A Daughter's Dream (15 page)

Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca had the chance to ask Lilly about that blush. Mercy had stepped into Rebecca's place for the next hour. Therefore, Rebecca was going to have time to visit with Lilly as long as the girl wanted to.

After ordering a small sandwich and some lemonade, Lilly looked around the café with interest. “I thought there would be more workers here. Onkle Jake says Kinsinger's is a big place.”

“It is. It's so big that we have three break rooms for the employees. The biggest is in the retail building, two others are near the collection of warehouses in the back. This café usually just serves customers or vendors. But I like to come up here, too, from time to time. It's nice that we have a place to order something good to eat.”

“The sandwich is good.”

“I'm glad.” Rebecca smiled. “So, how is school going? Mrs. Mast told me that you are a mighty smart girl.”

Lilly grinned. “Mrs. Mast connected me with some tutors from the high school. I'm learning chemistry now!”

Rebecca had no idea what chemistry entailed but she was glad that Lilly's eyes were shining when she talked about it. “And it seems that everything with you and Peter is going well?”

“
Jah
. We are good friends.”

“Just
gut
friends?” Rebecca was fairly sure that Peter thought of Lilly a bit differently.

“Well, we're close. But we're not boyfriend and girlfriend.” Looking worried, she added, “My grandparents wouldn't like
that. I don't think Uncle Jacob would, either. Please don't tell him about us.”

“I won't say anything. But I have to share that if you are happy with your new friend, I'm happy. It's hard moving to a new place. It's even harder finding happiness when one has suffered so much loss.”

Lilly nodded.

Rebecca was tempted to reach out and clasp Lilly's hand but she was afraid the girl might find it off-putting. Instead, she said, “I am glad you are settling in.”

“My uncle is, too,” Lilly volunteered. “He seems a lot happier now that he's working at Kinsinger's.”

“That's
gut
to know, too.” Thinking about how their paths crossed, she added, “Funny how the Lord was working with both him and me at the same time! Both of us were trying to fit in where we didn't belong, Jacob with farming and me with teaching.”

“He's said much the same thing to me.”

Rebecca smiled. “Like you and Peter, he has become a good friend.”

“I heard he's walked you home a couple of times.”

Now Rebecca was certain that she was the one blushing. “He has. I'm far too old for that, I think.”

“I don't think so.” She shrugged. “Besides, it doesn't matter if you're too old or not, as long as something makes you happy.”

“Those are wise words.”

Lilly grinned. “I am a pretty smart girl.”

“So modest, too,” Rebecca teased. She was enjoying their time together so much.

She also had a pretty good idea that Lilly would adore Amelia.
Amelia had that perfect combination of motherliness and irreverence that Lilly would likely find irresistible. After all, Amelia also lost her mother at a young age.

Thinking of Oscar and Princess the goat, Rebecca decided she knew of just the right way to lure Lilly over to the house. “Lilly, did you know we have both a puppy and a baby goat at our house?”

“I heard Onkle Jacob fixed the goat's pen.” Lilly's eyes were dancing.

“Would you like to come over sometime and see the animals? The goat is Amelia's, but the bulldog pup is mine. They are both mighty friendly.”

“Do you mean you want me to come over with my uncle?”

“You can come with him, or by yourself, or . . . hey, I know, how about all of you come over on Saturday night? Your grandparents, too.”

“I could ask them.”

“Please do. It would be fun to have all of you over.
Wunderbaar
.”

Looking at her carefully, Lilly nodded. “I think so, too. I'll ask Mommi and Dawdi.”

“Just send back word with either Peter or Jacob.”

“I will do that,” Lilly said with a smile.

Rebecca smiled back but felt as if Lilly was holding a secret. She wondered what it was.

Saturday, September 19

R
ebecca Kinsinger's invitation might as well have come from the Bishop himself. It had thrown Jacob's parents into such a tizzy, his mother, especially.

