“I don’t mind.” He might’ve looked at her, but she was too busy staring at her dress to notice. “I like you, too. But I’m not allowed to date while I’m here, and, well, you’ve got twelve brothers.”
The number of her brothers had absolutely nothing to do with anything as far as she could see. Except, she had seen their protective nature before. She squeezed her eyes shut, but even so her cheeks burned hotter than she could ever remember.
“Not to mention you love Timothy—you said so yourself. Today is your wedding day, and I’m not some bachelorette boy toy.”
She gasped, her eyes flew open, and her head jerked in his direction. “Some…some…what?”
He winked.
Never mind hot. Her cheeks were on fire.
“Okay, kissing, hugging, and flirting aside, we just passed three houses, but I saw people in the yards, so we’ll assume they’re fine. There’s an intersection up ahead. Fill in the blank. I go…” He raised his eyebrows, his voice calm as he deliberately changed the topic.
Oh. So they were going to pretend the previous conversation never happened. That was best. Definitely best. Especially since she’d been propelled way out of her comfort zone. “Straight.” Her voice squeaked.
“Danki.” He stopped at the intersection even though there wasn’t a stop sign on any of the corners.
She couldn’t adjust her focus so easily. She cleared her throat but didn’t know what to say. Except, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” His grin was quick. “Like I said, I like you, too. But let’s just concentrate on being friends for now.”
For now. Because that would end when Timothy was found.
Or when Zeke returned to Indiana.
“Where does your friend live?” He drove through the intersection.
“Tenth driveway on the right. I think. I never actually counted.”
“Okay. Let me know when we get near.”
She nodded as they passed a formerly big, beautiful tree uprooted on the side of the road. “Elsie told me that her daadi told you the history of the tree you sawed up.”
“I asked. I also kept them updated on what I was doing. I think it gave them a sense of security to know someone was out there, working to free them.”
“They loved it.” And Grace appreciated his sense of humor in the face of a bad, tragic situation. It made her glad there were men in the world like him and glad he had come here. “So. What made you decide to come to Illinois to help out?”
He frowned. “It happened so fast I actually didn’t give it a lot of thought. My brother and best friend and I were assisting in the birth of a horse. Animals always like to give birth during severe storms, I think. We turned Kiah’s radio on to listen to the weather alerts and mentioned that we’d like to help. Kiah—his real name is Hezekiah—his daed overhead, and he’d somehow already gotten the news and knew about the Mennonites leaving in the wee hours of this morning, and he said Kiah and I could go.”
She looked at him. “Kiah. I thought he said his name was Vernon.”
“Jah, Vernon is…Vernon. He’s from my district, too.” A sigh, as if he didn’t quite measure up to Vernon. “They separated Kiah and me. Probably so we wouldn’t race buggies.” He grimaced. “Sorry, that was insensitive. But Kiah and I do tend to goof off sometimes.”
“That’s normal. My brothers act immature sometimes.” Why would he think that’s a bad thing? But in light of the tornado, maybe it was. “So tell me something else about you.”
Zeke shrugged. “Not much to tell. I have two brothers—Ezra, who is older and married, and Eli, who is three years younger than me—and one sister, Elizabeth, who is sixteen. My mamm works in a cheese store, in the back, but there’s a window so tourists can watch her make cheese. My daed and my older brother both work at an RV factory. Eli does, too, but he’s kind of treading on thin ice there. He misses a lot of work. I understand. It’s kind of monotonous work. I didn’t last there six months. They let me go, and now Daed believes I’m lazy and unmotivated, but really, I just have different goals.” He sounded bitter. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to vent.” He cringed and glanced at Grace.
“You’re fine,” she said, but she shifted away. Did he work at all, other than watching horses deliver in the wee hours of the morning and hanging out with Mennonite missionaries? But then he had muscles, and he knew how to cut fallen trees, so he wasn’t completely lazy. She glanced at the house they passed. A woman was hanging out laundry on the line. A bit late in the day, but maybe other jobs took priority. She waved.
