Johanna's Bridegroom (18 page)

“That was close,” he said. “What are
you
doing here? I didn’t know what was coming out of the dark. You scared me half—”

“
I
scared
you?
How do you think...” Suddenly, it struck her as funny. Roland’s visitors were inside, and he was outside in the bushes. A snort of amusement bubbled up from the pit of her belly in her throat. “You were hiding from them,” she declared.

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.” The snort became a chuckle and then a peal of laughter. “Roland Byler, you are such a fibber.”

“Shh, they’ll hear you.” He pulled her deeper into the familiar sanctuary of the barn. “What was I supposed to say to them?”

“‘Hello. How can I help you?’ That might be a start,” she whispered with a giggle. He was still holding her hand, but she was no longer his captive...more his partner in crime. “If you didn’t speak to them, how did you know who they were and why they’ve come?”

“Oh, I know why they’re here. They got here first, but I met their driver at the end of the lane. Mary was still—” He broke off. “What were you doing hiding in my bushes?”

“I had to come. Charley told me they were here.”

“My brother couldn’t keep a secret if his crop depended on it. I didn’t want you to know—”

“What?” She felt a little pang of fear. Maybe she
was
too late. “I was supposed to learn that you were marrying your Lancaster cheese peddler when the bishop cried your banns at next service?”

He pulled her into the circle of his arms, and she knew in her heart of hearts that she wasn’t too late. She inhaled deeply of the damp, clean, male scent of him.
Safe
.
I feel safe here. This is
where I belong.

“Don’t be
lecherich,
Johanna,” Roland said. “How could I have two wives? I still intend to marry you, once you realize that I’m right, and that you love me, and that it was your stubborn pride—”

“That kept us apart,” she finished. “And my fear...my fear of loving you. Of knowing how much I’ve loved you all along.” He brushed his fingertips across her cheek and joy blossomed inside her. “So you weren’t going to accept the offer of a rich farm and a stone barn full of cows? Pretty
dumm
to take a sharp-tongued widow with only a few scraggly sheep and—”

“She has a stone barn and cows?” he interrupted.

She dug her fingers into his side and he laughed.

“Bees,” he said. “You have lots of bees.”

“And turkeys.”

Roland lowered his head, the teasing gone from his voice. “I know you, Johanna. I knew when you left the horse farm that it was only a matter of time before you thought it through and realized—”

“That I love you,” she finished, realizing she could hold nothing back from Roland. Not ever again.

“Almost as much as I love you.”

His lips brushed hers in a tender kiss that sent all her fears flying into the night. For a long moment, she savored the feel of his mouth and the warmth of his arms before she stepped away. “Best that waits awhile longer,” she whispered breathlessly. “Or...”

“Or we will both be on our knees in front of the congregation,” he agreed.

For another moment or two, they remained bodies apart, but fingers still laced together. Johanna listened to the rain on the roof, the movement of the horses in their stalls, and the sound of Roland’s breathing. “What now?” she asked him.

“Now I go in and thank our visitors for their kind offer,” he said.

“That they haven’t made yet. And...” She waited, certain he already knew what he would say that would make everything right.

“And I tell them that I’m honored that they’d think of me, but I’ve already spoken to my preacher about calling the banns for my wedding to the widow Johanna Detweiler.”

“You would lie to them?”

This time it was Roland who laughed. “Johanna, my love. I’ve known you too long and faced your temper too many times. It burns fierce and hot, but in the end, your sense of fairness wins out. I knew that, sooner or later, you would come to tell me you were sorry and loved me more than bread and honey.”

“You did not!” she accused, barely able to contain another burst of laughter.

“Ah, but I did. Ask him. John and I stopped by the bishop’s house on the way home. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for you to come to your senses. The visitors from Lancaster nearly upset all my plans. What if you hadn’t given in and come tonight? How could I have told them that I was already betrothed before I was?”

“But you could tell Bishop Atlee we were?”

“
Ne.
I simply asked him to cry the banns. I never said you had agreed to marry me.”

“And if I’d said no?”

