I—you—what?” I stuttered. I thought I heard…I wondered if he meant… not growing up English was so hard sometimes! I crossed my arms. “I’m sorry, I don’t know that I understood you quite right.”
“I think we should date,” Will repeated, taking yet another step closer. “I think we should spend time together doing various activities and getting to know each other better.”
“Various activities,” I echoed.
“Right.”
“And we would be doing this because…”
Will’s gaze captured mine. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Sara.”
“Oh.” I took a step closer to him without thinking. “Really?”
He nodded. “Really. Have been for a while.”
I gave a small smile. “That’s…nice.”
“Nice?” He lifted an eyebrow. “Just nice?” He brushed a piece of hair from my face.
I could never have expected my response in that moment. Will and I had touched before, but the contact had never been intentional. This time was more than different. Will’s hand in my hair was an epiphany. My eyes closed as memories flooded through my mind. Will and I decorating the shop for Christmas, Will helping me back to the shop after the accident and letting me wear his socks and cry into his shoulder. Will there helping me move, taking the news of my background with a surprising calm.
I flashed on memories of the way Will responded whenever Arin was in the shop. The way Will read to me until I fell asleep. The way he brought me coffee at work. So many little pieces, adding up to something so big, so important. In that moment, I knew. I understood. Will was falling in love with me.
And I was falling in love with him.
I raised my hand and stroked a piece of his hair, near his ear. It was as soft as I’d expected, so dark, with a touch of curl to it. I traced the line of his eyebrow, the one that arched and quirked and showed on the outside what he was thinking on the inside.
“Sara?” Will’s eyes were dark and serious.
“Yes?” My hand had moved to the back of his head; I fingered the hair that liked to brush against his collar.
“If you don’t want me to kiss you, you should probably take a step back.”
My gaze held his. I don’t know where my boldness came from, but I inched forward.
Inched, because we were toe-to-toe as it was.
His breathing grew husky. His hand stroked my cheek, my chin, the back of my neck. My eyes fluttered closed.
He kissed my lips with incredible gentleness, greeting them softly before weaving his hand into my hair and making a more thorough introduction.
I kissed him back. My movements were careful, unpracticed, but I wanted him to know I was with him. I trusted him. I was falling for him just as readily as he for me.
Will ended the kiss, pulling back ever so slightly, leaving a tiny kiss on my cheekbone that made me shiver. He tucked another piece of hair behind my ear. “I hope that means you’ll go out with me.”
I giggled. “Yes. I will.” I tilted my head. “But you should know I’ve never dated the way English people date.”
“You went on dates with Arin,” he pointed out.
I shook my head. “But I was never interested in Arin. I never thought of it that way.”
He took my hand, leading me to the living room.
And stopped. I followed his gaze. Oh, that…
“What is that?” he asked, pointing at the gigantic colored mass that had taken up the living room floor.
“My quilt.” I took a seat on the couch, sitting cross-legged against the arm.
“Wow. Did you get tired of your bedspread or something?”
“Something like that,” I hedged.
The answer must have satisfied Will, because he sat on the couch near me.
“What were we talking about? Dating?” he asked, folding his own limbs until he looked comfortable. “Tell me about it.”
“Well,” I started, “first off, all courting is a secret from the family. At least, mostly a secret. Everyone pretends it is, at least. After everyone goes to bed, the young men go courting. They go to the girls’ windows, the girls climb out, and they go driving. Sometimes they drive into town—if the boy has a car—and walk around Walmart. Other times, the boy comes over and the couple sits and talks in the living room for most of the night.”
“While everyone’s asleep?”
“Yup. I know—it sounds weird. Jayne was shocked when she found out. The first night Jayne stayed at our house, she rushed into my room and tried to protect me from the shyest boy in town.” I smiled at the memory. “She was going to protect me with a shoe.”
“I can believe it. So your parents, who I imagine are conservative people, were okay with you sneaking out at night?”
“That’s how they courted.”
“I guess…that makes sense. Huh. How familiar are you with English dating habits?”
“A little.” I folded my hands in my lap. “I’ve watched Jayne and Levi, after all. I know there’s a lot of food involved. And gifts—Levi likes to give Jayne gifts. I’ve heard Kim talk about how the guy is supposed to call within a week after a date, and that means the guy still likes the girl, or something. But that a text doesn’t always count, and especially not if the text is just smiley faces and not actual words.” I sighed. “It just seems so complicated. She had something to say about email too, but my head hurt too much. When I was Amish, sometimes we left notes for each other. But there were no smiley faces and certainly no emails.” I rested my head against the back of the couch. “Things were much simpler back then, in many ways.”
