Chapter 28
It didn’t seem to matter that this was Kyle’s third visit to the Walkers’ house. He still felt nervous and more than a little bit unsure if he was doing the right thing.
“Nothing you can do now,” he reminded himself. “You’re here and they saw you park your buggy.”
Realizing that Winter was probably wondering what he was doing, standing in her front yard like a scarecrow, Kyle shook himself off, trotted up their front steps, and knocked on the door.
It opened immediately.
“Kyle, it is gut to see you again. Wilcom back,” Jediah Walker said as he gestured for him to go in. “Winter will be downstairs in a moment, but I’ll take your jacket from ya.”
“Danke.” Kyle passed Jediah his jacket. It was slightly damp. They’d been experiencing an unusually wet summer, which was good for the land but annoying for travel. He looked down at his boots. They were free of mud but damp as well. “Would you like me to take off my boots?”
Jediah glanced down at Kyle’s Red Wings. “No need for that, son. A little bit of water never hurt a floor.”
“I guess not.”
Jediah once again looked completely at ease and relaxed. Since Winter seemed so high-strung, that surprised him, but he probably should’ve known better. The Lord knew that he and his parents took much in stride after Sarah’s hearing worsened. One couldn’t worry about everything.
Also, since the Millers and the Walkers belonged to different church districts, he hadn’t had too many occasions to speak to Jediah. They’d met once at an auction in Mount Hope, but that had only been in passing.
“How were the roads on your way over?” Jediah asked as they entered the living room.
“Muddy but decent.” He smiled. “As good as they can be in the rain.”
“Hopefully most of the vehicles were giving you a wide berth?”
“Wide enough.” He shrugged. “I’m grateful it’s summer. Driving a buggy home in the dark can be a challenge.”
“Jah. And the rain makes it worse.” He smiled. “Well, Winter will be glad you’ve come calling again. I’ll go see what’s keeping my daughter.”
“Yes, sir.”
When he was alone, Kyle looked down at his shoes and pants, hoping that neither had gotten too wet from when he’d tied the horse’s leads to the hitching pole and then walked the few yards to the front door.
As the minutes passed, he started thinking about how wet Angel was going to be by the time they got home.
Every time he’d taken the buggy out during the last few days, coming home had involved another hour’s worth of work. The horse needed to be dried, her hooves cleaned of mud, and then, of course, the buggy needed to be wiped down.
He knew not everyone took such care with their horses and buggy, but he wasn’t the type of person to neglect either the horses’ health or the Millers’ property.
But that didn’t mean that he didn’t wish he could simply release Angel, put her in her stall, and close the barn door.
“Hello, Kyle,” Winter said as she came downstairs.
“Hi, Winter.” He stood up, as stunned by her beauty as he was the first time they’d talked. Tonight, she had on another violet dress, this one leaning toward a grayish lavender. It made her pale skin seem even more luminescent and her pale blue eyes even more striking. “You look pretty.”
She smiled softly. “Danke.” Her smile deepened as she took him in. “You look a bit wet. Are you cold?”
“Nee. I asked your father if he’d like me to take off my boots. He said not to worry about it.”
“I’m only teasing you.”
Maude appeared in the doorway. “Hello, Kyle. Would you like water or kaffi?”
“Kaffi, please.”
“Very well.”
He glanced expectantly at Winter. Whenever he had called on Mary, she’d be the one to bring them refreshments, not her mother. “Do you need to help her?”
“Nee. Why?”
“Oh, no reason.”
Winter smoothed the skirt of her dress. “Does this look wrinkled to you?”
He glanced at the fabric that she was pointing to. “It looks fine to me.”
“Hmm. I don’t know if I’ll want another dress made out of this fabric again. Every time I wear it, I feel frumpy.” She lifted her head, gazed at him with wide eyes.
And he was at a complete loss of what to say.
Mary had been modest about her looks, though her golden hair had been especially beautiful. Then, too, he and Sarah had been raised to not dwell too much on appearances. It was a person’s character that mattered.
Realizing that he was finding fault with Winter’s worry, he cleared his throat. “I don’t think you look frumpy, Winter. I don’t know if you could ever look that way.”
“Danke.” She relaxed a bit.
“Here we are. Coffee and cookies,” Maude said as she brought in a tray and set it in front of Kyle. “Winter, I’ll bring you a glass of water in a moment.”
