Plain and Fancy (10 page)

Eli shook his head as he swallowed around the lump in his throat. “We’ve let this go on too long, Laura. You and I both know that neither of us could be happy living in the other person’s world. So the best thing is for us to say goodbye now, before one or both of us get hurt.”

Tears filled Laura’s eyes, and Eli was tempted to pull her into his arms and kiss them away. Instead, he stepped out of the sleigh and skirted around to the other side to help her down. Laura leaned down and picked up Martha Rose’s skates. “Tell your sister I said thanks for giving me the opportunity to spend a few more hours with you before we had to say good-bye.”

“Jah, I will.”

“And you were right, Eli. It wouldn’t have worked for us.” Before Eli could respond, she hopped down without his assistance and limped toward her car. Every fiber of Eli’s being screamed at him to go after her, but reason won out. He turned his attention toward the horse, vowing that no matter what it took, he would forget he had ever met a fancy English woman named Laura Meade.

January and February were cold ... so cold and dreary Laura thought she would die. It wasn’t just the weather making her feel that way, either. Her heart was broken because Eli had rejected her. If he really cared, he should have agreed to leave his world and join hers.

Two months had passed since their final good-bye, but Laura still longed for something she couldn’t have. Visions of the happy times they had spent together danced through her mind. Losing Eli hurt so much, and she couldn’t seem to do anything to ease the pain. Shopping for new clothes didn’t help. Throwing herself into her studies made no difference. Even an occasional binge on hot-fudge sundaes and chocolate milkshakes did nothing to make her feel better. The barrage of e-mails and phone calls from Dean Carlson didn’t soothe Laura’s troubled spirit, either. She cared nothing for Dean, and she told him so.

As winter moved into spring, Laura finally began to move on with her life. At least she thought she was moving on until one of her teachers gave the class an assignment, asking each student to decorate a bedroom using something handmade by the Amish as a focal point.

Laura had her Amish quilt ... the one she’d purchased at the farmers’ market the first day she’d met Eli. However, when she and Eli broke off their relationship, she had boxed up the quilt and sent it home, unable to look at it any longer. She supposed she could call Mom and ask her to mail it back, but the assignment was due early next week, and there wasn’t enough time for that. There was only one logical thing to do—go to the farmers’ market and buy another quilt.

“If you can spare a few minutes, I’d like to talk to you about Laura.”

Wesley halted in front of his office door and turned to face Dean. “What about her?”

Dean nodded toward the office. “Can we talk in there?”

“I guess so.” Wesley stepped into the room and motioned to one of the leather chairs near his desk. “Have a seat.”

Dean sat down, and Wesley took a seat in the larger chair behind the desk. “Now what did you want to say about my daughter?”

“I was wondering if you’d heard anything from her lately.” “Laura calls at least once a week, and we get e-mails nearly every day. Why do you ask?”

Dean rubbed his fingers along the edge of his chin and grimaced. “She won’t answer my phone calls or any of my e-mails.”

“Any idea why?”

“She turned off to me the night of the New Year’s Eve party and wouldn’t even let me take her home when she said she wasn’t feeling well.”

Wesley leaned forward with his elbows on the desk. “So you’ve had no contact with her since she went back to Pennsylvania?”

“Just one phone call, and she told me she didn’t want to see me again.”

“Then I guess you’d better take Laura at her word. She’s a lot like her mother in many respects.”

“How so?”

“Once my daughter makes up her mind about something, there’s no changing it.”

“Has she found someone else? Is that the problem?”

Wesley shrugged. “You’ll have to ask her that question.” He motioned to the door. “Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do, and I’m sure you do, as well.”

Dean stood. “The next time you talk to Laura, would you give her a message for me?”

“That all depends on what the message is.”

“Tell her I’m not giving up on us, and when she finally comes to her senses, I’ll be here waiting.”

Before Wesley could respond, Dean sauntered out of the room.

“I’ll give Laura a message all right,” Wesley mumbled. “I’ll tell her the best thing she ever did was drop you flat on your ear.” He tapped the end of his pen against the desk a couple of times. “If you weren’t such a crackerjack lawyer, I’d drop you flat, too.”

As Eli headed to the farmers’ market in his horse and open buggy, he kept thinking about Laura and how interested she’d seemed in his birdhouses that first day when he’d met her at the market. It had been two whole months since they’d said good-bye after their ice-skating date, and a day hadn’t gone by that he hadn’t thought about her.

