Amish Tulip Read online

  “Jah, of course I am. I wouldn’t miss it.” He smiled at her and then moved forward and slapped her horse on the rump.

  The horse moved onward and Tulip kept her eyes on the road ahead. Did he like her or what? Men sure were confusing creatures. Perhaps he had to find out if he could borrow the buggy again first before he made a time. While driving along the streets, she thought back over their conversation; she recalled he’d said he liked the outdoors. If that was so, then why hadn’t he taken a table on the pavement in the fresh air? Was he worried that someone might see them together? Had he come here to her community and left a girlfriend at home just as his older brother had done before him?

  Tulip did not want to end up in a bad situation. She’d think long and hard before going out with Nathanial again. Asking people about him might be the best idea. That way she could find out everything about him. Surely Matthew would know a lot since he was his cousin, or even Mark. Since Mark was recently married, she’d have to find out what she could about Nathanial from Matthew.

  Chapter 5

  Tulip woke up and stretched her arms over her head before she got out of bed. She smiled when she realized that today was her twentieth birthday. But that was before she remembered her mother had invited as many single young men as she possibly could to her birthday dinner that night. Now she groaned aloud. She hoped her mother wouldn’t do to her what she’d done with Rose—try to match her with a man. Tulip was certain that Mark hadn’t been her mother’s first choice for Rose, but they were very happy.

  “Happy birthday, birthday girl.” The twins ran in and jumped on the edge of her bed.

  “Argh! Just as well I’m awake.”

  “You’re always awake at this time,” Daisy said.

  “What if I’d wanted to sleep in for my birthday?”

  Lily giggled. “You have to get the eggs so you’re not allowed to sleep in.”

  “How about one of you gets the eggs for me today?”

  “Nee!” Lily scowled.

  “I’ll do it,” Daisy said.

  Lily suddenly changed her mind. “I’ll come with you, Daisy.”

  The twins were gone like a whirlwind, as fast as they’d come into the room.

  Tulip closed her eyes to enjoy another ten minutes’ sleep. Collecting the eggs was the first chore of the day and Tulip was only too happy when someone else did that for her.

  She thought about the party and hoped her mother would make her a chocolate cake. No one could make a chocolate cake like her mother. The cakes her mother made were always so light and moist.

  Unable to sleep, she pushed the blankets away from her and got out of bed. When she heard giggles, she walked over to the window and looked out. The twins were pushing and shoving each other as they walked toward the henhouse, tugging at the egg basket. It looked like they were arguing about who was to carry the basket. I hope they don’t do that when the basket is full of eggs.

  Tulip pulled on her bathrobe and popped her prayer kapp over her messy hair without even brushing it, and then headed downstairs. She’d have to tell her mother early that she wanted a chocolate cake because it had to be made with a special kind of cooking chocolate, and Tulip was certain they didn’t have any more in the house—not with the twins around. The twins devoured any kind of chocolate as soon as it came through the door.

  Tulip found her mother in the kitchen. “Morning, Mamm.”

  Her mother looked over at her “Happy birthday, Tulip.”

  “Denke, Mamm.”

  Her mother glared at her. “Why aren’t you dressed?”

  “I’m going to have a shower, and then I’ll get dressed. I just wanted to ask if you could make a chocolate cake for me?”

  “Chocolate cake for your birthday tonight?”

  “Jah.”

  “You had days to ask me that. Why leave it until now? I don’t even have any ingredients for the chocolate cake.”

  “I could go to the store and get some for you.”

  She looked her up and down. “Not like that, you can’t.”

  Tulip giggled. “I’m going to shower and then dress.”

  “Just make sure you don’t let your husband see you like that of a morning.”

  Tulip frowned. “I’m not married.”

  “One day you will be.”

  “I’m sure he won’t mind seeing me like this. What’s wrong with how I look?” She looked down at her dressing gown. “It’s just a bathrobe.”

  “You must always present yourself well.”

  Tulip knew her mother was annoyed with her for having to make a chocolate cake on short notice, and that’s why she was picking on her. Her mother would’ve already had every minute of the day planned, right up until the time the guests arrived.

  “I’ll be the first one at the store and then I’ll help you make the cake when I get back. What do you think about that?”

  “It’s your birthday! You can get the things from the store, but the twins will help me cook.”

  “Are you sure they even know how to cook?” Tulip giggled. All of them could cook, of course.

  “We can cook better than anybody,” Daisy said as she sailed through the back door with the egg basket over her arm.

  “Better than you,” Lily added.

  “That’s good. Then you can both help Mamm cook all day while I go to the store.”

  “I want to go too.” Daisy pouted.

  “Me too,” Lily added.

  “You both have to stay here and help Mamm cook.”

  “That’s right. I would appreciate your help,” their mother said.

  “That’s what we do every day. We do nothing else but help you cook and clean every single day.”

  Lily nodded at what Daisy said. “Yeah.”

  “You’re not helping me,” their mother said. “You both live here too; you’re helping yourselves.”

  “And since it’s my birthday, I choose to go to the store by myself,” Tulip said before she raced up the stairs.

