by Marta Perry
Panic grabbed her, shook her. She was responsible for her little sister, and something had happened to her.
Common sense asserted itself. That was foolishness. Nothing could happen to Rhoda in broad daylight on a quiet street. Not with Caleb barely twenty feet away in his shop.
Katie yanked out her key and unlocked the door, sweeping inside to the jangle of the bell. “Rhoda?”
Her voice echoed through the silent shop. The back room? She hurried across the floor. Nothing. It was empty.
Rhoda must have gone up to the apartment—maybe to the bathroom or to get something to eat. In that case she’d probably close the shop. It was silly to imagine anything else.
Katie trotted up the stairs, calling her sister’s name. It took no time at all to check out the four rooms. Rhoda was nowhere to be found . . . her bed made, her closet door closed, everything as neat as a pin.
Beating back the worry that ate at her, Katie returned to the shop. No note lay on the counter. The cash register was locked.
She stood for a moment, staring at the counter, biting her lip. There was no helping it. Evading Caleb was now out of the question. She had to ask if he knew where Rhoda was.
Walking to the archway, she paused for a second before continuing into the shop. Caleb was working on a small chest, running a polishing cloth along its surface. When he saw Katie he stood up, watching without a word as she approached.
“Caleb.” She forced herself to meet his eyes. “I just got back from the Mud Sale.” Where I learned something shocking about you. “I thought Rhoda was here. Did you see her leave?”
An expression of distaste appeared in Caleb’s face and was as quickly gone. Who did he disapprove of? Her? Rhoda? Both of them?
“Ja, I saw her.” His face was as wooden as the chest. “She closed up and went out about half an hour ago.”
“Did she say where she was going?” Katie hated to pursue it in the teeth of his obvious reluctance, but she had to.
“Not to me.” He ran a cloth over the chest, as if to suggest that he was busy.
Katie’s jaw tightened. If he thought . . .
Her shop door opened, and she spun around. Rhoda stood there, holding a foam mug in her hand, a wisp of steam rising from it, partially obscuring the guilty look on her face.
“Katie. I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
Stalking back into her own shop, Katie seemed to feel Caleb’s disapproving gaze on her back. “That is obvious, I think.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Rhoda’s gaze evaded hers. “Just because I went for a coffee . . .”
“When you were supposed to be keeping the shop open.” The worry she’d felt for Rhoda was rapidly being replaced by annoyance. “You could have waited until I got back. Or gone up to the kitchen for coffee.”
“Nobody came in here all morning.” Rhoda flared up in an instant. “You can’t expect me to hang around for no reason at all.”
Katie tried to hold on to her temper. “We had an agreement. You’d watch the shop while I went to the sale, and then I’d take over so you could go.”
“It’s no big deal.”
Sulkiness turned Rhoda into a grown-up replica of her six-year-old self, pouting because Louise was allowed to go to a quilting and she wasn’t. That was Rhoda, as quick to anger as she was to laughter or to tears or trying something none of her sisters had done, just for the fun of it.
“Don’t let’s argue.” Katie put her hand on Rhoda’s arm. The girl was only sixteen, after all. Katie couldn’t really expect grown-up behavior from her. “I was worried, that’s all, when I came back and there was no sign of you.”
“Ja, well, I’d have left a note if I thought you’d be here before I returned. I just ran down to the corner to get a coffee to go and came straight back.”
But Caleb had said she’d been gone for half an hour. It didn’t take half an hour to do that.
Confront Rhoda? Katie was tempted, but that would mean letting Rhoda know that Caleb had told her. She’d be resentful, and maybe rightfully so.
Katie closed her eyes for a moment. Taking responsibility for her little sister was proving considerably more challenging than she’d expected.
“Katie?” Rhoda’s voice had gone soft, and she clasped Katie’s hand. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”
That was the little sister she remembered—her soft heart leading her to regret a moment after she’d done something foolhardy.
“No, I’m not mad.” She squeezed Rhoda’s hand. “But next time—”
“I won’t do it again, I promise. I won’t let you down again.”
