Katie Opens Her Heart (25 page)

Emma winced. “I was hoping you’d persuade her not to attend the Mennonite gatherings.” Emma didn’t wait for an answer before she disappeared into the kitchen. Jesse stood up and followed her, finding Emma standing by the kitchen window and gazing out across the darkened lawn.

He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her close. “I love you, Emma, and you love me…at least a little bit. Isn’t that true?”

She didn’t answer. She just laid her head against his shoulder for a moment before pulling away. Emma pointed to the kitchen chair. “Sit. I’ll have something for you to eat in a minute.”

Jesse obeyed while Emma rushed about the kitchen, setting the table, getting food out, getting pots and pans out, but never looking at him. His stomach growled again at the sight of the steaming meat casserole she pulled out of the oven fifteen minutes later.

“Eat!” she commanded, setting the casserole amongst the jam and butter bowls. He reached for her hand and Emma sat down beside him, bowing her head along with his.

“You do love me, don’t you?” Jesse asked when they were done with the silent prayer.

Emma said nothing, but she met his gaze with tear-brimmed eyes. He reached over and gathered her in his arms for a long moment before letting go. She dished out his food and sat beside him while he ate.

Chapter Thirty

As Jesse drove home later that evening, he watched through the open buggy door as the stars twinkled on the horizon. Wild and giddy thoughts rushed through his mind. Emma had certainly shown him tonight at the kitchen table that she loved him, even if she continued to refuse to say so. He hadn’t quite dared kiss her when he left, but it wouldn’t be long before he would. He smiled at the added bonus that Emma was a decent cook.

Yah
, he would have to deal with Ruth tonight. He must remain understanding with Ruth, he supposed. What else other than pies did Ruth have to work with in her effort to win his heart? He had to do something. Emma had understood his explanation tonight, but she was a woman and could take only so much. If Ruth kept hanging around, he couldn’t expect Emma to keep her mind open about the matter. He’d come close enough to losing Emma tonight. Thankfully, Emma had been impressed with his wild chase after her, though at the time he’d felt a bit foolish racing after her.

Jesse pulled back on the reins and stopped Lucy before turning into his driveway. In the semidarkness ahead, Ruth’s buggy took shape. It was parked in the same spot it had been when he left. Well, what did he expect? Emma had warned him. Of course the woman was still here. And she was likely keeping Mabel and Carolyn up late baking pies when both children should be in bed. Carolyn had school tomorrow, and Mabel needed her sleep for the work she did at home.

Jesse pulled up close to the barn, jumped down, and unhitched. He took his flashlight out from under the buggy seat and led Lucy into the barn. He slipped off the harness, turned Lucy into her stall, and with the flashlight beam bouncing in front of him, walked out of the barn and made his way across the yard.

He paused to listen before opening the washroom door. There were no voices coming from the kitchen, and only the faint light of a kerosene lamp was shining under the door sash. Ruth had to still be here if her buggy was in the yard, but where were the two girls? Had she sent them to bed? Jesse pushed open the kitchen door. The smiling face of Ruth appeared at once. She was seated at the kitchen table with two pecan pies in front of her.

“Welcome back,” Ruth whispered. “I already put the children to bed. I hope you don’t mind.”

Jesse stayed frozen by the door. Finally he spoke. “Why are you still here?” If she thought he was going to sit down and eat pecan pies with her at this hour of the night, she was sorely mistaken.

Ruth ignored the look of irritation on Jesse’s face. She waved her hand toward the chair. “We need to have a talk, Jesse. Where have you been all evening?”

He remained standing, staring at her.

“Sit down,” Ruth said, still smiling. “It’s not decent for a man to dash all over the countryside in the evening when he doesn’t have a
frau
home to take care of his five children.”

It was as if she were quizzing a first-grader on his flashcards, Jesse thought. He didn’t move.

