Katie Opens Her Heart (23 page)

“I wish you wouldn’t,” Emma had said. “Jesse is going to be your
daett
. He’ll be what you told me you wanted.”

“That’s all fine and
gut
,” Katie had said. “But I’m still attending the Mennonite youth gatherings.”

Emma had pressed her lips together and held in the words that wanted to leap out of her mouth.
You can’t do this, Katie! No one ever comes back who gives in to the Mennonites
. But words like those would only drive Katie away. Why couldn’t Katie be less impulsive? Why was she throwing so much of her life right out the door? But Emma was trying to change her ways—and speaking less of her mind to Katie might be part of that.

A movement ahead of Emma interrupted her thoughts. It was a buggy, and whoever was driving toward her was pushing hard. The horse was almost breaking into a gallop. Any young man wouldn’t do that to his horse, and older men usually weren’t in such a hurry. So who could this be? Emma’s hands tightened on the reins as the buggy came closer. She pulled toward the ditch. Whoever this was, he needed plenty of room to pass.

Instead of keeping up the rapid pace, the buggy slowed. When it neared, the door flew open. Jesse leaned out, waving his hand.

Emma gasped and pulled to a stop. She leaned out of her buggy, waiting while Jesse climbed down and came running toward her. He looked troubled. Had there been an accident? She breathed slower and held her horse steady.

Jesse approached her open buggy door.

“What is it?” Emma asked, leaning further out the buggy.

“There has been a change in plans,” Jesse said. “It’s not going to suit for us to meet with the children tonight.”

“Okay.” Emma managed a smile. “I can come some other night. What is it? Relatives stopping by? Did they chase you out of the house? You sure were in a hurry.”

“Not exactly…” The troubled look grew worse on his face. “Let’s say one of the children’s friends showed up. They claimed it was the only night that would work.”

Something didn’t seem quite right about his explanation, and Emma wondered if Jesse was telling her the whole story.

“I’m very sorry about this,” Jesse continued, obviously sensing the question racing through her mind. “It’s just best if you don’t come to the house right now. We’ll try to speak with the children some other night. Perhaps first thing next week.”

“What if this friend shows up again?” she asked, watching as he winced at the question. He was definitely hiding something.

“I don’t think she will,” Jesse managed. “I’ll tell the children she’s not to come back again.”

“Oh, so this visitor is a
she
. And
she’s
the children’s friend. Is she also your friend?”

“Like I said, I’m sorry.” Jesse wasn’t looking at her now. “I had no idea this would happen…really.”

“Perhaps you’d better tell me who this woman is?” Emma tried to smile.

Jesse blinked before looking away. “It’s kind of hard to explain. But there’s really nothing going on, believe me, Emma. She’s just the children’s friend.”

“You said that before, but you haven’t said who she is.”

“Please, Emma.” His eyes begged for mercy. “It makes no sense to me either. Why my children are the way they are or how they’ve gotten me into this fix tonight, I’m not sure. I will straighten it out. I really will.”

“Please tell me who is at your house,” Emma said softly. “I need to know.”

He didn’t answer right away. “Look, Emma. I haven’t had any supper yet. We were already running late before this person came. This is a little too much for me to deal with tonight. Tomorrow I’ll come over and explain to you. She’s leaving as soon as she’s done teaching Mabel how to bake pecan pies.”

“She’s teaching your daughter how to bake
pecan
pies?”

He was obviously searching for the right words. “
Yah
, but it wasn’t my doing. It just happened—between Mabel, and Carolyn, and her. It’s Carolyn’s teacher.”

“Ruth Troyer? She’s baking pecan pies at your house tonight?”

“It’s not what you think, Emma. Please…”

“Then why is she still at your house?”

Jesse tried to laugh. “That’s exactly what I mean. She’s still there because of the children. But she won’t be for long, and she won’t be back.”

