Plain and Fancy (9 page)

Laura awoke in her dorm room the following morning with a pounding headache. A warm shower and a cup of tea helped some, but when she knocked on Darla’s door to see if her friend would like to ride with her to Eli’s farm, Laura’s headache worsened.

“I have other plans today,” Darla said with a scowl. “Besides, I wouldn’t consider being a party to you ruining your life.”

“How can seeing Eli again ruin my life?” Laura had hoped Darla would be willing to go with her. She needed the added courage.

Darla opened the door wider and motioned Laura inside. “Have a seat, and I’ll see if I can explain things a little more clearly.”

Laura pulled out the desk chair, and Darla sat on the edge of her bed.

“I know you’ve got a thing for this guy, but the more you see him, the further your relationship will develop.” Darla pursed her lips. “One of you is bound to get hurt, and I’m guessing that you’re going to be the one.”

“What makes you think I’ll get hurt?”

“We’ve been through this before. You and Eli are from completely different worlds, and even if one of you were willing to try the other’s way of life, it most likely wouldn’t work.”

“How do you know?”

“Trust me on this,” Darla asserted. “You’re living in a dream world if you think you can get Eli to leave his faith.”

“Why is that so impossible? People change religions all the time.”

“Has Eli joined the Amish church yet? Because if he has and he decides to leave the faith, he’ll be shunned. Do you understand what that means, Laura?”

She nodded. “Eli’s told me quite a bit about the Amish way of life, but this isn’t a problem because he hasn’t joined the church yet.”

Darla’s eyebrows drew together. “Even so, if he were to leave, it would be a difficult adjustment for him.”

“I’ll help him adjust.”

Darla shrugged. “Whatever. But think about this: Maybe he doesn’t want to leave. Then what?”

“I—I don’t know. I suppose I’ll have to convince him that he does want to leave.” Laura stood. “So are you going to help me find the Yoder place or not?”

Darla shook her head. “I’m afraid you’ll have to do this on your own.”

“Fine. I will.”

Laura spent the next couple of hours driving around the back roads near Paradise, searching for Eli’s house. Since she’d only been there once before and hadn’t paid close attention to where Eli was going, she wasn’t sure she was heading in the right direction.

Suddenly, she spotted a one-room schoolhouse. It was the same one Eli had pointed out on one of their rides.
I’ve got to be getting close to his house.

Laura continued up the road another mile or so until she spotted a mailbox with the name Yoder on it. She drove up the driveway, and the minute she saw the house, she knew it was Eli’s. She stopped the car, turned off the engine, and stepped out.

Walking carefully up the slippery path, she headed for the Yoders’ front porch. She was almost to the door when a sense of panic gripped her like a vise. What if Eli wasn’t home? What if he was home but wasn’t happy to see her?

She thought about turning around and heading back to Lancaster, but the desire to see Eli won out, so she lifted her hand and knocked on the door.

A few moments later, Eli’s mother answered. She held a rolling pin in one hand, and with the other hand, she swiped at a wisp of hair that had fallen loose from her bun. Laura couldn’t read Mary Ellen’s stoic expression, but the woman’s silence was enough to remind her that she was on enemy territory.

“Is ... uh ... Eli at home?”

Mary Ellen stood quietly a few minutes before she finally answered. “He’s out in the barn in his woodworking shop.”

Laura nodded and forced her lips to form a smile. “Thanks.” She stepped quickly off the porch before Eli’s mother had a chance to say anything more. If the older woman’s sour expression was meant to dissuade her, it hadn’t worked. She was here now and even more determined than ever to speak with Eli.

Eli was bent over his workbench, hammering a nail into the roof of a small birdhouse, when he heard the barn door open. He didn’t think much of it, knowing his brothers were still busy with chores, but when a familiar female voice called out to him, he was so surprised, he smashed his thumb with the hammer.

“Laura! How’d you get here?”

She moved slowly across the room until she stood directly in front of him. “I drove.”

“When did you get back from Minnesota?”

“Last night.”

Eli wished she would quit staring at him. It was hard to think. Hard to breathe. He swallowed a couple of times. “How ... how was your holiday?”