“All right, then. We’ll forget it.” She turned toward the counter, careful not to let her gaze stray toward Caleb. He probably thought she was being too easy on the girl, but it wasn’t his business, and she didn’t care what he thought. “Go on to the sale, now. Don’t spend all your money in one place, ja?”
Rhoda’s smile was like the sun breaking through the clouds. “Denke, Katie. I won’t.” She scurried out the door as if she were afraid Katie would change her mind if she lingered.
Maybe she should have insisted Rhoda stay at the shop. That’s what Mamm would have done.
Katie rubbed her forehead. They still hadn’t had a talk about whatever it was that had led Mamm to bring Rhoda here. She felt hamstrung, knowing too much but not enough. Still, she wasn’t Rhoda’s mother. All she could do was try to be the best sister she could.
Flipping the sign to OPEN, she walked back to the counter. She probably wouldn’t have a customer all day, but she’d said she’d stay open, and she would.
Like Caleb, and his shop. Except that Caleb’s reason was apparently far different from hers.
The three-hour worship service moved toward its conclusion. Caleb tried to keep his attention focused on the bishop’s words. Or on Gideon and Rachel’s barn, with its rafters rising above their heads and its floors swept and scrubbed, where the service was being held this Sunday. He’d best think of anything, in fact, but Katie, who sat a few rows ahead of him on the women’s side.
Or, for that matter, from focusing on the teenagers, who sat in a row toward the front with a solemnity that didn’t disguise their interest in each other.
He glimpsed the back of Becky’s kapp, the soft brown hair fastened securely under it. Next to her sat Rhoda Miller, head turned slightly to the side so that he could see the resemblance between her profile and Katie’s. Rhoda’s kapp tilted, and he thought she whispered something to Becky.
He frowned. He was trying to be fair to the Miller girl, but he couldn’t help feeling she wasn’t the best friend for their Becky.
And now he was looking at Katie, unable to escape the feeling that she’d handled the girl incorrectly yesterday. She’d let Rhoda get away with her irresponsibility.
As for that story of the girl’s, he knew full well Rhoda had been gone far longer than it would take to get a cup of coffee. Probably flirting with one of the boys along the way.
Katie, slim and erect on the backless bench, seemed oddly vulnerable when he was looking at the curve of her nape instead of at the stubborn jaw and snapping eyes she so often showed him. Katie was too young, in his opinion, to have charge of a high-spirited teenager like Rhoda. Her parents should have kept the girl at home and dealt with her themselves.
He tried to imagine Mamm and Daadi shipping one of them off to live with someone else. He couldn’t. Mamm and Daadi had handled any mischief or disobedience themselves, with love and kindness, but firmly.
Well, folks were different, and he had to hope Katie’s parents knew what they were doing. As for Katie . . .
He suspected he was past the point of staying detached from Katie Miller’s concerns.
His brother Andy, sitting next to him, dug his elbow into Caleb’s ribs, just as he’d done when they were kids and he’d thought Caleb wasn’t paying attention. Caleb grinned at him, reminding himself that he lived with his older brother, just as Rhoda
now lived with her older sister.
But that was different. He wasn’t a difficult teenager. His smile disappeared. He focused his gaze on Bishop Mose as he began the final prayer, but he found his mind forming a prayer of his own.
Show me what is right, Lord, and I will do it.
In a few minutes the service had ended. The barn doors swung open, letting in a path of May sunshine. The usual after-service bustle began. Women collected young ones and herded them outside, while others, along with a flock of teenage girls, headed for the kitchen to bring out food.
Caleb joined Andy and the other men in converting the backless benches into tables for their meal.
“Thought you were dozing off there toward the end of the service,” Andy said, flipping the bench up with the ease of long practice.
“Caleb wouldn’t do that.” Gideon, their host, joined them, adding some extra muscle to the task. “He’s the serious one of the family, ain’t so?”
“So folks say, but I’ve known him too long to buy that,” Andy retorted.
