Gabriel's Bride (37 page)

Hadn’t his mother just said almost the same thing?

“I sent her away because that’s what I thought needed to be done. She wasn’t like us. Even though I pushed her away, she came running back. That’s what you do when you’re in love.”

“Love.” Gabriel tried to keep the disdain out of his voice. Everyone talked about love. He’d loved Rebecca and look where it had gotten him. After losing the one person who meant the world to him he’d promised himself never to fall into that trap again. It only led to heartache.

“True love is rare. Isn’t that what you told me?”

“Maybe.”

“And if I’m remembering correctly, you said that it should be snapped up before it had a chance to get away.”

Gabriel clamped his mouth shut in an attempt to find a proper response. They had been talking about Gideon and Annie at the time. It was another matter altogether when talking about oneself.

“Right?”

“She doesn’t know—” He choked on the last bit, so unaccustomed to saying his feelings out loud. “She doesn’t know how I feel about her.” Gabriel turned away from the utter disbelief on his
bruder’s
face.

“You didn’t tell her that you love her?”

He shook his head slowly. “Maybe I didn’t know myself. Not until now.”

“I had thought you to be a smart man, Gabriel Fisher.”

Gideon was right. He’d messed up in a big way. Now his wife was gone. He frowned. “But Rachel . . . she’s different from Annie. She’s Amish through and through. She won’t come back to find love.”

“Then you go after her,
bruder
. Go find your wife and tell her that you love her.”

“And if she doesn’t love me in return?”

Gideon smiled. “I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about that.”

Despite Gideon’s confidence, Gabriel worried. But worry was useless, wasted energy so he found himself praying. A lot. Praying for God to give him courage. Praying for direction. Praying for it not to be too late, praying that even if his wife didn’t love him with the same earth-shattering power that he felt for her that she would still agree to come back to Clover Ridge. He needed her. Samuel needed her. All the
buwe
did. She had become so important to them all.

That was why when the letter came from her cousin in Ohio, his fingers trembled terribly as he struggled to tear it open. He sat down on the bench outside the post office and started to read. His mouth turned to ash as he read the opening paragraph.

Dear Gabriel Fisher and Family,

I hope this letter reaches you in due time and finds all of you well. As her cousin it is my regret to inform you that Rachel has been unwell of late.

She was sick.

And I fear she may be in need of more specific care. I am hoping that you can come and see her. Perhaps seeing your face could bring cheer into her heart to help her recover.

Whatever ailed her sounded serious. She needed him.

Every doubt he had about going to Ohio and bringing her back fled in an instant. He couldn’t let her suffer. If she was ill, then she needed to be here, in Clover Ridge, surrounded by the family that loved and supported her. She may not have known it when she left, but she would once he arrived. He would take her hand into his own, kiss the back, and confess his love. He owed her as much.

She had gotten him to live again, not just exist. He’d convinced himself that he’d moved on after Rebecca’s death, but that wasn’t the truth. He’d just been existing. Until Rachel. Now he would do the same for her.

He had his argument all planned out, all the ways that he could use to talk her into returning with him. He even steeled his backbone to pull the ultimate card. She was his wife and by the laws of God and the church, her place was at his side. Yet he didn’t want her to come back for that reason. He wanted her back because she wanted to be with them too.

But if he had to . . . he’d do whatever it took to have her by his side once again.

22

T
ravel arrangements were difficult. A trip all the way from Oklahoma to Ohio was an undertaking.
How had Rachel managed it all by herself?

His
mamm
agreed to stay with the
buwe
in order for him to take a week and go fetch his wife. Gabriel contacted the bishop with his reasons for being gone from the church service. Gideon, John Paul, and Matthew volunteered to care for the crops, and Bill Foster agreed to take Gabriel to Holmes County as long as his wife could make the trip with them.

The first day they made it as far as St Louis, Missouri. Gabriel had never seen a town so big. Cars everywhere, streets and highways going every which-a-ways. Although he would have liked to continue on, he was glad to have the chance to stop and rest for a while. That many people in one place was almost more than he could handle.

They spent the night in a hotel and woke the next morning to eat breakfast and get on the road once again. Soon the green hills of Missouri gave way to Illinois, then Indiana, and finally to the golden wheat fields of Ohio. He’d been on the road for two days and he had yet to figure out what he was going to say to Rachel.