He glanced over at his date sitting in the seat beside him.
Here I am with Pauline again. Is it fair to lead her on? Is it possible for me to learn to love her?
It wasn’t a case of Pauline not being pretty. She just wasn’t as pretty as Laura. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy Pauline’s company. She simply wasn’t as much fun to be around as Laura. But Eli had decided to give Pauline a chance, thinking it might help him forget Laura, and knowing it would please his folks if he settled down, got baptized, joined the church, and took a wife. He just wasn’t sure that wife could be Pauline.

“Spring’s just around the corner, jah?” Pauline said, cutting into Eli’s private thoughts.

He nodded. “Many of the trees have blossoms already, and some flowers are poking their heads through the soil.”

She sighed. “Won’t be long and it’ll be warm enough for picnics.”

“Jah.”

“If this warm weather holds out, maybe we could go to the lake next Saturday.”

“We’ll have to see how it goes.”

She reached over and touched his arm. “Guess I’ll have to pray for sunshine.”

He gave no reply as he guided his horse and buggy into the market parking lot.

Laura was glad Darla had agreed to go with her to the farmers’ market. She didn’t relish the idea of going there alone. Too many painful memories lived inside that building. Too many reminders of the day she’d met Eli.

They had taken Darla’s car this morning, and as soon as it was parked, Laura hopped out and headed for the building. She knew from what Eli had told her that Saturdays were always busy at the market, and she didn’t want to miss out on the best deals.

“Hey, wait for me,” Darla shouted.

Laura halted. “Sorry. Guess I’m in too big a hurry to look at those beautiful quilts.”

“I might just buy one myself this time.”

They stepped into the building, and Laura led the way.

“I’m beginning to see why the country look fascinates you so much,” Darla commented, as they browsed through a stack of colorful quilts. “The vibrant hues and various shapes in these are actually quite pretty.”

Laura nodded as she fingered a monochromatic blue quilt with a Double Wedding Ring pattern. The middle-aged Amish woman selling the quilts mentioned that it was an old patchwork design, and that as the name implied, two rings interlocked with each other.

“Some quilters use their scraps of material for the Double Wedding Ring because the pieces are quite small.” She smiled and lifted one edge of the quilt. “Others plan their quilt with great care, alternating light and dark rings.”

“I think I’ll buy this one,” Laura said. “I love the variance of colors and the interlocking rings.”

“And I believe I’ll keep looking awhile.” Darla chuckled. “No sense picking the first one I see.”

When Laura didn’t answer, Darla poked her in the ribs. “Did you hear what I said?”

Laura stood frozen in her tracks. Her heart pounded like a pack of stampeding horses, and her throat felt so dry she could barely swallow.

“Laura, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” “It’s ... it’s Eli ... and that woman.” Laura’s voice cracked. “I—I had no idea he would be here today. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come.”

Darla craned her neck. “Where is he, and what woman are you talking about?”

“She seems really possessive and thinks she’s Eli’s girlfriend—and maybe she is now that I’m out of the picture. They’re right over there.” Laura pointed toward the root-beer stand several feet away. “I shouldn’t be surprised to see them together, but it hurts, nonetheless.”

Darla grabbed hold of Laura’s arm. “Come on. We’ve got to get you out of here right now.”

Laura jerked away. “I’m not going anywhere. This is a free country, and I have as much right to be here as they do.”

“I’m sure, but you don’t want Eli to know you’re here. Do you?”

Laura dropped her gaze to the floor and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“What? The guy threw you over for someone else, and you want to grovel in the dirt in front of him?”

“He didn’t throw me over, and I wasn’t planning to grovel. I was just thinking I should probably say hello.”

“Now that’s a real brilliant idea.” Darla turned back toward the stack of quilts. “You can do whatever you like, but I came here to look at handmade Amish items. That
was
our assignment, you know, not saying hello to some cute Amish guy.”

Ignoring her friend’s comment, Laura took a deep breath and marched straight up to the root-beer stand. “Hello, Eli. How are you?”

“Laura? What are you doing here?” Eli’s eyes were wide, and his mouth hung slightly open.

“I’m looking at quilts,” she answered, fixing her gaze somewhere near the center of his chest. “I—I have an assignment to do, and—”

“Come on, Eli, let’s go.”

