A Marriage of the Heart (8 page)

“A
BAD SPRAIN CAN BE AS PROBLEMATIC AS A BREAK.
”

Dr. Knepp was a popular
Englisch
physician who’d long been accepted by the local Amish community. And if he thought
it strange that Rose brought her betrothed in half dressed in
Englisch
clothes, he didn’t remark on it. Instead, he hauled Luke onto an exam table and cut the pant leg of his jeans.

“Got to get that boot off, son,” the doctor ordered.

“Right.” Luke grimaced.

Dr. Knepp glanced at Rose. “I think you might go have a cup of tea with my wife, my dear. I’ll wrap the ankle and get that chunk of wood out of his wrist.”

She was about to protest when something stern in Luke’s face made her leave the room. Probably he didn’t want her to see him in pain. She wandered down the short hallway that separated the doctor’s office from his home, entering the bright and cheery
Englisch
kitchen. Mrs. Knepp looked up from a pile of ironing.

“Rose. Come in and have something warm to drink. Was that Luke I saw you drive up with in the back of the wagon?” She set the iron aside.

“Ya
. . .” She floundered for a moment, not knowing how to explain his injuries and not wanting to lie. “He . . . uh . . . we . . .”

Mrs. Knepp waved a casual hand. “Spare me the details, dear. That’s all confidential doctor’s information, right? Come have some hot cider and tell me how your wedding plans are coming along.”

Rose sat down and accepted the delicate rose-painted china cup. She took a sip of the warm cider. Mrs. Knepp joined her, stirring her own cup with a stick of cinnamon.

“I hear you’re to be bridesmaid . . . er . . . attendant for Priscilla King’s upcoming wedding. A pity her sister’s due that day, but a nice honor for you, hmm?”

“
Ach, ya
. I’ve known Priscilla nearly as long as I’ve known
Luke.” Rose stared into her cider, wondering exactly how long she had known Luke—at least, the Luke who touched her hair and enticed her with his eyes.

A muffled groan from the doctor’s wing made Rose stand up. Mrs. Knepp waved her back down. “He’ll be fine, Rose. Just relax.”

Rose sank back into her chair and toyed with the cup handle.

“Luke will do his own fair share of waiting over the coming years, I’ll bet.”

Rose looked at her hostess in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Babies.” Mrs. Knepp smiled. “He’ll be waiting for you then, though if he’s half the man he seems, he’ll be right beside you, helping you along.”

Rose flushed. The thought of having Luke’s children sent her heart racing. Yet, up until a few days ago, she thought she’d known everything there was to him, and not much of that had caused her heart to thrill. But here she was, anxious for his pain, worried about his stealing, and in love with a part of him that she didn’t even know. She took a strong swallow of cider, scalding the tip of her tongue and hastily depositing the cup back on the table.

Mrs. Knepp smiled once more. “Engagements are always hard.”

Rose had to agree. “What’s an
Englisch
engagement like?”

Mrs. Knepp laughed. “Oh, not so much ceremony as your own people’s, I suppose, but there’s still the fun . . . and the uncertainty.”

“Uncertainty?”

The older woman gave her a sympathetic look. “Has no one told you, dear, that uncertainty is part of an engagement?”

Rose shook her head.

“Well, it is. How exactly are two young people supposed to look down a road where they can’t see so far as the nearest prayer in the church?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve struggled some with it myself.”

“So you’re normal. But I saw your face just now when you thought Luke was in pain . . . that’s love, Rose—the worrying, the hoping.”

“And . . . the future?”

“Belongs to God.” Mrs. Knepp smiled and patted her hand. “And with that, we all must be content.”

Chapter Thirteen

“I
TAKE IT YOU’LL NOT BE EXPLAINING HOW THIS ALL
came to be?” the doctor asked, a faint, telling glimmer in his eyes as he wrapped the swollen ankle with gentle hands.

“
Nee
, if you don’t mind.”

“Not a bit. Just a quick tetanus jab and we should be through here. Keep that ankle elevated a few hours a day, and make sure the bandages on the wrist stay clean and dry. Do you want some help changing your clothes back? I think your jeans are shot.”

“
Danki
, Doc. What do I owe you?”

Dr. Knepp chuckled. “The truth—when you care to tell it. Only because I’m curious.”

