Leah's Choice (14 page)

Leah was pondering that question when she realized that Daniel was speaking to her. She blinked, looked around and saw that Caroline was locking the front door and lowering the blinds.

“Leah? Did you hear me?”

“Yes…no.” She chuckled. “Sorry, I was caught up in my own thoughts. Gathering hay in the mist, Mam would call it.” She looked at Caroline. “Is it quitting time?”

“Past time,” Caroline said. “We stayed open an extra twenty minutes. There’s another shift coming later. The food bank is open three hours this evening, for people who work a day shift and can’t get here in the afternoon, but we’re done.”

“I never expected so many to come,” Leah said. She looked up into Daniel’s expectant face. “Sorry, I didn’t hear a word you said to me.”

“He wants to know if you’ll come to our house, this evening,” Caroline said, removing her apron and hanging it on a hook. “We’re filling shoeboxes for Daniel’s orphanage.”

“Not
my
orphanage,” he said, “but one I volunteered at when we lived in Marrakesh, in Morocco. It was a haven for homeless boys who live on the street. Caroline and Leslie organized a drive to collect toothbrushes, toothpaste, pencils, toys and other small items that boys might like. Some of them have never had anything new that belonged to them personally—at least nothing that they didn’t steal.”

“Some of our friends are coming over,” Caroline said. “Teenagers and young adults. Afterwards, Mom always has a movie party for us in the basement. Popcorn and DVDs.”

“Movies?” Leah asked. “What kind of movies?” She loved movies and she’d been to them several times with Mennonite friends when she was in Ohio. But she didn’t want to see anything with violence or foul language. It simply wasn’t something she thought she would enjoy.

“Usually Disney,” Caroline assured her. “Nothing that would upset our pastor or my friends’ parents. Mom would love for you to come. She told us to be sure to invite you.”

Leah hesitated. A movie and popcorn sounded good, but what would Mam think? “Could I bring Susanna?” she asked suddenly. “She would love to see a movie.”

“Of course,” Caroline said. “Bring all your sisters if you like.”

“All right,” Leah said, nodding. “Thank you. I will come.” She smiled at Daniel. “And thank you for asking me.”

“I’m glad you’re coming,” he said as his cousin walked away, “but that wasn’t what I asked you.”

Her eyes widened.

He took a deep breath and stepped closer. “I wanted to know…” He swallowed. “I wanted to know if you would go out with me.”

Leah didn’t know what to say. “You mean…like a date?”

He nodded. “Yes, a date. More than one. I want to get to know you, Leah. I’m asking if you’ll walk out with me.”

Chapter Eleven

“C
an I think about it?”

That was the answer she’d given Daniel when he’d asked her if she’d date him. And she
had
been thinking about it. For hours and hours. She kept going over and over in her mind whether it was the right thing to do and what it might mean if she said
yes
. She’d prayed for God to tell her what she should do, but so far, He hadn’t answered. Either that…or she hadn’t listened hard enough.

Leah knew what she
wanted
to do. She wanted to accept, to go out with Daniel, to get to know him and his family. But was that rebellion against the rules that she felt were too strict? Did she want to be with Daniel because she was attracted to him, or was she attracted to the bigger world that Daniel represented? Was it Daniel’s stories of the colorful Moroccan
souk
, the marketplace with snake charmers, acrobats and camels, that fascinated her? Or was it Daniel himself? How could she know what her heart was telling her and what was earthly temptation?

And if she did date Daniel and they liked each other, how would she explain that to her mother? She’d only known Daniel since Saturday. Surely, going against everything she’d ever believed for someone she’d just met was foolhardy, not worthy of one of Hannah Yoder’s daughters.

Leah continued to wrestle with her conscience as she and Susanna helped fill the colorfully decorated boxes in the Steiners’ basement. As she’d suspected, Susanna was thrilled at the idea of a movie and popcorn party. Everyone had been kind and welcoming to her sister, and Daniel had given her the special job of putting six pencils in every box.

“After pencils, I’m going to do cow…cow…cowalators!” Susanna said excitedly. “Daniel said I could.”

