A Kauffman Amish Christmas Collection (31 page)

Naomi glanced toward the sitting room and spotted Irene standing next to Caleb while her father chatted. Caleb and Timothy both laughed at something Hezekiah said, and Naomi’s heart sank. She’d been so wrong about Caleb. And now that he was going to move here, she’d have to see him
and endure the sting of her heartache just as she had to endure seeing Luke Troyer and Timothy Kauffman. She felt herself falling into a pit of despair, as if her heart were being smashed into a million pieces right before her eyes.

Her stomach twisted, and she glanced at Susie. “I’m not feeling well. I think I need to go get something to drink.”

Susie hoisted her game and quilt. “I’ll come with you. Let me just run these upstairs.” She trotted through the knot of people toward the stairs.

Naomi moved past familiar faces, nodding and shaking hands on her way to the kitchen. She reached the kitchen doorway and stopped when she spotted Sadie speaking to one of her quilting friends.

“Oh, ya,” Sadie said. “Caleb and Susie love it here. In fact, he put a bid in on Riley Parker’s place. You know, the one by the furniture store.”

“Oh, right,” her friend said. “The one with the little workshop.”

“That’s right,” Sadie said. “But I told him not to open a shop. He can work for Hezekiah Wagler.” She smiled. “Caleb and Irene would make such a
wunderbaar
couple. As we all know, Susie needs the guidance that only a
mamm
can supply.”

Naomi’s stomach clenched and bile rose in her throat. She had to make a quick getaway before she became physically ill. She spun on her heel and rushed through the crowd toward the front door.

“Naomi!” a voice called.

Naomi forged ahead, ignoring the voice.

“Wait!” A hand grabbed Naomi’s arm and pulled her off balance, causing her to stumble.

Naomi turned to find Lilly studying her.

“Where are you going?” Lilly asked.

“I don’t feel well,” Naomi said. And it wasn’t a lie. She felt as if she were going to be sick, and she couldn’t allow herself to be sick in public, especially in Sadie Kauffman’s home.

Susie rushed over to them. “Naomi! Let’s go get a drink.” She took Naomi’s hand.

“I’m sorry, Susie.” Naomi touched the girl’s cheek. “I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to head home.
Danki
for the gift.”

Susie frowned. “But I thought we were going to spend time together.”

“Not tonight.” Naomi glanced down at the bag containing Caleb’s gift. She held it out. “Would you please make sure your
dat
gets this? Tell him that it’s from me, ya?”

Looking disappointed, Susie took the bag. “Okay.”

“Good night.” Naomi leaned down and kissed Susie’s cheek. She then hugged Lilly. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

Lilly shook her head. “You shouldn’t go out into that blizzard alone. Let me find Elam for you.”

Naomi touched Lilly’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine. When I was seventeen, I left the house alone to get some medicine for Amos because he was really sick. On the way back from the store, my buggy broke down in the snow not too far from here. I had to leave the horse and buggy and walk home in a blizzard. I found my way, and everything was okay.” She pulled on her cloak. “I know I can do this.”

Before Lilly could respond, Naomi slipped out the door. She almost slipped twice on her way down the porch steps. The snow swirled around her, blinding her vision and soaking her cloak as she slowly moved down the driveway.

I can do this. I have to do it. I can’t fall to pieces in front of Caleb, the Kauffmans, and the rest of the community
.

Stopping at the pasture fence, she considered which route to take home. Although she couldn’t see much beyond the fence, she knew that if she crossed the pasture, she could then cut through two farms and find her way to her road. It looked similar to the route she’d taken when her buggy had broken down years ago.

Heaving a deep breath, she began to trudge through the snow, shivering and gritting her teeth. The further she moved, the less she could see in front of her.

What was I thinking? This is a bad idea
.

Naomi glanced back in the direction of what she thought was Sadie’s home, but she couldn’t see the outline of the house, not even the pitch of the roof.

She turned completely around in a circle and couldn’t see anything except for snow. Her teeth chattered, and her eyes filled with frustrated tears.

I’m lost
.

