The following morning Catherine devoured a large stack of buttermilk pancakes, the thick maple syrup giving her a much-needed boost of energy. Last night she had stayed up late writing a letter to her cousin, and once the kitchen was tidied up, she planned to head into town to mail it. She half expected her brother and sister-in-law not to agree with her decision to go to Florida. Even she’d admit her response was rather spontaneous. Still, leaving town seemed the only answer to her problems, and she had prayed about her decision, although not with her usual fervency. Humming softly, Catherine slid the forked piece of pancake around her plate, sopping up the maple syrup.
“You certainly seem chipper this morning, Catherine. I’m glad you’re feeling yourself again.” Gwen passed the plate of sausages to George, who took a few small patties and passed the plate on to Leah.
Catherine swallowed the bite of pancake with a drink of milk. “Jah, I feel much better, danki.” She glanced at Julie seated beside her and winked. Her youngest niece had once again awakened in the middle of the night and ended up sleeping with Catherine.
George pulled the pancake platter closer, then stabbed his fork into one and transferred it to his plate. Focused on eating, he’d been quiet since coming in from the morning milking. That wasn’t unusual, but Catherine sensed something was lying heavily on his mind. Gwen must have sensed it too, because she finished eating faster than normal and was pushing the children to do the same.
Moments like this made Catherine wish she had her own place, then maybe she wouldn’t feel as if she were imposing. Not long ago George had talked about converting one of the smaller sheds on the property to a daudi haus, only it wouldn’t be fixed up for a grandparent but would become her home. Although she’d been grateful her brother offered to give up one of his equipment sheds, at the time she believed she wouldn’t be living with them long since she and Zach had been courting seriously for more than a year. Refusing to revisit the latest turn of events, she pushed her chair away from the table, stood, and then collected the dirty dishes.
“Catherine, I’d like to have a word with you.” George motioned to her vacated chair. “Please sit down.”
“Okay.” She glimpsed Gwen shuttling the children out of the kitchen. No doubt Elijah’s speech the other day had something to do with this meeting. Catherine set the stack of plates back on the table and returned to her chair. Her brother, ten years older, had taken on the fatherly role in her life at an early age, and over the past few years, he’d begun to look like Daed, often sharing the same deadpan expression.
She cleared her throat. “What would you like to talk about, George?”
“You know how fast gossip spreads in our district and the problems it tends to create.”
She held up her palm to stop him. “Before you continue I just want to say that I”—she swallowed hard—“I don’t know what came over me to geh to Alice. I knew she would tell the bishop . . . but seeing Elijah again had brought back so many hurtful memories, and he kept seeking me out. I didn’t know his fraa had passed away.”
George picked up his mug, brought it to his mouth, but paused. “I think Bishop Zook was the only person he’d told.”
“I acted impulsively.” She shrugged. “I was wrong. I’ll speak with him and apologize.”
George drained his coffee mug, then stood and went to the sink where he filled it with tap water. He gazed out the window a long moment before turning to face her. “The reason I asked to speak with you was to find out if it’s true that you proposed to Zach Lantz. Is it?”
The muscles tightened in Catherine’s neck and shoulders, sending a dull, pulsating throb to her head. Not another headache. It had taken hours for the last one to subside.
“Catherine?”
“Jah, it’s true—I acted impulsively about that too.” Heaviness filled her chest as Zach’s betrayal sank in. Why did he tell anyone, especially her brother?
George sighed. “That impulsiveness is exactly what worried Zach. You haven’t been acting yourself lately. Is there something else going on?”
Besides Zach’s rejection, The Amish Table closing . . . Elijah? “I, ah . . . I need a change.” She lowered her gaze to the breakfast crumbs on the floor.
“What do you mean by change? What sort of change are you looking to make?”
“Our cousin Dawn has invited me to kumm to Florida. She needs help in her bakery.”
“You’ve never gone that far before.”
“George, I’m twenty-nine years old. And I prayed about the trip. The change will do me gut.”
He frowned. “Have you told Gwen?”
“I planned on telling her after breakfast.” She leaned back in her chair to look into the sitting room. “I don’t see her. Should I geh get—”
He shook his head. “I didn’t want little ears listening to our conversation. Leah is at an impressionable age, and I certainly don’t want her getting it in her head that it’s okay to propose to a man.”
