The Hawaiian Quilt (35 page)

“Just missing Hawaii.” She looked away from the album. “Let’s talk about something else now, okay?”

Sadie’s brows squished together. “But I thought our meeting was to compare notes about our trip.”

“It’s fine. We can talk about it if you like.” Mandy twisted the napkin in her lap. Once their meals came, maybe the conversation would change.

Barbara looked over at Ellen. “Before we say any more about Hawaii, I’ve been wondering how your new job is going. Do you like being a housekeeper at the hotel in Middlebury?”

“It’s all right,” Ellen replied, “but I preferred working at the B&B before we left for Hawaii. Of course,” she added, “I work additional hours at the hotel, which means earning more money.”

“How about you, Mandy?” Sadie questioned. “Do you like working at the meat-and-cheese store?”

“It’s okay, but I enjoyed my previous job of waitressing more.” She reached for her glass of iced tea and took a sip. “At the restaurant, I could visit with customers as well as the other waitresses during my breaks. We don’t have nearly as many employees at my daed’s store, and there’s not a lot of excitement.”

“You won’t have to work there forever,” Ellen stated. “Once you and Gideon are married, you can quit working at your daed’s store and become a fulltime homemaker.”

“Have the two of you set a wedding date?” Barbara leaned slightly forward.

“No, and since I’m not taking classes to join the church this spring, Gideon hasn’t asked me to marry him. For now, at least, I’ll keep working while I live at home.”

“Oh, I see.” Barbara leaned back in her seat.

Is that a look of relief on Barbara’s face?
Mandy wondered.
Could she be interested in Gideon? Does he have feelings for her? I can’t help but wonder what happened during my absence. Maybe I’m overlooking something. If Gideon became interested in Barbara, surely he would have told me
. She pursed her lips.
I still care about him, but my feelings aren’t as strong as they were before I met Ken
.

When their meals came, they prayed silently, then talked about some things going on in their area. By the time they were ready to order dessert, the conversation returned to Hawaii.

“Have you heard from Luana since we’ve been home?” Ellen asked Mandy.

“Only once, when I called to let her know we’d made it okay.”

“I’ve been meaning to write them and say thank you again for everything they did for us, but other things have taken up my time.”

“I’d have to say you two did a lot for the Hawaiian couple, as well,” Sadie interjected. “You sacrificed by not returning home right away so you could help out when Makaio broke his leg.”

“I didn’t see it as a sacrifice.” Mandy shook her head vigorously. “I enjoyed helping out. And by staying longer, Ellen and I were able to see a lot more things on Kauai then we ever expected. Also, thanks to our friend Ken, I learned how to swim, which I thought I’d never be able to do.”

“That’s wunderbaar, Mandy.” Barbara’s tone was enthusiastic. “Now you can go swimming in the ponds and lakes around here with the rest of your friends.”

I’d rather go swimming in Hawaii
, Mandy mused. Then another thought came to mind.
Would it be wrong for me to move to Hawaii and begin a new life? What would my family say if I did? Could I be happy living so far away?

Since she hadn’t joined the church yet, Mandy was free to choose what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but going back to Hawaii would be a major decision, affecting everyone in her family, as well as Gideon.

Mandy determined to give it more time.
I haven’t been home long enough to know for certain if this is the life I’m meant to have
.

Middlebury

E
xcitement welled in Mandy’s soul when she went to the mailbox the first Saturday of August and found a letter from Luana. She hurried back to the house and went straight to her room to read it privately.

Taking a seat on the end of her bed, Mandy tore open the envelope. It had been awhile since she’d heard any news from Hawaii, and she was eager to hear how everyone was doing.

The first part of Luana’s letter was about her granddaughter, Primrose. Mandy read every word as though it was meant to be savored. The baby had grown several inches and started to roll over on her own. Luana said it pleased her to have Ailani working part-time at the B&B again. She brought Primrose with her, of course, and Makaio and Luana took turns watching her while their daughter made up the guest rooms each day. Mandy tried to visualize what the baby looked like and wished Luana had enclosed a picture.

Luana also wrote about the nice weather they’d been having and how well things were doing in her garden.

Mandy smiled, remembering how she had enjoyed spending time in Luana’s garden, even when the weather turned hot and humid. Watching the gentle sway of palm leaves, listening to the birds sing, and breathing in the delicate scent of the tropical flowers in the yard filled her senses. She giggled, remembering how a cardinal had left its calling card on her muumuu.

Mandy stopped reading for a minute, while her mind wandered further.
I wonder how Ken is doing. Oh my, I wish I could stop thinking of him
.

As she turned the letter over to continue reading, a sudden coldness hit the core of her being. Her voice trembled as she read the next line out loud: “I ran into Ken’s mother the other day when I was at the farmer’s market. Ken has been seeing someone and is planning to get married in November.”

Mandy’s vision blurred as she stared at the words.
Could Ken have been seeing someone the whole time Ellen and I were on Kauai and not mentioned it? Maybe it was one of those young women I saw him talking to on the beach the day he’d been surfing
. She shifted uneasily on her bed.
Or it could be someone he met after we left—perhaps one of the young women on the worship team at his church
.

Mandy’s shoulders sagged as she reached up to rub her throbbing temples. She couldn’t help feeling disappointed by this news, but she consoled herself with the knowledge that it was better this way. Ken obviously didn’t care for her the way she did him, or he would have contacted her after she’d come home. Her throat constricted.
And he wouldn’t be marrying someone else in November if he’d felt any love for me
.

