Amish White Christmas Pie (30 page)

“Are you about ready to go home?” Will asked Karen as things began to wind down.

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Okay. If you’d like to wait here by the fire, I’ll get Blazer hitched to my buggy.”

“That’s fine with me. It’s turned into such a cold night, I’ll be happy to stand here and enjoy the warmth of the fire awhile longer.”

“I’ll pull the buggy over this way when I’m ready to go.” Will said good-bye to Vonda and the others who were still huddled around the fire; then he sprinted across the yard.

When he guided his horse and buggy up the driveway close to where the bonfire was, he discovered Karen standing off to one side talking to Leroy. Usually seeing the two of them together would have upset him, but not tonight. After observing the way Leroy had hovered around Vonda all evening, Will figured he could put his fears to rest. He had a hunch it wouldn’t be long until Leroy and Vonda started officially courting, and that thought made him quite happy.

As soon as Will’s rig came to a stop, Karen left Leroy and hurried toward the buggy.

“It’s been a fun evening,” she said as Will helped her into the passenger’s side. “But I’m glad we’re going home, because I’m tired and cold.”

“Me, too, but it might not be much warmer in my buggy.” He leaned over and lifted the buggy robe from the floor. “We can drape this over our laps, and it should help some.”

“At least we’ll be out of the wind. I think that’s what’s making it seem so cold.” Karen snuggled under the robe and leaned her head on Will’s shoulder. “I hope it’s not this cold on our wedding day.”

“Won’t matter if it is,” he said, guiding his horse onto the main road. “We’ll be indoors most of the day where it’ll be nice and warm.”

“That’s true, but if the weather is bad, it may keep some of our guests away.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that. Unless we have a blizzard, I’m sure everyone will make it.”

“You’re probably right. I think I must be turning into an old worrywart.”

He chuckled. “At least I know for sure that you’re
my
worrywart.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“After seeing the way Leroy hovered around Vonda all evening, I’ve got a hunch that he’s got his eye on her.”

“You’re right; he does. I’ve known for some time about Leroy’s interest in Vonda. Since she’s so shy, he didn’t know how to approach her, so he’s asked me several times for some suggestions.”

“Are you saying that’s the reason Leroy’s been hanging around you so much—because he wanted your advice on how to make Vonda take an interest in him?”

“That’s mostly it, but as I’ve told you before, Leroy and I have been friends since we were bopplin, so sometimes he just likes to gab with me about things.”

“When I saw you with Leroy at Das Dutchman, were you talking about Vonda?”

She nodded. “The reason I didn’t tell you before this is because Leroy asked me not to say anything.”

“Guess I’ve been worried all this time for no reason at all.”

She needled him in the ribs. “I’ve been trying to tell you that nothing’s been going on between me and Leroy.”

He needled her right back and chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Here I was trying to get Leroy and Vonda together, and the whole time, he already had an interest in her.”

“That’s right, and even though Vonda’s been too shy to let on until tonight, she’s had an interest in Leroy, too.”

Will groaned as he shook his head. “What a dummkopp I’ve been. When things didn’t go as I’d planned with Leroy and Vonda, I tried to get Mary Jane to take an interest in him, but she had her eye on Nathan.” He reached across the seat and took Karen’s hand. “I’m glad everything’s settled between us.”

“It always feels good to get things settled,” she agreed.

They rode in silence as Will kept his focus on the road and made sure he had good control of his horse. He didn’t want to slip on the ice or end up stuck in the snow.

“You’re really cold,” Will said when he noticed Karen shivering. “We’re almost to my folks’ place, so I think I’ll stop in and get another blanket.”

“I’ll be okay. We’re not too far from my house now.”

“Even so, I think I’ll stop for a blanket.” He squeezed her fingers gently. “I won’t have my bride-to-be freezing to death.”

Karen snickered. “I’m glad to see you’re in such good spirits. That must mean you had a good time tonight.”

“Jah, it was good to set my worries aside and have a fun evening with you and our friends.”

“I wonder how the young people are faring in this cold weather,” Mark said as he and Regina sat on the sofa enjoying the warmth that spilled from the fireplace and filled the room with a woodsy aroma.

Regina smiled. “We never let a little cold weather keep us from having a good time when we were courting.”

He chuckled. “That’s true enough.”

“Do you think I did the right thing by inviting Frank and his family here for Thanksgiving dinner?” she asked.

“I hope so. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how it goes.”

“My main concern is how Will’s going to deal with seeing his daed again.” Regina sighed. “I still haven’t decided if I should keep quiet and let Will find out about it on Thanksgiving Day, or if it would be better to tell him now in order to pave the way.”

“Pave the way for what?” Will asked as he and Karen stepped into the room.

