A Wedding for Julia (11 page)

Marion peered at her from between two of Ruthie’s dresses. “Why did you do it, Sharon? Why do you keep testing him so?”

Sharon didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she continued hanging the laundry as she mulled over her mother’s question. When the last piece of bedding was hung, she plopped down on the ground. Ruthie immediately crawled into her lap. Somehow it was easier to speak the things of her heart while holding her baby sister.

“Have you always wanted…” Her hand came out to encompass the laundry, the fields, the barn, and even the house. “This?”

Marion swiped at her hair, pushing it back into her
kapp
. She moved over and sat down on the ground with a grunt that made them all laugh.

“I suppose I did. When I was your age, I thought your father was the best thing I had ever seen. He’d speak to me, and my heart would jump like when thunder claps right next to you. I knew he was all I needed to be happy. More than that, I knew that once I was married to him, I would be living the life I was supposed to live.”

“And do you still feel that way?”

Marion sighed and looked out over their farm. “I hear the judgment in your voice, Sharon. My life isn’t perfect, but it’s not the worst, either. Your
dat
is a
gut
man, and I’m grateful to
Gotte
for him, for all of my life and all of my
kinner
.”

Sharon didn’t answer. She didn’t know what to say, and she was embarrassed by her mother’s honesty.

Finally, she pulled at a blade of grass and tickled Ruthie with it. “He made your heart jump like when the thunder claps, huh?”

“
Ya
. Still does some days. Does James make you feel this way?”

“Sometimes.”

“Do you think he’s the one
Gotte
has chosen for you?”

“I don’t know,
mamm
.” Sharon focused on Ruthie, who was busy crushing red, yellow, and brown leaves. She’d crumble two fists full, and then she’d sprinkle the pieces over the both of them. “I don’t know if I even believe in that.”

Marion sighed, put her hands on the ground, and attempted to push herself up.

“Let me help.” Sharon moved Ruthie off of her lap, popped up, and grabbed her mother’s hands. She managed to pull Marion into a standing position but nearly fell into the clothesline when her mother let go suddenly.

“You did that on purpose.” She was laughing as she caught herself.

“A young man can cause your heart to race, as yours did when you thought you were going to fall.” She stepped forward and touched Sharon’s face. “In life though, falling hurts. I want what is best for you and so does your
dat
.”

Sharon shook her head. James wasn’t like that. He’d never hurt her.

“Now tell me the rest. I want to be able to explain it truthfully to your father.”

So she did. She told about how they had gone to the singing and then left early. She explained about the ride into the city in James’s old truck with the other car of Amish kids following. How together they had gone to the late night movie, and how it had been an animated show but with a story line directed toward teens.

“I never knew they could do such things with a computer,
mamm
.”

Her mother nodded and motioned for her to continue.

As they walked toward the house, Ruthie tugged on Sharon’s hand and demanded, “Carry me, Sharon! On your back!”

So she squatted down as Ruthie moved behind her and wrapped her arms around her neck. Soon she would be too heavy for piggyback rides. Soon she would be off to school instead of playing as they finished the laundry.

Standing in the hot little washing room, she told the rest—about the all-night diner they had found, how different the food was, the ride home, and even the kiss at the end of their lane.

She left out two things, though. She didn’t mention the
Englisch
clothes—blue jeans and a purple T-shirt top with lace around the hem, still hidden in her room, and she didn’t admit how much she looked forward to doing it again. Something in the pained expression that covered her mother’s face told her it would be best to stop short of those confessions.

“I’ll speak to your
dat
this evening, Sharon. Perhaps you should go and spend the night with your
grossmammi
. Give him a day to cool off.”

After the noonday meal she packed an overnight bag, and her brother Jonas drove her down the road to her grandparents’ farm.

Banished from her own home.

It was humiliating. She didn’t even have her phone to call James and let him know where she was.

How could her life get any worse?

Chapter 10

I
t wasn’t Julia’s first time to walk into the grocery store in Cashton. She tied Missy to the post in the parking lot, straightened her apron and her
kapp
, and tried to calm her heart, which felt as if it were going to thump right out of her chest.

Why was she so nervous?

She just wanted to ask Caleb a few questions. There was nothing to be afraid of. Her mind understood that, but her body continued to overreact. She had to wipe her hands on her dress, they were sweating so. Pushing her way through the front doors, she was relieved to see that very few customers had arrived before her.

“Can I help you?” A young
Englisch
girl with short blond hair and bright blue fingernail polish stood at the front register.

“
Ya
. I’m looking for Caleb Zook.”

