by Laura Hilton
***
Becky supposed Jacob thought he was some big and mighty hero, coming to her rescue. But she didn’t have any fear of Luke, Annie’s old beau, and, well, she’d figured she’d be safe so long as he was there.
Even though Kent could be unpredictable. Especially if he’d been drinking.
When Jacob had come striding up and declared for the world to hear that she was with him, for a second, she’d felt valued and protected.
She’d reveled in that feeling for a whole minute before the truth had set in: she wasn’t. And Jacob couldn’t be her hero. He belonged to Susie.
Becky decided she didn’t much like his Susie.
Probably because she’d gotten to Jacob first.
Becky pried her hand from its death grip on her cappuccino and stood. “I said, I can take care of myself.”
“Jah.” Jacob’s expression didn’t match his words. “Of course, you can.”
She didn’t know whether to take his comment at face value or to accuse him of sarcasm. But there wasn’t a bit of mockery in his tone. Instead, it was soft and soothing.
“But, while I’m here, Bex, you don’t need to. I’ll take care of you as if you were my little sister.” His gaze held hers.
Ach, jah. That made her feel so much better. His sister—just the person she wanted to be.
“Kum. Let’s get my bicycle loaded, and then we can go.”
Becky wanted to remind him that she wasn’t his sister and never would be, but a glance around the restaurant reminded her that they weren’t alone. And they had attracted attention. With a self-conscious nod, she picked up her cappuccino and candy bar and headed for the door.
Outside, Jacob unlocked his bicycle from the bicycle rack and wheeled it over to her buggy. He lifted the two-wheeled contraption effortlessly into the back, then turned to her, offering his hand and assistance.
She didn’t want to accept either.
Instead, she gave him her cup and candy bar, then climbed up into the buggy.
Once settled, she turned back to reach for her things. Jacob handed them to her, then climbed up beside her and took the reins. He set the horse at a fast trot, and they headed away from of town, back toward the family farm.
“Did anyone invite you to the singing?” Becky glanced at him.
“Jah. Ben said that there’d be a gathering in their back field. I’ll head over later. You sure you don’t want to go?”
“Jah. Positive.” She took a sip of her coffee. Should she warn Jacob that Ben’s “gatherings” weren’t where the good Amish young adults hung out, or should she leave it alone and let him find out on his own?
She should tell him. In a minute. She took another sip.
“That’s gut, jah?” He nodded toward her drink.
“You never got one for yourself. Want a taste?” She held it out to him, expecting him to refuse.
With a smile that almost took her breath away, he took the cup from her. “Jah. Danki.” He raised the cup to his lips and took a sip, his eyes widening as he swallowed. “This is ser gut.” He held it out to her.
She held up her hand. “You can have the rest, if you want.”
“Nein.” Jacob winked at her. “I’ll share it with you.”
Her face warmed.
He took another long swallow, then handed the cup back to her. She took it, not sure how to handle the situation. Drinking after Jacob seemed rather intimate, yet he’d sipped after her without hesitation.
She’d had only a couple of sips. And it was her favorite drink. She forced her misgivings aside and took another drink.
“Would you, um, care for half of my candy bar?” she asked, peeling back the wrapper.
He shrugged. “Jah, if you don’t mind sharing. But you probably need it more than I do. Chocolate always makes my mamm feel better, though she likes almonds in hers.”
Ach, why had Susie gotten to him first? Becky broke the candy bar down the middle and handed one half to him. She searched for something to talk about. His home.
“Tell me about your home, Jacob. I bet you really miss it.”
He glanced in her direction. “Jah, sometimes. But there are things here that aren’t at home.” He winked at her. Heat rose in her cheeks.
With a grin, he touched her hand. “Home. Well, Mamm and Daed have nine kinner. I’m number nine. My older brothers and sisters are married, and I have five nephews so far.” Instead of immediately pulling his hand away, he let it rest there on hers for a few moments longer than she thought was proper. “No nieces. Yet.”
