Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two (25 page)

“I’ve got some visiting to do tomorrow,” Titus continued with a mysterious lift to
his eyebrows. “At my age, I don’t want to take on a mortgage, so I’m selling out.
Starting fresh—but the new place will be paid for in full.”

He looked pointedly at Rosemary as he handed her the bowl of peas and carrots. “Do
what you want to with your property, but whoever buys this place might offer you a
fair price for your land, as well. Or do you really figure on staying behind, building
that house you and Joe got the blueprints for?”

Rosemary nearly dropped the vegetable bowl. Titus’s abrupt tone told her he was more
interested in knowing whether he’d have a housekeeper in Cedar Creek than he was concerned
about her future. Or was that an unfair assumption? Was she hearing this whole
conversation through her dismay at the prospect of moving so far from her own family
and friends—and on such short notice?

“Maybe that depends on the offer I get for my land,” she hedged. It wasn’t fair that
Titus had information he wasn’t sharing, yet he expected her to give an answer that
would determine her entire future. “Who do you have in mind to talk with? Joe paid
a gut price for our ground, buying it from an English fella, but that doesn’t mean
I’ll let it go cheap just because an Amish buyer thinks he’ll be doing me a favor,
taking it off my hands.”

Titus’s eyes widened. “You could show some gratitude for the home you’ll have in Cedar
Creek, Rosemary. You’ll be closer to Lois’s shop, where you can sell your pies. Not
to mention living right across the road from a young fella who wants to get hitched.”

Beth Ann’s eyes got as wide as saucers. “You and Matt Lambright are gonna get married?”

“NO!” It was all Rosemary could do to stay at the table. How had this conversation
strayed so far down this path, and so fast? “Your dat is jumping the gun, just like
he seems to forget that I came here of my own accord to help out.”

Beth Ann’s wavering expression warned Rosemary to tread carefully. Her own feelings
weren’t the only ones she had to consider. “While it’s true you both welcomed me into
your home,” she went on, cutting chunks of hamburger steak for Katie, “I have my mamm
and sister to consider. Just like it will be hard for you to move away from folks
you’ve known all your life, Beth Ann, going to Cedar Creek will mean I’ll be leaving
my family and friends behind, as well.”

“But…but without you, Rosemary, we won’t be a family.”

The kitchen got very quiet. Beth Ann’s wistful words hung over the table like a rain
cloud. Titus looked ready to reprimand his daughter, but Rosemary held up her hand.
Oh, but this was a prickly patch of nettles they had strayed into, and she had no
idea how to get out of it gracefully…lovingly. She had seen this crossroads from a
distance, as though she’d been driving a buggy, looking for the turnoff to a place
she’d never been. Now that she’d reached the intersection of Move Forward and Stay
Put, the decision loomed larger than she had anticipated. And her choice would affect
Beth Ann and Titus as much as it would determine her own future.

“We will always be a family, Beth Ann,” she said. “But just like you’ll someday meet
a fella and move out of the house to start another branch on the family tree, I have
choices to make for Katie and me that might shoot us off in a different direction.
Sometimes we lose branches in a storm and sometimes we grow new ones, but it’s still
the same sturdy tree.”

Titus sat back. He looked grateful for the way she’d framed her answer. “I’m seeing
this as a chance to get back to my roots—a fresh start, even at my age.” He ladled
gravy over his meat and potatoes. “I suppose it’s only fair to Joe’s memory—to the
investment he made in that piece of ground—to see what offers you get before you make
your decision, Rosemary. But as for me and my house,” he quipped, rephrasing the verse
from the book of Joshua, “we’ll be moving to Cedar Creek when the Bontrager place
is emptied out.”

“As well you should. Seems like the whole situation has come about mighty fast,” she
replied. “I’m happy for you.”

For the rest of the meal an uneasy peace prevailed. Titus seemed intent on eating
twice his usual amount while Beth Ann drew her fork through her potatoes and gravy,
lost in thought.

“Mama! More!” Katie crowed, pointing to the bread basket.

