Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two

by Naomi King

  She hadn’t gone ten steps toward the house, however, when she noticed Matt Lambright leaning against a tree. Katie laughed at the silly face he was making, clapping her hands over her eyes to imitate him. Had Matt been the reason her daughter was so wiggly while she was talking to Titus? Had Matt been waiting to see her?

  He stepped toward her, smiling. The breeze sifted through his wavy brown hair and, as he closed the distance between them, Rosemary noticed how his black vest accentuated his broad shoulders…how fit and strong he was compared to the older men she’d been spending her time with lately. “I was hoping we’d have a chance to visit before they call us to supper,” he said.

  “Puppies?” Katie piped up. She pointed toward the pasture gate.

  Before Rosemary could nip that idea in the bud, Matt put his fingers to his lips. With a loud, piercing whistle he summoned his border collies, and even as Katie covered her ears with her hands, she was squirming to get down.

  “I’m not so sure this is a gut idea,” Rosemary protested, struggling to keep hold of her child. “I was going to help your mamm and Abby set out the supper.”

  “With all the neighbor ladies and the Lambright women—Dat and I are the only two fellas in the family, you know—I’m thinking our helpers will be tripping over one another.” Matt turned toward her again, a smile lighting his entire face. “How about if you be our guest for the day, Rosemary? It’s your turn to be the served rather than the server.”

  Her heart fluttered, yet she frowned. Matt’s words were very thoughtful, but she had no intention of spending the rest of the day with him. Had he told Zanna he wanted to be matched up with Rosemary for supper? “I’m about to put Katie down for a nap—”

  “No nap!” Her daughter squealed and clapped her hands together. Matt’s two black-and-white dogs were loping toward them, their tongues lolling and their gazes alert. “Puppies! Play with the puppies now!”

  Matt held out his arms, entreating Rosemary with his chocolate-colored eyes. “Maybe if I hold her, down here where she can pat the dogs—”

  “Pleeease?” Katie pleaded as she reached for Matt. “Wanna play with the puppies, Mama.”

  Utterly frustrated, Rosemary turned her daughter over to Matt…and was dismayed by how rapidly Joe’s child grabbed this stranger around the neck. Katie danced in the air as Matt lowered her to the ground. Thank goodness the two dogs sat with their ears pricked up, remaining absolutely still while Katie fussed over them.

  “Stand right here with me, Katie, and I’ll show you some tricks my dogs know,” Matt instructed quietly. “It’s always best to get their attention first, calling them by name. Can you say ‘Panda’?”

  Katie gazed into Matt’s face as he crouched beside her. “Pan-dah!”

  “Jah, you’ve got it. Can you say ‘Pearl’?”

  The toddler frowned, as R’s were still difficult for her to pronounce. She studied the way Matt’s mouth moved as he said the dog’s name again, more slowly. “Puhh-el?” she mimicked.

  “Jah, that’s the girl dog’s name,” Matt confirmed, “the one with the white face. Now say, ‘Panda, speak!’”

  “Pan-dah—speak!”

  The male dog woofed and wagged his fluffy tail. Beside him, Pearl quivered with the same excitement, waiting for her turn to perform. While Rosemary enjoyed watching well-trained dogs—and she realized how important Matt’s two helpers were in his sheep business—it was another thing altogether that Katie had become so enthralled with this man and his border collies.

  “Now let’s give Pearl a turn,” he suggested as he kept an arm crooked around Katie’s waist. “Say, ‘Pearl, shake hands.’”

  Katie focused intently on the white-faced dog. “Puhh-el,” she said as clearly as she could, “shake hands!”

  The female dog immediately lifted her paw.

  “Nice and easy now,” Matt murmured, “you can shake Pearl’s paw.”

  Rosemary held her breath. Katie loved every animal she met. She had to be reminded that horses were easily spooked when they were approached from behind by little girls they couldn’t see and that birds and squirrels weren’t as tame as the kitties that lived in the barn. As her daughter reached for the dog’s paw, it was a wonderful thing to behold Katie’s enthralled grin even as Rosemary realized this was a game her daughter would want to play every time she saw a dog.

  But isn’t it nice when something so simple can make someone so happy?

