A Season of Love (14 page)

Katie laughed despite her sore tailbone. “I sort of slipped. I guess someone splashed water on the floor earlier while washing dishes.” She took his hand, and he lifted her to her feet as easily as if she were weightless. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He let go of her hand and looked at her curiously. “What are you doing here? Everyone else left.”

“What?” Katie shook her head in disbelief. “They’re all gone?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I think they left about ten minutes ago. You didn’t see them go?”

“No,” Katie said, gesturing toward the hallway off the kitchen. “I was in the pantry doing a supply inventory. I was
supposed to do it earlier, but I got sidetracked with baking.” She bit her lower lip. “I don’t understand. Why would they leave me?”

“Maybe they thought you had a ride,” he suggested. “I’m certain it had to be a mistake.”

“But I didn’t tell anyone I had another ride
heemet
today, and I always go in the van.” Katie glanced out the window toward the blowing wind and rain. “What am I going to do? I guess I can call the phone shanty at
mei haus
and see if Samuel can come get me.”

Jake paused, as if he were debating something. “I can give you a ride,” he finally said. “As long as it doesn’t get you in trouble.”

Katie hesitated, remembering both her mother’s and Elizabeth’s warnings about being friends with Jake. The perception of her alone with a Mennonite boy could be negative for both Katie and her family. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“I don’t want you here alone. Is it okay if I wait with you until Samuel comes?” Jake offered.

“Let me see if I can reach him at the house.” Katie walked to the front of the bakery and picked up the phone. She dialed the phone in her family’s phone shanty, and her heart sank when she reached the voice mail instead of a live person. She left a quick message and then called the furniture store, again reaching the voice mail.

She walked back into the kitchen and found Jake standing by the counter. “I couldn’t reach anyone at
mei haus
or the furniture store, and it’s pouring outside like a monsoon. I don’t know what to do, Jake.”

“Let me finish picking up out front, and then I’ll lock up the front like I told your grandmother I would. I’ll be right back.” Jake disappeared through the doorway.

Glancing around the kitchen, Katie blew out a sigh as she picked up a stack of stray pans that had been left near her workstation. Never had she’d imagined she’d find herself alone
at the bakery with Jake Miller. What if word got back to her father that she was alone with him? Katie would be in deep trouble for certain.

In an attempt to burn off her nervous energy, she washed the pans, put them away, and straightened the counters. She then swept the floors and checked to be sure the gas lamps were off in the office. She fetched the keys from her grandmother’s desk and returned to the kitchen to find Jake leaning against the counter and smiling. She’d never noticed how handsome he was until that moment. The thought caused her to feel flustered and embarrassed.

“I took my tools to my truck,” he said, standing up straight. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Wunderbaar gut
,
”
she said, crossing the kitchen to retrieve her lunch bag and small tote. “I’m ready.” She followed him to the back door, which he held open for her.
“Danki.”
Standing under the overhang, she pulled the door closed and jammed the key in. When it refused to turn, she jiggled it. “I don’t understand it. This key never gives me a problem,” she muttered. “Why isn’t it moving?”

Jake held out his hand. “May I try?”

She yanked the key out of the lock and handed it to him. “Here you go.”

Jake slipped the key in the lock and turned it with ease. He then handed it back to Katie, and she shook her head with amazement.

“You just didn’t have that special touch.” He motioned toward the truck. “Ready to run through the rain?”

Katie hesitated as worry gripped her. “This is a bad idea. I should go call the phone at
mei haus
again and see if I can reach Samuel.”

Jake shook his head. “No. It’s raining like crazy, Katie. It wouldn’t even be safe for Samuel to come and get you in a buggy, and it would take him quite a while to get here.”

“I don’t know, Jake.” She looked up at him. “I’ll be disobeying
mei daed
if I get in the truck with you. Waiting for Samuel seems to make more sense.”

“Katie, please listen to me,” he began. “Your family is probably worried sick about you since you didn’t arrive home on time and it’s storming out. The sooner I get you home, the sooner they’ll know you’re safe. Trust me on this.”

She bit her lower lip and then nodded. “You’re right. Let’s get to
mei haus
as soon as we can.”

He gestured toward her bags. “Do you want me to carry those for you, so you can run without balancing the bags?”

“No,
danki
,” she said, shaking her head. “I can run.” Katie sprinted across the parking lot, dodging two large puddles on the way.

When she reached the passenger side of the pickup truck, Katie climbed in, placing her bags on the floorboard. She shivered and ran her hands over her soaked dress while wondering how she would make her parents understand she had no other alternative ride home.

Jake jumped in the driver’s side and brought the engine to life. “I can’t believe how hard it’s raining. I wonder if we’ll have some flooding.”

She cleared her throat and hugged her arms to her chest.

He kept his eyes trained on the road before him. “I’m sorry they left you behind. If I’d known, I would’ve told your aunt to wait.”

“Danki.”
She glanced away, hoping he wouldn’t see the anxiety she was certain was apparent on her face.

They drove in silence for several moments. The only sounds were the roar of the engine, the rain beating on the windshield and roof, and the jingling of Jake’s key chain as it hit the steering column. She tried to think of something to say, but her only thoughts were about how her parents would react when she arrived home in Jake Miller’s truck.

“Katie,” he began, “I really enjoy spending time with you.”

“I enjoy spending time with you too,” she said, watching the trees rush by out the window. “But I —”

“Wait,” he said. “Please let me finish. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” He gave her a sideways glance. “I realize we’re walking a fine line between two worlds, and I know what difficulties that can cause for you. The last thing I want is to make trouble for you.”

She faced him, and the sincerity in his expression filled her with warmth despite her anxiety. “You don’t make me feel uncomfortable, Jake. In fact, I feel more comfortable with you than with some of the
buwe
in my district I’ve known my whole life.”

