Katie grinned. “Ya, me too.”
There it was, that self-confidence Rosie seldom felt. Katie might be joking right now, but she knew that she was the one who seemed to attract men.
“He said he’d be back to visit later this week. I told him our hours at the store.”
“Danki.”
“You know we’ve never competed over a man.”
“There was that time you made a boy think you were me,” Rosie reminded her. She got up, picked up the totes, and started for the front door. Their driver would be here soon.
“I was only ten,” Katie said, following her. “We did that sort of thing back then, remember?”
“You did,” Rosie told her as she opened the front door.
Katie sailed through. “Danki.”
“Eldest first.”
Katie turned and stuck her tongue out at her.
Rosie laughed, shut the door and locked it.
***
Katie looked at Daniel and sighed. The two of them had known each other all their lives. Their mothers had been best friends and so they had played together, gone to schul together, attended singings, and gone for long drives in his buggy listening to forbidden Englisch music. Everyone she knew smiled indulgently when they saw the two of them together as if they expected them to marry.
She wondered how you really knew when you had found the man God had set aside for you. Daniel had been right there, in front of her, all her life, but she wasn’t sure. Several times she’d talked with another man, gone out for a Sunday lunch and drive after church. She was a friendly girl and the guys responded to that and usually were gentlemen. Allrecht, she liked to flirt and even though Daniel had complained mildly about it a couple of times, they always ended up together.
Tonight they were going by the house of a couple of friends for supper. It was the first time Rachel Ann and Abram Lapp had invited them over to their haus after they’d been married.
“You’re quiet. Tired?”
“Nee. I’m fine.”
“You’re never quiet.”
She looked at him. “Are you saying I talk too much?”
“Nee, of course not.” Daniel kept his eyes on the road even though his horse needed little attention as he trotted down the road. “You’re just quiet tonight.”
She shrugged. “Something just doesn’t feel quite right tonight. I can’t explain it.”
“If you don’t feel well—” he began.
“I’m fine.” But chills danced up and down her arms. She rubbed them. “I wonder if Rosie . . .”
“Do you want to call her?”
“Maybe later.”
They pulled up in front of Rachel Ann and Abram’s house. Katie got out of the buggy and walked toward the house, and Daniel unhitched the buggy and put his horse in Abram’s barn.
“Katie! So gut to see you! Come in!” Rachel Ann invited them.
“Something smells delicious.”
“The chicken’s nearly done. Let’s go in the kitchen.”
“Will Abram’s mother be joining us tonight?” Katie asked, glancing at the closed door of the dawdi haus.
“She’s gone to visit her sister. Sit down, I’m going to put everything on the table.”
Katie glanced around the kitchen. “You’ve put your own touch on the house. Those curtains are new, aren’t they?”
Rachel Ann nodded. “Lovina helped me. You know she’s always been like a second mamm to me since we lived next to each other and was a little bit of a matchmaker with Abram and me to tell you the truth. She’s been great about letting us have privacy here.”
The men came in and took their seats. Rachel Ann placed the platter with the roast chicken in the center of the table and took her seat. After they gave thanks for the meal, everyone began passing dishes and serving themselves.
Katie enjoyed the meal—Rachel Ann was a gut cook—but more, she enjoyed seeing how her friend glowed with happiness, especially when she looked at Abram. And Abram looked at his fraa with such love . . .
The headache began as they were eating some of Rachel Ann’s strawberry-rhubarb pie. A ball of pain seemed to come out of nowhere, searing, causing tears of pain to run down her cheek. Katie dropped her fork and pressed her napkin to her eye.
“Katie, you allrecht?” Rachel Ann asked, touching her other hand.
“I’m—headache.”
“Can I get you some ibuprofen or aspirin?”
“Danki. But I need to go home.”
“Schur. Daniel?”
He scooped up a last bite of pie and stood. “I’ll get the buggy.”
“I’ll go with you,” Abram said, following him.
“Are you sure you don’t want something for your headache?” Rachel Ann asked quietly at her side.
Katie pulled her cell phone from her purse. She tapped the display and then frowned when Rosie didn’t answer. Tucking the phone back in her purse, she stood and swayed a little. “Nee, I have to get home. Something’s wrong with Rosie.”
“Rosie? What makes you say that?”
“I—just feel it. You remember, like that time she had appendicitis when she was at our grossmudder’s.”
“And you broke your finger and she knew.”
Rachel Ann took her arm and walked with her to the front porch. Daniel pulled the buggy up in front of the house. When he saw Rachel Ann holding her arm as she descended the stairs, Daniel got out and hurried up to her.
“Is the headache that bad? Maybe I should take you to the emergency room,” he murmured as he helped her into the buggy.
“She thinks something’s wrong with Rosie.”
Katie felt Daniel staring at her. She glanced at him and saw disbelief. “Just call her. I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I tried that. There’s no answer.”
She turned to Rachel Ann who’d been joined by Abram. “Danki for supper. I’m sorry we had to leave early.”
“No problem,” Rachel Ann assured her, and Abram nodded. “I hope Rosie’s allrecht.”