Emma stared into the distance, tears not far away. “So this is what has been going on all the time? You haven’t told me the whole truth, have you, Jesse?”

He lifted his hand in protest. “Just wait a minute, Emma. That’s not true at all. If it were true, I wouldn’t object to you coming down to my house.”

“I think I’d better go, Jesse.” Emma pulled on the reins and turned her horse around in the middle of the road. Emma managed to control her emotions enough to swivel around on the buggy seat to look back. Jesse ought to be in his buggy by now and heading for home.

Emma gasped at the sight behind her. Jesse wasn’t returning home. He was coming after her, and his horse was almost galloping again. She slapped the reins and picked up speed. Minutes later she looked back again. Jesse was even closer now.

“Get up!” Emma hollered. Her horse laid his ears back and increased his speed. She had to get away from Jesse and the pain that was throbbing in her heart. But her horse couldn’t keep this speed up for long. He wasn’t that young, and neither was she, Emma decided. And what if someone saw her and Jesse Mast tearing through the community like two young people racing on a Sunday night after a hymn singing?

Emma pulled back on the lines before checking on the buggy behind her again. Surely Jesse wouldn’t be crazy enough to come alongside her and try to speak with her. Well, if he did, she wasn’t stopping. What had she been thinking? Emma slowed down even more as her lane came up ahead of her. Perhaps Jesse would drive on by. If he did, no one would know what had happened between them. He would appear to be on an evening errand. But if he followed her in…Emma held her breath as she turned down the driveway. She glanced back.
Yah
, Jesse’s buggy was following. He was actually coming to her place. He had to know he was embarrassing himself, but he was still coming. Was he telling the truth? Was Ruth at his place for a reason other than what she’d assumed? Why else would a man make such a fool out of himself by following her home?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ruth glanced around the kitchen table, taking in Mabel and Carolyn’s smiling faces. Mabel had jumped up moments ago to refill her water glass, even though she’d tried to wave the girl away. If Jesse would only be this easy to win, her task would be an easy matter, Ruth thought. But the man was not cooperating.

Ever since Joel had let slip in school that his
daett
thought they all needed a new
mamm
, she’d jumped into action. But a lot of
gut
that was doing. She was apparently making no headway at all. And now Jesse had gone rushing off to somewhere unknown the minute she arrived for the evening, even murmuring about not having eaten his supper. If she’d been wise, she would have started work on winning him months ago. By now they might even be married, if she’d acted sooner.

Now not only had Jesse left so abruptly, but there was something else amiss here. Mabel was smiling, but she had a distant look in her eyes. The same went for Carolyn. Did they know where Jesse had gone in such a rush? Was his departure due to her presence? If so, she needed to know. But would it be proper to ask? And how would she ask?

Ruth studied Leroy’s face. He was busy chewing on the last of his steak. He had avoided looking at her since the moment she arrived, so the boy must know something and was trying to hide it.

Taking a deep breath she looked toward Jesse’s empty plate at the head of the table. She turned to Leroy. “Is your
daett
coming back anytime soon? I see he hasn’t eaten yet.”

“I don’t know,” Leroy said without looking up. “
Daett
didn’t tell us how long he would be gone.”

Did she dare ask more?
Yah
, she did. “Does he do this often?”

“No,” Mabel said at once. The other children nodded their agreement. “He just had to take care of something.”

“And you don’t know what it is?”

No one said anything, and Mabel looked close to tears.

“Where could he have gone without eating his supper?” Ruth asked. “Surely one of you has some idea where your
daett
went?”

“He sometimes goes over to see Emma Raber,” little Joel piped up. “Maybe he went to see her.”

“Joel!” Mabel gasped.

“Well,” Joel defended, “
Daett
does. And I know because I heard you and Carolyn talking about it.”

“Is this so?” Ruth asked Mabel. “Your
daett
is seeing Emma?”

