Chapter 5
Joanna arrived at the park at three forty-five and sat on the grass among a patch of daisies. First she people watched. Several older Amish and Mennonite men played bocce ball while a group of Mennonite women, some older, played volleyball. The ringleader reminded her of Becky.
Joanna picked daisies and then began connecting them. After a couple of minutes she felt eyes on her and raised her head. Adam. He was about ten feet away.
She stood and slipped the daisy chain around her wrist—it wasn’t big enough for her neck—and said, “I was thinking maybe you’d changed your mind.” But she didn’t really mean it. She didn’t think Adam was the kind of man who would stand someone up.
“Did Mandy come?” Adam asked.
“Was she invited?” Joanna was surprised at how sassy she sounded. There was something about Adam that brought that out of her.
Adam shrugged. “I thought Elaine might make her come with you.”
“Nee. She was napping when I left. So were Daniel and Elaine.”
As they walked, Adam commented on her daisy chain. “Nice bracelet.”
“Denki.” She held up her wrist. “Not sure my bishop back home would approve, but I’m pretty sure my bishop here won’t care.”
Adam laughed and then said, “The creek is called Philippi. It’s a tidal creek that flows out to the Gulf. The tide is coming in right now, which means it’s higher.” After his explanation about the creek, he grew quiet. Much quieter than usual, which seemed odd.
“I’ve only been canoeing a couple of times,” Joanna said, filling the silence. “My oldest brother had one.” Leon was three years older than she was and had been the best big brother she could ask for. “He used to take it out on the Susquehanna River, and I went with him a few times.”
“Then you can show me how to canoe,” Adam said. “I usually go in one of my friend’s kayaks, but he doesn’t have a double one.”
When they reached the creek, Joanna stopped. The water was high on a bank lined with oak trees draped in Spanish moss. A breeze made the leaves and the moss and all the other foliage sway back and forth. Birds flitted about. And tropical flowers bloomed on both sides of the creek.
Adam motioned to a dock. “We’re almost there.”
She skipped for a few steps, her eyes still on the enchanting scene before them.
When they reached the boathouse, he grabbed two lifejackets and handed one to Joanna. She promptly put it on and buckled it, while Adam simply slipped his on.
“Buckle it,” she said.
“I’m a pretty good swimmer.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You still need to buckle it.” She was a good swimmer too, thanks to Leon.
He swept his hands up and dramatically clicked the latch into place. Then he grabbed two oars and motioned to the canoe. “You should get in first.”
She followed his instructions.
“You made that look easy.” Adam handed her an oar.
Then he untied the rope, threw it in the back, and climbed into the canoe while holding his oar, sending the craft rocking. Before he sat down, Joanna pushed away from the dock, ready to be on the water.
Adam laughed. “Are you trying to tip me out?”
“I’d never do that.” She shot him a smile. “At least not at the beginning of a trip.”
The creek was wide and high from the winter rains, and the trees leaned over the water. It was all so beautiful. She was happy, very happy, she’d agreed to go canoeing with Adam.
He steered out to the middle. Adam increased his strokes and Joanna did too. She told him about Leon. “He always looked out for me. He loves to hike and fish and canoe. He’s the one who had a bike for a while.”
“Does he live in Lancaster County? Or Maine?”
“Maine. He married when he was twenty. I like his wife—Katie. They have a little one now.” Joanna paused a moment and then said, “Katie is a big help to my Mamm.”
“Do you your miss your family?”
Joanna looked back at Adam. “Honestly?”
“Jah.” He had an of course expression on his face.
“Not really.” She knew it sounded bad. Perhaps ungrateful, maybe even childish.
She thought of Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, who was always so composed, so mature.
“I think about them, but I’m much happier living with Mammi Lu and Dawdi Marcus for now.
” She wouldn’t bother to explain that her father had wanted her to move to Maine.
Once Becky hired her, he was content for a few months that she had a job.
But then he grew restless and started up about it again.
Just recently, Jacob’s uncle, Enoch Byer, had written to Dat and told him what a good match she and Jacob were, so he’d stopped asking her to move for now.
“What about Leon?” Adam asked. “Do you miss him?”
“Jah, but he’s busy with his own farm and now his little family.” She stared straight ahead and shrugged. “We’ve grown up. It wouldn’t be the same if I lived in Maine.”
“What about the rest of your brothers?”
She turned her head again, just a little. “What do you mean?” Was he asking if she missed them?
“What are they like?”
She laughed. “A pack of wolves.”
“Pardon?”
“Boys,” she said, louder. “They’re a big bunch of boys.
Two sets of twins. The older set is fifteen months older than I am.
Then one more brother and last, another set of twins.
There was never a dull moment.” Her father was the wildest of them all.
“What about your family?” she asked. “I remember seeing your mother and stepfather, and your two little brothers.” She paused for a moment.
“Your family is half the size of mine. Are your brothers wild too?”
He laughed a little. “My next youngest one is a smart aleck. The very youngest is sweet, though. At least he was last time I saw him.”
After a while Joanna noticed the light was waning. Because it was so warm, the lowering sun threw her off. Dusk would fall soon and the sun would set by six o’clock. “We should head back. Elaine will start wondering where I am.”
When they reached the dock, as Adam stood to step onto the planks, he lost his balance. Joanna reached out to him. Trying to catch himself, he instead lurched backward.
“Adam!” Joanna called out as he fell out of the canoe and into the creek.
As he hit the water, the canoe flipped. Joanna tried to lunge out into the creek, but the canoe pulled her under, submerging her.
She quickly surfaced underneath the capsized canoe.
Leon had told her what to do—keep calm and swim out from under it.
She took a breath, dove under the water, and swam out toward the middle of the creek. When she surfaced Adam swam toward her, his hat in one hand. He gasped, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She began laughing as she treaded water. “At least the water is warm.”
