The Amish Seamstress (22 page)

Glad for the distraction, I flung my cape over my shoulders, picked up the flashlight from the shelf, and went outside into the falling dusk. Tiny shards of ice stung at my face as I made my way across the lawn.

I always loved the first snowstorm of the season, not so much to play in but to feel safe and cozy inside and curl up with a good book or a project.
Mamm
would make hot chocolate and
Daed
would build extra big fires both in the woodstove and the fireplace. The boys would trek in and out, back to their sledding and fort-building and ice-skating. I'd go skating a
time or two each season myself, but it didn't appeal to me the way it did to my siblings.

I knew Luke's family had a pond, and I wondered if they ever used it for skating. Eddie was old enough, though little Annie was probably still too young. Zed was a good skater, but he'd grown so tall in the past year that I had to wonder if he'd still be as graceful as he used to be.

I pushed open the root cellar door and grabbed a burlap sack from beside the mountain of potatoes, shaking out the bag before I started to fill it, first with potatoes, then carrots, and then several onions. I turned and hurried out, hoping I didn't have any spiders hanging on me. It was completely dark as I headed back toward the house without even a hint of moonlight. The ice pelted my face and bare hands and danced at my feet as it hit the ground.

We'd just sat down to stew and biscuits when a knock fell against the back door. We barely heard it over the crackle of fire in the woodstove and the ice against the window. Luke stood and shuffled toward the door. My heart pounded, and I prayed it was Zed.

“
Ach
,” Rosalee said. “Who could that be out on a night like this?”

“Probably my stupid little brother,” Ella replied with a roll of her eyes.

Sure enough, after a moment Zed came tromping into the kitchen behind Luke, his eyes shining, his cheeks bright red from the cold. I grinned, and it was all I could do not to jump up and throw myself into his arms.

“Cutting it kind of close with this weather, aren't you, college boy?” Ella asked him, her eyebrows angled in a stern expression.

He gave her a sheepish grin in return. “Not close enough, I'm afraid.”

We all looked at him, wide eyed, as he described how he'd made it here fine, only to slide into the ditch right after he'd turned into the driveway, just a hundred feet or so from the house. Again, I wanted to hug him, this time out of concern, but I held myself in check.

“Maybe you should call a tow truck,” Rosalee said.

Before Zed could answer, Ella shook her head. “Nah, sit down and eat supper first. Get warmed up. Your car's not going anywhere right now anyway.”

Zed grinned and then hung up his coat while Ella set another place at the table across from me. Soon we all fell into easy conversation.

At one point, I couldn't help but compare this supper with Zed to dinner with Tom earlier in the week. I'd felt tense the entire time with Tom, afraid of what he might say next. But with Zed I hung on his every word, wanting to hear all the details of his adventures. A few times I caught myself smiling too broadly and reminded myself to tone it down.

It wasn't just with Zed that I felt comfortable. The longer I stayed at the Home Place, the more I enjoyed Ella, Luke, and Rosalee, and I couldn't help but imagine them as my in-laws. In fact, my relationship with Ella felt like a better fit than with my own sisters. I couldn't believe there was a time when I had found her abrasive and unlikeable.

As it turned out, Zed didn't have to call a tow truck. With the help of Tom and a team of draft horses, they pulled the car out and dragged it over to the first spot in the parking lot, where it would stay until the lane was plowed.

By the time I was readying Rosalee for bed, Zed was back in the house, talking and laughing with Ella in the kitchen. I wanted nothing more than to be with him and didn't even realize I was rushing Rosalee's bedtime routine until I transferred her into her bed too quickly, bumping her leg. She yelped.

“I'm so sorry!”

“
Ya
, I imagine you are. Next time don't be in such a hurry.”

Zed's laughter rang out from the kitchen again, and my face flushed. I was sure Rosalee knew the reason for my recklessness.

I slowed down, carefully propping up her leg, fluffing her pillows, and tucking the blankets and quilt around her and adding an extra layer of covers against the cold. I refilled her water glass and asked if there was anything else she needed.

She smiled then. “Just for you to go have some fun. Sorry I snapped.”

When I reached the kitchen, Luke, Ella, and Zed were sitting at the table with four decks of cards in the middle. “Dutch Blitz?” Zed asked.

I smiled, grateful to my siblings that I knew how to play, and play it well. Zed passed me the green deck, and he took the blue deck. I made
stacks for my post, blitz, and wood piles, as did the others. Soon cards and laughter flew around the table, round after round. It was no surprise that Zed had the most blitzes, winning the first game. He was just so smart. We kept playing and although each of us won at least once, Zed was by far the most successful.

“Let's play again,” he said, after he'd blitzed us for the tenth time.

“Are you kidding?” Ella groaned. “It's off to bed for us old folks.”

She rose and began to clean up from the game, but I waved her away, insisting I would do it. Luke moved toward the woodstove to stoke it up for the night, but Zed did the same, telling him he would take care of that.

“The bed upstairs is made and ready when you are,” Ella told Zed, and then she and her husband headed off to bed. I knew I should get to sleep too, so as they continued up the stairs, I went into the dark living room to check the fireplace and retrieve my handwork. Once we'd started the game in the kitchen, we'd let the fire in here die down, and now just the embers still glowed, smoldering orange and black lumps of wood.