  Rosemary blinked. Where had such a thought come from? And while she knew Katie should be around men besides her grandfather, her mother’s heart—her widow’s heart—was reluctant to let go…to allow her toddler to delight Matt Lambright the way he was so effortlessly enchanting Katie. It was too soon after Joe’s death to even consider the attentions of another man. Rosemary simply didn’t have time for a new relationship. Keeping house for Titus, raising Katie, acting as a stand-in mother for Beth Ann, and baking pies for two cafés required every ounce of energy she could muster.

  How could she tell Matt she wasn’t interested in him without ruining the joy he’d created for Katie? As Rosemary considered her words, a loud voice rose from the crowd of young people who’d gathered near the greenhouse.

  “It’s time for our unhitched friends to partner up,” announced Jonny Ropp, standing behind them. “As we read your names, you fellows are to take your girl by the hand and go inside. We did our best at matching up all you cousins and friends from out of town.”

  Rosemary’s heart pounded painfully. She turned to look at Jonny Ropp, the handsome young groom, as he stood beside his new wife. Their faces glowed with happiness—and a hint of mischief.

  “Oh my,” she gasped as she reached for Katie. She wanted no part of this matchmaking. Such a wedding game was for folks who were still searching for their life partner, and that didn’t include her. “Come on, punkin, it’s time for your nap.”

  “Nooo!” Katie howled, struggling against the hands around her waist. “No nap! Play with the puppies!”

  Rosemary’s face felt like it was on fire. No doubt her daughter’s outburst had brought Jonny’s announcement to a halt, and the whole crowd was gawking at her, thinking she had no control over her child. But this was a minor, momentary humiliation compared to sitting beside some poor fellow she didn’t want to talk to as they endured the evening meal.

  “Rosemary, it’s all right.” Matt leaned closer to make himself heard above Katie’s wailing. “I’d be honored to sit by you—”

  “You don’t understand.” Rosemary held Matt’s gaze as best she could, considering she had a toddler kicking and screaming in her arms. “I still miss my husband too much to— Surely Zanna’s picked a nice girl from Cedar Creek for you to sit with.” Holding fast to her crying child, Rosemary hurried toward Abby’s tiny white house. Like Katie, she needed a place to settle down so she wouldn’t spoil the matchmaking game for the other guests.

  But Matt didn’t take the hint. He raced ahead to open Abby’s front door, and then he gazed earnestly at her. “Can I call you tomorrow, Rosemary?”

  Her mouth fell open. “I—I bake pies on Friday mornings, to deliver in the afternoon,” she insisted as she stepped inside. Katie’s wails echoed in the simple, clean front room, yet Matt didn’t seem to notice.

  “What about Saturday?” he insisted. “Or if Sunday after the preaching service would be better—”

  Rosemary muffled Katie’s cries against her shoulder. Her temples were starting to pound, and all she wanted was a quiet place to be alone. “All right then, Saturday afternoon,” she rasped. “But please understand, Matt. I’m not ready for another man in my life. And maybe I never will be.”

  “And maybe I can change your mind about that.” He placed his hand lightly on Katie’s shuddering shoulders. “After what Titus has told me, I hope you and I can be gut friends, Rosemary. Close friends, in time.”

  What could she say to that? It seemed much too soon to consider a relationship, yet he was already counting on on
e. And how was it that Matt’s touch seemed to be calming her daughter’s crying fit?

  “I’ll call you around two then—after dinner and before you’d be starting supper. Will that work?”

  She blinked. Men seldom had any notion about timing their activities around hers. “I—I suppose I could talk for a bit then.”

  “Wonderful-gut!” Matt gazed at her, still rubbing her daughter’s shoulders. “Katie seems more ready for a nap, so I’ll slip out now. Talk to you on Saturday.”

  As he departed with a shine in his brown eyes, Rosemary could only stare after him. What had she just gotten herself into by agreeing to take his call?

  At a serving table inside the greenhouse, Abby cut a peach pie into eighths and slid the pan over so her friend Emma could place the slices on plates. A pleasant breeze came through the open windows and the places were set at the long tables draped with white cloths. The sandwiches and salads had been put out, awaiting the young couples who would enter as Jonny called out their names. The white wedding cake graced the eck, the raised corner table where the wedding party would eat. Once the plates of pie were arranged on this serving table, she and Emma could relax.

