The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club - 02 - The Tattered Quilt (17 page)

“I came to buy a present for my grandfather,” Sue replied. “His birthday is next week.”

Blaine made a sweeping gesture. “As I’m sure you can see, there are lots of things to choose from here in the store, so why don’t you browse around for a while?”

“I was hoping you’d have some suggestions, since you and Grandpa both like to fish.”

Blaine’s stomach knotted. He’d been convinced that Sue was the right woman for him, and now…Well, he just needed to get over her and move on with his life, because there was no point in moping about their breakup and letting it consume him.

“What exactly did you want to get your grandfather?” Blaine questioned.

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked for your help.”

“How about a hunting vest, a hat, or a new fishing pole?” he suggested.

“Maybe. Let’s look at those things, and then I’ll decide.”

“I really don’t have time to show you everything,” Blaine said, struggling to remain patient. Didn’t Sue realize how hard it was for him to be with her? Didn’t she care how badly she’d broken his heart by not agreeing to marry him?

She sighed. “Well then, if you’ll point me in the right direction, I’ll go look for myself.”

Blaine showed Sue the sections of the store where she could find the items and then said good-bye and hurried off in the direction of the break room.

When he stepped inside, he saw Stuart sitting at one of the tables with a cup of coffee and a doughnut. It didn’t take Stuart long to spot Blaine and wave him over.

“How’s it going?” Stuart asked when Blaine took a seat beside him. “You look a little harried right now.”

“I’m a lot more than harried; I’m upset.” Blaine took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his sweaty brow.

“How come?”

Blaine explained about Sue coming into the store and asking his help in choosing a gift for her grandfather. “Wouldn’t you think after our breakup that she’d find somewhere else to shop?” he grumbled.

Stuart frowned. “You want to send our customers elsewhere?”

“Just Sue. I wish she’d find a job in some other part of the country so I’d never have to see her again. It’s too painful, not to mention a reminder that I must have done something wrong because our relationship failed.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, well, something sure went haywire, or she wouldn’t have broken up with me.”

“Want to know what I think?” Stuart asked, placing his hand on Blaine’s shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“You ought to start dating again. It would help get your mind off Sue, and you’d probably smile more often, too.”

“I might consider that if there was someone I wanted to ask out.”

“What about the pretty little blond you mentioned who’s taking Emma’s quilt class with you?” Stuart asked. “Didn’t you say she was single?”

Blaine nodded. “I’m not sure she’d be interested in going out with me. Besides, I don’t know her that well, and we may not have anything in common.”

Stuart thumped Blaine’s shoulder a couple of times. “There’s only one way to find out—ask her out.”

“Where would we go?”

“Use your imagination. Take her out to dinner, to the movies, or go bowling. She’s bound to like one of those things. And who knows—maybe she’s the type who likes to go fishing, the way you and Sue used to do.” Stuart took a drink of his coffee. “If you hit it off, she could end up becoming Mrs. Blaine Vickers, and then you can stop worrying about your brothers having families and not you.”

Blaine reached for a cup of coffee, savoring the aroma as he lifted it to his lips. “I’ll give it some thought.”

Middlebury

Carmen had just entered Das Dutchman restaurant Wednesday afternoon when she spotted Anna near the door. She smiled and touched Anna’s arm. “I’m glad you could meet me here today.”

“Me, too.”

After their hostess seated them at a table along one wall, Anna leaned close to Carmen and whispered, “I’m in big trouble with my dad right now, so I wasn’t sure I could meet you at all.”

Carmen’s ears perked up. “How come you’re in trouble?”

Anna proceeded to tell how she’d been caught surfing the Internet and was made to work on windows instead of greeting customers and taking care of orders in the office. “I’m gonna look for a new job,” she added.

“What kind of work would you like to do?” Carmen asked.

Anna shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve worked in the window shop ever since I graduated from eighth grade, so I don’t really know how to do much else.”

Carmen’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t go to high school?”

Anna shook her head. “Amish children only get an eighth-grade education.”

Carmen wasn’t sure how she missed this basic fact, so she decided to question Anna about rumschpringe, asking what it was like to run around with her friends and experience the English world.

“My folks don’t approve of most of my friends—especially Mandy Zimmerman—but I still see her whenever I can.” Anna sighed. “I can’t help but wonder what it’d be like to wear an English dress or a pair of blue jeans, like some of my friends do when they’re not at home.”

“I saw a little dress shop near the hotel on this property,” Carmen said. “Would you like to go there when we’re done eating lunch?”

