The Drifter (Amish Country Brides) Read online

  Josiah squeezed the steering wheel. He’d seen his beautiful daughter! Sweetness and dynamite wrapped up in one package, it seemed. His smile must be stretching from ear to ear. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.

  He inhaled the delicious scents filling his car. Instead of going straight to Michael’s place to wait out his time, he’d stop by Nora’s first. The extra cinnamon roll he’d purchased had been for her. And he could leave one of the pot pies for her too.

  He pulled into her driveway and brought his vehicle to a stop. Nora stared curiously as she hung clothes on the line outside. He stepped out and waved. “Hey.”

  A look of recognition crossed her face and she finally smiled. She turned her head and he noticed that her two girls were swinging on a swing set nearby.

  He approached with a bag in his hand. “I bring good tidings of great joy.” He smiled. “Cinnamon rolls and pot pie.”

  “Ach, you didn’t have to.”

  “I wanted to.”

  “Let’s go inside, then? Unless you’d rather sit out back at the picnic table.”

  “That sounds good.”

  “Let me just grab a table cloth, then.” She hurried to the house, then turned back. “Girls, show him where the picnic table is.”

  He wished he could remember what her daughters’ names were. He followed them around the side of the house to the back yard. Like every house in this area, it seemed, the property was surrounded by a wooded area. It was breathtaking.

  Nora walked out the back door carrying a colorful floral tablecloth, paper plates, and plasticware. “Sylvia and Esther didn’t cause any trouble for you, did they?”

  He doubted the two quiet little souls ever got into any trouble. “They were perfect angels.”

  “They usually are for the most part, but don’t let them fool you.” She squinted toward the girls. “Leave them alone with a closed box of cereal for a couple of minutes and you’ll find it all over the floor. Huh, girls?”

  Josiah grinned at the little ones. “Did you two have an adventurous morning?”

  “If that’s what you want to call it.” Nora smiled.

  He grasped one end of the tablecloth and they placed it over the table together. “What are their ages?”

  “Sylvia is four and Esther is two and a half.”

  He frowned. “How long has Andy been gone?”

  “Almost two years.”

  “That must’ve been hard for you.”

  “It was. But like I said, he was gone a lot.” She shrugged. “Frankly, not much changed for me.”

  “Do you work outside the home now?”

  “I do some. Andy left us a little money in our savings account, so I’m trying to make that stretch as far as I can.” She spread the plates out on the table.

  “I see.”

  “Are you hungry? It’s still warm.”

  “I could eat.”

  “Good. Because the girls and I won’t be able to eat all this by ourselves.”

  After they bowed for the silent prayer, she hopped up to get a serving utensil from the kitchen. She handed it to him. “Go ahead and serve yourself, then I’ll serve the girls.”

  He refused the server and shook his head. “Ladies first. I insist.”

  “Okay.” She smiled. “Girls, how much of this would you like?”

  Neither one spoke.

  “They seem to have gone mute. They’re not used to strangers.” She served each of her daughters a sliver, then placed a small portion on her own plate. “They don’t eat much.”

  “It looks like their mother doesn’t either.” He eyed her plate. “I’m going to look like a pig.”

  The girls giggled.

  “Oink oink.” He snorted, evoking another round of giggles. He took a couple of bites then snorted again.

  Nora laughed.

  If he had to act like a pig to connect with these precious girls, he’d do so.

  When they finally finished, they shared the cinnamon rolls. Again, he’d eaten the lion’s share. “You were right. That cinnamon roll was really good.”

  “I just love them. Thank you, again, for bringing them. That was very thoughtful.” She stood from the table. “I’m going to put the girls down for their naps. You want to come inside?”

  He agreed because it seemed like that was her preference, likely to be in earshot of the girls.

  “You may take a seat in the living room, if you’d like.”

  He did as she suggested as she guided the girls to their room. She returned a few moments later.

