Love Redeemed (5 page)

“Go. We're right behind you.”

Daniel squeezed through the crowd, headed their direction, and Rachel's face dimpled into a smile, her green eyes wide with anticipation. Phoebe suspected her friend would be hard-pressed to keep her word. She wiped shaking hands on her apron and threaded her way through the throngs of teenagers already clustering into little groups, chattering until the noise level reached such a pitch that surely there were a hundred people in the barn, if not more.

She had to pass Richard to get out the door. He pushed it open for her. It took only a second to realize he'd followed her out.

“Wait.”

She hesitated and then kept walking.

“Come on, Phoebe.” He drew up next to her and shortened his stride to match hers. He looked a lot like Michael. Tall, broad shoulders, dark hair, but his eyes were brown. She couldn't see them in the dark, but she knew. He was no Michael. “I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Ask away.” The fact that her voice didn't quiver in the least surprised and pleased her. “I'm all ears.”

“No, you're more than ears.” He laughed, a deep-pitched sound that made the hair on her arms prickle. “I wanted to know if you would take a ride with me.”

“I can't. I have to serve the refreshments.”

“Not now. I mean after. After the singing.”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to think. Richard had moved to New Hope from Bliss Creek a few months earlier to work with Michael's daed and his uncle. He lived with Michael's Onkel Peter but worked at both of the side-by-side farms. They'd known each other since he moved to Bliss Creek when she was ten or eleven. Still, she
had never spent much time with him. She didn't know him like she knew Michael.

“Just a short ride.” His teeth were white in the lantern light. “I promise to hold up my end of the conversation. We've never really talked before.”

“Nee, we haven't.”

“Isn't that what singings are about? To get to know a person.”

Maybe so, but she'd always pictured it differently. She'd pictured it with Michael.

“Richard, wait!”

There was the voice that always sounded in her head when she thought of buggy rides. Amazing how she could summon it at will.

Richard slowed and turned. Phoebe did the same. Michael strode up the gravel road behind them. He sounded out of breath. She hadn't summoned his voice after all.

“What is it, cousin?”

Michael shoved his hat back on his head. His face had a dark, ruddy hue and his forehead a sheen of perspiration. His gaze stayed on Richard as if he didn't see Phoebe. “My horse seems to have come up a little lame. I don't know what happened. I thought maybe you could give me a ride back to the house, since it's on your way to Onkel Peter's.”

“I'm not—”

“It's all right if you need to help out your cousin.” Lightheaded with relief, Phoebe cut Richard off. She knew it was bad form to interrupt a man, but she couldn't help herself. “I have to get the lemonade anyway, and my daed's keeping watch tonight. I expect he'll be making his rounds any minute now.”

Richard didn't answer right away. He kicked a rock with his Sunday go-to-service shoe, sniffed, and then stared at the sky. “Sure, I can give you a ride. It's getting late anyway.”

“Neither of you have to go right away, do you?” Phoebe cast around for words. The evening was still young. “We have more Rice Krispie treats coming out and lemonade and sweet tea—”

“Like Michael said, we all have to get up early in the morning.”
Richard's gaze went from Phoebe's face to his cousin's. He shrugged and stomped past Michael. “You coming, cousin?”

Michael touched the brim of his hat with his finger and nodded at Phoebe. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

He turned and followed his cousin toward the buggies.

“Michael.”

He looked back. Phoebe kicked herself inwardly. She was never at a loss for words. Never. According to her daed, she'd been born speaking complete sentences. “See you next week.”

“See you next week.” The serious lines of his face creased into a smile. Her breath whooshed from her lungs. “Maybe sooner. You never know.”

From Michael, nine words were a veritable speech. These words held a promise. And Michael was the kind of man who kept his promises.

Content to wait, Phoebe smiled back. Something told her it would be worth the wait.