  “I’m writing you out a list of things to get,” her mother called after her.

  Chapter 6

  Tulip was glad to be allowed to go to the store by herself since the family only went to the store every fortnight. It was a rare thing for her to be allowed out in the buggy by herself. That’s why she was so pleased her mother had let her go into town when she’d met with Nathanial. The family used to have only one horse and buggy, but thanks to a neighbor who had moved far away, they now had three buggy horses and two buggies. She caught the black horse in the paddock and slipped a rope around his neck and led him to the barn. They mostly used the bay gelding, but today she wanted to take the younger black one.

  Her father wouldn’t like her taking Damon, or ‘Demon,’ as her sisters called the horse. Dat considered the bay to be safer.

  It was a half-hour journey each way. She considered the peace and quiet of this time alone a nice birthday present. It was a perfect time of year. Winter would soon be upon them, but today, the sun was shining.

  As the horse and buggy clip-clopped toward the store in the lazy morning sun, she felt drowsy, as though she could easily go to sleep.

  Rose had warned Tulip that their mother would soon try to find a man for her, but Tulip didn’t think that was likely. Rose had been a dreamer and that’s why their mother thought she needed help in finding a husband. Although it was a little troubling that Mamm had gone to such great lengths to invite so many people to her birthday party. Was this her mother’s way of getting all the eligible young men in the community in one place?

  As she drove along the streets in town, she decided to treat herself at one of the local cafés. While she was drinking coffee, she could look in the paper at the jobs section.

  Rose still had her job helping the Walkers sell their flowers at the markets. She’d held that job for many years and it’d given her a good income. Having a job to go to every day would be far better than staying at home with her mother and the twins.

 
Now that Tulip was the oldest daughter at home, she felt the need to be independent, and with some extra money she’d be able to spread her wings and feel more grown up.

  She stopped her buggy close to the supermarket and secured her horse. Damon had traveled well and hadn’t stepped one hoof wrong. She patted him on his neck as a thank-you before she headed to the coffee shop, which was next to the supermarket. As soon as she walked in the door, she headed to a stand where the daily newspapers were held. Picking one up, she checked that it was today’s paper. Once she saw it was, she carried it along as she headed to a table in the back of the room. Flipping the pages over, she found the job section.

  “What can I get for you?”

  She looked up to see a smiling young waitress. “I’ll have a cup of coffee, thank you.”

  “Sure. Anything to eat today?”

  “Last time I was here I had a cheesecake. Do you have any of those today?”

  “We’ve got lemon cheesecake or chocolate.”

  “I’ll have the lemon one, please.” When the waitress was just about to walk away, Tulip said, “Excuse me?”

  The waitress spun around. “Yes?”

  “Do you know if you’ve got any jobs open here?”

  “Not that I know of, but you could drop in a resume. That’s how I got my job here.”

  Tulip nodded. “Thank you.” A resume? She guessed that was a list of where she’d previously worked and a list of her skills. She didn’t even have one and she had no idea how to put one together. The only experience she had was helping her mother cook and serve at functions.

  When the waitress had gone, Tulip opened the paper once more and scanned the jobs on offer. There was nothing there for her. All the jobs required experience or some kind of qualifications.

  * * *

  Tulip had just taken a large bite of her lemon cheesecake when she looked up to see an Amish man walk through the door of the café. She looked hard to see if it was someone she knew, but she’d never seen him before. If he’d been one of the nearly three hundred guests at Rose’s wedding, she certainly would’ve remembered. A man of his height and solid build would have made an impression.

  He glanced in her direction and when their eyes met, he smiled at her and gave her a little nod. She gave the closest she could to a smile in return, as her mouth was still full of cheesecake. What bad timing!

  When he turned back and grabbed a menu, she quickly swallowed and continued to study him. He’d removed his hat when he’d come inside, revealing unusual sandy-colored hair. Possibly it had started off light brown and the sun had streaked it with gold. It looked windswept and stopped above his shoulders. He was possibly one of the most handsome men she’d seen and he was definitely not from around the area.

  After the waitress had said a few words to him, he took the menu with him and sat down at a table on the opposite side of the room. Now feeling awkward, she kept her head down, looking at the paper.

  When the waitress approached him, Tulip listened to find out what he ordered, but she was too far away to hear anything. She looked in his direction. The waitress left, and the man turned his head in her direction. Tulip was quick to lower her gaze to the paper in front of her.

  Tulip hurried to finish her coffee and the last mouthful of cheesecake. If she spent too much time away, her mother wouldn’t have time to make her triple-layer chocolate cake.

  She wiped her hands and mouth on the paper napkin and then hurried out of the coffee shop, careful not to look at the Amish man on the other side of the room. Tulip was only two steps out of the café when she heard someone calling.

  “Miss! Miss!”

  She turned around to see if the person was speaking to her. It was the waitress hurrying to catch up with her.

  “Did I forget something?” Tulip asked.

  “You forgot to pay.”

  Tulip covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  The girl offered a relieved smile.