  Emma lifted a wedge of pie with her metal spatula. “Do you suppose Zanna and Jonny matched us up with anyone?” she asked as she glanced at the crowd outside.

  Abby was wondering the same thing. She had declared herself a maidel when she’d had her home built, after starting her Stitch in Time business, and yet…it would be a nice surprise if she got to sit beside James, wouldn’t it? But if her sister had matched her up with another fellow because there wasn’t a more suitable young woman to pair him with, well, she was beyond feeling the evening would be ruined because of that. Emma, however, was a few years younger than she, still eager to court and marry.

  Abby raised her eyebrows at her best friend. “Anybody who’s between sixteen and thirty is usually included in the bride’s pairing up,” she pointed out. “That includes us—and you’d be mighty happy to be matched up with Matt. Am I right?”

  Emma’s expression wavered between hope and despair. “Seems he’s mighty interested in that gal with the little girl, showing off his dogs and—”

  A loud wail made Abby glance outside, but with such a crowd around Jonny it was impossible to see whose child had begun to fuss. “Rosemary Yutzy came with her father-in-law, Titus, today, not so much because she wanted to but because he refused to let her stay home.”

  “And they drove all the way from Queen City?”

  “Jah. Seems Titus wanted to talk to Matt about his sheep.” Abby heard envy and frustration in her friend’s voice, and she understood Emma’s predicament perfectly. She, too, loved a man who seemed to have no notion of her feelings for him. The fact that she and Emma were sweet on each other’s kin and lived right across the road from them added an ironic twist to their situations.

  “Maybe Matt’ll lose interest in her,” Emma replied tartly. “James has driven us to Queen City for the last few holiday dinners, and it’s a long couple of hours. Or maybe the trip seems endless because Mamm fusses at Dat, and he doesn’t want to hear her.”

  Outside, Jonny’s voice carried over the crowd around him. “Owen Coblentz and Phoebe Lambright,” he called out. He waited for a few teasing whistles to die down before announcing the next couple. “Gideon Ropp and Gail Lambright.”

  “Oh, that’ll make Gail happy,” Abby murmured. The wailing of that fussy child got louder, and she caught sight of Rosemary Yutzy heading down the lane toward her house with a squirming, screaming Katie on her hip—and Matt jogging ahead to open the door.

  Abby glanced at Emma, relieved that she was too busy cutting pies to notice the way he was talking to Rosemary in the doorway. “I’ll take these empty pie pans to the house,” she said, carefully starting toward the rear exit of the greenhouse with a stack of them in her arms. “I’ll be back in a few.”

  “Save me a spot in the kitchen,” Emma called after her. “I’ll probably be eating there with all the parents, you know.”

  “Matt Lambright and Emma Graber,” Jonny announced in a loud voice.

  Abby turned in the doorway to grin at Emma. “You’d better head outside so Matt can find you. Have a gut time tonight!”

  “Jah, well—” Emma looked flustered yet indescribably happy. “I’ll need to thank Zanna for her gut taste in pairing us up, ain’t so?”

  Abby wondered how Matt would react to this match. However, she was more concerned about the harried young mother she saw stepping inside her house, trying to control a wailing, frustrated child. Rosemary and Katie were probably both exhausted. And it was obvious that as long as Rosemary missed her husband so desperately, she wasn’t ready to find another one.

  “Noah Coblentz and Maggie Ropp,” Jonny continued, reading from his list. Abby was nearly to Barbara’s kitchen door, walking as fast as her wobbly load would allow, when she heard, “James Graber and Abby Lambright.”

  Abby’s heart stopped. She nearly dropped the stack of pie plates. Luckily, Beth Ann was standing inside, where she could see how full Abby’s arms were through the glass. She swung open the door. “It’s a gut thing we saved back a few pies here in the kitchen,” she remarked as she removed several pans from Abby’s stack. “My favorite has always been coconut custard. What’s yours?”

