“I’d have absolutely no reason to do that.”
“Why are you grinning like you’ve got a secret then?” Lily asked.
Tulip replied, “I didn’t know I was.”
“This is boring. I’m going to bed.” Daisy jumped to her feet.
“Wait up.” Lily stood as well and then they took a lamp upstairs with them, leaving Tulip alone.
Tulip leaned back on the couch with her hands behind her head. It wasn’t often she could sit down in the peace and quiet. The house was always so noisy. To keep her mind off the man she was trying not to think about, she leaned forward and picked up one of the twins’ sewing and began where she had left off.
* * *
The next time Tulip saw Wilhem was two days later when she was leaving work. She was pleased to see him leaning against her buggy.
He straightened up when he saw her approach. “Hello. I hope it’s all right, me being here.”
“It is.”
“Things were kind of left a bit awkward the other night when I burned the food.”
A small giggle escaped Tulip’s lips when she thought about the smoke-filled house. He leaned down beside him and picked up a basket. “You left this basket at my haus.”
“You didn’t have to make a special trip. We’ve got plenty of baskets.”
“I wanted to see you.” He took a step closer. “I know you were upset the other night to learn about Adele, but there’s no reason to be.”
“I’m just upset for her, that’s all. She must’ve been very disappointed.”
“She might’ve been more disappointed if we had married and the feelings weren’t there between us.”
“Wilhem, the thing that I think scares me is that I don’t want to be that girl. The girl who thinks she’s getting married and then the man runs away from her. And if I’m truthful, deep down in my heart, I wonder what will happen if we get close to marriage and then you do the same thing to me.” She was being as honest with him as she possibly could.
“That would never happen, Tulip. I feel something for you in my heart that I’ve never felt for another girl—ever. Things are different with you.”
“I’m scared.”
He nodded. “I understand that, but I don’t know what to do about it. All I can do is tell you how I feel and tell you that if my parents were forcing me to marry you, I would’ve gladly gone ahead with it.”
She couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “You would’ve?”
“Not only that, I would’ve told them to bring the wedding forward.” He laughed. “I don’t know why you’re looking so surprised. I thought you knew how I felt about you.”
“Not so much, but I’m glad I know now. It makes me feel better.”
“Can we start where we left off? You agreed to be my girlfriend, remember?”
“I remember.”
“Let’s start from there and then when we get to know one another better I might let you marry me.”
Tulip put her hand to her mouth and giggled. “If we married, I have to tell you now that I would never allow you to cook.”
“Not fair. I like cooking. You can’t prevent me from cooking over one incident.”
“I can if that one incident nearly caused you to burn your haus down.”
He laughed. “I guess that’s fair enough. If you agree to marry me, I’ll stay out of the kitchen.”
“Good.”
“So was that a yes?”
“A yes to what?”
“To marrying me?”
She stared into his eyes to see if he was serious. “Really?”
“I would marry you tomorrow if you said yes.”
“We’ve not known each other for that long.”
He took a step toward her. “We have a lifetime to discover things about one another. I tell you what, why don’t you take as much time as you want to decide, knowing that you already have my heart. When you’re ready, I’ll be ready to marry you.”
She wondered if he was making this grand gesture to make her feel secure. If he was doing it for that reason, it had worked. All fear left her now that she knew how serious he was about her and their relationship. “Okay. I like that idea.”
“Can I be so bold as to take up that invitation from the other night for dinner with your familye once your vadder recovers enough for visitors?”
“Jah, I’d like that. Dat’s okay now.”
“What about Wednesday night next week?”
“Perfect. I’ll cook your favorite food.”
“You remember?”
“Jah, of course I do.”
* * *
Tulip took an early shift on Wednesday so she could cook the dinner just the way Wilhem had said he liked it. The twins weren’t teasing her as they helped, as she thought they would. They seemed intrigued by Wilhem and were asking all kinds of questions.
“So he’s Jonathan’s cousin?” Daisy asked.
“Jah, that’s right.”
“So Dat knows the familye?” Lily asked.
“I’m not sure, but he knows Jonathan’s family.”
“If you marry him, will you have to move away?” Lily asked.
That hadn’t even occurred to Tulip. She’d only thought as far as marrying him and not what their life would be like afterward. He could very well expect her to move anywhere. The last thing she wanted was to move away from her family. He’d said he would work there for a few months, then what after that? What if he was the type of man who liked to move around, staying a few months here and a few months there? She couldn’t live like that.
“Well?” Daisy asked since Tulip was taking time to answer Lily’s question.
“To answer your question properly, Lily, that’s something I don’t know.”
“Yeah, well, would you move away if he wanted you to?”
“Can we talk about something else? You’re making me nervous.”
“It’s just that we don’t want you to move away,” Lily said.
“We’d miss you,” Daisy added.
“I’d miss both of you too and I wouldn’t want to move away, but if I was really in love with someone and married, we might have to move to find work or something.”
When their mother came into the kitchen, the girls stopped talking.
“How’s the dinner coming along?”
