Wild Horses (Sadie's Montana #1)(53)

They were gone for a very long time, an eternity it seemed. Then they appeared, talking and waving their arms toward the phone shanty.

Now what?

Dat came out, spoke a few words, then hurried to the house. Sadie stepped aside as the door was flung open.

“Get your coat on. There’s a phone call for you. Think you can make it? It’s a guy.”

“What?”

“Hurry, Sadie. It’s going to take you awhile. Reuben, you go with her, make sure she’s okay”

Sadie looked up, “Nevaeh?”

“He’s not around. We’re going to search the pasture.”

Rebekah and Leah looked on worriedly as they helped Sadie into her heavy, wool coat. They watched from the dining room window as she swung herself between the crutches through the ice and snow. They didn’t relax until the door to the phone shanty was closed.

Sadie picked up the black receiver, “Hello?”

“Merry Christmas, Sadie.”

All the air left her lungs when she heard the unmistakably masculine voice of Mark Peight.





Chapter 15




“I…” WHOOSH, HER BREATH left her completely on its own accord.

“Are you there?” the deep voice queried.

“Yes, yes, I’m here. Just…catching my breath.”

“Oh, that’s right, you would have to go to the phone on your crutches.”

“Yes.”

Just “yes.” Why couldn’t she say something wittier, something a bit more knowledgeable, something smarter than just “yes”?

“I’m calling to see how you are doing. You sort of scared me there at the mall. Do you feel better?”

“Yes.”

There I go again. Yes. Why can’t I say something more?

Her heart was beating so hard and fast that there was the sound of the ocean in her ears.

“Did you know there’s a skating party at Dan Detweilers? On Friday evening?”

“Leah told me, but I can’t go with crutches.”

“When does your cast come off?”

“At least another two weeks.”

“I … what if I came to pick you up? You could stay in the buggy and watch for awhile. Your sisters could join us.”

“Mark, seriously, do you even have a horse and buggy? Where do you live? And are you Amish? For real? I mean, I don’t wish to sound ignorant, but suddenly you appear out of nowhere, not looking Amish like the rest of the young men in this area, and … well …”

She was floundering now, but she needed to know.

He laughed a deep, comfortable, rolling laugh.

Oh, she could imagine his face. She remembered every line, even the way little pleats appeared beside his brown, brown eyes when he smiled. And his teeth were so white and perfect. She could look at his face for a hundred years and never tire of it.

That thought struck her, slammed into her knowing, and she clutched the receiver tightly to steady herself. These thoughts were absolutely ridiculous.

He was talking again. She needed to hear what he was saying.

“Sadie, my life is a long story. I suppose to you, I’m a bit of a mystery.”

He paused.

She pulled her coat down over her lap, shivered.

“All right, I’ll tell you what I really want to say. I would love to sit somewhere with you and talk for a very long time. Sadie, I’m almost 30 years old. And to think of … well, I went to the hymn-singing just to see you.”

Sadie watched the afternoon light on an icicle through the phone shanty window. She straightened her covering and cleared her throat.

“I mean, I don’t really want to join the youth group. I’m too old. I’ve been through too much to … I don’t know.” His voice fell away.

And now she could not think of a word to say. Not one word.

“I guess I’m sort of messing up this conversation, Sadie.”

She loved the way he said “Sadie,” sort of dragging out the “e.” Her name became something fabulous when he said it, not just plain old Sadie.

“No, no, not at all. Are you really 30 years old?”

“Twenty-nine. I’ll be 30 in May.”

“Wow! That’s old. A lot of young men have four or five children by that time.”

He laughed again, that rolling, comfortable sound.

“Yeah. Well, not me.”

“I guess not.”

“How old are you?

“Twenty.”

“That’s good. At least you’re not 16.”

“Yes.”

“So … if I come by with my horse and buggy, which I happen to have, will you go with me to the skating party?”

Sadie searched frantically for the proper answer. Of course she would go! But what would people say? Who was he really? She hardly knew one thing about him, other than his astounding face. Well, not just that, everything about him was astounding. From the moment he had stepped out of Fred’s truck, she had been speechless and dumb around him. How could she sit in a buggy with him? She’d prattle away like a child, or else have nothing to say. Just yes.

“I better not go.”

“Why?”

“Well, I’m … not well, really.”