Courting Emily (A Wells Landing Book 2)

by Amy Lillard

It had been just over a week since she and Elam had decided to start over. He had yet to kiss her, instead taking things slow as they learned to trust each other again. Luke’s name had not been brought up once.

  Emily had gone over to Elam’s house every day of the week. She played cards, dice, and board games with James and Johanna, loving the time she spent with this wunderbaar family. She could hardly believe James was the same man she had seen just a few months before. She could hardly believe that in another few months, she and Elam would be married.

  Her father had already granted them the zeugnis, the contract they needed to get married. A small part of Emily wished Elam would break tradition as her friend Caroline had, to get married out of season, but the two of them didn’t have the same excuse to go against the way things were done. Caroline’s family had to travel all the way from Tennessee to attend the wedding. Andrew had been worried about his future in-laws running into bad weather to prevent their travel to and from Wells Landing. Who could have known that Caroline’s dat would announce that his family was moving out to be closer to their dochder and grosskind?

  “Where are we going again?” she asked.

  “I told you, it’s a surprise.”

  “And I told you I don’t like surprises.”

  “You’re going to like this one.” Elam smiled. “Well, the truth is, it’s more of a surprise for Dat than you. But I still wanted you to come along.”

  “Now I’m really intrigued.”

  Elam pulled on the reins, and the horses made the turn down a familiar driveway.

  “Why are we going to Caroline and Andrew’s?” she asked.

  Elam braked the buggy and switched off the heater. “I’m going to get Dat a dog.”

  Emily smiled and slid from the buggy. “Did you bring me along to help you pick one out or so I could hold him on the way home?”

  He returned her grin. “Both.”

  “Goedemiddag,” Andrew called from the front porch. He wrapped his scarf around his face and ducked his head against the wind.

  “Perhaps I should have picked a warmer day to choose a pup,” Elam said.

  Emily pulled her coat a little tighter around her. “Jah, maybe.”

  They followed Andrew into the barn where the puppies scampered in the hay.

  “They’re all good dogs,” Andrew said. “Esther and my onkle Abe got one from the first litter.”

  Emily was well acquainted with Moxie. He had been intended for Caroline and Emma and somehow wound up staying in town with Abe and Esther. They now lived behind the bakery Esther owned with Moxie serving as guard dog and companion. Abe Fitch still ran his furniture store and produced some of the finest handcrafted pieces around. Though these days he was more apt to be snacking with Esther while his other nephew, Danny, worked the cash register.

  “Are you keeping one?” Elam asked.

  Andrew pointed to the smallest one in the litter. A tiny female dog that seemed a little more timid than the rest. “Caroline wants that one.” He shook his head. “She is always for the underdog.”

  Considering what all Caroline had been through, moving to Wells Landing alone and pregnant with an Englischer’s child, it was no wonder she rooted for those who fell behind.

  The puppies rolled and tumbled, playing in the hay without a care in the world. One in particular caught Emily’s attention. She had one black ear and one white one as if God had drawn a line down her face and only painted one half. She was a bit smaller than the others, though not as small as Caroline’s choice, and she gave as good as she got.

  Emily laughed as the puppy crouched down on her front paws, her rear sticking up in the air as she barked at her litter mates.

  “She’s the one,” Elam said, pointing to her as he chuckled.

  “I think so, too.”

  “Then she’s yours.” Andrew scooped up the puppy, depositing her into Emily’s arms.

  The pup immediately starting licking her face and neck above the scarf she wore to ward off the chill.

  “She’s perfect.” Emily cradled the dog in her arms as the three of them made their way out of the barn.

  The rattle of a buggy rig met her ears.

  “That’s Jonah Miller,” Andrew said.

  “He’s driving real fast,” Elam added.

  Jonah was going a bit faster than necessary, but not enough to be dangerous. He pulled over when he saw the three of them and jumped out. He ran to them, breathless with the effort.

