Rosemary watched from the porch as her father stowed his crutches in the back seat of Katherine’s buggy before he hobbled to the front seat. Then they both waved as Katherine pulled away. Katherine had offered to take him to the market today. Rosemary knew good and well that her father was capable of taking himself. He’d already done so several times. She shook her head, disappointed that she hadn’t seen the truth before. Everything Katherine had done for their family was only in an effort to win over her father. And apparently, she had succeeded.
She sat in the rocker on the front porch for a while, glad that school wasn’t out yet and the boys were gone, glad that her father had left, and wondering what things would be like between her and Saul today, assuming he showed up. But when she saw his buggy pulling up the driveway, her stomach rolled, and she jumped from the chair and went into the house. She stayed to the side of the window and peeked a few times. Once he’d tethered his buggy, he hauled the tiller to the garden.
For the next two hours, she tried to stay busy. She got the floors cleaned, made a grocery list, and tidied up her father’s bedroom. But not once did she pass through the living room without looking out the window toward the garden. Saul was a hard worker, and no matter what had happened, the man was easy on the eyes. He’d always been handsome, but for the first time since they were teenagers, she was envisioning a life with him. A life without children. Could she be happy, just the two of them?
She stood at the front door for at least five minutes before she started toward the garden. Her heart was heavy about Saul, and about the thought of Katherine becoming her stepmother, which just seemed outrageous. She wanted to be happy for her father, but she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that he must be in love with Katherine. Rosemary knew her father pretty well, and she didn’t think he’d be behaving so carelessly unless he really loved Katherine. Thank goodness the boys hadn’t seen any of their public affection.
Saul stopped tilling when Rosemary neared the gate. The man was dripping in sweat. I should have at least brought him something cold to drink.
“Wie bischt?” Rosemary tried not to cringe, unsure if Saul even wanted to talk to her. He wiped sweat from his face with a rag that was tucked in his pocket.
“Ach, it’s going gut.” He paused, the hint of a smile on his face. “Mighty warm out here, though.” He pointed to a thermos lying nearby on the ground. “Finished that up already.”
Rosemary took a step closer, until she was right on the other side of the fence. “If you’ll hand me your thermos, I’ll fill it up with iced tea.”
“Danki, that would be great.”
Rosemary stood there a few moments, curling her toes in the grass beneath her bare feet, feeling the awkwardness. No matter the situation, she couldn’t see herself with anyone but him. Is this Your plan for me, Lord? Am I to sacrifice my dream for a large family to be with Saul?
“How’s your arm?”
“Much better. Danki.” He stood looking at her. Rosemary wondered if he felt half as awkward as she did. Maybe he just wanted her to go away.
“I’ll go then and let you get back to work.” She smiled, then turned to leave.
“Rosie?”
She stopped, turned around, and waited, her heart still pounding as hard as it was when she came out the front door.“Ya?”
Saul scratched his chin for a moment and grinned. “I thought you were going to help me.”
She swallowed hard. “Uh . . . I . . . uh, I mean, you said your arm was better.” She shrugged and looked down at the grass. “And after yesterday, I was thinking you probably didn’t want me around.” She looked up, knowing she sounded pitiful. But she felt pitiful.
“It’s better, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt and that I couldn’t use some help.”
She stared at this handsome man standing on the other side of the fence, the one who had stolen her heart when she was young. His boyish dimples, beautiful blue eyes, and broad shoulders made her feel a bit weak in the knees, and with clarity, she could almost feel his lips on hers as they’d been five years ago. And she longed to feel them again.
“Okay.” She pointed toward the house. “My gloves are inside. I’ll get them when I fill up your thermos.”
Saul smiled and said, “I’ll be here.”
Saul watched her for a few moments before he started back to work, Katherine’s words replaying in his mind. “. . . there is a reason that you two didn’t get together when you were young.”
Saul had prayed about it last night. He’d worked hard at being mad at Rosemary, and her wishy-washy behavior was frustrating. But he loved her, a fact he couldn’t deny. He did miss the Rosemary he knew at sixteen. I wonder if I’ll ever see that girl again.
His arm was throbbing. He’d known that pushing the tiller would be the hardest part of this job, but he was almost done, then he could start planting the seeds. For Saul, that was the best part of putting in a garden. Though gardening was normally women’s work, Saul had been in charge of it at his house for years. His mother and Lena would water and maintain it, but Saul laid the seeds in the soil, a process that made him feel closer to the Lord. He finished tilling just in time to see Rosemary pass through the opened gate toting his thermos and her gardening gloves.
“Here you go.” She smiled as she handed him the thermos, and Saul wished he could pull her into a hug. It would be more than enough for now. But the ice still felt thin, and he wanted to step softly.
“Danki.” He chugged down half of the thermos, put the lid back on, and blew out a breath. “I needed that.”
She folded her hands in front of her. “As you know, I’ve never put in a garden. I used to help Mudder when she was alive, but even then, I didn’t like it, and I’m sure I was more hindrance than help.”
“Come and see.” He pointed to a large bag he’d brought and motioned for her to follow him. He kneeled down, and she did too. “We are late into the planting season. Some plants tolerate root disturbance and it’s gut to start early. Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, eggplant, and even tomatoes should be planted before now.” He turned to her and smiled. “But we’re going to plant tomatoes anyway. And there are some veggies that don’t like to be transplanted that do well when you direct seed them. We’re late on those, too, but they’re cold hardy, like corn, beans, and peas.”
Rosemary sighed and shook her head. “Gonna be a long time before those little seeds become vegetables.”
