The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 (24 page)

Women had used scraps of fabric to fashion quilts to warm members of their family from birth to death—soldiers were often even buried in their quilts, she read on a placard.

Quilts had been used to finance the war at first, then, toward the end, medical treatment for the soldiers who were wounded or sick. The time period, the scarcity of them when textiles became hard to get, and the fact that women kept finding scraps and sewing in spite of the hardships and the tragedy made the quilts fascinating to Naomi.

It was there, reading the stories of each quilt, that Nick moved a little closer and took her hand in his. Startled, her initial thought was to withdraw it and glance around to see if anyone noticed. The Amish were very private, and couples
didn’t often engage in public displays of affection—PDAs, Jamie called them.

And they weren’t a couple, she and Nick.

His hand felt so good in hers, large and warm and comforting. But this was dangerous, this … flirting with the attraction they felt for each other.

No one else seemed to notice as they stood surrounded by a group of
Englisch
and Amish studying the quilt.

“You okay?” he whispered. But she understood that his question was more, “Is this okay?” when he glanced at their joined hands, then at her.

She looked up at him and frowned, uncertain of what to say. Part of her wanted the contact. Part of her was scared to death to encourage his attention. It was like a war was going on inside her—a war of emotions.

He started to withdraw his hand but hers curled around it almost without volition. His was a comfort she craved. A secret temptation. A dangerous thrill.

Nothing could come of it. Her feelings for Nick were just a temporary infatuation. They were friends who had become a little more than they should have while in another place that was a paradise.

Now they were back in reality, where the Amish and
Englisch
were occasionally friends but seldom more than that. Certainly, only rarely were they more. She’d thought about this a number of times since she and Nick went to Florida with Leah. These were dangerous thoughts, and she had to stop thinking them.

Nick opened Naomi’s door and helped her inside before rounding the hood and climbing inside.

He sat there, staring ahead, trying to figure out what to say to her.

“I think you have to put the key in.”

Turning, he saw that she was smiling at him.

“Yeah, I know.”

“So are you going to do it?”

He inserted the key and the engine roared to life. He started to put the van in gear but then stopped and turned it off.

“It’s not all one-sided, is it? This attraction I have for you.”

Naomi closed her eyes and then opened them. “I wish it was.”

“Well, thanks.” He drew back.

She touched his arm. “How can it not be? You’re
Englisch
; I’m Amish.”

“So that’s it?”

She avoided his eyes and looked out her window. “It can’t be anything else.” Turning back, she met his gaze. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I kissed you.” She bent her head, feeling herself color. “I sure couldn’t think afterward.”

“Well, thanks.” He liked knowing that he affected her. Then he realized that she was really upset. “I’m sorry.”

“For kissing me? I was the one who started it today.”

“I’m not complaining.” He shot her a grin.

“No, you wouldn’t, would you?” she asked seriously. “It’s not as big a thing as it is in my community.”

“Look at me.” When he saw he had her attention, he said, “It was a big deal to me.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Really.” He hesitated, then found the words tumbling from his lips. “Naomi, I want to start courting you.”

“Courting me?”

She stared at him, stunned as if he’d just turned into an alien.

“That’s what you call it, right?”

“Well, that’s what the older people call it. We call it dating.”

He shrugged. “Dating sounds
Englisch
. Casual. Courting’s what it’s called when you’re seeing a woman and you think you want to marry her.”

“M—marry?”

“Did you think I’d offer anything less to a woman like you?”

“Nick, I never thought anything about it.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “I can’t blame you for being confused. I haven’t been myself, kissing you such a short time after I broke off my engagement with John. I don’t know why any man—Amish or
Englisch
—would be interested in me.”

She dropped her hands into her lap. “It’s too soon. It’s just too soon to think about it, Nick. It’s just too …
big
to think about. It’s not like we’re both Amish or both
Englisch
. There are such … complications.”

Suddenly he felt like the biggest jerk that had ever lived. He’d been so focused on how attracted he was to her, how much he wanted her, that he hadn’t thought about what she was going through breaking up with John. He hadn’t thought about what was good for her right now.

Determined to start thinking about her instead of himself, he touched one of her hands.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

He was so used being around the Amish, felt so comfortable with them, that he hadn’t thought enough about how Naomi would react to this attraction they had to each other. She hadn’t been raised like the girls he’d been around all his life—
Englisch
girls.

A kiss was serious. A big commitment. She’d just been engaged and that was as close to being married as it could get in her community. He’d taken her response to mean that she was attracted to him as much as he was to her, but the truth seemed to be that she was feeling overwhelmed by everything.

So he wanted more from her. And for a little while there he thought she wanted it too. It didn’t mean it was going to happen—at least right away.

Was he ready for marriage? Because that was the only step they could take.

A car passed them, sending a harsh beam of light slicing through the car. “I’m sorry if I’m pressuring you,” he said, starting the car again. “Look, I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

“Friends don’t kiss,” she pointed out with a wobbly smile.

“Sure they do.”

“On the cheek,” she said primly. “Not like the way we did today.”

“Well, really good friends do,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.

“Nick!”

“Well, okay, you’re right.” He pulled out and got the van on the road. “But you have to admit it was a really good kiss.”

“Stop making me blush.”

“I love to see you blush.” The interior of the van was dim so he couldn’t see the delicate rose tint that always suffused her cheeks when she blushed. But he had a good memory.

He sighed, knowing what was coming next. “Are you leading up to telling me we shouldn’t be kissing?”

“That’s right.”

