“I’m sure she’ll do fine,” Rosemary said. “Girls, you are welcome to take my car. And you’d better hurry, or you might not be able to join your friends in time.”
Katy grinned, overcome by Rosemary’s generous and trusting offer of her car. She wished she could give Rosemary a big hug of thanks, but for some reason it still felt funny offering spontaneous hugs to her stepmother. Maybe if Aunt Rebecca can make such major changes, I can too. She’d have to give that idea further thought later on.
Shelby asked, “Is it okay if I call Cora and Trisha and ask if they can join us? We haven’t seen them in weeks.”
“Of course,” Katy said. “I was going to suggest it myself.”
A grin spread across Shelby’s face. “Afternoon of fun, here we come!”
While Shelby called their friends, Katy changed into a lightweight floral dress and put on brown sandals in place of her tennis shoes. She tucked a pair of socks in her purse, though, to wear with the bowling shoes then made her way down the stairs. But once she reached the bottom, someone knocked on the front door.
“Oh no,” Shelby groaned, “not now. We’re supposed to be getting out of here!”
Katy crunched her lips into a sympathetic grimace. “Let me check to see who’s here. If it’s a sales call I’ll get Dad. Then we can go.”
Shelby sighed and shuffled toward the kitchen.
Katy skipped to the front door, gave the lock a fierce twist, and swung the door open. But once again no salesman stood on the porch. Instead, she looked into the smiling face of Jonathan Richter.
Chapter Twelve
“H-hi, Jonathan,” Katy said, trying not to sound as surprised as she felt. From now on, every time someone knocked on the front door, she would think of Jonathan. Her heart fluttered at the realization.
“Hi. I’m sorry to barge in on you unannounced, but I’ve got the afternoon free, and —”
Shelby limped up beside Katy, impatience marring her brow. “Oh. Hi, Jonathan.”
Jonathan bounced a smile at her. “Hi, Shelby. I was just telling Katy, I’ve got the afternoon free, and I thought I’d go out to the pasture and spend an hour or so with Saydee and Shadow.” He turned to Katy again. “But I wanted to ask your permission first.”
Katy clung to the edge of the door, wishing her pulse would slow down. Why did it tend to gallop whenever Jonathan came around? This boy was too appealing. “S-sure, I told you before — feel free to spend as much time as you want with them.”
“Great.” He smiled, his whole face lighting. He raised one eyebrow. “Are you going to be out there at all today?”
He sounded so hopeful. Katy gulped. Oh, how she wanted to say yes! But she’d promised Shelby a trip to Salina. “I doubt it. We’re going bowling. In Salina. Shelby got a hold of a couple of our high school friends to see if they can join us — kind of have a girls’ time, you know?”
His eyebrows twitched downward and then back into place. “No Bryce? He’s — from Salina too, right?”
Katy nodded then shook her head. “He’s from Salina, but we aren’t calling him … today.” A strange twinge of disappointment coiled through her chest. Shouldn’t she long to see Bryce even if she’d decided she needed to back off?
“Oh.” Jonathan offered a quick nod. “Yvonne went with Justin and some of the others. She asked me, but …” His grin turned sheepish. “I’m not very good at bowling. I’d probably hurt somebody.”
Shelby said, “That’s too bad. Might’ve been fun, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time with the horses.” She waved. “Well, we’ll see you later, Jonathan.” She turned and stumped quickly toward the kitchen.
Katy gawked after her. Had Shelby intended to be rude? She faced Jonathan and lifted her shoulders in an apologetic shrug. “I guess Shelby’s ready to go, so …”
Jonathan grinned and slapped his bill cap over his tousled blond hair. “Have a good time. Thanks for letting me hang out with your horses.” He turned and bounded off the porch.
Katy closed the door and hurried after Shelby, who waited beside the back door. “Shelby! What is with you? You basically dismissed him!”
“I’m sorry if I came off as uncivil.” Shelby didn’t look sorry at all. “But I was just trying to help you out. You said it wouldn’t work for you to be in a relationship with Jonathan, but every time he comes around, you get all … I don’t know … kind of soft and goofy. You don’t have any willpower where he’s concerned.”