She looked straight up toward the white sky, and large, moist flakes blinded her.

Naomi gazed in the direction that she thought was the road and then trudged ahead two steps. She then moved forward, and her foot landed in a hole, causing her ankle to twist in an awkward direction. Screaming out loud, she wobbled, fell, and rolled down a hill. The sting of pain shot like lightning from her ankle up her leg.

She tried to lift her leg, but she couldn’t move it. Taking a deep breath, she attempted to sit up, but the sting in her ankle forced her to stop.

Sobbing, Naomi rolled to her side and prayed that someone would come and find her while the bitter cold air closed in around her, prickling her skin like thousands of tiny icicles.

C
aleb smiled and nodded, wondering if Hezekiah Wagler would ever take a breath. Irene stood across from her father and chimed in frequently, adding details to the man’s endless stories about his business, mechanical techniques, old friends, and family memories. Caleb was surprised Irene was even speaking to him, but she acted as if nothing had happened the previous day.

Glancing toward the door, Caleb noticed that the crowd in the main family room was dissipating. Timothy had left the conversation to join his fiancée and her family quite a while ago. Caleb had hoped Timothy would return and rescue him from the Waglers, but Timothy was a smart man and had stayed away. Caleb wondered how long it had been since his best friend had abandoned him. Had it been more than an hour? Had Caleb missed the entire Christmas party?

Susie, Janie, Nancy, and Linda scampered into the sitting room and gathered around the coffee table where Susie opened a Scrabble board game box. Taking out the contents of the box, the girls giggled while setting up their letters. Caleb swallowed a sigh of relief. This was his chance to break
away and try to find Naomi. He couldn’t wait to give her the special Christmas gift he’d picked up for her.

“It’s been nice talking to you, Hezekiah. I’m going to go see what my
dochder
is doing,” Caleb said, stepping toward the group of girls. He glanced at Irene and nodded.
“Frehlicher Grischtdaag.”
He then stepped over to Susie. “What are you girls up to?”

Susie gestured toward the game. “It’s Scrabble,
Dat
. Naomi gave it to me for Christmas.”

“Want to play,
Onkel
Caleb?” Janie asked while putting letters on the letter stand.

“No,
danki.”
Caleb nodded toward the door. “Have you seen Naomi?”

“No.” Linda shook her head.

“She left a long time ago,” Susie said.

“She left?” he asked.

“Ya
, that’s right,” Susie said.

“A long time ago?” Caleb asked, glancing at the clock on the bookshelf. Could it really be close to seven? Disappointment coursed through him. How had he managed to miss Naomi? She was the one person he was truly looking forward to seeing tonight.

“Ya,”
Susie said. “She wasn’t feeling well.” She stood. “But she left me something to give you.” Taking his hand, Susie pulled him toward the door. “Come upstairs with me.” She glanced at her cousins. “Don’t start the game without me. I’ll be right back.”

Susie and Caleb walked through the family room, and Caleb was surprised to see that nearly everyone had left. As he started up the stairs behind Susie, Lilly approached him.

“Frehlicher Grischtdaag,”
she said with a smile.

“Same to you,” Caleb said with a nod. “Susie told me Naomi wasn’t feeling well. I’m sorry that she left.”

Lilly frowned.
“Ya
. It came on suddenly, and she said she had to leave. I tried to encourage her to stay, but she was determined to go.”

Caleb pursed his lips. A feeling of suspicion rained down on him. Why would Naomi leave without speaking with him? Could she have been upset with him, and if so, why?

“Lilly,” Miriam called, stepping into the family room. “Are you ready to go? Timothy said the snow looks pretty bad out there. We should get on the road.” She looked toward the stairs. “Hi, Caleb.
Frehlicher Grischtdaag.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Miriam,” Caleb said with a nod before trotting up the stairs after Susie. He found her in her room sitting on the bed while holding a large bag.

“This is for you from Naomi.” She held it up. “Open it! It’s very heavy. I can’t wait to see what it is.”

He opened the bag and his eyes rounded as he pulled out the antique drill he’d shown her at the flea market on Wednesday.