No wonder he could view her as a younger sister. He probably wanted one.
“We have an apple orchard. My brothers all work there with Daed, and someday, I will, too.”
So, he had long-term plans at home. Becky twisted her skirt in bunches with her hands.
Thirty minutes later, the cappuccino and candy bar both gone, Jacob pulled the buggy into their gravel drive and headed straight for the barn, passing the house. In front of the barn, he pulled the reins, stopping the horse. “Bex, I enjoyed our time this afternoon.”
She agreed with him. Mostly. She could have handled not seeing Kent.
“Jah.” She turned and climbed out of the buggy. Then, in a rare moment of boldness, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. “Jacob, I’m not your sister.”
He looked down at her from his perch on the buggy seat. “Nein. But I never said you were. I said I’d take care of you as if you were.”
She lowered her eyes. Men. Sometimes, it seemed they talked in nonsensical riddles.
Or maybe it was just that females found it important to define relationships with distinct boundaries.
Chapter 12
Earlier than he wanted to be up and active, Jacob stumbled his way to the barn. He’d had a late night out. And the gathering that Ben had told him about hadn’t been a singing. It’d been a party, with both Amish and Englisch present. None of the men there had seemed to be someone he’d consider trying to convince to court Becky. He rubbed his aching head.
“You didn’t drink last night, ain’t so?” Daniel asked point-blank, maybe guessing where Jacob had gone. He stopped pitching hay into the feeding troughs and leaned on the pitchfork, spearing Jacob with an equally sharp look.
Jacob stared at him. “Nein.” He never had, though most of the other teens in the back field had really put it away. Not that it was any of Daniel’s business.
“Gut. Because I can’t be responsible for you if you do.”
With that thinly veiled threat, Daniel turned away, getting back to work. But Jacob could almost hear the unasked questions. Could see them in the rigidness of Daniel’s back. How late had he gotten in? Had he taken a girl home?
He had no idea what time he’d come home. Home? Nein, to Cousin Daniel’s. All he knew was that the party had started getting wild, and he’d left before the police had shown up.
Assuming the police had. He’d been to a party in Pennsylvania where the police had arrived with spotlights, loudspeakers, and sirens. A couple of his friends had been busted for possession. Jacob had been taken down to the station and tested for drugs. He’d been clean, since he didn’t use, but it wasn’t a scene he cared to repeat.
And as for the girl….
He hadn’t taken one home. But the opportunity had been there. He’d probably talked with every girl at the party. Not that he’d searched them out. Several had even placed themselves strategically in his way to give him every chance to ask them if he could take them home. None had even tempted him.
There hadn’t been a single one who’d intrigued him. Not that he was available, because he wasn’t.
Maybe. After all, Susie didn’t seem to be making an effort to remember she had a boyfriend. His cell phone hadn’t rung since he’d arrived, and she hadn’t written him a letter.
And then, there was the issue of his undefined relationship with Becky.
He’d fallen asleep last night thinking about her, about their sort
-of date yesterday. By the time they’d arrived home, it had seemed as if he and Becky had formed a tentative friendship. After sharing her fancy coffee and talking, he looked forward to a different relationship with her.
If he’d known a long way to Daniel’s house, he would have taken her that route instead of straight home. Anything to lengthen their time together. But he hadn’t. And he hadn’t felt comfortable asking Becky for that information.
Should he mention Becky to Susie when he wrote? It might hurt her to think that he was making friends with another female. He intended to return home to marry Susie. Nein, he shouldn’t mention Becky. Better not to worry Susie.
But a friendship with Becky—jah, that would be a good thing.
Jacob whistled as he milked a cow. He could hear Daniel and Grossdaedi as they worked somewhere in another part of the barn. When at last he heard the bell summoning them for the morning meal, he all but ran to the house, feeling almost like a little kid expecting a surprise.
He washed up and found his place at the table, grinning at Becky when she came into the room with her boppli. But she avoided his gaze, keeping her eyes down.
