The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 Page 5

  “I’m sorry,” she said, taking the bottle from him with shaking hands. “I hope I didn’t scare you when you were driving.”

  “Just a little,” he assured her. “A good driver always stays in control.”

  “Do you need a break?” Leah asked Nick.

  “I could stretch my legs,” he told her.

  “What do you say we do that and then look for a place for supper?”

  “Good idea. I saw a sign for a rest area two exits up. While we’re there I can check the Internet for someplace local to eat.”

  He was silent for a moment, studying Naomi. “That was some nightmare. You get them often?”

  “I’m fine,” she insisted. “Could we go to the rest area now?”

  Color rose in her cheeks. Nick winced inwardly. He hadn’t thought about asking her if she needed a break when she woke from the nightmare.

  “Oh, sure.” He started the van, checked that it was safe to get back on the road, and accelerated out into his lane.

  She sensed his curiosity, but other than a couple of glances at her, he stayed silent.

  Nick stretched his legs by walking around the rest area a couple of times.

  He wondered if it was a law or something that all rest areas looked alike: squat concrete buildings without personality; restrooms that smelled of antiseptic but most of the time didn’t look so clean. Vending machines full of the same snacks and soft drinks. Parents with children who rushed them into restrooms, and people who walked their dogs in areas where they were allowed—and where they weren’t.

  A state trooper sitting in his car doing paperwork eyed Naomi and Leah curiously. Nick figured that the man didn’t often see Amish in this area.

  Getting back into the van, Nick pulled out his iPhone, checked for local restaurants, and jotted them down on a notepad he kept in the car. There were no Amish restaurants in the area but he thought that his passengers might enjoy something different. Just the fact that Leah was enthusiastic about going to Florida for a vacation told him she was a bit of an adventurer. As for Naomi, she usually deferred to wherever the others wanted to go, from what he’d noticed.

  He sensed a strength in her today, though, when she’d refused to stop and talk to John. Nick figured he wasn’t the only one who saw John’s angry expression and his hands clenched at his sides. It must have taken a lot for her to not even wave at him as they left.

  She probably thought he hadn’t seen her lips trembling and tears running down her cheeks before she wiped them away.

  “We’re back,” Leah announced as she maneuvered with her crutches toward the vehicle. “Where shall we eat?”

  Nick jumped out, helped her into the backseat, and opened the door for Naomi.

  “I got you another bottle of water,” she said, putting it into the drink holder. “Thank you for the one you gave me.”

  “You didn’t need to do that,” he said, waiting to shut her door.

  “I wanted to,” she told him.

  Her eyes looked suspiciously bright, as if she’d been crying. She looked away, reaching for her seat belt.

  Nick climbed into his seat and got them back on the road. He gestured with his hand at the list he’d made. “You and Leah look at that and decide where you’d like to eat. There are no Amish restaurants around.”

  “That’s fine with us, right, Naomi? We want to experience some new things on vacation, ya?”

  Naomi nodded. “Southern cooking, steak house, endless buffet, sushi.” She leaned around the seat and looked at her grandmother. “Sushi?”

  “Raw fish,” Leah told her.

  Wrinkling her nose, Naomi glanced at Nick. “Why would anyone want to eat raw fish? Even you Englisch who are so obsessed with time?”

  “It’s … an acquired taste,” Nick told her.

  “Acquired, huh?” She thought about that. “Who wants to acquire a taste for raw fish?”

  “Lots of people.”

  “Have you ever tried it?” When he nodded, she asked him, “Did you like it?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “It tasted … spongy. I kept chewing and chewing and finally spit it into my napkin when no one was looking. My friend suggested I try the next piece with some wasabi. I’d never tried wasabi. It’s like inhaling fire.”

  “So, spongy fish that hasn’t been cooked, wasabi that tastes like fire, and it’s expensive. I think I can resist that.”

  Nick grinned at her. “What about you, Leah? Want to try sushi?”

