by Laura Hilton
Maybe more so.
Today, he would settle that. He’d talk with her, and they would work this out.
Thirty miles. How long would that take in a car? Forty-five minutes, maybe?
He couldn’t wait to see her. To talk to her. To touch her, at least on her hand. He’d gone too long without contact.
Though, if he failed in his quest, then he’d be forced to go longer. Possibly even forever.
Jacob heaved a sigh and closed his eyes. He’d spend the rest of the trip in fervent prayer.
All too soon, the driver pulled the car into a circular drive. A dark-haired man with a beard led a horse pulling a plow toward the barn. He stopped and looked at the car.
Jacob opened the door and climbed out. “Jacob Miller. I’ve kum to see Becky.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Samuel Mast. Becky and Naomi Joy have gone home for the day. You just missed them; they left maybe ten minutes ago. Fact is, Naomi Joy mentioned leaving Becky home and bringing Katie back. Not sure what they’ll do, though.”
For a second, frustration ate at him. He’d missed her. So much for the element of surprise. But then, Becky had gone home. Home. To him.
Okay, to her family. But still.
Jacob grinned. And fought the urge to pump his arm in the air and shout “Yes!” like the Englisch sometimes did.
Samuel nodded, seeming to measure Jacob up, making sure he was worthy of Becky. Finally, he returned the grin. “Best be heading home, then, Jacob. Sorry you wasted the trip.”
“Be seeing you, Samuel.”
“Jah, expect so.”
Jacob turned and walked back to the car. He couldn’t control his grin as he climbed into the backseat again. He leaned forward. “Home, please.”
Becky would be there waiting for him.
The radio blared as the driver pushed the button to turn it on for the drive back. Jacob couldn’t make out most of the lyrics, except for the recurring refrain, “We can work it out! We can work it out!”
He prayed that was a sign.
Chapter 35
Becky handed Emma to Mamm, who began exclaiming how much Emma had changed in five weeks, and climbed out of the van. She immediately found herself engulfed in Daed’s strong arms. “We missed you.” He squeezed her tight, then released her and stepped back as Becky’s littlest sisters rushed in for a hug.
It felt good to know she’d been missed.
Becky scanned the small crowd gathered around the van as Tony opened the back and pulled out Emma’s cradle and Naomi Joy talked with him about what time she wanted to be picked up.
Everyone was present and accounted for, except Jacob and….
“Where are Grossdaedi and Grossmammi?” Becky looked around again. Maybe they were just taking longer to come out. After all, Daed had come running from the barn, her sisters and Mamm from the greenhouse.
Mamm hesitated a moment. “Grossmammi fell the other day and broke her hip. She’s in the hospital in Springfield waiting for a hip replacement. Don’t worry, she’ll be alright. He’s staying with her there.”
And Jacob?
She swallowed that question down. Maybe he’d gone to Springfield with her grandparents. Or maybe he was out with his Susie. Though Daed had indicated in his letters that Jacob and Susie didn’t get along so well. Fighting constantly, he’d said.
Becky was hurt anew at the thought of Cathy opening Daed’s letters, but she swallowed her anger down again. All these years, she’d been taught that it was necessary to forgive. Now would be a good time to exercise that choice.
She followed the family inside as Daed hoisted the cradle and carried it up to the porch.
The kitchen was filled with the intermingled aromas of fresh coffee and baking bread.
“Be gut to have cookies again. Think we’re fresh out.” Daed gave her another tight hug.
“I tried.” Katie made a face at him. “They just got a little overdone.”
“The dog wouldn’t even eat them.” Ruthie took Regina from Naomi Joy. “It was quiet around here without you, Becky.”
“Jah, and poor Jacob.” Katie shook her head. “He was all kinds of bothered to find you gone. He acted almost like a child who’d lost his favorite toy.”
“Jah, that’s all I want to be. Jacob’s toy,” Becky said, then gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out loud. And it had sounded bad. She ducked her head as she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
Naomi Joy gave her a pointed look. “I can’t wait to meet this Jacob.”
