A Marriage of the Heart (12 page)

“Well, tell me about you and Luke. How are your plans?”

Rose stifled a sigh. She’d promised to carry out hers and Luke’s “plans” later on that evening, but they weren’t exactly wedding related. Or maybe that wasn’t completely true, she considered. She certainly was being a helpmate to Luke even if no blessing of the bishop had yet been said between them. But even so, she couldn’t reveal any of this to Priscilla, who was looking at her expectantly.

“Fine,” Rose murmured at last. “Plans are coming along just fine.”

In truth, she knew that her
mamm
and
aenti
were the ones who were beginning to prepare for her December wedding, while she seemed to be off in a world of her own with Luke. She really needed to work on her dress . . .

“Well, your attendant’s dress is nearly finished,” Priscilla said with relief in her voice. “If you could come over before the wedding to try it on, that would be
gut
.”

“I’ll be here,” Rose promised. She got up from the Kings’ kitchen table, then bent to hug her friend. “Don’t worry so much. Everything will work out perfectly. You’ll see.”

Priscilla nodded. “
Danki
, Rose.”

Rose left the Kings’ house feeling glad to escape the tension that radiated from her friend. She hoped her own wedding wouldn’t be as complicated . . . then laughed aloud at the irony of her thought.

“I
STILL FEEL NERVOUS LETTING YOU GO ALONE
,” L
UKE
commented, frowning as he watched Rose put things into her basket in the Lantzes’ barn.

“It’ll be light for another two hours,” she pointed out as she looked toward the horizon.

Luke rubbed his chin. “Maybe I should tell Mark . . . let him go with you.”

“Mark?” Rose looked up with a smile. “Mark can’t be still with a joke in church, let alone keep a secret. Not that I know all of the truth myself, really . . .”

Luke ignored her comment. He’d said all he could say. Now he tried to test his weight on his ankle and was forced to catch hold of a support beam to stop from falling. She calmly handed him his dropped crutch.

“Luke, I can be up to that stand of pine trees and back before anyone will ever know I’m gone. Besides—” She grinned at him, her eyes sparkling. “I like being the Rob in the Hood.”

“That may be true enough, I’ve no doubt . . . but you’re not ‘in the hood.’ Won’t you reconsider dressing in
Englisch
clothes, or at least like a boy?”

“Nee,”
she answered, and he sighed in defeat.

They’d gone over this a dozen times. She wouldn’t pretend to be something she wasn’t when she went to see the
Englisch
woman and her children. And what could he say? He hadn’t told her any more than simply that—an
Englisch
woman and her children. But she was willing to help blindly, without knowing, just trusting him. He couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Well”—he balanced to reach one hand and place a thumb against her fair cheek—“no one would take you for a boy, no matter your disguise.”

“Really?” She blinked coy lashes up at him, and he had to smile.

“Really.”

“And why is that?” She leaned against his chest lightly and looped her basket over her arm so that she could encircle his neck with gentle arms.

He couldn’t help the catch in his breath at her touch and bent his mouth close to hers. “
Ach
, perhaps it could be the tip of your nose, or the shell of your ears . . . or the taste of your lips.” He kissed her lingeringly until she pulled away.

“
Ach
, but I’ve learned my lesson, Luke Lantz. No more kissing strangers in the woods.”

“Nee.”
He swallowed, trying to regulate his breathing. “None of that.”

“All right. Then I’ll be going.” She patted him jauntily on the arm.

He turned to watch her go. “Don’t forget,” he called, unable to still a last bit of anxiety. “I’ll be waiting out back of your house, and if you’re not there in two hours I’ll . . .”

She cracked open the barn door and gave him a sidelong glance. “You’ll what?”

“Just be there.”

He watched her smile and slip out into the light while he stood fretting in the dimness of the barn.

Chapter Twenty

R
OSE CLIMBED THROUGH THE WOODS, EXCITED AT THE
prospect of an adventure, even one as simple as bringing some food and supplies to a woman in need. Of course, she wondered why the
Englisch
woman had not gone to her own people or family, but Rose hadn’t been able to press any more information out of Luke and had decided that it didn’t matter. It was part of
Derr Herr
’s will that she help those who were less fortunate and in want. And surely a woman living in a tent in the middle of the forest with children was in want.

Time slipped by quickly till she came to the stand of pines. The tent was cleverly disguised from view by branches and bracken, and she might have overlooked it had she not been told it was there. She approached the blue liner of the shelter cautiously, calling out to make her presence known.

“Hello! Heelloo! I’m a friend of Luke’s!” she called out, stepping closer. She noticed a goat tethered nearby and a pen of chickens.
Then she heard rustling and the high-pitched squeal of a child, and a beautiful dark-haired woman came out of the tent. She balanced a red-faced toddler on her hip and stared at Rose with worry in her dark eyes.

Rose smiled. “Please . . . it’s all right. Luke sent me.”

“Is something wrong with him?” The woman’s tone was anxious.

