“Sounds like Mozart.”
Noah’s voice stopped Rose in her tracks and she looked into his smiling eyes. “You know the music of Mozart?”
“Jah, I listen to it on my battery-operated radio.”
Noah couldn’t help but admire her beauty. He’d caught her at a vulnerable moment, and it made her even more appealing to him. How could he possibly resist her? It wouldn’t be easy, but he wouldn’t rush to her either, for fear of scaring her away. Instead, he slowly closed the space between them, grabbing a handful of fireflies and pushing them into the jar she held. He took hold of the lid, placed the cheese cloth on top, and then twisted the lid in place before they could escape. All this he did without taking his eyes off Rose.
Mesmerized by her gaze, he stood close enough to her that he could hear her breath catch in her throat, his presence causing her to gasp. His heart beat in perfect tempo with the cricket’s song as he leaned down and brushed a kiss against her temple. Her hair smelled like sweet strawberries ripened by warm sunshine.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered close to her ear.
Noah’s warm breath sent shivers from her ear all the way to her toes. Had he called her beautiful? Such talk of vanity was forbidden, but it delighted her to hear it from his full lips that taunted her. She wanted to kiss him, but didn’t dare make a move toward him, fearing he would run from her again. She remained still and allowed him to sweep kisses across her cheek until finally he reached her eager lips. Unable to hold back any longer, she deepened the kiss, reaching up and tangling her fingers in his silky hair. Oh how she’d longed for this moment. She’d dreamed of it over and over again, reliving that first kiss. But now she wouldn’t have to. He was holding her close again, and unpinning her hair from her kapp. She delighted in the feel of his fingers in her hair as she continued to kiss him. She felt his arms tighten around her, pulling her close enough to warm her.
Noah couldn’t help but pull Rose closer to him. He wanted her to be a part of him, but he had no right since she was not his fraa—but he wanted her to be.
“Mary me, Rose,” he whispered.
Rose gasped.
He hadn’t meant to say it. He’d felt it in the heat of the moment, but he knew it was too soon. But that hadn’t stopped him from feeling it.
Rose stepped away from him. It was much too soon to think about marrying Noah—wasn’t it? She wanted it more than anything, but she didn’t really think he was ready. Was it possible he’d gotten caught up in the moment? Surely he would feel differently tomorrow, and she would be left feeling like a dummkopf for blurting out the answer she longed to say. She wanted to marry him more than anything, but not if he wasn’t ready. They hadn’t known each other long enough for that sort of thing to be anything more than a fleeting thought. The stunned look on her face sent the message to him without her having to utter a word.
Noah stepped back, allowing Rose to fall from his grasp. The moment was gone. The look on her face told him he had made a big mistake in voicing his feelings aloud. Would she be the one to run from him this time? Her expression let him know he’d gone too far. There was no taking it back. What could he do? Would she even take him seriously after such a foolish statement? He was falling in love with her, that much he knew for certain. He couldn’t help it. Gott himself had placed her in his path, and he couldn’t reject such a precious gift. But how could he make her understand he’d meant what he’d said without scaring her away?
“Rose, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out. I was caught up in the kiss. I feel like I keep messing things up without meaning to, and I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you. I care about you.”
There it was—his confession. He hadn’t meant it at all. She’d been a fool to hope he had.
He cares about me, but he doesn’t love me. How could I have allowed him to pull me into another passionate kiss without knowing how he felt about me first? I wish I could take it back. All of it. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel like a dummkopf and this wouldn’t hurt so much.
“I should go,” she managed.
Rose couldn’t face him. And she certainly couldn’t come back to the pond ever again.
Chapter 23
Rose wept quietly into her pillow. She didn’t want to risk having to explain her tears to Katie if she should hear her. How could she have been such a fool to let Noah use her to feed his own cravings for a replacement for Emma? Was he using her as a substitute to quench the pain of losing Emma?
Then it hit her. He’d said her name. He’d asked her to marry him. He hadn’t mistakenly called her Emma like he had that first night when she’d nearly drowned. Was it possible he’d fallen in love with her, and he was truly over Emma?
Sitting up, Rose wiped her tear-soaked eyes on the sheet. She’d wasted what might possibly have been her only proposal of marriage, and she’d rejected him. Panic consumed her at the thought of losing Noah completely. Was it too late to tell him yes? Would he still want to marry her after the way she’d behaved?
Gott, please bless me with the strength to endure the heartache if Noah should decide he doesn’t really want to marry me. I pray that he does, and that you will soften his heart toward me to forgive me for rejecting him. I didn’t mean to. I love him, Gott. Please open his eyes to see the love I have for him.
****
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Rose gulped the last sip of her kaffi and set the cup in the sink. “I told you. I have to go to the B&B.”
Katie was growing impatient with her schweschder’s secrets. “I thought today was your day off?”
“It is, but I promised Bess I’d go into town with her. She wants to pick up some new fabric to make new drapes for one of the guest rooms, and I told her I’d go with her.”