“Oh, Naomi,” he whispered. She’d gone back and bought him exactly what he’d wanted. He examined the antique drill, and his heart filled with warmth for the beautiful, soft-spoken young woman. A small piece of paper fell into his lap, and he read the words written with a flourish:

Caleb stared at the note, reading it over and over again, committing it to memory. The note touched him deep in his soul, awakening feelings he thought he’d never feel again. He wondered why Naomi hadn’t given this gift to him in person. Why would she write such a sweet, loving note and then give it to Susie to deliver?

Leaning over, Susie gave him a confused expression.
“Was iss letz
?”

“What did Naomi say when she gave you this bag?” he asked.

Susie shrugged. “She said she didn’t feel well, and she asked me to give it to you.”

“How was she acting when she gave you the bag?”

Susie shook her head. “I don’t know. Upset, I guess.”

“Upset?” He let the word roll through his mind as he tried to remember when he saw her. He’d been trapped in the sitting room listening to Hezekiah’s monologue when he spotted Naomi chatting with and hugging Susie. He remembered thinking that Naomi looked like an angel as she smiled and spoke to his daughter. His heart had swelled when he observed the two of them talking together. Naomi was like no woman he’d met since he’d lost Barbara. He could tell that Naomi truly loved Susie, and Susie loved her as well.

And Caleb loved Naomi.

He shook his head at the realization. Yes, he did love her, and he needed to know why she’d left in such a rush. If she’d been ill, he would’ve been happy to take her home. Why did she rush out without even saying hello to him? Maybe there was something that had upset her. If Susie had been the last person to see her, maybe she would hold the key to finding out what had upset Naomi.

He turned to his daughter. “Did you say anything to Naomi before she left?”

Susie looked at him like he was crazy.
“Ya
. I said good-bye.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant. Did you say anything that might have upset her?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Please, Susie.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Can you try to think about everything you and Naomi discussed before she left?”

Deep in thought, she tapped her chin and looked up at the ceiling. “We talked about Christmas gifts. I gave her the little doll I bought her, and she gave me the game and a
schee
quilt that I love.” She tapped a pretty quilt on her bed. “Then I asked her to play the game with me, and she said that she would play it with me every time I came to visit. So I told her we were moving here, and she was really surprised.”

“You told her?” He’d hoped that he could get a chance to speak with her alone and tell Naomi the news, but he wasn’t surprised that Susie was excited to share it, especially with Naomi.

However, Caleb had hoped that the news would be something he and Naomi could celebrate. Why would that news
cause her to leave without speaking to him? Had he been wrong about her feelings for him?

He studied his daughter’s eyes, praying she held the key to what had upset Naomi. “What exactly did you tell her?”

Susie shrugged again. “I don’t know. I said that you’d found us a house and that
Aenti
Sadie said you might work for Irene’s
dat.”

“You told her that I’d be working with Hezekiah?”

“No, I said I didn’t know.” Looking confused, she hugged the blanket to her chest. “I said that
Aenti
Sadie said you might. I mentioned that I didn’t think Irene liked me because she’s not nice to me and she didn’t want me to come to dinner with you and her. I also told her that I have a hard time using my manners when she’s around and that Irene acted like she only wanted to be alone with you. I said that I could never be friends with Irene, but I was friends with Naomi.” She paused, blushing a little. “And I also said that I wanted you to be with Naomi and not with Irene.”

Caleb frowned.
This is not good
. “What did Naomi say?”

“She kind of looked sad,” Susie said.

Caleb stood and placed the drill on the bureau while he considered Susie’s story. It didn’t make sense. Was Naomi upset that Caleb might be working with Hezekiah? But why would that upset her — unless it had something to do with Irene? Was she jealous of Irene? Did she feel the same strong attraction to Caleb that he felt for her? If so, then being jealous of Irene might make sense — except that nothing was going on between him and Irene.

“Oh, there you are,” Sadie said, stepping into the room.
“The girls are cleaning up the kitchen, Susie.” Her eyes moved to the bureau. “What’s that?”