Promised to Another (14 page)

Joshua reached out, thinking he would grasp her hand, but he merely brushed her skin and then drew back. “I feel bad that you were put in that situation. But it’s not that. I wanted to talk to you about something else. It’s…well, I seem to have become the target of a practical jokester.”

Annie fidgeted with the front of her apron. “The spider, you mean?”

“Jah, but not only that. There have been several pranks. The worst, so far, has been the baby powder…make that the strawberry Jell-O in the shower.” He watched her face carefully for the tiniest hint of guilt. Any sign that she’d already known about the pranks. But all he could see was confusion.

After a moment’s pause, during which she seemed to be processing his words, she narrowed her eyes pensively. “Does Jell-O taste different in the shower?” She shook her head. “Do I want to know?”

It hadn’t been Annie. She was clueless. He wanted to kiss her. Pick her up and swing her around in circles. Or even wrap her in a bear hug.

He wanted to do all three.

But he did none of them.

Instead, he drew in a breath. “I’m sorry I thought it might have been you, or that you’d at least known about them. And I’m sorry I was unkind to you this week. Never again, Annie. My friends assured me it wasn’t you.”

Anger sparkled in her eyes. “You blamed me in front of your friends?”

“Nein, not blamed you, exactly. More like discussed the possibility of your being responsible.”

“I can’t believe you thought I might have played those tricks on you. There are others in the haus, you know.”

“I know. My friends told me that Cathy was probably the perpetrator. And I believed them. But I thought you were at least aware of what she was doing. That you’d given your okay.” He reached for her hands again, but she pulled them away and clasped them behind her back. “Ach, Annie. It isn’t what you think.”

“Then, tell me what it is.”

He removed his hat, raked his fingers through his hair, and put it on again. Gulped down the lump that had formed in his throat. Swallowed again, for good measure.

“Fine. I like you, Annie. I thought you might like me. But I couldn’t figure out the message behind the pranks. I still can’t. What does Cathy have against me? And would it be possible for you to forgive me?”

***

He liked her. Annie struggled to keep a smile from spreading across her mouth, but she couldn’t quite contain it. Totally inappropriate, especially with the question he’d just asked. Cathy was undoubtedly behind those unkind acts—after all, she had vowed to get rid of Joshua—but Annie hadn’t heard about them until after the fact. Joshua had said there’d been several tricks, including one involving baby powder, another strawberry Jell-O in the shower. Annie shook her head. She couldn’t begin to imagine where Cathy had gotten inspiration for her pranks.

She released her hands behind her back and, not knowing what else to do, folded her arms across her chest. Joshua liked her. What did that mean, exactly? She liked plenty of people who were mere acquaintances, who meant little else to her. Joshua, she more than liked. She swallowed. “I like you, too.”
An understatement.
She dipped her chin slightly, hoping to hide any embarrassment that showed on her face. Or, maybe to hide the truth: she suffered from a serious case of puppy love. She lowered her arms and resumed fidgeting with her apron.

Joshua reached out and took her hand. The sparks that ignited in her fingertips made her breath catch. “Do you mind?” he asked as his fingers intertwined with hers.

She ought to have minded. A good Amish girl didn’t go holding hands with a bu unless they were courting under the cover of darkness. But, nein, she didn’t mind at all.

Then again, would granting him that small liberty lower his respect for her? Would he lump her in with all of the other girls in the district, who were easily swayed by his considerable charm?

She shook her head slowly, then nodded.

He chuckled. “Well, which is it?”

Annie prayed for strength. “Nein.”

He nodded, released her hand, and reached for the handle of the glass door leading into the visitors’ center. Then, he let go of the door and turned to her again. “I am sorry, Annie. Ach, and you should know. I talked with Rachel. I won’t be seeing her again.”

She nodded, then repeated, “I like you, too.” Her face heated. Now he knew. She might as well have admitted straight-out that she had a crush on him.

He chuckled and grasped the door handle again. “Allow me.”

Belle and Harley were nowhere in sight. Perhaps, they were meandering through the cubicles that featured fascinating bits of trivia about the generals who had fought in the Civil War.

She’d browsed those panels on her last visit, but she couldn’t get enough of them—or of anything pertaining to history: Amish history, American history, European history, linguistic history…any history at all, really.

Would Joshua be horrified if she stopped to peruse the display? Or, would he rather find their Englisch companions and then go out to the actual battlefield? He might be more interested in seeing the cabins and field hospitals, which were still standing. Or, the cannons, yet intact.

Well, she wanted to see that stuff, too.

Ever since her first visit, she’d wanted to come back during a reenactment. She smiled to think that, in her Amish clothes, she probably appeared to many visitors as a reenactor in costume, even though her attire differed vastly from true period fashion from the Civil War era.

“You can go find Harley and Belle, if you’d like.” She hesitated at the beginning of the displays. “I won’t be long.”

Joshua looked around, as if wondering where she would go, if not with him, and then his eyes lit on the wall beside them. “I’ll stay with you.”

Lovely. All she needed was to have Joshua tell everybody how long she’d spent looking at the graven images of war heroes. Really, what they looked like didn’t matter in the least to her. She cared only about what they’d done. After all, history was her favorite subject.