“But you said yes, didn’t you? You and I will take our vows as soon as is decent, our children will have a mother and a father again, and the cheese seller’s daughter will have to seek out another bridegroom.”

And that was exactly the way it all happened....

Epilogue

Nine Months Later...

I
t was a wet March Saturday, too mild for a last blast of winter and too blustery for the coming spring. For two days, heavy rain had pelted the roofs and roads and fields of Seven Poplars, driven the livestock inside to seek shelter and sent Vs of wild geese flying north overhead, honking their plaintive cries.

The rain didn't trouble the Amish community, as a whole. The farmers and their wives welcomed the downpour because it filled their wells and soaked the newly plowed fields. Soon, seeds would go into the fertile earth, and the moisture would ensure lush crops of grain, vegetables and hay. The children, however, cooped up inside for days, yearned to have the chance to burn up their energy. They wanted to shout without being told to lower their voices, play ball, climb trees and cast the first baited hooks and bobbers into ponds.

But the rain continued to fall, and heavy, gray clouds offered no hint of sunshine and no chance to enjoy what should have been a fun-filled Saturday, after a week of school. Or so Jonah and J.J. thought.

They didn't know what their parents were up to. Enlisting Katy as a coconspirator, Johanna and Roland had made a plan for a great adventure. First, J.J. and Jonah were both blindfolded and led to the family buggy. Then, they were driven around—where, they didn't know, much to a giggling Katy's delight. The only hint as to what the adventure might be was the tantalizing smell of gingerbread, barbecued chicken, baked beans and
knabru
s that drifted from the back of the carriage.

“Where are we going?” J.J. asked for the tenth time.

Johanna chuckled. “We can't tell you. It's a surprise.”

“It's a pic—” Katy squealed, covering her mouth with her hands. “A surprise,” she repeated.

“But when will we get there?” Jonah demanded. “We've been driving for hours.”

Roland laughed. “Hardly, but...” He reined in his roan and the buggy came to a stop. “We're almost there.”

“Hurray!” both boys cried in unison.

“Hurray!” Katy shouted and then dissolved into giggles again.

Johanna waited until Roland had opened the double doors wide and then guided the horse and buggy inside the barn. “Don't take your blindfolds off yet,” she warned. “You'll spoil the surprise.” She knotted the leathers around the dashboard rail, climbed down and helped Katy out of the carriage.

Roland closed the doors behind them and lifted first Jonah and then J.J. down from the vehicle. “It
is
a picnic,” he declared, “but a special one.”

“How can you have a picnic in the rain?” J.J. asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Wait and see.” Johanna took J.J.'s hand and led him to the base of the ladder that led to the hayloft, while Roland did the same for Jonah. “Now, take off your blindfolds.”

Both whipped the bandanas off their faces.

“Aw, it's just our barn,” Jonah said, turning around.

“
Ya,
just our barn,” J.J. echoed, dejectedly.

“Ne.”
Johanna chuckled. “That's what
you
think. It's our special picnic spot where no other boy in Seven Poplars has ever picnicked before.”

“Up the ladder,” Roland ordered as he removed the heavy baskets from the back of the buggy.

Soon Johanna and Katy, J.J., Jonah and Roland were all standing on the floor of the hayloft. This winter, this part of the loft had been used to store straw, and earlier today, Johanna had covered some of the bales with clean white sheets to make a table. There were plates and mugs and napkins, and standing beside the straw table was a shiny new bucket with thermoses of hot chocolate for everyone.

“Wunderbar!”
Katy exclaimed. “A kitchen in the hayloft!”

“Who's hungry?” Johanna asked. In moments, Roland had brought up the picnic baskets from the buggy, and the bowls and pans of food were on the table. The family gathered around to hold hands and bow their heads for the moment of silent grace that signaled the beginning of every meal.

Katy's enthusiasm was catching, and soon the boys were having as much fun as she was. Everyone laughed and talked and ate until they were stuffed, and when the two boys begged for one last gingerbread man, Johanna couldn't help but allow them the additional treat. Afterward, she cleared away the dishes, tucked the containers back into the picnic baskets and Roland drew a deck of Dutch Blitz cards out of his pocket.