  “I’ll pass. That all-you-can-eat buffet sounds like a good idea. They should have something for all of us there, don’t you think?”

  “As long as it’s food, it’s good enough for me.”

  “Except for sushi,” Naomi said.

  “Except for sushi,” he agreed.

  Naomi leaned back in her seat. The nightmare had faded to a distant memory. It had probably happened because she was so overtired from getting ready for the trip and because she was feeling guilty about not talking to John when he showed up in the driveway.

  She had a faint headache from the intensity of the nightmare and the tears she’d shed in the cubicle in the rest area. Washing her face had helped, and she had some ibuprofen in her purse if the headache didn’t go away. If Nick had noticed that her eyes were red when she climbed back into the vehicle he’d said nothing.

  The all-you-can-eat buffet was a welcome sight. It had been a long time since they’d stopped and eaten the sandwiches Leah had packed for lunch.

  A long steam table revolved, offering selections that went into a cutout in the wall so that the cooks in the kitchen could keep the containers constantly filled with hot food.

  “Well, this is my kind of place,” Nick said with satisfaction. “You know, Leah, this’ll make it easy on you. Pick whatever you like as it goes past and I’ll fill your plate and bring it to you.”

  She chuckled. “I think someone just improved on passing a platter up and down the table.”

  He carried her plate to a table and then joined Naomi at the food. She served herself and sat with her grandmother. Nick joined them a few minutes later, set a loaded plate down, and took a seat.

  “Did you get enough?” Leah asked tongue-in-cheek as she grinned at Nick.

  “I can always go back,” he assured her. “You should see the dessert buffet.”

  They bent their heads in silent thanks for the meal, then began eating.

  “How much further will we go today?” Leah asked.

  “It’s up to you,” he told her. “How’s the ankle?”

  “Not too bad.”

  “You’d tell me the truth, right?”

  “Ya,” she said, looking at him.

  “Be better if we don’t push it too much. We can find a nice place to stay for the night, get some ice on your ankle, and then start out bright and early in the morning.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.” Leah looked up and smiled at the waitress who came to fill their coffee cups. “Tell me, young lady, what’s the best thing on the dessert buffet?”

  “It’s a toss-up between the cherry cobbler and the blackberry pie,” the woman said. “How ’bout I go get you a little of both?”

  “That would be wunderbaar,” Leah told her with a smile.

  “We don’t see many Amish in these parts,” the woman told her. “Where you headed?”

  “Pinecraft. It’s on the Gulf Coast, in Sarasota, Florida. It’s a little place some Amish and Mennonites go for vacation.”

  The waitress turned and looked out the window that overlooked the parking lot. “Y’all got your horse and buggy out there?”

  Nick laughed. “No, it’d be too difficult to travel from Lancaster County to Florida,” he told her. “They have to settle for my van.”

  Chuckling, the woman left them and returned with Leah’s desserts. “I don’t know if this can measure up to yours, ma’am. Paula does nothin’ but bake her award-winning pies all day, although I hear there’s nothing better than an Amish lady’
s cooking.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Nick said. “Especially these two Amish ladies.”

  The waitress left them and Nick took a bite of the lemon meringue pie he’d gotten. “Not up to the lemon meringue you make, Leah,” he whispered, looking around him to make sure he wasn’t heard.

  Naomi patted his hand. “Try to bear up,” she said as he plowed through it with his usual enthusiasm for sweets. “We’ll be in Pinecraft soon and there’ll be Amish ladies cooking and baking there.”

  She pulled a paper napkin from the little wicker basket on the table. “Here, you have some meringue on your chin.” She dabbed at the fluffy white stuff with the napkin and then happened to look up and saw his eyes darken at her touch. Quickly, she withdrew her hand and focused on her cobbler.

  But when she glanced up a few minutes later, he was studying her.

  Naomi prowled the motel room, fascinated by everything she found inside it.

  She’d settled her grandmother on one of the two double beds with a pillow under her ankle and the ice bag filled with ice from a machine she found down the hall.