  “It’s Luke,” he wheezed. “He’s hurt.”

  Fear squeezed her heart. “What?”

  “Someone from the racetrack called Joseph. Luke’s in the hospital. In Intensive Care.”

  Dear Lord, please don’t let this be happening.

  “Where is he?” Andrew asked.

  Jonah sucked in another gulp of air. “He’s in Tulsa. Joseph is already on his way there.”

  Emily turned to Elam. “I have to go to him.”

  All she could think about was Luke alone with the Englisch, lying injured in a hospital bed with no one to care for him.

  If only he had stayed . . .

  Elam’s mouth pressed into a hard thin line. “Jah,” was all he said.

  She thrust the squirming puppy into Andrew’s arms. She couldn’t handle all that unbridled joy when she felt as if she was coming undone.

  This was all her fault. If somehow she could have talked him into staying. She should have tried harder. And now he could die.

  Dear Lord, please help him.

  She turned her eyes to Elam, silently begging him to understand. She and Jonah were among Luke’s best freinden. She couldn’t abandon him in his time of need.

  “I’ll go call Ben Smith.”

  They rode in silence all the way to Tulsa. The drive wasn’t extremely long, but with each pounding of her heart she feared for Luke. What if . . . what if . . . what if . . . kept hammering through her brain.

  She glanced over to Elam who sat next to her in the backseat of Ben Smith’s car. The Mennonite driver knew Luke as well and didn’t charge them anything for the trip. Emily decided to bake him some cookies or a cake in appreciation for his generosity.

  Elam faced the front, his eyes on the road ahead. His hands rested in his lap, but there was a tension about him that fairly hummed.

  She was afraid she had hurt him once again. And she was afraid this time the gap between them could not be bridged.

  “I’m not sure if they’ll let us all in to see him,” Ben said, glancing in the rearview mirror at them. “But we can try.”

  They didn’t even know how badly he’d been hurt. Only that there had been a wreck and an explosion and now Luke was in the hospital.

  “Jah.” It was the first word Elam had uttered since they’d gotten into the car.

  “I’ll drop you two off at the door and find a parking space.”

  Emily nodded gratefully. The last thing she wanted to do was trudge through a sea of cars to get to the hospital doors. She just had to see Luke and know that her lifelong friend was going to be okay.

  Emily did her best not to race into the automatic doors of the hospital and over to the elevators. She took a deep breath to calm herself. They were there. And about to see Luke. There was no sense losing her head at this point.

  She and Elam garnered several curious stares as they made their way across the lobby. Emily hated the squeak of her rubber-soled walking shoes against the overwaxed tiles. The sound was obnoxious in the hushed solitude of the hospital lobby.

  Elam walked directly to the elevators.

  “Shouldn’t we check the map to know what floor?”

  “I know what floor.” His words were somber and heavy.

  Emily bit her lip. She stepped into the elevator cautiously. It seemed to shift under her feet. She reached out for Elam to steady herself, but given the dark look clouding his expression she grabbed the handrail instead. “Is this where they brought your dat?”

  He gave one small nod and pushed the b
utton to take them to the sixth floor.

  The elevator ride seemed to take the longest time. Her own nervousness mixed with Elam’s withdrawn behavior and the blatant stare from their riding companions set Emily’s teeth on edge. Finally they reached their floor, and she raced to the waiting room.

  Joseph sat slumped in a chair, his head at an odd angle, a cup of coffee on the table next to him. Others waited for their loved ones, but he was the only person there for Luke.

  Her decision to come solidified in her mind as she knelt before Luke’s uncle.

  “Joseph.” She touched his shoulder, and he jerked awake. Blinking several times, he rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Emily.”

  “We came as soon as we heard. What happened?”

  Joseph pushed himself up in his seat. “I’m not going to lie. It’s bad. We almost lost him a couple of times in the night. But he’s stable now.”

