Chapter 11
W hy the green shirt?” Seth asked as Jacob headed down the hall past their bedrooms.
“It’s Meeting.”
“Jah, but you haven’t worn that shirt since—”
“Since I thought that I could win Sarah?” Jacob laughed over his shoulder as they went down the stairs.
“Did I miss some major lightning bolt in the middle of the night—besides your impending engagement?”
“Nope. Just feel like wearing my best shirt.”
“And so you should,” Mary Wyse interjected from where she stood at the cookstove. “It brings out the color in your eyes.”
“Vanity, Mamm, vanity,” Seth teased, encircling his mother’s waist with a hug.
Jacob bent to kiss his mother, then took a plate to the table. “I suppose mothers are allowed a bit of partiality.”
Samuel Wyse lowered The Budget from in front of his face and eyed Jacob. “Feeling well this morning, son?”
“Right as rain.”
“And how is Miss Lilly?”
“She’s gut, Daed.”
“She’s had a lot to deal with since Doc Lapp passed. I imagine you’ll lift a lot of weight from her shoulders once you marry.”
Jacob nodded. “I’ll try.”
“We’ll miss you here about,” his father said from behind the paper, and his mamm made a soft sound of agreement.
“I’ll be here for work every day and will come anytime you’d like to have us. I want to get Lilly used to the horses.”
“Gut, maybe I’ll teach my beautiful future schweschder-in-law to ride,” Seth announced, sliding up to the table with his plate of bacon and eggs.
Jacob took a sip of coffee. “Too late, little bruder; I’ve already offered.”
“Ach, my loss.”
“I know quite a pretty girl who might be willing to have lessons from you, if you’ve got the time.”
“Who?” Seth sat up straighter, eyes wide with interest.
“Kate Zook.”
Seth sighed. “I find myself too busy for lessons after all.”
“Boys!” Mary Wyse admonished from the stove.
Jacob shot a look at his brother and they smiled together in silence.
Lilly sighed under her breath as her mother continued her tearful explanation as to why she could not attend Meeting—yet again. Sometimes Lilly felt she could withstand her mother’s sharp tongue more than her crying, but in all honesty, all Mamm’s recent behaviors were becoming more difficult. Lilly had been praying lately to respond with more love to her mamm’s needs, and so she tried again.
“Please, Mamm. There’s plenty of time left to get ready. You could wear one of your new blouses. And besides, I miss your company. And, well, today the deacon will officially announce the engagement.”
“Yes, but it’s not your place to be there when it’s announced. Every other girl stays home the day of the announcement.”
“I know, Mamm, but Jacob already spoke of it before everyone. Sei so gut, won’t you consider coming?”
“I don’t feel well, Lilly, yet you’re always trying to pressure me. Sometimes it feels like you don’t really care about me at all.”
Lilly blinked back her own tears at the accusation and sat down on a small chair near the bed. “Mamm, I love you. I always have. I don’t mean to sound as though I don’t care. I can remember when I was a little girl and we made applesauce together, and you’d sing the hymns from Meeting. You taught me so well.”
Her mother sniffed. “I remember those times too, Lilly. You had such beautiful hair …” She reached over and touched Lilly’s kapp with gentle fingers. “You still do. I loved to braid it before Meeting.”
Lilly smiled. “And I always wanted to pull away from you and the comb!”
“You did. I’d chase you all over with your hair flying out behind you like a beautiful banner.”
“And you never grew angry, Mamm—no matter how late we were. I loved that moment when you’d catch me up in your arms and laugh.”
Her mother slipped her hand down to cover Lilly’s. “Do you remember Sunday afternoons? We’d go down to the watermelon patch in the summer to play and thump the melons with our fingers, trying to find the ripest one?”
“Ach, jah, Mamm. And then we’d haul the melon back to the house in my little red wheelbarrow and ice it down for supper. There was nothing like that frosty sweet redness!”
“You loved to spit the seeds out—always having distance contests with your father.” Her mother sighed suddenly and slid her hand away. “It seems like, since he died, I just forget things—even the words to our beloved hymns.”
Lilly touched her arm. “Ach, Mamm. Let me help you remember.”
Miriam Lapp shook her head. “I can’t, Lilly. I just can’t. It’s just too hard to face all those people. You go on now. Forget about me.” She turned her face resolutely to the wall.
Lilly rose from the chair, knowing when she’d lost the moment. “I’m sorry, Mamm. I won’t trouble you again to go. I know you don’t feel well.”
She went down the stairs, mentally exhausted, and the day had yet to truly begin. At least, she told herself as she put on her cape, she could gain the comfort of Meeting, and that was something to be grateful about.
Here she comes,” Seth murmured, giving Jacob a poke in his lean ribs.
Jacob sighed as Kate Zook made her purposeful way to where the brothers were standing, waiting for Meeting to assemble.
“She may well be seeking you since I’m engaged.”
“I don’t think anything’s going to derail that girl’s train.” Seth grinned. “It’s an express headed straight toward you.”
“But why?” Jacob pleaded.
“It’s your shirt.”
“Seth … Jacob.” Kate smiled, baiting them with her attractive eyes. “It’s so good to see you … again.”
“Kate.” Seth smiled. “Always a pleasure.”
She nodded in an absent fashion but stared at Jacob until he wished he had kept his coat on.
Seth clapped him on the shoulder. “Gotta get to my seat.”
When Jacob would have followed, Seth waved him still. “Nee, stay and visit with Kate a bit. I’ll save you a place. No problem.”
