Hope Chest (17 page)

Silas stopped her by placing his hand on her arm. “I didn’t come by to see Pauline.”

“You didn’t?”

He shook his head.

“What did you come for?”

He rocked back and forth on his heels, with one hand balled into a fist and the other hanging onto his hat tightly. “I’m wondering ... that is...”

“Are you needing a plant or some cut flowers? Mom and Dad took quite a few to the market this morning, but I think we still have a good supply in the back room.”

Silas cleared his throat a few times, trying to decide the best way to broach the subject that had brought him here. He fanned his face with his hat, hoping the action might give him something to do with his hands, as well as get him cooled down some.

“You okay, Silas? You’re looking kind of poorly. Want to sit awhile?”

“Maybe that would be a good idea.” He pulled up an empty crate and plunked down with a groan. “Whew! Don’t know what came over me, but I was feelin’ a little woozy for a minute there.”

“Maybe you’re coming down with the flu or something.” Rachel placed her hand against his forehead. Her fingers felt cool and soft, making it even more difficult for Silas to think straight.

“I’m not sick,” he asserted. “It’s just warm in here, that’s all.”

Rachel nodded and took a few steps back. “It’s always a bit stuffy in the greenhouse, which is one of the reasons I don’t like working here.”

“What would you rather be doing?”

She gave him another one of her dimpled smiles. “Fishing ... bird-watching ... almost anything outdoors.”

Their gazes met, and the moment seemed awkward. Silas swallowed hard. If he was ever going to ask her, he’d better do it quick, because right now he felt like racing for the door and heading straight home.

“The reason I stopped by was to see if you might want to go to the lake with me tomorrow. Your brother Joseph and me were talking the other day, and he mentioned that you like to fish. So I thought maybe we could do a bit of fishing, and if we’re lucky, get in some bird-watching, too.”

Rachel stood staring at him like she was in some kind of a daze. For a minute, he wondered if he would need to repeat himself.

“Since tomorrow is an off Sunday and there won’t be any preaching service, I guess it would be a good time for some outdoor fun.” Her voice came out in a squeak, and she blinked a couple of times.

He jumped up. “You mean you’ll meet me there?”

She nodded. “How about I fix us a picnic lunch to take along? Fishing always makes me hungry, and later tonight I was planning to bake some more of those chocolate chip cookies you like so well.”

“Sounds good. How about making some of that wunderbaar ribbon salad you fixed for our supper awhile back? That was awful tasty, too,” he said with a wink.

Rachel smiled as her face turned a deep shade of red. “I think that can be arranged.”

Silas licked his lips in anticipation of what was to come. He was glad he’d finally gotten up the nerve to ask Rachel to go fishing. “Let’s meet at the lake around nine o’clock. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good to me,” she said, walking him to the door.

***

“Say, Anna, wait up a minute, would you?”

Anna halted before she stepped out the back door of the restaurant where she worked. She was tired after a long day, and her feet ached something awful. The last thing she wanted to do was chit-chat with her coworker Kathryn Clemmons. She drew in a deep breath and turned around. “What’s up?”

“The last time we talked, you said you hadn’t found a church since you’d moved to Lancaster, so I was wondering if you and your husband would like to go church this Sunday with me and Walt.”

Anna’s heartbeat picked up speed at the mention of church. She’d been wanting to go, but whenever she mentioned the idea to Reuben, he always said he was too tired from working so much overtime. It seemed that all he wanted to do on Sundays was sleep or watch TV.

She swallowed hard, then chose her words carefully. “I appreciate the offer, Kathryn, but my husband’s been working a lot of overtime lately, and Sundays are the only days he has to sleep in.”

“That’s too bad.” Kathryn’s dark eyes held a note of sympathy. “Maybe you could come this Sunday without him—so you can see if you would enjoy our church.”

Anna swallowed again, trying to dislodge the persistent lump crowding her throat. Did Kathryn know how miserable she felt these days? Her life was nothing like she had envisioned it when she’d agreed to marry Reuben and go English. Instead of taking long walks together or enjoying a ride in Reuben’s truck the way they used to when they’d been secretly courting, now they barely saw each other. And when they were together, Reuben was tired and cross, which only made Anna more lonely and depressed. She needed something that might help pull her out of this slump.

“I guess maybe I could go alone. Maybe in time, Reuben will feel up to joining me.”

“You won’t have to go alone.” Kathryn placed her hand on Anna’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Walt and I will be happy to come by and get you on Sunday morning. Can you be ready by ten thirty?”

Anna nodded. “I’m sure I can.”

***

As soon as Silas returned home, he went straight to the barn to get out his fishing gear. Besides the fishing pole, several fat worms, extra tackle, and line, he’d decided to take along his binoculars and the new book he’d recently bought on bird-watching.

He grinned as he grabbed his pole off the wall. It amazed him that Rachel liked to fish and study birds, but he was glad they had that in common. Neither one of his brothers showed the least bit of interest in watching birds or fishing with him, and now that Reuben was gone, he’d been forced to fish alone.

Silas frowned. He hadn’t thought about Reuben for several weeks, and he wished he wasn’t thinking of him now. Reminders of Reuben always made him think about Anna, and he wasn’t sure he was completely over her yet. He’d loved her a lot, and she’d hurt him badly. A fellow didn’t get over being kicked in the gut like that overnight. Matters of the heart took time to heal, and until a moment ago, Silas had begun to think his heart might be on the way to mending.

“I’ll feel better once I’m seated on the dock at the lake with my fishing pole in the water and the warm sun against my back,” he muttered.

“Who ya talkin’ to, Silas?”

Silas whirled around. His brother Sam stood looking up at him like he was some sort of a bug on the wall. “I wasn’t talking to anyone but myself, and you shouldn’t go around sneaking up on others.”

