Courting Emily (A Wells Landing Book 2) (22 page)

“Joseph Lambright always was a smart man.”

“It feels weird, you know?” He rolled his shoulders as if he was still trying to adjust to the fit and feel.

“You’ve come back, and it’s God’s will, Luke. You know that.”

“
Jah
.” But he glanced off into the distance, as if he wasn’t sure he believed it himself.

Emily was confident. Luke had been led back to Wells Landing. She didn’t know why or how, but he was there once again. God’s touch was all over it. “It’s a
gut
place to be.” She swept a hand around, gesturing to all the people milling in the Fitches’ yard. “You have support here. You’ll see.”

He shrugged again. “I s’pose.”

“Luke.” She quietly said his name.

He swung his gaze back to her.

“You’re Amish,” she said. “Born and raised. Everyone here understands you and loves you. They’re—
I’m
here for you.”

“I appreciate that so much, Emily, especially after—” He broke off as his gaze flickered to her cast.

“Everyone makes mistakes. And God forgives.”

He nodded and swallowed hard as if unable to speak.

“You’re not the only one who’s left and come back,” she continued. “Just give it a chance.”

 

 

Elam tried not to stare when he saw Emily talking to Luke. He had seen it too many times to count in situations just like this. After church as the congregation milled around, talked about the weather, the sermon, and all the what-nots of the community. But that was before . . . everything.

“Why don’t you go talk to her?”

He spun around as his
mamm
strode over from where she had been watching him. “Where’s
Dat?
”

“He talked Becky into taking him and Johanna over to see Andrew’s puppies.”

Elam had heard talk of a new litter of border collies born a couple of weeks ago. “I s’pose they want one.”

Mamm
smiled and nodded.

“And I s’pose you’ll let them.”

“Elam, he’s doing so much better now that we’ve got him off medications.”

And they had Emily to thank.

“
Jah?
” Elam asked. He never asked about their relationship, deeming it none of his business, but he’d noticed that Joy had moved her things out of the spare room downstairs and back in with her husband.

“He’s not the same, and I know that he never will be. But I love him. He’s a
gut
husband. He’s a
gut
father.”

“I know.”

“He only wants what’s best for you.”

So they were back to that. “I can’t go talk to her.” He sighed. “Luke is back and—”

“Elam Riehl, I never suspected you for a quitter.”

“I’m not a quitter.” But he knew when a battle was lost.

He glanced back over to where Emily and Luke still talked. She laughed at something he said, looking happy and content and all the other things Elam had wanted to make her but hadn’t.

She was beautiful when she smiled, and when she laughed, she took his breath away. She deserved someone who could make her laugh and smile and give her the world. As much as Elam hated it, that person was Luke Lambright.

 

 

Emily stared at the ceiling and watched as the shadows moved across the room. She had made it through the church service without completely breaking down. She didn’t fall to the ground at Elam’s feet or beg him to reconsider.

Nor did she get to talk to James. She missed her time spent with Elam’s father, with all the family. But she couldn’t go visit them and run the risk of running into Elam. That would be too heartbreaking to bear.

But she had talked to Luke about church, and that was the shining moment of her day. Luke had experienced his time in the
Englisch
world. But now he was back. She could see it in his eyes, the wonder and searching. He needed the church like he needed air to breathe. He just didn’t know it.

That was up to her. She might have lost him and Elam, but she could show Luke that Wells Landing was where he needed to be. The temptations of the
Englisch
world were too great. If nothing else, she would help him save his soul.

The thought brought a smile to her lips.

“Emily?” Mary’s voice floated to her from the doorway of her room.

“Come in,
shveshtah
.” Emily scooted toward the far side of the bed so Mary could slide under the covers next to her. They hadn’t had a chance to talk all day. Mary had spent the afternoon with Aaron, then there had been milking and supper.

“Did you talk to Elam today?” Mary asked once she was settled in the bed next to her.

Emily shook her head. “I wanted to, but then I didn’t, you know?”

“
Jah
.”

“I mean, what
gut
would it do?”

“It might do a lot if’n you give it a chance.”

Emily shook her head. “I talked to Luke though.”

“Oh, Emily.” Mary’s tone was sad and chastising.

“What?”

“Don’t you think you should stay away from him?”

“We’ve known each other our whole lives.”

“He’s trouble, Emily. He’s been out in the
Englisch
world.” She said it as if he was somehow diseased from exposure.

“You’re overreacting. He’s home now.”

The covers rustled as Mary shook her head. “You don’t really think he’ll stay.”

“
Jah,
I do. In fact, I hope he does. He’s unprotected out there with the
Englisch,
and his soul is in danger. If he’s here . . .” She shrugged.

“What was that?” Mary’s eyes widened.

“Luke.” Emily threw back the covers and slipped from the other side of the bed.

“What’s he doing here?” Mary asked.