As much as Katy wanted to, she couldn’t deny Shelby’s assessment. Being around Jonathan did funny things to her stomach. She just hadn’t realized it showed. She’d need to watch herself.
“So I figured I’d help you out by sending him to the horses.” Shelby tipped her head to the side. “If you want, we can just take the horse cart out to the pasture instead of going bowling.”
For a moment, Katy was tempted to do as Shelby suggested. But hadn’t she decided she should stay away from Jonathan? And Shelby really wanted to go to town. Plus she’d already asked Cora and Trisha to meet them at the bowling alley. She sighed. “No, Dad gave us permission to go to town, so we’re going.”
“You sure?”
Katy nodded emphatically. “I’m sure.” She grabbed her little purse from its hook by the back door and hurried Shelby outside before she changed her mind.
Katy swung her arm and released the sparkly blue ball she’d chosen from the rack because it reminded her of Jonathan’s sparkling eyes. Behind her, Shelby, Cora, and Trisha cheered as the ball curved toward the gutter then swerved back to center. The ball careened into the triangle of red-striped white pins, and they crashed and spun. Katy held her breath — would she get a strike? But when everything settled, two pins in the far left corner remained.
“Awww!” she groused, but she smiled.
“You can pick ‘em up, Katy,” Cora said, clapping wildly. “Get your spare!”
Katy flashed a grin over her shoulder. “I’ll do my best!”
Although she’d experienced some apprehensions about coming, she was having a great time with her Salina friends. The Schellberg kids occupied the two lanes to Katy’s right, so she was a part of their group too. Sort of.
Her ball returned, and she scooped it from the tray. Poised, she envisioned the course the ball would take, then stepped up and let it fly. It hit neatly between the two pins, sending them both off the lane. A spare! Katy jumped up and down and clapped while Trisha, Cora, and Shelby erupted in whoops. Smiling, Katy turned to skip back to the bench, but Caleb reached across the little divider between lanes.
He stuck his hand in the air, palm out. “Great shot, Katy!”
After a moment’s hesitation, Katy clapped palms with him.
He pointed at the scoreboard above the lanes. “Look at that! You’re two pins ahead of me.”
Katy would have expected him to pout about her being ahead — Caleb tended to be competitive when it came to games — but instead he seemed pleased.
Then he smirked. “‘Course, the game’s not over yet.”
Katy scowled at him. “I’ll stay ahead, Caleb. Just wait and see!”
“Yeah!” Shelby turned backward on the bench and gave Caleb an exaggerated snarl. “My girl Katy here is gonna stomp you.” Cora and Trisha added their good-natured taunts.
Caleb threw a challenging look across the group. “Oh yeah? Well, how about this? Loser buys the winner ice cream.” He folded his arms over his chest and grinned at Katy. “Willing to back up your talk with action?”
What Caleb suggested was a bet, and Katy knew Dad would frown if she participated in even a friendly bet. But before she could refuse, Shelby piped up, “You’re on.”
Caleb laughed and stepped up to the lane. In three smooth steps, he reached the line and rolled the ball. Katy sucked in her breath as the ball seemed to slide halfway down the lane. Then it began to whirl. A mighty crash! erupted when it plowed into the pins. They flew, bouncing into each other, and not a single one remained standing
. He turned to the girls and bowed. They groaned, but he just laughed.
“Lucky shot,” Shelby teased, and Caleb laughed again. He plunked onto the bench and continued smirking at Katy.
Katy sat beside Shelby while Cora and Trisha took their turns. Shelby nudged Katy and whispered, “Caleb’s been a lot of fun today.”
Katy grimaced, but she nodded. Even though he’d done some teasing, it hadn’t been mean-spirited but playful. She’d actually enjoyed sparring with him. Annika had even joined in, sometimes siding with Caleb, sometimes siding with Katy. Cora and Trisha had added their sassy comments, and they’d all done more laughing than Katy could remember doing in a long time. It felt really good — comfortable — to be having fun with all her friends at the same time.
In the last frame, Katy managed a spare followed by four pins, but Caleb got a strike and then a spare. He ended up beating Katy by six pins.
He punched the air with his fist and whooped. “Ha! Gotcha!” He waggled his eyebrows. “I knew I would.”
