The Promise of Palm Grove (14 page)

But all that could be dealt with later.

At the moment, she needed to concentrate on the job at hand. She needed to make sure that her guests were happy, that there was enough tea, lemonade, and coffee, and that the cookie trays were filled.

Those were things she could do right now, and do well.

T
he bus ride home from Siesta Key was way too short. As each minute passed, feeling like mere seconds, Zack did everything he could to make Leona want to see him again, and soon.

Every hour in her presence deepened his feelings for her, so much so that it caught him off guard. Never before had he been so certain that he'd found the right woman.

Now, unfortunately, he was fighting a whole new set of worries. Ones that had everything to do with the fact that she was going to head back to Ohio very soon. That meant he only had days to convince her that he was worth taking a chance on.

In an effort to keep such dark thoughts at bay, from the time they'd taken their seats on the bus, he'd talked to Leona about the beach, and Mattie and Danny, and her suspicions that a romance was blossoming between the two of them. He'd asked her questions about their attic room in the inn. Then they'd told each other a bit more about their families.

Through it all, Leona had been responsive and just as
chatty. And the way she gazed at him from time to time made him feel like everything he had to say was important.

He hoped he'd been able to convey that he felt the same way about her.

Only when the bus was just minutes from their stop did he dare ask her more about Edmund.

And that was when she'd visibly retreated. “I'd rather not talk about him anymore right now,” she'd said.

In a normal relationship, Zack would have given her space. It wasn't in his nature to push people too much, especially when it came to discussing things that obviously made them uncomfortable.

But each time he saw her, he became more aware that their time together was winding down. And though he'd never been in a serious relationship, he sensed that it was necessary for her to open up to him. Otherwise, when she left, they'd have more lying between them than miles and miles—they'd have her secrets.

“Leona, I know this makes you uncomfortable, but I really do want to know more about Edmund and what went wrong.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you,” he said simply. If she trusted him enough to tell him about her breakup, he figured he should trust her enough to be completely honest.

She blinked, then to his surprise, she looked amused. “You do?”

He couldn't resist asking. “Does that amuse you?”

“
Nee
. Of course not.” She looked down at her hands, swallowed, then seemed to come to a conclusion. “I like you, too, Zack.”

He couldn't help but smile, though he was trying his best
not to look like a love-struck fool. “What are you going to do about Edmund?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

She shrugged. “It's over. It really is.”

“I can't help but wonder why you aren't fighting for him.” He would have never thought she was the type of woman to drift in and out of a relationship so easily. Especially when they'd been engaged.

Looking down at her hands again, she asked, “Zack, have you ever been in love before?”

“I think so.”

Humor lit her eyes. “What does that mean?”

It meant he was actually starting to have fairly strong feelings for Leona. He wasn't sure if it was love, but if it wasn't, it was surely something close to that. Whenever he was around her, he couldn't seem to concentrate on anything else.

More disconcerting was the realization that he didn't want to do anything
but
be around her.

Was that love? He wasn't sure. But if it was, he didn't want the feeling to end anytime soon . . . even if feeling this way made him feel off-balanced.

But of course he didn't dare speak
that
openly. “I'm fairly sure I've come kind of close to being in love.”

She shrugged. “Maybe that was how I felt. Maybe I've been really close to love. Maybe I simply wanted to be in love and he was right there. And when I thought I was in love? It was strong and sure. I knew I was doing the right thing. Now that it's over, I feel almost as sure.”

“I can't imagine falling out of love like that.”

“I still feel like I'm at sea, but I do know that what happened
on the phone last night was the right thing. And I have to guess that perhaps Edmund thought the same. Otherwise, why would he have broken up with me so easily?”

“I can't answer that.”

“I don't feel sad, exactly. I just feel a little bit hollow. Like it's time I was filled up with something good. Something new.”

He nodded just as the bus stopped and it was time for them to get out. Once they'd stepped off the bus, he said, “Do you know your way back to the inn? I'm sorry but I've got to get back to the house so I'll be there when Effie gets off the bus.”