Luke offered his hand and had it shaken with goodwill. “Consider it a future payment then. I’ve got to get past
Daed
first.”

“And your future bride?”

“Don’t remind me.” Luke sighed as he eased off the examining table.

H
ALF AN HOUR LATER
L
UKE’S HEAD WAS THROBBING
nearly as much as his ankle with Rose’s ceaseless round of questions as she drove him home. And the rattling of the wooden crutches in the back of the wagon didn’t help matters. Sitting on the bench seat beside her, his leg extended, Luke had the sudden and pressing desire to simply kiss her quiet, but decided it probably wouldn’t be quite as fair as an explanation. Still . . . he glanced at her berry red lips as she framed her next query.

He moved quickly, dipping his head and slanting his chin so that he met her mouth half open. He kissed her hard, then pulled back a fraction to smile with satisfaction at the surprised
O
her pretty mouth had formed.

She stared at him suspiciously. “Did Dr. Knepp give you something weird for pain?”

“Nee,”
he whispered. “Am I being . . . weird?”

“Maybe. For the Luke I thought I knew . . . yes. For the other . . .” She slapped the reins across the horse’s rump and tilted her head aside. “I don’t know if I can say.”

He laughed and withdrew. “Oh, I think you can say, Rose.”

She flushed visibly at his intimate tone, and he tore his gaze away to glance at the passing landscape.

“What will you tell your family about how you got hurt?” she asked. “I certainly don’t know what to say.”

He tilted his hat forward and leaned back, closing his eyes. “Don’t worry so much. I’ll take care of everything.”

W
HEN SHE BROUGHT THE WAGON TO A STANDSTILL AT
the Lantz home, Rose found that Luke’s idea of taking care of things had little to do with explanation and more to do with exhausted dozing. And she couldn’t very well give him the elbow jab he so deserved when she was confronted by Mr. Lantz’s look of consternation.

“
Ach
, Rose. What is this?” Mr. Lantz whispered anxiously, peering up into the wagon seat where Luke drowsed.

“Uh, Luke and I . . .” Her voice rose several octaves. “We were, um . . .” She broke off abruptly when Luke half turned to nuzzle against her shoulder.

“Luke!” She rapped his name out frantically, and he woke with a start, blinking his blue eyes warmly at her. “Luke. Your
daed
—we’re home.” She pleaded with him with her eyes while he got track of his bearings.

“Ach, Daed.”

“Is it broken?” Mr. Lantz asked anxiously, reaching up to touch his son’s leg above the bandage.

“Just a bad sprain,” Luke assured him.

“You are both all right then? Rose?”

Rose could only nod, having no desire to lie to her future father-in-law. Not that she could tell him the truth anyway. She didn’t know it.

“I’m sorry,” she said, apropos of nothing, and was surprised to feel her lip tremble.

Mr. Lantz misinterpreted her look. “
Ach
, Rosie . . . never mind. He’ll be right as rain for the wedding. I’m sure of it.”

The wedding! Rose felt her heart skip a beat as she saw Luke shoot her a warm sidelong glance. Somehow she was supposed to
marry a man who had become more than she could ever desire. It was enough to both exhilarate and make her feel like throwing up at the same time.

“Danki,”
she whispered.

Mr. Lantz came round the wagon and reached up to pat her hands on the reins. “Mark, Joshua!” The old man’s voice carried into the workshop, and Luke’s brothers appeared in the doorway. “Come—your brother’s sprained his ankle. Let’s move him inside the house, and then one of you can see Rose home.”

“Uh, I’ll walk,” Rose interjected, slipping down from the wagon seat. “Really. Please—just take care of Luke.” She was two steps away from the wagon when Luke’s voice stopped her.

“Rose? Come and visit later?” His tone was pleading.

His
daed
nodded his approval, and she could hardly decline. But first she needed some time alone to think through this strange turn of events.

Chapter Fourteen

“
D
AED
—I’
M FINE
. R
EALLY
.”

Luke noticed that his father’s work-worn hands shook a bit as they smoothed the mounded quilt under the injured ankle, and his heart squeezed in his chest. He’d never given much thought to the fact that his father was getting older. Somehow he’d believed that
Daed
would always be healthy and strong.