Laura turned her gaze to Pauline. She stood beside Eli with one hand on his arm in a possessive gesture, and she offered Laura an icy stare.

Laura’s legs felt like rubber, and tension pulled the muscles in her neck. She had a deep sense that she had done the wrong thing when she’d asked Eli to leave his Amish faith, and she couldn’t ignore it a moment longer. She took a guarded step forward. “Eli, could we talk? I need to tell you something.” Her mouth went dry with trepidation as she stared into his blue eyes and recognized hesitation.

A few seconds ticked by. Then he shrugged. “I guess it would be all right.” He glanced over at Pauline. “Could you wait for me at the hot dog stand? I won’t be long.”

Pauline scrunched up her nose. “Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head. “I’ll just be a minute.”

She glared at Laura, then stalked off, muttering something in Pennsylvania Dutch.

Eli turned back to Laura. “Should we go outside?”

She nodded and followed as he led the way to the nearest exit. When they stepped outside, he motioned to a wooden bench near the building.

Once they were both seated, Laura felt a bit more comfortable. At least now she could gulp in some fresh air, which she hoped might tame the brigade of bumblebees marching through her stomach.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Eli asked.

“Us. I wanted to talk about us.”

“There
is
no
us,
Laura. I thought you understood that I’m not going to leave my faith. In fact, I’ve decided to—”

“I do understand, and I’m sorry for asking you to give up your way of life.”

“Thank you for understanding. Someday you’ll meet the right man, and—”

Laura lifted her hand and covered his mouth with her fingers. “I’ve already found the right man.”

His eyebrows raised in obvious surprise. “You have? That’s good. I wish you all the best.”

She compressed her lips in frustration. Was Eli deaf, dumb, and blind? Couldn’t he see how much she wanted to be with him? She grasped both of his hands and gave them a squeeze. “The man I’ve found is you. I want no other, and I never will.”

“But, Laura—”

“I know, I know. You won’t leave the Amish faith and become a fancy Englisher.” She swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be together, though.”

He tipped his head and looked at Laura as if she’d lost her mind. “It doesn’t?”

“No, it doesn’t. Not unless you’ve found someone else.” She leaned closer to him. “Have you, Eli? Are you in love with Pauline?”

He shook his head. “We’re still just friends, but—”

“Do you still have feelings for me?”

“Jah, but you know—”

“Well, good. I can solve our problem by coming over to the other side.”

A deep frown creased Eli’s forehead. “I’m afraid I don’t get your meaning.”

“I’ll join the Amish faith and become Plain.”

“What?”

“I said—”

Eli held up his hand. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Laura. A few folks have joined our faith, but not many. It’s not all cakes and pies, you know, and there would be much to learn—classes to take.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be an easy transition, but I can do it, Eli. I can do anything if I set my mind to it.”

Eli couldn’t believe Laura was offering to join his faith. During the time they had been seeing each other, he’d often found himself wishing for just such a turn of events, but after she’d asked him to join her world, he was certain she would never consider becoming Amish. Now she suddenly wanted to become Plain? It made no sense at all. He studied her intently. She seemed sincere, but truth be told, Laura didn’t have any idea what she was suggesting.

“I do love you,” he admitted, “but—”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I was afraid you might turn me away.”

Eli breathed in the strawberry scent of Laura’s hair and reveled in the warmth of her touch. How could he make her understand, yet how could he say good-bye to her again?

“These last few months have been awful,” Laura said with a catch in her voice. “I need to be with you.”

“But you might not be happy being Amish, and then what? As I said, it would be a hard thing to change over and give up all the modern things you’re used to having. You would have to learn our language and accept our religious views.”

She nodded. “I know it won’t be easy, but with your help, I can do it. You will help me, won’t you, Eli?”

Eli filled his lungs with fresh air as he struggled to make a decision. He lifted Laura’s chin with his thumb and stared into her sea green eyes, hoping to find answers there. He wanted to be with her more than anything. Yet he didn’t see how it could ever work out.

When she smiled at him the way she was now, it was hard to think. Hard to breathe. Hard to know what was right and what wasn’t.

“Eli, what’s your answer?”

Pushing the niggling doubts aside, he finally nodded. “You’ll need time to adjust, but I’ll help you in every way I can.”