A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn Read online

  “So, are you lonely?” Dorrie asked in her blunt way.

  And just like that, her little bit of calm vanished. “I’ve been lonely. But that is what happens when a woman loses her husband.”

  “You’ve been mourning. I think there’s a difference.”

  “I didn’t know you were such an expert.”

  “I’m not. But I am an expert on my best friend. What has happened recently that put you in this mood?”

  “I’m not sure.” But of course she was. It was that long walk to her house by Jay’s side. That long walk where she’d chatted with a man and laughed. It was only after she’d gotten home that she realized she hadn’t compared him to Sanford. Instead, she’d been thinking that she liked his smile and had been glad he was carrying Frankie.

  She’d also been thinking how nice it was to be around someone who understood what it was like to promise to love someone until death parted them . . . and then feel betrayed because death had come far too soon.

  Looking at Dorrie, with her wide-eyed expression and her cherubic cheeks, Emma realized that she was probably right. She did need to talk to someone, and it needed to be someone she could trust. She’d known Dorrie since they were children, having grown up next door to each other in Pinecraft.

  Perhaps the Lord had put them together today for this very reason.

  Her friend was patiently sipping coffee, waiting for Emma to unburden herself.

  “When Frankie ran away, the girls and I discovered him in the back of the Orange Blossom Inn. One of the guests had picked up a pizza and he and his boys were eating it on the back patio.” Remembering the pizza paw prints, she grimaced. “I mean, they’d been attempting to eat their pizza. But then Frankie had shown up.”

  Dorrie’s lips twitched. “Frankie struck again.” Setting down her mug, she said, “How bad was it?”

  “Frankie’s behavior?” Emma shrugged. “About the same as always. Though he didn’t throw up, so it could have been worse.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Um, anyway, the man at the inn with the pizza? He is a widower.”

  “And he has kinner, too?”

  “Jah, he does. Three boys.”

  “Same ages as yours?”

  “Nee. The oldest is almost twenty, I’d say. The youngest is about Lena’s age, give or take a year or two.”

  “Where are they visiting from?”

  “Charm, Ohio,” Emma replied. “But they did not come to Sarasota simply to visit. They are moving here.”

  “Is that right?” Dorrie took another bite of pie.

  “Jah. He said they were moving in another couple of days.” Her voice drifted off. So far, she hadn’t said anything of note or anything to warrant chocolate pie, but Emma knew Dorrie was used to her reticent ways. In the give-and-take of a relationship forged over decades, Dorrie merely continued her rapid-fire questions.

  “Where is he moving to? Did he say?”

  “He’s going to take over the old Borntrager Organic Farm.”

  Dorrie smiled. “He is a farmer.”

  “Jah.” She tried to remember everything he’d said. “I think he is looking forward to farming in the sunshine.”

  “Oh, to be sure. Well, the farm isn’t next door, but it is nice and close. Just a SCAT stop or two away. Convenient.”

  Emma hadn’t thought of that, but Dorrie was right. The Sarasota County Area Transit shuttle would make it easy for Jay and his family to get to the heart of Pinecraft in no time at all.

  And, she supposed, it would make it easy for her to do some shopping out there. If she ever had a need to do that.

  Around another bite of pie, Emma said, “Don’t act like it means anything. But, um, I think meeting him made me realize that maybe I’m not the only person in the world to suffer such a great loss.” Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to say the rest of what she’d been thinking. “I think I would like to get to know him better. You know, because he is someone who I have so much in common with.”

  “To be sure. I’ve met other widows and widowers, but not too many who are so young. Or who have three kinner.”

  “He seemed nice.” She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “He was so nice, he even carried Frankie all the way home. And Frankie let him!”

  “If he’s carrying that dog around, he would have to be nice. Frankie is one hefty beagle.”

  Dorrie had a point. Emma smiled at that . . . just before she remembered what her family would say. “I don’t want a new husband, Dorrie. I don’t mean to sound like I do.” She winced as she imagined Patty’s and Mercy’s reactions. “I’m afraid my sisters won’t understand that I only want a new friend.”

  “Of course,” Dorrie soothed. “But making a new friend is a good thing. And just think, I bet this man— What’s his name?”

  “Jay.”

  “I bet this man Jay is feeling mighty blessed indeed to have met you. I bet he’s been feeling alone, too.”

  “Jah.” Her stomach churned. “A new friend is always a blessing. I, um, just wish I knew what I was supposed to do now.”

  Dorrie pointedly looked over to the window where folks could simply walk in and buy pie. “When he moves in, you should bring him a pie.”

  Emma weighed the pros and cons of that idea. She knew where the Borntrager farm was, most everyone did. After the girls went to school one day, she could hop on the SCAT, deliver her pie, and officially welcome him to Pinecraft. She could go as his friend. Why, there was nothing untoward about that. Everyone needed a new friend.

  But just the thought of bringing Jay a pie . . . Emma worried what would happen when not only her family, but Sanford’s parents heard that she’d done such a thing. They wouldn’t want to hear how innocent her gesture was, nor would they say how thoughtful it was to bring a widower with three boys such a simple gift. They would ask her questions and chide her for behaving in an immodest way. In no time at all, her simple gesture would reach mammoth proportions.

