“Are you ready now?” Rose asked when the customers walked away. She tried hard to keep the impatience from her voice.
“Jah, unless I get some more customers. That’s why we’re here, Rosie, to make money, remember?”
“I know, but it’s after our normal closing time.”
“Is it?” He glanced at the large clock that hung over the middle of the aisle. “So it is.”
He was deliberately going slow just to annoy her, she was certain. “I’ll help you pack.” All the cheese had to be locked down in the fridges overnight.
“No need. I do it by myself all the time.”
“I insist,” Rose said.
Minutes later, Rose walked with Mark to his buggy.
Before she got in, he said, “It’s only about twenty minutes to my haus. I hope you can control yourself with me for that long—sitting so close to me in this luxurious buggy of mine.”
Rose pulled a face at the ancient buggy that was barely road-worthy. “I could always sit in the back if you’re that worried.”
He laughed. “No need for that. I’m sure I can trust you.” They headed out of the lot, where the horse and buggy had been for the day, and moved onto the road.
* * *
“I hope your parents weren’t too upset when they learned we weren’t together anymore.”
Rose played along. “They were absolutely devastated. It will take them some time to recover. Maybe even years.”
Mark chuckled. “I would imagine it would. They can see I am a reliable hard-working man and what more could they want in a husband for you?”
“Let’s see now. One who is kind, caring, and unselfish?”
He glanced over at her, taking his eyes from the road for one second. “I’m all those things.”
“I know you are,” she said, hoping she hadn’t gone too far with her teasing. The last thing she wanted to do was offend him.
“Well then, your search is over.”
Even though Rose didn’t want to hurt his feelings, neither did she want him getting in the way when she was trying to talk to Jacob over dinner. “You will make someone happy one day, Mark.”
“Jah, I believe I will.”
Rose kept the conversation away from Jacob even though she was anxious to learn all she could about him.
“Here we are,” Mark said when they finally pulled up beside his family home. “I’ll take you in, and then I’ll need to come back out and tend to the horse.”
“You don’t need to come in with me. I can go in by myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.” She got down from the buggy, looking all around to see if she could see Jacob, but he was nowhere in sight. He had to be inside the house. “Denke, Mark,” she called over her shoulder as she walked to the house.
“No problem,” she heard him call back.
She knocked on the door and Mark’s mother opened it. Mark was the second youngest child of eleven children, all of whom had left home except for Mark and his younger brother, Matthew.
“Rose, how lovely to see you.” With both hands, she reached out and clasped Rose’s forearm. “Come inside. I’m always telling Mark to invite you for dinner. I don’t know what took both of you so long.”
“Denke. That’s nice of you.” Rose had struggled to find words. She hadn’t expected such a friendly response. It was as though Mark’s mother thought there was something between her and Mark. Could Mark have made out that there was? It was something he’d do.
“We’ve got a visitor, Mark’s cousin from Oakes County.”
“Jah, I’ve met Jacob. He stopped by the market stall yesterday.”
Mark’s mother ignored what she said, and continued to pull her into the living room where Jacob sat with Mr. Schumacher, Mark’s father.
Both men stood when they entered the room. “Jacob, this is a good friend of Mark’s, Rose.”
Jacob nodded. “Jah, we’ve met before, just yesterday.”
“Hello, Rose,” Mr. Schumacher said.
“Hello, Mr. Schumacher,” Rose answered, doing her best to look at the older man when all she wanted to do was fix her eyes onto Jacob.
They all stood there staring at Rose, and she licked her lips, wondering what she should do. She looked back at Mrs. Schumacher. “Would you like some help with anything in the kitchen?” Rose wanted to speak to Jacob alone, but didn’t want to speak to him with Mr. Schumacher listening.
“Nee, you’re our guest. Sit down and tell us what you’ve been doing lately. I never get a chance to speak to you at the meetings.”
Mrs. Schumacher guided Rose to the couch, and Rose sat down next to Jacob.
When they were all seated, Rose looked around at the three sets of eyes on her. She felt like she was back in school where she had to stand and speak in front of the whole class. Her stomach clenched now, as it had then, and she felt she would be sick.
Rose took a deep breath to steady her nerves before she spoke. “I haven’t been doing anything much. Just going to work.”
“Rose works at the Walkers’ flower stall at the farmers market,” Mark’s father explained to Jacob.
Jacob smiled. “I know, right next to Mark’s stall. I saw Mark there yesterday and I met Rose at the same time.”
Again, Rose felt nervous as the three of them stared at her. “That’s all I’ve got to say.” It was a lame response, but it was either that or silence.
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” Jacob asked.
“I have two older brothers and three younger sisters.”
“The younger two girls are twins,” Mrs. Schumacher explained to Jacob.
Jacob smiled as he told Rose, “My two older brothers are twins and they married twin sisters.”
“That is unusual, but I think I’ve heard of twins marrying twins before. I’ve never personally known anybody who did.” Rose looked at Mark’s parents, hoping they’d both leave the room so she could be alone with Jacob. Jacob was looking at her as though he were thinking the very same thing. At least, that’s what Rose hoped was going on in his mind.