Katie walked over to the sink and stood beside Rose. “You were complaining to me about how I’ve neglected you since you gotten here. And now I haven’t seen you a full day since. You’re always running off somewhere. Is there something going on with you that I need to know about? Are you up to something?”
Rose placed a hand on her schweschder’s shoulder. “Nee. Everything is fine. I have things to do, and you should be happy since that will allow you to spend more time with Caleb. I’m happy with my job. Bess has been very kind to me.”
Katie scrunched up her face. “You call her by her first name? She will be my aenti when I marry Caleb, and I don’t even call her by her first name.”
Rose smiled. “I suppose that’s because we have become more like friends.”
Katie nearly choked on her kaffi. “Friends? She’s so much older than you are, Rose.”
“The age a person is has no bearing on whether they will make a gut friend. Besides, she’s only turning fifty this year. That isn’t so old.”
Katie felt a little jealousy rise up in her. “I suppose not. When you get home, will you have time to work on the wedding dresses? I’d like to finish them so that is out of the way.”
Rose smiled. “Of course we can. But you know the wedding is still several months away. You don’t have to have everything done now.”
“Come harvest season, everyone will be too busy with canning bees and the like, so I want all the big details taken care of now.”
Rose hugged her schweschder, and then walked out the door. She understood wanting to ready everything for the wedding, but Rose hoped that she would be planning for her own wedding soon as well.
****
Rose wasn’t keen on riding into town with Jessup driving, but Bess had trusted him with her mare. She didn’t want to ride in the front of the buggy, but Bess had insisted she needed to sit in the back so she could stretch out to avoid getting queasy. Rose felt a little awkward around the mann with whom her own schweschder used to be betrothed, but Bess trusted him, so she didn’t argue. Even though she knew it was a sham and that her parents had forced Katie into the engagement, it still felt odd being around Jessup. She didn’t dislike him the way Kati
e had at the time, but there was something odd about his visits to the B&B. This was his second trip in three weeks, and Bess had told her he was here on business. But now Rose learned he would return at the end of the week with his kinner. If Rose didn’t know any better, she’d think Jessup King was looking to move to the community.
When they reached the outskirts of town, Rose admired many shops that were run by the Amish. Everything from a bakery to a quilt shop, and even a shop that sold antiques and wares homemade by the Amish in the community graced the main road. Rose was mesmerized every time she caught a glimpse of the town-folk, and often wondered what their lives were like.
Jessup parked the buggy in front of the bank, claiming he had some business to take care of. He’d suggested they meet at the diner around the corner as soon as they’d finished getting fabric.
“I won’t be long,” Jessup called over his shoulder. “I’ll meet you in twenty minutes.”
Rose wondered what sort of business he might have at the bank, but it only furthered her assumption that he was planning to move to the community. Why would he want to live in the same community as Katie? Unless he had plans to try to win her back. Would he stoop so low as to try to break up Katie and Caleb after all this time had passed? He’d have to be a fool to try.
Chapter 24
Caleb pulled his buggy across Main Street and parked in front of the hardware store. He’d recognized his aenti Bess’s buggy parked at the bank across the street and thought it odd. He walked across traffic and patted Buttercup on the head. She responded with a whinny and bobbed her head, nudging Caleb affectionately with her nose.
Caleb gave her nose another pat, and then walked around the corner to get an ice cream cone from the diner. The only time he indulged in the sweet treat was during his summertime trips to town, and it was warm enough today to make him crave the frozen treat. As he rounded the corner, he glanced inside and noticed Rose sitting at one of the tables. She was with a mann, and giggled like someone who was on a date and flirting. When the waitress walked by the table, the mann turned to get her attention. She tore a sheet off the pad of paper in her hand and handed it to Jessup King!
Even though the mann Caleb now stared at was beardless, it was indeed Jessup King. Was he courting Rose? Was that the reason for shaving his beard? Katie had complained to him that Rose had been running off lately and spending a lot of time at the B&B—even on her days off. Why would his aenti allow the two of them to take her buggy into town for a date? He would get to the bottom of this, but Caleb would not engage in a public confrontation. He would wait and go over to the B&B to talk with his aenti later. Right now, he’d suddenly lost his appetite for that ice cream cone.
****
Noah waved to his cousin who had just crossed the street and walked toward the hardware store. Standing in front of the diner, he wondered what had caused Caleb to stare through the window so intently. As he peered inside, his heart skipped a beat at the realization of what had caught Caleb’s attention. Rose sat in the middle of the diner at a small table with an older mann—an un-bearded mann. If the mann wore no beard, he was unmarried. Who was he? Did his cousin know? Noah watched the two of them converse happily—almost as though they were on a date.
When he’d approached the diner from the feed store, Caleb’s back had been to him and he’d been staring through the window of the diner. He hadn’t gone in. He’d simply stood outside the window before jogging across the street to the hardware store. Caleb had seemed as unnerved as Noah was now, but he couldn’t ask his cousin about it, or he would discover his feelings for Rose. His feelings that had obviously gone unrequited.