“I guess he wants to talk. That’s why he usually comes.”

“He’s done this before?” Mary pushed herself into a sitting position.

Emily went to the window. As expected, Luke was waiting down below, but unlike the last time he had been there, he was dressed in Plain clothing.

He pointed to her and then to the barn. Emily nodded.

She reached for her stockings, perching on the edge of the rocker while she pulled on the leg coverings.

“You’re not going down there,” Mary protested.

“I am.” Emily tugged her stockings into place and reached for her shoes.

“But you can’t.”

“Why not?” Emily tied her shoes and stood.

“
Dat
will have a fit.”

“
Dat
will be happy when I bring Luke back into the church fold.”

Mary shook her head. “Last time you snuck out with him . . .” She looked pointedly at Emily’s casted arm.

“Nothing is going to happen in the barn, Mary.”

“If you’re not back in thirty minutes I’m coming after you.” Mary crossed her arms as if that somehow weighted her words with importance.

Emily smiled at her sister. “Deal.”

She crept down the stairs, lest she disturb anyone else in the house, and pulled her coat over her shoulders. Actually putting her casted arm through the sleeve was impossible. She did the best she could and hustled out into the winter night.

Luke waited in the barn, his feet propped on a hay bale as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I didn’t figure your
dat
would let me visit any other way.”

“You’re probably right about that.”

Luke smiled, but the action didn’t reach past the corners of his lips. Normally sparkling and bright, his eyes shone dull in the lamplight.

“What’s wrong, Luke?” She moved to sit closer to him. She might not be in love with him anymore, but he had been her friend for so long. She hated to see him in pain.

He sighed, as if mulling over words too hard to speak. “Did you ever want something so badly, but then realize it’s not going to happen?”

Elam’s face swam before her eyes. “
Jah,
” she whispered.

“I lost my sponsor.” He smiled again. Typical Luke, making light of every situation.

“I’m sorry.” She said the words, but she didn’t really mean them. Not like he thought. She was so very sorry that he was disappointed, but she was extremely grateful that her prayers had been answered. Luke was back in Wells Landing. This time to stay.

“Without him I don’t have enough money to stay in the
Englisch
world.” He pushed himself up and started to pace. “Everything is so expensive. I couldn’t get a decent job without my high school diploma, and the classes were so hard. Not at all like here.” He stopped and whirled around to face her. “Why do dreams have to hurt so bad when they fail?”

Tears stung at the back of her eyes. “I don’t know. God’s will?”

Luke snorted. “Why does God care about my petty little issues? There are so many more big problems out in the world.”

Emily had never wondered about that. All her life she had been told that everything happened for a reason, and that reason was because God had deemed it so. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

Luke ran his fingers through his hair, pushing his hat off in the process. “I lost everything: racing, my car, you.”

“You haven’t lost me.”

He picked up his hat, slapping it against his thigh to knock the hay off before settling it back on his head. “I have, and we both know it.”

She shot him a sad smile. “I will always love you, but—”

“Just as a
freind
.”

“
Jah
.”

He took one step closer and then two, until he was standing within touching distance. “If you ever . . . change your mind, you know. I’m here for you.” He ran his fingertips down the side of her face.

She captured his hand in hers. “I know.” She squeezed his fingers for a quick moment, then released them. “I have to get back in before Mary comes looking for me.”

“Mary knows I’m here?”

Emily nodded. “Don’t worry. She won’t tell
Dat
.”

“She and Aaron looked pretty serious today.”

“
Jah,
I think they’ll get married in the fall. I know it’ll be sort of rushed because they’ll just be finishing up their baptism classes.” She shrugged. So badly she wanted to ask Luke if he had plans to join the church in the upcoming year, but she didn’t want to pressure him.

“A brand-new year,” he mused.

“
Jah
.” Two more days until the New Year began. It wasn’t a big celebration for the Amish like it was for the
Englisch,
but Emily could see that it held some significance for Luke. Perhaps a new year obeying God and adjusting back to life in Wells Landing. She could only hope.

“I miss Emily.”

Elam didn’t need to look up to know that his
vatter
was frowning.

“Me, too,” Johanna said as the other girls chimed in.

But none of them missed her as much as Elam. And a lot of good it did them. Now that Luke Lambright was back, Emily was lost, if she had ever been his at all.

He stirred his food around on his plate as if searching for the perfect bite when all he wanted to do was push back from the table and pretend there was some emergency in the barn. Anything rather than sit there and see his family heartbroken over the loss.

“You don’t really think she’ll marry Luke after . . . well, after everything, do you?” Becky’s question was quietly spoken, so low that Elam wondered if anyone else at the table heard it.

He shrugged. “I knew she loved him from the very beginning.”

“But that’s ridiculous,” Becky hissed.