Daed pulled out the chair next to Becky and sat down. “Jacob’s gone to Naomi Joy’s haus today.”
At least he wasn’t with Susie. Wherever she was. Becky slanted Daed a sideways glance. He straightened his legs out in front of him and clasped his hands together over the waist of his pants. “He sent Susie home last night.” Daed’s expression spoke volumes.
Jacob had chosen today to finally go after her? He’d allowed Susie to stay so long. With five weeks gone by, it had certainly taken him long enough. Funny he’d rented a driver to go out there and never let them know he was coming. But then, Naomi Joy had made a spur-of-the-moment decision to travel, too.
She wondered how long he’d be gone. Maybe she’d have time to run over to Annie’s before he got home. She didn’t want to miss him.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
She considered asking when he’d left so that she could calculate when he’d arrive home, but she lost her nerve. What she’d have to say to him, she didn’t know.
Buggy wheels rolled over the gravel driveway. Mamm looked out the window. “Annie’s here. Did you tell her you were coming home?” She sounded a bit accusing.
“Nein. I didn’t tell anybody.” Becky stood and went outside to meet her friend. “Hi.”
Annie smiled. “I didn’t know you were coming home. Why didn’t you tell me?” She jumped down and hugged Becky. When she released her, Becky saw that she waved a bundle of letters bound with a rubber band. “Cathy’s not home today, so I took the liberty of going through the rest of her things. I came over to show these to Jacob and ask how he wanted to handle this. But since you’re here, I’ll give them to you, with my apologies. I had no idea—”
“More letters? She stole all my mail?” Becky’s mouth dropped open. She shut it with a snap. She seriously needed to have a talk with Cathy about this violation of privacy.
“Apparently so. Appears that she read them, as well.” Annie sighed. “I really am sorry, Becky. I didn’t know. But now I need to apologize to Jacob, too. I didn’t know my sister was sabotaging his relationship with you.” Annie handed Becky the letters. “Is he home?”
“Nein. He went to Naomi Joy’s haus to visit me.” The irony of it. The day she comes home, he leaves. She shook her head and looked down at the stack of mail, anxious to read it. The envelopes were all tattered along the upper edges, where they’d been opened.
“Ach. Well, then, when you see him, please tell him I’m sorry.” Annie smiled at her. “I have to go. I promised to help Mrs. Zook with some things today. How long are you home for?”
“Forever, I hope. Naomi Joy is taking Katie back with her.”
“We’ll have to get together and talk, then.” Annie nodded. “Enjoy the letters. And again, I’m sorry.”
***
Jacob leaned forward in his seat. That looked like Becky darting into the barn. He watched the open doors, hoping for her to reappear, as the car pulled to a stop.
“Danki.” Jacob handed the driver some money.
“Sorry it was a wild goose chase, man. Do you want me to come back later? So you can try again?”
Jacob hesitated, glancing toward the barn again. “Nein. Wait awhile. I may need a ride to the bus station.”
There would be no point in staying if Becky wouldn’t be in his future.
Jacob slid out of the vehicle and jogged over to the barn. Becky stood in front of Shakespeare’s stall. The horse nuzz
led her hands. She reached into her pocket and handed him a bit of carrot.
For a long moment, Jacob just stood there in the open doorway, watching her.
Five weeks was entirely too long to be apart.
She talked softly to the horse, patting him on the nose.
“Bex.” His voice came out hoarse, and little louder than a whisper. He tried again. “Bex.”
She jumped, her shoulders pulling back in surprise. After a moment, she turned around. “Jacob.”
A becoming blush spread over her cheeks. His heart hurt. “Don’t ever leave me like that again.” He winced at blurting out his thoughts like that. Not exactly what he’d dreamed of saying upon reuniting with her.
She stood there in silence, perhaps not knowing how to respond.
“Ach, Bex.” He moved across the floor, coming to stop in front of her. In another moment, his hands slid over her soft cheeks, cupping her face, his thumbs resting on the corners of her mouth. “Why didn’t you answer my letters?”