Noah walked away from the diner before Rose caught him staring through the window. He’d embarrassed himself enough by throwing himself on her twice, and now it seemed she was dating someone else. He wondered how long they’d been together, and why she hadn’t mentioned it to him before they kissed? Was she unhappy with the mann? Judging from her laughter, he’d have to say she was not unhappy with him. He didn’t think Rose was the type of girl to date more than one mann at a time, but it was possible he was wrong about that assumption.
****
Bess returned from the bathroom and sat down at the table between Rose and Jessup.
“Jessup was just telling me the funniest story, Bess. You have to get him to tell you while I use the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.”
Jessup began to recount his story while Rose got up and went toward the back of the diner to reach the ladies’ room. She wasn’t real keen on using public restrooms, but she’d had too many refills of her soda-pop.
When she finished, she stood at the sink to wash her hands and examined herself in the large mirror as she did. She’d gotten a lot of sun lately while taking care of the celery patch for Katie, and she thought she was beginning to resemble the Englisch girls who wore a lot of makeup. She’d always tanned easily, and she thought she looked better with a little color on her face. It seemed to override the dullness that normally paled her.
****
By the time they arrived back at the B&B, Rose felt like she’d put in a full day already. She wanted to stop by and visit with Noah, but she’d promised Katie she would work on sewing the wedding dresses when she returned. She’d had fun, which surprised her. She’d never thought she could actually have fun talking to Jessup, but he’d had some funny stories about the constant antics of his kinner, and it was quite entertaining listening to him. She could see that he genuinely loved his kinner, and Rose thought that was a gut quality—one she’d missed when he was engaged to Katie.
****
“We need to talk about something serious, Rose, and this can’t wait.”
“At least let me get my sewing. We can talk then.”
Katie didn’t wait for her to return with her sewing. She followed closely on Rose’s heals as she clomped up the stairs, exhaustion apparent in each step. She turned around midway, frowning at her schweschder.
“Katie, why are you following me? I’ll be right down.”
Katie continued to follow, causing Rose a great deal of irritation. “What is so important that you had to follow me up the stairs?”
“I know why you’ve been disappearing all the time. Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone?”
Rose’s heart fluttered with dread. She didn’t want to say anything about her relationship with Noah until she was certain where it stood.
Katie scowled at Rose. “Your silence tells me it’s true! Well, I forbid you to date Jessup King!”
Chapter 25
“You forbid me?”
Rose decided to play along. She had no idea what had made Katie think she was seeing Jessup, but it was the perfect cover-up until she could figure things out with Noah without her schweschder getting into her affairs like she was now.
“Yes, I forbid you. I decided to follow you to the B&B to see what was really causing you to run off all the time, and that’s when I saw you getting into the buggy with Jessup. I know he’s changed, but he made me miserable when I was forcibly engaged to him. Besides, I find it a little creepy that you would decide to date him. You aren’t serious are you?”
Rose pressed her lips into a grim line. “And if I am? What then? Would you forbid me to marry him if I chose to do so? Honestly, I find it creepy that my own schweschder thinks she has to spy on me!”
Katie fumed. “It’s obvious someone needs to keep tabs on you. Why would you even think to marry Jessup? Has he proposed to you?”
Rose remembered the heated proposal she’d received from Noah. Her cheeks warmed at the thought of it.
“I’ve been proposed to.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. She’d been proposed to—just not from Jessup.
Katie’s eyes bulged and her mouth gaped.
“He proposed to you? Please tell me you told him no!”
Rose was almost enjoying this. It angered her that her schweschder would accuse of her of such a thing in the f
irst place. But to believe it to be true was another thing altogether. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep this up, but certainly long enough to teach Katie a lesson to stay out of her business. Katie had always tried to boss her. She never understood why, but she assumed it had everything to do with the fact that their parents controlled her so closely. It still surprised her that her parents had allowed Katie to remain in this community, but she suspected Aenti Nettie had had a lot to do with winning that argument.
“I didn’t give my answer.”
It was still the truth…
Katie breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of Rose marrying Jessup was too much for Katie to accept. She had to stop it from happening—for Rose’s sake—and for her own. It would be awkward, to say the least, to see her schweschder marry him.
“Then you still have time to break it off.”
Rose bristled. “What if I don’t want to break it off with him? What if I love him?”
“Do you love him?”
Rose thought about Noah. There was no denying her love for him.
“I do love him. Very much.”
Katie drew in a quick breath. “Does he feel the same about you?”
With the way Rose had responded to Noah’s proposal, she wasn’t sure if he would still have her. It broke her heart to even think about it, but she had to face the fact that even though she loved him deeply, his proposal may not have been sincere. He’d practically taken it back afterward. She wished she could be sure of his feelings for her, but the truth was, she couldn’t.
Chasing Fireflies: Book Five (Jacob's Daughter, an Amish, Christian Romance) Page 7
