“You’re wearing my scarf,” Mammi said, smiling as if she were floating on a cloud.
“Rose Sue’s mom dropped it off at the registration desk.”
“Here,” Dawdi said. “Let me take your coat.”
“I’m not going to stay,” the doctor said, standing up. “I just wanted to make sure Anna was all right.”
“Well, of course you’re going to stay,” Mammi said. “I counted on it.”
“Thank you anyway, but I’ve imposed on your privacy long enough. I’ll see you next week.”
“Felty, make him stay,” Mammi said with a mixture of amusement and scolding in her voice.
Although Cassie was eager for the doctor to leave, she would have done anything to make Mammi happy. “Have you eaten dinner, Dr. Reynolds?”
He nodded as a smile slowly formed on his lips. “Ramen and hot dogs.”
“That’s a sad excuse for a meal,” Mammi said. “No one goes hungry in an Amish home. One thing we know how to do is to feed people.”
Cassie raised her eyebrows. “We’ve got cold fried chicken and homemade rolls.”
“I couldn’t impose,” he said halfheartedly, wanting her to talk him into it.
“And Cassie made chocolate chip cookies,” Mammi said.
Cassie was already halfway to the fridge. “If a doctor went to your mom’s house to check up on her, she’d feed him.”
He chuckled. “I suppose she would. She’d say it was good karma.”
“Let me take your coat,” Dawdi said.
The doctor slid his coat off his wide shoulders—not that Cassie noticed things like wide shoulders—and handed his hat, scarf, and coat to Dawdi. “I hate to impose,” he said one more time.
Cassie retrieved the food from the fridge and a plate from the cupboard. She put a hearty piece of chicken on the plate as well as a scoop of Jell-O salad, green beans, and a golden brown roll. She motioned for the doctor to sit at the table where she deposited the plate and utensils, three cookies, and a tall glass of milk.
“I hope you don’t mind that it’s cold. We don’t have a microwave, although I could warm up the beans in a saucepan, if you like.”
“This is perfect. Thank you,” Zach said, flashing an enchanting smile. “I don’t eat this well at Thanksgiving.”
“Mammi and Dawdi, do you want anything?”
Dawdi sat on the sofa and seemed to make himself very comfortable. “Not a thing.”
Mammi laced her fingers together. “We’ll sit right over here and not make a peep.”
Cassie smiled to herself. Mammi would do anything to make her guests feel at home, but Dr. Reynolds probably would not require complete silence during his meal.
She dished herself a small bowl of Jell-O salad and sat next to him at the table. She didn’t want him to feel awkward eating alone.
Dr. Reynolds took a big bite of chicken, and by the expression on his face, Cassie would have thought he’d died and gone straight to heaven. “Do the Amish always eat this well?”
“They take their food very seriously. Food is a way to bring families and communities together.”
He held up a spoonful of Jell-O. “Did you make this? It’s got cool little squares of gelatin inside of it.”
“No, my cousin’s wife Lia made it.”
He picked up a cookie and took a bite. “But you made the cookies.”
She nodded.
“They’re the best I’ve ever tasted.”
Cassie refused to blush. How could they be the best he’d ever tasted? She shrugged off his praise. “I can cook, but I’d rather draw.”
“Thus the art history major.”
Cassie’s cheeks got warm. “And for the record, I don’t look at naked people all day.”
He chuckled. “Neither do I.” He relished another bite. “Do the Amish allow drawing?”
“My onkel Perry paints farm scenes on milk cans. We don’t do portraits, but outdoor scenes are permitted.”
“Did you want to do portraits? Is that why you left? Or is that too personal a question?”
He seemed so troubled about offending her that Cassie gave him a reassuring smile. “I don’t mind,” she said. “I couldn’t see living this way for the rest of my life. It’s a good life, but I wanted to get an education. I wanted to see more of the world than the twenty square miles that most people here grow up, live, and die in.”
“But she isn’t going to hell,” Dawdi interjected from the sofa.
“Felty,” Mammi said, “we’re not to make a peep.”