She pointed down the street. “I go down two blocks then turn left?”

“
Nee
.” Unable to help himself, he curved his hands around her slim shoulders. “You go this way,” he said into her ear as he carefully turned her around. When she shivered, he gave in to temptation and let his hands drift down her back, following the path of her shoulder blades before dropping back to his sides. “Then you turn right,” he finished, barely remembering what they were talking about in the first place.

“Okay.” She bit her lip. “
Danke
. I'm sure I'll be fine.”

Zack noticed that while she said all the right things, she didn't look all that convinced. He wasn't all that convinced, either.

Thinking quickly, he said, “Give me your hand.” When she did, he pulled out a pen and wrote the cross streets of the Orange Blossom Inn on her hand. And then, just because he couldn't resist, he wrote down his home phone number, too.

She let him write on her palm, but she was looking at it like no one had ever done something so impetuous before. “The two streets I understand. But why are you giving me your phone number?”

“So you can call me if you want to see me again.”

“I couldn't call you. That would be way too forward.”

“Maybe you wouldn't call men at home in Walnut Creek. Maybe you would be perfectly happy to wait for the chance for the two of us to just happen to run into each other sometime, but we're not in Ohio, and we're on a time crunch here.”

Her eyes brightened with amusement. “A time crunch, is it?”

“You know I'm right. Before we know it, you're going to be getting ready to go back home, and if we want to see each other again, one of us will have to take the bus. So, if you want, give me a call and let me know when you have some free time before you go.”

“And you'll make time to see me?”

“Of course I will.” The pull he felt toward her was so strong, Zack was pretty sure he'd drop everything in order to see her again, and soon. Even if it meant calling in Violet or Karl to help with Effie so he could make that happen.

She looked at her palm again, closed it into a fist, then started walking.

The wrong way.

He darted forward, rested both hands on her shoulders, and turned her around. “This way, Leona,” he murmured. “Go four blocks up until you see the cross street, then turn right.”

“Okay.”

“Sure?” He really needed to go. But he really didn't want to spend the rest of his evening worrying about her wandering up and down the streets of Pinecraft.

“I'm sure.” Giving him a tremulous smile, she murmured, “
Danke,
Zack. Today was . . . well, it was wonderful.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Now keep walking forward and then turn right.”

She giggled.

And he thought about that giggle the whole time he ran home, making it to Effie's stop just in time to see the bus turn the corner and pull forward.

That's when he decided he and Effie were going to have to take a walk in about an hour.

Just to make sure Leona had made it back safely.

S
ARA WAS SITTING
on a wicker chair on the front porch of the Orange Blossom Inn when Leona walked up. Before Sara saw her, Leona peeked once again at her palm and gave thanks that Zack had seen fit to write the cross streets on her palm. She'd made it, no problem. But that didn't mean she hadn't checked and double-checked several times, just to be on the safe side.

What she should have been doing was reminding herself to try to get better at following directions, but the truth was she was hopelessly navigationally challenged. She was always getting lost or turned around. It had annoyed Edmund something terrible. He'd even accused her of getting lost deliberately, out of some misguided need for attention.

She'd been so embarrassed by his statement that she hadn't bothered to correct him.

Leona knew that she didn't get lost on purpose. That definitely wasn't the case at all. She'd just been that way all her life. No matter how hard she tried to remember the right way to things, nine times out of ten, she would become sidetracked and get lost.

Her mother had a whole cupboard of stories about how Leona had gotten lost in stores, restaurants, just about anywhere. But neither of her parents had ever gotten mad at her
about it. They knew she lived much of her life with her head in the clouds and there wasn't much she could do about that.

Now she simply closed her palm around Zack's writing and held it tight. Even if she never saw Zack again, she knew she'd always remember that moment when he'd written the streets and his phone number on her palm. It had been a sweet gesture. Cute, even.

