A Beau for Katie (16 page)

“It's plain that you argued,” Uncle Jehu said. “You may as well tell us what you argued over.”

“I don't see that that'll be of any use to anyone.”

“Come on. You may as well tell us,” Grossmama said. “You know I'll have it out of you before the day is over.”

Unwillingly, feeling like a boy who'd done something wrong and been caught in his mischief, he explained about the bed. And, as he expected, which was why he hadn't told them what happened in the first place, he got no sympathy.

“Ridiculous,” his uncle declared. “What ever possessed you to think that Susan's bedroom suite would please Katie?”

“I agree,” his grandmother said. “You were completely in the wrong.”

“Wait a minute. You weren't there,” he defended. “You didn't hear what she said to me.”

“Nonsense,” Grossmama replied. “She's as bad as you are. Such impulsive behavior out of two grown people who love each other.” She shook her head. “You're unhappy without her, and if you don't come to your senses, you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life.”

Freeman clenched his teeth together. He would never be disrespectful to his grandmother, but she was wrong to interfere in his affairs. She didn't understand why he couldn't allow Katie to have her way.

“Listen to her,” Uncle Jehu said. “You're making a big mistake. Ivy's telling you the honest truth. You'll never meet another woman like Katie, and you're a fool if you let her go.”

“You two don't understand,” Freeman protested. “I'm not my father. I can't be ruled by a woman the way he was ruled by my mother.”

“Ah, so is that what the trouble is? You think your mother made your father unhappy and you don't want to see yourself in the same fix?” Grossmama asked. She headed for the house and Freeman had no choice but to follow. “He loved her,” she went on. “He let her do and say what she wanted until it was something he cared about. And then it was his will that won out. Your father was a good man, Freeman, but he wasn't a forceful man. He was my son, my only child. No one knows him as I did. He used to say that your mother saved him a lot of worry by making small decisions. It left him free to make the big ones. It was the way their marriage worked. No one can judge whether what they did was always the best, but it was their choice to make. And if you've rejected Katie because of something you believe made your father less than he was, you're dead wrong.”

“You're a man grown,” Uncle Jehu insisted, walking on the other side of Freeman so that he was caught between the two of them. “Not a foolish boy. And men and women work out their differences. You don't turn your back on each other.” He stopped and set his basket of pole limas on the ground and pointed a finger in Freeman's direction. “If you love her, you should be man enough to do what it takes to settle this nonsense. Of course, if it was just a marriage of convenience—”

“You know that it wasn't,” Freeman said softly.

“Then admit that you were wrong,” his grandmother said. “If you'd told me you meant to give her Susan's furniture, I could have told you that it was a crazy scheme. I'd have told you Katie wouldn't go for it, and I have to say, I wouldn't either.” She gestured. “Sell the set or give it to Jehu and me for a wedding gift. We'll be needing a marriage bed, and I always liked those tulips. Cheerful, they are.”

“She's right,” Uncle Jehu chimed in. “A woman wants to pick out her own furniture. I've got a fine bed that suited me and my wife for a lot of years, but I wouldn't think to bring a new wife to it.” He shook his head, making a clicking sound between his teeth. “For a smart boy, Freeman, you sometimes set me to wondering if your brains are made of wood.”

“I think it's too late. Katie and I both said things that shouldn't have been said,” Freeman explained. “I don't know if we can take back those angry words.”

“Of course you can. The Bible tells us to forgive,” his uncle said as he took Ivy's hand in his. “And not just others, but ourselves. We're human and we make mistakes, but a smart man doesn't let a mistake bring him to his knees. Pride and hurt feelings don't mean much compared to a future without the woman who makes up your other half.”

Freeman looked from one to the other and then down at the grass at his feet. He tapped at a weed with his cane. “You think I made a mistake in letting her go?”

“What do
you
think?”

He stared at the ground. “I think...I think I love her and—” his voice cracked “—I think I'll never be happy without her.” He looked up at his grandmother. “You really think I made a mistake in letting her go?”