  Emily blinked back her tears. She might not hold a romantic love for Luke any longer, but she couldn’t imagine the world without him and his bright smile.

  “A friend of his crashed his car. Luke went out to help him. The car exploded. Luke shielded his friend’s body with his own.” Joseph’s eyes filled with tears. “His back was burned from the fire.” He shuddered. “A piece of the car fell on him. His legs are shattered. His hips, too. They say he’ll walk again, but only after he relearns how.”

  But he was alive, and that was the main thing.

  Joseph squeezed her hand where it lay on his shoulder. “It’s in God’s hands now.”

  “When I told you I would pray for you, this wasn’t exactly what I meant.”

  Luke’s eyes cracked open just a bit, but enough to see the tears sparkling in Emily’s deep blue eyes.

  He smiled or at least one side of his mouth did. The other was too swollen to do anything but stay in place. He couldn’t see it of course, but he could sure feel it.

  Every nerve ending in his body was on fire, shooting sparks that could only be assuaged by the massive painkillers they had been giving him. The pills made him sleepy and jumbled his thoughts so he waited until he couldn’t stand it any longer before finally giving in and taking them.

  “Emily.” His voice was like sandpaper on wool, rough and full of snags. From what he had been told, he was lucky to be alive, so he couldn’t very well complain.

  She sat down in the chair next to him.

  “Where’s Sissy?” he asked. She had been in the chair when he had fallen asleep, but now she was gone. Which was strange considering she hadn’t left his side since he’d been admitted.

  “Who’s Sissy?”

  The bathroom door squeaked open, then clicked back closed. “I am.”

  “Sissy,” he rasped. His throat was so dry. They said it was from the medication, but he knew the fire had sucked the moisture right out of him. “Drink.”

  She had been such a gut nurse to him and now was no exception. She moved to his bedside and held the straw while he wet his throat.

  “This is my friend, Emily.” His lids were getting heavy, so heavy he couldn’t keep them open.

  “Hi, Emily. I’m Sissy, Luke’s girlfriend.”

  He smiled and drifted back to sleep.

  Emily sat in the waiting room next to Elam, her thoughts as topsy-turvy as a crazy quilt pattern. Joseph had come by to tell them that he would be moving into the city until Luke recovered. No one blamed him. Luke was going to need constant care over the next few months.

  The doctor said Luke was stable and should be able to be moved out of Intensive Care once they knew they held the infections at bay.

  The racetrack was covering the hospital bills and all of the rehabilitation that Luke would need.

  Emily was glad that Luke had met some gut Englisch people to help him through. Ben Smith had gone in to see Luke and give his regards, then the three of them—Emily, Elam, and Ben—would head back to Wells Landing. All should be well in the world, but it wasn’t.

  She could feel the tension in Elam and feared the worst for the two of them. They had such a fragile bond, recently repaired and so very delicate. She would do nothing—nothing—to endanger it, and yet somehow she felt as if she had.

  “I had to come. You know that, right?”

  He stared at her as if he didn’t speak the language.

  “I mean, I’m Luke’s friend. I’m the bishop’s daughter.”

  She pushed to her feet and started pacing, hating her anxiousness, hating her squeaky shoes, hating that she had messed up once again.

  “Emily, sit down.”

  “I can’t,” she cried, the day, the stress, and the worry getting the better of her.

  “There’s no need to cry. The doctors all say Luke will be fine, eventually. It’s going to take a while to heal, but God was watching over him.”

  Emily stopped and turned to face him. “What about us, Elam? Was God watching out for us?”

  His brow puckered into a familiar frown. “What are you talking about?”

  “I did it again.” She collapsed into her seat, her energy draining away with her admission. “I messed up.”

  “What did you do again, Emily? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about you sitting over there all angry because I came to see Luke. I love him, but only as a friend.”

  “I know.” Yet the frown remained.

  “Then why are you mad at me?”