“Games!” J.J. cried. He loved games, especially Old Maid and Go Fish and checkers. Katy was just learning the rules, but J.J. was especially brotherly to her, helping her with her choices and cheering on her moves.

The family card game was followed by a story about a fishing trip that Roland had taken with their
Grossdaddi
Yoder, one that the boys loved because it always ended with
Mam
catching more fish than
Dat
.

After the last chuckle had faded, Johanna brought out the big children's Bible storybook that her mother had given her and read the story of Noah and the Flood. The rain beating against the cedar roof shingles made a perfect background for the old and familiar tale. They all listened in silence to Johanna's words and sighed with contentment at the end when Noah opened the doors of the Ark and the people saw green.

“This is the best picnic ever!” Jonah pronounced.

“The best,” J.J. agreed.

Katy yawned and nodded her approval.

“Just one more thing,” Johanna said, glancing at Roland. He nodded, rose and climbed back down the ladder.

After a few minutes, he returned to the barn and called up. “You children might want to come down. There's something here that I think belongs to you.”

“What?” Jonah asked.

All three small heads leaned over the opening to the ladder.

“You'll have to come down. Katy first.”

One by one, the children descended the ladder. Johanna watched from the hayloft as Roland reached into a feed barrel and lifted out a wriggling bundle of black-and-white fur. Two black eyes peered out from under a fringe of hair, and a small, pink, puppy tongue licked at Katy's cheek.

“Es hundli!”
she squealed. “Is it ours? To keep?”

“If you love him and care for him,” Johanna called down. “He's a Bernese Mountain Dog, and he'll get a lot bigger.”

After delivering a few instructions about how to handle the puppy, Roland left the children below and climbed back up the ladder to join Johanna. “That should keep them busy for a while,” he said.

Johanna leaned close and kissed his cheek. “You are the best father any child could want,” she said. “You spoil them.”

“I hope not.” He enfolded her hand in his and squeezed it gently. “I hope I raise them with love and care, so that they will grow to be good and faithful members of our church and community.”

“I am proud of you.”

His eyes lit with mischief. “Pride from the mother of my children? I thought you had put that all behind you when we took our vows.”

She chuckled. “I am a work in progress, Roland Byler, and don't you forget it.”

“But a good mother,” he said, becoming serious, “and a good wife.”

“I try. Every day, I open my eyes and thank God for you and our family, and I promise myself to work at being worthy of His blessings.”

“You make me happy,” he said, glancing deeper into the loft, then back at her. “But there's something...”

“
Ya?
What is it, Roland?”

“I've always wanted to take a pretty
frau
into the hayloft and kiss her.”

“Roland Byler, and you a married man,” she teased, but she picked up a clean sheet and spread it over a pile of loose straw. “So what's keeping you from it?”

He put his arm around her and they sank into the soft and fragrant bed. For a long time, they lay together, her head on his shoulder, not speaking, listening to the sweet sounds of their children's voices and the rain on the roof before she spoke. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Ya.”
He sighed with contentment and kissed her cheek. “Exactly what I dreamed about. You, Johanna, no other, just you beside me.”

“Not just me,” she corrected. “Not exactly. There is another.”

Puzzled, he glanced into her face. “Another?”

She laughed softly. “For an observant man, there is much you don't see, husband.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Something I have wanted for a long time.”

“What is it, Johanna? I'll give you whatever you wish, if I can...if I can afford it.”

She lay back against him and snuggled close. “This, I think we can afford. I want you to place an order from Eli, at the chair shop.”

“You want a chair?”

Johanna chuckled. “
Ne,
my love, not a chair. A cradle.”

He sat bolt upright and stared at her. “A cradle? You mean you... We?”

She laughed again, raised her face and kissed him full on the mouth. “Is it so surprising that the Lord who could save Noah and all his people from the flood can't provide us with one small baby?” And then a doubt threw a shadow over her excitement. “You are happy, aren't you? To be a father again?”

But Roland didn't need to answer because the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. And the tears that spilled down her cheeks were ones of pure joy.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
Rancher's Refuge
by Linda Goodnight