“It was okay. How was yours?”

“Good.”
Though it would have been better if you’d been here.
Eli shook his head, trying to get himself thinking straight again.

“I’ve missed you,” Laura said, leaning toward him. “Did you miss me?”

A warning bell went off in Eli’s head, but it was too late. Laura touched his arm, as she gazed into his eyes in a way that made his heart slam into his chest. How could he tell this beautiful woman that it wasn’t right for her to be here?

Eli couldn’t voice any of his thoughts. He couldn’t even think straight with her standing so close and smelling so nice. He took a step back and bumped into his workbench, knocking a hunk of wood to the floor. He bent to retrieve it, feeling more frustrated by the minute.

“So this is where you make your birdhouses, huh?”

He nodded. “And many other wooden items, as well.”

She glanced around the small room, as if she were scrutinizing it. “How can you do this kind of work without the aid of electricity?”

“Some time ago, my daed installed a diesel engine that not only provides power for some of my saws and planers but also powers the compressed air pump that brings water to our house.” Eli pointed to a small drill lying beside a handsaw. “Of course I do many things by hand, too.”

“I see.” Laura took a step closer to him. “Have you been back to the lake lately?”

“The lake’s completely frozen over now.” He tipped his head as an uncensored thought popped into his mind. “Say, would you like to go ice-skating?”

She pointed to her boots. “Ice-skating? Eli, in case you haven’t noticed, I have no skates.”

“I think my sister, Martha Rose, left her skates here in the barn when she married Amon Zook, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you wore them.”

“If your sister’s skates fit, I’d be happy to go ice-skating with you.”

Eli nodded and smiled. So much for his resolve to keep Laura at a distance.

“Always trouble somewhere,” Mary Ellen muttered as she returned to the kitchen, where Johnny sat at the table with a cup of coffee in his hands.

“What’s the problem? Who was at the front door?”

“That English woman.”

“Which English woman? There are several living nearby, you know.”

Mary Ellen dropped into the chair beside her husband with a groan. “I’m talking about Laura Meade. She was looking for Eli.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“Said he was out in the barn, in his shop.” She pursed her lips. “Couldn’t hardly lie now, could I?”

Johnny shook his head. “No, but you could have sent her packing.”

“I’d like to think Eli will tell her to leave, but I’m not holding my breath on that one, either.”

Johnny set his cup down and reached for her hand. “We need to keep on praying and trusting that God will open our son’s eyes.”

She nodded. “Jah, but that’s easier said than done.”

When Eli pulled his sleigh into the open area near the lake, Laura was surprised to see that it was covered with a thick layer of shimmering ice. She thought it was even more appealing than it had been in the fall, and she drank in the beauty of the surrounding trees, dressed in frosty white gowns and shimmering in the morning sun like thousands of tiny diamonds.

They took a seat on a fallen log, and Eli helped Laura into his sister’s skates, which were only a tad too big.

“If I ever get the chance to meet your sister, I’ll have to be sure and thank her for the use of these skates.”

“I’ll thank her for you.” Eli grinned. “You’d like Martha Rose. She’s the best sister any fellow could possibly want, and we’ve been good friends since we were kinner.” He stood and held out his hand. “Should we give those skates a try?”

“Jah, let’s do.”

Hand in hand, they made their way slowly around the lake. After a time, Eli set off on his own, doing fancy spins and figure eights.

Laura shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun as she watched in rapt fascination, realizing with each passing moment how much she really had come to love Eli. She tried skating by herself, but it was hard to concentrate on anything except the striking figure he made on the ice.

Her heart hammered in her chest when Eli waved and offered her a flirtatious wink. He wore a pair of black pants, a light blue shirt, and a dark gray woolen jacket. He had removed his black felt hat, and his sandy brown hair whipped against his face as he appeared to become one with the wind.

Laura decided to try and catch up to Eli, hoping she could convince him to take a break so they could talk. She needed to tell him what was in her heart.

Pushing off quickly with her right foot, she lost her balance and fell hard on the ice. Eli was at her side immediately, his blue eyes looking ever so serious. “Are you okay? You didn’t break anything, I hope.”