Mabel broke into tears. “Honestly, I don’t know where
Daett
is. He’s been acting so strangely lately. And,
yah
, he has been going over to see Emma Raber. He’s even been talking to us about asking her if she would be his
frau
. All the while I can’t even stand the thought of that woman taking
Mamm
’s place.”

“Of course you can’t,” Ruth said, rising to put her arm around Mabel’s shoulders. Mabel buried her face in Ruth’s apron as sobs racked her body.

What a mess!
Ruth thought. But thankfully the children were apparently not in agreement with their
daett
’s plan. In fact, they must be hurting worse than even she could imagine. Here their beloved
mamm
had died not that long ago, and now their
daett
was threatening to bring Emma Raber, of all people, into the house as their
mamm
.

“I can understand perfectly how you feel,” Ruth said, giving Mabel a squeeze.

“I’m sure
Daett
has his reasons,” Mabel said between sobs.

“And Mabel has been working really hard,” Carolyn spoke up. “She’s been running the whole household. Of course I help her, but
Daett
says it’s too much for us.”

“Come!” Ruth pulled both girls tightly against her in a hug. “You’re both overworked, that’s the problem. You’ll feel better if you finish your supper and go into the living room. Tonight I’ll take care of the dishes. You won’t have to do anything.”

“But I want to learn how to bake pecan pies!” Mabel wailed.

“Now, now,” Ruth soothed. “Let me clean up the kitchen, and then we can see how you feel. You’ve already had a hard day, and pecan pies take a long time to make. I can see you’re troubled tonight. I will come back some other Friday evening. Then we can work on them.”

“I knew it!” Leroy exclaimed. “With all this fuss there won’t be any pecan pies tomorrow.”

“You’re just spoiled!” Mabel jerked her head up from Ruth’s apron. “I work my fingers to the bone for you, and that’s all you worry about—when we can have pecan pies for you.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Leroy said, backing off. “I’m sorry. And you do work hard for us.”

Mabel sniffed and wiped her eyes. Ruth released her embrace of Mabel and Carolyn and retook her seat. So Jesse was clearly making serious advances to Emma Raber. Joel’s remark wasn’t as innocent as she had at first thought. The children were crying out for her help. For all Ruth knew, Jesse might have already asked Emma to marry him. He probably couldn’t bring himself to tell his children the awful fact. Or was Emma putting Jesse off for some reason? But Emma wouldn’t turn down an offer of marriage from Jesse Mast in a thousand years. She had nothing to lose by snatching up one of the most eligible widowers in the community. None of this made any sense to Ruth. But neither did Jesse rushing off and leaving his children alone the minute she arrived at his house.

“We have to keep the food warm for
Daett
.” Mabel interrupted her thoughts. “I’m sure he’s coming back soon.”

“Of course he is,” Ruth agreed. There was no sense in making this look worse to the children than it might be. They’d already suffered enough. “We can keep the food warm in the oven, and keep his plate on the table.”

Mabel nodded, smiling again.

“Now you two go into the living room to rest while I clean up,” Ruth told both girls.

“I’m going to help,” Mabel insisted.

“And so am I,” Carolyn added.

“Can we please be excused?” Leroy asked from the back bench. “I don’t have all night to sit here.”

“Of course you can leave,” Ruth told Leroy.

He didn’t move. He just stared at her.

“We have to pray,” Willis spoke up. “
Daett
never lets us leave the table without giving thanks to
Da Hah
.”

“Oh, of course!” Ruth bowed her head at once. She knew they’d needed to pray, but her mind was all mixed up right now. Likely the children wouldn’t hold this mistake against her since they looked confused themselves. The poor things. They really did need a
mamm
to take care of them, and she would be more than willing if Jesse would get his thinking cap set on straight. Some men were like that. They couldn’t see anything even if it sat in plain sight right in front of their eyes. Jesse was wasting his time running after the widow Raber. The nerve of the man. He really was mixed up in his mind, and here she was worrying about a little thing like forgetting prayer at the table.