Maybe he shouldn’t have kissed her.
No, if nothing else, he would have that one sweet memory to carry with him forever.
“I’m sorry, Mark.” He’d forgotten Anna was still there until she spoke.
“She doesn’t love me. Am I so hard to love? What’s wrong with me?”
Anna came and put her arms around him, pulling him close to comfort him as she had when he was a small scared boy. “Many people love you. Gott loves you. Never doubt that.”
“What should I do?”
“Give Helen some time and then go speak her, and tell her how you feel.”
“How much time? You heard her. She’s leaving on Saturday.” What if she didn’t love him? How could he face that?
Anna held him at arm’s length. “Silly boy. You can always buy a ticket to Indiana, too. These things happen in Gott’s time. Have faith.”
He closed his eyes. Please, Lord, show me how to make her see that I love her.
He gave his aunt a weak smile. “I reckon I should go speak with Angela.”
“You do that. Close one door and perhaps a new door will open more easily.”
Mark left his aunt’s gift shop and crossed the parking lot to the woodworking shop. He found Angela seated in his small office. A faint frown creased her brow. She didn’t look happy to see him. How had he ever imagined being married to her? “I’m sorry I took so long.”
“I should have let you know I was coming.”
“If you had, I might have been able to save you the trip. I won’t marry you, Angela. Your father may keep his land and the money I have paid him if he feels I have broken our contract, but I love someone else.”
Angela closed her eyes, clasped her hands to her chest and lifted her face to the ceiling. “Thank you, dearest Lord, for hearing my prayers.”
Mark wasn’t sure what to make of her words. “I thought you had come to tell me you would marry me.”
She drew a deep breath and looked at him. “I did.”
“Then I’m confused.”
“Father has been pressuring me to accept you ever since I told you I had changed my mind. I finally gave in only to learn his insistence wasn’t because he wanted me to be happy. He didn’t want to return your money.”
“Let him keep it.”
She smiled. “Nee, for it is yours. This has been a lesson to my father on the sin of greed. We have not spent a penny of it. I have brought the full amount with me in case you did not wish to marry me.”
She opened her purse, pulled out a bank draft and held it toward him. “Father wasn’t happy to write this check, but he has seen the error of his ways.”
Mark slowly took it from her. “Won’t your father be upset?”
She grinned, giving him a glimpse of a woman he hadn’t seen before. “I’m sure he will be, but I’m his only child. He’ll forgive me in time. I’m on my way to my cousin’s wedding and since you won’t have me, I will be able to have a wedding of my own soon. My late husband’s best friend, Anthony, has offered for me. Now I’m free to say yes. My father can’t interfere or forbid it. Anthony is a good man, but he isn’t fond of my father. He wants us to move to Colorado.”
“Will you go?”
“Happily. Daed will be free to visit us whenever he likes.”
Mark shook his head. “What would you have done if I had agreed to marry you?”
“Spent my life being a good wife to you.”
“We would have both been miserable.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Only God knows that, but He had a better plan for us. I have to get going. I have a driver waiting for me.”
Mark stood and held out his hand. “I wish you every happiness.”
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I pray the same for you. What will you do now?”
He would give Helen some time, but he was going to speak to her before she left Bowmans Crossing. “I’m going to follow my heart and see where it and God lead me.”
Chapter Fourteen
The following morning, Helen was on her way to tell Isaac about her decision and say goodbye to the people she had worked with in the shop. It would be hard to see Mark again, but she could bear it knowing things had worked out for him and he would be happy in the life he had worked so hard to achieve. Charlotte had insisted on coming with her to visit Anna again. Clyde, her ever-present shadow, lay on the floor snoring.
Helen heard the sound of a chainsaw as she approached the covered bridge. The sound echoed inside the bridge structure, making her horse twitch his ears nervously. Clyde sat up and began barking furiously. He struggled against the hold Charlotte had on his collar.
