by Laura Hilton
Belle turned around to look at Annie. “She said you wouldn’t want to wear jeans, but I have a denim skirt you might feel comfortable in. I think it’s almost as long as your dress.”
Annie nodded. “Dank—Thank you.”
“We have jeans for you, too, Josh, and a T-shirt. It looks like you might be about Harley’s size. The shirt is plain, with no graphics. Shanna said that’d be best.” Belle leaned over to look at the floor in the backseat. “As for your feet…oh, good. You’re wearing tennis shoes. I’m sure we’re in for a lot of walking. I wasn’t sure if the Amish had to wear old-fashioned footwear or not.”
Joshua snickered. “No rules about the types of shoes we can wear. Annie could have worn a pair of those spiky heels that are popular, if she wanted to.” He caught Annie’s eye and gave her a grin, as if he might like to see her in a pair of high heels. She was glad she was sitting down. Her knees turned to liquid.
Feeling her face grow warm with a blush, she turned away and looked out the window. “Jah, but those would last about ten minutes on a farm.”
Harley checked the rearview mirror, then glanced over his shoulder as he backed the car onto the road. “Better buckle up. It’s the law.”
After they’d fastened their seat belts, Joshua slid his hand closer to Annie’s. She didn’t move away or resist, even when he wrapped his fingers around hers. She welcomed the sparks. Did he feel them, too? He tightened his grip a little, adjusting his hand so that it covered hers completely. “This’ll be fun, ain’t so?” he whispered.
She looked down at their clasped hands, knowing she ought to pull away but not at all wanting to. She glanced at him, hoping he wouldn’t detect the longing in her eyes. Then, she looked away, out the window again. “An adventure. Seems you and Shanna thought of everything. When did you go see her?”
***
There was jealousy in her voice, for sure. Joshua resisted the urge to groan. “Thursday. Matthew had a work frolic.”
Annie turned back to him, her eyes wide. “A work frolic? And the community didn’t know?”
Joshua shook his head. “Just a few things needed to be done. Shanna and Becky painted the kitchen, and….”
Her breath hitched. “Becky was there, too?”
She sounded hurt that her best friend had known about it and she hadn’t. He held her hand tighter, caressing the top of it gently with his thumb. “And Jacob. He was there, too.” He should have invited Annie. Had thought about it. But, with everything that had been going on, and with him not knowing how she felt….
“Becky didn’t tell me.” She wriggled her hand a little, but not enough to free it from his grasp.
“Then, just so you know, they’re painting the haus that Jacob built next weekend. You’re welkum to kum with me.”
“I love painting.” Belle apparently decided she’d been left out of the conversation for too long. She twisted around in the front seat and sat sideways so that she could see them, painfully reminding Joshua that his conversation with Annie was not so private. He allowed her to pull her hand free.
Leaving Annie to carry on a conversation with Belle, Joshua turned and gazed out the window at the traffic rushing past. He adjusted his seatbelt and gripped the door handle, so tight that his fingers hurt. He hated the speed, the rush-rush-rush, of the Englisch world. Any sudden stop by the car immediately in front of them would mean instant death, he was sure. Why hadn’t he considered the risks when he’d asked Annie to take him to the battlefield? He was jeopardizing her life due to his own selfishness. Forgive me, Lord.
Finally, Harley turned into the parking lot of an apartment complex on the west side of Springfield. He parked the car in between a pickup and a convertible, and then he and Belle opened their doors. “Come on up for a moment, and we’ll show you what we found for you to wear, if you don’t want to look Amish,” Belle said.
Joshua shrugged. He didn’t mind looking Amish. He was Amish, and would remain so. But Annie, as worried as she was about her job, and what would happen if they were to get caught, might feel more comfortable with a disguise of Englisch clothing. He certainly wouldn’t condemn her for it. Although, if she were recognized in Englisch clothes, wouldn’t that make things all the worse for her?
***
Annie hesitated a moment before opening her door and sliding out. Joshua did the same. They followed Belle and Harley up to a second-story apartment and waited while Belle opened the door, unlatching three separate locks.
The Amish didn’t use any locks. It must really be unsafe in the Englisch world.
Belle swung the door open, and Annie stepped into a small room furnished with only a brown leather couch and a wooden koffee table. There was a giant television set mounted to the wall, along with some picture puzzles that had been glued together and framed. A galley kitchen took up the far wall, where a tiny metal table with a round glass top and two chairs sat in front of the stove.
Belle picked up a pile of folded clothes lying on a chair and handed them to Annie. “The bathroom is through that door.”
Annie glanced at Joshua, panic on her face. Jah, she wanted to escape notice, but she hated the very idea of wearing Englisch clothes. A denim skirt? Well, Belle had said it was long; it might not be so bad.
But it was. When she’d put it on, the skirt hugged her legs all the way down to the hem, which was closer to her knees than her ankles. There was a slit in back, halfway up her thighs. And the shirt! She’d never worn anything so tight in her life.