When she sat without a word to him, even ignoring the “Gut morning” he extended to everyone, Jacob’s heart crash-landed somewhere in the vicinity of his toes. Had all the progress they’d made been only in his imagination?
Or, had she heard him coming in late last night and assumed the worst, as Daniel had? He thought he’d been quiet when he’d snuck into the dawdi-haus.
He certainly hadn’t stood under Becky’s window and tossed pebbles at it, though the thought had crossed his mind. He’d dismissed it as being inappropriate for friends.
Right now, it seemed as if friendship didn’t even factor into the equation.
Jacob tried to put on a neutral expression, hoping the rejection that had hit him so hard didn’t show.
Rejection wasn’t a feeling he had a lot of experience with.
He didn’t care for it so much.
***
Jacob would reject her in the light of this new day. Somehow, Becky knew it. Dreaded it.
Sure, he’d been nice to her after he’d heard the unkind remarks her cousin Ben had made, and he’d been kind to her at McDonald’s, but she knew that after he thought about it, he couldn’t possibly continue to associate with her.
Better to distance herself now so that she wouldn’t be as hurt when it happened.
Still, it was hard to ignore his cheerful greeting. To not look up at his sky-blue eyes and almost feel warmth and sunshine.
She refused to meet his gaze, knowing that she’d reveal her silly schoolgirl crush.
Because if he hadn’t rejected her after hearing what Ben had to say, or meeting Kent yesterday, he certainly would if he knew she liked him.
She didn’t even want her parents to know. Especially since Daed had sent Jacob after her yesterday. He’d already guessed too much. And by sending Jacob—well, that could mean he approved.
She couldn’t let Daed get his hopes up.
After the silent prayer, she fastened her gaze on her bowl of steaming oatmeal and kept it there, even when her sister passed the brown sugar.
The toe of someone’s tennis shoe nudged her ankle. Becky jerked her feet back under her chair. She hadn’t thought she had them too far in front of her. And with this wide, wooden table separating her from the other side….
Nein, it had to have been Jacob. Neither Daed nor Grossdaedi would resort to such a thing.
The bump came again, a bit firmer this time, pushing her foot a little to the right. Becky frowned and darted a glance under the table. Jah, Jacob’s dirty white sneakers were in view.
She dug her spoon into her oatmeal.
The shoe retreated.
A bit disappointed that he’d given up so quickly, Becky lifted her filled spoon and took a bite, half hoping that Jacob would make another effort. Although, how she’d respond if he did, she wasn’t sure.
Maybe nudge his foot back. Her face heated at the thought of it.
But he didn’t make another attempt.
A few minutes later, Jacob pushed his bowl away. “May I be excused? I’ll get the fire started in the shop, Daniel.”
“Jah, that’d be fine. You want coffee first, ain’t so?”
“Nein. Maybe you could bring a cup out when you kum.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Becky saw Daed nod, and then she heard the scrape of Jacob’s chair against the wood floor.
The door slammed.
Becky spooned another bite of oatmeal into her mouth.
“What’s going on, Rebekah Rose?” Anger tinged Daed’s voice.
Rebekah Rose? She hadn’t heard her full name in years. “I’m, uh….” Becky dared to glance up.
“I will not have you being deliberately rude to a guest in my haus.”
Becky jerked back. And the last time she’d been scolded? She didn’t care to venture a guess when that had been. “Sorry, Daed.”
“You need to take that cup of coffee out to the blacksmith shop and apologize to Jacob. Finish your breakfast, then get out there.”
At least she wouldn’t be wearing her heart in her eyes. Her secret would be safe for another day.
Daed shoved his chair back. “And I want to see you wearing a smile when you get out there. This unhappiness has gone on long enough, jah?”
A smile? She didn’t think she remembered how.
***
Jacob packed the forge with crumpled newspapers and pieces of kindling, getting a small fire started. Then, he cranked and listened for the whoosh as the fire caught.
Daniel came into the shop and hung his coat on a hook next to Jacob’s. He brought the bucket of coal closer. “Seems like you’re learning here, Jacob.”