“How long are you here for, Jacob?” she asked, even though she knew the answer from the day before.
“I don’t know exactly. I’m here for a few weeks, anyway, to learn about the buggy making from Harry. There’s a permanent job on offer, but I’m not certain whether to take it or not. My uncle said to try it for a few weeks to see what I think so that’s what I’m doing.”
Rose was delighted to hear about the job offer. Harry was the local buggy maker and people came from far and wide to buy their buggies from him. Rose was sure Harry had around six men working for him.
“And have you done buggy making before?” she asked Jacob.
“Never, that’s why I’m trying it.” He laughed and Rose felt a little silly for asking a dumb question. It was just nerves. He continued, “It’s something I’ve always thought about doing as a trade. I’m an upholsterer already, so I know how to do that side of things.”
“Jah, which would come in handy, I’d imagine.”
At that moment, Mark walked in and sat down with them.
His mother turned to look at him. “Mark, how was your day?”
“It was a fairly good day. We had above average takings.”
“Gut!” his father said.
Chapter 10
“I don’t know how you do it, working at that stall all day,” Jacob said to Mark.
“The market stall provides a good income for the whole family,” Mr. Schumacher explained before Mark responded again.
“I quite enjoy it. I like meeting new people, and taking care of the same customers who come back week after week. I’m good friends with many of them now.”
Mrs. Schumacher said, “Mark is a people person. He’s always been outgoing and friendly, even when he was a little bu.”
Rose quietly agreed. Everyone liked Mark.
Jacob grimaced and looked at Mark. “Doesn’t it get sme
lly working around goat cheese?” He waved his hand in front of his screwed-up nose.
Frowning at Jacob’s rudeness, Mark said, “Nee! Anyway, we sell nearly everything to do with goats. We have goats’ milk soap, yoghurt, and milk; not just cheese.”
“Jah, you’ll need that soap to get the goats’ smell off.” Jacob laughed but no one joined him.
“It’s no more smelly work than, say, buggy making,” Mark replied, now looking either serious or annoyed at his cousin.
“That’s not smelly at all.” Jacob glared at Mark.
Sensing the mounting tension in the air, Rose said, “I have the smelliest job of all.”
Everyone looked at Rose and laughed.
“I think the word you’re looking for, Rose, is ‘fragrant,’” Mr. Schumacher said.
“Jah, that sounds much better,” Rose commented.
“Dinner smells delicious, Aunt Sally,” Jacob said to Mrs. Schumacher.
“I hope you like it, it’s—”
“Goat stew?” Jacob asked.
Mr. Schumacher laughed, while Mark scowled at him.
“I’m sorry, Mark, I was just trying to be funny,” Jacob said. “Your vadder thought it was funny.”
“Our goats are for milking, not eating,” Mark said.
Jacob continued, “Surely you eat the older ones—”
“Nee, don’t talk about that, please.” Rose covered her ears.
“It’s lamb stew, a recipe I got from your onkel’s dear old mudder, your Grossmammi Schumacher, and Mark’s.” She looked at Rose. “She’s gone to be with Gott now.”
“I’m pretty sure I remember her,” Rose said.
“It’s Mark’s favorite food,” Mrs. Schumacher said, smiling at her son.
Rose kept talking, hoping Jacob wouldn’t say anything else to upset Mark. “I can’t wait to try it.”
“Well you can, in about five minutes, as soon as Matthew gets home.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Rose asked.
“Maybe we could leave the men alone for a few minutes. Will you help me in the kitchen, Rose?”
Rose stood and followed Mark’s mother into the kitchen while thinking that it might have been better if Mark had arranged some sort of outing with just a few young people, including her and Jacob. It was awkward having a family dinner at Mark’s house with Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher listening to everything that was said.
Halfway through dinner, Rose wished she had invited Tulip along after all. Rose wasn’t much of a talker and it had been difficult to keep the conversation flowing as well as stopping the tension between Mark and Jacob. Matthew had sat there and barely said a word.
It was after dessert that Mark’s younger brother excused himself and Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher left the other three young people alone in the kitchen to talk.
“Would you like coffee, Rosie?” Mark asked.
“Jah, I would. Do you want me to get it?”
“Nee, I can do it. What about you, Jacob?”
“Jah, I wouldn’t mind one.”
Mark went to the far end of the kitchen and put the pot on the stove to boil.
“Do you know what you’re doing, Mark?” Rose asked with a giggle.
“Don’t you worry about me, Rosie.”
“He knows what he’s doing in the kitchen. He’ll make someone a good fraa one day.” Jacob laughed hard at his own joke.
Rose smiled even though she didn’t find it very funny, and Mark ignored him as he got the cups ready for the coffee.
Jacob turned his attention back to Rose. “So, is it Rose, or Rosie?”
“It’s Rose, but Mark likes to call me Rosie for some reason.”
“I’ll call you Rose. I like the name Rose.”
“Okay.” It didn’t matter what he called her. She liked the deep rich tones of his voice.
“Rose, we’ve got the meeting on Sunday morning. What are you doing after that?” Jacob asked.
“Nothing that I know of.”
Jacob leaned closer and said quietly, “How about we do something together?”