Looking at the basket filled with fresh bread, canned pickles, and an apple-rhubarb pie, Jacob knew something had to be said. He didn't know a whole lot about social graces, but he was pretty sure that arriving to a dinner party with so much food was rude. “Mamm, they didn't ask us to bring anything. You can't show up at their doorstep with all of this.”

“Why?”

“Because it's practically an entire meal. Rebecca's going to think you think that she can't cook.”

“She's not going to think that.”

“She might. Or her sister, Amelia, might. I got the impression Amelia wears her heart on her sleeve. You might offend her.”

“I won't. Now, settle down, son. It ain't a meal. Just a couple
of baked goods.” Looking a bit put-upon, she added, “I have never heard of visiting a house without bringing a dish. It ain't done.”

Now that he'd said his piece, Jacob knew better than to continue arguing his point. He was never going to win when the topic involved baked goods and hostess gifts. “We better get going. What can I help you carry to the buggy?”

“The whole basket, son,” Daed called out with a grin. “And be quick about it. We decided it would be a
gut
idea to walk there.”

Walk? “It's a good half hour walk for me.” He didn't add the obvious—that it would be even longer for his parents. And that it was warm. And that they were already verging on being late. “Are you sure it wouldn't be better to take the buggy? It might turn dark by the time we head home.”

But his father was not deterred. “Your mother and I have been walking in the dark for quite a while, Jacob. Plus, the good Lord gave us feet. We might as well use them.”

Looking at the basket filled to the brim, Jacob was starting to think he was going to get to put his arms to work, too.

“All right. If you want to walk, we need to get started before we're too late. Let's go then.”

“Lilly, come along now, child,” his mother said.

“I'm ready!” Lilly called out from her room down the hall. “I'll be right there.” Seconds later they heard her door slam.

Stunned, Jacob looked at his parents, who were wearing happy expressions. Well, his father was. His mother looked on the verge of tears.

“That's the first time since she moved in that she's acted like a child,” she whispered. “Jacob, did ya hear that door slam?”

“I did.” He decided not to point out that he and Marc used to get in trouble whenever they slammed doors.

“She sounds happy,” his mother added, clasping her hands together. “Thank the good Lord.”

“She sounds like her father used to,” Daed added. “He loved to get together with friends.”

A bolt of sadness struck Jacob hard. His father was right—Marc had been the one who loved making plans and getting together with other people. Jacob had always been the brother who had been perfectly happy to sit at home with a newspaper, book, or new project. Marc had loved being with other people and they'd loved being with him.

And now he was gone.

He pushed those dark thoughts away when he heard Lilly's footsteps. Picking up the basket, he pretended to groan at its weight. “Lilly, how are your muscles?”

“They are good.” Eyeing the basket with a look of worry, she said, “Why?”

“Why? Well, I'm just trying to figure out if you're strong enough to . . .” He paused dramatically.

“Strong enough to what?”

“Help me carry this here basket of your
grandmommi's
? You're young and strong.”

“I am young but not that strong.” Plucking off the loaf of bread from the top of the basket, she shook her head. “I think my arms are only strong enough to carry bread and rolls.”

“Daed, want to carry a pie?”

“I do not. Now, enough with your whining, son. Let's go, and step lively.”

Jacob gestured for his parents and niece to go through first, then closed the door behind them. At last, they were on their way.

To his surprise, his parents strode ahead, practically race-walking toward the large Kinsinger property.

Lilly, however, stayed by his side. She was chatty, too. As they walked, stopping every ten minutes or so so he could switch the basket from one hand to the other, she told him about Meghan and her new textbook and Katie and something called inertia.

He nodded and tried to ask appropriate questions, but the truth was that she could talk about anything and he would think it was wonderful. She was just that happy.

When they climbed the crest of the last hill before they reached the Kinsingers', Lilly smiled at him yet again. “I'm really glad we're all together and going over there,” she said.

“I am, too, sweetheart. I am, too.”

“H
ONESTLY, THE WAY
you are fussing over the table, you would think that we've never had company before,” Lukas griped to Darla and Rebecca.

