Huckleberry Hearts (34 page)

He squeezed her hand as if making sure she was still in the car. “I couldn't be more grateful. I'm more than happy just seeing you out of the hospital. I'll do my best to resist the urge to bury my fingers in your hair.”

“I should have worn a beanie.” She stifled a laugh. Laughing sent a sharp pain shooting through her chest. “So what have you planned for our first date?”

“The first plan is that it's going to last about fifteen minutes. You need your rest.”

She frowned in mock disappointment. “I had hoped you'd take me hiking or kayaking. Or bowling is a good first date.”

“I've planned something less likely to put you back in the hospital. We're having a gourmet lunch followed by a long nap.”

“For me or for you?” She caressed his cheek with her hand. “You look tired.”

“Who can sleep when all I can think about is you?” Zach twisted his mouth into a grin and glanced sideways at her as he drove his car up the lane to Huckleberry Hill.

Cassie tried not to grimace. “A gourmet lunch at my mammi's house?” Mammi's cooking was worse than hospital food, and she was famished.

“Don't worry. I did the cooking,” Zach said, his eyes dancing as he watched her face for a reaction.

The only thing worse than Mammi's cooking was Zach's cooking. He knew how to boil water and turn on the microwave. She might starve. “Oh, that's nice,” she said, trying to infuse her voice with a hint of enthusiasm.

He chuckled. “Don't be alarmed. I made an emergency trip to McDonald's. I hope you like Big Macs.”

She smiled. “I love 'em.”

He came around to her side of the car and opened the door for her. Then he took her arm and helped her ease out of the car. It was uncomfortable, but she could stand it. He put a firm arm around her back and pulled her close to him. He smelled like hickory smoke. He must have been helping Dawdi with the fire this morning. She resisted the urge to bury her face in his blue sweater and breathe him in. He might think that was a little weird.

“Are you okay?” he said. “I don't mind carrying you.”

She nodded and leaned on his arm as they ambled to the house. She'd been off her feet too long. The short walk to the house felt like a 5K. Mammi's kitchen table was spread with a cheery yellow tablecloth and set with lime green plates and fuchsia napkins. A dozen brightly colored balloons hovered over a bouquet of deep red roses in the middle of the table. There was also a large McDonald's bag next to the roses.

“Gourmet lunch,” he said, grinning sheepishly.

“You might not believe this, but I love burgers, and the hospital food left a little to be desired.” She sat down gingerly, and he sat next to her. “Are we having a party?” She pointed to the helium balloons.

“Yes,” he said, “to observe the passing of your spleen and to celebrate the fact that we have matching scars.” He pulled down the collar of his sweater to reveal an inch-long scar near his collarbone. She'd never noticed it before.

Cassie still wore a bandage to cover the jagged four-inch scar that zigzagged from her neck to her collarbone where she had been skewered by a piece of wood.

“How did you get that scar?”

He shrugged. “I got cleated by a squirrely forward. Six stitches. The important thing is that we match.”

“You haven't got a scar underneath your rib cage, have you?”

He looked crestfallen. “No, but I do have one where they took my appendix out.”

“We're still a pretty good match.”

He smiled and gazed at her as if seeing her for the first time. “The best.”

His look made her shy and excited and feverish all at the same time. Sir Galahad himself couldn't have been more charming or more wonderful.

Zach's smile disappeared as quickly as it had come, and he looked almost nervous. “Before your next painkiller kicks in, I need to ask you something.”

“Okay?”

He slid off his chair and got down on one knee.

Ach, du lieva.
She hoped she didn't faint.

“Cassie, I have loved you since the moment I met you. You are smart, beautiful, wonderful in every way. Your snickerdoodles could probably give rise to world peace. If I had lost you, I don't think anything would have been able to save me. Even God's love.”

She trembled at the thought. The accident had taken him to the edge of despair. If she had anything to say about it, he would never be there again.

“Will you marry me?” he said, and he actually looked unsure of her answer. That had to be fixed immediately.

“Can you truly love someone without a spleen?” she said, smiling so hard her neck stitches hurt.

He smiled back. “Can you truly love someone who isn't an Amish guy?”

She leaned over, took his face in her hands, and kissed him swiftly on the lips. “With all my heart.”

He actually caught his breath as if he'd seen a glimpse of a heavenly vision. Had anyone ever been as truly in love as she was at this moment?

Zach slipped his hand into his pocket and retrieved a ring. It had a gold band with a princess cut diamond in the center and two smaller diamonds on either side. “It's my mother's,” he said. “She wanted you to have it.”

“It's beautiful,” she whispered.

With shaking hands, he slid the ring on her finger.

A tear made a trail down her cheek. She held out her hand to get a better look. She'd never be worthy of such happiness in a million lifetimes. “It's so much, Zach. A ring this beautiful shouldn't—”

He grinned. “It's too late to back down now. Mom would be devastated if you didn't want it. I don't deserve you, but you're stuck with me.”

She laced her fingers with his. “You're stuck with me. Spleen-less and all.”

Zach rose to his feet. “Can you stand for a minute?” When she nodded, he took her hands and gently tugged her up. “I want to kiss you in the worst way, but I'm determined to follow the kissing rules. No kissing while sitting down.”

“I'm disappointed you're so strict about your own rules,” she said.

He groaned. “It's just about killing me.”

With restrained eagerness, he carefully slid his arms around her and pulled her to him, bringing his lips frustratingly close. “Am I hurting you?”

