The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 (14 page)

Nick laced up his running shoes and then rested his forearms on his thighs as he sat on his bed. He felt hung over from a bad night’s sleep and figured a run might help clear his head.

Why had John Zook come here anyway? Had he missed Naomi and figured he’d spend time here with her? Or was he going to try to convince her to go home with him early?

And why was he torturing himself wondering about this when Naomi was someone else’s?

It was just starting to get light out when he stepped outside. He ran his usual route, up and down the quiet streets. The
Amish and Mennonite residents were early risers and were already stirring. People were sitting in lawn chairs, sipping coffee in the mild weather, stopping to chat, filing into local restaurants to eat breakfast.

As he passed Leah and Naomi’s rental house he saw Leah outside reaching for an orange in a tree, balancing herself on her crutches.

He stopped, walked up to her, and plucked the orange she was reaching for. He dropped the fruit into a plastic bowl sitting on the sidewalk near her.

“
Guder mariye
,” she said, smiling at him.

“You should let Naomi help you with this,” he chided as he pulled more fruit from the tree. “We don’t want you to have another accident.”

“I was managing just fine,” she said with a little tartness in her voice. “No need to worry.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Besides, she’s sleeping in a bit. She was up late last night what with John coming to town.”

“I gathered that Naomi was surprised. He was sitting on the steps when I brought her back from fishing yesterday.”

“Yes, it was a surprise.”

When he saw her frown, Nick had the answer to his unspoken question of how Leah felt about it.

“I think that should be enough,” she said, and he nodded and carried the bowl into the house for her.

If he had hopes of seeing Naomi come out of her room, he was disappointed.

“Would you like to come by for supper later, Nick?”

“Thanks, Leah, but I have plans,” he said.

He hated lying. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. He’d be finding someplace for dinner, then sitting around reading a book. Hardly big plans that couldn’t be changed.

But he didn’t want to sit and watch John with Naomi.

Waving a hand at Leah, he continued on his run. Just the thought of John here to see Naomi had him pounding the pavement for another street, then another and another.

“Practicing for a marathon?” Daniel called from the porch of his mother’s cottage.

Nick slowed, bent, and put his hands on his knees. His lungs ached.

“Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll get you some water?”

When Nick hesitated, Daniel walked toward him and looked him in the eye. “Sit down before you fall down. Believe me, you can’t outrun your thoughts.”

Glancing behind him, Nick measured the distance back to his rented room and decided he wouldn’t make it if he didn’t take a break. He dropped into one of the lawn chairs and swiped at the sweat on his face with the back of his forearm.

“Thanks,” he said when Daniel returned with a chilled bottle of water. “I’m not trying to outrun anything.”

“Not even the local gator?” Daniel teased, grinning as he took his own seat.

“You heard about that, huh? Amish grapevine?”

Daniel shrugged. “Small town. Word gets around.” He sipped from a mug of coffee he’d brought out. “I don’t know this John Zook. He didn’t go to school with us.”

“Moved to Paradise last year.”

They sat there, silent, Daniel drinking his coffee, Nick gulping his water.

“So, how long have you been in love with Naomi?”

Nick choked on the water, half of it going down, half of it coming up through his nose and mouth. “
What
?”

Daniel merely continued to sip his coffee.

Then Nick’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, no,” he groaned. “Don’t tell me it’s that obvious.”

“To me,” Daniel said, and he set down his mug. “Takes one to know one.”

“You’re in love with Naomi, too?”

“No, not really. Well, years ago, maybe. I just know what it’s like to want someone and not be able to have her.”

Now Nick was even more depressed. But Daniel was right. It wasn’t just that John Zook was engaged to Naomi. She wasn’t a woman he could have ever had anyway—even if the charming Zook hadn’t come along. She was Amish and he was
Englisch.

He’d never stood a chance with her.

When he finally roused from his little pity party, he glanced over at Daniel and saw that he sat there looking as if he had succumbed to an even bigger funk.

“We’re pretty pathetic.”

Daniel nodded. “I’d like to disagree with you but I think you’re right.” He rested his chin on his chest. Finally he sighed. “Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

“No. You?”

“No.”

Nick dragged himself out of his chair. “Give me half an hour to shower and change and I’ll meet you at Yoder’s.”

“Deal.”

“And bring your cash. You’re treating.”

“Me?” Daniel stared at him. “How do you figure?”

“I think I know someone I can introduce you to. I just saw one of my clients on vacation here. She’s single and about your age.”

Daniel grinned. “Now you’re talking.”

“You don’t seem happy to see me.”

John was a handsome man, but with the corners of his mouth turned down, he looked more like a sulking child.

Naomi hadn’t been happy to see him, but she didn’t realize it had been that obvious to him. “It was just a surprise, that’s all. And I don’t understand why you came. We were returning in a week.”

John leaned over and took her hand in his. “I told you. I missed you.” He smiled at her.

Naomi stared at him. There was something familiar about his smile.

“Your nose is peeling.”

Sighing, she nodded. Why did he need to state the obvious? “I was out in the sun a little too much when I first got here.”

Then she looked closer. “You look like you got a little sun, too. When did you get here?”