“Then mei leaving will be gut for everyone.” Catherine picked up the stack of plates, walked over to the sink, and lowered them into the basin. More dirty dishes waited to be picked up from the table, but she couldn’t face the disappointment she would see in his eyes. Instead she watched a pair of cardinals pecking at seed in the bird feeder outside the window. Such beautiful creatures with their bright red wings and black masked faces, a stark contrast to the snowy backdrop. It always amazed her how birds knew instinctively when to fly south, and how some, like cardinals, didn’t migrate at all.
Snowbirds . . . Catherine smiled, recalling her cousin’s description of Florida-bound northerners. Going to Florida to work wasn’t technically a vacation, but who knew? Perhaps this snowbird would not migrate home at the end of the season. Jah, a one-way ticket was all she needed.
After her purchase, Catherine thanked the woman at the ticket booth, then proceeded across the small lobby while at the same time double-checking the departure date and time. The disclaimers at the bottom of the ticket caught her attention. Not that she planned to change her mind about going to Florida before Thursday, but she’d never taken a bus before and wanted to be prepared.
Her eyes strained reading the small print. Nontransferable, nonexchangeable. Budget Bus has the right to cancel without prior written notification in accordance with—
Catherine’s arm brushed against something sturdy, and when she looked up, Elijah greeted her with a wide smile. The ticket fluttered from her hand to the floor, and he squatted down to retrieve it.
“I’m beginning to think there’s something magnetic between us.” He looked the ticket over as he stood. “We seem to be drawn to each other.”
Ignoring his comment, she snatched the ticket from his hand. “I’ll take that, danki.”
“Who’s going to Florida?”
“You looked at mei ticket?”
“Sorry.” He opened his mouth as if to say more but didn’t utter more than a few undecipherable syllables before clamping his mouth closed, his lips forming a tight line.
“I’m going to visit mei cousin in Sarasota.” Not that it’s any of your business. Catherine jammed the ticket inside her handbag. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“I told you I wasn’t planning to stay long.”
“You’re leaving before your mammi’s birthday celebration? I thought that’s why you came back.”
He scratched his bearded jaw. “Things change.”
“Jah, things change,” she echoed absentmindedly. “I’m sorry about your fraa.” About involving the bishop . . .
“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I hope you believe me.”
She nodded. “I got that message—along with the entire congregation,” she mumbled under her breath. Heat infused her face, recalling how everyone had shifted their attention to her.
“Making that speech wasn’t exactly mei idea, but I am glad you know the truth nau.”
Having been put in her place and not especially proud of her actions, she averted her gaze to the floor. “Elijah, I was the one who—”
“Ratted me out?”
Catherine looked up to find him grinning. “You knew it was me?”
He nodded. “I tried to find you afterward, but you had gone home.”
“I wasn’t feeling well.”
“And here I thought you were just avoiding me.”
Catherine smiled. She liked that he could joke with her again, especially after seeing how choked up he’d been on Sunday when telling everyone about his late wife. Questions still lingered as to why he promised to love Catherine forever yet married someone else, but she resisted the temptation to unearth his motives. The relationship they’d shared was buried long ago, and while digging it up could answer some questions, the pain of unearthing the truth might be more than she could endure at the moment.
He glanced toward the ticket booth. “I see there’s no line. I should probably go purchase mei ticket. It was nice to see you again, Cat.”
“You too.” She took a few steps and turned. “Elijah?”
He spun to face her. “Jah.”
“Couldn’t you postpone your trip a little longer? You shouldn’t miss your mammi’s birthday. Even if she sleeps through most of the celebration, it would still mean so much to her for you to be home.”
“You think so?”
“Jah, I do. Unless you have somewhere important you need to be.” She looked beyond him at the ticket booth, and even though he glanced over his shoulder, he didn’t volunteer any information about his travel plans, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
He stepped closer. “Will you still be in town?”
“I leave Thursday.” The get-together for his grandmother was planned for Wednesday. Birthdays in their district were kept simple. Never before had the members come together for such an event, but since so many people talked about wanting to shower Irene with cards to celebrate her one hundredth birthday, an exception was made.
He wagged his brows in a teasing manner. “Maybe I’ll see you there?”
“Perhaps.” As a playful smile tugged at her lips, warning alarms blared in her head. Why couldn’t Zach have the same easygoing nature?