Regina’s heart gave a lurch. How much of their conversation had Will heard?

“Wh–what are you doing here?” she sputtered. “I figured you’d still be at the Nissleys’ place.”

“We left awhile ago because things were winding down,” Will said. “It was cold in my buggy, so I decided to stop here on my way to Karen’s and pick up another blanket.”

Regina rose from the sofa. “I’ll get one for you.”

Will held up his hand. “Before you do, I’d like to know what you were talking about when we came into the room. You said something about me and paving the way.”

Regina looked over at Mark, hoping he might come to her rescue, but he sat with an unresponsive look on his face.

She cleared her throat and groped for the right words. “I…uh…spoke with your daed again the other day.”

“What’d you speak to Papa Mark about?”

She shook her head. “I was talking about Frank, your real daed.”

Will frowned. “I thought you agreed not to call him again.”

“I didn’t; he called me. He sounded desperate to see you, Will.”

“He can’t be too desperate, or he would have contacted me long before now.”

Regina drew in a deep breath. “I…uh…hope you won’t be too upset about this, but I invited Frank, his wife, and their daughters to join us for dinner on Thanksgiving Day.”

The color drained from Will’s face, and he grabbed the back of the closest chair as if needing it for support.

Karen stepped up beside him and touched his arm. “Are you okay? Maybe you should sit down.”

Will groaned. “If that man is coming for Thanksgiving, I won’t be here!”

“But where would you go?” Regina asked.

“I’ll go to one of the shelters in South Bend with some of my friends who plan to help feed the hungry that day.”

“It’s a charitable thing they’re planning to do,” Mark commented, “and if you were going to help for the right reasons, I would encourage you to go with my blessings.” His eyebrows furrowed. “But to go to South Bend just so you don’t have to see your daed is not a good enough reason.”

“I think your daed’s right,” Karen put in. “Helping out at the shelter should be done with the right intentions.”

Will’s face softened a bit as he slowly nodded. “All right, I won’t go to South Bend on Thanksgiving, but I won’t stay here and be forced to speak with someone who doesn’t love me, either.”

Regina shook her head. “You don’t know that he doesn’t love you, Will. You haven’t heard Frank’s reasons for not coming back to get you.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to hear his reasons.”

Karen put both hands on Will’s shoulders, causing him to look directly at her. “Would you do it for me?”

Regina held her breath as she waited for Will’s answer. When he finally nodded, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hoped and prayed that whatever Frank had to say to Will on Thanksgiving Day, healing would come for Will’s troubled soul.

F
rank gripped the steering wheel and grimaced as he headed down the road with Megan and the girls in their minivan. Ever since they’d left Pennsylvania, he’d been having second thoughts about going to Indiana to see Will.
What if Will isn’t happy to see me? What if he refuses to listen to what I have to say? How will Megan and the girls fit in with Will’s Amish family? Will they understand why there’s no TV or electricity in the house? Will they wonder why Regina and Mark are dressed differently than we are? Will Carrie and Kim ask a bunch of silly, embarrassing questions?

Frank had tried to explain things to the girls before they’d left home, but the hardest part was telling them about their half brother whom they’d never met and explaining how Will had come to live with an Amish couple. He didn’t know how much they understood, but he hoped things would go okay on Thanksgiving Day.

“You look tired. Would you like me to drive awhile?” Megan asked, gently nudging Frank’s arm.

“I’m okay. I just need to stay focused on my driving and quit thinking about how things will go when I see Will tomorrow.”

“I’ve been praying that your son will listen to what you have to say.”

“I’ve been praying the same prayer—and a lot more, too.”

“Are there other things you’re concerned about?”

Frank glanced over his shoulder and saw that Carrie and Kim were asleep in the backseat. “I’m worried about how the girls will react to being in an Amish home and meeting their half brother who’s more than twice their age.”

“You’ve explained things to the girls, so hopefully it won’t be a problem. Most kids usually adapt to their surroundings fairly well.”

“I wonder how easy it was for Will to adapt to the Amish way of life after I left him with Mark and Regina.”

“That’s one of the things you can ask him tomorrow.”

“Yeah. There are a lot of things I’d like to know, and he’ll probably have plenty of questions for me, too.”

“I’m sure he will.”

They rode in silence for the next several miles, until the girls woke up and started fussing at each other.

“Kim’s pinching me,” Carrie complained.

Megan turned around. “Please keep your hands to yourself, Kim.”

Kim started to cry, and Carrie followed suit.

Frank grimaced as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. He’d be glad when they stopped for the night, and he hoped the girls would be in happy moods when they arrived at the Stoltzfuses’ place tomorrow afternoon.