“The world will tell you to serve yourself first. But don’t listen, Hannah. Serve others and you’ll find true happiness.”
PATRICIA SCHWARTZ
How’d he ever let her talk him into coming up here? Reece eyed the Amish women strolling through the flea market with a gaggle of children following them. Seeing all the Amish here in Shipshewana was likely to make her discontented, and he’d had enough of that to deal with over the past four years.
“Isn’t this fun?” Hannah said, smiling up at him.
When she smiled like that, all was right in his world, and he let his irritation drop. “Want some caramel corn?” When she nodded, he stopped at another vendor.
The flea market at Ship held every Tuesday and Wednesday through the summer was famous all over Indiana and Michigan. The large space was packed with vendors hawking everything from purses to yard ornaments. He was bored already with the items. He’d rather look at guns or something.
When he turned to hand Hannah her popcorn, he found her deep in conversation with an Amish woman. He’d die if she ever left him to go back to her people. His gut tightened until she turned back around with a huge smile.
“There’s a big quilt display the next row over.” She grabbed her popcorn and lit out down the aisle without even waiting for him to say it was okay.
He would never understand her obsession with quilts. Why did she never look at him with the same concentration she gave them? His thoughts were always of her first, and he’d hoped for the same from her. He darted after her, intending to grab her arm and insist they go back to the car, but a man with a wagon got in his way, then three children darted in front of him. By the time he disentangled himself, she was nowhere in sight. He bit back a curse and stalked down the aisles. Nearly half an hour passed before he found her.
She sat at a picnic table with her shoulders slumped and tears on her cheeks. When she saw him, she rose and brushed at her wet face. “They weren’t there.”
“Would you just stop looking? The quilts will never show up.”
She would never find her mother’s stolen quilts, but that wasn’t what concerned him. He hated catching that faraway expression on her face. Maybe she wished she’d never left her people, wished she’d married the yodeling farm boy Noah. He couldn’t abide the thought.
“What? They have to be somewhere, Reece.”
“I forbid you to go looking anymore, Hannah.” He said it as sternly as he could with other people close by. She bit her lip, and her face took on the mulish expression he hated, but she just bowed her head and nodded. “Let’s go,” he told her. “We’re done here. I want to get back to Wabash.”
It had been a mistake to bring her here. She needed to forget the old life. Concentrate on him and being a good wife. After four years of training, he should have managed to eradicate the last traces of her defiance. She knew how her obsession bothered him, but she continued to search anyway. When the quilts were on her mind, he took second place.
She followed him out to the truck. “Can we stop at Blue Gate Restaurant for lunch?” she asked when they got into the hot cab.
He glanced at her bowed head. All he wanted was to get out of town before she stopped and talked to every Amish woman around. “Sure, honey. Just give me a smile first.” He waited until her head came up and her smile broke out, then drove to the restaurant. They joined the throng of people flooding into the place. It had been expanded to seat more than six hundred people, and the crowd annoyed him.
He ate a whole jar of the peanut butter spread and asked for more while Hannah just picked at a piece of homemade bread. “I thought you wanted to eat here, but you’re hardly touching anything.”
“My stomach is a little upset.”
He caught the longing on her face when she engaged their Amish waitress, a young girl, in conversation. So much for learning something from the scolding. He shouldn’t have brought her in here. She needed to be as far from these people as possible. She’d nagged him for years about finding an Amish community. Of all things, she wanted him to convert. He’d nixed that idea quickly enough, but she wouldn’t let it rest.
After the girl brought their meals, he bolted his down. “Let’s go.”
She left her spoon in the half-eaten bowl of homemade chicken-noodle soup and followed him out to the truck. For the whole ride home, she drooped against the door and stared out the window. When the truck zoomed around a buggy, she tensed and stared at the occupants.
“Riding in a buggy is different from riding in a vehicle,” she said.
“Yeah, the truck’s faster.” The last thing he wanted was to talk about the Amish. He didn’t want her longing for her old life. He’d given up everything for her.
“You’re not insulated in a buggy. You’re part of the community. We would call to friends out the open windows, smell the flowers, feel the breeze.”
“Do you always have to disagree with me, Hannah?” His hands gripped the steering wheel. There wasn’t an ounce of gratitude in her. After all he’d done for her, she still longed for her family. It wasn’t right.
They drove in silence until the truck got out of Shipshewana. She fiddled with her seat belt, adjusting it across her stomach in a weird way he’d never seen. He was about to tell her to quit it when she folded her hands in her lap and tipped her head to look at him.
“Reece, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.”
His foot came up and jammed on the brakes. He steered the truck to the side of the road, and a car zipped around him, blaring its horn. The male occupant thrust out his middle finger and shouted something as he flew past. On another day, Reece might have gunned the truck after him and tailgated him, but he was too shaken to react.
He turned to stare her in the face. “What did you say?” Maybe he’d misheard. His pulse was thumping in his ears, and he could hardly draw in a lungful of air.
She shrank away from him with her hand up for protection. “We’re going to have a baby, Reece.” Her smile was too bright. “Don’t you think it’s time? We’ve been married over four years.”
“No, it’s not time. I’ll take you to a clinic for an abortion.” He clenched his fists but had the self-restraint not to hit her. Maybe it was an accident. If it wasn’t, she’d have to be taught a lesson for her own good.
“I’m not having an abortion.” Her chin jutted out. “I’m not, Reece. You can’t make me. I—I’ll leave you first.” Her voice trembled just a little.
He couldn’t believe he was hearing those words from her mouth. “You think your family would take you back in? After leaving your husband? You know they won’t.”
She grabbed his arm with both hands. “Don’t make me choose between you and the baby. You think I’ll ignore you for the baby, but I won’t, I promise. I love you.”
“You’ve already chosen the brat over me.” He couldn’t believe it— couldn’t comprehend that she’d defy him so completely. The unfamiliar emotion shaking him was fear. Fear of losing her love, fear of their perfect life changing.
She squeezed his hand. “No, I haven’t. I can balance things. Give me a chance, Reece. Give us a chance.”
Staring into her pleading face, he weakened. Maybe she was right. She was too soft to do what had to be done. “Okay, but you have to have your priorities right. I’m the man of the house and I expect you to pay me the respect I deserve. Understood?”
“Understood.” She threw her arms around him and rained kisses on his face.
Which was just the way it should be.