Missing Your Smile (11 page)

“No,” he said, because he wasn't. Not in the way she meant anyway.

“Don't stay out too late,”
Mamm
said, as he shut the washroom door. Thomas grabbed his good coat from one of the top hooks, grabbed a lantern from the shelf, and lit it. Walking out to the barn, he paused to glance at the sky. Faint clouds driven by high winds scurried across the moon. It didn't look like rain was on the way. Not that it made any difference working in the cabinet shop, but the local farmers needed rain.

He pushed open the barn door and called for Freddy. A sharp neigh came from the barnyard. Stepping outside he snapped on the tie rope, leading Freddy back inside. Placing the lantern on a shelf, he threw the harness on and fastened the straps. He blew out the lantern, led Freddy outside, shut the barn door, and hitched his horse to the buggy. They rattled out the driveway. Hopefully the Amish houses he passed would think he was on a late-night errand for his
daett
.

Thomas drove north, then east for two roads, and then north again. Pulling into the small farm of Eunice's
daett
, Jonas Troyer, he left his horse standing by the barn with the reins hanging limp on his bridle. Freddy would go nowhere until he came back. He might not be a fast horse, but he was a
gut
horse who knew when to stay put.

Thomas knocked on the front door and waited. Surely Eunice was home at this time of the evening. Supper ought to be over, so there would be no embarrassment from walking in uninvited. Hopefully Eunice would be willing to step outside on the porch for a few minutes, and they could make their plans quickly.

Steps could be heard from inside, and the door opened.

“Good evening,” the deep voice of Eunice's
daett
said, his eyes searching the darkness in front of him.

“Good evening.” Thomas shifted on his feet.
There is no reason to fear
, he told himself.
I have a perfect right to be here now that Susan is gone
.

“Who is it?” Jonas asked and stepped closer.

“Thomas Stoll.”

“Oh, one of the Stoll boys.”

“
Yah
, Thomas Stoll,” he repeated. “Would Eunice be in by any chance?”

“
Yah
, she's upstairs.”

“Could I speak with her?”

“Oh…well, let me ask.” Jonas stepped back into the house.

Thomas cleared his throat, shifting again on his feet.

“
Ach
, you can step inside if you wish.” Jonas opened the door wider. He studied Thomas when he stepped inside holding his hat in his hand.

This is not going well
, Thomas thought.
Perhaps I should have waited until some Sunday night. But then others might see me talking with Eunice and guess my intentions. Family can keep secrets—but trusting others is risky
.

“I hope I'm not bothering your evening,” Thomas said as faces appeared in the kitchen opening. Eunice's
mamm
, Martha, a round woman, jolly on most occasions, came out, sober-faced.

“Did I hear you ask for Eunice?” she asked.

“
Yah
,” Thomas said, relaxing. A mother would know how to handle this situation.

“She's upstairs,” Martha said. “I'll go and speak with her.”

Thomas nodded, staying by the door as her steps sounded on the stairs and then faded. The faces in the kitchen doorway disappeared.

“
Ach
,” Jonas said, “you can have a seat.”

Thomas attempted a smile and cleared his throat as he sat down. Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, he jumped to his feet, his hat still clutched in his hand. Surely Eunice would invite him outside somewhere, and he wouldn't have to make conversation in front of everyone.

But it was Martha who appeared at the bottom on the stairs, and Thomas's fingers dug into the rim of his hat. Had he been rejected without even a word?

“Eunice will see you upstairs,” Martha said with a sweet smile. “She's in her room, the one on the end of the hall. Just knock.”

Thomas took a deep breath, glancing at Jonas who gave him a quick nod. Apparently they knew of his honorable reputation and trusted him.

“I won't be long,” Thomas said, opening the stair door. He found his way up the unfamiliar steps. A low light was burning somewhere in the hallway above him. The light became stronger until a kerosene lamp set on a shelf on the wall appeared. He quickened his steps. Knocking on the last door, he waited.

“Come in!” Eunice's clear, light voice said. He turned the doorknob with a soft click and stepped inside. She was lying on the bed reading, her head propped in one hand, her eyebrows raised sharply, her
kapp
still on her head.

“Well, Thomas. What are you doing here?” she asked with a wide smile.

“I thought I'd come by, and…well…ask you something.”

“Anything important?” she said, still smiling. “Do sit down and make yourself comfortable.”

He sat on the edge of the bed. “I can't stay long, but your
mamm
said to come on up.”

“Oh,
Mamm
knows I'm still decent this hour of the night, so I don't know why she even had to come up and check.
Mamm
should have sent you right up.” After an awkward silence, Eunice asked, “So how is Susan doing?”

Why should Eunice ask about Susan?
Thomas wondered.
I didn't come to talk to Eunice about Susan
. “I wouldn't know,” he finally said.

“She hasn't written to me, either.” Eunice sat up on the bed, laying her book down beside her.

Thomas cut to the chase. “I was wondering if I could bring you home some Sunday night.”

“Really? Well, that would be nice. So it's true what they're saying? It's really over between you and Susan?”

“I suppose it is.”