“Just kiss me,” she commanded breathlessly.

Still handling her as if she were made of glass, he brought his lips down on hers and made her forget the pain. Basically, he made her forget everything except the need to be as close to him as possible. She breathed him in with every breath as the touch of his lips catapulted her to Paris and back again.

Three months ago, she never would have guessed that she'd be standing in Mammi's kitchen kissing frat-boy Zach Reynolds. And now she couldn't imagine life without him. He was everything to her, and she wanted to spend the rest of the life she'd been so graciously given loving him.

And the kissing wasn't half bad either.

The problem with kissing while standing up was that your knees got weak and you were in danger of collapsing into a heap on the floor and popping all your stitches.

As soon as she got her reason back, she was going to rewrite those kissing rules.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Felty sat on the workbench sharpening his pruning shears while Anna lounged next to him reading a book. “How long do you think we need to hide in the barn?” Felty asked, tucking his coat more tightly around him.

Anna glanced up as she turned a page. “We need to give Dr. Reynolds enough time to propose to Cassie and give Cassie enough time to say yes. Do you remember what a disaster it was when we interrupted Tyler Yoder in the middle of his proposal? Beth dug in her heels and swore she wouldn't have him.”

“I don't think that will be a problem with Cassie and the doctor. Your sweaters did the trick, Annie Banannie.”

Anna smiled in perfect contentment. “Denki, Felty. It's nice when people recognize my hard work.”

“I hope we don't have to wait in the barn all day. Two people in love are apt to take their time.”

“These things can't be rushed, dear.”

Felty finished with his pruning shears and started on the hoe. “What are you reading, Banannie? Another cookbook? The family sure is lucky to have a cook like you. The Helmuths eat better than the prince of Germany.”

Anna closed her book, set it on the bench between them, and clasped her hands together as if she were preparing for a very serious talk. “Felty dear, I've decided to take up crochet.”

“Crochet?”

She tapped the book in front of her. “If people get too much of a good thing, they don't appreciate it. I think
die youngie
are starting to take my knitting for granted.”

“That's not true, Annie. I still see the excitement in the young folks' eyes when you hand out your pot holders.”

Anna patted Felty's knee. “Now, Felty, that's because you always see the best in everyone. But I won't be talked out of it, no matter how much you cherish my pot holders. I'm moving on to crocheted dishrags. That will stir things up a bit.”

Felty smiled. “And just who are you hoping to stir up yet?”

“We've made a lot of matches in our day, Felty, and some of them proved harder than getting a team of horses unstuck from the mud. But it's time for our most challenging match yet.”

Felty put down his tools and fingered his beard. “And who would that be, Banannie?”

“I'm afraid we'll never find just the right girl for him. He's so trusting and sometimes so absentminded, like a turkey in the rain.”

“There's someone for everyone, Annie, even Titus. Is that who you're thinking of matching next?”

Anna nodded. “That boy is without guile, and if we're not careful, we might unwittingly match him with a bossy, overbearing girl. It would break my heart to see sweet Titus get henpecked to death.”

Felty stroked his beard. “She'll need to be sharp as a tack.”

“But we don't want her to ever think she's smarter than Titus.”

“Titus is smart enough. He just doesn't flaunt it like some people.”

“Such a good boy,” Anna said, “but not in an obvious way. I'm going to have to become very proficient with a crochet hook. Shoddy work will not attract the right kind of girl.”

“What girl doesn't love a crocheted dishrag?”

Anna sucked in her breath and grabbed Felty's wrist. “Do you think it will be enough? Maybe I should take up painting. I could paint a lovely farm scene on a milk can.”

“What girl doesn't love a decorative milk can of her very own?”

Anna pursed her lips. “There are so many ways of attracting a bride for Titus. I could grow flowers or cucumbers. I could cross-stitch a pillow or give her a puppy. Or write a poem for Titus to sing to her.” She held up a finger as another idea came to her. “We could give the girl a bale of hay to feed her horse.”

“Doesn't seem very romantic yet.”

“Now, Felty, I'm thinking outside the box.”

Felty took off his hat and scratched his head. “What box are you talking about, Annie-girl?”

“It's an expression that Dr. Reynolds taught me. It means there are no bad ideas.”

“All your ideas are good ideas, Annie.”

“I hope Titus doesn't mind waiting. It will take me several months to learn how to crochet and paint. And write poems.”

Felty propped the hoe against the nearest wooden beam. “Maybe he'll find his own wife in the meantime.”

“Nae, that will never do. We can't trust Titus to make such an important decision. You'll have to stall him, Felty.”

“Me? What can I do?”

Anna looked skyward and tapped her finger against her lips. “We'll have to think of another surgery. Or maybe we could settle for a root canal.”

Felty raised his eyebrows and let his mouth fall open. “I'm running out of teeth.”

Anna giggled. “I'm teasing, dear. I know how you hate the dentist.” She sighed and took Felty's face in her hands. “I've put you through a great deal in the name of love. Thank you for sticking with me.”

Felty wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife and tugged her close. “I would stick with you through a thousand root canals, Annie. As long as we're together, I don't even need teeth.”

“That would make it very hard to chew.”

“If I still have arms to hold you, I wouldn't care.”

Anna settled into her husband's embrace. “Then I'll pray every day that your arms don't fall off.”

“I appreciate that, Banannie. I truly do.”