As she buttered another slice of the bread she’d baked that morning, it struck Rosemary
that
more
was exactly what they all needed right now. Beth Ann craved more love and attention
at a difficult time in her young life, while Titus wanted more companionship from
old friends and his new partner, Matt.

And what do
you
want more of?

The question lingered in Rosemary’s mind after Titus went out to do his sheep chores,
as she and Beth Ann washed the dishes.
Would God think she was ungrateful for all He had given her, if she wanted a life
of her own choosing? Did God, like Titus, figure that as a woman, she should be happy
with whatever the men in her life provided for her?

“Guess I’ll finish our new jackets,” Beth Ann murmured as she draped the dish towels
over the drying rack. “Sounds like I’ll be packing up my room pretty quick, with no
time to sit at the sewing machine for a while.”

“Jah, we’ll be plenty busy, you and I, getting ready for whatever comes next.” Rosemary
stood in front of Joe’s little sister, squeezing her shoulders. “Your dat acts like
it’s all to be smooth sailing and moving forward, but he’ll hit a few bumps come time
to leave this house,” she said softly. “No matter what happens, though—no matter whether
I go to Cedar Creek or stay here—I love you, Beth Ann. And you can talk to me whenever
you need to. I’d miss it a lot if we couldn’t do things together.”

So why would you leave me?
Beth Ann’s forlorn eyes seemed to ask.

It was a question that would torment Rosemary until she made her final decision to
go or stay.

Beth Ann went upstairs, and within moments Rosemary heard the steady whirring of the
treadle sewing machine in the spare bedroom above her. Meanwhile Katie had opened
the lower cabinet door to haul out the pots and pans, but Rosemary wasn’t in any mood
to hear her banging on them. “Outside we go, punkin,” she said as she scooped her
daughter into her arms. “Let’s cut the lettuce and spinach. And who knows? Maybe the
bunnies will be playing in the garden.”

“Bunnies?” Katie’s face lit up, and Rosemary laughed. She plucked her baskets from
the mudroom shelf, and as she stepped outside into the early-evening sunshine, she
felt better. Planting loud, playful kisses all over her giggling daughter’s face lifted
her spirits, too, and when she set Katie down she marveled at how much
steadier those little legs had become. Her toddler took off across the yard, squealing
when a rabbit sprang from behind the leafy rhubarb plants at the garden’s edge.

What a difference it made, getting out of the house, after baking and delivering her
pies this morning and her terse conversation with Titus. It seemed the rows of carrots,
beets, lettuce, and onions had grown taller since the last time she’d worked in the
garden, and the recent rain had made the weeds pop up. As Rosemary cut the tallest
leaf lettuce, she heard the phone ringing. Ordinarily, she might let the caller leave
a voice mail, yet after receiving so many surprises over supper, something prodded
her up off her knees. She sprinted to the shanty and grabbed the receiver. “Jah, hullo?”
she said breathlessly.

“Rosemary, it’s Abby Lambright. I’m glad I caught you close to the phone.”

Who wouldn’t feel better, hearing that happy voice? “Well, I’m glad, too, Abby. How
are you?”

“We’re all gut here, thanks—and we’ve got some plans brewing for a sewing frolic next
Saturday.” Abby paused for a moment. “You probably know by now that Salome Bontrager’s
got a baby due in August—and that she and Perry plan to move soon.”

“Jah, I’ve heard about that, all right.”

“Well, we’re making it one big get-together for all the neighbor gals, sewing baby
clothes and a new quilt here at the house. We’d love for you and Beth Ann to join
us,” Abby continued in an excited rush. “I thought it might be a gut way for you two
to get better acquainted here in Cedar Creek. And truth be told…”

Abby apparently assumed Rosemary had decided to move to the Bontrager house with Titus.
That aside, wouldn’t a sewing frolic be a fine way to spend time with Beth Ann, doing
what she loved best?

