house a doubtful glance. “I doubt we’ll use the electricity.”

“It’s easy as pie,” he told her. “You just flick a switch.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not making fun of me, are you?”

“Teasing,” he said. “Sorry. Do you need me to go in with you both and see if you need anything?”

“I think I can manage,” she said dryly.

They got out of the car. Naomi thought she could smell the scent of the ocean on the cool evening air. But maybe that was her imagination.

Leah just stared at the cottage. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”

Nick nodded as he opened the rear of the vehicle and began taking out their luggage. “We are indeed, ladies.”

He carried the suitcases into the house and set them down by the front door. Then, looking around, he leaned in and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “Before we left I heard one of the Lancaster County men who’s visited here say that what happens in Florida stays in Florida.”

There was a steady stream of visitors the next day, starting with Ida, Daniel’s mother.

Naomi watched the two women embrace and knew she’d done the right thing helping her grandmother travel here to visit her longtime friend.

Ida held out a basket of oranges. “I picked these for you from my own tree.”

She placed them on the kitchen counter along with a coffee cake and some farm-fresh eggs.

“The cottage is perfect,” Leah told her, gesturing for her friend to take a seat at the kitchen table. “But there was no need for you to stock the refrigerator and cupboards with food.”

“Of course there was,” Ida said, accepting a cup of tea from Naomi. “How’s the ankle?”

“She always says ‘fine,’” Naomi told her. “I’m hoping she’ll stay off it for a few days before we start exploring.”

“Maybe a day or two,” Leah said, pulling the coffee cake over and cutting pieces for them.

“So what’s on the agenda?” Ida wanted to know.

Leah held up her hand and began ticking off on her fingers, “Naomi and I read the copy of the
Pinecraft Pauper
newspaper you left on the table. We’re looking forward to all sorts of activities, starting with Nick driving us to Pinecraft Park tonight for shuffleboard—”

“Shuffleboard?” Naomi nearly shrieked. “What? What’s he thinking? You can’t be playing shuffleboard right now!”

“I won’t be playing, I’ll be watching,” Leah said mildly. “Really,
liebschen
, do you think I’ve lost my senses as well as my ability to get around?”

Naomi bit her lip. “No.”

Leah tilted her head to one side. “Did you think Nick would let me do something like that?”

“Well, I think Nick’s smarter than that,” Naomi said slowly, thinking about it. “But I know you, and you do what you want to do.”

Ida laughed and set down her cup of tea. “She knows you well, Leah.”

“
Ya
, indeed she does.” She put a slice of coffee cake on a plate and set it before Naomi. “But if you’re worried, then
maybe you’d like to go along and make sure that I don’t do something foolish.”

Naomi stared at her grandmother. “Well,” she said finally, “I did see you take a flying leap out of the store not so long ago.”

Her grandmother pursed her lips, and then the crinkles around her eyes deepened and she chuckled. “I am quite the athlete, am I not? Who knows what I could do on the shuffle-board court!”

6

B
efore Ida left, she had a surprise for them.

“My cousin is coming in on one of the chartered buses today,” she announced. “Everyone turns out to see who’s on a bus from up north. Sometimes they have a relative or friend, but even if they don’t, it’s fun to see the new arrivals and say good-bye to those going back home.”

There was a knock on the door. “That’ll be Caleb,” she told Naomi.

Caleb, her husband, had a surprise of his own. “I brought a wagon for you, Leah, if you’d like to come with us,” he said. “
Kumm
, see how you like it.”

Naomi helped Leah with her crutches and they walked outside.

Leah laughed. “Well, it’s no coach, but it’s no pumpkin either.”

Caleb had fixed up a small wagon—bigger than a child’s wagon, one that a small woman like Leah could fit in—and lined it with a pillow and blankets to make it more comfortable to sit in.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Ida told her. “Caleb just wanted you to have a chance to if you wanted. It’s one of the social events here, seeing who’s arrived.”

“
Schur
, I’m willing to give it a try,” Leah said and let Naomi and Caleb help her get seated.

“Take or leave?” Naomi asked, holding up the crutches.