“I wish I could,” Anna said wistfully, “but Dad will expect me to be back from lunch by one, so there’s no time to look at clothes.”

“Maybe we could go on Saturday when we’re finished with the quilting class. Would you be free to do some shopping then?” Carmen asked.

“I–I’m not sure. Maybe, if my dad doesn’t take me to Emma’s again. Sometimes I feel like running away and never coming back. My parents control my whole life.”

Carmen could see by Anna’s anxious expression that she wasn’t happy. Could her parents be holding such a tight rein on her that she was on the verge of rebellion? Carmen looked forward to visiting with Anna again and getting additional information for the story she planned to write. Maybe there was more to this rumschpringe thing than most people knew about. If so, she planned to find out as much as she possibly could.

Goshen

As Jan directed his truck into town, Terry reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.

“I see you’re still smoking,” Jan said, looking at Terry with disgust. “I figured you wouldn’t be able to hack it.”

Terry lit the cigarette and blew the smoke out the open window. “Hey, man, get off my case! I’m doing the best I can with this.”

“I don’t call blowing smoke out the window doing your best. If you ask me, the only way to quit is to go cold turkey.”

“I tried that already. It didn’t work. I got shaky, and I couldn’t think straight. I just need to taper off.”

“Why don’t ya try taking only one drag of smoke each time you reach for a cigarette, and then put it out? Maybe that one drag would satisfy you till the next one.”

“Guess I could try that, but I don’t know. This is harder than I thought.”

“It’s gonna take you a lot longer to quit if you try to do it with that attitude.” Jan reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. “Here, chew one of these. If you don’t quit smoking, your teeth and fingertips will turn yellow.”

Terry grunted. “Like gum’s gonna take away my craving. It’ll probably end up giving me cavities.”

“It’s sugarless, and it might help you quit smoking. That’s what got me over the hump when I used to smoke.”

Terry’s eyes widened. “When was that? I’ve never known you to smoke.”

“Started when I was sixteen, but I quit before Star was born. I didn’t want my little girl breathing any secondhand smoke. That all happened way before I met you.”

“But you said Star was less than a year old when her mom ran off with her. I’m surprised you didn’t start smoking again after that.”

“I was tempted to—many times. But I figured it was a nasty habit, and I hoped Bunny would come to her senses and return to me, so I never went back to smoking.”

Terry knew that Bunny was the nickname Jan had given Nancy, his ex-girlfriend. “Guess you’ve got more willpower than I do,” Terry said. “But I’m gonna lick this thing, just wait and see.” He popped a piece of gum in his mouth and handed the package back to Jan.

“What are you gonna do if you’re still smoking by Saturday?” Jan asked as he turned his truck into the parking lot of the Wal-Mart store in Goshen.

Terry shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I’ll chew plenty of breath mints and wear some cologne so I don’t smell like smoke.” He glanced out the window. “Why are we stopping here?”

“Star’s working today, and I want to stop and say hello. You wanna go in with me?”

“Naw. I’ll wait for you here. Tell Star I said hi, though.”

“Will do.” Jan turned off the ignition and hopped out of the truck. “I’ll be back soon.”

Terry leaned his head back and sat with his eyes closed, thinking about Cheryl and fighting the urge to smoke. Feeling more edgy by the minute, he finally opened his eyes and lit up, making sure to keep his window rolled down so the smoke would blow out. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to quit smoking. Maybe he was stupid thinking he could get Cheryl to go out with him. It might be best just to forget the whole thing; then he wouldn’t have to take any more quilting lessons. But if he did that, he’d be admitting defeat, and he’d never been a quitter.

“Nope,” he muttered, snuffing out the cigarette. “I’m gonna snag a date with Cheryl, and I’ll do whatever I need to do in order to make it happen.”

C
HAPTER
15

I
appreciate your taking the time to see me on such short notice,” Cheryl said when she entered Ruby Lee and Gene’s house Friday evening.

Ruby Lee gave Cheryl a hug. “We had no other plans this evening, and we’re always happy to have a visit from any of our parishioners.”

“You have a lovely home,” Cheryl said, glancing around the cozy but spacious living room. “These hardwood floors are beautiful, and it would be hard to draw me away from those cozy-looking window seats. I don’t think I’d get much done, wanting to watch outside all the time.”

“We’ve lived here almost two years, but it still feels new to us.” Ruby Lee laughed. “Maybe that’s because we lived in a church-owned parsonage for so many years and waited a long time to have a home of our own. About the only thing I’ve never really gotten used to is the dog next door. He seems to bark at anything that moves—especially the scampering squirrels.”