  “I’m not usually so forgetful.” Her cheeks burning with embarrassment, Tulip walked back inside to pay. She daren’t turn around to see if the man she’d been watching had noticed. “I normally go to places where I pay first,” she explained to the woman as she handed over the money. When she’d paid, she hurried back outside.

  Once she walked into the supermarket, she realized that she’d forgotten something else—the shopping list her mother had given her. She walked down each aisle trying to remember what was on that list. One thing Tulip recalled was the exact brand of cooking chocolate her mother liked to use. Now all they had to do was hide the chocolate from the twins until it was safely in the cake.

  We have plenty of eggs and milk, also sugar, so what else could we possibly need? I know there’s always lots of flour. She half filled her basket with things she thought her mother might need. As she tried again to remember what was on the list, she turned down the next aisle and nearly bumped into someone. She found herself face-to-face with the handsome Amish stranger who’d been in the coffee shop.

  She stepped back. “I’m sorry.”

  He laughed and she walked around him.

  “I saw you back there in the coffee shop.”

  She stared at him, not knowing what to say. All she could utter was, “Jah?”

  “You nearly got away with it.”

  Tulip looked into his deep brown eyes that now crinkled at the corners. She thought about how the scene had unfolded when she’d forgotten to pay and she laughed.

  “Maybe next time you should try running?”

  “I’ll have to remember that.” She shook her head. “I’m still so embarrassed. I’ve never done anything forgetful like that before.” Glancing down at the basket, she added, “Except forgetting my mudder’s shopping list this morning, so that’s two forgetful things on the same day.”

  “If that’s the worst thing that happens today, it will have been a good day.”

  She smiled at him—her father would’ve said something similar to that. He seemed to have an easy-going and relaxed nature. He was also clean-shaven, so she knew he wasn’t married. “Are you new around here, or are you passing through?”

  “I’m just visiting. What about you?”

  “I’ve lived here all my life.” Her eyes dropped to the basket in her hands. “I should go. I’ve got people waiting for me.”

  She walked past him and he said nothing more. Once she was at the counter, she pulled all the goods out so they could be rung through the cash register. Tulip was certain she could feel the man looking at her. Turning around, she saw he was watching her with a smile on his face. She turned back around, now even more embarrassed.

  If she were a braver person, she would’ve stopped and talked with him longer, but what would she say? The community was quite small, so soon enough she’d find out who he was and where he was staying. When she’d paid, she took her two bags of groceries and hurried out of the store.

  Now she had two men to dream about—Jacob’s younger brother, Nathanial, and this handsome stranger. Then a thought occurred to Tulip: she didn’t even know his name.

  Chapter 7

  Once the birthday celebrations got underway that evening, Tulip quickly forgot the stranger she’d seen twice earlier that day.

  Her two older brothers were there with their wives, and her baby niece, Shirley. Then the newlyweds, Rose and Mark, arrived.

  Tulip was the first to scoop Shirley into her arms. She wasn’t even a year old and she was quite heavy. She could say a few words, but that was all. Tulip tried to teach her to say, “Aunty Tulip”—all Shirley did was giggle.

  Rose came up with her hands outstretched to take Shirley from her.

  Once Rose had her niece in her arms, Tulip asked, “How’s married life?”

  “Everyone’s asking me that.”

  “Well?”

  “It’s good. In fact, things are perfect.”

  “Perfect? Well, that’s a big word.” Tulip was used to seeing Rose worryi
ng about one thing after another. “You look satisfied and truly happy.”

  “I am. Now it’s your turn to have Mamm trying to run your life.”

  Amy and Julie, their two sisters-in-law, joined their conversation.

  “It never ends. First, everyone tells you that you should be married. When you get married, there’s the pressure to have a child,” said Amy.

  Julie, Shirley’s mother, continued, “Ah, but one’s not good enough, because she’ll need other children to play with. Meaning you have to produce another fast. And so it goes on. You have one child, then everyone’s asking you when you’ll have the second.”

  The girls giggled.

  “I don’t think we’ll ever escape the pressure of other people’s expectations. There always seems to be something else people think we should be doing,” Tulip said.

  Rose bounced Shirley on her hip. “My next project is to have one of these.”

  “Put your order in,” Amy said, “but please don’t have one before me because I got married first.”

  “I can’t promise,” Rose said with a grin.

  Tulip was distracted by people coming through the front door.

  “How many people are coming, Tulip?” Amy asked.

  “I think Mamm invited the whole community and then some. Excuse me, I’ll have to greet everyone.”

  The guests were served buffet-style in the kitchen. Everyone picked up a plate and, at her mother’s direction, walked clockwise around the table serving themselves from the bowls in the center. Tulip’s mother looked on, redirecting anyone who dared walk counterclockwise.

  Taking center stage on the table was a large triple-layer chocolate cake. Tulip was upset that Nathanial hadn’t come. Surely if he liked her enough to ask her on a buggy ride, he should’ve come to her birthday party. Especially after saying he would be there. Tulip hoped he was only late, held up by something, and he’d still arrive.