Her Amish Holiday Suitor. Carrie Lighte
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Название: Her Amish Holiday Suitor
Автор: Carrie Lighte
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современная зарубежная литература
isbn: 9781474097512
isbn:
“I’m not following you. I’m walking you to the door. You know, like I’d do if I were actually courting you,” Nick explained.
Lucy’s cheeks stung. Since she’d never been courted before she didn’t know whether all suitors walked their girlfriends to their doors or if this was part of Nick’s supposed charm.
When they reached her back porch, he loudly announced, “So I’ll pick you up at six o’clock on Tuesday night, okay?”
She put her finger to her lips. “Shh! My stepmother might hear you.”
Nick leaned in and whispered, “Jah, that’s the general intention, right?” He was close enough she could smell a hint of mint chocolate cocoa on his breath and she quickly skittered up the stairs.
“Gut nacht,” she said over her shoulder before turning the knob to the door.
Inside Betty was sipping tea at the table and reading The Budget. “Hi, Lucy. I thought I heard a buggy. Are the girls stabling the horse?”
“Neh, they’re still at the singing,” Lucy answered ambiguously, avoiding meeting Betty’s eyes as she removed her gloves, unwrapped her cloak and hung it on a peg by the door. She bent to unlace her boots.
“Oh? Then who brought you home?”
“Nick Burkholder,” Lucy reported in what she hoped was an offhanded manner.
“Nick Burkholder?” her stepmother marveled. “Why would he bring you home? Are you sick?”
Like mamm, like dechder. Lucy was miffed Betty made the same assumption Mildred made about why Nick would bring her home. Lifting her chin she said, “Neh, I’m not sick. I’m going upstairs to bed now. Gut nacht.”
Lucy scurried down the hall before her stepmother could ask any more questions. The upstairs room she shared with her sisters stretched the entire length of their Cape-style home. Mildred and Katura’s beds and dressers took up most of the open space, whereas Lucy’s dresser and bed were tightly tucked in the back section of the room beneath the sloping roof. Because Lucy was so short, she never bumped her head on it and she liked the roof being so close to her bed. During storms, she could hear raindrops pattering the wood and she felt as if she were sleeping in an ark.
She turned on the gas lamp, sat on her bed and removed her embroidery hoop from the canvas bag. As she began unpicking her earlier mistakes, her hands trembled. She tried to tell herself it was because she’d dashed up the stairs too quickly, but she knew that wasn’t it. She was breathless and quivering because Betty and her stepsisters had found it preposterous that Nick would bring her home. But what right did she have to be angry? They were correct: it was inconceivable he’d want to court her.
Yet, when she recalled his strong hands embracing her waist, the notion of a courtship didn’t seem so terribly far-fetched. At least, not from her perspective. She tried to focus on restitching a delicate snowflake in the center of the napkin, but her mind kept wandering back to Nick, and after pricking her finger three times she finally gave up and went to bed.
Nick was relieved. He’d presented his proposal to Jenny, and because she’d known Nick for years, she agreed to allow him to make the repairs, provided he restored everything to its former condition by the twenty-first of December. That was her first day of winter break from the local community college and Jenny and her mother were planning to decorate the cabin together in preparation for their celebration. Based on Kevin’s description of the situation, Nick assured her he didn’t think it would take nearly that long, and Jenny promised she wouldn’t tell anyone he was working on it.
Gripping the key to the cabin in his fist, Nick traveled to the little house in the woods, where he discovered that although the repairs were manageable, the damage was more extensive than he expected it would be. Terrific. Now I’m going to be stuck with Lucy longer than I anticipated, he groused.
She was already getting on his nerves, acting like he’d never read a book in his life, or as if he wanted to be invited into her house. She was so prim he couldn’t imagine what they’d talk about when he was taxiing her back and forth on these so-called outings. It was a small comfort that he could count on Penny’s speed to decrease their traveling time.
The entire situation was far more inconvenient and uncomfortable than Kevin knew, and Nick decided as soon as he returned home, he was going to give his brother grief—and make him fork over his paycheck for supplies, too. But when he entered the house, it was almost eleven o’clock and he was surprised to find his mother, not Kevin, sitting in the parlor.
“Mamm? What are you doing up?” he asked quietly.
“I’m waiting for you,” she said, and rocked back and forth in her chair a few times before saying anything else. “Your brother told me where you’ve been.”
Nick’s pulse quickened—Kevin had decided to own up after all. On one hand, Nick was relieved he wouldn’t have to cart Lucy back and forth to the library after all. On the other hand, he dreaded the lecture his mother was about to deliver. He straightened his posture and resigned himself to shouldering part of the blame for Kevin’s carelessness in causing the fire.
“I’m surprised, but I’m glad he did.”
“Well, he didn’t want to, but I insisted. So don’t get angry at him.”
Nick was confused. Why would he be angry at Kevin for telling the truth about the fire? Before he could tell his mother he didn’t understand, she said, “Don’t worry. Other than telling your daed, I won’t mention to anyone that you’re courting Lucy Knepp.”
Oh, right—I forgot I told Kevin to plant the seed in Mamm and Daed’s minds. That’s where Kevin told them I’ve been—at Lucy’s haus, not at Jenny’s. Nick didn’t know why but he wasn’t as disappointed as he expected he’d be when he realized he’d still have to carry through with his arrangement with Lucy. Still, he was surprised his mamm was bringing up the topic. As often as she lectured Nick that it was time he put his running around years behind him, she rarely spoke openly about the meed he courted.
“Denki,” he said. “I appreciate that—”
His mother butted in, “Lucy Knepp is a wunderbaar maedel.”
Good—his mother approved. This was going to be easier than he thought. “Jah, she is—”
Again, his mother cut him off. “So you’d better not be up to any shenanigans.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Nick sputtered. Had Kevin let something else about their plan slip?
“She’s not like other meed you’ve courted. You’d better not be toying with her feelings, suh.”
Nick clenched his jaw. While it was true he’d courted many meed who were frequently distraught when he ended their relationships, he never set out to hurt anyone’s feelings. He was offended his own mother would think that was ever his intention. “I wouldn’t do that, СКАЧАТЬ