The metal coffee container in Mark’s hands slipped from his grasp and clanged heavily on the floor, scattering the ground coffee everywhere. The container bounced across the room and stopped just near the doorway.
Rose jumped up to help Mark clean up the mess while Jacob laughed.
“Thanks, Rosie,” Mark said. “It looks like we won’t be having coffee after all. How about some hot tea instead?”
“Tea will be fine. You go ahead and make the tea and I’ll clean this up,” Rose said. “Just tell me where the broom and the dustpan are.”
“Through that door.”
Jacob hadn’t moved from his spot at the kitchen table. “I was looking forward to coffee.”
“You still can have it. I’ll scrape some off the floor for you,” Mark said.
Jacob shook his head. “I’ll take a pass on that one.”
* * *
Rose sat on one side of the table sipping hot tea, while looking at both Jacob and Mark. It was like being between two roosters that wanted to fight each other. Jacob had attempted to ask her out, but she didn’t know how to get the conversation back to where it had been before Mark’s coffee-spilling incident.
Perhaps if she jogged Jacob’s memory a little he’d ask her again, or would that appear too desperate? No, she would have to wait until Jacob mentioned something of his own accord.
“So, you have twins in your familye?” Jacob asked her.
“That’s right. Daisy and Lily. They’re younger than I am.”
“I’ve got two older brothers who are twins.”
Rose nodded politely, wondering why he didn’t remember that they’d already talked about that before dinner. “Jah, I think I heard something along those lines.”
Jacob turned to his cousin. “Mark, why don’t you be a good son and see if your parents would like some hot tea?”
It was a large hint for Mark to leave them alone in the kitchen and Rose hoped he’d take it.
“Nee, they wouldn’t. Denke for your concern. They never have hot tea after dinner. Sometimes they have coffee, but now they won’t be having that.”
Jacob turned back to look at Rose and from the way he looked at her, she knew that if Mark had not been there he would’ve asked her out. All hope wasn’t lost. Maybe at the meeting on Sunday he would ask her out again.
When the time came for her to go home, both Mark and Jacob insisted on driving her. It was Mark’s buggy so he won the argument, but Jacob insisted on going along for the ride.
When they reached the house, Jacob looked out at it. “So this is where you live, Rose?”
“It is.”
“It’s quite big,” Jacob said. “It looks so from the outside.”
“Jah, none of us has ever had to share a bedroom even when the boys lived at home. There was a bedroom for each of us. Now Mamm has a sewing room and Dat uses one as an office since the boys are married and gone.”
Through the windows, she could see warm light coming from both the kitchen and the dining room. Without walking inside, Rose knew that Tulip had been waiting up for her, wanting to hear what happened, and she couldn’t wait to tell her everything.
“Denke for driving me home, Mark.”
“Denke for coming to dinner.”
“It was good to get to know you better, Rose. I’m sure I’ll see a lot more of you soon,” Jacob said. “And I would’ve driven you home if my cousin hadn’t insisted on coming with us.”
“I’ve driven Rose home. You’ve come with me,” Mark pointed out to Jacob.
“Denke.” Rose gave him a nod.
When Rose got down from the buggy, she headed into the house and the moment she opened the door, she turned and gave a little wave. It was too dark to see if the two men were looking at her as Mark’s horse clip-clopped back down the driveway.
Rose closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She knew Mark liked her, but now there
was Jacob, whom she hoped liked her. There had been tension between Jacob and Mark the whole night. Next time she’d have to get Jacob by himself somewhere away from Mark. If only Mark hadn’t spilled that coffee right when he had. It had been such an awkward night. No wonder Matthew excused himself and went to bed early. He probably sensed the tension too.
“How was it?”
On hearing Tulip’s voice, Rose looked up to see her sister rushing down the stairs toward her. Rose took off her shawl and hung it on the wooden peg by the door.
“Quickly tell me, or I’ll simply burst.”
Rose giggled and carefully looked around to ensure they were alone. “Let’s sit by the fireplace where it’s warm.”
The two girls sat by the fire, which had nearly burned to nothing.
“I’m sure he likes me,” Rose whispered.
“That’s so great. How do you know?”
“I can tell. He tried to ask me out, but Mark got in the way.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. What does he look like?”
“I’ve already told you that.”
“Tell me again. I have no boyfriend. I have to live through you and let your excitement be my excitement.”
“He’s not my boyfriend. Not yet anyway.”
Both girls giggled and then Rose told Tulip about the awkward evening.
“Rose, he was just about to ask you out. Do you think Mark dropped that coffee tin deliberately?”
“He wouldn’t have done that. At least, I don’t think so. He was the one who invited me there in the first place.”
“Jah, but it’s no secret he likes you; he always has.”
“I just wish that I could’ve been alone with Jacob and gotten to know him better.”
“At least you found out a lot, and the reason he’s here.”
“The worst thing was that he mentioned going somewhere together after the meeting tomorrow.”
“That’s fantastic!”
Rose shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Why is that bad?”
“Because he was interrupted when he was talking. I never got a chance to say yes and he never asked again.”
Amish Rose Page 6