That Emily could still love Luke after all he’d put her through,
jah
. That she couldn’t see the love Elam had to offer, double
jah
. But it seemed as if God’s will was not on his side. It was a fact he was learning to live with daily.

“She made her choice, Becky. It wasn’t me.”

“But she cares about you. I saw it in her eyes,”
Mamm
said.

Elam tossed down his fork, unable to eat another bite.

Thankfully, at the other end of the table, the conversation about the best purple item they had given Emily for Christmas drowned out the solemn words from his end.

“I do not want to talk about it.” He said the words without lifting his gaze to meet those of
Mamm
and Becky. He could not bear to see their eyes filled with pity. He had made the best play for Emily that he could. And he had lost. It was simple as that. The sooner his family realized it, the better off they would all be.

 

 

“You look tired,
shveshtah
.”

“
Nay,
I’m fine,” Emily said.

The sun had set long ago, the milking completed, and the Ebersol household wound down as everyone prepared for bed.

Emily flashed Mary her best smile and continued to brush her hair. It was not easy, brushing left-handed, but she was getting the hang of it. By the time she had mastered the action, it would be time to remove the awful cast. And not a day too soon. She had come to hate the constant reminder of her shortcomings.

Mary took the brush from her and continued the task. “
Danki,
” Emily murmured.

“Your hair is so
schpass
.”

“Pretty? My hair?” Emily scoffed. “It’s the color of mud.”

“It’s the color of chocolate.”

If her sister hadn’t been in the middle of a long stroke, Emily would have shaken her head. She didn’t have the honey blond hair that Mary had gotten from their mother. Or the pale blue eyes. She favored their
vatter
in both looks and temperament, which was a blessing as well as a curse.

“Are you going out to meet him again tonight?” Mary asked.

Emily shrugged. She didn’t need to ask who Mary was talking about. “If he comes, I guess.”

“He’s been here every day this week. You know he’ll come tonight.”

“Perhaps,” she said, though Mary was right.

“Don’t go meet him.” Mary’s words were heartfelt and softly spoken, a plea between sisters.

“Why not?” Emily turned and Mary was forced to stop brushing her hair and step back.

“It’ll be
baremlich
when
Dat
finds out. Worse than terrible. And you know he will find out.”

Emily took the brush from her sister and gave her hair one last hard yank before pulling it back for bed. “It’s not like that.”

She and Luke had come to an understanding of sorts. They didn’t talk about the future, and they didn’t talk about the past. Dreams were also off the list of acceptable subjects. They simply . . . talked. She brought up church and God every chance she found, and she knew Luke was listening. It was only a matter of time before he saw the truth in her testaments. Only a matter of time before he realized God’s plan and consented to join the church.

“
Dat
will think the worst.”

She shook her head. She had no intentions of starting her relationship back up with Luke. They were simply friends. Funny how her dreams of marrying Luke and having a family had turned into marrying Elam and starting a family with him. That was truly what she wanted, and since she couldn’t have it, she wasn’t sure she wanted to settle for less.

“
Dat
is not going to know.” She smoothed a hand over her sister’s forehead. “Now quit frowning before you’re as wrinkled as Maddie Kauffman.”

Mary managed only a smile at her joke. “Think about what I said, okay?”

Emily smiled. “It’s all going to be okay, Mary. Stop your worrying.”

 

 

Luke came as expected. Emily met him in the barn, and they talked for a couple of hours. Was it too much to ask to enjoy this new friendship that the two of them had forged?

Mary was right: If her father were to find out about her meetings with Luke,
Dat
would be furious. But only if he were to find out before Emily had a chance to change Luke’s mind about staying in Wells Landing and joining the church. Once that happened, her
vatter
would be so happy to welcome Luke back into the fold. And Emily was about to make that happen.

Luke had been such an important part of her life for so long, she was unwilling to give him up entirely. They may not love each other in a romantic sense, but he was quickly becoming her best friend again. She cherished all the time she could spend with him, even if it meant hiding out in the barn in the middle of the night.

“I can hardly believe it’s New Year’s Eve,” Luke said.

“Soon it will be Three Kings Day,” Emily added since it was a much bigger holiday for the Amish.

Luke plucked a straw of hay from the bale where he sat and pitched it at her.

She dodged it with a laugh, and it fell harmlessly to the side.

“All my friends are out at parties,” he said with a wry shake of his head.

“Is that where you want to be?” It was the first time she had asked him how he felt about leaving his new life behind. She hadn’t wanted to pressure him, but support him in his decision to leave the
Englisch
world.

“I don’t know anymore.” His eyes grew dim with confusion. “All I ever wanted was to be with you, and then I discovered racing.”

Strange, but losing Luke to racing didn’t hurt as much as it used to.

“Then all I wanted to do was drive a car. Now . . . I don’t know what I want anymore.”