“Jah.” Maybe so. He glanced around. “You forgot the coffee?”
Daniel smiled. Shook his head. “It’s coming.”
Jacob’s eyes flickered back to Daniel’s. Surely, he hadn’t asked Becky to bring it out.
Daniel avoided his gaze. “Ah, there’s that sound we were looking for. Hear the roar of that fire, Jacob?” He hefted the bucket in his arms and poured the black chunks around the sides. “Ser gut.” He lowered the now empty bucket to the floor.
The door opened, and Jacob glanced that way, not at all surprised when Becky appeared, carrying two cups of coffee. She handed one to Daniel. “Daed.”
He nodded.
Another couple of steps, and she stood in front of Jacob. Silently, she held out the mugful of black coffee. Then, her mouth moved to form what he’d call a fake smile. Her eyes made it clear she didn’t mean it. And the grin faded quickly. “I’m sorry for being rude.”
Jacob accepted the coffee, then glanced from Becky to Daniel and back. “You went to McDonald’s and got that fancy coffee, ain’t so?”
A twinkle appeared in her eyes, brightening them. “Not this time.”
“Maybe next, jah?”
“Jah. Maybe so.” She backed up a step, not smiling, but at least she still looked at him with a light in her eyes. He could have gazed into them all day long.
Daniel stepped up beside her. “You tell your mamm you’re needed out here in the shop today.”
Jacob broke eye contact and turned away, frowning. What was Daniel up to? Did he think he could get them together by making them spend time working side by side?
Chapter 13
Becky couldn’t remember the last time she’d helped her daed in the blacksmith shop. Back before she was old enough to quit school, for sure. After she’d finished her schooling, she’d needed to be in the house to prepare for marriage and to stop being such a tomboy.
But now? She couldn’t think of a reason why Daed would need her. He had Jacob out there helping, and, as he’d said before, the shop was no place for a young lady.
Something had changed. Maybe he’d given up on the idea that she needed training in household chores, and….
And what?
Was Daed giving up on the prospect of her ever marrying?
When she went inside and told Mamm, her mother hesitated a bit before giving her consent. “We can care for Emma, and I’ll send Abbie to get you if she needs your attention,” she finally said.
“Danki.” Becky ran upstairs to her bedroom, where she changed into an older dress and put on her oldest pair of tennis shoes. She knew from experience that she would get dirty and would want a hot shower as soon as she came in. What did Jacob think about blacksmith work? Daed had said that his folks didn’t have a blacksmith shop, so he was a novice.
But Daed had also said he was “ser gut.”
Becky dashed back downstairs and out the door, then started to run toward the blacksmith shop. She stopped when she saw a buggy without a horse waiting outside. Daed did farrier work only on occasion.
Besides, it would be improper for a maidal to arrive all out of breath. How many times had her parents warned her that young ladies shouldn’t run? Too many times to count.
She slowed her motion to a more respectable pace and made her way into the shop.
Jacob stood over by the fire, holding a piece of metal into the blaze, then pulling it out, looking at it, and putting it back in. She spotted Daed on the other end of the shop, holding up a horse’s leg and looking at the shoe, she guessed. Amos Kropf stood beside him, pointing at something and talking.
Why had he brought his horse to Daed? Her onkel David was the farrier.
Surely, Daed hadn’t called her out to spend time with this man in the shop. Would he be so cruel? Besides, how could he expect her to focus on Amos Kropf when Jacob was in the building?
Maybe Amos Kropf’s horse required special shoes that Onkel David didn’t carry normally. Daed did make the shoes for Onkel David, who kept only a few sizes on hand. Special orders came to Daed to measure and fit.
Jah, that might be why Amos Kropf was here.
He certainly wouldn’t have come to talk to Daed about courting her.
Becky tried to repress a shudder as she surveyed the older man. His hair had already started graying, and his beard had grown shaggy, reaching almost to the bottom of his neck.