“Aw, you just got lucky there at the end,” Cora insisted, sending a fierce scowl across the divider at Caleb.
“Not luck,” Caleb insisted, “self-preservation. If I lost, I’d have to buy all of you” — he swung his arm to indicate Katy and all three of her friends — “ice cream. I’d’ve gone broke!”
Katy shook her head, and the others groaned.
Trisha said, “Challenge round! Give Katy another chance. I know she’ll skunk you.”
“Can’t be a next round.” Caleb sounded genuinely disappointed. “We only prepaid for two rounds, and we’re done.” He gestured to people standing in the waiting area. “Gotta give the lanes over to others.”
With sad mutters, everyone sat down and pulled off their bowling shoes. Minutes later, they ambled into the parking lot in one big mob of kids with Katy and Caleb in the middle of the throng.
Caleb sent Katy an impish grin before raising his voice and addressing everyone. “Hey! Who’s up for ice cream?”
Cheers arose.
“How about Braum’s?” Annika suggested. “Nah, the booths at Braum’s are too small,” one of the older boys said. “There’s a Cold Stone Creamery in the mall. Let’s go there — we can pull tables together in the food court and all sit together.”
Several kids, including Annika, offered their agreement.
Caleb nudged Katy with his elbow. “Got your money ready? I’m probably gonna want the biggest bowl they’ve got.” He rubbed his stomach and grinned. “I worked up an appetite besting you.”
Katy rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop a grin from forming. Since when was Caleb so charming? “You’ll have to be satisfied with a small bowl — that’s all I have funds for. Besides, you didn’t beat me by that much. Six pins hardly warrants a large-sized bowl.”
Caleb laughed loudly and began backpedaling. “Okay, Katydid, a small bowl. See ya there.” He spun and caught up to the others, who waited beside his car.
Shelby limped up beside Katy and gave her a speculative look. “Hmm …”
Katy crunched her eyebrows. “Hmm, what?”
Shelby’s lips twitched. “Caleb Penner just called you ‘Katydid,’ and you didn’t even flinch. What’s up with that?”
Cora and Trisha giggled. Cora jiggled Katy’s arm. “Yeah, Katy, how come you never mentioned how cute some of the boys from Schellberg are? Trisha and I might have to come shopping for boyfriends in your town.” They giggled again.
Katy scowled and headed for Rosemary’s car. “C’mon, you guys. Caleb’s not cute.”
They scurried after her, Shelby bringing up the rear with her crutches. Cora said, “You’re kidding, right? He is cute, Katy. How could you not think his ruffled hair and freckles aren’t adorable? I mean, he looks enough like Bryce to be his brother, and you think Bryce is cute, right?”
Katy stared at Cora. She’d often noticed similarities in appearance between the two boys, but Caleb had never measured up. Mostly because of his behavior. He was so irritating most of the time. But today he hadn’t irritated her. Her ears started to heat.
She jammed the key into the door lock, turned it, and then opened the door. “It’s hard to think of Caleb as cute. I know him too well. And he’s been a major pest ever since we started school together.”
Trisha shrugged. “People can change. He seemed nice enough to me.”
“To me too,” Cora said with a sigh. “Makes me wish we could join you at the mall, but I have to have my mom’s car back by four thirty. So we don’t have time.”
The girls exchanged hugs and said their good-byes. Katy helped Shelby into the passenger seat then tossed the crutches into the back. She pulled carefully into traffic and aimed the car for the mall. From the other side of the seat, Shelby suddenly gasped.
Katy shot her a startled look. “What?”
Shelby waved both hands, grimacing. “Nothing. Never mind.”
Curiosity teased Katy. Keeping her eyes on traffic, she said, “No, really. What?”
Shelby shifted sideways a bit to catch the corner of Katy’s eyes. “If I tell you, promise you won’t get mad?”
Katy couldn’t imagine getting mad at Shelby. She was too easygoing. “I promise.”
“Okay then …” Shelby sucked in a long breath and released it in a whoosh. “I was just thinking about you needing to avoid seeing Bryce or Jonathan because they might pull you away from Schellberg or your dad.”
Katy nodded slowly. For reasons she couldn’t understand, her heart began to thud.
