[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey (44 page)

“Puh! This ain’t courtin’,” he mumbled. “I want to take you out for rides in my buggy, bring you home from singings, take you on picnics and to volleyball games, and come calling at your house.”

“We only have another year to wait, and then we can begin officially courting,” she whispered. “In the meantime, we can keep meeting each other like this, and our folks will never have to know.”

“I’d wait forever for you, Phoebe.” He lowered his head and kissed her
.

Titus blinked a couple of times as his mind snapped back to the present. The past was in the past, and he must look to the future now—a future that would perhaps include Suzanne as his wife someday living here in his new Kentucky home.

Titus clicked off the lantern, tore the sheet of paper with Phoebe’s address from the notepad, and stepped out of the shanty. He’d go back to the house, fix himself something for breakfast, and write Phoebe a letter. Then, knowing he’d done the right thing, he could put his focus fully on the future.

When a sandpapery tongue swiped Suzanne’s arm, her eyes popped open. “Samson, what are you doing on my bed, you big, bad cat?”

Samson nuzzled her hand with his nose and purred. Suzanne snuggled him close, enjoying the feel of the cat’s soft, sleek fur.

She turned her head toward the window, remembering that she’d left it partially open last night—apparently wide enough for the cat to get in. “You need to go back outside now,” she said.

Pushing the covers aside, she slid out of bed, opened the window fully, and set Samson on the branch of the maple tree growing outside her bedroom window. He’d used the tree as a way into the house a few times before, so she knew he’d have no problem finding his way to the ground.

Suzanne hurried to get dressed, and when she stepped into the kitchen a short time later, the pleasant aroma of hickory-smoked bacon greeted her, making her mouth water in anticipation.

“Guder mariye,” Mom said, turning from her job at the stove long enough to smile at Suzanne. “You look tired. Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

“I slept okay once I fell asleep,” Suzanne replied. “Just had a hard time turning off my thoughts.”

“Thoughts about what?”

Suzanne’s face heated. She wasn’t about to admit that she’d been thinking about Titus. “Just things, that’s all.”

“You sure it was ‘things’ and not someone special?”

Suzanne shrugged in reply.

The bacon sizzled and spattered as Mom flipped it over in the pan. “You don’t have to hide it from me, Suzanne. I fell in love once, and I know the signs.”

“I do care for Titus,” she whispered, hoping no one else in the family could hear their conversation. “I’m just not certain he cares for me.”

Mom swatted the air with her spatula. “You’re kidding, right?”

Suzanne shook her head.

“During the time he was staying with us, I saw the expression on his face whenever the two of you were in the same room.” Mom smiled. “It was the same look your daed had on his face when we were courting.”

“What look was that?” Nelson asked when he and Grandpa entered the room.

“The look of love.” Mom smiled and pointed the spatula in Nelson’s direction. “The same look I’ve seen on your face whenever you’re with your aldi.”

Nelson shrugged. “I won’t deny it. I do care for Lucy, but I’m not sure it’s love I actually feel. Right now, I only see her as a good friend.”

“If you’re not in love with the girl, you shouldn’t be leading her on.” Grandpa ambled across the room and took a seat at the table. “You’ve been courting Lucy for some time now, and she’s likely thinkin’ she’ll be gettin’ a marriage proposal soon.”

Nelson’s eyes widened. “You really think so?”

Grandpa gave a nod. “Would you like my advice, son?”

“Sure.”

“If you’re not in love with Lucy and don’t see her as a potential wife, then you ought to break things off with her now, before she gets hurt.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” Nelson mumbled, his face turning red.

Suzanne was glad the focus of the conversation wasn’t on her anymore, but she felt sorry for Nelson, who looked awfully befuddled. Suzanne had thought he and Lucy were getting serious. She couldn’t believe how wrong she’d been.

Suzanne glanced at the chair Titus had occupied while he’d been staying with them and winced.
Maybe him courting me doesn’t mean anything, either. Maybe he’s just spending time with me because he needs a friend
. A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed hard in an effort to push it down.
Maybe he’ll never say he loves me or that he wants me to be his wife
.

Los Angeles, California

Phoebe had been sitting at the table going over the want ads for the last half hour when she heard a loud knock. She tiptoed from the kitchen and looked out the peephole in her apartment door.