Maybe Joshua was interested in this, too. Coming here had been his idea, hadn’t it?

Still, they shouldn’t hang out in here too long. Belle and Harley had apparently whizzed through this area and gone straight for the model battlefield that someone had built to scale. They stood over it now, watching as it lit up to show the movement of the troops. Annie’s students had found it fascinating.

So had she, to be honest.

But she hadn’t expected Joshua to stay so close by her side. He was much closer than was necessary, really. It made it very hard to focus on the museum. Very easy to focus on the man.

And to wish, and hope, and dream, and pray….

***

As Harley drove the car through the battlefield, Joshua wished that he and Annie could lose their Englisch escorts and somehow obtain a horse and buggy to transport them, instead. Driving slowly through the fields with Annie close by his side, feeling the fresh breeze in their faces, would be so much more romantic than sitting in the stuffy backseat of a car and gazing out at the scenery through closed windows.

Harley never stopped the vehicle for them to get out, since the other buildings around the battlefield weren’t open to the public that day. And the car maneuvered more quickly than a horse and buggy would have, meaning that their date was approaching its end much too rapidly.

There went any dreams Joshua had entertained of giving Annie a hug on the front porch of one of the cabins to thank her for giving him the opportunity to see it. To thank her for risking her job security—not that she had any, really—to take him there. And to thank her for spending time with him, despite the fact that he’d effectively ruined his reputation with the one girl he’d wanted to impress, both by coming across as a player and by acting irritated toward her about the pranks, in which she’d played not even a minor part.

He heaved a sigh as they drove away from the battlegrounds and back onto the highway toward Springfield. Back to Seymour. And back to the world where it seemed Annie was promised to Luke, not Joshua.

“Did you want to see anything else in town?” Harley glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror.

Joshua shook his head. He didn’t know anything about Springfield, so he had no idea what was there to see. Plus, he figured Harley and Belle had given up enough of their day catering to him and Annie.

But Annie nodded and glanced at Joshua. “Jah, if you don’t mind. I’d love to go to the Bass Pro Shop. They have a museum there, and—”

“I think it’s closed for remodeling.” Belle looked back at them. “But there are some interesting things in the actual store. We could take you there for a little while. Pretty soon, though, I have to go to work, from two to ten.” She looked at Harley. “We could have lunch there.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

Joshua settled back in his seat. He had no idea what a Bass Pro Shop might be. Well, he was familiar with the terms, of course, but not in that combination. If Annie wanted to go there, he figured it might be good.

She gave a contented sigh and smiled at him. S
miled at him.
A happy, I’m-glad-we’re-having-this-time-together type of smile. His heart stuttered, and he couldn’t help but turn slightly to study her as he wondered what, exactly, her look had meant.

Had she intended her declaration of “I like you, too” to be interpreted in the same way as he had wanted her to decipher his? He hoped so, especially since she’d repeated it. Maybe she really did want to spend more time with him, to get to know him better. Maybe even to court. And, maybe, she would one day be willing to leave her family in Seymour and move to Pennsylvania as his frau.

His gaze dropped to her lips. Were they as soft as they looked? Ach, he wanted to kiss her. Desperately.

Whoa, Joshua.
He pulled back on the mental reins of his hopeful musings. “I like you, too” was a far cry from a promise. And it was certainly miles and miles from a lifetime commitment. But someday, maybe, if the good Lord willed it….

He looked away, then immediately wished he hadn’t. They were back in the city, and the traffic seemed even worse than it had been that morning, if that were possible. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before they reached the shop Annie had mentioned. The parking lot was so crowded that they had to park a distance away, almost to the road. Not that Joshua minded; he was used to walking. But anyplace with this many Englischers in it at once put him on edge.

He didn’t care if he’d be perceived as unmanly; he wanted to hold Annie’s hand for security. To make sure that she wouldn’t get lost somewhere in the throng. How on earth would he ever find her in there if they were to get separated? He got out of the car and surveyed the humongous building, his stomach churning.

He’d never find her. And then, he’d face the mind-boggling task of facing her daed and admitting that he’d lost Annie. In the city. Someplace they weren’t even supposed to be.

And then, to kneel and confess this major transgression—that would be a nightmare. Bile rose in his throat.
Lord, forgive me. Help me not to lose Annie. Protect us from temptation and the evil one….

He reached out and took Annie’s hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “I’m not letting go, so don’t even ask.”

Was it sinful for Annie to take such pleasure in the feel of Joshua’s palm pressed against hers? To relish the work-toughened roughness of his fingers? To bask in his attention, probably the way every other girl in the district did whenever he invited her home? Probably a greater sin was that this physical contact fueled her daydreams. And his gaze, lingering on her mouth, made her anticipate exceeding that stolen moment with the rim of his tea mug with actual kisses. Someday.

She didn’t resist when he pulled her even closer to his side as they walked through the doors with a throng of other shoppers into the big retail store. Nor did she care what was on sale. Sure, she liked fishing with her friends, but only for the social aspect. As far as she was concerned, those fish could live to swim another day. Nein, she wasn’t here for the gear. Right now, her top priority was the koffee shop—not their koffee, but their tea. If only the local McDonald’s had chai tea on their menu, too.