“No kissing,” he muttered. “Aw.” Then it was as if there were a light that went on over his head. “That’s fine with me.”

“It is?”

He pressed his lips together, determined not to smile at how surprised—and maybe a little disappointed?—she sounded.

“Yes.” He gave her a surreptitious glance and saw the uncertainty on her face. “Remember, you were the one who kissed me today. I’m sure that I can restrain myself from kissing you.”

“Really?” She turned in her seat and he could feel her studying him. “I think you’re teasing me.”

“No, I wouldn’t do that,” he said in as serious a tone as he could.

“Nick, this isn’t funny.”

“No, it’s not,” he agreed.

He stopped for a traffic light and looked over at her. “But I don’t think I thought enough about what it meant to fall in love with someone like you. People from different religions get married all the time in my world. But it’s different in yours.”

The light changed to green. “I’m going to let you decide what’s next.”

“You mean if I kiss you again?” Naomi asked.

He pulled up in front of Leah’s house and shut off the engine. Turning in his seat, he took her hand.

“No,” he said slowly. “I’m willing to be friends. I hope you want more at some point, but I’m not going to pressure you.”

“Friends?”

Nick nodded.

He kissed her wrist and then got out and walked around to open her door. She sat there, not moving, looking stunned.

Finally, she moved, getting out and stumbling a little so that he had to reach out and steady her. Just as quickly—as if he had burned them at the contact—he snatched his hands back from her waist.

Dusk had fallen but Leah hadn’t left a light burning at the front door so the path leading to it looked dim.

“Wait,” Nick said, rummaging in the glove box. He found a flashlight and flicked it on, lighting the way to the door as he walked beside her.

She turned to say good-bye as she reached the door.

“Go make sure Leah’s okay,” he told her. “She’s usually at the front door when we pull in.”

She did as he asked, but just as she went inside Nick caught a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of his eye. Using a flashlight of her own, Leah was lighting her way from the neighbor’s house to her own.

“Naomi’s inside looking for you,” he said quickly. “I need to talk to you before she comes out.”

“
Ya
?” She looked at him with what could only be described as a wary expression.

“I’m sorry if I wasn’t polite earlier—when I didn’t want to talk,” he rushed to say. “Naomi and I talked. She knows how I feel about her. She told me she’s not ready for a relationship with anyone right now. We’re staying friends for now.”

“Really?” She peered at him. “Naomi agrees with that?”

“She’s good with it.”

Leah lifted her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Well,
danki
. I appreciate you telling me.” She studied his face. “I’m proud of you doing the right thing, Nick.”

“Oh, that’s me,” he muttered. “Good old noble Nick.”

Naomi reappeared in the doorway. “There you are,
Grossmudder
. I was looking for you.”

“I was next door visiting with Mary and her daughter,” she told Naomi. “Nick, want to come in?”

“No, thanks, I should be heading home. See the two of you Monday.”

They said good-bye and he walked back to the van.

Bandit, his ragtag cat, greeted him when he walked in the door. He fed him, threw himself on the sofa, and turned on the television. Using the remote, he scanned the stations without interest. Anything would do. Just so he didn’t have to listen to the sound of silence in the apartment.

16

S
pring had sprung.

From the bench where she sat, Naomi couldn’t help smiling. If her teacher from years ago could hear her thoughts, she’d be wincing.

Everywhere she looked, flowers had burst into bloom. Birds built nests and squirrels squabbled in a mating ritual before one chased another up a tree. She walked into the shop, took one look at Mary Katherine, who fairly glowed, and immediately started a baby quilt—without telling her, of course. If she was right, Mary Katherine would tell them soon enough.

Even her grandmother had a distinct spring to her step and it wasn’t just because her ankle had healed nicely.

“I’ll be back in an hour. You three have a nice lunch,” Leah said as she turned the sign to “Out to Lunch” and locked the door behind her.

The three cousins looked at one another. “Well, that’s the third time Elam’s come to take her to lunch this week.”

“I guess it goes to show you that it’s never too late for love,” Mary Katherine said with a dreamy smile.

Anna tossed her knitting into the basket next to her chair and left the room without a backward glance.

“What’d I say?” Mary Katherine asked Naomi.

“Don’t worry about it,” Naomi told her. “She’s just a little moody.”

Getting to her feet, she placed the quilt on a nearby table and brushed little bits of thread from her skirt. “Let’s go eat.”

“I’m starved,” Mary Katherine said as she stepped away from her loom. She glanced at the quilt Naomi had set aside and her eyebrows went up.

“Is that for a customer or is somebody we know having a baby?” Then, when her question wasn’t answered, she looked at Naomi. “Oh, are you still on that?”

“I’m not saying a word,” Naomi said innocently. “But you know spring and the birds and the bees …” she trailed off meaningfully.

Mary Katherine rolled her eyes, but as they walked into the back room, Naomi saw her glance at the calendar on the wall and frown.

Naomi had no sooner pulled out the plastic container of sandwiches that Anna had brought than they heard a knock on the shop door.

“Can’t people read?” Anna complained, but she got up to see who it was. When she returned, she looked disconcerted.

“Well, what a surprise,” she began.

“Is it John Zook?” Naomi asked her, feeling a cold chill wash over her. “He was told not to come here.”

Anna held up her hand and shook her head. “No, no. It’s someone for Mary Katherine.”

“Is it Jacob?”

“No.” She stepped aside so Mary Katherine could see her surprise visitor.

“
Daed
!”

He held his hat in his hands and wore an expectant expression.