“What is the matter with you?” Charlotte asked the dog as she got a better grip on him. He squirmed harder.
When Helen came out the other side of the bridge, she saw Mark and his uncle standing beneath Clyde’s tree. Several large limbs lay on the ground already. Paul was up in the tree itself with the chainsaw. She pulled her horse to a stop off the edge of the road to watch.
Paul, secured with a harness and rope, was cutting through a large dead limb that hung toward the river. From her vantage point, she saw something the foliage of the tree had kept hidden until now. There was a large knot hole in the middle of the dead limb. To her amazement, a raccoon stuck its head out of the hole and then vanished back inside. “Aenti, did you see that?”
“See what?” Charlotte bent forward for a better view.
Helen had only a momentary glimpse of the animal. “I’m sure I saw a raccoon, and I think I saw a flash of pink on its neck.”
“Do you mean you saw Juliet? The Lord be praised.”
The raccoon’s hideaway was about to plummet twenty feet to the ground. Helen leaped from her buggy waving her arms. “Stop! Wait!”
Clyde’s struggles and yelping grew frenzied. He broke away from Charlotte and raced toward the men.
The workers didn’t hear Helen’s shouts over the loud buzz of the saw. She got out of the buggy and rushed down the steep embankment, struggling to keep her balance as she continued yelling. Clyde caught Mark’s attention by jumping on him, but it was too late. The saw stopped as the huge limb toppled out of the tree, hit the ground and then rolled down into the river. Clyde raced after it and plunged into the water.
Helen stopped her mad dash and pressed a hand to her heart, certain that she had just watched Juliet’s demise.
“Clyde, come back,” Charlotte shouted as she followed Helen down the slope. “Mark, help him. Basset hounds are terrible swimmers. He’ll drown.”
Juliet scrambled out of the hole. She held a kit in her mouth. After pacing back and forth for several seconds, she left the log and began swimming for shore. Clyde tried to change direction and follow her, but he was struggling badly. When he went under, Charlotte screamed.
Mark rushed to the water’s edge, pulled off his boots, threw his hat aside and dived into the water. He came up, swimming toward the spot where Clyde had vanished. To Helen’s relief, the dog surfaced, although he was clearly fading. Mark reached him and tried to support him. It was all he could do to keep Clyde’s head above water.
Helen saw a rowboat beached near the bridge. She raced to it, pushed off and got in. Rowing was not as easy as it looked, but she managed to turn the boat and headed toward Mark. She pulled alongside them, shipped the oars and leaned over to grab Clyde’s collar.
“I’ve got him.” As soon as she took his weight, the boat tipped dangerously.
“Don’t let him pull you in,” Mark shouted. “Can you swim?”
“I never learned.”
“The time to learn is before you are in danger of falling into the river.”
“Thanks for the tip,” she said through gritted teeth. Her arms ached from holding Clyde’s weight as he continued to struggle.
Mark grasped the
rope at the bow of the boat and began towing it to shore.
They were within a few feet of the bank. Paul, Isaac and Charlotte stood on dry ground calling encouragement and instructions, but Helen was barely holding on. Clyde gave a sudden, powerful lunge. The boat tipped, spilling Helen over the side. She shrieked as she hit the cold water and sank. Seconds later, strong arms grasped her and pulled her to the surface. She came up choking and sputtering.
“I’ve got you. You’re fine,” Mark said calmly.
She clutched him tightly, afraid they were both about to die. “I can’t swim.”
“You don’t have to swim, my love. Put your feet down. It’s not that deep here.”
She realized he was right. She could touch the bottom. Mark captured one of her hands and led her toward the shore. Clyde bounded out and shook himself off before lumbering to where Juliet was licking her kit. She greeted Clyde with a warning hiss, then relented and began licking him, too. Charlotte dropped to her knees to stroke Juliet’s head. The raccoon reached up and patted her face. Charlotte was crying tears of joy.
