Something Old (41 page)

Jake had explained that first he had some business to take care of that would determine if he accepted the superintendent position. He explained that although it was a great opportunity, he wanted to be able to give it his all once he accepted. The cross-country move would be life altering, and Jake needed to make sure it was the right move.

That appeased the other man somewhat, and he agreed to wait one week. After that, he’d call his brother-in-law for another name. Jake agreed, and they parted on good terms.

Later along the interstate, Jake mulled over the offer. By the size of the insects that plastered the truck’s windshield and splattered the front grill, the saying that everything was big in Texas seemed true. This job offer was a giant-sized decision, too. It was the type of decision that could affect his entire future. As he weighed his choices, a major portion of the return trip was spent praying.

He also listened to Christian radio stations. At times he broke out into audible laughter, trying to imagine Katy and Jessie conspiring together. That was what made Katy’s e-mail smack of honesty. She couldn’t have faced Jessie without forgiveness. It seemed she had really changed.

Still, he wanted to see her expression when they talked about it. In order to believe her, he needed to see that her guarded expression was gone. It had been shadowing her eyes ever since he’d come back to the Plain City church. He hoped his childhood companion had returned. Because anything less was not enough any longer. He was done chasing a past love. His future companion needed to be a soul mate who would accept him in every way.

He couldn’t take Katy back if she was going to slip back into her judgmental attitude or go through life with the emergency brake on. Yet hope kept him buzzing along Interstate 40. If God could change his own heart, filling it with a love that saw beyond the outer facade, then God could have done a miracle in Katy’s life, too. Maybe even Jessie’s. He breathed another prayer of thankfulness. He wouldn’t be headed home if he didn’t believe God had already performed such a miracle.

Katy relaxed on her sofa, her legs flung over the armrest and her phone cradled against her ear. “It’s going to be a dream job, just like Mrs. Beverly said. She accepted me on the spot. Mrs. Beverly told her Mennonites are hard workers.”

She heard Lil laughing on the other end. “Guess I need to remind my boss about that. I think he senses my lack of interest at the restaurant. I need a better job, too.” She sighed. Katy knew Lil had quit searching the newspaper ads. “But not until Mom gets better. Anyway, congrats. We’ll celebrate soon. I can’t wait to move back to the doddy house. I miss it. Miss you. You’re being such a great sport about this.”

“So what did the doctor say?”

“He suggested counseling, and we have a follow-up appointment. He’ll have the results of the blood work by then. And if that doesn’t help, then there’s always medication.”

“What does your mom think about that?”

“She claims she won’t take any drugs. But I think she might agree to see a Christian counselor. I’m going to set up an appointment.”

“So is she still in bed all day?”

“She gets up late and takes long naps. But she’s up some. I came up with a great idea, but she turned me down flat.”

“What was it?”

“I wanted her to take a cake-decorating class with me. Get her back into the kitchen.”

“That would have been perfect. Maybe soon she’ll—Someone’s at the door, Lil. Can I call you back later?”

Katy stuck her phone in her pocket and squinted through the peephole that Jake had installed in the front door when they’d remodeled the doddy house. She nearly fainted to see her handsome remodeler in the flesh, holding a bouquet of daffodils, no less. Her heart racing, she flung open the door.

“Jake?” It was all she could do to keep from flinging her arms around his neck.

When he grinned, she realized how much she’d missed him. “Can I come in?”

“Yes!”

Inside, he tentatively held out the bouquet. “For keeping you waiting. I wanted to talk to you in person.”

She clutched the flowers. “I can’t believe you came. I mean, I hoped you would. That you’d give me a chance to explain some things. But I didn’t think you would.”

He leaned one shoulder against the wall. “Your e-mail definitely piqued my interest.”

Although his stance was nonchalant, she knew that this was her one moment in the universe when she was being given the chance to restore their relationship.
Just say it,
the quiet voice insisted. “I was wrong.”

“Wrong?” He crossed his arms, tilted his face.

“Not to forgive you. Not to believe in you. I was too proud.” She gave him a tremulous smile. “But I’ve changed.”

He straightened. Then slowly he reached up to touch her cheek. “Can you tell me what happened?”

She nodded, never allowing her gaze to leave his. “I got a letter from my old employer.” Katy poured forth the entire story. She ended it by telling him about her visit to his house and Jessie’s idea of sending him an e-mail. When she finished speaking, she was still standing in the same place, clutching his bouquet.

The corners of his eyes crinkled with sympathy. “That must have taken a lot of courage.”

“I had my eyes set on the goal.”

“What goal?”

“I hoped you could forgive me, too.”

He tilted her chin up, looked deeper in her eyes. “Is that all you hoped, Katy?”

Another sliver of her pride slipped away, and she thought surely there must not be a shred remaining. “I hoped you’d give me another chance.”

He released his hand, studied her with a serious expression, and she thought it was too late. Her hopes sagged.

And then he quirked the left side of his mouth. “Maybe I could learn to tolerate you a little bit.”

She grinned. “If you could, then would you please …”

“Yes?”

“Prove it,” she whispered.

He lifted a brow. “What do you want, Katy?”

She stared at his lips.

He pulled her close, crushing the flowers. Although his arms held her close, his lips remained gentle and tentative. She threw both arms around his neck and drew him closer, eager to express her love and joy and drawing him into a deeper kiss. When she finally drew back first, she gazed again into the face of the one she thought she’d lost. His return was as glorious as the kiss. He stood there before her, accepting her and giving her another chance. But his gaze didn’t hold the awe she felt. It held something else…satisfaction, amusement even.