Zeke glanced at the woman. “Is that where your friend lives?”
“Nein. Two more mailboxes. It’s the one shaped like a largemouth bass.”
“The fish. Right. I see it.” He nodded. “I don’t want you to think badly of me. I work at an Amish-owned construction company. My daed doesn’t understand, but he does piecework while I have my hands in the whole building project. Not to mention my boss likes to take time to have fun, so we work as guides on white-water rafting trips, volunteer at a camp for special-needs children, or teach skills at a boys’ ranch during the summer.”
Grace relaxed. That sounded a lot more positive. No wonder he was so good with Patience. Why would his daed think that was lazy and unmotivated? She’d have to pray that Zeke and his daed could heal their differences.
Zeke signaled Charlie Horse to turn in at the fish mailbox, and Grace glanced around. Laundry hung on the line, but someone was folding it. Hallie or one of her sisters. They all had the same build. Hopefully, it wasn’t Hallie. Grace wanted to see her friend but didn’t want to share the news about Toby. But maybe she’d already heard if she’d been in town at the restaurant.
Hallie’s daed was up on the roof with a tarp.
“Halt.” Zeke tugged the reins and Charlie Horse stopped.
The woman at the clothesline turned. It was Hallie. She smiled and came toward them, but then her gaze narrowed on Zeke in curious speculation.
Grace slumped. Her friend looked happy, so that meant she hadn’t heard. Why did the Amish grapevine have to fail now?
“I’m so sorry about your wedding, Gracie. I was happy when I thought I saw you and Timothy turning in, but now I’m confused,” Hallie said, glancing at Zeke as Grace climbed out of the buggy.
“This is Zeke Bontrager. He’s here from Indiana to help with cleanup. Zeke, this is my friend Hallie.”
“Nice to meet you.” Zeke exited the buggy and tied the horse to a post.
“Nice to meet you,” Hallie echoed.
“I’m surprised to see you home. I thought for sure you’d be called in to work.” Grace hugged her friend.
Hallie returned her hug. “I was. I heard your wedding was postponed due to the tornados, so I worked the breakfast shift. I walked since the roads were blocked this morning. What brings you by?”
Grace took a deep breath. She’d avoid the news about Toby for a bit. “We’re out looking for Timothy. He’s gone missing.”
Hallie’s eyes widened. “I saw Timothy in the crowd at the restaurant.”
Zeke’s mouth flatlined. His eyes met Grace’s. Something she couldn’t identify shimmered in the depths of his blue eyes.
Grace’s heart lurched and struggled to find a rhythm when it restarted. Pain knifed through her. Her eyes burned. And for a moment, she might have forgotten to breathe. Timothy was in town? His mamm’s worried expression from this morning flashed in her memory. Then why hadn’t he gone home? Checked on her?
Why hadn’t he…?
Why, why, why…?
Her stomach cramped with rejection. Didn’t he care?
So many questions, but there weren’t any answers.
Yet.
Not that she was sure she wanted to find them.
Not when she could be lost forever in Zeke’s eyes.
She sucked in a breath and looked away at the lonely row of clothes on the line left hanging and forgotten and flapping in the wind. Just like she was.
Timothy was alive and somewhere in town.
Timothy. Was. Alive.
And the comforting blueness of Zeke’s eyes was not hers to get lost in.
* * *
Zeke stilled, his focus on Gracie. Timothy—in town. Would she want to go right away, or would she want to update her friend about the tornado damage and Timothy’s friends first? And why wasn’t she smiling? He understood that she had doubts, but…her groom was alive.
Instead, she appeared…confused. Hurt. And worse, her eyes filled with tears. Big, shimmery drops that beaded on her lashes.
And Zeke, selfishly, wished Timothy hadn’t been found. He wasn’t ready to end his friendship—acquaintance—with Gracie. Not yet. Even though he was supposed to turn around and walk away, content in the knowledge she was with her one true love, he wasn’t ready to do it.
Not yet? That was almost laughable. He might never be ready.
But that didn’t change a thing.