He smiled.
“Danki.”

“I know we’re walking a fine line, but we can have lunch together every once in a while and talk as long as we’re with my cousins or the other bakers, right?” she asked.

“My father once told me his relationship with my mother began with an innocent lunch date.” He slowed down as the truck reached the road leading to her farm. “I’m afraid friendship may lead to problems for you if word got around that you’re spending time with a Mennonite boy.”

“Why can’t I have
freinden
who aren’t Amish?” Katie couldn’t stop her disappointed frown.

“You can,” he said with a shrug. “My mother keeps in contact with many of her school friends. But they’re females, Katie. Unfortunately, there’s a difference. Perception is a problem. Remember when Jessica and Lindsay first came to live with Rebecca?”

Katie nodded. “Of course I do.”

“Jessica found herself in a bit of trouble because of how she was perceived,” he said, frowning. “I don’t want that to happen to you. I’ll worry about what people might say or think every time we’re together. I know my mother’s family wound
up divided when my parents fell in love. It only got worse when my mother left the church and became Mennonite so she could marry my father.”

He steered onto her driveway, and Katie felt her worries churn in her stomach. Soon her family would know she’d ridden home with Jake. “I have a difficult time believing our friendship is a sin,” she said, speaking quickly.

“Katie, it’s more complicated than that. Your community has certain rules you need to abide by, and I respect that.” Jake gripped the steering wheel. “But I promise I’ll always be your friend, whether we have lunch together or not.”

Katie spotted her youngest siblings, Linda and Aaron, looking out the family room windows. “Oh no,” she said. “They saw the truck.”

“You’d better go.” Jake frowned. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“
Danki
for the ride.” She gathered up her lunch bag and tote before hopping out of the truck.

He smiled.
“Gern gschehne.”

Katie stepped away from the truck and ran through the cold rain toward her back door.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Cookie Halves:

½ cup vegetable shortening

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup cocoa

2 eggs

½ cup milk

1½ cups flour

1¼ teaspoons vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

Cream shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add vanilla. Then add milk with dry ingredients. Drop by the spoonful onto baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Filling:

2 egg whites

2¼ tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1½ cups shortening

4 tablespoons flour

1 lb. powdered sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add vanilla, flour, and milk. Beat well and add shortening and powdered sugar. Spread between cookies. Makes two-dozen whoopie pies.

10

K
atie rushed through the splashing raindrops toward the back of the house. Fear gripped her as she reached for the cold doorknob. Although she had enjoyed having a few moments to talk to Jake, she knew the repercussions could be serious.

“Katie!” Janie pushed the back door open and stepped out onto the porch. “How was your day?”

“Gut
,
”
Katie said as she touched her little sister’s headscarf. “How was yours?”

“Gut.”
Janie took Katie’s lunch bag from her hands. “I’ll carry this for you.”

“Danki, schweschder
,
”
Katie said as they stood together on the back porch. “What did you do today?”

“I helped Nancy scrub the floor in the bathroom, and we also swept the
schtupp
,” Janie began. “And then we did a little bit of weeding in the garden, but we didn’t finish since it started to rain. Maybe you can help us tomorrow if it dries enough overnight?
Dat
says it shouldn’t rain too long. We’re going to plant the new flowers once the beds are weeded.”

“I’d love to help,” Katie said, wrenching open the back door and holding it for her sister. “We’ll work on that tomorrow for certain if it’s not too muddy.” She followed Janie into the kitchen and found her father glaring at her while he sat at the
table. Her hands shook with worry as she hung her tote bag on a peg by the back door.
“Wie geht’s, Dat?”

He turned his glare to Janie. “Go into the
schtupp
, Janie. Now.”

“Ya, Dat
,
”
Janie said. She rushed through the doorway, dropping the lunch bag in the process.

Katie’s heart thudded in her chest as she stared into her father’s angry eyes.
“Was iss letz?”

“I believe you know what’s wrong, Katie Joy,” Robert said.

Katie glanced toward the doorway where her mother stood frowning back at her. Her mother shook her head with disappointment, and Katie quickly turned her gaze down to the floor.

“Katie Joy!” Her father’s voice boomed, causing her to jump. “Look at me when I’m talking to you,
dochder.
” He pushed the chair back, the wood scraping the floor with a foreboding din.

She turned her eyes on him but hunched her shoulders in humiliation.
“Ya, Daed
,
”
she whispered, her voice thick.

“I began worrying about you when you were more than twenty minutes late, but the fact that a strange pickup truck and driver brought you
heemet
makes the situation much more infuriating,” he began.

“I missed my ride,” Katie began, wishing her voice sounded more confident. “I went into the pantry to do inventory for
Mammi
, and when I came out, everyone was gone. Jake Miller brought me
heemet.
You know him,
Dat.
He’s not a stranger.” She hated hearing her voice so thin and shaky.

“Jake Miller?” Her father looked surprised. “That Mennonite
bu
?”

“Ya,”
she said. “He’s Elmer Yoder’s grandson. He’s a close family
freind.
He’s not just some stranger.”

“That’s not the point, Katie!” Her father wagged a finger a millimeter from her nose. “Why didn’t you ride
heemet
with your
aenti
like you do every day?”

Katie bit her lower lip and glanced at her mother, who
continued to look disappointed. “I told you I missed my ride. I called the phone shanty and the furniture store, but no one answered. I didn’t know what else to do. Jake is working at the bakery right now — he’s helping
Daadi
build new display cabinets for
Mammi
— and he was the only one left in the bakery. He offered to take me
heemet.
I had no other choice.”

“How could you miss your ride?” he asked, looking suspicious. “You went into the pantry and no one saw you? That’s preposterous!”