“I'm so sorry.”

He looked at the floor. “Things change, I guess.”

“So when will it be?” Her face lit up. “This will be quite the occasion, I must say. Me going home with the handsome Thomas Stoll. I'm still the new girl around here, you know.”

“Well, it's just me.” Thomas felt heat spreading up his neck. He wasn't used to such gushiness.

“I must say, I never thought the day would come. Not that I hoped you and Susan would break up. Even if we gave in to temptation and kissed each other. She was a really wonderful friend, but this is really something for me. I'm so glad you came over tonight!”

“Well, it was nice talking to you after the singing that night.”

Her face clouded for a moment. “That's been a while ago. There's been plenty of times since then when you had a chance to speak with me. Surely you knew I would have loved that.”

“Ah, I wasn't certain.” He shifted on the edge of the bed. “Susan and I had been seeing each other for a long time.”

Her smile dimmed. “Oh, I can understand that. Susan is a very wonderful person, and I'm sorry it didn't work out. Your asking me is so nice. Can we make a big deal out of it? Maybe bang some plates and throw the rice?”

“Um, not really.” He stared at her. “We don't do things like that around here.”

“You don't bang plates and throw rice at weddings?”

“No.”

“Oh, but of course I wasn't really serious. I know this isn't a wedding. I'm just happy, that's all.”

“I would rather not make a big deal out of it.”

“Oh.” Her face clouded but she looked ready to move closer to him.

Thomas stood up. “I think I'd better be going. So in a couple of weeks, maybe?”

“Not this Sunday? You know I can't wait that long.”

Thomas's neck grew hot again. “We'll make it soon, okay. And don't make a fuss, please.”

“I won't.” She stood, going to open the door for him. Holding the knob, she leaned against the frame, the light of the kerosene lamp playing on her face. “Goodnight now.”

“Goodnight,” Thomas said. He sidestepped through the door and turned to walk down the hall. The girl was
gut
looking, there was no doubt about that. At least as
gut
as Susan. But he had best be forgetting Susan.

“See you, Thomas!” Eunice said, her light voice lingering in the narrow hallway.

He hadn't kissed her even though she had clearly wanted him to.
That has to wait. Perhaps till I take her home—or perhaps even longer
. The pain of Susan's leaving still bothered him way too much.

L
aura maneuvered her Volkswagen bug into the parking space at the Monmouth Mall. “I think this is as close as we're going to get to the doors. It's crowded tonight, as usual.”

“That's okay. I can use the exercise,” Susan said. “The bakery keeps me on my feet all day, but there's nothing like brisk walking to get the blood flowing.”

“So true,” Laura agreed.

As the two women climbed out of the bug, Susan paused, her eyes sweeping over the grandeur of the mall front. “Wow! There's nothing like this in Salem, Indiana.”

As they headed toward the mall entrance, Laura cleared her throat. “Susan, there's something I need to tell you.”

“Oh?” Susan turned to face her.

“Mr. Moran called me today at the bakery.”

Susan looked puzzled.

“You know—Duane. The customer from this morning you asked me about.”

“Oh,
yah.
..uh, I mean yes.” Susan laughed. “Him.”

“He asked about you,” Laura said.

“Me?” Susan stopped short, and a car horn honked behind them.

Laura took her hand, leading her a few steps out of the way. “I didn't mean to startle you, but I want you to know about his interest. He's a really nice man. I think it's almost an honor that he called to ask about you.”

“An honor? He's an
Englisha
man.”

“Susan, most of the men around here are. We don't have many Amish people here.”

Susan glanced away. Duane being a nice man was fine, but what should that matter to her? “Laura, I might be honored, but really, Duane shouldn't be asking about me. I'm just a plain Amish girl fresh from the farm. I'm sure if you told him that, he'd be gone so fast he wouldn't even leave any dust behind.”

Laura laughed. “I
did
tell him, dear. And I hope I wasn't too forward, but like I said earlier, I've known Duane for years.”

“You told him I was Amish?”

“
Used
to be Amish” Laura corrected. “He didn't seem to mind. In fact, I think the fact piqued his interest even more.”

“So are you the community matchmaker?” Susan asked as the automatic doors opened for them, ushering them into the hall lined with stores on both sides.

“No, silly!” Laura said. “He's the one who called me.”

Susan's mind whirled.
What would it be like to date an
Englisha
tax person? Perhaps eating supper with him in a fancy restaurant? What would it be like to talk at length with someone who has that much money? And he must have gobs and gobs of it. Thomas's bank account would look the size of a pea compared to this man's. Not that such things matter, but still…

“The reason I'm telling you this now is that I mentioned our shopping trip tonight, and he said he might stop by the mall and perhaps run into us,” Laura said. “I thought I should warn you.”

“Okay, thanks.” Susan glanced down the long walkway in front of them. The place was so crowded with shoppers there wasn't much chance they'd see him. She wouldn't worry about it.

“So do they still have matchmakers among the Amish?” Laura asked, steering Susan to the right. “They should have some nice purses down this way, and there are a few things I need to get too.”