“Don’t listen to him,” Caleb said, relieved at the interruption. He certainly didn’t want to talk about the reason for his distraction during worship. “At least I’ve never dozed off during the sermon.”
Andy grinned. “I’d been up all night helping that stubborn mare give birth, and you know it.”
“So you tell us.” He was in a mood to be glad of the careless teasing that went on among them. He’d known Gideon near as long as his own brother, and Gid had been one of the few who hadn’t ever doubted him.
“Looks like your Becky has made a new friend.” Gideon straightened, nodding to where Becky and Rhoda, heads together, were walking toward the house.
“Ja, that’s so,” Andy said. He leaned against the table they’d just erected. “Becky is doing some work for Caleb at the shop now, and she’s gotten thick with Rhoda Miller. A gut thing, I think.” He gave a short nod. “Becky is so quiet and shy, we figure it helps her to have a friend who’s as lively and outgoing as Rhoda.”
Andy wouldn’t say that, Caleb guessed, if he’d heard what Caleb had the day before. Caleb was caught like a fly in a spider web, not knowing whether to speak or not. If he said something, if Andy and Nancy discouraged the friendship between the girls, Katie wouldn’t have any doubt about who to blame. Not that that would prevent him, if he was sure he was right.
But he wasn’t sure, and he didn’t like the feeling. He wanted to know what was right and do it, no matter how that might look to anyone else. Or what it might cost him.
“Maybe that gives Becky a little more confidence,” Gideon said, seeming to agree. “I hear we’ll see her at the singing tonight.”
Gideon and Rachel, having hosted worship that morning, had said they might as well have a singing for the young folks tonight, since the barn was all cleaned up. Getting ready for when their own young ones launched into their rumspringa, Caleb supposed.
“Ja, Becky and Rhoda are coming together.” Andy put out a hand to slow down his youngest boy as he went spurting past. “You and Rachel will keep an eye on things, ja?”
“That’s certain-sure.” Gideon grinned. “But I guess we might have to let a few kisses go unnoticed, with the older ones.”
“Ach, stealing a kiss is all part of growing up,” Andy said, his own smile reminiscent.
Say something? Or not? If Caleb did, word would get around. People would start talking about Rhoda, and he didn’t like the idea of causing that.
Gideon clapped his shoulder. “We could use a few more adults tonight, Caleb. How about if you join us, ja?”
“I don’t think—”
“Ja, that’s a gut idea. Becky would hate it if her mamm and I came, but she wouldn’t mind seeing her onkel there.” Andy sounded a little too jovial, knowing as he did the trouble that had emerged during Caleb’s rumspringa. “You go, Caleb.”
Caleb couldn’t help how stiff he got at the words. “I’m not such a gut example for the young people.” He tried to turn away, but his brother’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“That’s foolishness,” Andy said, his voice firm. “Nobody thinks about that old story anymore. It’s forgiven and gone. You can’t act like a hermit because of that.”
It was so unlike his normally taciturn brother that Caleb could only stare at him.
Andy reddened a little. “You know it’s true, what I say. You never look at a woman, never go to anything you can get out of. It’s not the way you should be living, I’m certain-sure of that.”
“I don’t—”
“Then prove it,” Gideon said. “Komm tonight. You know Becky would like that.”
He didn’t like this surprise attack, but Gideon was right about one thing. Becky would be happy to see him there tonight. And if he was at the singing, he could observe Rhoda’s behavior for himself.
“Ja, all right,” he said finally, knowing when it was best to stop arguing. “I’ll be here.”
“Gut,” Gideon said, slapping his back. “I’ll tell Rachel. She’ll be glad we have some extra help. And since you’re coming, you could do something else for me.”
“What is it? Do you need soda? Snacks?” He might have known they’d have more for him to do.
“You can swing by and pick up Rhoda and Katie,” Gideon said. “Katie’s coming to help out, too.”
Gideon walked away before Caleb could object.
And anyway, what would he say? To refuse would be unkind to a sister, and he couldn’t do that.
