A Little Bit of Charm (43 page)

“You're wrong.
I
have changed. If my parents' death on a warm summer night taught me nothing else, I learned that life is short. So if you can forgive me, I would love to see if we can make a future together.” She held her breath as she looked down at her clasped hands.

His face softened as he lifted her chin with one finger, causing her to meet his gaze. “I forgave you right away. People do that when they are in love. I left town to give you some space.”

She struggled to catch her breath. “When I came to work and found you gone, I felt ripped in half. I couldn't keep my mind on
my chores. I tried dating other men, but nothing changed the fact that I'm in love with you, Jake Brady. And if I need to turn English for us to be together, then I will. Your God is the same as mine. Jesus came to show us the path to heaven through love and forgiveness. I don't believe it matters if we call ourselves Amish or Baptist or whatever.”

Jake wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close for a moment. He released a huge sigh. “What do you say we get out of here? I'm dying to kiss you, and I simply can't do that in church.”

As they stepped out hand in hand into the brilliant sunshine, butterflies took flight in her stomach. “Walk me to where I left my horse and buggy,” she said. When they reached the bare sycamore tree, she turned up her face in full expectation of a kiss. But after a long moment, she opened her eyes.

Jake was leaning against the buggy wheel with his arms crossed over his chest. “I did some stupid things regarding Eager to Please that could have been disastrous for my family. Fortunately, God took pity on me and sent a miracle of sorts. I'll tell you the whole story when we're not standing out in the cold.”

“I've also made mistakes and done things I'm not proud of. I'm in no position to judge you or anyone else.” Rachel took a step closer.

“In that case I'd like that kiss if you don't mind.”

She glanced over her shoulder. Apparently no Baptists lurked behind trees, spying on mischief makers, so Rachel closed her eyes to receive the sweetest, most tender kiss of her life. “Yes, that's what I remembered,” she murmured. “The kiss I'd been unable to forget.”

“And all this time I thought you hung around the stable because of our pretty horses.” His grin looked boyish and handsome.

“That changed the first time I mucked out an entire row of stalls.”

He chuckled and then his expression sobered. “Where do we go from here, Miss King?”

“First, I'm going home for an honest chat with my grandmother. She won't like me jumping the fence one bit, but her love for her granddaughters has a habit of rising to the surface like cream. On the other hand, Sarah might sic her attack hens on me…or blame herself. I wish to avoid either situation.”

“Should I follow you in my truck and come inside when you break the news?”

“You're welcome to follow me home, but then you should head back to Twelve Elms. This is something I must do alone. If all goes well, you and I will have the rest of our lives together.”

“Are we going to buy eggs while we're there?” Amber asked.

“Definitely, two or three dozen.” Donna kept focused on the road to watch for deer or darting raccoons. “Everyone knows that the Stolls' eggs are the best in Kentucky.” She grinned, remembering Sarah's droll reply after hearing praise. “
Whether it's the truth—and it probably is—or not, we Plain folk don't set ourselves above anyone else
.”

“I told my friends at school about Sarah and Rachel,” said Amber. “Some of their moms have started buying chickens and eggs from them. They agree that the taste is worth the extra trip.”

From the backseat, Kristen asked, “Can we buy some chickens from Sarah too?”

Donna peered at her younger daughter in the rearview mirror. “Yes, if Isaac has any ready for the freezer. I've had a hankering for Southern fried chicken with baked beans and a skillet of greens for weeks.”

“Fattening, Mom, fattening,” said Amber, always the teenager. “I'll have mine grilled with the skin removed.”

Kristen leaned forward and put her small hand on Donna's shoulder. “Not a chicken to cook. I want live chickens for pets. Dad could build a little house for them and fence in part of the yard. Each morning I could feed them dried corn and after school gather up eggs.”

Her young face glowed with so much enthusiasm Donna hated to break her bubble. “Why don't you check with your father on this one? If you mention pet chickens, I have a feeling a dog from the pound will start to sound better and better.” Kristen grinned and leaned back, content for the rest of the ride.

Donna used the quiet that reigned in the car to appreciate perfect February weather. For the first time in days the clouds had cleared, revealing a blue sky that took her breath away. Bits of frost remained in shaded areas, but they would burn off by noon. Rolling fields, moist and brown, waited patiently for spring, when they would be tilled and planted in the endless cycle of death and rebirth. Donna had experienced her own miniature rebirth lately. She had been strengthened and renewed during her weeks of working with the Mennonites and Amish. Their simple faith had regenerated her own. She was even getting along better with her crusty boss—nothing short of a miracle.

She drove up the Stolls' lane trying her best to dodge the puddles. Nobody Plain wasted good money on driveway gravel until they got stuck once or twice. When she parked near the house, her daughters scrambled out, but Donna paused a moment to compose her thoughts. How should she express gratitude to these two women, strangers from a culture that purposefully separated themselves from the modern world? They had gone out of their way to help with a job they didn't fully understand or agree with.

