Missing Your Smile (32 page)

Out of the corner of her eye, Susan watched the cars going by on the street. Robby would likely be early. Well, he would have to wait until she finished cleaning up. Laura had left a little before two thirty to take Teresa to the doctor. She should be back soon. Susan had given her directions to Teresa's house, so hopefully Laura had been able to find it okay. Susan heard the door open and turned from the sink to see Duane enter. She hadn't expected to see him. He'd never been by in the evening.

“Did I catch you by yourself?” Duane said. “No customers this time of the day?”

“Not usually,” she said. “Laura went to take the young woman I told you about to the clinic.”

“Laura's practicing her good deeds then.”

“Teresa needs good deeds, believe me. She said the father will leave her if she doesn't get rid of the child in some way. Can you imagine?”

“Some men are like that, I guess. Hey, what about tonight?” Duane asked. “Are you up to going out somewhere?”

“Another fancy restaurant? I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet, even though it was very wonderful,” she said, her eyes wide at the thought.

“I was thinking of something a little simpler. Maybe we could go out to the mall. We could eat at the food court there, and if you had some shopping you want to do, I can go with you.”

“That's nice of you,” she said. “And really thoughtful to think of shopping. But I don't have anything I need—or can afford right now. Besides, I really should study for my GED.”

“Come on!” he said. “Women always have shopping to do.”

His smile was just too charming to resist. “Well, I guess I could
look
,” she said.

“There you go!” he said with a laugh. “How about I pick you up at six-thirty?”

“Six-thirty,” she repeated. Would that give her enough time to finish her driving lesson with Robby? “Yes, six- thirty will work,” she said.

“It's a date then,” he said, turning to leave.

Susan watched him go. He was more than
gut
looking, he was also thoughtful. Not at all like Thomas, who had his own schedule planned and she was to fit into his life. But that was the Amish way. The man made his plans, and the woman followed.

Duane doesn't seem to be like that at all. So nice, he is
. Could she imagine marrying someone like Duane? She had often easily envisioned being married to Thomas. But with Duane it was harder to picture. A shiver ran up her back. Marrying an
Englisha
man would be so daring, so different. She should at least consider the possibility. And there was plenty of time to decide. Duane wasn't pressing for a serious relationship. He seemed quite relaxed about such things. Another
gut
quality.

Susan glanced at the clock. The time to close was arriving. She cleaned the coffee canisters and stacked them on the counter to dry. The few leftover doughnuts and rolls went into plastic canisters. Laura usually took those home or dropped them off at a homeless shelter.

The door opened again, and this time Robby walked in.

“Hi,” he said, sliding into a chair.

“Are you taking the extra rolls and doughnuts to the homeless shelter?” she asked.

“Mom didn't say,” he said. “How many are there?”

“Just one container.”

“I can eat those myself,” he said with a grin. “I'll take them.”

“Didn't your mother teach you to share?” she teased.

“Nope! And no manners either. I'm a rough, uncultured male, so give me one of those doughnuts! I'm starved.”

“You should eat them with vegetables.” She handed him the container.

“Yes,
mother
,” he said, taking a doughnut in each hand and stuffing a bite into his mouth.

“That's disgusting,” she said. “I ought to take you back to the farm and put you out with the horses in the barn.”

He swallowed and then finished off the first doughnut. “I'd like that. I'm tired of the city.”

“I wasn't serious.”

“Well, I am.” He eyed the second pastry and took a bite. “Hey, by the way, you led me astray with your advice the other day. I did what you said and got exactly nowhere.”

“Oh, no!” Susan groaned. “Not girl troubles again.”

“No, not again,” he corrected. “They never stopped.”

“So what happened this time?”

“I did exactly like you said. This time it was Tom's sister, one of the guys I play basketball with at the YMCA. Last night she tagged along, and after our game I asked her out to eat. I asked really nicely if she wanted to go out for ice cream—something very innocent. She said, ‘No way! Nothing doing.'”

“Maybe she's already seeing someone?”

“She's not.” He gulped down the last of the doughnut.

“Then maybe you should try again. Don't you
Englisha
have something called ‘playing hard to get'?”

“I think I'm quitting the
Englisha
team and joining the Amish,” he said, getting to his feet. “Come on, let's go. I have stuff to do. I can't babysit you all evening.”

“You know I didn't ask you to do this,” Susan said, following him out. “What if I wreck and kill you tonight?”

“Then my ghost will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“
Whoa
…” Susan said. “Spooky, are we?”

“So will you drive good tonight?” he asked, sliding in on the passenger's side.

“Better.” She smiled, snapping her seat belt on before starting the engine. “I'll think horses and buggies and pulling left and right.”

“Whatever works,” he said. “Just go.”

Susan carefully pulled out onto the street and headed down Main.

“So you would join the Amish?” she teased. “You wouldn't like it, believe me.”

