The Amish Cowboy's Homecoming Page 32

  “Old fool.” Daed pointed at his own chest. “Say, why was Isaac telling you about our private conversation?”

  Feeling shameful, Grace looked down at the ground. “He didn’t tell me that part,” she admitted, a wave of guilt washing over her as she ran that fateful night through her head one more time. “I overheard him telling someone else.” She pressed a hand to her forehead, pondering how to express her next thought. “But…after everything that’s happened today, I’m not so sure he meant anything by repeating it, I mean, I can’t imagine he agrees with that philosophy.”

  “It might’ve been a mistake, then, huh?” Daed said. “One he feels real bad about.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “And don’t we all make mistakes?”

  If she could now entertain the notion that Isaac might not actually share the beliefs Wade had basically forced him to say that night, maybe she’d gotten even more wrong.

  Just as Grace was ready to jump to her feet and ride Honey Pot all the way to Silver Springs, Daed pulled back to look her right in the eyes.

  “I’m very proud of you, my Gracie.” He cupped her face and ran his thumbs over her cheeks. “And if we’re telling the truth, I’ve been having quite a few personal discussions with Isaac lately.” He kissed her forehead. “Seems a smart girl like you would want to sit down with him for a proper talk.”

  “Hallo, Grace.”

  Recognizing the deep, manly voice, Grace looked up to see Isaac on the bottom step of the porch. Hadn’t he been staying with his brother in Silver Springs? And if not, why had he missed the meeting with Travis?

  While her confused subconscious ran in circles, her body instantly reacted to his presence: her tummy filling with nervous butterflies, an uncontrollable desire to take his hand, slide into his embrace. He was so handsome that it made her heart ache.

  She’d expected being away from him for all those days would’ve helped her get over him, but the second their eyes met, she knew, despite everything, that her feelings had grown only stronger.

  Was he still interested in her, though? Could she have really gotten everything so wrong that night, and every day since?

  “Hi,” she replied, trying to hold herself together. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “Oh?” Isaac said. “I’ve been taking care of the horses. Barnaby and Tater Tot are ready to be saddled. Big Smokey still won’t settle in at night without your lullabies. Not to mention Honey Pot.”

  “You?” She couldn’t help pointing to him.

  “Didn’t you tell her?” Isaac asked Daed.

  Daed scratched his beard and stood. “I guess not. So much on my mind these days.”

  Grace exhaled in bemusement. “And what’s happening to the back pasture? Why are so many men from the village here? Is there a church meeting?”

  She looked at her daed first, then at Isaac, who was holding air in his cheeks, his arms out to his sides.

  “I asked Isaac to help with the horses,” Daed finally explained.

  “And I gathered the men from the village.”

  “Okay.” Grace said, though still baffled, even more so…seeing Isaac when she’d thought he’d already left town.

  “I’m going to get washed up,” Daed said. He gave Isaac a shake of the shoulder before disappearing inside the house.

  “You seem confused,” Isaac said to her, removing his hat.

  “I am.” Grace couldn’t help chuckling sarcastically. “It’s one thing after another today. First, I must ask. Did you…?” She paused when her chest suddenly went tight. “Isaac, did you give your savings to the hospital for Maam’s surgery?”

  He stared at her, his brows furrowing. “I… I wish I could have,” he said, dropping his chin. “I’m sorry. You don’t know how much I wanted to help your family, Grace—”

  “Please don’t apologize for that. I’m so relieved. I really am.” She felt choked up, her voice starting to shake, but she needed him to know she was sincere. “I was sick with worry about you and Sadie going back to Silver Springs.”

  “That’s all worked out now,” he said. “I mean, I hope it is.” He flipped his hat in his hands. “Wonderful, though, that the hospital did the surgery for free. Pro bono, they call it. There’s usually so much red tape.” He paused to chuckle. “Lucas said it was a miracle.”

  “A miracle?” Grace echoed, recalling what her father had said on the phone to Maam. He’d used that exact word. Miracle.

  “So that’s what happened.” She rose to her feet and put a hand to the side of her face as if her head really was reeling. “I assumed…”

  “I’ve been assuming a lot, too,” Isaac said after her voice faded out. “Wrongly assuming, I should say. It feels better now that I’m trying to set things straight.”

  Grace closed her eyes, knowing the flutter in her stomach would not go away until he set a few more things straight for her.

  “Isaac,” she said after taking in a deep breath. “You’re New Order. How do you feel about women working outside the home?”

  His brows shot up, then he pointed a finger at her. “You mean, like you owning and running your own horse training company?”

  At the sudden introduction of the subject, Grace felt flushed, and her whole body began to tremble. “Why?” she said, more hot tears creeping up her throat. “Why did you tell Travis to give the endorsement to me?”

  The calm expression that had been on Isaac’s face suddenly dissolved. “I don’t know what you’re…” He paused and ran a hand along the side of his head. “He wasn’t supposed to tell you about that.”

  “Well, he kind of had to.”

  “Why?

  “Because.” She couldn’t help shaking her head. “Because I insisted he give it to you. Apparently, you got to him first, though.” Her shoulders slumped as she pressed her palms together in the manner of prayer. “You deserve it,” she whispered.