“Are you slow-witted, grandson?” Grossmama demanded. “Haven't we just said that?” She pursed her lips. “Now, what are you going to do to make it right?”

* * *

The distance from the mill to Sara Yoder's house wasn't far, but it seemed to Freeman to take forever for the horse to cover the miles. Now that he looked at his argument with Katie from another direction and had time to think it over, he couldn't see how they'd let the problem divide them. He didn't know how
he
had let their misunderstanding go so far. He'd been angry that she accused him of still loving Susan and he hadn't been willing to listen to her side. Katie might have been equally to blame, but that didn't matter. He'd let two whole days and nights pass without reaching out to her. That had been his second mistake, and the sickness in his belly proved that nothing would be right until they mended this disagreement.

He shook the reins over the horse's rump. “Get up!” he cried, relieved he could drive again. The animal picked up speed. The wheels of the buggy clattered on the hardtop road, and the farmland on either side of the road sped by.

He was moving so fast that when he turned the horse into Sara's drive, the buggy went up on two wheels before righting itself and bouncing into place. Freeman's pulse quickened. He wasn't sure what he'd say to Katie when he came face to face with her, but he'd think of something. They belonged together, and if he had to light a match to Susan's bed to prove to Katie that he put her first, then that was what he'd do.

When he reined the horse up short near Sara's back door, he saw the matchmaker sweeping the porch. “Sara!” he called. “Is Katie here? I have to talk to her.”

Sara leaned her broom against a post and came down the steps.

“It's nothing we can't settle,” he went on. “Just a misunderstanding with two hotheads facing toe-to-toe.” He looked around, hoping that Katie had heard the horse and buggy drive into the yard, hoping that she would come out of the house.

Sara looked up at him. “Freeman,” she said gently. “Katie's gone.”

He felt a sudden heaviness in the pit of his stomach and went lightheaded. “Gone where?”

Sara's voice was thick with emotion. “I'm so sorry. I tried to talk her out of it, but you know how she gets. Freeman, she's gone to Kentucky.”

“Just like that?” He looked away; his eyes were burning.

“I tried to convince her not to make any decisions while she was so upset. I told her she was being impulsive.”

“I did something stupid. Katie misunderstood, and we ended up arguing. It was all my fault. But I came to make things right, to ask her to forgive me.” He looked down at Sara, standing beside his buggy. “She can't be gone.”

“Do you love her?”

“With all my heart.”

Sara considered him for a moment, then reached up and rested her hand on his forearm. “Then you have to go after her, Freeman. You have to stop her before it's too late.” Her round face was taut with concern. “Because I think she means to marry Uriah as soon as the wedding can be arranged.”

Chapter Fifteen

“C
an you go any faster?” Freeman demanded of the van driver. They were approaching the bridge over the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal on Route 1, headed toward the Amtrak Station in Wilmington. “We have to get there before the train leaves.” Before Katie leaves for Kentucky, he thought anxiously.

“We have to get to the train station in one piece and without me getting a speeding ticket,” Jerry Kaplan answered. Heavy raindrops beat against the windshield and the wipers kept up a steady rhythm.

Freeman leaned forward, gripping the armrest. Jerry, a retired state trooper, was the fifth driver he'd called. The first four drivers who usually transported the Kent County Amish and whom he'd called were either busy or couldn't be persuaded to drive as far as Wilmington. Freeman had never hired Jerry before but Roman at the chair shop in Seven Poplars, where he'd made the phone calls, had recommended him. Jerry was a long-distance driver who also took passengers to the train station or to the Philadelphia or Baltimore airports in his big SUV.

“A lot of other motor vehicles are passing us,” Freeman said. “They can't all be speeding, can they?” The front passenger's seat was pushed back so that his healing leg wasn't cramped, but Freeman couldn't appreciate the comfort. All he could think of was getting to Katie before it was too late—finding her and convincing her to give him a second chance.

