Part 20 (1/2)
”You're sure?”
”Totally smitten,” said Hen.
”Can Rosie point him toward the church, do ya think?” Sol leaned down to remove his work boots on the porch.
”How determined is he to leave the People?”
”He's never said, but just look how he refuses to wear the traditional men's haircut. And I heard he picked a fight with a tourist in Quarryville on Monday, according to someone who witnessed it himself. Jah, I fear Nick's on his way out ... and sooner than any of us realizes.”
Hen grimaced. ”Unless Rosie stops him ...”
Stricken, Solomon said no more as they made their way into the kitchen for supper.
Rose never expected Nick to s.h.i.+ne his flashlight on her bedroom window that night, like a beau coming to propose marriage. But there he was all the same, and when she opened the window, he asked her to go riding with him.
”I ... don't know,” she said, still holding her library book, Jane Austen's Emma.
”Is your knee better?”
”Well, jah ... quite a lot.”
”We could go through the meadow, instead of taking the road.” His voice was insistent. ”I'll be careful with ya, Rosie.”
Against her better judgment, she reluctantly agreed and closed the window. When she'd donned her warmest sweater over her dress, she put on her woolen shawl for good measure. Outside, she asked Nick to go to the haymow to get her britches. ”My hiding place,” she told him.
He seemed surprised. ”You keep 'em in the barn?”
”Always have.” Rose waited on the back porch for him to return. When he did, she went inside to pull the trousers on under her dress in the small room where her mother napped during the day. Rose felt tired enough herself to simply lie down on the daybed and fall asleep. She a.s.sumed it was all the reading she'd done and hoped the night air might perk her up.
Back outside, she let Nick help hoist her onto Pepper. Then he went around and slung his right leg forward over the horse, careful not to b.u.mp Rose. ”Grab hold of me when we ride, all right?”
Rose agreed, glad she'd worn the britches, even though now Nick knew where she hid them.
”Are ya ready?” he asked.
She held lightly onto Nick's s.h.i.+rt. ”Go slow, all right?”
”Nice 'n' easy,” he said, directing the horse to move toward the gra.s.sy lane leading out to the bishop's field.
”Aren't we go in' to the high meadow?”
”We'll end up there.”
The night was still ... the sky clear and dark. She wanted to enjoy this ride through the night. But Rose thought of her book and wondered if quick-witted and spoiled Emma Woodhouse was destined always to be a matchmaker and never a bride. Few young women Rose knew would've taken the same stance on marriage as that character. And yet, as she contemplated it, Rose realized she, too, had once nearly given up on ever having a husband, though for wholly different reasons.
Thankfully, Silas didn't forget about me, she thought as she watched the meadow rise to meet the sky over yonder.
”Your leg's doin' all right?” Nick asked over his shoulder.
”It's fine.”
”Ready to try for a slow trot?”
”Thought ya said we were going to dawdle.”
”Well, must we go this slow?” Clearly, he was itching to increase Pepper's pace.
”All right, but just a little.”
Nick clicked his tongue and the horse moved into a trot. Taken off guard by Pepper's quick movements, Rose lost her grip on Nick's s.h.i.+rt and began to slide. ”Oh!” she cried out.
Nick reached behind him and caught her left arm, then halted the horse. ”I got ya ... you're all right.”
”You scared me half to death!” she said, catching her breath and getting situated again. Nervous now, she wondered if it wouldn't have been wiser to remain home, burrowed in with Miss Emma Woodhouse.
”Now,” said Nick, ”try wrapping your arms around me instead.”
How unladylike!
Nick didn't wait even a moment for her to dispute it before they were off again. She had to grab hold of something, since she was lurching out of control with each jog of the horse. So Rose did as Nick suggested, holding tightly around his middle as he trotted the horse ever closer to a gallop.
All at once she began to feel much steadier - safer, too. She was keenly aware of Nick's strength. What freedom, riding this way! Never before had she felt so unfettered, yet also truly connected to someone. No, not just someone ... her best friend.
Does Nick feel it, too?
Rose had to suppress the wild and enlivening sensation that rolled through her as they rode through the darkness together. It was akin to the first time she'd leaped off the long tree branch and let herself fall helplessly into the swimming hole below ... disappearing into the muddy waters, over her head with happiness. Her whole body had seemed nearly weightless that day as she swam toward Nick - completely at one with the water, the hot sun, and her own body.
Just as she felt now.
But no. She couldn't let herself think this way. She was Silas's girl, not Nick's. In fact, she could never be anything more than Nick's friend.
Rose tensed up just then, her arms turning stiff.
Nick slowed the horse, quickly bringing Pepper to a halt. ”What's wrong?”
”Nothin'.”
”You don't fool me, Rosie.” He got down and held out his arms to a.s.sist her. ”You need to rest, maybe.”
She let him help her down, easing carefully onto her feet. Quickly, he removed his black work coat and insisted she sit on it. ”I'm not an invalid,” she said as she stood there looking down at it. ”Besides, it's starting to get cold.”
”Just sit for a spell ... won't ya?”
From his tone, she realized he had something on his mind. She knew him too well.
But suddenly he was walking away from her, shoving his hands into his pockets. He stared at the sky, his hat and head a shadowy silhouette.
Slowly, she lowered herself down onto his coat, her legs stretched out in front of her on the cold ground. Cus.h.i.+oned only by the coat and its flimsy lining, Rose felt sure he was going to tell her something dreadful. ”I'm here, Nick ... listening,” she said.
He turned, pausing before coming back to meet her. Then, sitting on the bare ground next to her, he said, ”I've been makin' trips into town.”