Isaac and Paul reached Helen and Mark as they emerged from the water. “Are you two okay?” Isaac asked.
Helen nodded and sank to the ground. Mark sat beside her. She looked at his beloved face and wished he would take her in his arms. She loved him so much, but he belonged to Angela.
She let her fright turn to anger so she wouldn’t blurt out her secret. “Mark Bowman, that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen a man do. That dog could have pulled you under. Was that the plan?”
He grinned at her. “I didn’t have a plan. I just went with my heart. The boat was a better idea. Danki, my darling, but if we are going to live by this river, you and our children are going to learn to swim.”
Her mouth dropped open. What did he mean? Before she could gather her scattered wits to ask, Anna arrived and draped a quilt around her. “You poor dear. Come up to the house and get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death.”
Isaac pointed to the river, where the tree limb was caught at the edge of the bridge and bobbing in the current. A second tiny raccoon kit had crawled out of the hole and was crying. If the limb became dislodged it would be swept downriver.
Mark looked up at Paul. Paul nodded. “Let’s try.”
Mark rose to his feet. Helen caught hold of his pant leg. “Try what?”
He loosened her hand and gave it a squeeze. “We need to rescue the rest of Juliet’s family.” He and Paul pushed the boat out and climbed in.
Helen scrambled to her feet and pulled the quilt more tightly around her shoulders. Anna steadied her with an arm around her waist. They all watched silently as the two men maneuvered the boat up beside the log. If it became dislodged, it could easily overturn the boat. Unable to reach the opening where two little masked faces were staring at them, Mark slipped over the side of the skiff and into the water. Helen pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out.
Mark pulled himself in among the branches and reached into the cavity. One by one, he pulled out three babies and handed them to Paul. Before Mark could get back to the boat, the limb broke free of the piling and rolled as the current swept it underneath the bridge, taking Mark with it. Helen screamed.
Chapter Fifteen
Helen dropped the quilt and ran toward the base of the bridge with Isaac and Anna close behind her. She heard Paul shouting for Mark. The tree limb bobbed faster in the swift current between the bridge pilings and disappeared from her sight. She closed her eyes. “Please, Lord, spare his life. I love him so much. Please be merciful.”
She could hear Paul shouting, and then there was silence. She stared into the dark shadows under the bridge and prayed as she had never prayed in her life. Then she saw the bow of the boat emerging into the light. Paul was rowing with difficulty against the current. Finally, the rest of the boat appeared with Mark sitting at the rear.
Helen’s knees gave way, and she sat abruptly in the grass as tears of joy and thanksgiving blurred her vision. Anna and Isaac helped her to her feet. “He’s fine,” Anna said. “He’s fine. Praise God for His goodness.” There was as much relief in her voice as there was in Helen’s heart.
Paul beached the boat and both men climbed out. Paul scooped the mewing kits from the floor of the boat and carried them to their mother. She took each one, nosed it thoroughly and then licked it before she seemed satisfied. Helen had never seen her aunt looking so happy, as she gathered the new family into her apron.
Mark sat beside Helen and leaned close to whisper in her ear. “At least we know why he was always barking beneath the tree.”
Nodding, Helen smiled at him. “He was trying to convince her to come home.”
There was so much more she wanted to say to him, but she settled for whispering, “Thank you.”
He smiled softly. “You’re welcome.”
Helen’s gaze shifted to the house. “I hope Angela didn’t see this.”
“She’s not here. She’s gone to her cousin’s wedding.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. All through the previous sleepless night she had practice telling him goodbye and wishing him well without bursting into tears. It would be impossible at the moment for tears were already gathering in her eyes. She blinked them back.
Clyde crawled close beside Charlotte, who was sitting cross-legged on the grass, and laid his head on her knee as he gazed at the pile of babies. Charlotte patted his head. “You will make a fine stepfather. Oh, what fun we shall have.”