“Okay.” She crossed her legs. “Please, help yourself to the cookies. I think they’re rather good.”
“Did you bake them recently?”
“Oh, nee. Mei mamm did. I don’t enjoy baking all that much.”
Remembering just how awful the lemon bars she’d served him last time were, he murmured. “I see.”
“Here’s your water, Winter.”
Winter took the glass and set it down in front of her.
“Would you like anything else, Kyle?”
“Nee, Maude. Everything is wonderful. Danke.”
“You are welcome.” She smiled pleasantly before turning back to the kitchen.
Kyle felt antsy, though he wasn’t exactly sure why. Winter’s parents were gracious and the coffee was good.
Plus, Winter was gazing at him in a pleasing way. No, that wasn’t describing it. She was staring at him as if he was something special. As if she was truly happy that he’d driven over in the rain to see her.
Conversations with her were so different than with Daisy Lapp. Whenever he was around Daisy, the two of them could hardly stop talking. She needled him about this and that and he teased her about things that didn’t matter. They laughed together.
Even when they were standing in a field and talking to a milk cow.
Immediately, he was ashamed of himself. Here he was, sipping coffee in the Walkers’ living room but he was thinking about another woman. That was rude.
After all, it wasn’t Winter’s fault that he couldn’t think of anything to say to her.
He cleared his throat. “You know, it just occurred to me that I don’t know much about you.”
She frowned. “What do you want to know?”
“Oh, I don’t know. What do you like to do? Do you have any dreams?”
“Dreams?”
“Sorry. I sound foolish. I guess I was wondering if there was a place you’d like to see one day. A trip you might like to take. Or … a hobby you’d enjoy learning.”
“A hobby?” She wrinkled her nose. “No, not really.”
“I see.”
She looked down at her lap before glancing up at him with a distressed expression. “I’m sorry if you find me boring.”
“Nee. I didn’t say that—”
“It’s just, well, my needs and dreams are simple. I’ve always just wanted to be a good man’s wife, keep his house in order, and raise a houseful of children.”
“Ah.” Kyle struggled to keep his expression neutral. Nothing about her goals was unexpected, so why was he feeling let down about Winter’s confession?
Her cheeks pinkened becomingly. “Since I’m an only child, me and my parents have prayed that I’ll find a man who would want to live here with me and run this farm. That’s all I want. Someone to share my life with here.” She tucked her bottom lip against her teeth. Seemed to bite down.
Kyle couldn’t help but watch. Mesmerized.
“Do you think that’s a terrible dream, Kyle? Do you wish I wanted to do something else? Something more selfish?”
“Nee. No, of course not.”
She folded her hands on her lap. “My parents said when I get married, they’d build a dawdi haus and then my husband and I could have this house as our own.
That’s what I think about when I go to sleep.
I dream of one day sitting in here in the evening with my husband.
” Her voice turned deeper. Smooth. “We could talk about our children or maybe what our plans are for the farm …” She gazed at him again. “Would you hate that?”
Would he hate living in this pretty house gazing at his beautiful wife after working on a farm that was as successful and large as this one? “Nee,” he said honestly. “I would not hate that life at all.”
Winter exhaled as her body seemed to relax. “I’m so glad about that.”
“Winter, forgive me if I made you uncomfortable. I … well, I just wanted to know you better.”
“I want the same things that you do.”
“I’m stunned you haven’t already been snapped up.”
“Thank you for saying that.” She lifted a shoulder. “But a lot of the men around here seem to want different things. I knew if I prayed hard enough He would answer my prayers.” She smiled shyly. “Perhaps He has.”
“Perhaps,” he said. Well, croaked.
Thirty minutes later, he was driving the Millers’ buggy home in the pouring rain.
It was slow going. He took care to keep their buggy horse on as many back roads as possible.
When the downpour slowed to a faint drizzle, Kyle finally allowed his head to accept what his ears had heard.
If he married Winter, he could finally have a farm of his own.
And children. He could live in that sprawling, well-built farmhouse and wake up every morning next to a beautiful wife.
It was obvious that that was what Winter wanted. And though he’d barely talked to her parents, they’d certainly been welcoming, too.
Within a year it could all be his.
He just didn’t understand why his heart wasn’t all in.
He didn’t understand that at all.