Chapter 22
— chapter twenty-two
Jeremy had a hard time believing what Leanna had just told him and Becca.
It didn’t make sense to him. Not only had Leanna seemed so relaxed when she’d come over to the house, but he hadn’t seen his father look so happy in years.
He and his brothers had been sure that their daed had finally turned a corner and was ready to enjoy life again.
Their father was such a good man. None of them wanted him to spend the rest of his life alone.
The best part was that the whole family really liked Leanna.
After spending most of his life speaking only pleasantries to her when they happened to run into each other after church, Jeremy had gotten the chance to get to know her.
Sure, she was very different from their mother, but he and his brothers liked that.
Her sweet, almost shy demeanor suited his daed perfectly.
But maybe he’d been wrong. No, maybe he, Russell, Kurt, Trip, Mary, and Katherine had all been wrong. “Whoa,” he whispered to himself. His brothers weren’t going to like that.
After gazing for a few seconds at the spot where Leanna had been standing, Becca wrapped her hand around his forearm. “Is it just me, or did Leanna seem like she was about to cry?”
“She seemed upset, that’s for sure.”
“What are you going to do?”
Reaching out, he pressed his palm against her hand before she dropped it. “Do? I don’t know. Talk to my brothers, I guess.”
“But you’re the one who lives with your dad. And you’re the one who just talked to Leanna. Shouldn’t you be the one to say something to your father?”
“I don’t know.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. Sure, confronting his father might sound like a good idea . . . but he was still his daed. He would probably get mad at him.
Especially after all the things he’d said about Jeremy needing to find his own path for the future.
“It probably doesn’t make sense to you, on account of you being an only child, but I’m not usually the son who questions my father.
Not only would he not like that, my brothers might not either.
Maybe I shouldn’t say anything. After all, who my father dates ain’t any of my business. ”
“It kind of is, though.” She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Jeremy, you’ve got to do something. Didn’t you tell me that she was a widow and lived alone?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“It seems wrong to just assume she’s going to figure out everything all by herself. She looked really lost and alone. I think she needs someone on her side.”
“That might be true, but I canna be on her side instead of my daed’s.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Pretty sure. Like I said, I don’t know exactly what happened. They could both have real good reasons for not wanting to see each other anymore.”
“But Jeremy, they’re both Amish.”
“Becca, it looks like it’s time for you to get a little bit of Amish education.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Obviously annoyed, she popped a hand on her hip.
Her eyes were bright, so he was confident that he wasn’t hurting her feelings.
“It means that just because both my daed and Leanna are New Order Amish, it doesn’t mean that that’s enough.
” He waved a hand. “If I’ve learned anything at all, it’s that sometimes a person can’t control who he or she falls in love with.
It just happens.” He swallowed hard as he realized that he was talking about himself.
Becca gaped at him for a long moment before she seemed to collect herself. “Um, how did your father and she start dating?”
“I’m not sure. I hadn’t seen them talk to each other very much.” He shrugged. “But then again, her husband only passed away a little over a year ago. It was the right time for both of them.”
“Oh. Well, she sure is pretty. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t know. She’s old.” He couldn’t wait to get out of this conversation.
“She’s still pretty. She seems sweet too.”
“She is sweet. She’s a nice woman.” Even though he hadn’t paid too much attention to her over the years, he did know that he and all his friends had given her husband a wide berth. No one had liked him much.
Still looking worried, Becca whispered, “You need to tell your dad that we saw her.”
“I know.” It wasn’t going to be easy to do, though. If Jeremy brought up Leanna, his daed would probably have questions. Or he would act like he didn’t care. Then Jeremy would feel stupid.
“Maybe he’ll feel so bad he’ll go over to her house and fix things.”
“Sorry, but I kinda doubt that,” he said. “I think I’m going to talk to my brothers first. One of them will have a pretty good idea about what I should say to him. I’m not going to tell Daed anything until I’m sure that getting involved isn’t a mistake.”
“Wow,” she said as they headed toward the bike racks. They’d ridden their bicycles there so she wouldn’t have to find a way to pick him up and he wouldn’t feel awkward because picking her up in his family’s courting buggy wasn’t possible. They lived too far away from each other.
“Don’t worry. It will be okay.”
“I hope so. Tell me what your brothers say, okay?”