The doctor studied her face. “You looked sad just then. Do you regret your decision? Are you afraid you’re going to hell?”
“My mamm and brothers think I am.”
He bent his head to look her in the eye. “Too personal?”
Absentmindedly, she tapped the spoon against her bowl. “Sometimes I regret what I left behind. Life in an Amish community is predictable. It goes on pretty much the same as it has for decades. And there may be strict rules, but the people don’t often let you down. They adhere to a set of values, and they try to live their religion.”
“It’s very admirable.”
“Too many people don’t believe in decency or self-control. Out there can be a very ugly place.” She clapped her mouth shut. She’d come dangerously close to accusing Dr. Reynolds to his face. She didn’t ever want to have a confrontation with the doctor. Let him live in blissful ignorance.
Besides, she sounded bitter, like a sour old preacher who resented other people’s lives and begrudged them their happiness. Cassie didn’t want to begrudge anybody anything.
Something subtle shifted in the doctor’s expression. “It sounds like maybe you’ve had some bad experiences.”
“Amish boys aren’t like other boys. I never had to wonder about why boys wanted to take me home from a gathering. And I didn’t have to be suspicious if they asked to take me on a drive. When I got to the university, I was pretty naïve.”
He finally averted his eyes and skewered a green bean with his fork. “Now I know I’ve crossed the ‘too personal’ line.”
She felt herself blush again. “I sound terribly disillusioned.”
“No. Sooner or later we all figure out that the world is an unfriendly place.”
“Now you sound disillusioned.”
“I do, don’t I?” He sprouted a crooked grin and took another hearty bite of chicken.
“I’m not sorry I left,” Cassie said. “I sometimes forget that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, especially since I’ve been in that particular pasture before.”
Dr. Reynolds had nearly devoured everything on his plate. “I don’t mean to sound like some hardened cynic. There’s a lot of good in the world, and I guess we all have to realize that even though people will disappoint us, we can’t lose faith in the entire human race.”
Cassie nodded. “You’re right. Good doesn’t exist exclusively inside our little Amish community.”
“There are eight billion people out there,” Dawdi interjected from the sofa.
“Now, Felty,” Mammi scolded. “Not a peep.”
The doctor turned and grinned at her grandparents. “Some of the finest people in the world are right here in this room.”
A warm liquid traveled through Cassie’s veins. Dr. Reynolds was making all sorts of points with her tonight. Was he doing it on purpose?
Loudly scraping her chair out from under the table, she stood and marched to the fridge. “Would you like more chicken, Doctor?”
His eyes widened as if he’d found an extra present under the Christmas tree. “There’s more?”
She stifled a giggle and pulled two pieces from the plastic bag. “Do you like drumsticks?”
“I would die for a drumstick.”
This time she did giggle.
He smiled back at her. “Have pity on me. I haven’t had good fried chicken in a long time.”
“I think you’d better come over more often
, Doctor,” Mammi said, breaking her own rule. “Your mamm wouldn’t want you to waste away to nothing.”
Cassie laid both drumsticks on Zach’s plate. He picked one up and offered it to her. “I don’t want to hog all the food.”
She raised her hands and backed away. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I’d rather not see you cry like a baby.”
It wasn’t fair, the way he smiled and made Cassie’s insides feel like they were doing a square dance. “You’re right. I would cry like a baby. This is just like my mom used to make.”
“I will have Felty get you a bottle of my peaches for you to take home,” Anna said. “There’s nothing like home-bottled fruit to warm your insides.”
After Cassie made sure there was no danger of his trying to give her one of the drumsticks, she sat back down. “Does your mother live in California?”
Furrowing his brow, he paused mid-bite and gazed at her. The emotion didn’t last long, whatever it was. He put down his half-eaten piece of chicken. “She still lives in the house where I grew up. In Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world.”
Cassie raised her eyebrows. “Garlic capital? I didn’t smell anything when you came in.”
He chuckled. “I bathe regularly.”
“What about your dad? Do you have brothers and sisters?”