Confident it would continue to smolder until it went out, I was adjusting the screen when Zed's voice interrupted me. “It's freezing in here.”

“
Ya
. There was no reason to keep this fire going. It won't heat the house the way the stove does.”

“Actually,” he said as he grabbed some kindling from the box. “I have a ton of studying to do tonight. I'd rather work in here on the couch than in the kitchen.”

I moved out of his way as he built up the fire, knowing I should go on to bed. Once he was finished, however, the tall crackling flames were so alluring that I couldn't help but step toward the heat, extending my hands.

Zed joined me, standing just inches away.

The fire sent shadows leaping around the room. I concentrated on the flickering flames, but soon my cheeks began to warm—and not just from the heat. Zed was watching me, I was sure.

I glanced up at him. His eyes were on me and the look on his face was one I hadn't seen before. There was both depth and tension in his gaze, mystery and perhaps even longing. He looked the way I felt.

Certainly, he'd never gazed at me that way before.

He nodded toward the couch. “We could talk for a little while.”

“Just for a few minutes,” I answered softly.

He sat on the couch, and though I would have given anything to curl up right next to him, I chose the opposite end instead, settling there and then turning toward him as we talked. Feeling suddenly awkward, I asked him to tell me more about the program in Los Angeles and his plans for his film. That led to a discussion about the costumes, and I shared with him the ideas I had had so far. The longer we were together, the more he seemed his old self, not the braggart he'd been the first time I saw him after I'd arrived. I was so relieved. Perhaps he'd just been trying to prove how much he had been learning at this new school.

Eventually, the topic of conversation shifted to Rosalee's recovery. “She's doing really well,” I said. “By Thanksgiving, I'll be headed home for sure.” I knew everyone assumed I'd be taking the bus, but I hoped to be able to ride home with Zed instead. Such a trip, unchaperoned, might be questionable to some, but I couldn't resist. Twelve hours to Lancaster County would give us so much time together, and he could relax and be even more himself.

Even if such a venture were frowned upon by the community, I knew my parents trusted us implicitly. Besides, if we left early and drove straight through, we wouldn't be spending the night anywhere on the road. That should make the drive proper enough, even if some wouldn't see it the same way. I considered proposing the idea to Zed now but then decided to hold my tongue, hoping he would come up with it on his own.

“Izzy?”

I jumped a little, realizing I'd been lost in my thoughts again.

“Are you about ready to nod off?”

Involuntarily, I yawned and then smiled.

“Go on to bed,” he said. “You look exhausted.”

“Are you sure?”

He gestured toward his backpack, which was by the door. “Absolutely. I'm going to study for a while and then turn in myself.”

I picked up my handwork bag and stood, just as he rose too. Then we both took a step at the same time. Our shoulders bumped. I froze. Turning to see his face, I expected an apologetic smile, but instead his eyes were intense as they met mine. At first I thought he was going to kiss me,
and my breath caught in my throat. Then, after a long moment, he gently chucked me on the arm, as if he were one of my brothers.

That didn't feel right, not at all. The notion of kissing Zed hadn't crossed my mind for several years, but that had changed. My feelings had changed.

I
had changed.

More than anything, I wanted him to kiss me right now.

“See you in the morning,” he said softly.

“
Ya
,” I answered. “See you then.”

For the next hour I tossed and turned in my bed, thinking about him and how
Mamm
and
Daed
still thought we were just friends. I was getting more comfortable with the idea of us being more than that, but I realized I still couldn't share any of this with them. Not yet. Besides, if they knew how I really felt about Zed, they wouldn't let me ride home with him.

Still, it felt deceptive. What would they say if they knew I loved Zed? As much as they respected him and appreciated him, I knew they would be heartbroken at the thought of my not joining the church, and I'd feel horrible that I'd caused their pain. I took a deep breath, reminding myself of how I'd come to peace about that by putting the whole matter of our differing churches into God's hands and trusting Him to work things out according to His plan, not mine.

I couldn't help but think of Ella and how naturally she fit in the Amish world. God had wanted her with Luke, and He was the one who helped make it happen.

Perhaps, in time, God would make this happen with Zed and me as well.

T
WELVE

T
he old house moaned with the falling temperature, and toward morning I woke cold and stiff. My first thought went to Rosalee, and I slid from my bed, wedging my feet into my slippers and wiggling into my robe. I tiptoed to the closet outside my door and grabbed another quilt from the stack on the shelf. Then I headed across the hall to Rosalee's room.

She appeared to still be sleeping, but as I spread the quilt over her, she opened her eyes. “How did you know I was cold?”

“I was, so I was sure you would be too,” I said, sitting down on the edge of her bed and tucking the quilt more tightly against her legs.

She gave me a fond smile. “What time is it?”

“Five or so.”

“What does it look like outside?”

I went to the window and pulled back the drapes. Yesterday's ice had turned to snow, and now it was falling thick and fast. The sun wouldn't be up for another few hours, but I could see pretty well regardless. The landscape had taken on that eerie, grayish-orange glow that can happen with snow sometimes, even in the middle of the night. Ella had been
right—this was a big one. We'd received a good six inches already, and it was supposed to continue for almost the entire day.