A Man of His Word (14 page)

“No, that’s Tobias. And he only sits at my table so I can
serve
him. He lives to aggravate me.”

Gladys tilted her head. “Hmm. I thought he sat there because he was sweet on you.”

“Hardly. We can’t stand each other.”

“Oops. My mistake.” Gladys smiled and headed toward the restaurant’s huge parking lot. It wasn’t unusual for Mary Yoder’s to serve tour bus travelers, so there was plenty of room for parking. “You lovebirds have a wonderful time.”

Rachel waved good-bye to her coworker, then tucked an errant strand of hair into her
kapp
as she waited for Christian to pick her up. A few minutes later his buggy pulled into the parking lot. He steered his horse alongside her, then waited for her to climb in on the passenger’s side. When she was settled, he handed her a lap blanket. “This will help you warm up.”

She smiled as they pulled away. He really was the perfect gentleman. As he made a right turn onto North State Street, she glanced at his unassuming profile. Inside the buggy, only inches separated them. Since they were courting, she thought they should be sitting closer to each other. She scooted to the left until the skirt of her gray dress touched his black pants, expecting him to notice her bold move.

But Christian kept his gaze straight ahead as he guided his horse along the road. The black winter covering of the buggy buffered them from the harshest parts of the wind and cold. Traffic whizzed by, some cars giving them a wide berth and others coming perilously close. It made sense that he would have to keep his concentration on the road, but she had hoped for at least some kind of reaction. Even a small glance would have been encouraging.

She tried a different tack to gain his attention. A man’s heart could definitely be reached through his stomach; that’s one thing she’d known since she was a child. Her dad and brothers were never stingy with the compliments when it came to eating the foods they loved, which in the Detweiler home were plentiful. She took the small white sack she had brought from the restaurant and opened it up. Immediately the buggy filled with the nutty, sweet scent of homemade pecan pie.

“Smells good,” Christian said without turning to look at her.

“I brought you a piece of the pecan pie I made at the restaurant. It’s fresh from the oven.” She gave him what she thought might be a pretty, charming, appealing, and desirable smile. The kind that didn’t hide any secrets. Hopefully he would notice it soon, since it hurt to contort her mouth in such a foreign way.

He gave the pie a cursory glance before staring straight at the road again. “I’m allergic.”

Her smile slid from her face. “You’re what?”

“Allergic to nuts. I thought you knew that. All kinds of nuts—hickory, walnuts, and especially pecans. Make me swell up so much I can’t breathe.”

Rachel stared down at the piece of still-warm pie encased in a foggy, clear plastic box. She’d had no idea he was allergic to nuts.

“Nice thought, though.” He gave her a quick smile.

She smiled halfheartedly back and returned the pie to the bag. Even though he couldn’t enjoy the treat, he seemed to have appreciated the gesture.

Suddenly he scooted over to his left, creating another space between them. “Don’t mean to crowd you,” he said.

Rachel’s shoulders slumped. This wasn’t working out at all like she had planned.

They rode the rest of the way to her house in silence.
Boring
silence. She had no idea courting could be this dull. Christian was a nice guy, but not much of a conversationalist.

When he pulled up to her driveway, he got out of the buggy and met her on the passenger side. When she stepped on the ground, he asked, “Can I take you to the frolic this Sunday night?”

“
Ya
.” Although she thought she should be more excited about it. Why weren’t her emotions cooperating?

He grinned. “I’ll see you then.” Turning around, he started to climb back in the buggy, but stopped and faced her again. Before she knew it, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, then turned and left.

Rachel watched him go, even more confused than before. Her fingers pressed against her face where his lips had touched. Her first kiss. Granted, it was a peck on the cheek, but that was more than any boy had done before. His unexpected show of affection surprised her, but that was her only reaction. Frowning, she kicked a pebble on the driveway and walked toward her front door.

Shouldn’t she have felt something else when he kissed her? Instead, she felt nothing, other than bewilderment over what she should do about Christian, if anything. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right between them. Her lack of response to his kiss only reinforced it. Maybe things would change once they spent more time together. Even though she had known Christian all her life, he mostly kept to himself, and rarely revealed much to her. In many ways he was like her brother Aaron. A mystery wrapped up in an enigma. She didn’t truly “know” him, not like she thought she should. She wondered if she ever would.

Gabe repeatedly clenched his fists until his knuckles ached as he stood in front of the truck-stop counter. Guy had picked him up over two hours ago, but he’d also picked up three other men and dropped them off in Ashtabula to work on a construction project. Now they were at a truck stop for gas and coffee, and Guy was flirting with the woman at the cash register. She was far too young for Guy, who was well into middle age and had the soft gut and silvery hair to prove it. Gabe tried to keep from tapping his foot as Guy paid for his gas and beverage, flashing his yellowish grin.

The girl was clearly bored with the attention. “Thanks. Have a good day.” She handed him his receipt, the tiny silver ball underneath her bottom lip glinting under the fluorescent lighting. Then she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and started texting.

“I sure will, sweetheart,” Guy said, baring his teeth again, oblivious to her ignoring him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded, her gaze not moving from the small screen of her lime-colored phone. Her fingers, the nails coated in black polish, flew fast and furious on the tiny keyboard.

“Yep. That one’s mine,” Guy said, as they walked out of the store. He gave Gabe a contrite look. “Sorry, Gabe. Shouldn’t be talking like that in front of you.”