Chapter 4

W
ith a gentle burp, Michael threw his long legs over the wooden bench and turned to face the lake, a cup of steaming
kaffi
in one hand. The aroma mingled with the lingering smell of bacon even though his mudder had already turned off the Coleman stove and poured the grease into a can for use in gravy later. A flash of white caught his gaze. An osprey taking off, skimming low on the water. The sun bobbed on the far edge of the lake like a bright buoy warning sailboats they'd reached the end of the earth. Despite the August heat, a steady southeast breeze cooled by the vast acres of water tantalized him, tempting him to pitch himself headfirst into the lake.

Maybe if he did the shock of the cold water would clear the cobwebs from his head. He hadn't been sleeping well. It'd never been a problem before. Now, every time he closed his eyes he saw the wistful look on Phoebe's face when she touched the wheel of the two-seater. He saw the look on her face when she realized he'd come on horseback with no intention of taking a girl for a buggy ride. Worst of all, he saw her sauntering up the road at Richard's side.

Then he saw the look on her face when he'd said he would see her next week. She looked interested. Definitely interested. Trouble was, next week had come and gone. They saw each other at baptism class, of course, but that was no place to court. He'd learned his lesson about that. Then, he stayed home from the singing that night to help his daed
with a sick hog. The hog died. Not a good night at the Daugherty farm. They planned to butcher it, can the meat, and have it all winter long. It had been deep in the night before he hauled himself into bed and realized he'd missed the singing and missed Phoebe.

What she must think of him. Forget it. He'd ruined it. She thought he wasn't interested. Likely, she'd move on. Likely, next time Richard asked, she'd say yes. Maybe she already had.

His face burning at the thought, he leaned back and closed his eyes, listening to the birds in the towering oaks that shaded the campsite. Birds, cicadas, frogs…a regular concert, the best kind, better than any music he'd heard on the jukebox in New Hope during his rumspringa. A blow to his ribs brought him upright. “Hey! Watch the kaffi.”

“Are you bird watching?” Daniel, his face split in his usual grin, nudged him again with a sharp elbow. His friend flopped back on the bench, his hat in his other hand. “Elam was going on and on last night about maybe seeing a bald eagle here.”

“They're only here in the winter.” Michael had done his own research before the trip. He liked knowing about things as much as Phoebe's little brother did. He and Elam got on better than Michael did with her older brothers. The older brothers knew about courting and were protective of their sisters. “I did see an osprey and a blue heron, though.”

“I'm thinking we find our girls and take them bird watching,” said Daniel.

Our girls? Daniel might have a girl, but Michael didn't. And he knew for sure Daniel had no interest in birds.

“The fun I have in mind involves a fishing pole and my new lures.” Michael pushed his hat down over his face to block the sun creeping up over the trees. “I hope the crappie and walleye are biting. I read that walleyes are great fishing here. And I heard a guy talking at the marina who said he caught a huge black bass yesterday.”

“We've got four days to fish. I have a plan and I need to put it into action.” Daniel looked the way he always did on these trips. Like a little boy at the fair who couldn't decide whether to have cotton candy or deep-fried Oreos first. “I have to see Rachel.”

“You're not supposed to announce these things to the world.”

“I can't help it.” Daniel had the loony grin of a crazy person. “I'm sorry,
freind
, I really can't help it.”

He only spoke the truth. Michael knew that, but he still had to try to rein his friend in. Doing these things the right way gave the best results. “We came here to camp and to fish and to hunt and to swim. They're renting the fishing boat today.”

“It's a good place to take walks too.”

“You're crazy.”

“Crazy in
lieb
.”

Holding his tin mug out to keep from splashing his pants, Michael scooted down the bench to make more room for his best friend. “We're fishing today. We're renting the boat. That's the plan. That's what we came here to do.”

“Yeah, Mudder thinks she's cooking up a mess of catfish for supper,” added Daniel's sister Adah, who squeezed between the two men to grab their plates. “Can you two move so I can get these dishes done? I want to go fishing too.”