She gave a little shake of her head. “It’s the truth, Jesse. Even if I have to be the one saying it. Thank
Da Hah
I came by tonight when I did before someone else dropped in and saw the way you’re using these children. It’s a crying shame, Jesse. And an outright disgrace. The children told me you’ve even been doing this during the daytime—dashing over to Emma Raber’s place for talks with her. Is that where you went tonight?”

Jesse gave up glaring at her and sat down. The woman would have to be dealt with, but this would be harder than he’d thought. She made him feel like he was still taking the bottle on his mother’s knee.

“I’m glad you’re listening to me, Jesse,” Ruth continued, no longer smiling. “This is the first
gut
sign I’ve seen all night. I must say, I feel hope rising in my heart for your situation. Maybe this can be taken care of before your children are damaged worse than they already have been.”

“What are you talking about?” Jesse finally managed to get out.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. I’m the one who has been home with your children all evening while you’ve been out doing who knows what. Are you behaving yourself, Jesse?”

“Of course I am!”

“And have you had supper? Mabel insisted that we keep food out for you. For myself, I would have let you go hungry because, I do declare, sometimes even grown men never get out of their childhood.”

“Emma fed me supper,” Jesse said, watching Ruth’s face.

“So you
were
there?” Ruth glared at him now. “What a disgrace, Jesse. Acting like that in front of your children. You’re worse than a love-struck teenager.”

Jesse was quiet for a moment. He got to his feet and said, “I’m going to take you outside to your buggy, and you can wait there while I get your horse. After that, I will hitch up for you, and you will drive on home where you belong.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Jesse,” she said. “Not until I’ve told you what’s on my mind.”

He leaned forward and said in voice loud enough to echo throughout the house, “I want you out of my house, Ruth Troyer. Right now!”

A look of horror crossed her face as feet upstairs landed on the floor with a loud thump and came running down the stairs.

“Look what you’ve done now!” Ruth hissed as the stair door burst open and Mabel’s frightened face and tense body appeared in the opening.

“Is something wrong,
Daett
?” Mabel asked.

“
Nee
,” he said. “Everything’s fine, Mabel. I’m sorry I hollered. Now please go back to bed.”

Mabel was taking in the situation, her eyes moving between the two of them.

“Please, Mabel,” Jesse repeated. “Go back upstairs. Ruth and I need to finish talking.”

Mabel didn’t move, but her face brightened. “Did you see our pecan pies?”

“
Yah
,” Jesse said. “They look
wunderbah
.”

Mabel still wasn’t leaving. “We haven’t tasted them yet,
Daett
. We wanted you to be the first.”

“That’s very nice, Mabel. I’ll try them tomorrow. Now go to bed.”

“Ruth said they might be cooled enough to eat by the time you got home.”

Ruth stood up. “Yes, dear, they are. But your
daett
has other things on his mind at the moment. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the pies tomorrow night for supper.”

Mabel disappeared a second later, and Jesse waited until her footsteps died away before he turned back to Ruth. “I meant what I said, Ruth. I want you to leave now.”

She responded by sitting down.

“I’m not going anywhere until I’ve had my say.”

What was he to do? Carry the woman out to her buggy? Of course not, but neither was he going to stay here and listen to more of her lectures.

“I’ve already told Mabel,” Ruth said. “So there’s no use hiding yourself from the truth.”

He turned toward her. “You told my daughter what?”

“About Emma Raber’s history—all the important points, at least. The ones that were fit for Mabel’s ears. And believe me, it was enough to make for an awful lot of explaining on your part if you continue to insist on seeing Emma.”

Jesse gripped the back of his chair. What was the woman referring to? Emma didn’t have a rough past that he knew of—other than living alone and keeping to herself. Of course, there was that thing with Daniel Kauffman, but that was years ago.

“I know men are blind half the time when it comes to women,” Ruth was saying. “And they can’t see out of the other eye the rest of the time. But still you don’t have to act surprised, Jesse Mast.”