Oh no, it’s Mr. Higgins. I’ll bet he’s here to collect the rent I owe for this month
. She held her breath when he knocked again.

“Phoebe Stoltzfus, are you in there?”

Go away. Go away. If I wanted to talk to you, I’d open the door
.

Three more knocks, then all was quiet. Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t answer the door, because she didn’t have enough money to pay the rent, and without another parttime job, she would never have enough.

Satisfied that she’d escaped a confrontation with her landlord, Phoebe returned to the kitchen. As she moved toward the sink to get a glass of water, her gaze came to rest on the unopened letter lying on the counter. It had arrived two days ago—another letter from Mom, no doubt pleading with Phoebe to come home and join the church.

“Well, I won’t do it,” Phoebe muttered with a determined set of her jaw. “I’m not going back there. No, never!”

A
s Suzanne sat across from Titus at a table in Ryan’s Steak House, she couldn’t help but smile. They’d both needed some things at Walmart, so after the woodshop had closed for the day, they’d hired a driver to take them to Hopkinsville. Since they were hungry by the time they got there, they decided to eat supper before they went shopping. Their driver had told them he had a few errands to run and would pick them up in an hour.

Suzanne never tired of spending time with Titus. In fact, the more time she spent with him, the more her heart ached to be his wife. She just wished he’d give some indication as to how he felt about her.

“I can’t believe it’s November already,” Titus said, halting her thoughts. “Seems like just yesterday that I moved into my new place.”

“Time has passed quickly,” she agreed. “Thanksgiving’s only a few weeks away, and then Christmas will be upon us.”

He cut another piece of his juicy steak. “Any idea what you might like for Christmas?”

A proposal from you … or a declaration of love
, she told herself.

“I … uh … don’t really know.”

“I’d thought about making you something in the woodshop—something you could put in your hope chest, but with you workin’ there part-time now, it’s hard to make anything without you knowing about it.”

Hope welled in Suzanne’s soul. He wanted to make her a gift for Christmas, and he’d mentioned it being for her hope chest. Did that mean he had marriage on his mind, or was it just wishful thinking?

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even have a hope chest,” she said, reaching for the salt shaker and adding some to her mixed green salad.

His eyebrows lifted. “How come?”

“I’ve never had a serious boyfriend and figured I’d probably never get married, so I didn’t see a need to store up things for a hope chest.”

“What about me? Don’t you consider me your boyfriend? After all, we’ve gone several places together, and I’m always over at your house it seems.”

A wave of heat washed over her face as she slowly nodded. “Jah, that’s true.”

He grinned and gave her a wink. “I’m glad we got that settled.”

Suzanne’s hopes for the future soared. While Titus still hadn’t said he loved her, and there’d been no mention of marriage, the fact that he’d affirmed that he was her boyfriend, made her think it was just a matter of time until he said the three words she longed to hear most:
I love you
.

Paradise, Pennsylvania

“It was nice of you to invite us for supper this evening,” Elsie told Hannah.

Samuel bobbed his head. “The fried chicken tastes real good.”

Hannah smiled. “I’m glad you like it. My mamm gave me the recipe.”

Timothy swiped his napkin across his face. “My fraa’s a good cook. There’s no doubt about it.”

“Is that why you married me?” Hannah asked with raised eyebrows. “Because I can cook?”

“ ‘Course not.” He winked at her and reached over to pat their daughter’s head. “I knew you’d give me beautiful kinner, like this little
maedel.”

Hannah wrinkled her nose. “You’re just like your twin bruder … a big
bloge
.”

Timothy chuckled. “And that’s why you married me—because you like to be teased.”

She rolled her eyes and forked another piece of chicken onto his plate. “I think you’d better eat. It’ll keep you out of trouble.”

Samuel, being the more serious type, wasn’t sure how to take the banter between Timothy and Hannah. Could there be an underlying power struggle going on, or were they just teasing each other?

“Have you heard anything from Titus lately?” Samuel asked.

Timothy nodded. “Last time we talked, he said he’s all settled into his new home and liking it a lot. Fact is, he seems to like pretty much everything about living in Kentucky … including his new aldi, Suzanne.”

“Uncle Titus has a girlfriend?” Samuel’s eight-year-old daughter, Marla, questioned.

“So it would seem,” Timothy replied.