“Fine, Mamm. I thought you agreed to have a rest and let us do the cooking?”
“I was trying to have a rest and then I heard a lot of talk from the kitchen. It smells good.”
“Denke,” Tulip and Daisy said at the same time.
Their mother fixed her eyes on Daisy. “When our guest arrives, don’t forget it was Tulip who did all this. All you did was help her.”
“I know that. She did most of it.”
“Good, and it needs to be perceived that way as well, with no confusion.”
Tulip turned away from her mother before she burst out laughing. Her mother was so desperate to get her married off to a nice man that she thought Tulip was trying to woo him with her cooking. Her mother was so old-fashioned that way.
“I feel like I can never do anything right,” Daisy said. “I’ll be sure to tell him that she did it all and I did nothing to help. Would you be happy then, Mamm?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re close to being sent to your room and having dinner up there as well.”
“Sorry.”
“Now, no more silliness. This is an important dinner for Tulip, so you can apologize to her as well.”
Tulip felt sorry for Daisy, but not sorry enough to intervene and risk getting on the wrong side of their mother.
“Sorry, Tulip.”
“That’s okay.”
Mamm said, “I’ll sit back down with your vadder if I’m not needed in here.”
Tulip said, “We’re fine in here denke, Mamm.”
When their mother had left the room, Daisy shook her head. “What’s wrong with her? She must’ve got out on the wrong side of bed this morni
ng.”
“She’s nervous about dinner.” Tulip opened the oven door and checked on the meat.
“Why should she be nervous about dinner? If anyone should be nervous it should be you.”
“She wants to get me married off.” The meat was perfectly done. She switched the oven off. “Now for the gravy.”
“Can I do that? I love making gravy. And I’ll pretend you did it.”
“You don’t have to pretend I made it. That’s silly,” Tulip said.
Daisy raised her fine, dark eyebrows. “Tell Mamm that.”
“Oh, yeah.” Tulip giggled. “Well, just don’t say anything in front of Wilhem because you’ll get into trouble.”
The girls placed the roasted lamb and vegetables into a separate pot to keep them hot while Daisy made gravy from the pan juices.
Lily had just finished setting the table when they heard a buggy.
“This’ll be him,” Lily squawked.
“Don’t look too excited,” Daisy whispered. “Just play it cool.”
Tulip hoped she hadn’t made a big mistake by inviting him there. Then she remembered he’d invited himself. If things got really bad she’d remind him of that. He’d see the funny side. How bad could her family be to the man she was interested in? She would soon find out because she could hear her mother opening the front door.
“Go out and greet him,” Lily quietly urged.
“I will. I’m just checking on a few things in here first.”
“We’ll look at everything in here. You go.”
“Okay, I’m going.” Tulip grabbed a hand towel, wiped her hands, and then headed out to see Wilhem.
By the time she got to the living room, he was sandwiched on the couch between her mother and her father, looking most uncomfortable. He looked up and smiled when he saw Tulip approaching him and gave her a nod. She gave him a little wave and sat down to listen to what her mother was talking to him about.
“Well, Mrs. Yoder, I’m not totally certain how long I’ll be here. I could stay longer depending on the job.”
“Dinner is only going to be a couple of minutes away,” Tulip said.
“Oh, Tulip. Look at what Wilhem brought me.”
Tulip looked to where her mother pointed. There was a huge vase of flowers. He was certainly trying to win her mother over and it looked like it was working. “Oh, they look lovely and so colorful.”
“It was so thoughtful. Every flower represents the name of each one of you girls—roses, tulips, lilies, and daisies.”
Wilhem chuckled. “I couldn’t come here empty-handed, Mrs. Yoder, not when you made all those lovely whoopie pies for Tulip and me the other night.”
“Did you like them?”
“They were the best I’ve tasted.”
“Nancy is a fine cook,” Tulip’s father told Wilhem. “Now, when I married her, she wasn’t so good, but she’s come a long way.”
Nancy cackled. “We had a few mishaps along the way, but that was before I had a proper stove, Hezekiah.”
Hezekiah teased his wife, saying, “Well, they say a poor workman blames his tools.”
Nancy made tsk tsk sounds. “Don’t listen to him, Wilhem.”
Wilhem looked like he didn’t know what to say, then after a few awkward seconds said, “The dinner smells wunderbaar.”
“Our Tulip cooks well,” her mother said. “She’s rearranged her work to cook this meal. She said that roasted lamb with vegetables and gravy is your favorite meal.”
He looked over at Tulip and smiled. “I’m glad you remembered.”
“And I think there will be enough crispy pieces for you.” She told her mother and father, “He likes the meat well done on the outside.”
“Jah, it’s tasty like that,” her father said to Wilhem.
“I should see how it’s coming along.” Tulip went into the kitchen and checked on everything. Then she whispered to each twin to act naturally around her guest and not say anything to embarrass her. They said they would. Tulip stepped back into the living room and told everyone the dinner was ready.
