Heart in Hand: Stitches in Time Series #3 (33 page)
Read Heart in Hand: Stitches in Time Series #3 Online
Authors: Barbara Cameron
Such things took time.
Sometimes they even took perseverance. She’d turned him down when he approached her and asked her out.
He decided not to let that discourage him.
She turned from the window and began walking down the sidewalk toward him.
Look at her
, he thought,
walking with that bounce to her step. Look at the way she glances around, so animated, taking in everything with such curiosity
.
He waited for some sign of recognition, but she hadn’t seen him yet. When they’d attended school, their teacher had often gently chided her for staring out the classroom window or doodling designs on a scrap of paper for the weaving she loved.
Mary Katherine moved through the sea of
Englisch
tourists on the sidewalk that parted for her like the waters for Moses when she walked. He watched how they glanced at her the way she did them.
It was a mutual curiosity at its best.
He walked toward her, and when she stopped and blinked, he grinned.
“Jacob! What are you doing here?”
“You make it sound like I never come to town.”
“I don’t remember ever seeing you do it.”
“I needed some supplies, and things are slower now with the harvest in. Have you eaten?” He’d casually asked Anna when they took their noontime break, but he figured it was a good conversational device.
“Yes. We ate a little early at the shop.”
He thought about that. Maybe he should have planned better. “I see. Well, how about having supper with me tonight?”
“Did you come all the way into town to ask me out?”
Jacob drew himself up. “Yes.”
“But I’ve told you before—”
“That you’re not interested in going out.”
“Yes.”
“But I haven’t heard of you going out with anyone else.”
She stared at him, oblivious of the people who streamed around them on the sidewalk. “Who did you ask?”
Her direct stare was unnerving. His collar felt tight, but he knew if he pulled it away from his neck, he’d just appear guilty. “I’d have heard.”
“I’m not interested in dating, Jacob.”
When she started past him, he put out his hand to stop her. She looked down at his hand on her arm and then met his gaze. “Is it you’re not interested in dating or you’re not interested in dating me?”
Her lips quirked. “I’m not interested in dating. It’s not you.”
“I see.”
She began walking again.
“Do you mind if I walk with you?”
“
Schur
.” She glanced at him. “Can you keep up?”
He found himself grinning. She was different from other young women he knew, more spirited and independent.
“Where are we going?”
She shrugged. “Nowhere in particular. I just needed to get out and get some fresh air.”
Stopping at a shop window, she studied its display of tourist souvenirs. “Did you ever think about not staying here? In Paradise?”
“Not stay here? Where would you go?”
She turned to look at him and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a big world out there.”
Jacob felt a chill race up his spine. “You can’t mean it,” he said slowly. “You belong here.”
“Do I?” she asked. Pensive, she stared at the people passing. “Sometimes I’m not sure where I belong.”
He took her shoulders and turned her to face the shop window. “This is where you belong,” he told her.
She looked at the image of herself reflected in the glass as he directed. He liked the way they looked together in the reflection. She was a fine Amish woman, with a quiet beauty he’d admired for some time. He’d known her in school and, of course, they’d attended Sunday services and singings and such through the years. He hadn’t been in a rush to get married, and he’d noticed she hadn’t been, either. Both of them had been working hard, he at his farm, she in the shop she and her grandmother and cousins had opened.
He began noticing her shortly after the shop opened. There was a different air about her. She seemed more confident, happier than she’d been before.
He reminded himself that she’d said she didn’t date.
So why
, he asked himself,
am I trying again?
Taking a deep breath, he turned to her. “Mary Katherine—”
“Jacob!” a man called.
He turned and saw a man striding toward him, someone who had returned to the Plain community after years away.
Though the man hailed him, his attention was clearly on Mary Katherine. He held out his hand. “Daniel Kurtz,” he said. “We met last Sunday.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw Mary Katherine turn to the man and eye him with interest.
“You’re Rachel’s cousin from Florida.”
“I am.” He eyed the shop. “So, this is your shop?”
“My grandmother’s. My cousins and I help her.”
Daniel nodded. “Very enterprising.” He glanced around. “Is this the size of crowd you get this time of year?”
Mary Katherine nodded. “After-Christmas sales bring them out. But business slows down while people eat this time of day.”
“I came into town to pick up a few things and I’m hungry. Have you two eaten?”
“I asked Mary Katherine but—”
“We’ll join you,” she said quickly.
Jacob stared at her. But the two of them were already walking away. With an unexplained feeling of dread washing over him, he followed them.
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Table of Contents
Creamed Celery
Snickerdoodles
White Hot Chocolate
Three Bear Soup (great for sick kids)