“Leave,” Leah said without hesitation. “I doubt I’ll want to get out and walk around if there’s a crowd of people.”

Caleb picked up the handle and began pulling the wagon along the sidewalk.

They’d traveled just a few feet when Leah burst out laughing. “I bet I make quite a sight.”

Ida’s laugh was rich and deep. “
Ya
. But wait until you see how everyone gets around here. There are no horses and buggies so we use three-wheelers and bicycles and wagons like Caleb’s to get groceries. Neighborhood seems too small to do anything else.”

She shot a glance at Caleb. “Until you go to haul some Yoder’s produce home. Then you’re grateful for the wagon, eh, Caleb?”

Leah laughed. “Just pretend I’m a load of produce, Caleb.”

Naomi smiled. It was wonderful to see how much her grandmother had cheered up. She couldn’t wait to tell her cousins.

People were hurrying toward the spot where the chartered bus, its side decorated with a mural of a train, sat. If you were a little nearsighted, you could almost think a train had pulled in and passengers were stepping down from it.

“My cousin from Indiana is on the bus,” Ida said. “I can’t wait to see her.”

Female passengers wearing a variety of dress styles and
kapps
descended the steps, some of them carrying tired-looking children who blinked in the glare of the bright Florida
sun. The men went to retrieve luggage from the belly of the bus.

Greetings were exchanged and the visitors were escorted off to stay with relatives and friends or went to places they’d rented for their stay.

Ida went off to get her cousin settled at her place and Caleb pulled Leah home in the wagon.

“Hey, stealing one of my favorite passengers?”

Naomi’s eyes widened as she saw Nick strolling up. Her heart lifted and the day seemed just a little brighter.

Caleb turned and chuckled. “
Ya
, and I’ll be taking her all the way back to Pennsylvania in my fine conveyance here when she’s ready to go home.”

Nick reached out his hand and helped Leah up from the wagon.

“Let me get her crutches,” Naomi said quickly.

“No need,” he said, scooping up a surprised Leah and carrying her up the walk.

Naomi fished in her pocket for the key and unlocked the front door. Nick set Leah down inside and handed her the crutches that Naomi had left nearby.

“You do love the grand gesture, don’t you?” Leah said and reached up a hand to pat his cheek affectionately. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Love one.”

Naomi rushed into the kitchen so her grandmother wouldn’t have the chance to get near the stove. Nick winked at her, showing her he was aware of what she was doing.

He pulled out a chair and got Leah settled at the table with her ankle on another chair, seated himself, and gave his attention to the plate of cookies Naomi set before him.

“I came by to see when you wanted to go to the shuffleboard court this evening,” he said around a mouthful of cookie. “Mmm. What’s in these?”

“Butterscotch chips, oatmeal, walnuts.” Naomi pulled a plastic baggie from a box and slid half a dozen inside before handing it to him.

“Well,” he said. “I’ll have to stop by more often.”

“Have you left yet?” she asked as she met his gaze.

He laughed. “You just love to zing me, don’t you?”

She just smiled.

“So. Shuffleboard court?”

“I’m game anytime,” Leah said. “But Caleb just took the wagon.”

“I can do better than that.” Nick took another cookie from the plate. “My wheels are parked outside. Guess you didn’t see when you came home.”

Naomi hadn’t. She’d been too happy to see
him
. It had been a little boring that day, she told herself. She wasn’t used to being so idle. To not have Mary Katherine and Anna around. To not have her quilting. And while the visitors who stopped by were nice, she felt a little cooped up.

In the very next moment, she felt a stab of guilt. The reason she was here was to help her grandmother. Any fun was a bonus.

“So what do you say? Shall we go check out the shuffleboard?”

“This can’t be exciting for you,” Leah said as they climbed into the van a little while later.

“I’m enjoying everything,” he said, at ease behind the wheel as he threaded the vehicle through narrow streets and watched out for people suddenly jaywalking without looking. “Besides, I’m going fishing later in the week.”

Naomi started to say that she loved fishing—that she always tagged along with her older brother. But that might look like she was trying to get herself invited along. Maybe Nick was even going with someone.

She sighed.

“What?”

Looking at him, she shook her head. “Nothing.”