  “No,” he whispered back. “You do.” He placed his hands over hers, holding them together.

  For a moment, neither of them moved. Grace felt her pulse in her ears, blood rushing up to her cheeks, as she breathed in the scent of sunshine and hard work that always surrounded Isaac like a second skin.

  She was unable to meet his gaze, even though she knew his eyes were pinned on her. “Danke,” she managed to exhale in the tiniest of whispers. Isaac didn’t speak, but she felt the gentlest pressure of his hands squeezing hers.

  “Well, it’s done now,” he said as he stepped back, turned around, and walked down the porch steps. “And I believe all is right.”

  But all wasn’t right. Not yet. “You didn’t answer my question,” she said, following him down the stairs.

  “What question was that?” he asked. He seemed a little frustrated as he pushed his fingers up the back of his head. And when he finally turned around to her, his face was flushing, jaw muscles flexed under his skin.

  “About how you’re New Order,” she said a bit tentatively, for she was nervous at how unsettled he now seemed. “It’s none of my business, but how do you feel about women working outside the home?”

  He stopped pacing, fixed his eyes on her, and then it was like all his tense muscles finally relaxed. “What makes you think my answer is none of your business?”

  “I…” She hardly knew what to say to that. “Daed’s retiring, giving the training farm to me. You don’t think that’s…improper?”

  He pulled back a familiar smile, the one that always put Grace at ease, and not so long ago, the same smile that had sent a screaming desire through her body to kiss him. But she couldn’t think that until all was really settled between them.

  “So?” she asked, widening her eyes.

  “Well…” Isaac fingered his chin, thoughtfully. “Some folks around here might have a problem with it, but I never would.”

  Grace’s heart gave a
n optimistic leap, but before she had the chance to reply, a mule-driven cart came close to running them over. They had to jump out of the way as it continued toward the trail leading to the back pasture where other carts and men were gathered.

  “We’re ready to start.” Bishop Turner suddenly appeared, coming up to Isaac with a hammer in his hand. “Any other instructions?”

  “Keep it as standard as any other in Honey Brook,” Isaac said.

  “What’s going on?” Grace asked as she noticed men were unloading long planks of wood onto the ground.

  “Oh, afternoon, Grace,” the bishop said. “We’re all very excited about this. See you both later.”

  Grace stared at him as he walked away to join the others, her jaw going slack. Daed had given her the business, but he owned all the land, even the back pasture that looked like it was about to be turned into a building site.

  “From your expression,” Isaac said, catching up to her after she’d began following the bishop, “I get the feeling you’re still a little confused.”

  “A little?” Grace replied, walking faster. “What is happening?”

  “Grace.” She felt Isaac take her by the elbow. It was such a familiar feeling that it made her stop in her tracks. “Shouldn’t we finish our conversation?” He glanced over his shoulder at the group of men now surrounding them. “Alone.”

  “I…” she began, still suspiciously eyeing the stack of wood.

  “Come with me.” He gently pulled her arm. “For just a minute. Please.”

  Grace gave the workers one last wary glance—as they were now mixing cement—before allowing herself to be led away.

  “I’m sorry,” Isaac said once they’d walked around to the other side of the house. “This has all been so chaotic, so…”

  “Nontraditional?” Grace couldn’t help finishing for him, then tilting her head to the side.

  The corners of Isaac’s eyes squinted as if he was holding back a smile. “Nontraditional is the perfect description. And you need to know, Grace, I’d have it no other way.” He took a step toward her. “You know that bit of land your father sold?”

  “Aye.” Grace glanced over her shoulder. “I was just thinking about that.”

  “He sold it to me.”

  “You?” She peered at him. “For what?”

  He shrugged and gave her one of those silly grins she’d been seeing in her dreams. “I wasn’t sure, at first. He’d brought up the possibility of selling it to me that day at the medical clinic when you were outside.”

  Grace bit her thumbnail. “That was quite a while ago.”

  “I didn’t make an offer on it then, but a few days ago, when you were away.”

  She had to think. Isaac had bought her father’s land after they’d stopped seeing each other? When they were barely speaking?

  “Jah,” he said, nodding, somehow reading her mind.

  “But…” She thought further, about that very morning in the car with her father when Daed had said he’d known Isaac had already spent his savings. It hadn’t been for Maam’s surgery, but for the very same land on which she lived.

  “It wasn’t even difficult to decide to build a house right over there,” Isaac added, gesturing toward the back pasture.

  “Why did you do that?” Grace couldn’t help asking, feeling more confused at the new information, not less.

  Suddenly, Isaac lowered his chin, as if unable to look her in the eyes. “Maybe I’m a fool, but I never lost all hope,” he said, staring down at his boots. “Every day, I can’t help wishing and praying that we’ll somehow make amends. That you’ll trust in me again.”

  “Isaac,” she whispered, the thrill of optimism making her voice weak.

  “I realize it might be awkward, me living so near you, but…” Finally, he lifted his chin and shot her a look she remembered from that night in the barn when he’d held her in his arms. She’d never felt so loved. So safe. “I’m not ready to give up on us, Grace. It’s a long shot, I know, but I’m hopeful—I have to be, or else Heaven and Earth make no sense.”