They all sat down at the table with Mr. Yoder at the head. Everyone bowed their heads to say their silent prayer of thanks for the food.
When Tulip opened her eyes, she noticed that the meat had already been sliced. That was something that their father used to do. Mrs. Yoder took Wilhem’s plate and filled it with food. It was an odd thing for her mother to do, but it reinforced to Tulip that her mother approved of him.
Tulip barely had to do any talking because her mother and father chatted away to Wilhem quite happily. They asked him about people they knew from his community. That was fine but then they got onto what kind of work he was capable of doing and what he’d done in the past. At one point, Tulip nearly had to tell her parents that they sounded like they were interviewing him for a job. Then she realized they kind of were. They were interviewing him as a potential husband for her. Thankfully, the twins had just eaten dinner quietly while looking bored throughout. All Tulip wanted was to be alone with him.
When it came time for dessert, Tulip was pleased to leave the table. The twins helped by clearing the dishes and helping Tulip place the dessert of fruit salad, ice-cream, and cheesecake in the center of the table.
Once her father started to help himself to the food, Tulip noticed that Wilhem quickly did the same—a sign that he too thought it a little odd that Tulip’s mother put food on his plate. Since Tulip couldn’t get a word in edgeways between her parents firing questions at Wilhem, she had time to notice these things. To think that she’d been worried about the twins making him feel uncomfortable! Wilhem was handling it all well, although his cheeks were getting a little rosy.
Her parents hadn’t questioned Mark like that before he married Rose, but then again, Rose and Mark had grown up together and Wilhem was someone they’d met only recently.
Wilhem didn’t wait long after dinner to thank everyone and say goodnight. He’d stayed for a cup of coffee and more talk in the living room—just long enough to be polite.
Tulip walked out to his buggy with him.
“I’m so sorry about all of that,” Tulip said.
“About what?”
“The interrogation. Don’t pretend you didn’t notice. I saw you getting all hot and flustered.”
He chuckled.
“Oh, and those flowers—you won Mamm’s heart with the flowers.”
“Good. I’m glad she liked them. I got them from your schweschder at the markets. I told her I was coming here and wanted to bring flowers.”
“So having the four different flowers was Rose’s idea?”
“Nee. I had the idea of getting her flowers to represent the four of her dochders.”
Tulip giggled. “I think you passed the test.”
“You think so?”
“Jah, I think Mamm wants to adopt you. She never puts food on people’s plates like that. I didn’t know what she was doing at first. She sometimes puts meat on plates for guests, but that’s only when she’s doing the same with everyone else.”
“I like your parents.”
They walked down the porch steps.
“Me too. You got off easy tonight. Usually the twins are talkative and out of control. I had to warn them not to embarrass me.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. It might have been entertaining.”
Tulip giggled once more. “You don’t think my parents were entertaining enough?”
“They were all right. It’s only normal for them to want to know more about me. Do they know that we’re … close?”
“Jah. They figured that out. Denke for coming tonight. I feel a little closer to you now that you’ve been here and survived dinner.”
“I’ve passed the test, have I?” He reached for her hand and took it in his.
“Ten out of ten.”
“Really? I’ve done well. How are you feeling now about the incident in my past?” They’d just reached the buggy and he turned to face her.
<
br /> “It’s not as though you got married.”
“Jah, but you knew that the other day, yet it still bothered you.”
“It doesn’t any longer.”
“I think it might bother you a little. It’s hard to get over something that quickly. I could see it upset you.”
“There are two different ways of looking at the situation and I was looking at it in the worst and most negative way.” She shook her head. “It was silly of me.”
“Your feelings aren’t silly. You can’t help the way you feel.”
She was starting to like him more and more. It was as though she finally had someone of her very own. Someone who’d always be her special person and always be on her side no matter what. “That’s nice of you to say.”
“I’m not saying it to be nice. I want you to be sure about me and I don’t want to pressure you into anything. I know I gave your parents the impression that I didn’t know how long I’d be here for, but I can be here for as long as I want. There’s permanent work available for me here if I want it.”
“You’d stay on?”
He nodded. “Jah. I don’t know how much to say to you because I don’t want you to feel obligated to me. There’s nothing worse than feeling trapped. I’ve decided to stay here because I want to build a future with you. There, I’ve said it.” He leaned against his buggy, still holding onto her hand as they faced each other.
“Really?” Tulip licked her lips.
“Jah, but if you change your mind, I’ll accept that. Don’t think you have to be with me because I want to be with you.” He picked up her other hand to hold it as well.
His words told her how much he liked her. They also showed her how he had felt when he’d felt obliged to marry someone his parents thought suitable.
He glanced over her shoulder at her house. “Tonight was special.”
“It was a little tense and we hardly had time to say anything to each other.”
“Tonight was for them—your parents. If they feel comfortable with me, maybe you’ll trust me more. I’ll never disappoint you, Tulip, and I’ll never let you down.”
As they stood there under the moon and the stars, Tulip knew what he said was true.
* * *
Six months later…
Amish Tulip Page 14