“We haven't had anyone over in a long time,” Rebecca said.

“Certainly not since I've been living here,” Darla added.

Lukas frowned. “Sure we have. Darla, we had Patsy and Gretel over two nights ago.”

“They weren't company. They're my sisters,” Darla said.

“They still count.”

“Not as special company.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are going to be here,” Rebecca tried to explain. Again. “That is different.”

“Why? They're only Jacob's parents.”

When Darla rolled her eyes, Lukas folded his arms across his
chest and glared at Rebecca. “What? I thought we were simply being neighborly. Is there a certain reason we are hosting them that I don't know about?”

If there was, she certainly wasn't going to confess it to her brother! “I invited them over because it's the nice thing to do.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don't think so.”

“Oh, for heaven's sakes. You know why Rebecca invited everyone over, Luke,” Darla said with a playful slap on his arm. “Don't fuss at her so much.”

Pressing a hand to his wife's tiny waist, he smiled fondly at her. After she smiled back, obviously sharing some kind of special, silent communication, he turned back to Rebecca. “Care to tell me how serious the two of you are?”

“Uh,
nee
. I do not.”

“I'm your older brother. I should know these things.”

After darting a look at Darla, who shrugged, Rebecca decided to go ahead and be honest. “I don't actually know how serious we are.”

“Why not?”

“Because neither of us have made any big declarations,
bruder
.”

“He's been walking you home.” Lukas raised his brows, just as if Rebecca had been doing something so scandalous that the whole town should be worried.

“
Jah
. He's been walking me home. But like I said, we haven't had any big heart-to-heart talks in the middle of the alfalfa fields.”

“Tell me, then. Do you like him a lot? Are you falling in love? Do you think he's the man for you?”

“Lukas, oh my heavens. Stop.” Looking at Darla for support, Rebecca exclaimed, “Do something!”

“He kind of has the right to ask,” Darla said. “I mean, he is the head of your household.”

Feeling like her cheeks were on fire, she turned to Amelia, who had just entered the dining room but had remained suspiciously silent. “Amy, help me,” she moaned. “Please.”

But instead of jumping to her defense, Amelia crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “Oh, no, Becky. You can handle Lukas on your own. Simon told me what you told him.”

As her younger sister continued to glare at her, Rebecca felt her insides twist into knots. “He shouldn't have said anything to you.”

“
Nee
,
you
shouldn't have said anything to
him
.”

“Hold on,” Lukas interrupted. “What happened with Simon, Amelia?”

Still looking mad enough to spit nails, Amelia said, “Don't worry, Lukas. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened. When he took me out walking the day I got Princess, he told me that it was likely nothing ever would, either.”

Now she felt terrible. “I'm sorry, Amelia. I shouldn't have interfered.”

“
Nee
, you should not have. So, I wish you well with your romance with Jacob Yoder. But don't expect me to hope that Lukas doesn't interfere.” She flounced off into the kitchen.

When Rebecca started after her, Darla placed a hand on her arm. “Leave her be. She's been upset for a couple of days now. She'll be better now.”

“I hope so.”

“Do I even want to know what was said between Simon, you, and Amelia?” Lukas asked.

Rebecca shook her head. “Probably not.”

Lukas groaned. “Why did Levi have to leave me? I'm trying to do my best with you two but it ain't easy.”

“Probably because we're adults, Lukas. We don't need you ‘doing your best with us,'” Rebecca bit out.

“You should have taken your own advice to heart!” Amelia called out.

“I'm sorry. You're right!” Rebecca said. “I won't interfere again.”

“Interfere with what?” Lukas's voice rose. “What is going on with Simon and Amelia?”

“Nothing!” Amelia called out.

Darla held out her hands. “Everyone, calm down. The Yoders will be here any minute.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Darla smiled. “It looks like you were saved by the knock, Rebecca.”

“And not a moment too soon,” she blurted, just as Lukas strode to the door.

Rebecca was really starting to wonder why she thought this dinner party had ever been a good idea.