  “How did your visit with your daughter go?” She sat in a recliner, across from where he sat on the couch.

  “It didn’t go as expected, but it was good. We’re meeting for ice cream tonight.” He smiled.

  “What happened?”

  “Her aunt was there. I guessed she’d just dropped off some baked goods, including those cinnamon rolls.”

  “Jenny is super sweet.”

  “You seemed to know the Millers pretty well.”

  She shrugged. “Oh, I hear quite a bit from Miriam. She and Michael and the kinner occasionally visit with the family, so I stay on top of things. I sometimes go along with Miriam when she purchases her baked goods. It seems like they do pretty well for a little country store. Between the bakery items and the metalwork that Silas and Paul make, along with their grocery and other miscellaneous items, I can see why.”

  “Metalwork?”

  “Jah. Paul and Silas have a shop out back near their house. You probably saw the wind chimes hanging there outside the store.” She smiled wistfully. “Don’t they just sound lovely? The wind seems to lift their melodies on its wings and carry them away.”

  All of a sudden, he knew what one of his future purchases would be. Maybe he’d leave it with Elnora as a goodbye gift—a token of thanks for their friendship. Something about that thought didn’t sit right with him.

  “So, you and Kayla dated for a while, then?”

  “Not really. Now that I look back on it, we hardly knew each other at all. It was a week at the beach. That’s it. And, technically, it wasn’t even a full week. We met, spent some time together, decided we were hopelessly in love with each other, then we shared that love. Or what we thought was love.”

  “Do you wish things would have turned out differently?”

  He shrugged. “You know, that’s one of those things. You can’t really know that a different path would have been better. Do I have regrets? You bet I do. But I think the thing that irks me most is that I didn’t make an effort to see my daughter. I missed all her growing up years.

  “Even if I had found out that Kayla was pregnant, I’m not so sure I would have been that great of a husband to her. I was already wanting to leave all the constraints of Amish life behind. I don’t know that I wouldn’t have seen marriage to her as another limitation. I likely would have seen it as being tied down for life—a trap I couldn’t get out of.”

  She frowned. “Do you still see it that way?”

  “No, not at all. I was pretty immature back then. Your perspective changes once you’ve actually experienced life. Know what I mean?”

  “For sure. I thought marriage was a fairytale. Before I actually experienced it. Then I realized that it’s basically two people bringing their own problems to each other. And then you have to figure out a way to live with each other.”

  “But each person brings their own strengths to the relationship too, right?”

  “Yes. You balance each other out.” She looked toward the kitchen. “Would you like some lemonade?”

  “That sounds great.” Did he hear a noise in the other room? “How long do the girls usually sleep?”

  She pulled a plastic pitcher out of the fridge. “Not long enough, usually.” She smiled.

  “I can see how naps could be priceless when you’re solely responsible for little ones twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

  “It sounds bad. I love them to pieces. But sometimes I just need
quiet and solitude.” She shook her head. “Jah, this morning when they decided they wanted to decorate the house with cereal, I had just gone to use the restroom. That was it. I return and suddenly I’ve got one more task to do for the day.”

  “It sounds like you need a break.”

  “You might be right.”

  “I have an idea. Why don’t you bring the girls over to Michael and Miriam’s one day, and you and Miriam can take a day off for yourselves. The guys can hold down the fort at home.”

  “Are you serious? Because don’t say something like that if you’re not serious.”

  “I’m completely serious. Of course, we’d have to schedule it with everybody first.”

  “Ah, Josiah, that sounds lovely.” Tears pricked her eyes. “You would do that?”

  “It wouldn’t be a problem. I might even enlist Bailey to help out.”

  “She’s likely a pro at it with all the younger siblings she has.”

  “Let’s plan it, then! How about if we drive over there together once the girls wake up and share our idea with Miriam and Michael?”

  “I would like that very much.”