“Oh. Sure. He’s loading up at the back dock. I saw him when I clocked in. Let me call him for you.”

The girl picked up a telephone and spoke into it. To Julia’s horror, when she did, her voice came out over speakers on the wall loud enough for all to hear. “Caleb Zook to the front register. Caleb to the front register, please.”

Hanging up the phone, she turned back and smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be here in a second.”

“
Danki
,” Julia whispered, wondering if she could flee before Caleb made it to the front.

The girl’s voice had been louder than an auctioneer! Why not take an ad out in the local paper? What had she been thinking of when she drove here?

She had been thinking she could quietly pull him aside and ask the questions that had been tumbling around in her mind since Sunday.

“Julia? Is everything all right?” Caleb had walked through the double doors at the far side of the room.

“
Ya
. Everything is fine.” Julia glanced from the girl at the register, to the customer she was helping, and back to Caleb.

“It’s
gut
to see you…” Caleb stopped and studied her a moment. “Why don’t we step outside?”

“Is it okay? You’re supposed to be working.”

“I have a fifteen-minute break coming. I’ve been here since six loading.” He pulled the front door open and waited for her to walk out first. When she did, he motioned to a bench positioned near the plate glass window of the store, but she shook her head no.

It was all too public. She shouldn’t have come to his place of work, but she hadn’t known what else to do.

“Did you drive Missy here?”

“
Ya
.”

“Let’s go see how she’s doing.”

They walked around the corner to the parking area. Missy was exactly where Julia had left her. Of course she was—she’d been gone less than ten minutes. Caleb reached into his pocket and brought out a handful of raisins.

“I remember when you accused me of spoiling your horse, and look at you. You’re carrying raisins in your pocket.”

“You never know when they’ll come in handy, and my own gelding was spoiled long before you fed him.” He smiled as he offered the treat to the mare with one hand and patted her with the other.

“Is this better?” he asked, lowering his voice. “You seemed to want somewhere more private.”

“
Ya
. I didn’t know the girl was going to shout your name out so loud when she said she’d call you.”

Caleb’s smile immediately put her at ease. “That startled me the first few times as well. If you work at the store long enough, you grow used to their speaker system.”

“I don’t think I could.”

“It’s loud from where you were standing, but in the back, where trucks and other machinery are, it’s the right volume.”

That made sense. Still, she felt foolish for having had him called out so loudly and so publicly.

“What brings you to town?”

Julia closed her eyes. He had a fifteen-minute break. There was no church on Sunday, and he wouldn’t be delivering groceries to their home again until a week from Tuesday. She’d only left Ada this morning because one of her mother’s quilting friends had stopped by and insisted on staying until lunch. This moment was the perfect chance to ask him the questions she needed answers to, and she shouldn’t squander the opportunity.

“Julia?”

“I’ve been thinking.” She pressed her fingers to her lips. “I’ve been considering your offer.”

“Do you mean my proposal?”

She opened her eyes and stared directly into his. “Yes. Your proposal.”

“And?”

“And I think that maybe I will say yes.”

She’d gone over a dozen ways to begin this conversation. None of them had included plopping her answer out there, and she certainly hadn’t anticipated the slow smile that spread across Caleb’s face. She’d actually thought his most likely reaction might be denial—as in he hadn’t actually meant to ask for her hand in marriage.

“This is
gut
news.”

“Caleb, I said
maybe
yes. We need to talk about this first. I have a lot of questions, and I’m not convinced you understand all you’re getting into.”

Now his eyebrows shot up beneath his long bangs, and Julia was reminded of what her mother had said about the needed haircut.

“You think I don’t understand what marriage entails?”

“
Nein
, but you don’t know all of the details of my situation. You can’t possibly know the condition of my family’s finances, all that needs to be done at the farm, and my mother’s—”

Raising a hand, Caleb waved away her concerns, but she stopped him.

“No. This matters. If we are going to begin a marriage without—” she bit off the word “love” before it could escape. “Without the traditional feelings, it’s all the more important we understand other things about each other. Plus, we need to decide when and where and what happens next.”

A truck trundled around from the back of the shop. Its driver nodded at Caleb and then continued out onto the main road.

“I don’t even know where you live,” Julia continued.

“I live here, in Pebble Creek.” Caleb’s voice held a light note, but his eyes studied her seriously. “I can see you’ve given this a lot of thought, Julia, and I’m glad you have. I realized you weren’t a young girl who might jump into something without much prayer and consideration. How about I come over to your house tonight after work?”

“Tonight?”

“Too soon?”

“No, but—”

“We can talk as long as you like. I assume your home would be better because it’s probably hard for you to leave Ada alone.”