The Restoration (36 page)

Ben placed a hand on each side of Elaine’s face and gently brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “But then, being honest with myself, I have to say, if your friendship with me was going to turn into love, it should have done so by now.”

Elaine stood facing him, unable to form a response.

A muscle on the side of Ben’s neck quivered. “If you don’t love me and can’t commit to marriage, then I guess it’s over between us.”

Elaine swallowed against the sob rising in her throat. When Grandma had gotten ill, she’d sent Jonah away, feeling dejected. Now she was doing it to Ben. Only this time she wasn’t pretending, for she’d never truly loved Ben. “Can we still be friends?” she asked hopefully.

Ben reached out and clasped both of her hands. “Of course we can. Someday, when the time is right, we’ll both find the mate God wants us to have. And now, I’m gonna say good night.” Turning, Ben hurried out the door but quickly spun around and came back. “Don’t worry; things will eventually work out for both of us.”

Elaine was startled when Ben gently grasped her shoulders and leaned in toward her face. She closed her eyes and held her breath, but then he surprised her by lightly kissing her forehead before he turned again and walked away.

Feeling completely drained, Elaine sank into a kitchen chair. She sat staring at the table until she heard the
clip-clop
of Ben’s horse as he headed out. Then she caught sight of the rock she’d painted for him. He’d left in such a hurry he’d forgotten to take it. Maybe it was for the best. Having the fawn rock might be a painful reminder to Ben that Elaine had rejected his proposal.

Elam arrived at Priscilla’s in time to see a horse and buggy coming down her driveway toward the main road. He blinked a couple of times to be sure he wasn’t seeing things. Sure enough, David sat in the driver’s seat, and Priscilla sat next to him.

Elam pulled his horse up so it was nose-to-nose with the other horse, opened his door, and leaned out. “What’s going on, Priscilla? I thought we had a date!”

Priscilla climbed out of the other buggy and came around to Elam’s rig. “You said you’d be here over an hour ago, and when you didn’t show up, I assumed you weren’t coming.”

“I had to work late, but you should have known I was coming. I told you I’d be here when we spoke the other day.” Elam’s eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead. “That horse and buggy aren’t yours, Priscilla. Did David get his own rig?”

She nodded. “David was so excited about getting a horse and buggy he wanted to take me for a ride.” Her cheeks flushed a bright pink.

“I was excited to come here tonight and take you for a ride, too, but maybe I’d better turn around and go home, since you’d obviously rather be with him.” It might be wrong for him to feel this way, but Elam couldn’t help his tone of irritation.

Priscilla shook her head. “I never said I’d rather be with David. You’re making too much out of this, Elam.”

“Oh, really? I show up a few minutes—okay, an hour—late to pick up my date, and I find her in someone else’s buggy.” Elam clenched his teeth, causing his jaw to ache. “Any guy who cares for a girl would be upset about that.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t think you were coming.” Priscilla gestured to the house. “Why don’t we all go inside? I’ll make some popcorn, and we can sit and visit awhile. David can take me for a ride some other time.”

Elam’s spine stiffened. “David? It was me you were supposed to be taking a ride with, Priscilla.”

“Well, it was. I just meant… Oh, never mind. Do you want to come in for popcorn or not?”

The last thing Elam wanted to do was visit with David this evening. It didn’t sit well with him, either, knowing Priscilla wanted to ride in David’s buggy.
Are my worst fears coming true?
he wondered.
Am I losing her to David? If so, what am I gonna do?

Priscilla placed her hand on Elam’s arm. “Can’t we at least go inside for a little while? I don’t want to be rude and tell David he has to go home.”

“What about the ride we were supposed to take?”
How am I supposed to ask you to marry me with David around?

“We could go some other time. Or if David doesn’t stay too long, there might still be time for us to take a short ride.”

Elam hoped the latter was true. A long, leisurely ride was out of the question now, but anything would be better than nothing. “Jah, okay. Whatever you want to do is fine with me.” He figured if he didn’t cooperate, he could end up driving Priscilla right into David’s arms. Since he was here, he wasn’t about to go home and leave David alone with Priscilla. “Okay. Tell David to turn around and head back to the house so I can get up the driveway with my rig,” Elam conceded.

Priscilla smiled. “Danki for understanding.”

You may think I understand, but I don’t. The only thing I understand is that David is wrecking the special night I had planned.

As Priscilla headed back to David’s buggy, Elam gripped his horse’s reins with such force, the veins on his hands protruded. He hoped before the evening was out, he wouldn’t regret his decision to visit with Priscilla and David. If David hung around too long, Elam might not get the opportunity to propose to Priscilla at all.

Priscilla couldn’t remember when she’d spent a more miserable evening. So much tension was building between Elam and David she wished she hadn’t invited either of them into the house. She would just start a conversation with one of them, when the other would interrupt. At one point, Elam whispered to Priscilla, saying he had something important to tell her and wished they could be alone. Soon after, David told her pretty much the same thing. It felt as if these two young men were in a tug-of-war, and she was the rope.