“Has anybody ever told you to mind your own business?” Jesse said between clenched teeth.

She smiled and folded her hands in her lap. “Not when it comes to five motherless children—all of whom I love with my whole heart. And not when they have a
daett
who can’t see what’s plainly in their best interest.”

He met her gaze. “If you think I’m going to marry you, Ruth, you are sorely mistaken.”

Her face fell for a moment, but Ruth gathered herself together. “That is up to
Da Hah
. I have not said anything about marrying you, Jesse. It’s the children I’m thinking about, and what’s best for them. If you can find a decent woman in the community or from some other community, perhaps, who loves the children and whom they can love back as their
mamm
, I’ll be satisfied. I know I’m not the only
gut
woman around.”

He glared at her. “Whom I marry is none of your business.”

“It
is
.” Ruth didn’t blink an eye. “I’m their teacher. Well, Carolyn and Joel’s, and the rest of them love me too. Until you can do better than that, I will be here for them.”

Jesse’s thoughts raced, but at the moment he didn’t dare speak them. He finally turned toward her. “Tell me what you told Mabel about Emma.”

Ruth’s face beamed. “I’m glad to see you’re coming to your senses, Jesse. I was wondering there for a moment.”

He held up his hand. “Just answer the question.”

“I’m not your pupil,” she sputtered. “But for your children’s sake I’ll tell you about Emma. She has a history going all the way back to her young-folk days when she fell deeply in love with Daniel Kauffman. And storming out after his wedding right in front of the happy couple themselves. What a disgrace that was!”

“
Yah
,” Jesse said and paused. “And half the young-folk girls were in love with Daniel Kauffman. Thankfully Millie wasn’t included amongst them.”

“But not like Emma,” Ruth insisted smugly. “Emma thought she could hide her love from everyone, but she lived and breathed for the slightest smile and word from Daniel. Even after Daniel began dating someone else, Emma hung around, refusing to let any other boy take her home. Only when Daniel married did she give up and marry Ezra. Of course, she was older by then. But her connection with Daniel at his wedding was plain for all to see.”

“And what has that got to do with me and my own?”

“Why, Jesse, because she’s taking you for the same reason. Because she can’t find anyone else. If Emma did it once with Ezra, she’ll do it again with you. Do you really want a woman like that as the
mamm
of your children? All the rest of us married for love, Jesse. I was so in love with Homer I couldn’t see straight when he came around. Even when
Da Hah
didn’t give us children, I loved him with all my heart.”

Jesse stood up. “Come now, Ruth. It’s time for you to go home.”

“Does this mean nothing to you? Think about what—or whom—you are bringing into your house, Jesse. Think about your children.”

“I will do that.” He motioned toward the door. “Now it’s high time for you to go home so I can get my sleep. I have a big day in the fields tomorrow, and I’m sure Mabel is probably lying awake upstairs worrying about us until we stop talking down here.”

She didn’t budge.

As Jesse moved toward her, Ruth jumped up. “You don’t have to treat me like this. I’m only trying to help.”

“And I thank you for the pecan pies.” He led the way out the front door. “From now on, I don’t want you stopping by. In fact, I forbid it.”

“We will see about that, Jesse,” she sputtered as she followed him across the yard. “I will do what’s right.”

He left her standing by her buggy and went to retrieve her horse from the barn. He held the bridle once he had the horse hitched up as Ruth climbed into the buggy. He stepped aside and gave the horse a slap on its haunches. The horse lunged forward, and Jesse heard Ruth gasp as she drove past him.

She would be back, he knew, as he watched her buggy lights going down the road. Ruth Troyer still had a few tricks up her sleeve, if he didn’t miss his guess.

Chapter Thirty-One

Jesse rose well before dawn the following morning and climbed out of bed in slow motion. His head was still fuzzy, which was understandable considering all he’d been through last night. Women were enough to give any man gray hair, and Ruth was the worst. She had more nerve than a dozen foxes in one henhouse.