“Timothy’s alive?” Gracie whispered. And one of the tears clinging to her lashes escaped and rolled over the curve of her cheek. She swiped it away.
Zeke wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her.
Just to comfort her. Of course.
“I think. Maybe. Or not.” Hallie shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought it was him. But I might’ve been mistaken, because I said hi to him, but he didn’t respond. He stared at me like he didn’t know who I was. So I moved on with my work. We were very busy.”
Gracie was silent. She just stared.
Wait, no. Another tear escaped. And, wow, it hurt Zeke to see her cry.
“They say everyone has a twin,” Zeke commented rather inanely, backing away. Because he didn’t know what else to say or how to react or even what she was thinking. Besides, he didn’t do well with tears, and she probably needed privacy to vent with her friend. And even if she didn’t need privacy, it wouldn’t be right for him to pull her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulders while he just held her. And prayed. And probably enjoyed the experience way too much.
It was definitely time to turn and walk away.
He glanced at Hallie and tilted his head toward Gracie. “I’ll leave you alone to talk. Do you think your daed needs help on the roof?”
Hallie looked up. “I don’t think he’d refuse. Especially with the breeze.”
Zeke nodded, turned, and tried very hard not to flee from the two friends as he speed walked around the haus to the side where a tall ladder leaned against the building. The ladder wobbled a bit, but he’d climbed less-secure ones, so he ascended it.
Hallie’s daed raised his head as Zeke stepped onto the roof.
Zeke smiled. “Hi. I’m Zeke from Indiana, and I’ve come to help you.”
The older man’s eyes twinkled. “Hi, Zeke from Indiana. I’m Ted from Illinois, and I would appreciate your help. Can you grab that end of the tarp over there and see if you can help me pull it tight? The breeze is not being so cooperative.”
“Sure.” Zeke strode to the other end of the tarp and knelt on it long enough to get a grip; then he shifted off.
“This is a temporary fix, obviously, but I heard the Lantzes lost their barn, and there will be a work frolic there tomorrow. Barns are quite important, you know. More so than leaky roofs.” Ted secured one corner of the tarp, pounding nails in with a hammer. “What brings you by with our Gracie?”
How was it that news of dismantled barns traveled faster than news of three missing young men? Zeke pushed his hat tighter against his head as another gust of wind threatened to send it flying.
And why did wind blow stronger on rooftops?
“Gracie’s groom went buggy racing last night,” he began, maybe a bit too cautiously.
Ted raised his head, his lips turning down and his brow furrowing. “I heard his buggy was found in the bishop’s living room. Are you saying—”
“Nein! Not Toby!” A horrible wail came from one of the two women on the ground. It didn’t sound like Gracie.
Zeke sucked in a breath, realizing too late that Hallie was reacting with the grief over Toby…
Grief that was totally missing from Grace today.
Ted paled and bolted to his feet. He dashed for the ladder.
“Easy now,” Zeke said.
The wind gusted. The ladder lost its footing as Ted bumped against it. His arms flailed.
Oh no, no, no, no, no…
Zeke dropped the tarp and ran, but before he got there, Ted fell. He caught himself on the edge of the roof. Zeke’s hat blew off and soared over the edge.
And the ladder clattered to the ground.
Zeke grabbed Ted’s hands and hauled him back up onto the roof. Ted lay there a moment. Panting.
“You okay?” Zeke stayed beside him, trying hard not to fixate on the now silent ladder, flat on the ground, two stories below.
“Just had about ten years scared off my life.” Ted sat and scooted away from the edge. “Danki.”
The women hadn’t noticed either the clattering ladder or the flying hat. Somewhere in the midst of the tears and clinging, they’d disappeared. Into the haus, probably.
That was just fine with Zeke. Women and tears…some things just don’t mix. They could finish securing the tarp on the damaged roof while the women mourned for…Toby? Timothy? Both?
Ted slumped where he sat on the roof. “Toby and Hallie just started courting. Maybe three, four times as a serious couple.”