  THIRTEEN

  “He likes you, I know he does!” Miriam grasped Nora’s arm and squealed the moment the men stepped outside. “I can’t believe he came up with this plan. It’s brilliant.”

  Nora shook her head. “We’re just friends.”

  “Sounds like the perfect place to start a relationship.” Miriam’s grin stretched wide.

  “He’s Englisch.” She reminded her overzealous matchmaking friend.

  “That can change. His daughter is Amish, you’re Amish, his friends are Amish.”

  Nora laughed. “You make it all sound so simple.”

  “It can be.”

  “Miriam, I can’t ask him to give up his Englisch lifestyle for me. He’d come to resent me for it. It would have to be his decision—and his idea—totally.”

  “But you like him, right?”

  “Oh, Miriam. What’s not to like? Jah, he’s made some dumb mistakes in the past. I think I can overlook that. But if you could just see.” She shook her head. “The other night, when he brought the girls and me home, he carried little Esther to the bedroom. When he laid her down, he bent and kissed her cheek. He said he regretted not ever getting to do that with his own dochder.” Moisture pricked her eyes.

  “That’s sweet. He sounds like a keeper.”

  “I just don’t know if he’s keepable.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a word.” Miriam giggled.

  “Well, it is now.”

  ~

  Bailey did her best to slip out of the house and down the driveway unnoticed. She hadn’t wanted to lie, so she left a note on the table saying she’d be back in a few hours. Mamm and Silas had taken the kinner over to Dawdi and Mammi Miller’s for supper. Bailey made an excuse to stay behind. But getting out had been the easy part. Coming back in would prove to be tricky, apart from telling a lie, which she didn’t wish to do.

  She’d considered just telling her folks the truth in its entirety. But what if they weren’t happy with her for contacting her father? What if they forbid her to see him? He was Englisch, after all. That alone would be excuse enough to keep him away from her. And then he would have come all this way for no reason. She was sure he’d probably spent hundreds of dollars coming all the way over here from Pennsylvania.

  She didn’t like sneaking around, but if that was the only way she could see her father, she’d do it. She kind of liked the fact that she and her father shared a secret, though.

  She hurried out to the end of the driveway, making her way toward the stop sign up ahead. It was right around the time she’d told her father she’d meet him. She couldn’t be late. Her lips curled into a smile when she spotted her father’s fancy sportscar across the road from the stop sign.

  She quickly looked behind her to be sure no one was on the road. It wouldn’t do to be seen by someone in the community.

  The moment her father spotted her, he began creeping forward. He pulled up beside her and rolled down the window. “Hey, pretty girl. Are you looking for a ride?” He winked.

  Ach, no wonder Mamm had fallen in love with him back in the day. “I don’t know. My folks always told me not to accept rides from strangers.” She bantered, as she opened the car door and slid into the seat. She immediately smelled leather.

  “I’m harmless. I promise.” He flipped a U-turn, then came to a stop at the stop sign. He pulled out onto the main road. “Does Dairy Queen sound all right?”

  “Sure, that’s fine.”

  “Do you have a favorite kind of ice cream?”

  “You mean at DQ or in general?”

  He shrugged. “Either. Both.”

  “I like their cotton candy ice cream cones.”

  “Cotton candy?” His brow arched. “I’ve never tried it. It sounds really sweet, though.”

  “It is.” She studied him. “Do you have a favorite?”

  “I like anything chocolate. The more chocolate the better. And I like peanut butter milkshakes. And hot fudge sundaes, and caramel sundaes, and—”

  “I think I get the picture, Dad.” She frowned. “Is it okay if I call you that?”

  “I’d love it if you call me that.”

  “Okay, That.” She teased.

  “How’d you get so spunky?” He reached over and tweaked her nose.

  “Spunky?” She giggled. “I don’t know. I guess I was born with it.”

  “So…how can we get to know each other? To make up for all these years we’ve lost?”

  “We could play a get-to-know-you game.”