  Now Naomi was exploring every nook and cranny. An automatic coffeepot sat on a dresser in the room with a basket full of coffees and teas to sample. A small refrigerator was available to store cold drinks. In the closet, she found laundry bags and instructions on how to have your clothes laundered if you wanted the service.

  She’d just expected a bed and here was every convenience, so you didn’t need to go out of the room.

  Finally, done exploring, she sat on the bed in her nightgown and brushed her hair, finding the bedtime routine soothing.

  “Aren’t you tired yet?”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry! You are and I’m keeping you awake.”

  “Nee,” Leah said. “I think having taken a nap in the car I might have trouble sleeping tonight.”

  “Me too,” Naomi admitted.

  “Maybe we need to talk about that nightmare.”

  “Forgot to brush my teeth,” Naomi said and ducked into the bathroom.

  When she came out a few minutes later, Leah was waiting, her arms folded across her chest.

  “Teeth nice and clean?”

  Naomi couldn’t help but smile. “Minty fresh, too.”

  “Should be. That’s the second time you’ve brushed them in the last half hour.”

  She sank down on her bed. “You don’t miss anything, do you?” She smiled slightly. “But I don’t need to talk about the nightmare. It was nothing. I was just overtired.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Sighing, Naomi studied her hairbrush and then looked at her grandmother. “I’m not happy that he showed up this morning to argue—to try to talk to me,” she corrected.

  Leah shook her head. “I’m sure the two of you will be talking when we get home.” A huge yawn overtook her. “Well, maybe I can sleep tonight.”

  Naomi pulled the comforter and top sheet down, climbed into her bed, and scooted around to get comfortable. “Well, the bed is soft but the sheets don’t smell like sunshine and lavender.”

  There was no answer from the other bed. She raised herself on her elbow and looked over. Her grandmother was already asleep. Naomi turned off the bedside lamp and lay back. It felt so strange to be in a motel. She’d slept in bedrooms other than her own but never in a motel room.

  The room had been set up to make travelers comfortable and give them a good night’s sleep. But the digital clock beside the bed told her she’d lain awake for more than two hours when she turned over and looked at it.

  With a sigh, she flopped on her back. She was tired enough to sleep but suspected that the day had just been too stimulating.

  Just as she finally drifted off she heard footsteps outside their room and through the gap in the drapes saw a man walk past, then retrace his steps, almost as if he were pacing instead of looking for a room.

  She wondered about that for about a second, then sleep overtook her.

  Nick knocked once on Naomi and Leah’s door. “It’s me, Nick. And coffee.”

  Naomi opened the door. “Coffee? There’s a coffeemaker in our room.”

  “Really? There wasn’t one in my room. Maybe someone took it with them and the cleaning staff didn’t notice. Anyway, there’s a little place right next door. And a Waffle House right down the road a piece.”

  She removed a cup of coffee from the drink tray in his hand. “A piece? How far is a piece?”

  “Mile or two.”

  “Be right back,” she said and turned to go back into the room. When she returned, she took her cup from him. “Grossmudder says she’ll be just a minute.”

  Nick gestured at the two lawn chairs placed just outside the room and watched her take a seat, then sat beside her. “Did it work okay for two women to share one bathroom today? Did she give you first chance at getting ready this morning?”

  “What?”

  “My three sisters always had to take turns to get ready with one bathroom in the house. One of them always got the others mad at her for spending too much time in there putting on makeup.”

  He glanced at her and grinned. “I know. You don’t wear makeup. If my sister had skin like yours she wouldn’t, either.”

  She blinked at the compliment and looked a little flustered. He knew then that he’d gone too far.

  “Expect you got it from your mother and she got it from your grandmother,” he said quickly.

  He took a sip of coffee and it was too hot, burning his tongue and then his throat going down. Served him right, he decided. This was an engaged Amish woman, for goodness sake.

  “Ouch!” he said. “Careful, it’s a little hot.”