“My dad’s gone, and I have two older brothers. They both work out of the country doing big and important things.”
“Your mamm must be very proud of you,” Dawdi said.
“Of course she’s proud,” Mammi said. “Her son’s a doctor. Isn’t that a wonderful thing, Cassie?” Mammi and Dawdi obviously wanted to be more involved in the conversation than they pretended they did.
Cassie curled her lips and glanced sideways at Dr. Reynolds. “Wonderful gute, Mammi.”
“Does she live by herself?” Mammi asked. “You said you hoped a doctor would check on her just like you wanted to check on me.”
A shadow flitted across his face. “As soon as I finish my residency I’m going back there to be close to her. She called me earlier tonight and told me she broke her arm falling off a ladder.”
“Oh no,” Cassie said. “That’s terrible.” And it truly was. She could see it in his face.
“She wanted to clean the rain gutters. I keep telling her to save the hard jobs for me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure it’s difficult being this far away. I wish there was something we could do.”
His expression softened. “I wish there was something I could do. She’s got all these paper roses she’s supposed to make for some bazaar, and she’s only got one hand. I even offered to fly home and help, but she thinks I’d make a mess of them.”
“I could knit a cover for her cast,” Mammi said.
“That’s very kind, but I don’t think—”
Mammi sat a little taller as if ready to start knitting at that very moment. “I’ve got weeks and weeks to do nothing. I’d be happy to knit a cast cover for your mamm. I would knit a beanie, but I know it doesn’t get cold in California. And a cast cover will protect her arm if she bangs it against the wall.”
Cassie smiled to herself as she pictured the doctor’s mom pounding her cast against the wall just to test out her cast cover. Dr. Reynolds’s eyes danced as he glanced at Cassie. She smiled and nodded, encouraging him to accept Mammi’s offer. They’d all be happier if he did.
“That’s very kind of you,” he said.
“Wonderful gute,” Mammi said. She took a small notebook and pen from her apron pocket. “What is her name and address? I’ll mail it to her as soon as it’s done.”
“Julie Reynolds, 1420 Montoya Street, Gilroy, California.”
Mammi carefully jotted down the information. “What is her favorite color?”
“Uh, I have no idea.”
Propping on one elbow, Mammi reached down and retrieved her knitting bag from the floor next to the recliner. “I have some pink left over from a baby blanket I made for the auction. I’ll use that.”
“Auction?” Zach asked.
Mammi took an empty set of knitting needles from her bag. “There’s an auction next week to raise money to help pay Miriam Sensenig’s medical bills. She was in a car accident three weeks ago and her neck is a mess.”
The corners of Zach’s mouth drooped. “The Amish don’t have insurance. That’s one of the first things they told me at the hospital.”
“It’s all right,” Mammi said. “We’re tough. We can handle it.”
“I’m sure you can. But tell me more about this auction. Do they raise enough money to even make a dent in the bills?”
“Jah,” Cassie said. “Lots of Englisch come, especially when we have a haystack supper.”
“Wait. Haystack supper? Englisch? Those aren’t terms I’ve heard before.”
“You really do need a tutor.” Cassie felt immediately sorry for opening her mouth. It wasn’t very nice of her to remind him that she’d flat-out refused to be his tutor.
“I really do,” he replied, teasing her with a look of mock longing.
She returned his smile, glad she hadn’t offended him then quickly wiped the smile off her face. Why was she enjoying his company so much? This was Zach Reynolds, frat boy, party animal, and leader of Finn McEwan’s little hook-up club. If she showed any chink in her armor, the charming Dr. Reynolds would try to seduce her faster than an Amish mammi could knit a pot holder. She’d be just another one of the many girls who had been taken in by his good looks and movie-star smile.
Mammi pointed the sharp end of her knitting needle at him. “Dr. Reynolds, you must come to the auction next Saturday. Everybody will be there, including Cassie’s family. You really should meet . . .” She seemed to reconsider whatever it was she was going to say next. “You really should meet the bishop.”