The only plan he had was to tell her that he loved her and then go from there. Surely the honesty of his feelings would be enough to sway her into returning with him to Clover Ridge. And least that was his hope and prayer.

But the nearer they got to their destination, the harder his heart pounded in his chest, to the point where he wasn’t sure if it was beating right a’tall. He had to bite his tongue to keep from asking Bill Foster to forget the plan altogether and drive him to the nearest hospital.

He didn’t remember ever being this nervous when he and Rebecca had been courtin’. Theirs was a gentle love, strong and true, like the rivers that cut through Oklahoma. He had known his entire life that he loved her and one day he would make her his wife. But this love he held for Rachel was something altogether different. He felt like he held electricity in his hands. It burned him, made him tremble, seared him to the core. Dangerous stuff, this kind of love.

Bill Foster pulled into the first store they came to. “We’ll stop here for directions.”

They all piled out of the van, stretching out the kinks of nearly eight hours on the road. Gabriel wasn’t used to being cooped up all day instead of pitching down hay and walking in the field. He’d rather be behind the plow any day of the week as opposed to ridin’ around in a car. He didn’t know how Bill Foster managed to do it and still maintain the smile on his face.

Gabriel walked around the parking lot of the general store, taking in the sights while stretching his legs.

As far as a town goes, there wasn’t much to it, just the store with a Laundromat next door. There were gas pumps out front, but they didn’t look like the ones they had stopped at along the way. These were round-topped and a little rusty, but Gabriel supposed there wasn’t a great deal of demand for gasoline this close to the famous Holmes County. Off to the side, two buggies were parked, their horses tied to the hitchin’ post whilst their owners shopped.

All in all, it looked to be a
gut
place, a little dusty but kind and understanding with many like-minded souls living close to each other and God. A Plain woman watched from the window of the store as Bill Foster came out. He loped down the stairs, unusually spry for a man his age.

“Just a couple more miles east and down another road and we’ll be there. They said there was a hotel in town where we can stay.”

“
Gut, gut
,” Gabriel said as he climbed back into the minivan and buckled his seatbelt once again.

“Your Rachel’s cousin’s place is on the other side of town, about three miles to the north.”

His
Rachel.

He had to admit that he liked the sound of that. Despite the painful thump of his heart and the clench in his gut, he liked the sound of that just fine.

It was almost dark by the time they reached the hotel and got checked into their rooms. As much as Gabriel wanted to drive right out to Albert Byler’s farm and see Rachel with his own eyes, it was best to wait until morning. Going tonight, so close to sundown, would surely mess up the nighttime habits of the Byler household. Plus, one more night would give him a few more hours to think of all the reasons why she needed to return with him to Clover Ridge.

Bill Foster pulled the minivan into the driveway of a rambling two-story house. “This is it.” It was well kept with pretty flowers still blooming in the front flower beds. Off to one side a nice-sized garden still had a few squash and what looked to be a very promising pumpkin crop.

The dogs started barking as he and the Mennonite driver got out of the van and made their way to the door.

“
Jah
?” A young woman met them there, her eyes inspecting them as if they could not be trusted.

“I’m Gabriel Fisher. I’ve come to see Rachel.”

The girl’s blue eyes grew wide and her mouth rounded into a surprised
oh.
“Just give me a moment,
jah
?”

They didn’t have time to answer before she shut the door and effectively kept them outside.

Bill Foster raised his brows. “You want me to wait until she comes back?”

Gabriel shook his head. Bill and his wife had a lot of sightseeing to get to. Either way, Gabriel wasn’t leaving until he saw Rachel. “You go ahead.”

Bill made his way back to his van, though he seemed reluctant. Gabriel waved to him and sat in one of the large rockers on the front porch to wait.

Ohio was
purtier
country than he would have imagined. He looked out over fields of wheat and corn. Green trees and a few that had already begun to turn into their fall colors. It was colder here than Clover Ridge. This far north the winter would come quicker and last longer than in Oklahoma.

Yet for all of its beauty and bounty, Gabriel couldn’t imagine his Rachel here. She belonged to the gentle hills and lush green fields, the endless sky and the red dirt.

His thoughts wandered as he sat there, whiling away the minutes as he waited on his chance to see his wife. He could only hope that she was well enough to travel.
And willing
, that insecure little voice whispered.
Don’t forget willing
.