Jacob ground his teeth but smiled down at the coy face of the girl in front of him. “So, how are you feeling after your chill last night?”
“Oh, I’m fine, thanks to you—and Lilly Lapp, of course. And the buggy ride home. It was so warm …” She shifted her weight onto her other foot and briefly laid her hand on his arm. “I’ve been thinking, after seeing you and Miss Lapp together that … well, maybe this whole engagement thing is just a ruse. Will you tell me the truth?” She swept her lashes downward. “I can keep a secret.”
Jacob controlled the angry words that came to his lips. He told himself that she was young and naive, impetuous, and not unlike how he himself had been at her age.
“No ruse, Miss Zook. Just a marriage, plain and simple. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
She laughed deliberately, a high-pitched sound that caught the attention of several women nearby. Jacob straightened and frowned.
“Ach, Jacob Wyse, you are as entertaining as can be.”
“Right, danki.”
“I’m not like Lilly.” She lowered her voice to a husky drawl. “I love horses and am not afraid of them at all. And it’s finally perfect weather for a sleigh ride.” She batted thick eyelashes while he plotted ambushing Seth in his sleep for leaving him in this situation. His gaze swept the barn for an excuse, any excuse. When he caught sight of Lilly’s calm profile as she sat on the end of one of the hard Meeting benches next to Alice Plank, he tipped his hat to Kate.
“Miss Zook, a good day. Excuse me, I see Lilly …” He crossed over two empty benches with his long legs and escaped to the other side of the barn, leaving Kate’s angry and speculative frown behind.
“Lilly, Alice.” He pulled off his hat. “How are you both today?”
“Very well,” Alice said.
Lilly looked up at him. “I’m fine. How is Kate Zook?”
Alice coughed.
Jacob looked at Lilly cautiously but was pleased to see the calmness in her blue eyes. “A bother to me,” he confided.
Lilly raised an eyebrow, asking a question he couldn’t discern.
“Maybe today’s official announcement will scare her off,” Alice offered.
“If it doesn’t, maybe I’ll tell her Seth likes her.”
Lilly’s unasked question changed to a smile, while Alice covered her mouth to hide hers.
Meeting was about to begin so he backed away, when Lilly handed him a green envelope. “I know it’s not usually customary, but I just thought—well, read it and please let me know.”
He took the note and nodded. “Surely.”
He made his way to where Seth sat, taking his time to sit down, making sure to elbow his brother twice as he got situated.
“Ow,” Seth hissed, rubbing his side. “All right. I’m sorry about Kate.”
“No you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’m not,” Seth said, adding his mischievous grin.
Jacob shook his head and slid him the envelope under the cover of his coat.
“Now what did you do?”
Jacob shrugged. “Maybe nothing.”
“Sure …”
“Just read it. I have to let Lilly know something.”
The first hymn began and a sharp blast of wind whistled through the Stolises’ barn. The green envelope danced from Seth’s hold to twirl in the air and then land. Seth rose to make a grab for the paper, then stumbled backward onto the bench, but not before he’d caught the disapproving eye of many in the community.
“What are you doing?” Jacob growled, under the cover of singing.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she never even noticed.”
Lilly saw her green envelope blown from Seth’s hand and wanted to cover her face with her cape in embarrassment. How could he? How could Jacob show his brother the invitation? It was meant to be something private. It wasn’t really personal, but private nonetheless. It seemed the two were having a joke at her expense. She tried to brush aside the thought that Jacob may even have told Seth the details of their engagement and the truth behind it. She told herself it didn’t matter. But embarrassment soon gave way to simmering anger as the Meeting continued.
She would not speak to him—that was it—engagement or no engagement. To think that she’d begun to trust him. He apparently thought nothing of the feelings of friendship and camaraderie he’d created in her with his kind words of interest about her insecurity around horses. Perhaps he had learned to be kind and polite around other girls as a matter of necessity while he’d been waiting for Sarah. She put aside the internal voice that suggested Sarah was no longer someone he could wait for, urging her to see what truly happened, to give him a chance to explain.
She nearly jumped when Alice reached over and squeezed her hand. Lilly looked at her friend, who leaned close.
“Are you all right?”
Lilly nodded, managing a weak smile. She turned her face to the front. But her attention was still highly focused on Jacob’s insensitivity.
When Meeting ended hours later, she wanted to bolt from the bench like a pig out of the chute, but one of the deacons stood up with a piece of paper in his hand and a smile on his face. She’d nearly forgotten the engagement announcement, and now she’d have to endure pleasantries while she fumed inside. She should have listened to her mamm and stayed home.
The deacon always enjoyed his role and smiled and teased the crowd a bit before he would read the names of the couples to be married within the next month. Finally, he cleared his throat, and the crowd rustled expectantly. This time was usually a surprise for all but the couples and their immediate families.
“Mary Stolfus and Christian Esh, Naomi Glick and Benjamin Lantz all wish to announce their intention to—ah, just a moment, I seem to have forgotten one couple. So sorry.”
Lilly wanted to crawl under the bench at the joke as Alice squeezed her arm.
“Lilly Lapp and Jacob Wyse also wish to announce their intent to be joined as man and wife before this community.”
Everyone laughed and Lilly avoided looking in Jacob’s direction. As people rose and turned to speak to her, she murmured politely. She excused herself from Alice with a promise to see her later in the week, then worked her way toward the barn doors. When she was finally free, she hurried up the lane to where the buggies stood in a line. she’d untied Ruler, climbed onto the buggy, and grasped the reins, when a large hand closed over her gloved fingers.