Jayce smiled, remembering she’d had a phone the day they met. “She might have thought it was an emergency if you told heryou missed me terribly and needed to hear the sound of my voice.” He was blatantly flirting with an Amish woman he wouldn’tsee once he left here. But teasing her came naturally, and if she were there, her eyes would have taken on that twinkle whenshe blushed. She didn’t say anything. “Hello?”
“I’m still here.” She spoke softly, pausing. “I-I just wanted to make sure everyone was all right at the inn. I know Lizzieand Esther have a houseful, plus all those people in the buses.”
She’d completely ignored his playfulness, but the way her voice trembled a little, he wondered if he’d hit the nail on the head. Maybe she had missed him.
“It’s chaotic.” He scratched his chin as he eyed the bucket in the middle of the room. “My dad and his group have kept thedining room occupied, sometimes with the entire crew, so there’ve been lots of people going in and out, everyone drippingwet. There are trails of mud on the floor, and there’s a leak in the roof.” He laughed, hoping to keep the mood light. “And,lucky me, the leak is in the room I’m in.”
“Esther and Lizzie must be worn out.”
Jayce sighed. “Yeah, I think they are.”
“How’s the new help working out?” She giggled. “The one you called nuts, which I still think was terrible for you to say.”
“Well . . .” He sat back down on the bed, grinning. “She is never quiet. Never. And she can’t cook at all. I have no idea what was in the breakfast she made today, but I was hungry, and I guess everyoneelse was too. It was some sort of egg casserole, but I think it had pimientos and something else in it. She baked hens earlierin the week that were terrible, with some kind of weird stuffing. Lizzie has done most of the cooking the past few days. She’sbeen getting up super early—I think to beat Rose to the kitchen.”
“Ach dear. I wonder if they’ll keep her on. They’ve done everything themselves since Naomi left.”
“Well, the woman can clean. She’s got that going for her. The upstairs is spotless. She even cleaned Gus’s house.”
Evelyn gasped. “You’re teasing, ya?”
“Nope. She admitted it was awful, but she thought it was part of the job.”
Evelyn cringed. “I don’t know Gus all that gut, but I’m surprised he allowed it.”
“Apparently, he didn’t. He was gone when she did it.” Jayce laughed. “And get this. She hauled back all of his clothes tobe laundered.”
She laughed. “I could be wrong, but I suspect Gus won’t appreciate Rose’s gut intentions.”
“Who knows? Maybe he’ll be glad to come home to a clean place.” He cleared his throat, wanting to get away from any more talkabout Gus. “So have you been able to get to work the past few days? What’s that place called, the Bargain Center?”
“Ya, that’s the name. I went Wednesday, but I had trouble getting back home in the buggy. Daed was going to cart me back and forth, but even he had problems with his horse’s hooves sinking in the mud when he tried Thursday,so we went back home. There are two women who live within walking distance of the store, so they are covering my shift.”
“So you’ve kinda had a vacation.” Jayce wished they were having a picnic out in the sunshine, or were back at the movies sharingpopcorn. “Or are you bored?”
“I’m a little bored. Mamm and I have done a lot of baking. Lucas and David can’t really work in this weather, so they’ve stayed upstairs. I think Lucashas a phone, too, even though he won’t admit it. He works with David, but Daed said one phone was enough for their business. But I hear Lucas sometimes late at night, talking to someone. Both mei bruders have girlfriends. Mamm thinks they’ll be publishing wedding announcements any day, which is our way of letting the community know when a couple is ready to commit to each other forever. Daed is praying that the weddings aren’t too close to the same time.” She laughed. “Weddings are big affairs here.”
Jayce braced for thunder after a big flash of lightning lit up the sky outside his window. It was too early to be dark, butit was gray and dreary. After the rumble he decided to step up to the plate. “So . . . maybe you missed me just a little?”
“Maybe.”
He tried to read into her one-word answer. “Hmm. I’ll take a maybe, I guess.” He hesitated. “I miss seeing you. Still thinkingabout that kiss. And I’m still disappointed you don’t have a ladder to escape your bedroom.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe you really thought I would lower a ladder out of my window.”
“It did make me wonder how often you had scaled down the thing to meet potential suitors.” Grinning, he said, “I figured theremust be a whole bunch of them.”
She huffed into the phone. “Nee, not really. And since you’ve already brought up that dreadful kiss, I have something to say about it too.”
“I didn’t think it was dreadful at all. Just a bit rushed.” Jayce smiled.
* * *
Evelyn squeezed her eyes closed, still embarrassed she’d behaved in such a way. She wasn’t sure what bothered her more, thefact that she’d so boldly kissed him, or that it had been awkward and probably bruised his lips.
“Well, I just
