When he got back to the house, the food was on the table—roast beef and mashed potatoes. It smelled wonderful and his stomach rumbled in response to it. Everyone had started eating. They looked up as Thomas came back inside, and he caught Noah’s knowing glance.
“Sorry about that,” Thomas said, and he slid into his place next to his daughter. She had the carved rooster sitting next to her plate. He smiled down at Rue as she plunged her fork into a fluffy pile of mashed potatoes, topped with a pool of gravy.
“So you saw her off, did you?” Amos said in German. He passed a platter of beef down the table toward Thomas.
“Yah,” Thomas said, accepted the platter and served himself two slices.
“She’s very pretty,” Mary added. She didn’t look up from her plate, though. She took a bite of meat and chewed deliberately slowly.
Thomas chuckled. “I know what you’re doing.”
“Us?” Mary said innocently. “She’s a lovely woman. We’re just...pointing it out.”
“And single,” Amos added with a grin. “We’ve all confirmed that.”
“She also seems to like you—which is a point in her favor, because look at you,” Noah joked.
Thomas laughed, and shook his head. “It isn’t what you think.”
“What are they talking about?” Rue asked, leaning closer.
“They’re teasing me,” Thomas replied. “They think Patience is pretty, and that I should take more notice of it.”
Rue frowned slightly. “Oh.”
Thomas shook his head. “Someone pass me the potatoes, please.”
But despite his protest to the contrary, he was noticing her. She was beautiful, but even so, in their friendship, he sensed that she was holding back in that regard. Was it the man she’d left behind who still filled her heart? And was that all this was—some petty jealousy over a man he’d never even met? Some male competition? Because that would be disappointing.
“Can I go back to see the girls again?” Rue asked.
“No,” Thomas said softly.
Noah looked up when he said that. “Why not?”
“It’s nothing,” Thomas said quickly. “I have something else for Rue and me to do tomorrow. We’re going on a picnic.”
Mary smiled at that. “Good! That sounds fun.”
“Just the two of you?” Amos asked.
“Patience is going to come along,” Thomas replied, and he knew how this looked, so he added, “If you all want to come, that would be...very nice.”
Amos shook his head, his mouth full, and Noah chuckled.
“Nah,” Noah said. “I’ve got some things to work on here at home.”
“And I have some sewing of my own to do, dear,” Mary said. “I couldn’t possibly.”
They were making it so that he’d get time alone with Patience, and he knew it. But at least he’d invited them, even if he was relieved they’d turned him down flat.
“It will be fun, Rue,” Thomas said. “I’ll take you to a creek I used to play at when I was a boy. You can play in the water and look for tadpoles. We’ll pack a lunch to take along.”
Rue smiled up at him, and he felt a well of love for his little girl. Some time together—Patience was probably right. What Rue needed was her daet, not a bunch of strangers. She needed family, and if there were to be kinner in her life, maybe they ought to be siblings.
Chapter Eight
Saturday morning, Thomas, Noah and Amos went out to do their morning chores—mucking out the stable, bringing hay for the horses, cleaning the chicken coop and gathering eggs. Rue came with them wearing her new-to-her running shoes instead of her pink flip-flops, and she stood to the side obediently when they told her to. There was no wiggling or laughter. She was utterly serious, watching everything they did.
“Are you trying to learn how to do the chores, little one?” Amos asked her with a smile.
“I’m being good,” she replied seriously. “And I’m not getting in the way.”
“Come carry the egg bucket,” Noah said.
She looked askance at Thomas first.
“Sure,” he chuckled. “Why not? But don’t hug Toby.”
“I won’t hug him,” Rue replied. “Not even once.”
The men chuckled to themselves and carried on with their chores. Thomas was rather impressed with Rue’s improved behavior. Was that because she’d seen some Amish girls who knew what was expected of them? While there wouldn’t be more visits with the Smokers, maybe that one visit had been enough. Maybe his fatherly instinct had been right, and he felt a wave of gratefulness for one small step that had seemed to work in his favor, after all. Gott surely did work in mysterious ways, and maybe this was one of them.
When they got back to the house, Amos and Noah sat down with some hot coffee and Mary went off into the sitting room with her Bible. Thomas set about packing their picnic lunch and Rue waited until Thomas was nearly finished before she tugged at his pants.
“Yes, Rue?” he said.
“Was I good?” she asked.
“Yah, very good,” he said. “Get me three napkins out of that drawer there.” He pointed with his socked toe.
Rue opened the drawer and pulled out three cloth napkins, and he tossed them on top of the food and then closed the basket up. It would be a tasty lunch—roast beef sandwiches, pie, apples, some slices of cheese and a bottle of apple juice.
“Have I been very good?” she asked, and she fixed him with a direct stare.
“Yah...” For such a small girl, she was filled with a strange intensity.
“Can I have my clothes back, then?” Rue asked, her voice shaking just a little.
“Your clothes.” Her connection to the Englisher world—the clothes all the adults knew had to go. He’d been hoping she’d forget, quite honestly, that after she settled in she wouldn’t even think of her Englisher clothes again and he could quietly dispose of them.
“Yes. I need them. They’re mine.” Her eyes welled with tears, but she didn’t cry, and she didn’t look down. She stared up at him hopefully. He looked at Amos and Noah. They’d overheard Rue’s request and they stared back at him in