Rose had to bite down on a sudden flare of jealousy; it was more than a fair question when he’d been such a help to the family. “He had a small accident. Just a sprained ankle. But he can’t make it up here on crutches, so he asked me to come instead. May I come in?”

“Yes . . . please. I—I’m Sylvia. This is Bobby, my boy. My little girl, Ally, is taking a nap. There’s not a whole lot for her to do when her brother’s fussy.” The woman held open the tent flap.

Rose entered to find a veritable storehouse of items that had gone missing from the community over the past few months. She had to marvel at the larger items, wondering how Luke had hefted them through the woods alone. Then her gaze fell on the little girl curled up beneath a nine-patch quilt. Her long, black curls cascaded over the fabric squares, and Rose felt a tightness in her chest at the kinship of the skin and hair coloring she shared with the child.

“I suppose Luke’s told you everything about us . . . I mean, for one of your people to come up here.” Sylvia tried to put Bobby down, but he began to sniffle, and she scooped him back up with a sigh.

“One of my people?” Rose asked. “You mean Amish.”

“Yes, sorry. Does Luke have good friendships with the Amish?”

Rose placed her basket on a small chest of drawers. “Luke
is
Amish,” she said.

The woman laughed low, revealing a devastating smile. “Luke? Amish? Are you sure we know the same person?”

Rose began to unpack her basket, not knowing what to say. Part of her wanted to retort and part of her wanted more of the truth. To this woman and her children, Luke had been
Englisch
. He’d explained to her that the disguise made it easier to move about without attracting curiosity, both in town and in the woods, but she still couldn’t help wondering if that was the full reason.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I said something wrong. Maybe Luke just seems different to us.” Sylvia’s tone was genuine, but her words pricked at Rose’s heart.

“It’s no matter. Look, I’ll probably come again soon. Is there anything else you need?”
And can you tell me why you’re here . . . in
the middle of nowhere, with my betrothed as your provider?

“The Lord has blessed us already with Luke’s providing, and now yours. We’re grateful for whatever you bring. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer until Jim . . . well, you know.”

Rose wanted to say that she had no idea what
until
meant or who Jim was, but she was glad that the woman’s tone had lingered longingly over the man’s name. She also felt chagrined that the woman mentioned the Lord with such genuineness while she was hardly having Christian feelings herself. Still, Luke could have told her more, since Sylvia didn’t seem to have a problem with her knowing.

She’d just placed the final jar of preserves on a stand when a small, cherubic voice spoke up from the little bed.

“Mommy . . . who’s that?” The little girl scooted up to grab at her mother’s jeans.

“A friend of Luke’s,” Sylvia responded, stroking her daughter’s hair.

“I’m Rose.”

The child’s eyes grew wide with interest. “Your hair’s like mine. Does Luke think it’s pretty too? Why are you dressed up all funny? Did you see my pet goat? Is it Halloween yet? Mommy, when can I have a costume?”

“Shhh,” Sylvia admonished.

“It’s all right.” Rose smiled. “But I need to be going before it gets dark.”

“Wait!” Ally cried. “I always make a picture for Luke to take when he visits my daddy. Shall I give it to you?”

“Certainly,” Rose said. She accepted the coloring sheet the child tore painstakingly from the book and made a mental note to bring more toys and things to occupy the little girl the next time she came.
“Danki,”
she said. “That means thank you.” She chuckled as Ally tried to get her tongue around the strange syllables.

“Thank you again,” Sylvia said as she lifted the tent flap. “And be careful.”

“I will. Don’t worry.” Rose waved good-bye and set out down through the maze of trees, so deep in thought that she didn’t notice when she took a wrong turn.

Chapter Twenty-One

L
UKE HAD DRIVEN THE BUGGY ROUND THE BACK WAY OF
the Benders’ property at the expense of his ankle and now swung along between his crutches, anxious and in pain. It was already over two hours since Rose had left.
I never should have let her go
, he berated himself.

He kept searching the distant tree line when a voice behind him nearly made him jump out of his skin.

“Is that you, Luke?”
Aenti
Tabby asked with curiosity.

“
Ya
, ma’am . . . I was just, uh, waiting for Rose.”

“Behind the barn? And with your ankle? Wouldn’t you be more comfortable inside?”

The older woman walked up to him with a smile, but her eyes were keen. Luke sighed inwardly. It was next to impossible to keep a secret from
Aenti
Tabby.

“Rose went up to the woods to gather . . . um . . . late berries or something, and I said I’d wait here until she—”

Tabby crossed her arms over her ample bosom and harrumphed loudly. “Luke Lantz! Has Rose run off because you two were arguing? Is she out alone this time of the evening?”

“Uh . . . that sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll get the boys to go and find her then,” Tabby said.

“That would be
wunderbaar
,” Luke agreed, relieved that someone could search for her.

“Who needs finding,
Aenti
Tabby?” Rose asked breezily as she came soft-footed from the dark field.