“I mean, Bryce isn’t Mennonite, and Jonathan’s from Pennsylvania …”
Katy sent Shelby an impatient glance. “Okay, so …?”
“Well, it just occurred to me. There is a guy in Schellberg who can be pretty cool when he wants to be. And he obviously likes you. And since he’s both a Mennonite and a Schellberg resident, there’d be no chance of him pulling you away from either your faith or your family, so —”
Katy let out a little screech of protest. “Don’t say it!” The light turned red. Katy jammed on the brakes. Both she and Shelby jolted with the sudden stop. Her hands curling tightly around the steering wheel, she glared at Shelby. “Just because we had one pleasant afternoon doesn’t mean I want to be courted by Caleb Penner!”
Shelby held her hands out in defeat. “You promised not to get mad.”
“I’m not mad!” Katy yelled. Then she drew in a calming breath. The light changed to green, and Katy eased forward.
“But think about it for a minute, Katy,” Shelby said while Katy gritted her teeth and stared ahead. “Like Trish and Cora said, he is cute. And I think the reason he acts so obnoxious sometimes is just to get your attention.”
Jonathan had told Katy the same thing. She clenched her teeth so hard her jaw ached.
Shelby went on. “When he knocks off all the annoying stuff, he’s actually pretty nice.”
Katy wished she could plug her ears, but her hands were busy driving.
“He let you borrow his horse and cart, and I heard someone at your church say he’s been going in to Schellberg every week to take care of your aunt and uncle’s yard and even playing with the boys for a while to keep them occupied.” She reached across the seat and tapped Katy’s shoulder. “So is it possible you might be able to like him … someday?”
Katy grunted.
“Not now, necessarily, but maybe later, when he’s grown up a little more and stop being such a tease?”
Caleb not teasing? Katy had a hard time imagining it. She turned on the blinker and pulled into the mall parking lot. She found a parking spot as close to the doors as possible for Shelby’s sake, then put the car in park. She shut off the motor and lowered her head, toying with the silver key.
“He’s really not that bad, Katy.” Shelby spoke so softly Katy had a hard time hearing her over the pounding of her own heart. “And dating Caleb wouldn’t create any conflict for you with your dad or the church.”
“It might with Anni
ka.” Katy grasped the most ready excuse. “She likes him, you know.”
A sly smile curled Shelby’s lips. “I’m not so sure about that. I saw her flirting pretty hard-core with a couple of the guys at her party, and today she kept talking to Todd.”
That figures … Just when Katy needed Annika to save her from Caleb’s attention, she had to set her sights on someone else. Katy curled her fist around the key. She couldn’t find another reason to argue. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She forced a smile. “Let’s just go eat some ice cream and not think about boys at all, okay?”
Shelby grinned. “Works for me!”
But after Katy bought Caleb’s ice cream and he thanked her with a big smile and a light nudge on her elbow, she had a hard time enjoying her own treat. In a lot of ways, Shelby made sense. But Caleb Penner? I can’t think of him that way! … Can I?
Chapter Thirteen
When they left the mall to return to their cars, Todd pointed overhead. “Wow … look what rolled in. Those clouds look vicious. We’ve got a storm coming.”
Annika hugged herself and shivered. “I bet it hits before we reach Schellberg.”
The others murmured in agreement, and Katy’s heart skipped a beat. She’d never driven in a rainstorm. She curled her hand around Shelby’s elbow. “We better hurry.” She’d want to move Shadow and Saydee into the main barn if the weather got too bad. The lean-to in the pasture provided an adequate shelter, but the horses — especially the baby — might be scared by a big storm.
The three cars carrying kids to Schellberg formed a convoy as they left Salina, with Katy in the last position. She didn’t mind being at the back until they turned off the highway onto the dirt roads. Then she had to fight to see past the cloud of dust created by Caleb’s and Todd’s cars. When dime-sized raindrops began splatting the windshield, the dust stuck in the moisture, further hindering her vision.
She snapped on the windshield wipers and groaned. “Oh, I hate driving in this!”
“Just back off so you don’t catch their dust,” Shelby advised. “You know the way home—you don’t have to stay on their tail.”
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