She pushed herself off the hay bale and made her way across to where he sat. “You don’t have to decide right now.” Baptism classes wouldn’t start until next spring. He had plenty of time to get used to being back among the Plain people.

She knelt down in front of him and took his hands into her own. “Give yourself some time. Who knows what you might decide?”

He worked one of his hands free to trace the healing scar over her right eye. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Em.”

“I know.”

“What is going on in here?” At the sound of her father’s voice, Emily pushed to her feet. She whirled around to face the bishop’s angry, accusing glare. She only had a split second to register his fierce expression before she was blinded by the glare of his flashlight.

“
Nix
.” She raised one hand against the harsh light.

Then he moved the beam to pin it on Luke.

He pushed to his feet and squinted into the glare. “Nothing,” he repeated.

Emily hastily smoothed her hands down the front of her coat. Even though it was buttoned up against the cold, the fact that she wore only her nightgown underneath was evident.

“This does not look like ‘nothing’ to me.”

“
Dat,
I—”

“Go to the house, Emily Jane.”

“
Dat
.” She moved to stand in front of Luke as if the action alone could protect him. She had come so far in helping him, she didn’t want to give up on him now.

Her father stopped, and for a moment, the night stilled as she defied him.

“Now, Emily.”

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” she said, silently urging Luke to say something—
anything
—in their defense.

What had happened to her fair and objective father?

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that to me. Now get back in the house.”

“
Dat
—”

“Now!”

“Emily, go.”

Had it not been for Luke’s words she might not have obeyed her
vatter
. It was hard to say. But until Luke spoke, she had no intentions of leaving. Yet staying and making her father angrier would not help either of them.

She glanced back at him one last time. Luke nodded, and she stiffly left the barn.

She could hear her father’s voice as she hurried toward the house, but she couldn’t make out any of the words he said. His tone was enough to let her know he was upset. Cephas Ebersol didn’t yell or raise his voice when he was really angry. He became quiet. Almost too quiet. And it was enough to scare even the worst sinners in their district.

Emily didn’t catch the screen door as she entered the house. It snapped behind her like the pop of a child’s balloon. She anticipated the sound, but still she jumped from nerves.

“Oh, my, Emily, you scared me.” Mary hopped to her feet, one hand pressed over her heart.

“Did you tell him I was out there?” She didn’t mean for her words to sound so harsh. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes with her good hand.

“I didn’t mean to.” A sob hitched in Mary’s throat. “He came in and asked me where you were. I think he already knew.”

Emily immediately regretted her tone. “Shhh . . .” she hushed, pulling Mary close as she wrapped comforting arms around her. “It’s
allrecht
.”

“I was so afraid you would be angry with me.” She hiccupped into Emily’s shoulder.

“You’re my
shveshtah
. I could never stay upset with you.”

“What about Luke?” Mary asked. She cast a quick look at the door as if that could tell her what was going on outside in their barn.

Emily pressed her lips together. “
Dat
is overreacting.” But tomorrow, after he calmed down a bit, she would talk to him, explain what she had been doing in the barn with Luke. How she wanted to give Luke a new view of the Amish church and all the reasons why he should attend the baptism classes in the spring. Not because she wanted to marry him, but because it was the right thing for him to do.

 

 

Her father was in a foul mood when he came back into the house twenty minutes later. He simply brushed past them, telling them to go to bed as he went by.

Nor had his demeanor changed after milking the next morning. Emily tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t discuss the matter at all. Instead he hitched up his buggy and headed out.

“Where do you think he’s going?” Mary asked.

Emily shrugged. “He could be going anywhere.” But she had a feeling he was on his way to Joseph Lambright’s to talk to Luke. Maybe in the light of day Luke would have more to say about what had happened in the barn. Or rather what had
not
happened.

Perhaps her father would listen to him. For sure and for certain, he was not willing to hear Emily out.

Emily sighed.

“What’s wrong,
shveshtah?
”

“At the beginning of the summer I was worried that my life would be boring.”

Mary chuckled.

“I had to quit teaching and work in the market. Luke left, Caroline got married.”

“Since then your life has been anything but dull.”

“
Jah
.” What she wouldn’t give for a little bit of that boring back.

Luke heard the rattle of the horse and buggy and went to the window. He was not surprised to see the bishop’s rig pull to a stop.

Cephas Ebersol hopped down from the carriage and made his way to the house. His steps were sure and true, each one with a deeper purpose. The fact that he hadn’t unhitched his rig told its own tale. The bishop had a plan, and he wasn’t staying long.

Luke walked out onto the porch to face the talk head-on. As he stepped out of the house, his uncle ambled around the corner from the backyard to see who had come calling. Despite the crisp temperatures, Luke didn’t grab his coat, and he wasn’t about to invite the bishop in.

“I thought we cleared the air last night,” Luke said instead of a greeting.

His uncle’s eyes widened at his gruff words, but he didn’t say anything to correct Luke.