  Even thinking about the fuss they would raise made Emma shake her head. “That would be too forward.”

  Dorrie scoffed. “It might be too forward if you wanted something in return, but you don’t. And it’s especially not forward for a single man moving in with three boys,” she added in her matter-of-fact way. “Boys eat a lot, you know. Besides, everyone likes pie.”

  “That is true.”

  Once again she contemplated the pros and cons, and—to her dismay—began running through the choices of pie. If Dorrie’s theories were true, it seemed that, along with delicious flavors, pie could be filled with certain hidden meanings. “Now I’m even more confused! What kind of pie should I bring? I don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

  Dorrie laughed. “Take cherry.”

  “Cherry?”

  “Cherry pie is cheery.”

  Emma winced at the play on words. “Oh, brother.”

  Dorrie chuckled. “I know that sounded silly, but I am a pie connoisseur, you know. You should remember that and listen to me.”

  “You are more of a pie soothsayer,” Emma teased. For sure and for certain, her best friend never failed to make her laugh.

  “Whatever I am, I always know the best pie for the occasion. It really is a shame I can’t bake too good.”

  “You can’t bake at all. Or sew.”

  “I can raise four kinner, clean my haus, and take care of all the bookkeeping for my husband’s job. That is enough.”

  “You are also a gut friend.”

  She smiled. “Does that mean what I think it does? Are you going to listen?”

  Making a decision, Emma nodded. “All right. I’m going to do it. I’m going to wait a couple of days, and then I’m going to take Jay and his boys a cherry pie.”

  “Wunderbaar!”

  “But if everything falls apart and my family makes me feel like a Jezebel, I’m going to blame you.”

  “Nothing is going to fall apart.” Reaching out, Dorrie grasped her hand. “See how g
ut our Lord is? He gave you a new friend this week. A friend who knows only too well the burdens and pain you have been facing. This is a blessing.”

  “You are such a blessing to me, Dorrie. I walked in here feeling completely confused. And now I feel like everything is going to be all right again.”

  Dorrie looked delighted. “Glad I could help.” Then, in her usual efficient manner, she pulled out her notebook. “Now, let’s get our real reason for being here taken care of. What should we make for our booth?”

  “I was thinking socks.”

  “Socks?”

  “Socks are something you can make easily. You might not be able to bake an edible batch of cookies but you can knit as well as anyone.”

  “This is true.”

  “You and I can each knit a pair of socks in two days. If we get some other women involved, we’ll have a couple of dozen socks to sell, and the money will go to a good cause.”

  “Socks it is.”

  “You’re not going to argue?”

  “Nope. You might trust me where pie is concerned, but you are the one with the best ideas for the fund-raiser.”

  “We’re a good pair, Dorrie. Danke for today.”

  “Anytime, dear. Anytime at all.”

  Chapter 4

  For some reason, even though they’d spent the entire day together, Tricia was pretty sure that Ben was still trying to think of ways to delay their return to the Orange Blossom Inn. First, he’d insisted they go for an extra long walk on the beach at Siesta Key. Then he’d taken her to a charming restaurant for fried shrimp instead of merely grabbing a quick bite at one of the many shacks offering snacks and hot dogs. Now, as they were walking back to the inn, he’d slowed their pace even more. She didn’t mind since she wasn’t in any hurry to return, either.

  But she was becoming a little curious as to why he was practically jumping at any chance to delay their walk back.

  “Would you like to go get an ice cream?” He pointed over at Olaf’s.

  Tricia hugged her stomach and frowned. “I can’t eat another thing.”

  “Oh.”

  “It was a gut idea, though.” Smiling, she tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “I’d say yes if I hadn’t already had a hot fudge sundae today. And a plate of fried shrimp.”

  “Those shrimp were good.”

  “They were great,” she corrected. Suddenly concerned that she hadn’t conveyed just how much she’d enjoyed their time together, she reached out and squeezed his forearm. “Everything today has been wonderful-gut, Ben. I promise.”

  “Jah, it was.” He smiled back at her, but she noticed that it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “Would you like to walk around Pinecraft?” she asked. “There’s a couple of benches over in front of the Palm Grove church.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Not at all. I’m not ready to go back yet.”

  “I’m not, either. I don’t want today to end.”

  “Me, neither,” she said and pointed to a group of little Amish girls, all four of them holding hands as they skipped behind their mothers. “Look, Ben. Aren’t they cute?”

  He chuckled. “Jah. They remind me of Emma and her trio of little ones.”

  Tricia sighed contentedly. Their conversation came so easily, it was just the kind of thing she’d always wished and dreamed she would have. It was nice to relax and talk about nothing in particular.

  As they crossed the street, dodging a man on a bright red bicycle, Ben added, “I’m really looking forward to having my own room once we move into our new house, but it’s going to be hard to not see you all the time.”

  “I was just thinking that I was going to miss seeing you around the inn. I was going to mention it earlier, but I didn’t want to sound too forward,” she admitted as they continued their journey down Bahia Vista before turning right on Orchard.

