Chapter 1 #2
“Not to the county.” Joanna stared straight ahead. “But to the Strasburg area, jah. I moved in with Mammi Lu and Dawdi Marcus a few months ago.” She gave him a sly glance. “I’m friends with Mandy.”
Adam’s voice lowered. “Mandy?”
Joanna rolled her eyes. “The girl you went on a date with.”
He laughed and brushed his bangs, which were still a little long, out of his eyes. “I didn’t. Caleb did.” Adam continued talking. “I had ice cream with the two of them last week, that’s all.”
Joanna’s face grew warm. Thankfully it was dark enough she doubted Adam would notice if she had turned red. Had Mandy lied? Or had Joanna misunderstood her?
“What were you talking to the girl in the blue dress about?”
“Ruthie?”
Joanna nodded. She hadn’t seen any other girls in blue dresses. Most of the others were wearing dark green. Except Emily, who had on a purple dress.
“Not much,” Adam responded.
“It looked serious. Did you break up with her?”
After a moment’s hesitation he said, “Jah. I don’t want a long-distance relationship.”
“Wait, so you went out on a date with Mandy while you were still courting Ruthie?” Joanna needed to stay away from Adam.
“Nee,” he said. He leaned back against the bench seat. “Mandy’s not my type.”
“How about Miriam?” Joanna asked. “Is she your type?”
“Miriam?” He was bluffing. No one forgot Miriam.
Joanna played along. “Mandy’s twin.”
He laughed. “Oh, her. Definitely not. She’s too wild for me.”
Miriam was too wild for Joanna too. The twins were as opposite as possible, even though they were identical. Miriam made Joanna nervous—she reminded Joanna of her Dat.
For the next couple of hours Joanna and Adam talked, first about Little Women, which Adam said he’d like to read.
She asked what it was like to grow up in Spartansburg and he told her—lots of freedom to fish, hunt, and ride horses.
He didn’t mention his stepfather, his younger brothers, or his mother.
He said he moved to Lancaster County to learn more about the remodeling business from his grandfather.
“You don’t want to be a farmer?”
Adam smiled wryly. “There’s no farm for me to farm.” The tone of his voice made Joanna wonder if one of his younger brothers would inherit the family land.
Joanna wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Adam was closer to her than when they’d started the journey.
He must have inched across the seat as they talked.
She squinted. He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.
“You need to buckle up.” She patted the strap across her shoulder.
“Mammi Lu said your grandparents are strict about safety in their work van.” Mammi Lu had mentioned that one time when they were riding in another Amish driver’s van together.
Adam hesitated.
Joanna leaned toward him until their noses were an inch apart.
She smelled a hint of aftershave, which distracted her for a moment.
But then she said, “I wasn’t joking about you putting on your seatbelt.
” Jah, she was concerned about his safety, but also about Mandy.
Joanna wasn’t sure that Mandy didn’t like Adam.
She wasn’t going to betray her friend by encouraging him.
Adam smiled broadly, but retreated and did as she said. As he clicked the buckle, he shifted the conversation back to Mandy. “I don’t know why Mandy would have said we went on a date.”
Joanna didn’t want to speak for her friend. “Well, sometimes information becomes misconstrued.”
“Misconstrued?” He laughed. “What kind of Vatt is that?”
Joanna smiled. “An I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-why-she-would-have-said-what-she-did kind of word.”
He put his hand over his heart. “Ouch. You got me.” He leaned toward her. “Who are you courting?”
Joanna wasn’t courting anyone, but she didn’t want to tell Adam. She ignored him.
The van began to slow, taking the exit to a rest area.
Streetlights lit up the interior of the van as Nick parked the vehicle.
The two sets of grandparents began to talk as they stepped out of the van.
Joanna admired how close they all seemed.
She wanted that someday—good friends and a strong community.
In the restroom, Becky asked Joanna if she’d found a job.
“Not yet,” Joanna answered. “I’ve been doing chores and weeding Mammi’s gardens.
” Mammi Lu sold flowers to tourists in a stand by the highway.
Besides growing daffodils and tulips and her spring perennials, Mammi grew peonies, bachelor’s buttons, black-eyed Susans, cosmos, zinnias, salvia, dahlias, gladioli, bellflowers, sunflowers, and more.
Becky took a tube from her purse and ran it over her lips.
Was it tinted? Nee. Just more expensive than the drugstore lip balm Joanna used.
When she’d finished, Becky said, “I’m looking for someone to organize the warehouse, clean our two vacation rentals, and wash the linens.
That sort of thing. Would you be interested? ”
“Jah.” If she had a job, maybe her Dat would stop pressuring her to move to Maine.
“Wunderbar!” Becky beamed at Joanna in the mirror.
“Come into the office Monday morning.” Becky put the tube back in her purse and then patted the top of her Kapp as she said, “We’ll talk.
” Becky was Mammi Lu’s age—sixty-four—but she was spry and stylish and still beautiful, with curves that showed because she, or someone, had tailored her cape dress with purposefully placed pleats and tucks.
She also wore a sleek black cardigan that Joanna guessed was made out of cashmere. Jah, Becky was old—but still beautiful.
Mammi Lu was pretty too, but in a soft, squishy sort of way.
Joanna linked her arm through Mammi Lu’s as they walked back to the van. Sometimes her grandmother had balance issues, and Joanna didn’t want her to trip. That was Joanna’s excuse. Really, she just liked to be close to Mammi Lu.
When they reached the van, Ike and Dawdi had switched seats but otherwise everyone was in the same place. Joanna stepped to the back.
Adam followed her and immediately fastened his seatbelt.
“So.” He picked up the bag of chips in the middle of the seat that he must have purchased at the mini-mart. “Who are you courting?” He passed the bag to her.
As Joanna read the ingredients she asked, “Why do you care?” She popped a chip into her mouth and chewed slowly.
Adam leaned toward her. “Are you evading my question?”
She smiled. “I’m barely nineteen.”
“I think the point is, you are nineteen. Most Amish Youngie start courting by our ages.”
“How old are you?”
He squared his shoulders. “Twenty.”
“You might be ready to court—but I’m not.”
“I don’t believe you. The right person hasn’t come along is all.” He sat tall. “I could be that person, that man.” He leaned closer. “Let me take you out for ice cream at the creamery for our first date.”
She forced herself to laugh. Was he serious? “We just met. We have plenty of time. Let’s just be friends.” She brushed her hand on her apron and then extended it to him because, regardless of how forward he was, she still found him appealing. “Friends?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Men and women can’t just be friends.”
Adam was annoying—but he was also handsome and talkative, in a good way. Plus he listened. And he also smelled good. Perhaps they could be more than friends, someday.
Adam turned forward and leaned back against the seat. “I think you’ll change your mind.”
Joanna pulled her hand back, feeling conflicted. “Time will tell.” Him asking her to court when they’d only just met seemed impulsive, a red flag for Joanna. And yet, he had a lot of good qualities.
She passed the bag of chips back to him. Joanna let out a sigh of relief as the van turned down Mammi Lu and Dawdi Marcus’s driveway. The house was intact. So was the barn.
“Do you plan to go to the Youngie gathering tomorrow evening at the bishop’s farm?” Adam asked.
“Jah.”
“Gut.” He grinned. “I’ll see you there.”