Following Your Heart (42 page)

“Are we going to argue on our first time out alone together?” she asked. “Because I'd rather not. I want to soak this in. And please drive me home really slow. I want it to take a long time.”

“But Samuel's waiting at home,” he said. “Don't you want to see him again?”

She looked at his face.

As if he read her thoughts, he squeezed her hand. “Don't worry. I like the little fellow. And we can freely make plans now.”

“I'm tired of plans,” she said, moving to sit tightly against him. “So many plans made in the last year. So many thoughts. So much searching for the right thing to do. I just want to enjoy this feeling tonight of being alive with you by my side.”

He laughed. “I do feel quite alive tonight,” he agreed. “I'm taking you home for the first time—just you and me.”

“And we have cherry pie waiting,” she said. “Susan and I baked it yesterday. Is that good enough for you?”

“I could use some homemade ice cream, I guess,” he said. “Vanilla, perhaps. It goes good with cherry pie.”

“Next time I'll make sure we have ice cream too.”

“So there will be a next time?” he said with a grin.

“James, I don't think I can take too much teasing right now. It's up to you whether or not there's a next time. Will there be?”

He pulled her even closer. “Of course there's going to be a next time. And then a next time after that. As long as you'll have me.”

“What about your dad? Did you really argue about bringing me home tonight?”

“Not really,” he said. “
Daett
didn't object when I brought it up in just the right way.”

“You persuaded him just like that?” she asked.

“I don't think I needed to,” he said. “I think he likes you deep down. How can anyone help but like you? Even old Yost liked you.”

Teresa sighed and leaned against him. “I don't want to talk about him anymore! It's enough to be here with you.” His hand found her face, and she didn't pull away. She knew he was going to kiss her, and it was hard to keep breathing. And he did kiss her. Gently. Tenderly. Not the way Yost had kissed her.

Had they just broken the
Ordnung? No
, she decided.
This was what two people in love do.

James took her hand and held it, only pulling away when he needed to guide his horse into a turn.

Slowing down, he turned into the Hostetler driveway and stopped by the barn.

Teresa stepped out of the buggy and waited while James tied the horse. Then he took her hand, and they walked to the house.

“When do you want your cherry pie?” she asked when they got inside. “Now or later?” She motioned for him to be seated on the couch.

“I think I'll take it now,” he said. “I'm starving!”

“You didn't sing that hard,” she teased.

“I think it's my nerves,” he said, making a funny face.

She laughed. “I'll be right back.”

In the kitchen, she cut a piece of pie and put it on a plate. She filled a glass with milk.

“Aren't you having a piece?” he asked when she entered the living room and handed him the plate and glass.

“Of course!” she said, heading back into the kitchen.

After she returned and sat next to him, they relaxed and ate their pie.

Susan came in. “Well, well,” she said. “If it isn't Teresa and James. Bless my heart. This is so
gut
to finally see.”

Teresa blushed. “Did Thomas help you with your horse?”

“
Yah
, he helped me hitch up,” Susan admitted.

“That's
gut
to hear,” James said. “There's hope for you two.”

“You can mind your own business,” Susan responded with a chuckle. “I think I'll pass on the pie tonight and go straight to bed.”

“Did I make her mad?” James asked when Susan was gone.

“With Susan, who knows,” Teresa replied. “She might be irritated because she still likes him. Then again, she might not be upset at all.”

“This pie is good. Did you say you baked it?”

“Yes. I mean,
yah
, but Susan helped and we used
Mamm
's recipe.”

“Well, memorize it…for future use.”

Teresa considered the word “future.” It was wonderful to imagine. A future with James…Did she dare hope for such a thing? A future with James by her side forever? And James would be the perfect father to Samuel?

James glanced up at the clock, and Teresa followed his gaze.

What time do you have to leave?” she asked.

“Whenever I want to, I suppose,” he said.

“I know that's not true,” she said. “You're teasing again.”

“Yes, I am,” he admitted, getting to his feet. “The truth is, I have a full day of field work tomorrow, so I'd better get going.”

“You don't have to go until midnight,” she said.

He laughed. “I see
someone
has been studying the
Ordnungs
brief.”

“I had to.” She grinned.

“I've got too much to do tomorrow to stay that late,” he said. “But I would like to come back next Sunday night. Do you think you can handle that? And perhaps you can have some vanilla ice cream stirred up?”

“You're an awful rascal,” she teased. “So demanding already. Yes, I'll have your ice cream ready.”

He moved closer, taking her hands in his. “Teresa, I don't want to embarrass you, but there is something I'd like to make clear.”

She didn't move and realized she was holding her breath. She exhaled, trying to do it quietly.

“I know this is a little early in our relationship, but it feels like we've known each other for a long time. Still, you don't have to answer right now if you don't want to. In fact, you can wait as long as you want. But I want to make sure you know that I plan to marry you. Do you realize that?”

She gasped before stealing a quick look at his face.

“I'm serious, Teresa. That is, if you will have me.”

“Oh, James!” she whispered. “You know my answer!”

“Tell me,” he teased.

She looked up at him.

He stepped closer, his hands reaching out to touch her face. When she didn't pull away, he drew her close to kiss her.

When he let her go, she whispered, “Is that answer enough?”

“I didn't quite make out the answer. Let's try again,” he said, kissing her again.

“And now?” she asked.

“I think I got it that time,” James said. He let out a long breath. “And now I had better go.”

“Is that what Amish boys do after they've kissed their girlfriends?” she asked.

“I wouldn't know,” he said. “I've never kissed a girl before.”

“James!” she said in disbelief as she followed him to the door.

He laughed and placed his fingers on her lips. “I'll be seeing you next Sunday night, okay? And I may have to ask for your answer again. I may forget what it was between now and then.”

“You can ask every night,” she assured. “And the answer will always be the same.”

“
Wunderbar!
I'll see you then!” He ran down the front steps while she stood in the doorway. Soon his buggy drove by, and its lights faded into the darkness.

She closed the door and leaned against it, the thoughts rushing through her mind. So it
was
better to follow your heart, even when everything seemed so impossible. James was coming back, and he would keep coming back again and again, until the day they would say their marriage vows. Then she would be a real Amish wife and Samuel would have a real Amish father.

“Thank you, dear God,” she whispered. “I truly don't deserve any of this.”

Then she thought of her mother back in Asbury Park and how she doubted there was a God. Teresa wanted to shout from the rooftops,
Oh yes, there is a God. There is a God indeed. A God who delights in giving those He loves the desires of their heart.

B
etrayed by her boyfriend Thomas, Susan Hostetler leaves her community and moves to the city. Keeping to Amish ways proves difficult as she struggles with adapting to
Englisha
ways. Should she learn to drive? Get her GED? And what to do about the handsome Duane Moran…

When Susan meets Teresa, the pregnant young woman asks her to find an Amish couple to adopt her baby. Should Susan write to her parents to see if that's possible? Will the community believe the baby is hers? Faced with returning home for the baby's sake, Susan must decide if she's willing to give up her newfound freedom and confront the man who broke her heart.

I
n Jerry Eicher's conclusion to his popular Fields of Home trilogy, readers will be delighted to attend the wedding of Teresa, the young
Englisha
girl who has come home with Susan Hostetler to learn the ways of the Amish—and in fact to become Amish herself.