Letters to Katie (15 page)

The late evening sun shone through the front window, the beams penetrating the clean
glass. He stared at the soft, fading light for a moment before his eyes widened. He
shot up from the couch and touched the curtains. Curtains that hadn’t been there before.

Curtains she had brought. And knowing Katherine as he did, probably curtains she had
made with her own hands.

He ran his fingers over the fabric. What other small gestures had escaped his notice?
He shut the curtains against the fading sun and tried to close his mind against his
conscience. He was about to go out to the barn and settle his horse in for the night
when he spied Katherine’s colorful cloth bag on his only end table.

Now he had an excuse to see her. He’d return the bag, pay her for the groceries, and
tell her how well the meeting went and how much he appreciated her help.

He wanted to do more. Needed to do more. But he couldn’t, not now.

When he returned from the barn, he saw remains of the dinner on the table. One piece
of cherry pie left—Mary Yoder’s pie,
bought at the restaurant. The Wagners had devoured it with delight, just as they had
the rest of the meal.

He put the dishes in the sink; he’d wash them tomorrow. As he stood in the kitchen,
his mind filled with the image of Katie standing at the stove smiling at him, making
a delicious meal from a few simple ingredients.

She was amazing. He couldn’t deny that.

He just had to deny everything else.

C
HAPTER
11

Katherine took a deep breath and tried to compose herself before she walked into the
house. She was bone-tired, having worked a full shift at Mary Yoder’s after a sleepless
night.

On the way home she thought about Johnny again, which threatened to ruin the rest
of her evening. On top of that she had a horrible headache.

Still, she didn’t want her parents to worry or ask questions she couldn’t—wouldn’t—answer.
She forced a smile and opened the back door. When she entered the kitchen, she saw
her mother open the oven and place a loaf of bread inside to warm it.

“
Hallo
, Katherine,” her mother said, shutting the oven door. “How was your
daag
?”

“Gut.”
Katherine walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of pain reliever. Although
she didn’t have an appetite, she added, “Something smells
appeditlich
.”

“Must be the ham and bean soup. I’m trying a new recipe I saw in
The Budget
. I didn’t see
you at all yesterday. Did you work overtime?”

“
Nee
. I was helping a . . . friend.” She couldn’t lie to her mother, but she didn’t have
to admit all the details either. She swallowed two aspirin with a glass of water and
put the glass in the sink. “Do you need help with anything?”

“You could set the table.”

She nodded and fetched the plates. “Where’s Bekah?”

“Helping Judith with some sewing.”
Mamm
arched an eyebrow. “Although who knows how the dresses will turn out. Bekah doesn’t
have your gift with needle and thread.”

“Sewing isn’t her favorite thing.” Katherine set the plates on the table.

“Definitely not. She’d rather be out with your father plowing the field, I think.”
Mamm
opened the gas oven to check on the bread. “Guess we’ll have to eat without her tonight.
Will you
geh
outside and get your
daed
?”

Katherine nodded and went out the back door, through the small backyard. She waved
at their neighbor, Mr. Harvey, who was sitting in a rocker on his front porch. After
a bad start settling into the neighborhood, one that involved his son trying to steal
from him and hurting Bekah in the process, the elderly man had turned out to be a
nice yet quiet neighbor who liked to keep to himself.

She found her father behind the barn, cleaning caked dirt off the plow. “Supper’s
ready.”

He rose, pushing his straw hat back from his florid face. A cool breeze flipped up
the ends of his red hair, which was only just now showing signs of gray. He looked
out at the small
plot of land where they put in their vegetable and flower garden. The grass, green
from summer rains, covered the field, except for the short stubs of cut cornstalks
still poking out of the ground.

“Getting a fine start on the garden,” her father said. “Next week I’ll start plowing.
I’m a little behind on that this year.” He looked at Katherine. “Your
mamm
will be glad.”

“Ya.”
A sharpness pierced her temple. She shut her eyes against the pain.

“Katherine?” Her father approached her. “Are you all right?”

“Just a headache. I took something for it.” She forced a smile. “I’m sure it will
be better soon.”

He nodded but still looked at her with concern. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

“It’s just a headache,
Daed
.”

“That’s not what I mean. You seem . . . different.”

Her father could always sense when something was wrong, even when she tried to hide
her feelings. His question, combined with the pain, sent her over the edge. “There’s
nothing wrong, okay?”