“Calculators,” Leah corrected softly.

Daniel smiled and winked at her, and she smiled back at him. After he and Caroline and Leslie had picked them up at the house, they’d made a quick stop at the dollar store. Daniel had purchased several dozen solar calculators, bags of marbles, index cards and other personal items for the boxes. Leah didn’t need to buy anything to contribute. Mam had produced bags of erasers, packs of sticky notes, rulers and small pencil sharpeners shaped like basketballs to add to the donations, which Daniel said would be perfect.

“I still don’t know how your mother could pull all these things out of a hat on such short notice,” Leslie said. She and another friend, Gail, were rolling T-shirts and securing them with thick rubber bands.

“Not out of her bonnet,” Susanna corrected proudly. “Out of her school chest.”

Leah smiled. “Mam has a teacher’s savings card for the big office supply store in Dover. In the fall, they have wonderful specials for back-to-school items, and she always comes home with baskets full of stuff for our kids.”

Daniel laughed and shook his head. “I can just picture your mother driving up to the store in her buggy and loading her cart.”

“We watch our budget like anyone else,” Leah explained. “And if there’s a bargain for good stuff, we’re going to take advantage of it, just like everyone else. Amish are allowed in Staples, you know.”

“Owwll.” Daniel clutched his heart. “Stung again.” Everyone laughed and he laughed with them. “Every time I open my mouth, I say something stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” Susanna said, pausing in her careful counting of pencils. “Nobody is stupid. Just sometimes slow.”

“But slow is good,” Daniel’s Aunt Joyce said as she approached the table with a pitcher of lemonade and homemade ginger cookies. “If you go slow, you don’t miss anything good in life.” She smiled as she looked at the rows of boxes. “This is wonderful. I didn’t know how you’d manage to get all these donations in, but somebody here is organized.”

“Leah!” Daniel, Leslie and Gail all said in unison.

“She thought of rolling the T-shirts instead of folding them, and they fit perfectly around the rulers,” Caroline explained. “And when the box is full, we stuff the small stuff in the corners and tape it shut.”

“I know the children will appreciate all your work,” Joyce said.

“They will,” Daniel agreed. “Some of the kids have never had a new T-shirt or school supplies that weren’t worn or broken. But they don’t whine about what they don’t have. Most are grateful to have a safe place to sleep and enough food to eat.” He exhaled softly. “I wish you could see these boys and look into their eyes. Even the little ones seem far older than their years. Anything we can do to help them is greatly appreciated.”

Leah wished she could have been there with Daniel to see the orphanage and meet the children who needed so much. Again, she was thankful to be of some assistance, however small. She was glad Mam had agreed to allow them to come this evening, even if
Grossmama
had put up a fuss. Of course, Mam wouldn’t have forbidden her to go, but she could have kept her from bringing Susanna if she’d truly believed the evening was inappropriate. “Leah?”

Daniel was standing at her side. “I’m on popcorn detail. It seems
someone
—” He gave Caroline an amused look and everyone laughed. “Someone we all know and love has decimated the popcorn supply and I’ve been designated to run out and buy more. Would you ride with me while the rest finish taping up the boxes?”

Leah glanced at Susanna.

“She’ll be fine,” Daniel’s aunt said. “She can help me pick out a movie. What do you think, Susanna?” she asked. “
Swiss Family Robinson, Old Yeller,
or
The Yearling?
”

“All of them!” Susanna cried.

Leah nodded. “I’ll go with you, Daniel.” She followed him up the narrow basement steps, through the kitchen and outside to where his truck was parked. He opened the door for her and she climbed in.

“So,” he asked as he got behind the wheel. “Is tonight a date?”

“No.” She smiled at him. “This is not a date. We’re helping the homeless children. It’s a service frolic.”

“And working in the food bank today—was that a date?”

She shook her head. “Definitely not.”

“Hmm.” He turned the key and put the truck into gear. “You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?”

She didn’t answer.

“But would you go out with me…on a
date
date?”