“My knee hurts, but I don’t think my leg’s broken.”

Laura shivered as Eli pulled up her pant leg and gently probed her knee. “It looks like a bad sprain. You probably should put some ice on it.”

She giggled. “I think I just did.”

Eli helped Laura to her feet and put his arm around her waist as she hobbled over to the sleigh. “I’d better get you back to my place so you can rest that knee and get out of the cold.”

Impulsively, Laura gripped Eli’s shoulders with both hands and kissed him on the cheek.

His face flushed, and he smiled at first, but then he jerked back like he’d been stung by a bee. “Wh–why’d you do that?”

“Just my way of saying thanks for being such a good friend.”

His gaze dropped to the ground, and an awkward silence followed as Eli helped her into the sleigh. She wondered if she had said or done something wrong.

“I—I think it would be best if we didn’t see each other anymore,” he mumbled as he picked up the reins.

“Why? Haven’t you enjoyed yourself today?”

He nodded soberly. “That’s the problem: I had too good of a time.”

Her hand trembled as she touched his arm. “I don’t see how enjoying yourself can be a problem.”

“I told you once that I wanted to be your friend, but now things have changed.”

“How?” Her voice rose, and her heart started to pound. “Why?”

“I can’t be your friend because I’ve fallen in love with you, Laura.” He didn’t look at her, just stared straight ahead.

“Oh, Eli, I love you, too!” She buried her face in his jacket, relishing the warmth and his masculine smell.

“What we feel for each other isn’t right,” he mumbled. “It feels right to me.”

“It won’t work for us. I think we need to end this before we both get hurt.”

“Nothing could hurt worse than never seeing you again,” Laura said with a catch in her voice. “We can be together if we want it badly enough.”

He eased her gently away. “I don’t see how.”

“You could leave the Amish faith. You’re not a member yet, so you won’t be shunned, and when we both feel ready for marriage—”

Eli’s eyebrows arched. “Marriage? Are you saying you want to marry me?”

Laura swallowed hard. Was that what she was saying? Did she really love Eli, or was he simply a prize she wanted and thought was out of her reach?

“After we’ve dated awhile, we might be ready for marriage,” she amended.

Eli sat there several seconds, staring at the reins in his hands. “The only reason I haven’t joined the church yet is because I was waiting until I felt ready for marriage.”

“Wh–what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that despite my feelings for you, I don’t believe I could be happy living and working as an Englisher.”

“Why not?”

“To my way of thinking, a newborn calf, freshly plowed soil, and the ripening of grain are all manifestations of God’s power. Farming to many Amish men in this area isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life blessed by God and handed down from one generation to another. If I left the Amish faith or moved away from God, I wouldn’t feel like a whole person anymore.”

She grasped the collar of his jacket and gazed at his handsome face. “I’m not asking you to leave God. You can worship Him in any church. I’m only asking you to give up your Plain lifestyle so we can be together.”

“Could you give up your modern way of life to become Plain?”

She shook her head. “I—I don’t think so. It would be too hard for me to adjust.”

“Exactly. While it is possible for outsiders to join the Amish community, it seldom happens because it would be too big of a change.” Eli leaned away from her. Snapping the reins, he shouted, “Giddap there, boy. It’s time to go!”

Laura’s eyes stung with unshed tears. As the horse moved forward and the sleigh began to glide across the snow, she felt as though her whole world had fallen apart.

Why wouldn’t Eli listen to reason? What had gone wrong with her plan?

Eli gripped the reins so hard his fingers ached.
I wish I’d never met Laura. I should have never invited her to take that first ride in my courting buggy. I was stupid for asking her to go skating with me this morning, too. It only made both of us hope for the impossible.

As much as Eli hated to admit it, he had come to care for Laura, but he didn’t think he could give up his way of life in order to marry her. At the same time, he knew it would be impossible for her to give up the only way of life she had ever known to be with him.

They rode in silence all the way back to his house, and when Eli guided the sleigh into the yard, Laura leaned close to him, sending shivers up the back of his neck. “Won’t you at least think about what I said earlier? Maybe there’s a reason you haven’t joined the church yet. Maybe we’re supposed to be together.”