“Most are,” Jerry replied. He was a big man, balding, soft-spoken, and still physically fit, despite his seventy-one years. “And most of those who do pass us, we'll see again when we hit heavier traffic up ahead. We would have stood a better chance of catching up with your lady friend if we'd left an hour earlier.” He glanced over at Freeman. “If you remember, I told you there were no guarantees.”

“I know
,
” he agreed. “You were honest with me. And I appreciate you taking the time to drive me. It's just that it's so important I reach her before the train pulls out.”

Jerry Kaplan seemed a decent man and was a good driver. He was certainly an honest one. Freeman had offered the retired policeman twice his normal fare to drive him to Wilmington and three times it if they got there in time to stop Katie from leaving. Jerry had refused the additional fee and declared that his usual charge was fair for them both.

Ordinarily, Freeman would have enjoyed talking with the Englisher. But he had no words or thoughts to spare for anyone but Katie. How could he have been such a thick-headed fool? Why had he been so quick to defend himself and so slow to see her side of the disagreement? Katie was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he might lose her forever because of his own stubborn desire to always have things his way.

He tapped his good foot impatiently as traffic ahead of them slowed to a near stop. Who was he to criticize Katie for willfulness? He was worse than she was because he'd experienced heartbreak before. He should have realized how special his and Katie's relationship was and fought to protect it.

Freeman felt a sick hollowness inside. All he wanted was the opportunity to speak to Katie before she got on that train to Kentucky. He was certain he could get her to reconsider.

If only Jerry could get him there on time.

When Sara told him that Katie had left for the train station, he'd felt as if he'd taken a blow to his midsection, and he still felt sick. He'd gone directly from Sara's house to the Seven Poplars chair shop to use the phone and call for a driver and check the train schedule. He'd left his horse with one of the young men there and asked him to get the animal home to the mill and tell his family where he'd gone.

For once, Freeman wished that the elders in his church approved of cell phones for their members' personal use. Englishers carried their phones everywhere. If both he and Katie had a cell phone, he wouldn't have to chase her down. They could've settled this misunderstanding with one call. But maybe talking to her by phone wouldn't have been enough. And maybe if he
did
get to her before her train pulled out, she'd still reject him.

And then what? He had no backup plan. The only thing he knew was that he loved Katie. He wanted her for his wife. And if he lost her, he'd never find happiness with another woman.

Freeman glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Seven minutes since he'd last checked the time. How far had they gone? And how much farther was the train station? “Please, God,” he whispered under his breath. “I'll be a better man. I've learned my lesson. Let me get there before it's too late.”

* * *

Jerry braked and pulled to the curb half a block from the train station. “It will be faster if you get out here. I'll park in the garage and find you inside,” he said. “Good luck. I hope you find your lady friend.”

Freeman was unbuckled and halfway out of the door before the SUV came to a complete stop. With the help of his cane he took the sidewalk toward the front entrance of the station. People carrying suitcases crowded the way, and a few glanced at him with curiosity. He didn't pay any attention. He barely avoided tripping over a baby stroller loaded with packages and ducked around a woman stopped on a motorized scooter to reach the main doors.

Inside, he passed through a throng of passengers and those who'd come to see them off or pick them up. He looked around for a screen that showed arriving and departing trains. The station was a noisy place with dozens of people milling about: college students, military men and women on leave, families with small, excited children. There was even a blind man with his seeing-eye dog near the entrance doors handing out some sort of pamphlet.

Freeman pulled a piece of paper with the information on the train to Kentucky from his pocket and checked the overhead screen. Almost at once he saw that the train had arrived on time...and it was leaving on time. By the big clock on the wall, he had a minute. Maybe less. Heart pounding, he glanced toward the line waiting by the elevators and then walked as quickly as he could manage to the stairs leading to the track level. “Wait for me,” he muttered. “Wait for me, Katie.” His heart felt as though it was in his throat. Passersby bumped into him, but he paid no heed as he took one step after the next, using the handrail to steady himself.