  Abby carried the rest of her load over to the sink. Sam, Rudy Ropp, and Amos Coblentz were setting up tables in the front room for the married adults so the younger folks could have their fun with the bride and groom in the greenhouse. “If it’s a cream pie, I want lemon with lots of meringue. But cherry’s my favorite fruit pie, hands down.” Ever so carefully, she set the pie plates in the warm dishwater. She needed to check on Rosemary and Katie, yet she didn’t want James to think she had run off. Glancing around the kitchen, which bustled with women and school-age girls, Abby spotted Ruthie taking a platter of sandwiches from the fridge.

  “Ruthie, can you do me a favor?” she asked. “I’d like to see if Rosemary needs my help, but the bride and groom have matched me up with James for supper—”

  “I wonder who told them to do that?” Ruthie teased. “Come on, Beth Ann! Let’s make up a wild story about Aunt Abby while we go find James. Nobody ever said that courting couples are the only ones who can have fun this evening.”

  Out the two girls rushed, slamming the door in their excitement. Abby’s mamm and her sister-in-law, Barbara, were taking the lids from bowls of applesauce and slaw. “You’ve been helping with meals all day, Abby, so go on now! Eat with James,” her mother insisted.

  “Jah, this would be a gut time for me to get better acquainted with Rosemary and that little girl who seems to think Matt hung the moon,” Barbara joined in. “We saw him out the window, showing off his dogs. And now he’s chatting with her at your place.”

  Abby smoothed her apron, pleased that she didn’t have to keep James waiting any longer. “Meanwhile, Zanna has paired Matt up with Emma for supper—and Emma also thinks he hung the moon,” she replied. “That’s fine with Rosemary, who’s missing her husband today. But Matt’s smiling at young Mrs. Yutzy like I’ve never seen him look at a girl.”

  Mamm and Barbara walked with her to the door and peered outside. “Well,” her mother said, “the thing about young love is, it either works out—”

  “Or not,” Barbara finished. “We all have to learn how to handle that. So you go have a gut time, Abby. Leave things between Matt and Emma—or Matt and Rosemary—to work themselves out.”

  “Could be he won’t court either one of them,” Mamm added as they stepped outside. “Folks hereabouts all thought Leroy Lambright would hitch up with Alma Bender—”

  “The same Alma that Titus Yutzy married?” Barbara cut in.

  “Jah, she was just one of the gals who was sweet on Leroy, back in the day.” Abby’s mother raised her eyebrows. “But catching a man’s a lot like fishing, you see. You’ve got to toss out the right bait.”

  “Mamm!” Ab
by gasped. “Maybe we’d better save this story for another time—if it’s not too embarrassing to tell.”

  “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, young lady,” her mother declared. “When you’re ready for some advice about landing a gut man, I’ll tell you all my secrets. We want to see you happy at whatever life you choose, Abigail.”

  And what was this talk about bait and secrets, coming from her mother? Abby hurried down the lane toward the greenhouse. Her dat, Leroy, had been gone for more than a year now, but this was the first time since his passing that her mamm had seemed so…playful. Happy and ready for whatever life brought her next.

  And wasn’t that the best way to spend each day? Happy and ready for whatever God offered? Abby looked toward the young folks who awaited Jonny’s next announcement. When she saw James, who was talking to Beth Ann and Ruthie, her heart fluttered. She might well have a home and a business of her own, but wasn’t there room in her heart for more love?

  Chapter 6

  James laughed with the two young girls who had concocted an outrageous reason for Abby being late to join him for the supper. Hadn’t this been a day of surprises? By the looks of it, Ruthie had taken the Yutzy girl under her wing and they had become fast friends. Titus Yutzy seemed like a man come back from the edge of the grave, chatting about his new partnership with Matt. And meanwhile, Matt had taken a very obvious shine to Rosemary.

  And what had come over him today? After the wedding ceremony, Abby had told James he was a fine man for accepting the way Zanna—originally his intended bride—had married Jonny Ropp instead. She had been holding Zanna’s baby to her shoulder, and he had blurted out that Abby surely must be made of love and sunshine, like little Harley.

  What had possessed him to say such a thing? He had seen Abby holding each of Sam’s four kids when they were babies, so what was different about the way she cradled Zanna’s infant son?