What’s going on here tonight?
Priscilla wondered as she got out the popcorn popper.
David and Elam have been carrying on like a couple of schoolboys with a crush on one of the girls. Could they be deliberately trying to aggravate each other? They’re both acting pretty immature.

Shaking the notion aside, Priscilla concentrated on putting the right amount of cooking oil in the bottom of the popper. She turned on the propane stove and was waiting for the pan to heat up, when she felt a sneeze coming on.
Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
Her nose started to run. It didn’t feel like she was coming down with a cold, and Priscilla had never had allergies before, but maybe this year she’d become sensitive to all the spring pollen. Recently, she’d noticed a layer of light green dust clinging to the porch furniture and other things outside.

“When the oil heats up, would one of you mind pouring the popcorn in, while I get a tissue?” Priscilla called to Elam and David, who’d both remained in the living room when she’d excused herself to fix refreshments.

“I’ll do it.” David smiled as he entered the kitchen.

“If I don’t get back before it’s done popping, make sure you turn off the burner, okay?”

“No problem.” David winked at her. “I’ve got this under control.”

Priscilla smiled. “Danki, David.” Handing him the pot holder, she turned and hurried from the room. “Better watch it. The pan will get hot fast.”

“No problem,” he said with a nod.

When Priscilla entered the bathroom, she realized there were no tissues, so she hollered down the hall to the guys that she was going upstairs for a few minutes.

Priscilla made it to her room just in time to grab the box of tissues she kept by her bed, when another bout of sneezes hit her full force.

Sitting on the side of her bed, Priscilla pulled several tissues out of the box. Over and over she sneezed and blew her nose. “Oh my, why don’t these sneezes stop?” At the rate she was going, it wouldn’t be long before the box of tissues would be empty. Just when she thought the spell was over, Priscilla started sneezing again. It almost felt like she had pepper up her nose.

“Can this evening get any worse?” She moaned, rubbing her now-itchy eyes. “Oh, I bet I look a mess.” She didn’t have a mirror to look in at the moment, but Priscilla knew her eyes must be as red as her nose no doubt was. Her eyes felt swollen, too, as they continued to itch and tear.
Maybe I should tell Elam and David to leave. I’m not going to be any fun with my nose running like this.

Priscilla sat several more minutes, to make sure the allergy attack was over. When she felt comfortable it was, she snatched up the box of tissues and headed back downstairs.

Priscilla’s nose twitched, and her eyes began to burn, making her stop in her tracks.
Do I smell smoke? Oh my, I hope David didn’t burn the popcorn.

Hurrying into the kitchen, Priscilla realized it was filling with smoke. There was no sign of Elam or David, though.
That’s strange. Where did they go?

Turning her gaze to the stove, Priscilla gasped when she saw the corn popper engulfed in flames.

“Oh no!” Priscilla grabbed a pot holder. When she reached for the knob to turn off the stove, her sleeve caught fire. In Priscilla’s attempt to put it out, the flames ignited her other sleeve. The next thing she knew, heat traveled across her chest. If she didn’t get the fire out soon, her whole dress would catch fire.

Panicked, Priscilla screamed and dropped to the floor, rolling one way and then the other.
Please, Lord, help me!

W
hat’s wrong with you, boy?” David stroked his horse’s head. A few minutes ago, he had heard the horse carrying on, so he went outside to see what the ruckus was all about. Elam had gone to the use the bathroom, or David would have asked him to finish making the popcorn.

Since David’s horse had calmed down, and he didn’t see anything other than a cat nearby, all seemed well. As David started back across the yard, he recoiled when he heard bloodcurdling screams coming from inside the house. Something must have happened to Priscilla. He hoped she hadn’t fallen down the stairs.

He took the porch steps two at a time, nearly colliding with Elam when he stepped through the door. They raced into the kitchen.

Priscilla was rolling on the floor, with the sleeves and upper part of her dress on fire. David did the first thing that came to mind: he doused her with water.

Meanwhile, Elam, shouting for David to call 911, got the fire put out on the stove.

David’s stomach tightened when he saw ugly red blisters had already formed on Priscilla’s hands and arms. Thankfully, no sign of blistering showed on her face. Quickly, he took out his cell phone and called for help.

“Do you know where the linens are kept?” David asked Elam, after talking with the emergency operator. “We need a clean, damp sheet to cover her with.”

Elam’s face was pale as goat’s milk as he dashed out of the room. While David waited for him to return, he talked softly to Priscilla. He was glad she was conscious but almost wished she wasn’t, so she wouldn’t have to suffer such pain. “Don’t try to move.” He grabbed several dish towels, rolling them up like a pillow to cushion her head. “Just lie still. Help will be here soon.”

It tore at his heart to see her pained expression. “The kettle… the stove… I tried to put the fire out….” She shuddered, while tears trickled down her pale cheeks.

There shouldn’t have been a fire
, David thought.
I’m sure I turned off the stove.