  Grace felt lightheaded, dizzy on her feet. She tried to speak again, but her heart was in her throat.

  “At worst,” Isaac continued, “I’ll convert my house to a barn and sell it back to you, if that’s what you want.”

  “And at best?” she managed to whisper as she gazed at him.

  Slowly, he lifted one corner of his mouth, setting those hazel eyes upon her. “At best? A home,” he said, his voice full of emotion. “Home for me and Sadie, and for one of the barn kittens she’s got her eye on.” He blinked slowly. “And home for anyone else who’ll have me.”

  “Isaac,” she said, eyes flooding with tears while her heart beat strong and steady.

  Just as she summoned the strength to reach out to him, he said, “I don’t think I fully answered your question about being New Order.”

  “Oh,” Grace said, a bit bewildered at the change of subject. Didn’t he want her back? Or was she reading everything wrong once again?

  “Do I approve of Amish women holding jobs? Working outside instead of homemaking?” He tapped his chin. “To push the idea even further, would I ever marry someone like that?”

  Grace heard her breath catch as Isaac took a step forward. She had half a mind to do the same but seemed frozen in place at the word “marry.”

  “Honestly,” he continued, “I never thought I’d be faced with a question like that…until I met you.” He pressed his lips together as a little notch formed between his brows, intensity in his hazel eyes. “When I’m with you, it never feels improper or nontraditional. Being with you has brought joy to my life. Even after everything that’s happened, I’m not ready to let go of that joy.”

  Grace saw in his eyes that his words were truthful. Knew without a doubt that it was safe to trust him with her heart.

  “Isaac,” she said, barely getting his name out before she reached for his hand, squeezing it between both of hers. “You brought me joy, too—I mean bring.” She smiled. “You bring me joy. When I’m with you, I’m never so happy.” She looked into his eyes, feeling a rush of relief and then a sweet stirring of warmth in her chest.

  “May I hold you?” Isaac asked, opening his arms to her, a pleading tone to his voice.

  “Aye,” Grace whispered, falling into his arms just as easily as she had the stormy night in the barn. When he wrapped his arms around her, she melted into his chest, pressing her cheek against him, feeling more at home inside his embrace than anywhere else.

  “Amazing news about the training farm,” he said. “Congratulations again.” His words drifted down to her ears as she rested the side of her head against him.

  “Danke,” she simply said, instead of arguing that he should’ve won the endorsement. Although maybe now there was something she could do about that. After taking in one last inhale of his shirt, she pulled back. “How much begging would I have to do to get you to work for me?”

  He chuckled, the sound music to her ears. “Oh, I’m much too expensive.” He kissed the tip of her nose, sending a rush of tingles down her arms. “But if you begging me is part of the deal, I might just come for free.”

  “You’re hired.” She tightened her grip around him. “What do you think, partner?”

  “I love you,” he said, looking deep into her eyes.

  Grace knew his words were true. Not only did she trust him, but she felt Gott’s presence, his loving spirit wrap around them both, bringing her the purest peace.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  He narrowed his eyes. “My sweet Gracie. May I kiss you now?”

  She couldn’t help her smile from turning into a giggle. “Jah.”

  It was like being in the dim barn with him the night of the storm all over again. But better, for in between sweet kisses, they whispered things to each oth
er Grace had never even dared to dream.

  She felt breathless and feminine when they finished. Some of the men from the yard might have gotten an eyeful, but Grace didn’t care. All she knew was she stood safely in the arms of the man she loved. The man who loved her back.

  “One last thing,” Isaac said as if they were in the middle of a conversation.

  “Oh heavens,” Grace said with a big smile. “What now?”

  “What you’re saying is…you’ll consider living in the new house with me and Sadie someday?”

  She rubbed her lips together, longing for another kiss. “You mean, like sometime after this year’s wedding season?”

  Isaac exhaled a low growl from his chest as he pulled her in tighter. “I’d have you move in with me right now if I could.”

  “Why, Isaac King.” She playfully swatted his chest. “Now who’s being nontraditional?”

  Just as she was about to press her lips to his, they were suddenly seized upon by Sadie—her dress covered in dirt as if she’d been helping the workers in the pasture. Or maybe, Grace couldn’t help thinking, like she’s been in the barn with the horses.

  Isaac scooped her up with one arm, keeping the other around Grace. Together they stood under the bright afternoon sunshine.

  Grace’s heart nearly beat out of her chest with more happiness than she thought her body could hold. She glanced up at Isaac, meeting his gaze, and between Sadie’s string of questions, she whispered, “I will.”

  Epilogue

  Isaac’s cheeks were beginning to ache from smiling so much. The church service had begun at 8:30 that morning, and the lunch meal of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and creamed celery had already been cleared from the dozens of long tables set up along the sides and backyard of the Zooks’ house. It was nearly two o’clock, and yet their wedding day had only just begun.

  “Congratulations,” Travis said, shaking Isaac’s hand.

  “Danke,” Isaac replied. “And thank you again for coming. I know you’re not used to this.”