While she still sat behind the wheel, Rachel exited a chicken barn carrying a basket of brown eggs. Kristen and Amber ran to join her, their long hair flying behind them in the breeze. Donna enjoyed the postcard scene of youthful beauty gathered to giggle
and chat on a sunny winter morning. Then something odd niggled at the back of her mind. Rachel looked different. Donna leaned forward, gaping at the young woman like a tourist viewing Amish people for the first time. Her overall appearance of modest, solid-colored clothing was familiar, but Rachel wore no Amish dress with cape or black apron. She had on a long denim skirt and an oversized chocolate brown turtleneck with her work boots. And her hair! A thick blond braid hung down her back to her waist. Although her face was devoid of makeup, she wasn't wearing either her full black bonnet or even her white prayer
kapp
.

Donna jumped from the car and hurried to join the group with almost as much pep as her girls. “Hi, Rachel. Happy Saturday morning to you.”

“Hi, Donna. Same to you.”

“I couldn't help notice that you look practically English. What happened, if I might ask?”

Kristen's mouth dropped open while Amber moaned, “Mom, not very subtle. We were trying to find a polite way to ask Rachel and you just blurt out the question.”

Rachel threw her head back, laughing. “It's okay. Not beating about the bush is the Amish way. We're rubbing off on each other.” Surprisingly, she embraced Donna with a hug. “You go first. Tell me your news on the project and then I'll share mine.”

“The State Department of Health's program has been deemed a success,” Donna said. “We tested almost everyone in the Plain community and vaccinated nearly eighty percent of the children. Eighty percent! That's better than Pennsylvania's compliance rate and far better than what we hoped for.”

“This means Mom gets a gold star by her name,” said Kristen.

“This means she won't get fired,” corrected Amber.

Rachel looked from one to the other and then at Donna. “Both results sound useful to me. Congratulations.”

“I came here today to thank you and Sarah, and, of course,
Grandma King and Bishops Mast and Esh. I couldn't have come close to compliance if not for your help.”

“Sarah's in the house. She'll be glad to see you. But
grossmammi
and the bishop have gone back to Lancaster.” The corners of her mouth pulled down. “My grandmother isn't too happy with me.”

“Does this have anything to do with your new clothes?” asked Donna. Amber and Kristen blinked, waiting in anticipation.

“It has everything to do with them. Jessie Brady took me shopping at the mall in Somerset for new outfits. What do you think?” She shyly pivoted in place.

“Great, but you would look pretty in a feed sack,” said Amber. “Are you turning English?”

Rachel flushed to a shade of warm peach. “I don't like saying the words, but I probably am…one small step at a time. I'm dating Jake Brady, and he's already proposed—twice.”

Kristen clapped her hands as though at the circus, while Donna and her older daughter murmured more reserved expressions of congratulations.

“I love him, but we're not getting married just yet. He wants me to have an adjustment period.”

“It's a big decision to change how you've been raised.”

“True. That's why we'll wait to get hitched.”

“But you're pretty sure Jake is the one.” Amber placed her hand over her heart.

“Oh, yeah, that much I know. My grandmother talked my ear off, but I can't go back to Lancaster with her. As much as I love her and Beth, this feels like home now. Because I haven't been baptized yet, at least I won't be shunned, but things won't remain the same either.”

“You haven't been baptized yet?” Kristen's shock was apparent.

“No, we wait until late teens or early twenties, once a person knows they want to stay Amish.”

“Will you be baptized in Jake's church?” asked Amber.

Rachel smiled. “I haven't thought that far ahead, but I suppose I will.”

“Where will you live until your wedding?” Donna asked her second nosy question on the heels of each of her daughters'.

“I didn't know what would happen with my cousin. Sarah wanted me to go back to Lancaster so she could wash her hands of me.” Rachel winked, impishly. “But when she realized that wasn't going to happen, she appointed herself my big sister and started calling the shots. ‘This will be a proper courtship, whether you're jumping the fence or not,'” mimicked Rachel in Sarah's tone of voice. “I'm only allowed to work at Twelve Elms two days a week, and I have an eleven o'clock curfew while living here. And she goes shopping with Jessie and me for English clothes to make sure they are modest.”

“Wow, she sounds just like a mom,” said Kristen, grinning at Donna.

“Just like. Then Sarah insisted that Jake and I get counseling from both Bishop Mast and Reverend Bullock.”

Donna squeezed Rachel's arm. “That's because she loves you.”

Rachel linked her arm through Donna's. “And I love her. Let's go inside to warm up. Sarah will be relieved to hear the polio crisis has been averted.” Amber slipped her arm around Rachel's waist, while Kristen took Donna's hand. The four women crossed the wet grass and climbed the steps. Once they reached the porch, Donna spotted the kitchen curtain fall back into place.
Mother Hen has been watching her favorite chick's outdoor goings-on
.

Then the door suddenly swept open. “Donna Cline! I thought you would never come up to the house,” said Sarah. “Let's have coffee and cut this pie I baked. It's growing staler by the minute.”

As Donna and her girls were ushered into the warm, comfortable kitchen of the Stolls, under her ribs her heart began to swell. Orphaned Rachel King was once again in capable hands.

TWENTY

I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see

March

R
achel waited until the first of March before penning her overdue letters to Amy in Maine and Nora in Missouri. She spent the first page describing her job and how much she enjoyed working with horses. She filled the second page with chatty news about Sarah and Isaac and their ever-expanding chicken farm. Smoothly she transitioned into her relationship with Jake Brady, and although they saw each other little at work, they went out every Thursday and Saturday night, besides attending Baptist church services together—a schedule devised and approved by Sarah.