Besides, she doubted the wisdom in wearing colors so bright. She would be hiding in plain sight, for sure and for certain.
She didn’t want anyone to see her like this, but she didn’t know what else to do. Everything was covered, except for the backs of her legs, which showed through the slit in the skirt. Yet, even with the relatively modest neckline of the shirt, she felt exposed.
Swallowing a wave of nausea, Annie opened the bathroom door. Immediately, everyone turned to look at her. She glanced at Joshua and caught the flicker of interest in his eyes as they traveled slowly down her body.
Chapter 12
Joshua studied Annie. She looked good. Real good. And if it weren’t for the Amish kapp still on her head, she would have appeared as Englisch as Belle. But it looked as if she was going to be sick, the way the blood had drained from her face, leaving a greenish tint in its place. Of course, that might have been due to the clingy, peach-colored T-shirt she wore. The jean skirt hugged her hips and clung narrowly to her legs through the hem, just above her knees. It didn’t look comfortable. Nor did it suit Annie, given her penchant for earth tones, not to mention much more loosely fitting Amish clothes.
Still, he could appreciate the new color scheme.
And the curves. Definitely the curves.
Harley gave a wolf whistle, which caused the little of Annie’s color that remained to vanish completely. She looked at him and then glanced back at Joshua, and he resisted the urge to give a whistle of his own. Instead, out of respect, he looked away, hoping Harley would have the decency to do the same. She couldn’t go out in public like this. No man on the planet would be able to keep his eyes off of her. He swallowed. Hard. And turned to Belle. “Do you have anything else? Otherwise—”
Annie spoke at the same time. “Do you have anything else, maybe? I mean, I appreciate the effort, but….”
Belle tilted her head, considering her. “Hmm. I thought that skirt reached below the knees. You must have longer legs than I do.” She went over to the closet and pulled out another skirt, this one longer, made of fabric the color of koffee with lots of cream. “Here, try this.”
Annie took the skirt and disappeared back inside the bathroom.
“I suppose it might have been hard to hike in that,” Belle conceded, “but that outfit looked better on her than it does on me.” She closed the closet door. “I’d give it to her to keep, but she probably wouldn’t be allowed to wear it.”
There was no “probably” about it.
When Annie reemerged from the bathroom, she was dressed in her Amish clothes again. She handed the shirt and the two skirts back to Belle. “Thank you, but I’m going as myself. I just can’t wear those things. I’d feel so….”
Her voice trailed off, maybe because she didn’t want to hurt Belle’s feelings. But Joshua could fill in the blanks. She’d feel sinful. Immodest. Exposed.
He cast her a knowing smile and then set down the jeans and T-shirt Harley had given him. “Jah. Me, too. It’s for the best.”
“But I thought you wanted to do this thing undercover.” Belle’s forehead scrunched.
“Not too many Amish will be at the battlefield, I’m thinking.” Joshua took a couple of steps backward, toward the door. “And, if some of them happen to be there, they’ll have some explaining of their own to do, ain’t so?” He raised his eyebrows.
Annie shot him a look of total relief before turning back to Belle. “Thanks again, but…maybe we should just go.”
Belle shrugged. “Okay, then. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” Annie maneuvered quickly toward the door, as if she was afraid that someone would catch her and force her to change back into the Englisch clothes. Her cheeks were flushed a hot-pink hue, a vestige of the embarrassment she must have experienced while wearing those too-revealing clothes.
Annie spent the half-hour car ride staring down at her hands, clenched tightly in her lap. This time, Joshua had the job of talking with the Englischers. Finally, they arrived at Wilson’s Creek Battlefield, and Harley parked the car. He and Belle hesitated by the doors of the building, waiting for Joshua and Annie, but Joshua waved them on. “We’ll catch up. I need to talk to Annie for a moment.”
They hesitated a few seconds more, and then Harley took Belle’s hand and led her inside the building. Annie looked at Joshua, her eyes widening. But she remained silent until the doors closed behind the other couple. “I’m sorry I embarrassed you with the clothing thing,” she finally said. “I didn’t know what to do, but I really wish I hadn’t even shown myself wearing them. I can’t believe you saw me like that.” She shuddered.
Joshua reached out, thinking he would grasp her hand, but he merely brushed her skin and then drew back. “I feel bad that you were put in that situation. But it’s not that. I wanted to talk to you about something else. It’s…well, I seem to have become the target of a practical jokester.”
Annie fidgeted with the front of her apron. “The spider, you mean?”
“Jah, but not only that. There have been several pranks. The worst, so far, has been the baby powder…make that the strawberry Jell-O in the shower.” He watched her face carefully for the tiniest hint of guilt. Any sign that she’d already known about the pranks. But all he could see was confusion.
After a moment’s pause, during which she seemed to be processing his words, she narrowed her eyes pensively. “Does Jell-O taste different in the shower?” She shook her head. “Do I want to know?”
