seen that right from the beginning, instead of thinking he was much cooler than the guys she’d grown up with because he had a car and an apartment, she wouldn’t be in the situation she was in. She couldn’t change the past, but it was time to stand up for herself.
“Danki.” She gave him the best smile she could manage.
“What can I do to help?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Gemma has invited me to stay as long as I need to.”
“I didn’t realize that.” His tone made it clear he wasn’t happy with his business partner’s wife making the offer.
“You didn’t think she’d toss me out, too, did you?”
“No. I know Gemma too well.”
“But you don’t want me to take advantage of your friends, ain’t so?” The Amish phrase fell from her lips as easily as if she’d never been away.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.” She stood. “Your opinion is splashed all over your face. Micah, I don’t need your help. There’s nothing you can do to help me.”
“I can marry you.”
Katie Kay stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t have said what she thought he’d said. Not after what she’d done, both in Paradise Springs and after she left. He knew too many of her faults, and if he’d ever cared about her, she’d squashed any hint of love by telling him to get out of her life.
He must have forgiven her, because he was trying to help her. But that, she knew, was the Amish way. Forgive others for their mistakes and move ahead as if the transgression had never happened. She’d never managed to make it work herself, though she’d tried over and over.
When she didn’t reply, Micah folded his arms over his chest and looked at her with a glacial expression she found impossible to decipher. “You should know one thing before you answer, Katie Kay. I didn’t offer to marry you because of feelings I have for you.”
“Y-y-you d-d-didn’t?” she sputtered, shocked.
“No.” He picked up his hat from the counter. “I offered because I admire your daed, and I don’t want to see him and Mamm hurt.”
“What does Wanda have to do with this?” She considered Micah’s mamm a bit of a buttinsky—a word she’d learned from Austin’s friends—and an inveterate matchmaker.
He stared at her, and emotion returned to his face. It was disbelief. “You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Your daed and my mamm are getting married next month.”
Katie Kay sat again, so hard the chair rocked. She tried to wrap her mind around the idea Daed was marrying Wanda Stoltzfus. They’d been gut friends for years. Wanda often sent a snitz pie home with Daed when he went to the Stoltzfus farm for one reason or another. Apparently he’d really had only a single reason for going to visit. He’d been courting Micah’s mamm.
“I can’t believe it,” she whispered.
“They decided after you left. Reuben has been praying you’d return for the ceremony, so all his kinder will be there.”
She looked at her flat abdomen. “I’m not sure he’ll want me there.”
“If you apologize to him and are married—”
“I’m not marrying you, Micah Stoltzfus! Didn’t I make that clear last year?”
“You did.” He put on his straw hat and buttoned his coat. “And don’t worry. I won’t bother you by asking you again. You’ve made yourself clear tonight. Guten owed, Katie Kay.” Without another word, he walked out of the kitchen. Seconds later, she heard the front door open and close.
She didn’t move as the sound of buggy wheels rolling after a horse faded into the night. She’d handled it wrong. She should have thanked Micah for his offer before she turned him down. He’d been candid when he told her that he was asking her to protect their parents from pain.
Maybe you should have considered his offer. He might not have feelings for you, but you have plenty for him.
“Shut up!” She jumped to her feet and ran into the living room. Turning on the television, she kept pushing the volume button on the remote until the sound of voices and laughter were so loud her ears hurt. But it was useless. Nothing drowned out the truth. She may have lost her best ally as she faced the future alone.
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