Will stroked my knee with his finger. “You told me once that you didn’t want to go back. Is that still true?”
“There’s nothing there for me,” I told him, my heart aching with the words. “I hid my things from my family. They thought I was happy, and I wasn’t. I lied to them. I know that I would have left even if I had told the truth, but still, I don’t like that I deceived my parents.” I shrugged a shoulder. “I’m here now.”
“Think about it all the time, huh?”
I could only tell him the truth. “Yes.” I looked away. “But it’s not an option.” I jumped when the timer for the miniature pie beeped in the kitchen. “Our pie’s done!” I said. A look in the oven confirmed my suspicion. I pulled it out and inspected it for doneness. The crust was golden brown. I poked a knife through the hole to find that the custard had firmed. Rather than let it cool and set, I scooped generous portions onto dessert plates.
“You’re serving it up now? It doesn’t have to rest or anything?” Will rose from the couch. “Let me give you a hand. Do you want something to drink with that?”
I put a hand on my hip. “I’m the hostess here! That’s my line.”
“I wanted to help out.” He gently moved my hand from its position, propped on my hip. “At ease, soldier.”
I shivered when he ran a light hand down my shoulder blade.
“Do you want anything to drink?” he repeated.
“Milk.”
I watched, transfixed, as he poured me a glass and handed it to me before pouring one for himself.
“So what about you,” I asked as we walked back to the living room with our food. “I assume you’ve dated lots of girls.”
“Never.”
“Never?”
“I never met a girl who surprised me.” He looked up from his pie. “Not like you.”
Will and I talked and laughed until I began to replace talking with yawning.
He gave me a lazy grin. “You’re tired, aren’t you.”
I yawned again. “Maybe.” I smiled. “It’s been a busy day. But a fun day.”
“Yeah? So, since we’re dating, I should probably ask you out on a date.”
“Something that doesn’t involve going to your parents’ house?” I stretched an arm in the air.
“Preferably not. I know you’ve got movie nights on Fridays. Saturday then? Are you free?”
I hesitated, but only for a short moment. I realized that dating Will meant less time not only for school but also for the quilts I needed to make to pay my bills. Could I afford the time?
Could I afford not to? I looked at William sitting in front of me. His body was relaxed, his eyes kind. The time? I would make it work. “I’m free Saturday,” I said.
His face opened into the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen.
I knew I’d made the right choice.
Working around the clock, I finished the first quilt that week. I celebrated the final stitch by splurging on a sweet latte.
Not that it helped—I also fell asleep in class twice. Britta woke me up before the instructor had a chance to notice.
At the shop, Will commented on my lack of energy. “Are you doing okay these days?”
“I’ve had a lot of projects lately,” I hedged.
“But everything’s fine with school?” He leaned in closer and put an arm around me. “I’m a little worried about you.”
“What is with you guys lately?” Zach’s voice came from behind.
We turned around. Zach stood with his hands on his hips, studying us. “Will? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I thought he was still on break,” Will said under his voice. He grabbed my hand. “Sara and I are seeing each other.”
I looked up at Will in surprise.
“He was going to figure it out sometime,” he told me. “I thought he’d be more subtle about it.”
“Zach? Subtle? Really?”
“You guys know I’m still here, right?” Zach asked. “I mean, I kind of figured things were going, you know, that way. I mean, Will’s been making googly eyes at you for a while. A long while. But, man,” he placed his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt you didn’t tell me.”
Will wasn’t about to be pulled into Zach’s melodrama. “I just told you.”
“But, I mean…”
Will stepped forward and gave Zach a slap on the back. “It was on a need-to-know basis.”
“Glad I know now, at least. It would have been awkward to find out on your wedding day.”
I froze. Will didn’t—he just told Zach to stop wasting his time while he was on the clock.
He turned back to me and placed a kiss on my cheek. “In all fairness, we should go back to work too. Promise you’re okay?”
I pasted a calm expression on my face. “I’m fine. Everything’s okay.”