  He shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. “I’m not mad at you.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “But you are.”

  “I think I would know if I was mad.”

  “And would you tell me?”

  “Jah, I made the promise to be open and honest with you.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  He sighed, his gaze darting around the austere waiting room. “This is where we came with Dat,” he said. His voice dropped low and somber. “I sat here so many days not knowing if he was going to live or die. Those are days I never want to live again.”

  “And being here is bringing it all back?”

  “Jah.”

  “And you knew when we left Wells Landing,” she said. It was not a question.

  “Jah.”

  “But you came anyway?”

  “Of course.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it meant so much to you to be here for Luke.”

  Tears tracked down her cheeks. “Elam, I don’t know what to say.”

  He smiled. “Just tell me you love me.”

  She returned his grin. “You love me.”

  He chuckled and stood, pulling her to her feet as Ben shuffled back down the hallway toward them. “Close enough.”

  The ride back to Wells Landing was so very different from the ride to Tulsa. Ben Smith drove with Emily and Elam in the backseat, but the tension was gone from his shoulders.

  As jealous as he had been of Emily’s previous relationship with Luke, he could only wish the man well. To have him hurt and near dead for a time made Elam pray even harder for his recovery.

  But it was even more than that. Seeing Emily and Luke in the same room together, him introducing his new Englisch girlfriend, all of these proved to Elam without any doubts that he held Emily’s love for his own.

  He couldn’t be happier.

  “I’ll swing by and take Emily home first.” Ben glanced in the mirror at the two of them.

  “Just drop me at Emily’s, too. I can get home from there.” Elam gently squeezed Emily’s fingers and resisted the urge to raise her hand to his lips and kiss each fingertip.

  He hated that he worried her and that she’d thought he was angry. He had learned his lesson about jealousy and love. Now he wanted to spend the rest of his life proving his love to her day by day.

  “Where is everyone?” Emily asked as Ben pulled the car into her drive.

  “Probably at my house planning our wedding.” Elam laughed.

  Ben smiled at the two of them. “I thought maybe,” he said, shakin
g Elam’s hand and slapping him jovially on the back.

  “Are you sure I can’t pay you for taking us to Tulsa?” Elam asked.

  Ben twirled his car keys around one finger. “I wouldn’t hear of it.”

  Elam nodded as Ben headed back to his car. The Mennonite stopped and turned to face them once more. “Well, there is one thing.”

  “Jah?” Elam asked.

  “Invite me to the wedding?”

  “You got it.”

  Together they turned back toward the house. “Where do you think everyone is?”

  “There’s no telling,” he said as Ben Smith drove away. “Let’s get inside where it’s warm.”

  The house was empty when they got inside. Elam couldn’t say the fact didn’t please him. He treasured any time he could find that left him alone with Emily.

  She perched on the edge of the sofa as he hung their coats by the door.

  “We’re okay, jah?” She looked at her hands in her lap. Her fingers were intertwined and twisted together in her apron.

  “Is something bothering you, Emily?” He sat down next to her, careful not to sit too close. It would be months before they could say their vows. There was a lot of courting to do between now and then.

  “Nay. It’s just . . .”

  He hooked one finger beneath her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “What is on your mind, mei liewe?”

  “Am I your love?” The words slipped from her lips, breathless and burning.

  “Have we not already covered this?” he asked, confused by her frown of worry.

  “Jah, it’s just that . . . well . . .”

  “We promised to be honest and true,” he said. “Say what’s on your mind, Emily Jane.”

  “Uhum, why haven’t you kissed me again? I mean since we worked things out.”

  He managed to suppress his laughter. Her eyes flashed such a serious light, he didn’t want her to think he was making fun. “You want me to kiss you?”

  “Well, jah.”

  “And that will settle your mind about us?”

  “It would help. I mean, you’ve told me that you love me, but I—”

  “You want me to show you,” Elam supplied.

  “Jah, please,” she whispered.