“Okay.” He smiled at her, liking how Becca was worried about an Amish woman she’d only just met. She really was sweet. “Try not to worry.”
“Fine. So . . . what do you want to do now?”
“The same thing we talked about doing when we talked last night. I want to take you out for ice cream.”
They started pedaling down the quiet street. There was a frozen custard place about a mile away. Given its location, it was easy for both Amish and English folks to frequent it. Most everyone he knew had grown up going to Lolly’s at least once a year.
Except for Becca. She’d never been, and it was pretty obvious that she was excited about the treat.
When they pulled in and parked their bikes, there were around twenty people either in line or sitting at the cement tables.
He didn’t recognize anyone, but Becca did.
She smiled at a couple of people and lifted a hand to tell someone hi but didn’t seem to be in any hurry to introduce him.
Jeremy wasn’t sure if that bothered him or not. He didn’t say a word, but he did hope that she’d tell him later why she had kept her distance.
Instead, he motioned her to the line. One lady in her sixties handled one window, while an Amish girl around his age manned the other. In between the windows were the day’s flavors written on a whiteboard.
“There’s only five flavors?”
“Yep. And don’t even think about asking for a shake or a malt. They don’t do that here. You can get a cup or a cone. Small, medium, or large.”
“What do you usually get?”
“Medium.”
“Okay, that’s what I’ll get too.” She looked so serious. Very intent too. Like it was important to her.
It was cute. And maybe a little bit sad too.
He hated that Becca got stressed about something so little.
If they were alone, he probably would’ve given into temptation and put his arms around her and kissed her forehead.
Reminded Becca that if this was something that made her happy, then he’d take her out for frozen custard every week.
When it was their turn, they went to the open window where the Amish girl was working.
“Hiya, Jeremy,” she said.
“Hi, Rachel. I didn’t know you were working here.”
“I only got this job a couple of weeks ago. I’m new.” She smiled.
“How’s it going?”
Darting a glance at the older lady in the other window, she shrugged. “Some days are better than others. But I like it.”
“Rachel, this here is my girlfriend, Becca. It’s her first time here.”
“You’re in for a treat, then,” Rachel replied with a grin. “What do you two want?”
He placed a hand on her back. “You first, Becca.”
“Okay. Vanilla?”
He chuckled. “That’s it?”
Becca lifted her chin. “I like vanilla.”
“That’s a gut choice,” Rachel said. “We have the best vanilla frozen custard in the county. What about you, Jeremy?”
“I’ll have the peanut butter malt-ball crush.”
“Oh, it’s so good.” After Rachel told Jeremy the price and he paid, she went to get their cones.
“I’m glad we did this,” he said. “I don’t care if it’s not all that hot yet.”
“I’m glad too.”
Jeremy smiled at her but noticed that something had changed in her expression. Maybe she didn’t look as assured? Or maybe it was disappointment? “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Jeremy, I’m fine.”
And there it was. The number one phrase that each of his three brothers had warned him about. It seemed that “I’m fine” was the universal statement that women said when things weren’t actually “fine” at all.
The only problem was that for some reason a man was supposed to figure it out and fix whatever was wrong, even when they didn’t know what it was.
When Russell first told him about what “I’m fine” meant, Jeremy had laughed.
He’d been sure that Russell was exaggerating.
Or more likely, it was a case of him giving Jeremy a hard time.
When a guy had three older brothers, he learned real quick not to take everything at face value.
But now he realized that not only had all three of his brothers been telling the truth but the reality was just as confusing as they’d said it was.
“What do you mean by that?” he finally asked.
“That I’m fine?” She frowned at him. “I think it’s pretty obvious.”
“It’s not.”
“Jeremy, here you go,” Rachel called out.
“I’ll get them,” Becca said as she quickly went to retrieve their treats.
Needing a second, he stood where he was. He watched how cute she looked when she carefully took the two cups from Rachel and exchanged a few words with her, then turned back around to get some napkins.
His custard was good, but he was starting to think he could’ve been eating liverwurst and he’d think it was good. It was too fun to watch the way Becca enjoyed every bite. She actually looked sad when she finished.
“We need to come back here soon,” he said.
“Yeah.” Rolling her eyes, she said, “I bet you think I’m ridiculous, I hardly said a word while I ate mine.”