“I never received any from you. At least—”
“I wrote you two or three times a week. Nothing came?” Not even his apology? His declarations of love?
“Nein. But Annie sent me Daed’s letters. She found them in Cathy’s things. And she found your letters today.” Becky gestured behind her as he swallowed in disbelief. He looked beyond her and noticed a thick stack of envelopes tied together and resting on a hay bale.
“I came out here to read them in private.”
Jacob shut his eyes briefly. He would have to deal with Cathy later. But now, Becky needed to know what he’d written. “I’m so sorry, Bex. So very sorry. I never meant to hurt you the way I did. I didn’t reject you because of what happened between you and Kent. Really. It was just that I thought you had another man courting you.”
She dipped her head, but he moved a thumb to her chin, raising it back up. “Look at me, Bex. Please? I want to see your beautiful face.”
She swallowed hard. “But what about Susie? Why did she kum?” Apprehension and something else—anger?—flitted across her face.
Jacob groaned. “Ach, Susie. Who can figure her out? She started dating Englisch buwe from around here. I told her to go home. There was nothing between us. Never would be. You are the only one I’m interested in.”
Becky stared up at him. “Jacob, I….” She hesitated a second. Then, the tip of her pink tongue peeked out, and she licked her lips. “Jacob….” Her voice shook. She did that distracting tongue thing again. He was going to kiss her. No help for it.
He moved his thumbs again, touching her lips, tracing them. Pressing against their softness. Becky drew in a ragged breath. His own breathing wasn’t much smoother.
“Bex.” He drew out her name on a groan. In the next second he cupped his hand on the back of her head, tangling his fingers in the soft strands of her hair. He slid his other hand down to the small of her back, pressing her against him.
His mouth found hers, teasing lightly, then settling in more firmly. She trembled against him. And then her lips stirred under his, responding with an eagerness and abandon that surprised and delighted him. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him, allowing him to deepen the kiss.
Jacob didn’t know how long they stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms and kissing, but it wasn’t enough. Nein, he wanted to hold this woman for the rest of his life.
That seemed unlikely if he couldn’t even get her to smile.
He needed to hear her heart, and soon.
He had to let her go.
He tore himself out of her arms and took a step back.
***
Becky struggled to stand, let alone breathe. Her knees had turned to liquid, her toes curling in her shoes. She’d never been kissed like that in her entire life.
Jacob took another ragged breath. “Bex, is there any hope for me? Give me a reason to stay. Please.”
How could she talk? She was still fighting for air. She couldn’t find the strength to launch herself back into his arms, and that was where she really wanted to be. She wobbled and reached for the stall door in an effort to support herself so that she wouldn’t crumple in a heap at his feet.
He backed up another step, his expression changing from hopeful to discouraged. His shoulders slumped. In another second, he spun around and pulled his bicycle from the shadows of the barn.
“Good-bye, then, Bex. Always remember that I loved you.”
He disappeared out the barn door, wheeling his bicycle beside him.
Becky stood there, sucking air into her lungs. How on earth had he recovered so fast?
He loved her?
And “Good-bye, Bex”?
What?
Suddenly, breathing wasn’t the problem. She choked on a sudden lump and found the strength in her legs. “Jacob! Nein!”
He’d already left the bicycle beside the van waiting in the driveway, and the driver had opened the back and was preparing to shove it inside the luggage compartment. Jacob disappeared inside the dawdi-haus.
“Jacob.” His name caught on a sob. She’d been taught that it wasn’t ladylike to run. But really, in this situation, did it matter?
Daed stood on the porch, his gaze moving from the door of the dawdi-haus, which had just slammed shut, to the driver of the car, then to Becky. His brows furrowed in a frown. But without making a comment, he turned and went back inside. Wouldn’t he make an effort to stop this?
“Don’t load that,” Becky ordered the confused driver as she passed the van and entered the dawdi-haus. Grossmammi was in the hospital, so the house was empty except for Jacob. She ran up the stairs. “Jacob!”
If she had sinned by running, she was really sinning now. She shoved the door to his room open. And skidded to a stop in the doorway.