“If you say so.” He frowned, his blue eyes stern. “Tell your
mamm
I’ll be there in a minute.”

Katherine clenched her hands into fists. Frustration welled up inside.

She was tired. Tired of loving someone who didn’t love her back. Weary of her life
being at a standstill. Resentful of everyone thinking she was sweet but not very smart.
Not good enough.
Especially for Johnny
.

But there was nothing she could do about any of it, except what she’d always done—pretend
it didn’t bother her. She let go of her foul mood and gave him the brightest smile
she could, adding the right touch of genuineness. “I’m sorry,
Daed
. It’s been a long day. Don’t worry about me. Everything is just
perfekt
.”

His concerned gaze faded. He grinned. “That’s my
maedel
. The eternal optimist.” He set down the plow. “I’ll deal with this later. Let’s eat.”
He started for the house and she followed.

After supper, Katherine headed for her room upstairs. When she reached the top, she
heard Bekah call her name.

“You have a visitor.”

She turned around and went back downstairs, wondering who. Not Johnny, of course.
Or Mary Beth—she was too busy with her young baby. When she reached the living room,
she was surprised to see Isaac Troyer standing there.

“Hi, Katherine.”

“Hello, Isaac.” She turned and glared at Bekah. Couldn’t she have a moment of privacy?

Her sister smiled and left the room.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Isaac said. “But this couldn’t wait until tomorrow. One
of your coworkers told me where you lived. I hope you don’t mind.”

She shook her head. “Is something wrong?”

“
Nee
. It’s just that I have to
geh
back to Walnut Creek to help my father for a couple of weeks. Not just in Walnut Creek,
but a few other towns in Ohio and New York, helping some farmers establish their alpaca
herds.”

“Alpacas?”

“
Ya
. We’ve raised them for years. Seems more families want to get into the business.
He likes giving them advice in person, and this time he wants me to
geh
with him.” He pushed his hat back from his head. “I won’t be here for the singing
Sunday.”

The singing. She’d been so wrapped up with Johnny she’d forgotten all about Isaac’s
invitation. “That’s all right.”

“But I wondered, would you mind if I wrote to you? I don’t want to lose touch while
I’m gone.”

Katherine paused, only to wonder why she was hesitating. She didn’t have Johnny. Or
any other offers. And Isaac had always been nice to her, and attentive.
“Ya,”
she said. “I’d like that.”

“All right.” He started to back away. “I’ve gotta
geh
, but you’ll be hearing from me soon. Bye, Katherine.”

She followed him to the door and watched him leave. As he got into his buggy, he waved.
She waved back.

“Who was that?” Bekah said.

“None of your business,” Katherine said. She was done wearing her heart on her sleeve
for everyone to see. She deserved something—someone—that belonged only to her. At
least for the moment.

And hopefully, finally, with Isaac’s help, she could put her feelings for Johnny to
rest once and for all.

Sawyer and Laura stood by Lukas’s buggy in Emma and Adam’s driveway. Emma’s cooking
had been delicious, but the company had been subdued. Knowing Laura was leaving in
the morning had put a damper on everything. Now, standing so close to her under the
midnight-black sky, he could only focus on her. Two weeks seemed like an eternity.
He frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Laura moved closer. There was still enough space between them that
if anyone driving by saw them together, they wouldn’t suspect anything. But in the
silvery moonlight that barely illuminated her beautiful face, Sawyer could see the
love in her eyes, a love that reached his heart.

“Nothing,” he said softly.

“It’s not nothin’. You were quiet during supper. You didn’t eat much either, which
isn’t normal for you.”

“I wasn’t very hungry.” He sighed and leaned against the buggy. He took her hand,
rubbing his thumb across the back of it. “You’re leaving tomorrow. I can’t get excited
about that.”

“You wanted me to
geh
.”

“I know. But you want to go too. You need to go.”

Laura nodded. “I’ll be back. Two weeks isn’t that long.”

“It is to me.”

“Sawyer, this isn’t like you. You believe me, don’t you?”

“Of course.” He continued to rub her hand. “Besides, if you don’t come home, I’ll
go to Tennessee and bring you back myself.”

Laura let out a soft giggle, but her laughter faded quickly.
She released Sawyer’s hand. “There’s somethin’ else, isn’t there? Somethin’ that doesn’t
have to do with me leavin’.”

He took a deep breath and stepped away from her. “Cora’s here.”