Chapter 38
When Tabitha had finished helping Miri load the last of her things into her buggy, they both got into their own buggies and headed down the road in opposite directions.
Tabitha would have to let Moses know that his herd had a clean bill of health now, but she had no doubt he’d find her and ask.
Moses was a good farmer. Maybe not quite as passionate as Miri, but he knew his job.
In days past, when she had some extra time, Tabitha would have gone to find Jonas.
She’d find some excuse—maybe come with some information about sheep farming—and he’d be happy to see her, even if his daet gave them both some unsettled looks.
But those days were gone, and Tabitha would need to find some other way to spend her off hours.
She idly considered driving up to see Amanda at the hog farm, but she dismissed it.
She could go visit Rose, but this time of day the baby was probably sleeping, and that meant Rose could have a chance to nap, too, and she hated to make Rose visit with her when her younger sister’s eyes were drooping with fatigue.
Besides, Tabitha wasn’t going to be very good company today, anyway.
Ever since this morning, her mind had been on Jonas.
Jonas with his sweet smile and his keen observations.
Jonas with his sharp sense of humor that could make Tabitha snort with laughter.
Her Jonas. She shouldn’t think of him that way, and she would certainly try to stop, but right now in her heart, Jonas still felt like hers. He loved her, and she loved him.
But somehow, it had all gotten turned upside down in her efforts to do what was right.
“Gott, I thought I was doing the right thing,” she whispered. “And I sent him off to another woman.”
But would it be any easier to see Jonas go off and start his life with his deserving bride if Michael were still living? She doubted that it would. She’d still love the man. And she’d still lose him.
Sunlight flooded in through the open side of her buggy, and she felt the familiar warmth of Gott’s presence along with it.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”
Even through the worst of it, Gott was with her, and she could feel his comforting presence letting her know that she was on the right path, no matter how difficult that path might be.
But Tabitha was now free to find a husband if she wanted to. If it were even possible being a veterinarian with an Englisch past, a divorce, and a dead husband. Would she have to give up her career? Would it be one or the other?
“Show me what you want me to do, Gott,” Tabitha prayed. “But if I can pray for the least likely blessing . . . heal my heart and give me a man to love who can accept me as I am, with my job. I can’t imagine loving anyone but Jonas, but you can help with that. I really do want a family of my own.”
It felt very unlikely right now, though. Like Miri, Tabitha was different from the rest of the women here. And she was different from the Englischer women. It was a lonely path, but not as lonely as it could have been.
Tabitha opted to head home, and by the time she reached her familiar drive, she was feeling somewhat cheerier.
She’d make her daet a pie today. That would be something sweet for both of them to share.
And while Tabitha’s pies were nothing compared to her sisters’, they were better than no pie at all.
And her daet was a man to appreciate fine points like that one.
There was another buggy parked next to the stable, though, and she recognized the horse immediately. What was Jonas doing here?
Her hard-won cheer seeped away, and her stomach clenched. Yah, she wanted to see him, but she’d only spill her emotions all over the place, and she didn’t want to cry in front of him.
Jonas appeared from around the side of the stable, her father at his side, and Jonas stopped in his tracks when he saw her. Maybe he didn’t expect her to be home. She reined in.
“You’re home early,” Daet called.
So they weren’t expecting her.
“Yah, I know. I have some time before my next veterinarian visit,” she replied, hopping down from the buggy. “Did I interrupt something?”
“I was just telling Jonas that you weren’t home,” Daet replied.
Good old Daet, trying to get rid of men who broke his daughters’ hearts.
“Can I—” Jonas looked at Daet, then over at Tabitha. “Can I talk to Tabby alone?”
“I’m not sure that’s proper,” Daet replied. “Don’t you have a fiancée?”
“Nee.” Jonas looked pleadingly toward Tabitha. “I don’t.”
“Technically, that’s true,” Tabitha said. “But she’s close enough, Jonas. My daet should stay.”
For her own emotional stability as much as anything else. But Tabitha wasn’t going to play those games. There was right, and there was wrong, and she wasn’t going to dabble in the gray area between the two.
“Nee, she’s not my fiancée. And she isn’t going to be. Not anymore,” Jonas replied.
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“After I—” He swallowed, his gaze flicking over to Daet uncomfortably. Daet didn’t looked fazed, and he raised his bushy eyebrows.
“After what?” Daet asked.
“Tabby, can we discuss this privately?” Jonas pleaded. “I’m not with Christina anymore. I called her.”
“On a phone?” Daet broke in.
“Her family has one in their barn. I called this morning when they were milking, so I could talk to her, and I told her what I told you.”
Tabitha’s heart skipped a beat. He’d told Tabitha that he loved her . . . he’d told her that he wouldn’t be able to look away from her . . . he’d said a lot of things. He’d told Christina about all that?
“Daet, maybe I could talk to him alone,” Tabitha said. “Over there. Within sight.”
Daet muttered something and trudged off toward the house, and Tabitha led Jonas to a spot in view of the kitchen window.
She stood there properly straight and with her hands folded in front of her, but her heart pattered in her chest like a runaway horse.
Jonas reached for Tabby’s hands, but he dropped his when she didn’t reach back.