Mandy finished reading Luana’s letter, then with a heavy heart, tucked it inside a box in her closet where she kept mementoes. Glancing down, she spotted the ukulele Makaio had given her, leaning against the closet wall. Holding the instrument the way she’d been taught, she took a seat on her bed again and began to play a song he’d taught her. The longer she played, the more her heart yearned for Ken and the things she’d discovered on the island.

A long-distance relationship with him wouldn’t have worked, and since neither of them was free to leave their homes and families, it was all for the better. He had a fiancée, and she had Gideon. The brief encounter she’d had with Ken while visiting Kauai was like the vog. It swept in one day and was gone the next. Mandy had recovered from her allergic reaction to the vog. She hoped she could set aside her feelings for Ken, as well, and reestablish the relationship she’d once had with Gideon.

Ellen carried the laundry basket outside and set it under the clothesline. It was a beautiful sunny day—not too hot and not too muggy, which made it perfect clothes-drying weather. She was about to pick up a pair of her dad’s trousers when Sadie rode into the yard on her bike.

“This is a nice surprise.” Ellen smiled. “Are you here for a visit or only out for a ride?”

Sadie parked her bike and joined Ellen by the clothesline. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something, so I’m glad you’re here this morning.”

“Okay. We can chat while I hang the clothes, or take a seat at the picnic table under the shade of the maple tree when I’m done.”

“I’ll help you hang the laundry. When we’re finished, we can sit and talk.” Sadie picked up a towel and clipped it to the line.

Once all the wash swayed gently in the breeze, they both took a seat at the picnic table.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Ellen asked.

“Barbara and Gideon.”

Ellen blinked rapidly. “You mean Mandy and Gideon?”

“No. I’m talking about Gideon and Barbara.”

“What about them?”

“I’ve seen them together several times since Barbara and I got back from Hawaii.” Sadie paused. “Gideon even gave Barbara a ride home from one of the young people’s singings a few months ago.”

“Was this before or after Mandy and I arrived home?”

“It was before, but I saw them together again last night.”

“Where?”

“At the benefit auction in Shipshewana. They were sitting next to each other during most of the bidding.”

Ellen sucked in her lower lip. “Was Mandy there, too?”

Sadie shook her head. “I figured she’d be with Gideon, but when I asked him about her, he said she had a koppweh and didn’t feel up to going.”

“I didn’t go, either. Mom had a dress she wanted to make, so I stayed home to help with it.” Ellen fiddled with the ties on her head covering. “Do you think Gideon’s interested in Barbara?”

Sadie shrugged her shoulders. “Whether he is or not, I believe she’s interested in him. While you and Mandy were on Kauai, Barbara talked a lot about Gideon. She kept saying how sorry she felt for him and that if he was her boyfriend, she’d have come home right away.”

Ellen mulled things over. “Well, as you know, Mandy hasn’t taken classes with us to join the church.”

“Jah, and I’m surprised. If she and Gideon are making plans to be married, she’ll need to get baptized and join.” Sadie rubbed the side of her neck, her tone uncertain. “Maybe things aren’t going well with them because of Barbara.”

Ellen shook her head. “I don’t think it’s Barbara’s fault. Mandy lost interest in Gideon while we were in Hawaii.”

“Are you sure?”

“Jah. She rarely talked about him, and whenever he called, she didn’t talk long at all.” Ellen paused, wondering if she should say more.

“Wonder why? I’ve always heard absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder.”

Ellen took a deep breath and sighed. “Mandy became infatuated with a young man named Ken. He came over to the B&B to deliver eggs and chicken, and it didn’t take long before he started taking Mandy—and sometimes me—out to see some of the sights on Kauai.”

“Did Mandy tell you she had feelings for Ken?” Sadie questioned.

“Not in so many words, but I could see it in her eyes when they were together and whenever she talked about him.”

“Was he interested in her?”

“I believe he was. That is, until I…” Ellen dropped her gaze as she clasped her hands together in her lap.

“Is there something else you were going to say?”

“Jah.” It wasn’t easy to admit what she’d done, but she needed to get it off her chest. “One evening after a bad storm, Ken came by the B&B to see if everyone was okay. Luana, Makaio, and Mandy had gone to bed, so Ken and I visited a few minutes.” Ellen’s voice cracked. “We talked about Mandy, and in order to discourage Ken from pursuing a relationship with her, I told him Mandy had a boyfriend waiting for her back home, and they were planning to be married.”

“You did the right thing. If I’d been there, I would have told him that, too. It would be horrible for Mandy’s folks and everyone else she’s close to if she’d stayed on Kauai and married an outsider.”

“The time Mandy and I had in Hawaii was good, and I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience it, but it wasn’t our world—the one we were born into and have become a part of since we were
bopplin
.” Ellen lifted her chin. “Mandy’s future is here with Gideon. We need to make sure no one—not even our friend, Barbara—comes between them.”

Sadie’s forehead wrinkled. “We can pray about the situation and maybe interject our opinion if asked, but the future of our friends is in God’s hands, not ours.”

Gideon shook his horse’s reins to get him moving faster. He was on his way to Mandy’s to take her for a buggy ride and felt anxious to get there. In the months Mandy had been back from her trip, things had been strained between them. She’d often had some excuse not to see him when he suggested they do something together. Since she’d agreed to his invitation this evening, he hoped things would go well. Her distant attitude certainly wasn’t from a lack of him trying. Gideon had invited her out several times, as well as to his folks’ for supper. When Mandy first returned from Hawaii and seemed so distracted, he’d figured it would take a little time before she readjusted to life at home. But it seemed to be taking forever, causing him to have more doubts. He and some of Mandy’s other friends hadn’t joined the church yet, deciding to wait until fall, and hoping Mandy would be part of their group.