He touched his lip. “That was tolerable, but I think we ruined your flowers.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said, turning and tossing them on the counter. She turned back and leaned her head against his chest, her arms slipping around his trim waist. “Spring has arrived anyway.”

W
here are you taking me?” Katy asked.

The black-fringed scarf that Jake had tied over her eyes kept her from seeing where he was driving. Even without the blindfold, she would have known he was up to something because their date was scheduled later than usual. He’d mumbled something over the phone about picking her up after dark to take advantage of a full moon.

His voice broke into her thoughts. “We’re almost there, and I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

Katy gripped the passenger-seat armrest, deliriously happy ever since Jake had accepted her apology. In the past two weeks, they’d been making up for wasted years. Emotionally, Katy had opened up to him without reservation. The vulnerability of placing her heart in a man’s hands left her a tad breathless. Not frightened, exactly. More like exhilarated, climbing a mountain, anxious to see the view from the top, and unsure what was on the other side.

They had both grown so much since their high school dates. They hadn’t talked much yet about what was on the other side of the mountain, except that he had turned down the Texas job and planned to stay in Plain City.

Getting to know him was surprising in many ways. She had discovered that he preferred dawn over sunset, because it symbolized new beginnings. He wore his pants tight because otherwise his leather tool belt pulled them too low, making it uncomfortable when he worked. She was glad to know that wouldn’t change.

Although he couldn’t always express himself eloquently, he was a good listener, a tease who knew how to bring a smile to everyone’s lips, whether it was Minnie in one of her moods or his hired help after a day of hard manual labor. It took a lot to anger Jake, but she’d discovered that when he was frustrated, he always stuck his hands in his pockets and his eyes saddened around the outer fringes. Best of all, he’d admitted that he prayed for her every night before he fell asleep. How had she ever doubted him?

Through an open window, a gentle breeze brushed her cheeks. With the distinct scent of wet fields and the absence of traffic sounds, she knew that they were still driving on rural roads. The truck slowed and gently bounced onto a rougher surface that crackled like gravel. He killed the engine.

“Are we there?”

“Yes. I’ll come around to your side and help you down.”

She waited, eager to find out what he had planned. Had he gotten a job and taken her to a construction site? Would it be a prelude to talking about building or buying a house of their own one day? No, a construction site would be too dangerous after dark.

As she waited for him to open her door, her thoughts continued along that vein, sharing a house with Jake. Of late she dreamed more about marrying him than fulfilling the vow of living in the doddy house with all three of her friends.

The door opened, interrupting her musings and quickening her pulse. He reached in and caught her by the waist, then swung her down and set her on her feet. Tottering a bit, she gripped his firm arm until she had her balance. Then he led her across gravel onto softer ground. Something tickled her face, and she swatted it away.

He stopped. “Ready?”

“Yes,” she replied.

Gently he untied the scarf. She blinked, looked around. “Our tree?” The weeping willow made a romantic canopy around them beneath the moon’s soft glow. In wonder, she added, “Where we first kissed.”

“I remember.”

He grinned and drew her close. His lips claimed hers. It wasn’t a tentative kiss like that first one so long ago, or even like the one a few weeks ago when they had finally gotten back together. It was a confident kiss but urgent. When she opened her eyes, the silvery moonlight shone across his face. His expression held a need that delighted her.

He buried his hand in her long tresses and said in a low rumbling voice, “I love your hair. When I was a kid, it was such a temptation.”

“I remember.”

“I like it down like this, too.”

“You’re getting romantic on me, aren’t you?”

“Maybe I am.”

His work-roughened hand captured hers again. His calluses made her proud of him, of his hardworking attitude. They helped her accept her own work-worn hands. His husky voice turned her thoughts toward him again, “Come with me,” he urged.

Her heart swelled with affection. She wondered why he was taking her away from the house until she saw a circle of stones and a pile of firewood topped with tinder. “What’s this?”

He answered with a self-satisfied smile. “Do you remember the summer we went to camp?”

“Of course.” How could she forget about the vows she and her friends had made around the campfire? It was there that Katy had blurted out,
I know who I’ll marry. Jake Byler.
Later she’d found out that Lil had told Jake about it before they’d even left the campgrounds. And even though they’d been mutually attracted to each other for years, Katy had always surmised that his crooked grin had something to do with being privy to that information.

Her gaze next took in two lawn chairs, and she suddenly understood. The kissing tree. The campfire declaration. He was going to propose. She tried to pretend that bubbles of joy were not dancing inside her as she feigned ignorance. “The surprise is a campfire?”

He nodded, then released her hand and motioned. “Sit down. I’ll light it.”

She eased into the lawn chair and watched him stoop before the fire pit. As he struck the match, his muscles bunched his shirtsleeve. She felt flushed even before the flames leapt from the neatly arranged firewood. While he worked over the fire, a shrill bird cry broke the silence. Some crickets chirped from the direction of the weeping willow. When the sound of crackling wood joined the other night sounds, Jake stood and brushed his hands.

He strode back to her and settled into his chair with a wink that curled around her heart. His hand caressed hers possessively, but he looked into the fire when he spoke. “You had some dreams that year. When I heard about them, they ignited a fire inside me. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s been burning there ever since I heard you wanted to marry me.”

She stared at the growing blaze, aware of the burning desire he alluded to but wanting to hear more from him than a smug reminder of her own feelings. “That was a long time ago. I was just a little girl.”

He turned his gaze on her. The firelight cast golden glints of determination in his eyes. “I want you, Katy. I’ve always wanted you.” He leaned close and kissed her. “Marry me?”