“You told her what?” Tabitha asked. “I need you to be clear.”
“I told Christina that I love you,” he said. “I had sent her a letter explaining that Michael had died, before we went to the graveyard. I didn’t want any secrets. So when I told her on the phone that I couldn’t deny my feelings for you, she wasn’t exactly surprised.”
So now this poor woman was brokenhearted too. Tabitha couldn’t help but feel bad for her.
“Is she okay?” Tabitha asked.
“Yah. She’s okay. She’s disappointed. She’s angry with me—understandably.
But she understands. She doesn’t want to be married to someone who can’t give her his whole heart.
I told her the truth—that you weren’t available when I went to Ohio, and it all happened after I came back.
Thankfully, Nellie Stoltzfuz had another couple of men who wanted to meet Christina, so I’m sure she’ll be matched right quick.
And she has that widower neighbor who’ll be glad to see the back of me, I can tell you that much. ”
“Good.” Tabitha swallowed hard. Christina would have other matches, other options. And Tabitha sent up a silent prayer that Gott would provide for her. “So . . . you’re single?”
“Oh, I’m very taken, Tabby,” he said earnestly.
“By you. It’s been you ever since you returned to Shepherd’s Hill.
I’ve been in love with you for longer than I’ve admitted it to myself, and our whole community seemed to know it before I did.
I love you, Tabby. You’re like my heart beating outside of my body.
When I make a decision, I think about what you would want.
When I see something that amuses me, I think about how I’ll tell you about it.
Every woman pales in comparison to you, and I don’t want anyone else. You’re free now, aren’t you?”
“Yah, I am free,” Tabitha said, tears welling up. She’d told herself she wouldn’t cry in front of him, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make good on that promise.
“And do you love me too?” Jonas asked, his voice wavering.
“More than life, Jonas.”
Jonas nodded a couple of times, his expression relieved. “Can I hold your hand yet, do you think?”
Tabitha reached out, and his warm, calloused fingers closed around hers as he tugged her up close to him. His gentle brown eyes caught hers and held them as firmly as he held her hand.
“I wrote a letter to the matchmaker, too, explaining myself,” he went on. “I’m doing this the right way. I’m being honest and open, and I’m not hiding anything, even if I look like an utter fool at the end of this.”
“Why would you look like a fool?” she whispered.
“Because I’m about to ask you to marry me,” he said. “And you might not be ready. You might say no. You might not see me that way, you might—”
“Then ask me already!” Tabitha said, her patience coming to an end. He was here with her, so close to asking the question, words she’d never hoped to hear from this man she cared for so deeply. She held her breath, looking up at him, her heart in her throat.
“Marry me, Tabby,” he whispered.
There it was. . . .
She nodded. “Yah.”
A smile touched his lips. “Yah?”
“Yah, I’ll marry you.”
Jonas slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss. His lips were warm, and his breath was sweet, and she twined her arms around his neck, her heart nearly beating out of her chest with shock and joy.
“When?” Jonas asked, pulling back.
“What?” She blinked up at him.
“When will you marry me?” he asked.
“As soon as we can,” she replied. “This fall?”
Jonas kissed her again, and she heard the screen door slam open and her father’s footsteps pounding down the stairs.
“Enough of that!” Daet bellowed. “Hands off, Jonas Peachy. I told you once that you were not to toy with my daughter’s heart, and once is enough!”
Jonas jumped, and Tabitha couldn’t help but laugh.
“Daet, we’re getting married,” Tabitha said.
“What now?” Daet’s eyebrows went all the way up. “So this girl in Ohio . . .”
“I broke it off before I even brought it up with Tabitha,” Jonas said.
“I talked to Christina already and called it off. I wrote to the matchmaker and explained. I told everyone in Sugarcreek that I love your daughter and I can’t live without her, and now that she’s free, I can’t marry anyone else.
And thankfully Tabby agreed to marry me, because otherwise, I’d just keep on coming by until I wore her down. ”
A smile now wreathed her father’s face. “High time too, Jonas. So you’ve seen the light, have you? Good. But what will your father say about this?”
Not so long ago, Daet and Jonas’s daet were feuding enemies. And now their kinner were engaged.
“I think he’ll be worried about you having enough celery,” Jonas said.
“We’ll buy it,” Daet said with a grin. “There will be plenty of celery soup, never you worry. Congratulations, Jonas! Be good to my daughter, and you’ll have no trouble from me!”
Tabitha looked up at Jonas, and he grinned down at her.
“Let’s take a ride and talk about the wedding details,” Jonas suggested.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But I have an appointment at a farm in two hours.”
“Then we’ll start talking about wedding details,” Jonas said. “And tonight we can tell my parents and figure out the rest?”
Tabitha swallowed. “Jonas, my job—”
“Is a part of you,” Jonas finished for her. “I’m marrying the veterinarian of Shepherd’s Hill. I get it. Do you really think I’ll complain when I have the best veterinarian in Pennsylvania at my side while I raise sheep?”
Tabitha’s prayer from an hour ago flashed back through her mind. She’d asked for a husband and her career—both together, if that was possible. And here she stood, breathless, speechless, and completely in love with the man before her. When Gott answered a prayer, he answered a prayer!