“Seems like you act before thinking.” Jake released the parking brake.
“I could say the same thing for you, Jake,” barged out of her mouth.
“Can’t argue with you there.” Jake turned a knob on the dashboard. “This should warm us up.”
As we drove out onto the road, I was happy to feel heat on my feet. Brandy and Jake chatted like siblings. But I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d been intimately acquainted at one time. I finally scrounged up the courage to ask, “How do you two know each other?”
“Through my big brother.” Brandy rotated her head to speak. “This is his car, but he got another DWI and lost his driver’s license for six months. But he still won’t let me use it. I can drive as well as Jake.”
Jake chuckled. “If you say so. But you don’t have a driver’s license.”
“You do?” I asked Jake, who nodded.
“I can still drive as well as you,” Brandy said.
“But you can barely see over the steering wheel.” Jake snorted a laugh.
She gave his shoulder a playful punch as a younger sister might. Still, I didn’t completely buy the whole scenario.
“How old are you, Brandy?” My words sounded snarly.
The car fell silent for a moment except for the grumbling muffler and the sound of a truck passing in the opposite direction. “Brandy, how old are you?” I asked again, trying to sound less accusative.
“Seventeen. By the time the baby’s born in two months, I’ll be eighteen. Nice and legal.”
“Ach, so young.” I shouldn’t pass judgment, as I’d loved Jake since age sixteen and had had a crush on him from afar for years earlier. Thankfully, he had not pressured me with his amorous actions. Maybe Brandy’s boyfriend had forced himself on her.
Minutes later, Jake pulled into a gas station and stood outside pumping fuel into the tank. Because I had nothing to lose by being nosy, I pursued my questions. “Brandy, who’s your baby’s father?”
“A friend of one of my brothers.” She inched away from me.
“Does he know you’re pregnant?” It felt odd speaking of such personal matters, especially with someone I hardly knew.
“Yeah, but the only thing he offered me was money for an abortion. Nice guy, huh? And he said he’ll deny the whole thing.”
“They have DNA tests now.” I’d read about it. “How old is he?”
“Twenty-five, not that I should believe anything he says. He’s a rat.”
Jake climbed back into the car carrying a brown paper bag. “Here’s the ice cream.”
Brandy clapped. “Goody. I can hardly wait.” She grabbed the bag from him and peeked inside. “Three kinds? What did you get?”
“Strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate-chip cookie dough.”
She leaned over and smooched his cheek. “You know my favorites, you sweetie pie.”
I wondered if he still recalled my favorite. Apparently not.
“They were sold out of caramel swirl, Evie,” he said, proving me wrong. He leaned forward to catch my gaze. “Well, did you think I’d forget your favorite ice cream? Or that you like half-and-half in your coffee?”
“Jake has the best memory of anyone I know.” Brandy’s voice rose in pitch.
“As I recall, he had a good memory in school.”
“Jake’s so smart, he got his GED in the blink of an eye.” She snapped her fingers.
“Really, Jake?” I looked past her. “You got a GED?”
“Yah. I thought, why not?” He eased up on the gas. “Actually, I made a bet with Brandy’s brother. He said he was smarter than I was because he’d gone through high school and all I had was eight grades.”
“You showed him, didn’t you?” Brandy slapped her knee. “Jake, please, please, please won’t you just take me back to your parents’ so this ice cream doesn’t melt? I can’t stand to wait another minute. I should have brought a spoon.”
He chuckled. “Okay. If Evie doesn’t mind.”
“I guess not, if it’ll only add a few minutes. But then I really do need to get back.”
Brandy turned on the radio, and a raucous song I’d never heard before blasted out. Both she and Jake swayed to the heavy metal music and sang along.
“Turn that off.” I felt myself being sucked into an evil domain, rubbing elbows with Satan.
Jake complied even with Brandy’s moaning, “Hey, that’s my favorite song. Party pooper.”
He pulled a U-turn, causing an oncoming buggy to slow. The driver lifted a hand in a friendly gesture. I hoped he recognized Jake and not me. An Amish woman wearing a kapp in an automobile would be hard to ignore.
Minutes later, Jake cruised into his parents’ barnyard. He came to an abrupt stop, opened his door, and got out. Brandy exited the car and scampered up the Millers’ back steps, clutching the brown bag. She opened the unlocked door and bopped inside. Jake slid back onto the seat.
He was quiet for a moment. “Why don’t we join her? Doesn’t ice cream sound gut?”
“I don’t have time. You promised to get me home right away.”
“But maybe my dat will try some if you give it to him.”
“Your mamm and Brandy can manage. Please don’t pressure me.” Although the image of Amos tasting the ice cream filled me with affection for the crusty older man. “Maybe he’ll regain his strength.”
“Or possibly slip deeper into his cocoon.” Jake put the car in reverse. “Despite Mamm’s optimism, I doubt he’ll ever get better.” He rolled the car out of the barnyard. “Which makes me the worst son in the world for leaving him, yah? Maybe if I’d been here…”
“I feel terrible for your parents, but what about me? I thought we had something special.” To put it mildly. “You abandoned all of us.”
“Back then I thought you’d deserted me too.” He gripped the wheel. “I wasn’t thinking straight, only of myself.”
Jake nosed the automobile back onto the road. Riding with him in the car felt all wrong. An Englischer and an Old Order Amish woman in a car together was like a dog and a cat sharing a food bowl. I was glad the streetlights