“Jah.” He smiled a little. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “We’d better get the canoe righted.” She swam toward the dock. “I’ll get out. Push it toward me. I’ll grab it and then we can flip it together. Watch for my oar—I think it’s still under the canoe.”
Joanna managed to climb onto the dock. As she stood, her dress clung to her legs. Thankfully both her sandals were still strapped to her feet. Her plan worked and a minute later Adam put the oars in the boat house while she tied the canoe to the dock cleat.
As Adam took his life jacket off, Joanna noted the shirts in Pinecraft seemed thinner than the ones back home.
She looked away from his pecs and biceps and glanced down with alarm at her dripping wet dress.
She quickly took off her life jacket, handed it to Adam, and then folded her arms over her chest.
“I’m not feeling very modest right now.” She cringed and said, “I don’t think the bishop would approve of this back home or here. Sorry.”
“Not your fault.” Adam gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m the one who flipped the canoe.”
“It’s not your fault either. You didn’t do it on purpose. I’m just trying to figure out what to do. I can only imagine what Elaine will think of me if I show up at the cottage looking like this.”
“Come to my place,” Adam said.
She giggled. “That’s probably worse than me going back to the cottage dripping wet.”
“No one will know,” he said. “I promise. My roommates are all at work. It’s only a few blocks from here. I have a dryer.”
By the time they reached Adam’s cottage, the sun was setting. As he unlocked the door, he said, “I have a pair of sweatpants you can wear. And a sweatshirt.”
“Are they clean?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t do that to you.” He grinned and then pointed to her wrist. “Your bracelet.”
She held it up.
“I’ll put it on the windowsill,” Adam said.
She slipped it off and handed it to him.
Adam stepped into the kitchen with it and then returned. “Wait here.” He motioned to the small table with two chairs. “I’ll put on dry clothes and then set things up for you.” As he walked toward his room, he slipped his suspenders off his shoulders.
It didn’t take long for him to change and gather what Joanna needed. She rinsed her wet clothes, wrung them out, hung her Kapp up on the shower curtain rod, and then changed into his sweat suit.
As her clothes dried, Adam made ham and Swiss cheese sandwiches. While the two ate their supper on his patio, Joanna thanked him for his help. He’d known exactly what to do.
He leaned toward her as he said, “You’re welcome.”
She tilted her head. What had she missed about Adam Slaybaugh the first time she’d met him? Jah, they’d only known each other seven days, but it felt like much longer. He was so easy to be with. “When do you plan to come back to Lancaster County?”
“To stay or to visit?”
“Either.” She took another bite of sandwich.
“I’m not sure. I’m committed to my work here for a while. . . .” His voice trailed off.
When he didn’t say anything more, she concentrated on eating.
Maybe he didn’t want to come back. Maybe he planned to stay in Florida indefinitely.
She thought she’d felt chemistry, as Mandy would say, between them earlier in the day as they hurried back to the beach.
And then as they walked to the creek. And on the canoe.
And especially after he capsized the canoe.
But she must have been wrong. She finished her sandwich as the dryer buzzed.
“Perfect timing.” Joanna popped up to retrieve her clothes, taking her plate into the kitchen first. After she changed back into her dress and apron and put her wet Kapp over her wet hair, she looked in the mirror.
Her apron was wrinkled and her Kapp looked ridiculous.
But at least her dress wasn’t clinging to her body.
She just needed to get to the cottage, take a shower, put on her nightgown, and climb into bed and read for a while.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, Adam stood at the open front door talking to . . .
Ruthie.
They must have seen each other at the same time because Ruthie squealed, “Adam. What is she doing here?”
Mortified, Joanna froze. Ruthie put her hands on her hips.
Joanna took a step forward. And then another.
She found her voice, “I was just leaving.” She couldn’t tell what was going on between Ruthie and Adam, but it seemed to be more than he had let on.
Worse than that, though, who knew what Ruthie might say about Joanna being in Adam’s cottage.
If Elaine found out, Joanna doubted she’d keep it quiet. What if the gossip reached Jacob?
She quickly added, “Adam just let me use his bathroom—that’s all.”
Ruthie took a step into the house.
“Excuse me.” Joanna sidestepped around Adam and then Ruthie.
“Wait,” Adam said as she marched out the door.
Joanna waved. “I need to get going. Denki!”
“What’s going on?” Ruthie’s voice was loud and hurt.
“Joanna!” Adam hurried after her.
She turned and quietly said, “Please don’t make this worse than it looks.”
He stopped. She waved again, this time at Ruthie. “Have a good evening!”
Why did she feel guilty? She’d done nothing wrong. Except maybe go out with someone who was courting someone else. Was Adam trying to play her? She held up her wrist. She’d forgotten her daisy chain. Oh well. She wasn’t going back. It was a soggy mess anyway.
She looked for Adam at the beach and the park over the next week but didn’t see him. Obviously he was avoiding her. It didn’t matter. She’d go home to Jacob; Adam would stay in Pinecraft with Ruthie.
When she finished Sense and Sensibility the next to the last day of the vacation, she thought of Adam.
She wondered if he still found her more on the side of sense than sensibility.
Usually, she saw herself as practical and in control.
But a few times on the trip, she’d found herself moved by emotions, both on the beach and then canoeing on the creek with Adam.
And in his cottage, until Ruthie arrived.
She sighed at the memory. There was something about Adam that she found appealing, but that didn’t mean he was the right man for her.
However, she had said she’d loan him the book, and she’d keep her word.
She guessed they knew him at the ice cream shop.
She wrapped the book in brown paper, wrote Adam Slaybaugh on the front, and dropped it off on her way to the park to make one last daisy chain, this one big enough to go around her neck.