“Shouldn’t be talking like that at all,” Gabe mumbled.

“What?” Guy asked over the cacophonic sound of passing cars and semitrucks.

“Nothing,” Gabe said, deciding he needed to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to say or do anything to jeopardize his ride to Gates Mills. It would cost him a pretty penny to get there, as Guy would have to hang around to bring him back. But if he could convince Levi to come home, it would be worth it.

They climbed into Guy’s minivan, and Guy turned the key. Country music blared from the speakers. Gabe tuned it out. He glanced at the illuminated clock on the dashboard. Nearly two o’clock. The day was wasting away. He clenched his fists again.

Guy snapped off the radio. “Something bothering you, Gabe?”

Gabe relaxed his hands and placed his palms on his thighs. “No. I’m fine.”

With a shrug, Guy grabbed his Styrofoam coffee cup with one hand while his other hand lay limply over the steering wheel as he maneuvered his way onto Interstate 90. “You seem kind of keyed up, that’s all.”

“Nothing’s wrong.” He turned and looked out the window. The bare branches of trees lining the interstate spiked into the cloudless sky. Black slush coated the freeway while a thin layer of pale white snow glistened on the grassy land. His mind whirled as he thought about what he would say to his brother. What he could do to convince him to return home.

Then his mind shifted to Moriah, as it always did. What if Levi refused to come home? What would she do then?

The hour-long drive seemed to drag. Guy had turned the radio back on and spent the rest of the trip singing off-key. Gabe normally didn’t mind Yankee music, even though he heard it only on rare occasions. Radios and any type of music players were forbidden by the
Ordnung
. Yet when he did hear it, he kind of enjoyed it. The songs were a welcome change from the monotone singing at church services.

But not today. The music sounded like buzzing bees in his ears. He ground his teeth as Guy exited the freeway and headed toward the Johnston’s horse ranch. When the impressive metal gates rose into view, Gabe pointed. “Turn here.”

“Yep.” Guy spun the steering wheel and passed under an arch with the letter
J
curved around the top of the gates. Gabe grudgingly admired the extraordinary scroll work.

Guy drove up the long driveway toward a huge brick house with a circular driveway of red-stone pavers. A fountain made of sand-colored stone stood in the center, holding an urn-shaped centerpiece emblazoned with a huge lion’s head.

Gabe had been here only once before and, as before, was struck by the size of the house and the property. Gates Mills was an exclusive community, and Johnston’s Farms was just on the outskirts of the village. He knew the Johnstons had only one child, a daughter. Why would they need a house that big for only three people? The imposing dwelling looked large enough to house two large Amish families.

Guy let out a low whistle. “Nice. Very nice.” He turned to Gabe. “Want me to drop you off here?”

“No. I need to go to the horse barn.” He pointed to part of the brick driveway that led to the back of the property. They followed it until the neat pavers turned into a windy but well-kept dirt road. A four-wheeler with two riders whizzed by, seemingly heading for the same destination. As the minivan neared an extravagant, bright-red barn with a white roof, Gabe held up his hand and signaled Guy to stop. “Drop me here.”

Guy applied the brakes. “When do you want me to pick you up?”

“Give me an hour.”

“Sure enough.”

“Thanks,” Gabe said as he opened the door.

“Hey,” Guy called as Gabe stepped to the ground. “Good luck with whatever this is you’re doing. Seems really important.”

“It is, Guy. It is.” He shut the door and watched for a moment as Guy backed up and turned around, then headed for the main road. Gabe swiveled around, his shoe crushing and sliding against the slushy, dirty snow. He took in the two-story structure in front of him. Even Gabe could tell it was top of the line. He imagined the extraordinary horseflesh occupying the stalls inside. Behind the barn was a wide pasture, bordered by a thick white oak fence. Although the field was covered with snow, when spring came there would be enough grass for at least twenty horses to eat their fill.

The rumbling sound of the four-wheeler filled the air again. Gabe jerked his head around and saw the shiny red machine with its two riders coming toward him. The vehicle stopped a few feet behind him, and both riders got off, their faces hidden by their black helmets. Gabe fully turned just as they both took off their headgear.

His mouth dropped open as he looked at his twin brother, wearing a new black-leather jacket and blue jeans. He had shaved his beard and his hair was cut short over his ears, with a big hank of brown bangs hanging over his forehead. The other rider, a woman with long, free-flowing red hair and brightly painted red lips had her arms around Levi’s waist, as if he were her personal property. Laughter filled the air as they looked at each other, oblivious to anyone else around them.

A wave of nausea threatened to cut Gabe at the knees as he watched the two of them cavorting around. He thought of Moriah, miserable and pregnant, not understanding what had happened to her husband and her marriage. Meanwhile Levi was having the time of his life with another woman.

Gabe couldn’t stand to watch anymore. He stormed toward his brother, shoving aside the anger threatening to bubble to the surface.

Levi’s and the woman’s laughter abruptly stopped as they noticed Gabe approaching. Levi’s eyes narrowed into angry slits. “What are you doing here? I told you not to come.”

The woman standing beside him moved even closer, until her body was pressed up against his. She flipped her unbound hair over her shoulders. Even in the dull light of the gray sky Gabe could see how beautiful and shiny it was. As he breathed in, he could smell the heady scent of her perfume. “Who is this?” she asked, peering at him. Then her eyes widened. “You have a twin?”

“Yes.” Levi spoke in a low, guarded tone.