She wondered how long she could keep that ink on her hand without anyone else seeing it.

Actually, she was wondering if she was going to give in to temptation, write his phone number on a sheet of paper, and actually call him.

That was doubtful.

“Leona, are you going to stand there staring at your palm, or are you going to come up the steps anytime soon?” Sara called out.

Leona popped her head up. “Oh.
Jah
. Of course.” Closing her palm again, she trotted up the stairs and took a chair next to Sara.

“What's wrong with your hand?”

“Hmm? Nothing. Why?”

“I thought maybe you got a blister or a splinter or something.”

“
Nee
. No blisters.” Taking care to keep her hand in a fist, she tried to shrug it off. “You know me, always daydreaming about something.”

“Well, that is true.” Looking at the front of the house, she said, “Where's Mattie? Did she grab an ice cream cone?”

“She is still at Siesta Key.”

Sara set her library book on the small wicker table between their chairs. “You left her there?”

“Of course I didn't
leave
her. We simply met up with a couple of Zack's friends and she wanted to stay behind. I left because Zack had to go home to watch over his sister.”

“I can't believe you left her there alone. What if those kids aren't nice?”

“I promise, they're plenty nice.”

“But—”

“Sara, it's all right. She's with Danny. Remember we met him the other night? In front of the church?”

Sara scowled. “He's still a stranger.”

“Not anymore. We all spent the day together. I think she kind of likes him, too.” Feeling the worry and tension rolling off Sara, she reached out and squeezed her hand. “You should have come with us.”

Sara shook her head. “There was no reason.”

“Sara, we were at the beach. There are signs everywhere saying it's the best beach in the whole country. You should have felt the sand, it was super soft. You'll be glad you went next time.”

“Next time? Does that mean you're planning to return to Siesta Key?”

“Of course. It's a beautiful beach. Don't you want to go?”

“I don't know.”

“Sara, I thought you didn't want to go with us today because you were ready to spend a quiet day with yourself. I understood that; each of us needs some time to ourselves, I think.” She paused, debated whether to speak her mind, then decided she had nothing to lose. “Now, however, I'm starting to think that maybe there was another reason. Are you mad at me?”

“Of course not.”

“Truth?”

Sara glanced at Leona again, her light brown eyes looking troubled. “I'm not mad at you. But I have to admit that I'm pretty troubled by the fact that you could break up with Edmund one night and go to the beach with Zack the next morning.”

“You know it wasn't like that. I've been really stressed out about all of this. I never intended for Edmund and I to break up.”

She slumped. “I know. It's just, well, I'm sure everyone at home is in an uproar.”

Sara's mother was Leona's mother's older sister. And though Leona loved her Aunt Jo a lot, she would be lying if she were to say that she thought Aunt Jo was as easygoing as her own mother.

She had a feeling that as soon as word got around Walnut Creek about what had happened between her and Edmund—no doubt taking about two hours, at the most—Sara's mother would have something to say about it.

“Sara, I already talked to my mother. My
mamm
didn't sound all that surprised. Actually, I think she might even have been a little relieved.”

“And your
daed
?”

“She said she'd talked to him, but Mamm assumed he'd feel the same way. I did promise to pay them back.” With a sigh, she added, “I'm sure my mother has probably gotten an earful from Naomi and Rosanna, too. I called them after I got off the phone with my mother.”

“What do you think they told her?”

“There's no telling. Neither of them seemed terribly upset or surprised, but we didn't talk very long. They might be waiting to lecture me when I get home. Or they'll write me some long letters.”

Sara treated Leona to a weak smile. “At least they didn't yell at you on the phone.”

“At least.” Well, Leona was pretty sure that Naomi and Kevin, her husband, were going to be pretty relieved, too. Kevin hadn't been afraid to let everyone know that he wasn't too thrilled about Edmund being his future brother-in-law. Kevin was definitely a man's man. He liked to chop wood. He liked to fix things himself. He was an easygoing, even-natured kind of person.