  “You shouldn’t worry. I’m not going to think you are too forward. I like your honesty.”

  “I’m glad.” She pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t start telling him how most people found her to be a bit too blunt and outspoken.

  Now that they were off the main street and the area was far quieter, Ben began walking a little closer to her side. Tricia felt her stomach flutter. Suddenly, it felt as if they were very alone, and she realized that this was the first time they’d been that way. It made her giddy and nervous, all at the same time. She didn’t want to do or say the wrong thing. She clasped her hands tightly together so she wouldn’t accidentally grab hold of his arm.

  Ben noticed. “Hey, you’re looking a little tense. Are you all right?”

  “Oh, jah. I am fine.” After all, what else could she say?

  “You sure?” After a pause, he blurted, “Am I pushing you too much? I haven’t been serious about a girl before. I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

  “You’re not pushing too much.”

  “Then what is it?”

  She didn’t know how to admit how insecure she felt. And because of that, she took a step away. “Here’s the church,” she announced, her voice just a little bit too bright. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

  Ben looked around. Shrugged. “It’s nice,” he said at last.

  She walked over and sat down on one of the benches. Then, knowing that she had to take a chance and admit her feelings, too, she added, “Ben, I don’t know what I’m doing, either.”

  He didn’t bother to hide his relief. “That’s gut news.”

  “Every time I think I know what you’re going to say, you say the unexpected. I’m starting to learn that you are good at taking me by surprise.” She chuckled. “You are definitely keeping me on my toes.”

  He sat down on the edge of the next bench, so he was angled toward her. “I don’t mean to,” he said with a wry look. “Like I said, I don’t have much experience with relationships.”

  “I don’t, either.” After all, her only experience had involved writing notes about a boy she’d had a crush on then having some so-called friends show them to everyone. “But I think we’re doing all right.”

  “You know what? I think we are, too.”

  “We’re certainly sharing a lot with each other.” Tricia smiled.

  But Ben didn’t look so confident. “Actually, I think we’ve talked a lot about me. About how I felt losing my mother, and how hard it’s been to step in and try to be there for my brothers.”

  “I’m glad you shared your feelings, Ben.”

  He continued, just as if he hadn’t heard her. “I think I spent an hour telling you about how we all decided to move here from Ohio.” He rolled his eyes. “I think I repeated every conversation that took place at our kitchen table.”

  Because he looked so apprehensive, she said, “We can talk about it more, if you’d like.”

  “No, that’s not what I’m getting at.”

  “Then, what?”

  “I want to talk about you for a change.”

  She started. “I told you that there wasn’t anything all that interesting about me. I needed a change and so I moved down here to be with my aunt.”

  “I think there was more to it.” He gazed at her steadily. “Actually, I know there was.”

  “Okay, there was, but it’s not important.”

  “Tricia, I’m going to be honest. I like you. I like you a whole lot. But I’m starting to feel like you are holding something back.”

  His words were painful to hear. They were also true. But still, she hedged. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “Just talk to me. Why do you insist on keeping your past a secret? Tricia, why did you move?”

  Before she could begin her explanation, he added, “It’s okay if you have had relationships before. You are a few years older than me, after all. Did you get in a fight with your boyfriend or something?”

  “Ben, I was telling you the truth. I really don’t have a lot of experience dating. I didn’t leave Ohio because of a boy. Not directly, anyway.�
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  “Then, why? Did you not get along with your mamm? I’m pulling at straws here.”

  “I got along with her fine.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “We’re not real close, but that doesn’t mean we’re not close at all. Or we don’t get along.”

  When he stared at her long and hard, Tricia knew she had to swallow her pride and tell him the whole truth. “Ben, the truth is I did something dumb and everyone found out about it.”

  “That’s it?” He looked disappointed.

  “Jah.” Of course, the way she’d been dancing around the topic had to have made him think she was harboring some dark, terrible secret. Pushing herself a bit, she continued. “I wrote something dumb about a guy I liked. Something I never should have put to paper. Something I never should have shown anyone else. Have you ever done anything dumb like that?” she asked hesitantly. “Have you ever made a stupid decision that you regretted almost the instant it happened?”

  “I have two younger brothers. Of course I’ve done and said stupid stuff.” He smiled. “My mother used to say that kinner make mistakes all the time and that’s why they live with their parents for years and years.”

  “My stupid notes caught the attention of a couple of mean girls who made things worse. No matter where I went I was teased.” Her voice cracked. “A lot. It happened for a long time. Months.” She winced, hating to remember all the unkind words her girlfriends had said to her and how one of her friends had completely lied about the things she’d done.

  He blinked as he finally understood. “You were bullied.”

  She nodded. “Most people think bullying only happens between boys with their fists, but it happens between girls, too, with rumors and gossip. It was horrible.” Swiping her cheek, she continued to pour out her heart. “I got depressed. Really depressed. I knew I had to get away.”

  “And so you came down here.”

  “Yep. I took all the money I’d saved, even borrowed some of my mother’s grocery money, and got on a Pioneer Trails bus without telling anyone.” She blew out a ragged sigh. “Well, now you know my secret. Aren’t you glad you asked?”

  He got to his feet. “I am.”