“Turn left here,” he said and she obeyed.

“Let me choose the route tonight, Robby.”

“I guess it will be all right. Just don't get us killed.”

She drove along quietly for a minute and then said again, “So
would
you really consider joining the Amish?”

“I don't know.” He wasn't looking at her. “I need to do something different.”

“You're sure blue tonight over this girl thing. But joining the Amish isn't the answer, believe me. I'm leaving the Amish, so I should know.”

“I'm not serious,” he said. “But Mom says this girl Teresa is.”

“So you know about her?” Susan braked for a red light.

“Mom told me about her. By the way, I'm supposed to tell you everything is going fine.”

“The appointment? It went well?” Susan turned to look at him.

“Watch the road,” he ordered.

“I am watching, but tell me what your mom said.”

“Mom said Teresa went to the doctor and there were no problems. Her mother went along too.”

“They live together.”

“Teresa was very concerned about you, asking whether you had written to the Amish people. Mom told her you had. And Mom said there were tears when the ultrasound showed the baby would be a boy.”

“I imagine there were,” Susan said. “So Teresa guessed correctly. She's been saying it is a boy. Amazing!”

“Are you going to cry too?” Robby asked. “If so, I want to drive.”

“I'm not crying.”

“They have another appointment next week,” Robby went on. “And the baby is due in December. Teresa didn't know her dates for sure, which is, of course, more information than I wanted to know. But Mom said to pass it on.”

“You're a sweet boy,” Susan said, turning at the light.

“Do you have any idea where you're going?” Robby asked.

“No, but I was depending on you to know.”

“That's what I figured. So turn left here, and we can make our way back.”

“So when are we going out on the ocean?” Susan asked. “Remember? You promised.”

“I haven't forgotten.”

“To be honest, I had kind of forgotten it until just now. There's been so much going on. My GED studies, the driving, and now Teresa. There's no hurry, I guess.”

“It's good of you to be so understanding,” he said, bitterness clouding his voice. “It's a shame there aren't more of you.”

“Robby, now come on. You have to keep trying. There are nice girls out there! You'll find the one for you. Besides, you won't think me so nice if I turn green and throw up all over your boat.”

“You probably won't even get seasick,” he said.

“I wouldn't count on it.”

“You've never been out on the ocean before?”

“No, but don't rub it in. Remember, I'm from inland country. We don't have an ocean in Indiana.” She let out a sigh and added, “The ocean was so beautiful that night of the almost-full moon. Remember?”

“Yes, I remember. Turn right at the light.”

“Almost as beautiful as the moon rising over the fields at home.”

“Where do you see that from?” he asked.

“From my bedroom window,” she said, recognizing the street they were on. The bakery lay just ahead.

“That would be an experience,” he said with a sad smile. “Well, we're back—and all in one piece. I would say the country girl is doing very well. A few more times, and you should be ready.”

“Thanks for taking me,” she said. “And so often.”

“I'm glad to,” he said as they both climbed out.

He waited until she'd unlocked her apartment door before he took off.

It must be a thing with men in the city
, she thought. Thomas never waited until she was inside the house. Rather, she stood and watched him go out the driveway on Sunday nights, until his buggy lights disappeared into the distance. But that was part of the past and best forgotten.

S
usan stood in front of the closet, running her fingers over the dresses. Which
Englisha
dress would it be tonight? Duane hadn't seen the beige one yet. Would he think she was wearing new dresses to impress him? That decided it. She pushed the beige dress aside. She would wear Amish tonight. Her past was Amish, and she was still dealing with Amish things right now. Duane might as well be reminded of that fact. The nice, light-blue dress would be just the thing. At least it didn't scream Amish at first sight like several of her other dresses.

After she changed, Susan sat down to study the GED lessons she'd printed out. She wanted to spend every available minute studying. There was no sense standing at the window watching for Duane. No decent girl hung around windows watching for her date to arrive. At home Thomas's buggy wheels would have rattled in the driveway, but here one roar of a car engine couldn't be distinguished from another. Duane would have to knock.

The math numbers swam in front of her eyes, and Susan shook her head, wiping her eyes with her finger. She wasn't crying, was she? It had to be her imagination! Her mind left the math problems and turned toward home.
No, I can't be homesick! Why should I be? Things are going well, aren't they? Yes!
The thought that
Mamm
and
Daett
might get the wrong idea when they got her letter troubled her. But there was Laura's solution of a trip home. Could she do it? Should she?

Yah,
in some ways a trip home would be
gut, Susan told herself. And after Thanksgiving would be just right. Being there for the holiday would be too sad if they knew she was leaving again. But seeing the farm and attending church services would no doubt remove some of the nostalgia that seemed to be hanging around lately. And another good thing about a trip home: Thomas would see her again and realize what he'd missed out on by switching his affections to Eunice. Yah,
now
that
would be a sight to see!