Sam scrunched up his freckled nose. “I wasn’t sneaking. Just came out to the barn to feed the cats, and I heard you talking about going fishing.”

Silas nodded. “That’s right. I’ll be headed to the lake in the morning.”

“Can I go along?”

“Naw, I’d rather go alone. Besides, you don’t even like to fish.”

“I know, but it might be better than hangin’ around here all day. Ever since Mom got that cast on her arm, she’s been askin’ me to do more chores.”

“Things will go better soon. Mom won’t always be wearing her arm in a sling. Besides, there won’t be a bunch of chores for you to do on Sunday.”

“I guess you’re right about that.” Sam turned to go, calling over his shoulder, “If it’s a girl you’re meeting tomorrow, could ya save me a piece of cake from the picnic?”

Silas pulled his fingers through the back of his hair. That little brother of his was sure no dumb bunny. Only thing was, it wouldn’t be cake he’d be bringing home tomorrow, because Rachel had said she was going to bake his favorite kind of cookie.

CHAPTER 15

As Anna combed her hair in front of her dresser mirror, her mind was plagued with doubts. Did she really want to go to church this morning? If Reuben were going along, then she might be more in the mood. But to go alone didn’t seem right. Of course, she wouldn’t really be alone. Kathryn and her husband, Walt, would be with her. Still, it might be difficult to be with Kathryn, whose husband eagerly attended church every week, and not feel sorry for herself because Reuben showed no interest in anything spiritual these days.

Had he ever? Anna wondered as she turned to look at him sleeping in the bed across the room. Oh, sure, Reuben had attended church with his family throughout his growing-up years, but he hadn’t been baptized or joined the church, which was a good indication that he hadn’t taken anything of a spiritual nature too seriously yet. If she could only get him to go to church with her, that would be a step in the right direction.

Anna turned from the dresser and moved over to the bed. “Reuben, are you awake?” She nudged him gently with her hand.

“Am now,” he responded with a muffled grunt.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I’ll be leaving for church soon. Are you sure you won’t come with me?”

He pulled the covers around his ears and groaned. “Too tired. Need to sleep.”

She released a sigh. Would there ever be a time when Reuben wasn’t too tired? Would he ever come to realize that spending time with God—and with her—was more important than working so much or lounging around on Sundays?

“I’ll see you shortly after noon.” Anna whispered a silent prayer on her husband’s behalf, then tiptoed out of the room.

***

As Rachel stood in front of the kitchen sink, doing up the breakfast dishes, she felt like hugging herself. The thought of going on a fishing date with Silas was enough to take her breath away. She couldn’t help but wonder and, yes, even hope that Silas’s sudden invitation was a sign that he was beginning to care for her.

Maybe she should start filling her hope chest with a few more things. If Silas enjoyed her company today, he might even offer to take her home from the next singing or young people’s function.
Now that would mean we were officially courting.
Rachel smiled to herself. She would have to remember to thank Joseph for letting Silas know how much she liked to fish.

As Rachel’s thoughts continued to swirl, she wondered how she could get away without telling her family that she planned to meet Silas at the lake.

She was alone in the kitchen at the moment, so as soon as she finished the dishes, she began packing the picnic lunch she’d promised Silas she would bring, hoping no one would come inside and see how much she’d stashed inside the wicker basket and small cooler she planned to take along.

Rachel had no more than shut the lid on the cooler, when Elizabeth and Perry bounded into the room.

“What’s with the picnic stuff?” Perry asked. “Are ya goin’ someplace, Rachel?”

She nodded. “I’ll be leaving for the lake soon. I plan to do a bit of fishing.”

Elizabeth stepped up to the table, where Rachel had placed the cooler and wicker basket. “Can we go along?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“How come?” Perry questioned.

“You two like to throw rocks into the water, holler, and run around.” Rachel pursed her lips. “That scares away the fish.”

Elizabeth’s lower lip jutted out, and Perry squinted at her as he wrinkled his nose.

A sense of guilt came over Rachel. She hated to tell the children they couldn’t go along, but if she and Silas were going to get better acquainted, the last thing she needed was her rowdy brother and nosy sister tagging along.

“You meetin’ someone at the lake?” Perry asked as he started to open the lid on the cooler.

She held the lid down with one hand and drew in a quick breath. “You two can go to the lake with me some other time, but today I’m going by myself.”

Perry grunted and stomped out of the room.

“Guess I’ll go with Mom and Dad when they call on some of their friends,” Elizabeth said with a shrug.

Rachel leaned down and gave her sister a hug; then, grabbing up the cooler and picnic basket, she hurried out the back door.

The morning sun slid from behind a cloud as Rachel hitched the horse to the buggy a short time later. It was a bit chilly out, but the day held the promise of sunshine and blue skies. She was glad her folks hadn’t insisted she go calling with them and was even more relieved that neither of them had asked any questions when she’d told them a few minutes ago that she planned to go fishing at the lake.

Rachel was about to climb into the driver’s seat when Dad called out to her. “I’m not so sure I like the idea of you going to the lake by yourself.”

“I’ve been fishing there since I was a kinner, and I’ve never had a problem. Besides, plenty of people are usually around, so I probably won’t be alone.”

Dad left Mom sitting on the porch in her wheelchair and hurried over to Rachel. “That may be, but it isn’t good for a young woman to be running around by herself. I think you should take your sister or one of your brothers along.”

Rachel placed the picnic basket under the front seat and turned to face her father. “I’m meeting someone.”

He gave his beard a couple of yanks. “Ah, so my daughter has a beau now, does she?”

Rachel’s face heated up. “He’s not a boyfriend, Dad.”

He chuckled. “So it is a fellow you’re meeting, then?”