But he was being thrown together with Katie and her sister, as if he didn’t already see enough of them, and he didn’t have to like it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Katie wasn’t sure what was more awkward on the ride to the singing that evening—the endless giggles of the girls in the backseat or the utter silence that stretched between her and Caleb in the front. Amish men typically didn’t chatter, but she’d think he could say something as the horse clopped along. She’d assumed at first that he was concentrating on the traffic, but once they turned onto a winding gravel road, that wasn’t an issue.
The road wound between pastures and through dense stands of hemlock and hickory trees. Slanting sunlight touched the fresh green growth, so much lighter and brighter than it would be later in the summer. She looked toward the distant ridge, where the setting sun had begun to turn the clouds to purple. Still . . . everything was so still, save for the girls’ soft voices and the clop of the horse’s hooves.
She slanted a glance toward Caleb, but his strong-featured face gave nothing away. Probably it would be better if she could clear the air between them over Rhoda’s behavior the previous day, but she could hardly do that with Rhoda sitting behind her.
Katie could be imagining the heavy disapproval that came from Caleb, but she didn’t think so. It was only too obvious that he didn’t care for the friendship that had grown between his niece and her sister.
Well, if he wouldn’t speak, she would. “It was kind of you to pick us up tonight for the singing, Caleb.”
“It’s nothing.” His gaze was fixed at a spot between the horse’s ears. “Gideon suggested it.”
Did that mean that Caleb wouldn’t have made the offer if Gideon hadn’t thought of it? Probably. She tamped her annoyance down.
“I am used to having a horse and buggy of my own,” she said, “but it wasn’t practical to try and bring them this far. My cousin Aaron has a buggy I can use, so I’ll probably buy a horse.”
That got Caleb’s attention, and he swung toward her, brown eyes seeming to frown. “Where will you keep them?”
She stared blandly back at him. “Bishop Mose said that I can share the stable behind the building with you. After all, you only use it during the day.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I’m sure your cousins would be happy to take you anywhere you need.”
“Ja, they would, but I’m used to getting myself where I want to go.” She hadn’t particularly looked for such independenc
e, but it had found her.
“If you were my cousin, I would not want you to have to do things like that.” His voice grated on the words.
“Then it is a gut thing you are not my cousin, ain’t so?”
He didn’t bother answering, just turned in at the farm lane behind several other buggies, all headed for the barn where they’d worshipped that morning. A small white sign announced the presence of RACHEL’S GARDEN, NO SUNDAY SALES.
Katie clamped her lips shut. She’d said too much, no doubt about it.
If Rhoda were to be happy here, she needed friends like Becky. For Rhoda’s sake, Katie should make an effort to get along with Becky’s uncle. Too bad he had the ability to bring out all the worst aspects of her nature with just a look.
Caleb drew into the row of buggies parked along the lane, and a couple of boys ran to help. Rhoda and Becky slid out in a hurry, obviously eager to get to the fun, and Katie followed more slowly.
“We want to join the volleyball game. All right?” Rhoda said, nodding to where a net had been set up on the lawn near the barn, a safe distance from the greenhouse where Rachel obviously grew the plants she sold. A fair-sized group of boys and girls, maybe thirty or more of them, milled around the net, probably more interested in each other than in the game.
“Of course.” Katie bit back the impulse to remind Rhoda to behave properly. Rhoda wouldn’t appreciate it, and no wonder. Katie certainly wouldn’t have at that age. “I’ll go and see if Rachel needs any help in the kitchen.”
The two girls darted off. As Katie turned toward the house, Caleb clasped her hand to stop her.
“Katie . . .”
Whatever he was about to say seemed to vanish from his lips. His fingers warmed against her skin, and that warmth began to spread up her arm. She stared at him for a brief, disorienting moment, seeing his eyes darken, feeling the ground seem to shift under her feet.
He surely could feel her pulse pounding against his hand. She should . . .
Caleb dropped her wrist as if he’d touched a hot stove. He took a step back, bumping into the buggy. He shook his head, maybe denying that anything had happened between them.