He touched his nose and winced a little. “I told you. Yesterday. I sat waiting for you quite a while yesterday.” He sounded aggrieved, as if she should have been waiting for him.

She knew that a bus from Lancaster County had come into Pinecraft yesterday, but she hadn’t gone with her grandmother and her friends to see who’d come. She and Nick had been on their infamous fishing expedition.

“Strawberry stuffed French toast for you,” the waitress who appeared said as she put the plate before Naomi. “And Amish scramble for you, sir,” she told John. “Anything else I can get you?”

“No, looks good,” John said, smiling up at her. “
Danki—
er, thank you.”

Naomi watched him dig in. A huge plate of stuffed French toast sat before her. Yes, she loved it and knew John knew that, too. But he’d actually ordered it for her without asking.

She was mad at herself for not speaking up and telling him that she was capable of ordering her own meal, but the
restaurant was crowded and it wasn’t worth it to fuss. Not when they had bigger issues to settle.

“Eat,” he said as he dug in.

“I will.”

She concentrated on her cup of tea and watched him. The dish he’d ordered featured eggs and fried potatoes scrambled together and topped with cheese. Normally it looked good—she’d even had it once. Right now though she didn’t think she could eat anything. Her stomach felt too tense.

Something else was bothering her. She added more hot water to her cup and dunked a new tea bag in it. Something seemed off.

Then she realized what it was. John had ordered their breakfast without looking at the menu.

“
Gut
,” he said, nodding. He wiped his lips with his napkin and drained his cup of coffee before returning his attention to the eggs.

“I want you to go home, John.”

“Why?” he asked. “Why don’t you want me here? We’re engaged to be married. Why don’t you want to spend time with me?”

“I came here to make sure my grandmother got to have a vacation. I owe her this, John. You know that.”

“We can do both,” he said persuasively. “I love you. I want to be with you. You can spend time with us both.”

She lifted her eyes and looked into his. “John, I want you to go home. I want you to go back to Pennsylvania.”

Looking down at her plate, she wondered how long it would take him to eat. She had no appetite—hadn’t had one since she’d come home to find him sitting on her doorstep. Maybe she could have her breakfast boxed up and take it home to her grandmother.

“Naomi, nice to see you.”

She glanced up and saw Daniel and Nick standing near the table. “Oh hi, Daniel. Nick.”

Turning to John, she said, “Daniel and I went to school together. He helped his parents sell their farm not long ago. And, of course, you know Nick.”

John stood and shook their hands and flashed a smile at them. And suddenly Naomi was reminded of that garfish that had scraped along her ankle yesterday when she was stuck in the creek mud.

“I have a table right over here for you,” the hostess said behind them.

“See you later,” Daniel said, and Nick nodded and followed him.

John sat again and thanked the waitress, who was pouring him more coffee. “So, which one of them is it?” he turned and asked Naomi. He smiled at her and acted like nothing was wrong.

But his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Which one of them have you been seeing?”

“Neither of them,” she told him quietly. “Not in the way you mean. You have no reason to be jealous. Daniel’s a childhood friend and Nick’s our driver.”

“Maybe I should stick around and see if you’re telling the truth.”

Temper rose up in her. How dare he accuse her of not being faithful to him. Deliberately she tamped down the temper, the righteous anger. She reminded herself that there were people all around—

Wait a minute. That night at the shuffleboard court she’d felt like someone was staring at her. Had he been here that night?

She started to ask him but then reason took over. If he’d been here earlier than he said and had been spying on her, she doubted he’d tell her. Better to find out herself.

“Is there something wrong with the food?” the waitress stopped at their table to ask.

“No, no, it’s great,” John said, picking up his fork again. “We just spotted some friends and talked with them.”

He resumed eating, as if the tense moment he and Naomi had just had never happened.

“Could I get a box for mine?” Naomi asked. “It’s a lot for me to eat at one time.”

“Of course. Be right back.”

“I’m staying for the auction. Besides, there isn’t another bus for a while.”

She sighed inwardly.

The day of the Haiti benefit auction dawned bright and clear.

Nick arrived to pick up Naomi, Leah, and John. Naomi noticed that John behaved politely despite his suspicion about Nick that he’d stated at breakfast that day.

Then again, a ride was a hard thing to get, with so many Amish and Mennonites wanting to go to the event in Sarasota. Naomi suspected that once John had found that out he’d taken up Leah’s offer of a ride there.

A huge white tent had been pitched and row upon row of chairs had been set up inside. Hundreds of people were already showing up early.

“Leah! Over here!” Ida called, gesturing to seats she’d saved them next to herself and Caleb.

They walked over and Leah sat down, tucking her crutches under her feet.

“I’m going to look over the quilts,” Naomi said.

“You go ahead,” Leah told her, and then she turned to chat with Ida.

Naomi made a beeline for the quilt section. Dozens of them in many different patterns had been donated. Naomi had been quilting since she was a young girl but she figured she could always learn something by studying the work of others. Besides that, there were some truly beautiful quilts sent here by Amish women from around the country.

She loved the traditional ones that had been part of her heritage for years, made of the scraps of clothing materials in rich tones of blues, greens, purples. There were quilts that the
Englisch
liked to decorate their homes with, most made of brighter fabrics and prints and designs not used in Amish homes.