  “And how do you play that or I should say the get-to-know-you game?”

  “Well, it’s simple. We just take turns asking each other questions.”

  “Sounds easy enough.” He nodded. “Okay, you start, since I already asked you about ice cream.”

  “Okay. Let me think. Where do you live?”

  “I live in New Jersey.”

  “Not Pennsylvania?”

  “Ah, that’s two questions. And no, not Pennsylvania.” He grinned. “Okay, my turn. Where were you born?”

  “In California. Do you live by yourself?”

  “No, I have a cat named Maestro.”

  “Really? You have a cat?”

  “That’s two questions again.”

  She ignored his protest. “I like cats too.”

  “Do you have any?”

  “Yes, Sandy. But he’s getting old. Are you married?”

  “No. Never been. Are you?” he winked.

  “No, silly.”

  “Boyfriend?”

  She pointed at him. “That’s two questions. And sort-of.”

  “How can you sort-of have a boyfriend?”

  “That’s three questions. Not fair.” She blew out a breath. “Timothy and I are a long story. His folks don’t want him to date me because they think I’ll jump the fence because I used to be Englisch.”

  “Will you?”

  She shrugged. “I never thought I would.”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  She stared at him. “But you’re like forty and you live alone.”

  “Ouch! Hey, I’m not forty yet. Thirty-seven.”

  “It’s almost the same thing.”

  He chuckled. “You’re rough, girl.”

  “I speak the truth. Aren’t you lonely? I’d be lonely all by myself with no family around.”

  “Honestly, sometimes, yes.” He sighed.

  They pulled into the Dairy Queen parking area. “Do you want to eat outside or should we get it to go and find a park or something?”

  “We could go to Versailles State Park. I think there will be less chances of people seeing us there.”

  “That sounds nice. What would you like?” He smiled as they were parked in front of the ordering menu.

  “A cotton candy cone.” She grinned.

  “Two cotton candy cones,” he spoke i
nto the speaker.

  “And may I get french fries?”

  “And an order of french fries,” he called out. The server told him the total, and he inched forward. He turned to her. “Do they have a picnic area at the park?”

  “Jah. And a covered bridge.”

  “Really?”

  “Timothy brought me one time.”

  “Oh?”

  She wouldn’t tell him that was the first time he’d kissed her.

  Dad paid for their order, then handed Bailey her ice cream cone and fries.

  Her smile widened. “I like to dip the French fries in my ice cream.”

  His lips twisted.

  She handed him a fry. “Here, try it.”

  He took the french fry and did as she directed. “Mmm…hey, that’s not bad.”

  “I like the sweet and salty together.”

  “It’s good. But it might be difficult to eat it that way while driving.”

  “You’re right.”

  “You’ll have to show me how to get there, unless you’d rather I use GPS. I think it’ll work here since we’re not out in the boonies.”

  “It’s easy to find. Just turn right at the light up there. Then you follow the road. I think it’s just a couple of miles. You’ll see the signs.”

  “Sounds easy enough.”

  She dipped a fry into her ice cream and popped it into her mouth. “This is so good. Thank you.”

  “I’ve got a lot to make up for.”

  “You don’t have to buy me anything. I just want to spend time with you.”

  He reached over and squeezed her hand. “You don’t know how happy that makes my heart.”

  “I feel the same way. I’m just glad that I can finally know you. I’ve missed you all these years, but I thought you were dead. So, you being here is kind of like having you back from the dead.” She wouldn’t cry. She blinked her eyes to avoid tears. She. Would. Not. Cry.

  “Here we are.” He turned left into the park entrance. “Do we turn at the covered bridge?”

  “No, just go straight. If you want, we could go through the covered bridge on the way back. It goes back into Versailles.”

  “Okay.” He pulled up to the kiosk and paid the small day use fee. He continued down the road. “It’s pretty here.”

  “I know. I love it. It would be fun to camp out.”