“Oh,” Zach said, “does the bishop need to approve me?”
“Something like that,” Dawdi offered at the same time that Cassie said, “No, not at all.”
Zach’s gaze traveled from Dawdi to Cassie and back again. “Is it permitted for me to come? I’m not Amish.” He forced her to make eye contact. “I’d really like to come, but I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”
“Stuff and nonsense,” Mammi said. “We’ll feel downtrodden if you don’t come.”
“Downtrodden and depressed,” Dawdi added, though he seemed more delighted than anything else.
Zach shrugged and flashed a cocky grin. “I’d love to.”
Cassie gave him a polite smile. What did she care if he came to the auction or not? He could be as persuasive as he wanted to. She would never sleep with him.
“Of course, I won’t be going, with my foot the way it is,” Mammi said. “But Felty can show you around.”
Zach reduced his chicken to a pile of bones on his plate. “That was delicious. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” He scooted his chair back from the table. “Now that I’ve eaten my weight in chicken and rolls, I’d better get going. I’ve got a long day of acne and warts tomorrow. The life of a dermatologist.”
“Is that the kind of doctor you want to be?” Cassie asked.
He shook his head. “A pediatrician. I love kids.”
She hadn’t expected that. Zach Reynolds didn’t seem like the kind of guy who had any use for children.
Mammi held out her hand. Dr. Reynolds immediately went to her and took it. “Denki for coming, Doctor. I’ll be able to sleep much better tonight seeing how well things are going.”
Zach patted Mammi’s hand reassuringly. “If you need anything else, Anna, call me.” He took a business card from his pocket and wrote something on it before handing it to Mammi. “Here is my direct number. Call me anytime. If I’m with a patient, I won’t answer, but I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”
Cassie’s heart leaped to her throat. “Oh, no, Doctor, that isn’t necessary. We’ll be fine. Mammi won’t need to call again.”
“Jah, I will,” Mammi said. “Sev
eral times.”
“But you’re tough, Mammi, remember?”
“Not that tough. It will do my heart good to see the doctor again.”
Cassie turned to Zach. “It’s really not necessary, Dr. Reynolds. We can’t ask you to—”
“Miss Coblenz, please don’t worry. I want to make your grandmother as comfortable as possible.”
Miss Coblenz. It sounded so distant, as if there were a wide, yawning chasm separating them.
And that was the way she wanted it. He wouldn’t dream of trying to make her one of his conquests if they were on opposite sides of the universe.
Dawdi handed Dr. Reynolds his coat and beanie. “We’ll see you at the auction, Doctor.”
Dr. Reynolds acted as if he were looking forward to it. “You will, Felty. What time should I pick you up?”
Cassie’s heart leaped in alarm. “You don’t need to do that.”
“It’s my pleasure, unless you’d rather not. I’m not putting any pressure on you.” He cleared his throat and looked at Dawdi. “Maybe it’s best if I meet you there.”
“Pick them up at four o’clock,” Mammi said.
Dr. Reynolds eyed Cassie as if waiting for her consent, but she couldn’t very well tell him no. It wasn’t as if it were a date or anything. Mammi and Dawdi were the ones who had asked him, and it wouldn’t be very nice to refuse the doctor’s offer. She managed a weak smile and nodded.
He returned her smile and put on his coat. “Okay. Four o’clock.” After an awkward silence of him staring at Cassie and Cassie staring at the floor, Dr. Reynolds leaned casually against the door. “Miss Coblenz, I know it’s cold, but do you mind coming outside for a minute?”
She had to concentrate very hard to keep from choking on his invitation. Certainly he wasn’t going to ask her out, was he? She studied his expression and saw nothing there to give her alarm. He’d behaved himself very well tonight. She’d trust him as far as the porch.
He must have sensed her hesitation. He curled the corners of his mouth upward, showing a hint of bright white teeth. The look suited his face very well. “I don’t bite.”
She forced a casual laugh. “Yes, I know.”
I know? Oh sis yuscht, what a stupid thing to say.
Huckleberry Hearts Page 7