Zeke glanced at him, but he had nothing. Nothing. Maybe the best thing he could do was listen. And pray. He stood, walked across the tarp, and grabbed the hammer and button-top nails, then made sure the corner Ted had started was secured. It was sloppily done. He fixed it and added another nail.
“He was a good, solid young man. Planned to join the church this summer. In preparation for marriage, you know.” Ted gulped and then a sob broke loose. A terrible sound.
Zeke secured the opposite corner of the tarp. He still didn’t have any words, but his heart hurt. For Toby. For his parents. For Hallie. For everyone affected by his death. By the tornados.
His eyes blurred. He blinked the moisture back and whispered a prayer that Gott would bring them comfort in this time of loss.
And oh, he blinked. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He meant it, really.
Ted nodded in thanks. “He and Hallie had been friends for years. Years. But there comes a time when a man and a woman can’t be friends. They just can’t. Keep that in mind. At your age there is no such thing as simple friendships between men and women.”
Zeke didn’t have any friends that were girls. Except Gracie. But she didn’t count since she fell in the temporary-friends category. He grunted in response as he moved to the third corner.
Ted released a heavy sigh, swiped his hands across his eyes, and stood. “I suppose Timothy’s gone, too?”
“We don’t know. That’s what we’re doing. Looking for him. For answers.” Zeke moved to the fourth corner.
“You know what you’re doing,” Ted said.
Huh? Zeke looked up. Raised an eyebrow. If he knew what he was doing in the search for answers, he’d already have a good relationship with Daed and know what box to put Grace in…
Ted motioned at the roof.
Oh. The roof. At least here he knew what to do. “I work construction.”
“Hmm. Too bad I didn’t think to grab two hammers.”
Fourth corner secured, Zeke hammered button-top nails in around the edge approximately every six inches, and finished up with a batten strip diagonally across the middle.
Ted stalked across the roof, checking the rest of the shingles and pointing out the ones that needed extra help. Zeke secured some, but lacking another tarp, that was the best he could do.
“I hope Hallie thinks to check on us before she rushes to Toby’s haus.” With the job done, Ted sat on the roof, facing the barn so he could see anyone leaving.
“Is Hallie the only family member home?” Zeke sat beside h
im.
“Jah. She just got home from work about an hour ago. My wife and my two other daughters went to be with my son’s wife. She went into labor in the wee hours of the morning, just before the tornado hit.”
Zeke snorted. “Horses and women.”
Ted acknowledged that with a slight nod. “And cows. The worse the weather, the more likely someone or something will give birth. My wife is a midwife. Oldest daughter is apprenticing. Youngest went along to help however needed.”
Zeke had nothing to say. And the haus remained quiet. No one emerged.
Should they shout?
Charlie Horse snorted.
The horse was probably thirsty. Zeke would need to water him when he was rescued.
If he was rescued.
No. He wouldn’t think like that. Nobody was ever permanently stuck on a roof and forgotten. He didn’t think.
“Daed?” A door shut and Hallie and Gracie came into view. “I’m going to…Toby’s.” Hallie’s voice broke.
Ted stood. Puffed out air. “Can you put the ladder back up before you go?”
Gracie stared up at them, her fingers over her lips, eyes wide. Then she ran around the side of the haus. A second later, Hallie followed.
The ladder banged.
Ted headed in that direction.
Zeke looked toward the sky. Danki, Lord, for not forgetting us. For sending hope. Uh, help. Well, hope, too.
Though maybe the hope part was a bit premature.
Then Zeke stood, grabbed the hammer, and followed Ted.
Hallie and Gracie both held on to the ladder while Ted descended. At the bottom, he turned in Hallie’s direction and held out his arms. She flew into his embrace. Crying.
“I’m sorry, baby. So sorry. I’ll go with you. Perhaps I could help in some way.”
Whatever Hallie said was muffled by her mouth pressed against her daed’s chest. And by the wind gusting past Zeke’s ears as he started his descent.
Gracie’s eyes were red rimmed when he glanced into them. It was good that she’d cried with her friend. It probably did her good.
The Amish Wedding Promise Page 10