“…Matt was already thinking of coming your way for a visit with Titus about his sheep,”
Abby went on. “So he’d be willing to leave here bright and early, pick you girls up,
and then drive you back to Queen City after supper that evening.”

That meant Matt would be in for a very long day, and spending nearly eight hours of
it on the road. But that was his choice, wasn’t it? “Is this your sly way of putting
Matt and me together again?”

Laughter erupted from the receiver. “You saw right through me, then?” Abby teased.
“But honestly, Mamm and I had been looking for a gut time to host a party for Salome,
and with all that’s happened for the Bontragers—and for you—these past couple of days,
we thought we’d better have our frolic sooner rather than later.”

“Mighty nice of you to think of us, Abby,” Rosemary murmured.

“And why not have Beth Ann bring those strips for the rag rug her mamm was going to
make?” Abby continued. “Zanna will be here, and there’s nobody better for showing
Beth Ann how to crochet those strips into a pretty piece she can remember her mother
by.”

Rosemary’s heart welled up with so much gratitude, she gripped the phone to keep from
crying. “Abby, that’s the sweetest, most thoughtful idea. It was awfully nice of you
to think of Beth Ann this way. What time should we be waiting for Matt?”

“He’ll probably be there by eight, eager as he is to see you.” Abby laughed softly.
“I’ve told him to take it a little slower, to give you time to adjust to all these
changes in your life, but—well, Matt will be Matt, ain’t so?”

Yes, Matt
would
be Matt. But before Rosemary had to fend off his exuberance again, she would spend
a week clearing out closets…pondering the big decisions about where she would live
and what she wanted to do with her life now. And didn’t a sewing frolic sound like
a better way to spend next Saturday than packing?

“We’ll be ready to go when he gets here,” Rosemary replied. “And, Abby, denki so much
for this invitation. You’ve just made my week a whole lot brighter.”

M
att wondered if he looked totally idiotic as he clapped the reins lightly on his horse’s
back, but he couldn’t help himself. After a brief assessment of the flock that Titus
would be moving, Matt was leaving the Yutzy place on a sunny Saturday morning with
Rosemary seated beside him, and he’d never felt so grand. Sure, Beth Ann and Katie
sat behind them in the buggy, but if their presence made Rosemary more comfortable,
he was fine with that.

And wasn’t this what it felt like to drive a family around? It could be
his
family someday. He guided the horse onto the county road, looking for a good start
to a conversation.

“It was a nice surprise last week, to get Abby’s invitation to the frolic,” Rosemary
said, sitting primly against the far side of the seat, hands clasped in the folds
of her black dress and apron.

“Truth be told, I was happy to get out of the house and come for you,” Matt confessed.
“Dat and I will be making ourselves scarce while you hens—er, you
girls
—do your sewing and chitchatting.”

“Gut thing, too. Gives us more of a chance to talk about you while you’re not around.
Not that we’d gossip, of course,” she added.

She was keeping a straight face, but oh, Rosemary’s green eyes
had a special glimmer when she teased him this way! Matt shifted so his thigh nearly
touched her skirt…wanting to sit closer, yet aware they had an audience. “Meanwhile,
we fellas will be helping Perry get his equipment out of the sheds,” he said. “That
also involves making decisions about what to do with his dat’s woodworking tools and
lumber left from his cabinetmaking, in that shop behind the house.”

“Jah, we’ll have that on our end, too,” Rosemary said more solemnly. “Won’t be easy
for the Bontragers or for us, moving away from homes full of memories and belongings
of people who won’t be going with us. But we’ll figure that out. We’ll handle it,
come time.”

Matt was sorry he’d introduced a topic that had made Rosemary’s sunshine duck behind
a cloud. They rode in silence for several moments.

“Matt? Matt!” Katie piped up behind them.

He turned to grin at her. She was perched on the seat beside Beth Ann, watching him
intently.

“Matt, hi!” she said, waving her hand.

“Hi yourself, Miss Katie. It’s gut to see you this morning,” he replied. Who wouldn’t
be captivated by this little pixie in her dress the color of a butterscotch pie?