Jacob shoved his belongings into his suitcase on the floor.
“Nein. Don’t go.”
He looked up from his crouched position, his blue eyes darkening. A muscle worked in his jaw. “Give me a reason to stay, then. Saying your daed needs me isn’t gut enough.”
“I need you. Ich liebe dich. I….” The words came quickly, born of desperation. She leaned on the door frame for support. Tried to calm down. “Ich liebe dich, Jacob.”
He rose to his feet, holding her gaze. “And say that you’ll marry me, kum December.”
Her breath hitched. “Jah.”
He walked to her and pulled her into his arms. “Gut. Ich liebe dich. I want to marry you.” He leaned down and nuzzled the side of her neck, where she could feel her pulse pounding. She shivered and snuggled closer, her arms going around his neck. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He kissed her neck again, then worked his way up to her jawline. Then, he stopped and looked in her eyes. “Marry me soon.”
“Anytime. The sooner the better.” She couldn’t keep from smiling.
“So, all this time I’ve been trying to get you to smile, and all you needed was love, ain’t so?” Jacob touched her lips and grinned back.
About the Author
Laura Hilton graduated with a business degree from Ozarka Technical College in Melbourne, Arkansas. A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, she is a professional book reviewer for the Christian market, with more than a thousand reviews published on the Web. Prior to Patchwork Dreams, she published two novels with Treble Heart Books, Hot Chocolate and Shadows of the Past, as well as several devotionals. Laura and her husband, Steve, have five children, whom Laura homeschools. The family makes their home in Arkansas. To learn more about Laura, read her reviews, and find out about her upcoming releases, readers may visit her blog at http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/.
Preview of Book 2
A Harvest of Hearts
Chapter 1
Shanna Stoltzfus felt something brush against her hair, just above her left ear. She swatted at it. When she touched flesh, she jumped, her attempts to pray forgotten, and raised her head from the steering wheel to
see maple-stained fingers, complete with calluses and a small cut.
The hand pulled back. “Is something wrong? Are you hurt?” a deep voice asked.
She looked up into incredible gray eyes belonging to a drop-dead gorgeous Amish man. He grasped his straw hat in the long fingers of his right hand. His light brown hair shone with natural blond highlights. She’d paid big bucks for streaks like those. He also had a strong, clean-shaven jaw. Nice. Too bad he hadn’t been around when she’d been Amish. She definitely would have noticed a hunk like this. Might even have considered staying.
“Lost, maybe? I can direct you back to the main road. Where did you want to go?”
“Anyplace but here. Even Mexico sounds good.” She swallowed her trepidation and aimed what she hoped was a wry smile at him. When she reached for the door handle, he stepped out of the way. “You must be the houseguest Mamm mentioned in her letters. Matthew Yoder from Pennsylvania?” She swung her legs out of the car and extended a hand. “I’m Shanna.”
“Shanna.” He seemed to freeze. A little smile played on his lips. “Shanna,” he repeated.
She didn’t know quite what to think. He said her name as if it meant something special. Then, he blinked. “I’m Matthew, jah.”
He held out his hand, but before his hand could touch hers, she fixed her gaze on his brown fingers. He hesitated and then rubbed his hands together, as if to check to see if the stain was still damp. Then, he pulled back. “Shanna.”
His tongue seemed to trip over her name this time. Or maybe he’d heard some negative things about her. Her stomach churned. She shouldn’t be here. But where else could she go?
“I guess they are expecting you?”
“No. Not really.” Shanna stood and looked up at him. The top of her head barely reached his jaw.
His gaze skimmed over her. She wondered what he thought as he studied her faded jeans, T-shirt, and flip-flops. She looked down at her toenails. Good, they were painted with pink polish. Except the paint on one of her big toes had a huge chip. She wished she could reach for the bottle and repair the damage. As his gaze traveled back up, she repressed the urge to smooth her hair. It wouldn’t have done much good, anyway. She’d driven the whole way with the windows down, so it would be hopelessly tangled.