“I told you, I’ll think about it.” She straightened her
kapp
. She’d thought that she and Susanna might feel out of place here tonight in their Amish dress, but Caroline’s friends all wore prayer caps, some small and lacy, yet all had head coverings. Their clothing wasn’t
Plain
, but it wasn’t fancy, either. Caroline’s skirt and blouse were homemade, simple and modest, nearly identical to those of her mother and sister except in color. Daniel and the two other young men who’d come to help wore blue jeans and white button-up shirts.

If Daniel had some misconceptions about the Amish, she had her own about the Mennonites. Far from ungodly people, Daniel’s relatives and friends seemed to put God first in their work and play. The Mennonite young people seemed open about their faith and willing to share God’s word with others. It wasn’t what she’d expected.

“I like you a lot, Leah,” Daniel said, tugging her back into the moment. He eased the truck out onto the country road. “I think you like me, too.”

“I do,” she admitted in a small voice. “But I’m afraid.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt you.” He reached over and took her hand. “You have to believe that, Leah.”

She let her hand lie in his for just a few seconds before withdrawing it. “That’s the problem. If we walk out together…if we find out that we aren’t a good match, then that would almost be better. But what if we found that we liked each other even more?” She sighed. How could she explain how she felt to Daniel? “We’ve only just met. This is all too fast for me.”

He slowed the truck, put on his signal and pulled over along the side of the road. “I know it’s happening quickly,” he said. “But every good change I’ve made in my life has been a spur-of-the-moment decision. I think I knew that you were the one that very first time we met.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve prayed over this, Leah, and I think God brought us together. I may not have much time in Delaware before I get my new assignment. I don’t want to waste a single moment.”

“I’ve prayed over it, too,” she said. Her heart was racing, and she could still feel a warm tingling in the palm of her hand from where he’d touched her. “But God hasn’t answered. I don’t know what He wants me to do.”

“All the more reason we should date, so that we can make a rational decision.”

“Dating you would mean going against my family, my community.”

He met her eyes. “My aunt and uncle aren’t too happy about it, either, probably for the same reasons.”

“If we…if we got serious, it would mean…”

“We’d marry,” he finished for her. “I think that’s what I want. I think I love you.”

She turned to look at him, a little shocked by his forwardness, but at the same time…fascinated by how sure he was of himself. “How can you love me? How can I love you? We don’t know each other.” Now she was a little flustered. “You’re Mennonite and I’m Amish,” she blurted out.

He chuckled. “I think that’s pretty evident, but what’s more important than the church we worship in is a commitment to God and to each other. Don’t you see—we share the same values, Leah. I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children.”

“Wow.” She sank back against the door. “I tell you that this is all too fast—your wanting to date me and your talking about children. You’re the one who’s not making this easy, Daniel.”

“You know I’m right.”

“What I know is that, if we did…if we even considered marriage…”
I’d have to give up my church,
she thought,
give up being Amish. I’d have to become Mennonite.
That was the
Plain
way. Usually, a woman joined the man’s church, went to live among his people, as her own mother had done. Leah didn’t know if she was brave enough…or strong enough to consider such a thing.

“Do you want to walk away without even giving us a chance? What if you live to regret it? What if one day you wish that you could go back and say, ‘Yes, Daniel, we should date.’” He paused. “Don’t you think this is the best way to know for certain?”

She didn’t answer. Was he right? Did she want him to be right? “When God speaks to you, what does He sound like?”

It was dark in the cab of the truck, but she could feel Daniel’s intense gaze. “I don’t hear Him speak the way I hear you. It’s more of a feeling, inside.” He touched his chest. “And after I follow that path, it feels good. It happened when I decided to go to the Univerity of Ohio, instead of the college my parents wanted me to attend. And it happened when I gave up the computer science major to study nursing.”

“But if computer science wasn’t right for you, then how can you say that God directed you to make the decision to go to that college? God couldn’t tell us to do something wrong.”

“The college was the right place for me. I just needed some time to figure out what I was supposed to be doing there. Maybe I needed to see more of the world, to try something that didn’t fit so I would eventually find my true calling and serve where I was needed most.” He turned his face away. “Does that sound too pompous, Leah? Am I too full of myself?”