and he obviously cares for you. You can’t ignore that.”
“So you go along with Anna and Ruth? You think that—”
Johanna clapped her hands together once. “Hush. Listen to what I’m saying. No one can tell you who to love. How do you know what path God has chosen for you? Mam was born Mennonite. Is she a bad person?”
“No, but—”
“So. Mam is a good person and John is a good person. But you don’t know if you’re really attracted to him or to the fact that he’s different than what you know. John’s exciting. He makes your heart race and sends chills down your backbone.”
A lump formed in Miriam’s throat. “You’re teasing me.”
“No, I’m not. I’m telling you, don’t be afraid to find out what you want. Go with John to Easton. So long as you don’t lie to Mam if she asks you where you were today, you haven’t done anything terrible.”
“But she’ll say ‘no’ if I ask.”
“Would she?”
“Maybe I should have asked her.”
“What do you want to do, Miriam?”
She looked up shyly at her sister. “I want to go—more than anything.”
“Then go. Call him on your fancy red cell phone and tell him you’ve changed your mind. Go and have a good time.” She leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “So long as you don’t do anything that would shame Mam or yourself, you have nothing to worry about.”
Miriam felt the phone in her pocket. “He may have changed his mind. He may not want me to go now.”
Johanna rose and went to a row of pegs on the wall and took down a blue scarf. “Of course, he does. Take this. If you wear my scarf, instead of your kapp, the English won’t stare at you as they pass by in their vehicles.”
“Take off my kapp? ” Miriam’s eyes widened. “What will John think?”
“He’ll think you are a pretty girl that he likes having along for the ride. If he is the man you think he is, he will think nothing bad. But if he has other thoughts about one of Hannah Yoder’s daughters, improper thoughts, best you learn that right away.”
Chapter Eight
J ohn took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at Miriam, sitting beside him in the cab of the truck. “You’re not sorry you changed your mind and came along, are you?” he asked her.
She looked up from the radio dial she’d been adjusting, and the expression in her cinnamon-brown eyes answered his question. “Ne.” She shook her head. “I’m not. Are you sorry you asked me?”
“No way, this has been fun. Really. I’m so glad that you took me up on it.”
He couldn’t get over how different she looked without her kapp. The blue checked headscarf covered only the crown of her head and the bun at the nape of her neck. He hadn’t realized how pretty her auburn curls were in the sunlight or how easily she’d been able to slip into his world. He’d expected Miriam to be uncharacteristically quiet—even shy, out of her element—but she wasn’t. She’d taken the restaurant in stride, just as she had the unexpected stop to assist an injured cat they found in the road.
They’d come upon the Siamese cat, lying in the other lane, soon after they’d crossed the Delaware-Maryland line on the way to Easton. Miriam had been out of the truck before he’d even turned off the engine. The animal was bleeding from the mouth and he assumed that a vehicle had hit it. Ignoring his warning to be careful, she’d snatched up a towel from the back of the truck, dashed out into the road and scooped up the cat before an approaching tractor trailer could finish it off.
His method would have been more cautious. He wouldn’t have moved the animal until he’d assessed the damages it had suffered and made sure it wouldn’t bite him, but Miriam hadn’t hesitated. “He’s not seriously hurt,” she had pronounced, murmuring soothing sounds to the cat as she approached his truck. “He just had the wits knocked out of him. I think he’s lost a tooth.”
A little water applied to the
“So you go along with Anna and Ruth? You think that—”
Johanna clapped her hands together once. “Hush. Listen to what I’m saying. No one can tell you who to love. How do you know what path God has chosen for you? Mam was born Mennonite. Is she a bad person?”
“No, but—”
“So. Mam is a good person and John is a good person. But you don’t know if you’re really attracted to him or to the fact that he’s different than what you know. John’s exciting. He makes your heart race and sends chills down your backbone.”
A lump formed in Miriam’s throat. “You’re teasing me.”
“No, I’m not. I’m telling you, don’t be afraid to find out what you want. Go with John to Easton. So long as you don’t lie to Mam if she asks you where you were today, you haven’t done anything terrible.”
“But she’ll say ‘no’ if I ask.”
“Would she?”
“Maybe I should have asked her.”
“What do you want to do, Miriam?”
She looked up shyly at her sister. “I want to go—more than anything.”
“Then go. Call him on your fancy red cell phone and tell him you’ve changed your mind. Go and have a good time.” She leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “So long as you don’t do anything that would shame Mam or yourself, you have nothing to worry about.”
Miriam felt the phone in her pocket. “He may have changed his mind. He may not want me to go now.”
Johanna rose and went to a row of pegs on the wall and took down a blue scarf. “Of course, he does. Take this. If you wear my scarf, instead of your kapp, the English won’t stare at you as they pass by in their vehicles.”
“Take off my kapp? ” Miriam’s eyes widened. “What will John think?”
“He’ll think you are a pretty girl that he likes having along for the ride. If he is the man you think he is, he will think nothing bad. But if he has other thoughts about one of Hannah Yoder’s daughters, improper thoughts, best you learn that right away.”
Chapter Eight
J ohn took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at Miriam, sitting beside him in the cab of the truck. “You’re not sorry you changed your mind and came along, are you?” he asked her.
She looked up from the radio dial she’d been adjusting, and the expression in her cinnamon-brown eyes answered his question. “Ne.” She shook her head. “I’m not. Are you sorry you asked me?”
“No way, this has been fun. Really. I’m so glad that you took me up on it.”
He couldn’t get over how different she looked without her kapp. The blue checked headscarf covered only the crown of her head and the bun at the nape of her neck. He hadn’t realized how pretty her auburn curls were in the sunlight or how easily she’d been able to slip into his world. He’d expected Miriam to be uncharacteristically quiet—even shy, out of her element—but she wasn’t. She’d taken the restaurant in stride, just as she had the unexpected stop to assist an injured cat they found in the road.
They’d come upon the Siamese cat, lying in the other lane, soon after they’d crossed the Delaware-Maryland line on the way to Easton. Miriam had been out of the truck before he’d even turned off the engine. The animal was bleeding from the mouth and he assumed that a vehicle had hit it. Ignoring his warning to be careful, she’d snatched up a towel from the back of the truck, dashed out into the road and scooped up the cat before an approaching tractor trailer could finish it off.
His method would have been more cautious. He wouldn’t have moved the animal until he’d assessed the damages it had suffered and made sure it wouldn’t bite him, but Miriam hadn’t hesitated. “He’s not seriously hurt,” she had pronounced, murmuring soothing sounds to the cat as she approached his truck. “He just had the wits knocked out of him. I think he’s lost a tooth.”
A little water applied to the
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