As he reached the top of the stairs and the open platform, he heard the sound of the wheels on the track. The train was moving out of the station, slowly gathering speed.
“Ne!”
Frantically, he looked along the nearly empty platform. No one sitting on the benches, no familiar Amish dress, no young women at all.

One car after another rolled past. Inside, passengers stared out the windows or settled luggage overhead or under their seat. Freeman scanned the faces. There were no prayer
kapps.
No Katie looking back at him.

He stood there stunned, unmoving, unable to accept his loss as the train pulled away. “
Ach
, Katie,” he rasped. He leaned against the wall. “What have we done to each other?” Her merry face rose in his mind's eye. He could almost hear the peal of her laughter, see the way she tilted her head when she giggled.

A uniformed Amtrak employee pushed a broom down the platform, cleaning up dust and litter. He leaned down to pick up a candy bar wrapper. “Can I help you, sir?” he asked.

Freeman shook his head. He glanced around. The two of them appeared to be the only ones left on the platform.

“Are you waiting for the next train?” the young man asked.

Freeman shook his head, but he registered what the young man had said.
The next train.
This wouldn't be the only train. And missing Katie here didn't mean he couldn't catch up with her farther down the line. He'd find the ticket office and buy a ticket on the next train going south. Better yet, he'd have Jerry drive him on to the Philadelphia airport. If he took a plane, he could get to Louisville ahead of Katie.

He started for the stairs.

“There's an elevator there, sir,” the boy called after him.

Freeman hesitated. He could manage the stairs again, but the elevator might be faster. He turned back and his heart skipped a beat. Sitting on a black suitcase just beyond the elevator, half-hidden, was a figure in a black dress and bonnet. The woman's face was buried in her hands.

It took a moment for it to register what he was seeing. Whom he was seeing.

“Katie?” he called. Goosebumps rose on his arms. “Katie!” he bellowed.

She looked up, saw him and leaped to her feet. Then she just stood there and stared at him. “Freeman?”

One moment they were both standing on the train platform looking at each other, and the next she was in his arms and he was covering her tear-stained face with kisses. “Oh, Katie, darling,” he murmured in Deitsch. “You're here. I found you. I thought I'd lost you. I thought—”

“I couldn't go.” Her words came in a rush. “I realized that if I couldn't have you, I wouldn't marry Uriah. It wouldn't be fair to him. I wouldn't marry at all. I couldn't. Loving you, I couldn't, Freeman. I could never love anyone but you. I'm so sorry.”

He pulled Katie hard against him and held her, oblivious to the amused gaze of the young Amtrak employee. “Forgive me,” he said. “I was wrong. I'm such a fool to quarrel with you over—”

“
Ne
, it was me,” Katie insisted, looking up at him, teary-eyed. “I'm the one who—”

“Shh.” He kissed her tenderly on the lips. “Hush, darling, hush,” he said. “Just tell me that you'll give me another chance. Give
us
another chance. Marry me, Katie, and I promise I'll never mention Susan again.”

“
Ya
, Freeman, I will marry you,” she whispered. “And talk about her as much as you want.” She gave a little laugh, clinging to him as the sound of an approaching train shook the platform under their feet. “We'll talk about her every day as long as I can be your wife.”

“She was right, you know,” Freeman said, holding her tightly. “She and I were never meant to be together. I was meant to be
your
husband and none other. Can you forgive a hardheaded—”

“Miller?” Katie finished for him. “The sweetest man...”

The grinding wheels of the approaching train drowned her words, but Freeman stood there, not willing to let her out of his arms, paying no heed to the shriek of brakes and the hiss of the opening doors.

“I love you, Katie Byler,” he murmured into her ear. “I always will.”

“And I love you,” she answered.

“Kiss her again!” the Amtrak employee with the broom urged.

Freeman did just that to the laughter and applause of the arriving passengers.