With the aid of Sonnet’s camera, I uploaded pictures of the finished quilt and posted it on eBay for a starting bid of $1,750. I prayed it would sell quickly at a high price. Livy had graciously covered my share of the deposit on the apartment, saying she had the cash and knew I’d pay her back.
Between that and living expenses, the ambulance bill, and the growing realization that I needed a car, I awaited the sale of the first quilt with anticipation.
I had a window in my schedule on Friday, so when Levi called early in the day and asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch, I agreed.
“Noah’s Bagel okay with you?” he asked. “I think that’s pretty central for both of us.”
“Perfect,” I told him, excited about seeing my older brother.
He was waiting for me inside when I arrived. “Good to see you!” he said before enveloping me in a warm hug.
I hugged him back. “Congratulations again. I know I said that on Saturday, but I’m so excited I thought it could be repeated.”
Levi was excited—I could tell. His eyes were bright, his smile unwavering. We ordered and sat down with our drinks.
“Tell me how classes and work are going,” Levi said as he leaned forward. “And Will, if you’re willing to share.”
I couldn’t stop a goofy smile from spreading across my face. “Will and I are dating. I…we…we’re really happy.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded.
“Good. Classes? You look tired.”
“I’ve been quilting.” I propped my head up with my hand. “Quilting and doing class assignments. And working. It’s been a lot, but the first quilt’s done and up for auction, and the second one is halfway through.”
“That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to let you know that I got a letter from mom yesterday.”
I straightened. “Oh?”
“They’re fine. Dad’s in good health. He’s apparently started drinking green tea. Anyway, she sent some cash for you.” He rose to get our sandwiches.
I was still frozen when he returned. “She what?”
“She wrote a note about it. Her reasoning is that if you’d left home because you’d married, you would have received enough in gifts to set up your household. Since you’re not likely to go home and marry an Amish man, she sent some money to you to help defray the costs of living. How did she put it? ‘Living in the English city of Portland.’” Levi held up a hand. “I realize you may not want to accept the money, and that’s your choice. But I want you to know that it’s there.”
“How much?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
Levi tented his fingers. “One thousand.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Dollars?”
“Yes.”
I put my sandwich down. “Oh my goodness.” I tilted my head. “Oh my goodness.”
“Like I said, what you do about it is entirely up to you.”
I sighed. “It seems like no matter what I do, my Amishness keeps creeping in. Money from home. Money from quilting. I came here wanting to be an Englischer, and yet I keep going back to my background to support myself.”
Levi shrugged. “I used to run an Amish woodcraft shop. But you know what? I was good at it. I miss working with my hands these days. Nothing is ever going to change the fact that you grew up Amish. Being English doesn’t mean you’re starting over. I think of it as building on who you already are. And the fact that Amish goods can bring a high profit, well, it’s out of your control. I want you to be able to eat, and if quilting on the side is the best way to support yourself, who could argue with that?”
“I haven’t told Will about it,” I admitted.
“Why not?”
“He’d…he’d want to fix things. He’d figure out how to give me a raise at the bookstore. He’d worry. He’d…I don’t know.”
“It’s up to you, but I think he’d want to know. He cares about you. A lot. I’ve seen it.”
“Yeah?”
“I had a hunch when I came in for that book for Jayne. The day of the accident, well…”
“Pretty obvious?” I shook my head but couldn’t hide the smile. “I’m happy about it, even if it did take a while. Will is…he’s special.” I shrugged, feeling shy. “How’s Jayne? I haven’t heard from her in a couple days.”
“She’s good. Busy. Has empty-nester syndrome.”
“What?”
“She misses you. Makes huge meals and expects me to eat your share. Keeping the place pretty tidy, but I can tell it’s taken a toll. I’m researching the possibility of a housekeeper once a week after we get married. But she’s good.”
“I’m glad. So—where is the money?”
“At my place. I didn’t feel comfortable carrying it around.”
I fluffed the back of my hair. “I’d be pretty silly not to accept it, wouldn’t I.”
“It’s entirely your decision, so I’m not going to answer that.”
I glared at him, and he mock-glared back.
I giggled. It felt good being with my brother. With family.
“If mom wants to make sure I’m eating, I don’t want to worry her. I’ll take the money—you can tell her so.”
“I will.” Levi studied me for a moment. “Have I told you how impressed I am with how you’re doing?”
“Not lately.”
“I’m impressed. And Will? He’s a lucky guy. I’d tell him, but I have a hunch he already knows.”