“You're going fishing? You never stop talking. You'll scare all the fish away.” Daniel whooped and ducked when his sister pretended to throw an empty cup at him. “Okay, okay, you can come, but only if you tape your mouth shut.”

“
Ach
, you're mean.” She trudged away, arms full of dirty dishes. “I'll catch more fish than you will. You just watch!”

“Girls fishing.” Daniel's tone held disgust, but he continued to grin. “What next? They'll want to join us for cannonballs off the cliff this afternoon.”

Michael doubted that, but it would be quite a sight. Not one his parents would allow, but still.

“What are you thinking about, so serious-like? You need to stop thinking deep thoughts and start figuring out how to talk to Phoebe. If you don't, Richard will beat you to it.”

“It's none of your business.” Never mind that Michael had had the exact same thought. He glanced over his shoulder. Mudder and Irene stood at a bucket of water on a folding table next to a spigot. They were chattering away like hens comparing notes on their broods. Daed had
the fishing reels spread on a blanket while Ben and the boys discussed the pros and cons of lures versus live bait. He leaned toward Daniel. “It's private.”

Daniel's eyebrows disappeared under the brim of his hat. “What is? You haven't done anything. Now's your chance. You have four days here. You'll be running into her all the time. You're not gonna get another chance like this.” He smacked his hand on Michael's forehead. “You'd have to be stone cold dead not to get that.”

Michael slapped Daniel's hand away. “I'm not dead. I want to do things the right way.”

“This is the right way.” Daniel leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I'm serious. Richard has his eye on her. I see the way he looks at her at the singings. I saw him leave the barn with her the other night.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Because you jumped in. That's how I know you care. You would never make something up—”

“I didn't make it up.” God's providence had given him a lame horse. Did God get involved in these things? Surely He wanted to make sure folks ended up with their intended fraas, didn't He? “I really needed a ride.”

“Go down to their campsite and ask her to take a walk with you.”

“I'll think about it.”

“Don't think too hard. Sometimes you have to stop thinking and planning and jump in. Before Richard does.” Daniel stood. He was half a foot shorter than Michael and ten pounds lighter, but he made up for it with sheer willpower. “She'd rather it be you than Richard, but a girl can't wait forever.”

“What makes you say that?”

Daniel shrugged. His face turned red. “Nothing.”

“Come on. What did you hear?” Michael started to lift his cup to his lips, then stopped halfway. “What did Rachel say?”

Daniel threw a glance at the others. They were far too engrossed in getting ready for the day's fun to notice the conversation. “I'm not supposed to say anything, but I can tell you this much. You ask Phoebe to take a walk, she'll go. She likes you.”

The thought that Phoebe might reciprocate his feelings caused something to well up inside Michael, something he couldn't identify. It was so intense it almost hurt. “Rachel said that?”

“Jah. Besides, you'd have to be blind not to see the way Phoebe looks at you.” Daniel swung his legs over the bench and faced the table. “Don't you want to find out for sure?”

“Jah.”

“Then take her for a walk.”

“Is that what you're going to do with Rachel?”

“Jah. We're meeting at her campsite in half an hour.”

“You'll get her in trouble.”

“I'm not going to walk in and announce myself. I'll wait until the right moment. Her daed and bruders will go fishing too.”

“They're gonna wonder why you don't go,” said Michael.

“I'll figure out something. Rumspringa, remember?” Daniel grinned.

Concern for his friend lying heavy on his shoulders, Michael shrugged. “Do you really think Phoebe will say yes?”

“Are you joshing me?” Daniel watched him with obvious eagerness. “You'll do it, then? You're going to do it, aren't you?”

“I might.” Once the words were out, Michael knew he would do it. He had to do it. If he didn't, his cousin would. Richard hadn't said as much, but his actions made it clear. “I am.”

“Gut.”

“Gut.”

“Then we'll go fishing tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn.” Daniel stood, adjusting his hat once more.

“Crack of dawn,” Michael agreed.

Unless things worked out with Phoebe and he had another walk to take.