It hadn’t been Annie. She was clueless. He wanted to kiss her. Pick her up and swing her around in circles. Or even wrap her in a bear hug.
He wanted to do all three.
But he did none of them.
Instead, he drew in a breath. “I’m sorry I thought it might have been you, or that you’d at least known about them. And I’m sorry I was unkind to you this week. Never again, Annie. My friends assured me it wasn’t you.”
Anger sparkled in her eyes. “You blamed me in front of your friends?”
“Nein, not blamed you, exactly. More like discussed the possibility of your being responsible.”
“I can’t believe you thought I might have played those tricks on you. There are others in the haus, you know.”
“I know. My friends told me that Cathy was probably the perpetrator. And I believed them. But I thought you were at least aware of what she was doing. That you’d given your okay.” He reached for her hands again, but she pulled them away and clasped them behind her back. “Ach, Annie. It isn’t what you think.”
“Then, tell me what it is.”
He removed his hat, raked his fingers through his hair, and put it on again. Gulped down the lump that had formed in his throat. Swallowed again, for good measure.
“Fine. I like you, Annie. I thought you might like me. But I couldn’t figure out the message behind the pranks. I still can’t. What does Cathy have against me? And would it be possible for you to forgive me?”
***
He liked her. Annie struggled to keep a smile from spreading across her mouth, but she couldn’t quite contain it. Totally inappropriate, especially with the question he’d just asked. Cathy was undoubtedly behind those unkind acts—after all, she had vowed to get rid of Joshua—but Annie hadn’t heard about them until after the fact. Joshua had said there’d been several tricks, including one involving baby powder, another strawberry Jell-O in the shower. Annie shook her head. She couldn’t begin to imagine where Cathy had gotten inspiration for her pranks.
She released her hands behind her back and, not knowing what else to do, folded her arms across her chest. Joshua liked her. What did that mean, exactly? She liked plenty of people who were mere acquaintances, who meant little else to her. Joshua, she more than liked. She swallowed. “I like you, too.” An understatement. She dipped her chin slightly, hoping to hide any embarrassment that showed on her face. Or, maybe to hide the truth: she suffered from a serious case of puppy love. She lowered her arms and resumed fidgeting with her apron.
Joshua reached out and took her hand. The sparks that ignited in her fingertips made her breath catch. “Do you mind?” he asked as his fingers intertwined with hers.
She ought to have minded. A good Amish girl didn’t go holding hands with a bu unless they were courting under the cover of darkness. But, nein, she didn’t mind at all.
Then again, would granting him that small liberty lower his respect for her? Would he lump her in with all of the other girls in the district, who were easily swayed by his considerable charm?
She shook her head slowly, then nodded.
He chuckled. “Well, which is it?”
Annie prayed for strength. “Nein.”
He nodded, released her hand, and reached for the handle of the glass door leading into the visitors’ center. Then, he let go of the door and turned to her again. “I am sorry, Annie. Ach, and you should know. I talked with Rachel. I won’t be seeing her again.”
She nodded, then repeated, “I like you, too.” Her face heated. Now he knew. She might as well have admitted straight-out that she had a crush on him.
He chuckled and grasped the door handle again. “Allow me.”
Belle and Harley were nowhere in sight. Perhaps, they were meandering through the cubicles that featured fascinating bits of trivia about the generals who had fought in the Civil War.
She’d browsed those panels on her last visit, but she couldn’t get enough of them—or of anything pertaining to history: Amish history, American history, European history, linguistic history…any history at all, really.
Would Joshua be horrified if she stopped to peruse the display? Or, would he rather find their Englisch companions and then go out to the actual battlefield? He might be more interested in seeing the cabins and field hospitals, which were still standing. Or, the cannons, yet intact.
Well, she wanted to see that stuff, too.
Ever since her first visit, she’d wanted to come back during a reenactment. She smiled to think that, in her Amish clothes, she probably appeared to many visitors as a reenactor in costume, even though her attire differed vastly from true period fashion from the Civil War era.
“You can go find Harley and Belle, if you’d like.” She hesitated at the beginning of the displays. “I won’t be long.”
Joshua looked around, as if wondering where she would go, if not with him, and then his eyes lit on the wall beside them. “I’ll stay with you.”
Lovely. All she needed was to have Joshua tell
everybody how long she’d spent looking at the graven images of war heroes. Really, what they looked like didn’t matter in the least to her. She cared only about what they’d done. After all, history was her favorite subject.
Maybe Joshua was interested in this, too. Coming here had been his idea, hadn’t it?
Still, they shouldn’t hang out in here too long. Belle and Harley had apparently whizzed through this area and gone straight for the model battlefield that someone had built to scale. They stood over it now, watching as it lit up to show the movement of the troops. Annie’s students had found it fascinating.
So had she, to be honest.
But she hadn’t expected Joshua to stay so close by her side. He was much closer than was necessary, really. It made it very hard to focus on the museum. Very easy to focus on the man.