Anna made shooing motions at Mark and Helen. “Up to the house, both of you, and get out of those wet things.”
Helen allowed herself to be shepherded up to the house, where she changed into clothing borrowed from Rebecca. By the time she came down to the living room, word of the morning’s adventure had spread. Mark and Paul were surrounded by the men from the workshop asking questions and shaking their heads in amazement.
Anna came out of the kitchen and stopped beside Helen. “Charlotte is anxious to get home and get Juliet and her family settled into a safer nest.”
Helen had her battered emotions under control. She wanted to speak with Mark, to say her goodbyes but not in front of everyone. He looked up and caught sight of her. He made his way through his friends to her side. “Are you okay?”
No, she wasn’t. Her heart was breaking, but she managed a half-hearted smile. “A little waterlogged. I’m going to have to wash my hair.”
He grinned at her. “Then you’re going be home this evening?”
“Most definitely.”
His brother Joshua came in with his wife, Mary, and their daughter, Hannah. “I’ve been hearing that my cousin jumped in the river to save a raccoon. Is it true?”
Mark tipped his head close to Helen. “I’ll be over to see you in a couple of hours. I have a lot of things to tell you.”
He turned to his cousin, and Helen’s smile faded. All she had to say to him was goodbye.
* * *
Mark couldn’t wait until evening. It was only four thirty when he stepped onto Charlotte’s front porch with a package under one arm. His heart was pounding in his chest. Could he convince Helen that he loved her? Would she give him a chance to prove his love, or was her mind still set on leaving? Did she love him even a little or was he only fooling himself? He loved her so much. The thought of going through life without her was unbearable.
He knocked on the door, but no one answered. Had she changed her mind about seeing him?
Clyde ambled around from the side of the house and woofed once. He turned around and went back the way he had come. Mark took it as an invitation to follow him. He hadn’t been in Charlotte’s flower garden during daylight hours.
He stepped through a white lattice arbor laden with fragrant red roses. Helen was seated on a white wrought-iron bench in the middle of a st
one patio, surrounded by yellow and purple irises. She hadn’t seen him. She was brushing her unbound hair. She looked to be enjoying the feel of the warm sun on her face. Her wheat-blond hair glistened in the sunlight and shimmered like liquid gold with each stroke of her brush. He sucked in his breath as he realized she was truly a pearl beyond price, but her beauty wasn’t the reason he loved her. He loved every complicated and fascinating part of her mind. Every giggle, every frown, every sigh. He wanted to have and to hold her for all eternity. If she loved him.
Clyde nudged the back of Mark’s knee. He looked down at the dog. “I’m going, I’m going.”
Helen must’ve heard him for she opened her eyes and turned her head toward him. The happiness he saw in her beautiful eyes left him speechless. How could he have imagined spending a lifetime with a wife he didn’t love?
Helen quickly looked away as the joy in her expression turned to sadness. His confidence slipped. Maybe she didn’t love him.
She looked up and shook her hairbrush at him. “You’re early.”
“Shall I go away and come back later?”
“Nee, you should come and sit beside me.”
“I reckon that’s the best invitation I’m liable to get all day.”
She scooted over to make room for him. He sat down, suddenly tongue-tied and nervous. She fiddled with the brush in her hands and avoided looking at him. Clyde decided to sit on the bench beside her, forcing Helen to scoot closer to Mark.
Knowing the dog was on his side, Mark’s courage returned. “I brought you something.” He handed her the package.
She took it from him, held it to her ear and shook it. The rattle of glass made her eyes widen. “What is this for? It’s not my birthday.”
“I’ll explain in a minute.”
“What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
She quickly tore off the brown paper wrapping and gasped. Gently, she ran her fingers over the figures of Clyde in various poses, sitting, rolling over, sleeping, even flying with his ears out straight, all carved in relief into the dark walnut doors. She opened the doors and pulled out one of the dozen empty spice jars.
An Unexpected Amish Romance Page 17