Saul chuckled, which felt good in light of everything. “You might have to keep accepting vegetables from Katherine for a while. She’s told me how much she enjoys her visits with your family.” He paused. “And during one of our conversations, she even seemed a little disappointed that I was putting in a garden for you.”
Rosemary frowned. I bet she is.
Saul was busy sorting through the seeds and putting them in piles. Rosemary wondered how often Saul and Katherine talked. Maybe Katherine was hitting on all the single men in the community, not just her father. Maybe she preferred men ten years older or ten years younger.
One thing she knew for sure—her father’s heart was involved, and if Katherine’s intentions weren’t exclusive to Daed, she needed to know. As much as she would like Katherine out of the picture, she didn’t want her father hurt. Accepting Katherine into their lives was the lesser of the evils, as long as she wasn’t making herself available to other men.
“Are the two of you gut friends, you and Katherine?” Her stomach flipped, and she was suddenly afraid of the answer.
Saul stopped his seed sorting and looked up at her. “Ya, we are very gut friends. Katherine is a wonderful person. Any man would be lucky to have her.”
Rosemary swallowed hard, surprised that Katherine was a contender for Saul’s affections after all the energy Saul had spent chasing Rosemary over the years. Jealousy was a sin, but Rosemary was experiencing it. Again. And both instances had one thing in common: Katherine. Everything about her rubbed Rosemary the wrong way, and the thought of Katherine and Saul together was even more disturbing than Katherine being with her father.
“I saw Katherine kissing mei daed.” The bold statement was fueled by jealousy, and as soon as she said it, she regretted it.
Saul didn’t look up from sorting the seeds, but he grinned. “Or maybe you saw your daed kissing Katherine?”
Rosemary folded her arms across her chest. Hmm . . . He didn’t seem a bit bothered by the news. “It’s very inappropriate for them to be carrying on like that. I mean, what if the boys had seen?”
Saul stood up, brushed dirt from his pants, then shrugged. “I don’t think the boys would have cared. I think they like Katherine.”
Rosemary walked closer to Saul. “How do you know so much about Katherine and mei family?”
Saul shrugged. “I told you. Katherine and I are gut friends. She loves gardening, so we started out sharing gardening tips, and the friendship just grew from there.” He paused, swiping at a bee that was buzzing around him. “And she brings us lots of food. I’m especially fond of her pineapple cherry crisp.”
Rosemary walked closer to him, close enough that she could see the tiny scar above his right eyebrow. She’d forgotten about it until now. She remembered when Saul got hit in the forehead with a baseball bat when they were young. He was playing catcher, and Levi Esh had swung the bat a little too close and nailed him in the forehead.
“Katherine brings food to your family?”
“Ya. And Mamm and Lena take things to her too. It’s called sharing.” Saul winked, then tore open a package of seeds with his teeth.
“I share. All the time.” Forgive me, Lord. It was a tiny lie. She’d been so busy feeling sorry for herself and tending to the household that she hadn’t made much time to do for others. She reached for the package of seeds that Saul was getting ready to rip into. “Give me that. You’re going to break a tooth.” She peeled back the top of the package and wondered why Saul had used his teeth. “There aren’t many in here,” she said. It would be winter before these seeds produced any vegetables, and they would probably freeze over. By then, Katherine might be living with us, and then she can take care of the garden.
She pushed the thought aside, and when Saul squatted down in between two rows of freshly tilled dirt, Rosemary did too.
“We’ve been lucky that it hasn’t rained. It’s best to plant in dry soil, fertilize, and then water like crazy when you’re done.”
Rosemary watched Saul lay out the seeds, spacing them perfectly with a steady hand. You would have thought he was performing surgery or that his life depended on the exact placement of each tiny seed. His expression was stern, his mouth tight, and his eyes completely focused on the task.
“These are fast-growers. The large-seeded ones usually are, like this squash.” He delicately dropped the seed in, pushed on it, and looked up at her. “They’ll root pretty fast.” He wiped his brow. “That’s the key. We want them rooted well. Then you’ll just have to water them gut every day.”
While Rosemary didn’t relish the idea of adding another task to her chore list, she had to admit, she’d be anxious to see the first signs of growth, and Saul’s passion for gardening was almost contagious. Almost.
They finished the row of squash, then Saul walked to the other side of the garden where he’d left a brown backpack. He came back holding a tiny flag with the word Squash written on it. He stuck it in the ground. “There. The first row is done.”
They both stood up, and Rosemary felt something slither beneath her bare foot. Without thinking, she jumped and threw her arms around Saul’s neck. He swooped her up as she screamed. Nothing scared her more than snakes. She buried her head in his chest and clung to his shirt with both hands as he cradled her in his arms.
“Is it gone?” She held on tighter. “Please tell me it’s gone!”
Saul held her even closer. “You’re okay. It’s all right.” He spoke softly, tenderly. “It was a tiny grass snake.” He eased her down on the ground, then burst out laughing. “No bigger around than a pencil, and not much longer.”
Rosemary playfully slapped him on the arm. “It’s not funny!” But the more he laughed, the larger her smile grew, and before she knew it, she was bent at the waist laughing just as hard as he was, and thinking how dumb she must have seemed. It felt good to laugh. Saul stopped before she did, and when she faced him, he was staring at her.
She struggled to get control of herself, and finally she said, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“There she is.”
Rosemary turned in a circle, looking all around before she turned back to him. A slight smile was on his face, but his eyes were serious and locked with hers. “Who?” she asked.
“The Rosie I remember.”