  He watched her blow on the coffee and test it carefully before she took a sip.

  Leah came to the door. “Danki for the kaffe, Nick.”

  “Ready to go get some breakfast?”

  “When you’ve finished your coffee,” Leah said. “We’re on vacation, remember? No need to rush.”

  Nick watched Naomi’s enjoyment of the coffee and the quiet, contented way she was taking in the sight of the sun rising. Leah was right, but he thought remembering his place right now might be a good idea.

  “Have a seat while I get the luggage,” he told her. “I can finish the coffee in the van.”

  5

  Too bad we’re driving straight through,” Nick said as they walked to the van after lunch in a small restaurant off the interstate. “I found some great places to visit on a road trip going to Florida.”

  “Like what?” Naomi asked him as she helped her grandmother into the backseat.

  “All sorts of little roadside attractions, unusual and strange things to see. I was on the Internet and made a list. I know we aren’t going to any of them but I got a kick out of seeing what was on the way. Maybe I’ll do it sometime. It’s in with the map.”

  After fastening her seat belt, Naomi picked up the list. Virginia: “The Fletcher Farm Rhino? Someone has a rhinoceros on a farm?”

  “Yeah. Don’t see that on an Amish farm, do you?”

  She laughed. “I doubt you see it on any Englisch ones, either. The ABC Cemetery?”

  “Now that was a man who was really organized. He wanted everyone buried in alphabetical order, so he’d move people’s coffins to keep it that way.”

  “And changed his name to one starting with Z when he knew it was his time to go,” she said, reading the printout. “A car that runs on Kool-Aid—oh, I loved that stuff as a kid. Mamm let us have it once in a while in the summer. And there’s a chunk of meteorite you can visit.”

  “Don’t forget Gilligan’s Island Bed and Breakfast.” He looked at her. “It was a television show. These people got stranded on an island.”

  “So then why would they want to go back?”

  He thought about it and then laughed. “People who watched the show loved it. They like to go to the B & B. Just like Star Trek show fans. They visit The Spock—the World’s Only Church of Star Trek.”r />
  “The NASCAR Cap Museum. Guess we could go get you another cap.”

  “A man can never have enough.”

  “I saw five in the back of the van.”

  “I know. I didn’t bring all of mine. Had to leave some room for the stuff you ladies needed to bring.”

  Naomi laughed and rolled her eyes. “The World’s Largest Ten Commandments.”

  “North Carolina?”

  “The world’s largest strawberry. And the largest strawberry building. Why would anyone build something that looked like a strawberry?”

  “Because they can?” he said, grinning. “What about South Carolina?”

  “World Grits Festival. Oh, wrong time of year to go.”

  “What about Pinecraft?”

  “Pinecraft Park has shuffleboard and all kinds of sports to play like volleyball,” Naomi said, reading from the computer printout Nick had provided. “Siesta Key is the beach just a short distance away. The neighborhood of Pinecraft is really small—less than a mile in each direction—but it says here that in the winter the population swells to thousands. Guess we’re adding three to those numbers.”

  Leah leaned forward, “Anything interesting in Florida?” she asked. “I mean, other than Pinecraft?”

  Nick heard the irony in her voice and he laughed. “A castle made of coral. Weeki Wachee Springs, which is an attraction with real live mermaids. Jungle Gardens in Sarasota.”

  “Well, maybe we can visit one of those fascinating places in those places on the way back,” Leah responded dryly. “So what are you going to do after you drop us off, Nick?”

  He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “First, I need to thank your friend Ida for finding me a room to rent. Then I’m going to spend some serious time at the beach. I haven’t been to one in years. Got a whole lot of books to read.”

  Naomi had noticed that Nick was a reader, often finding him with a book or his e-reader when he arrived a little early to pick them up at the shop. Today, a Bible lay on the seat between them.

  She glanced out the window and watched the scenery. Too little sleep the last two nights, the monotony of the interstate, and the lunch she’d eaten were combining to make her sleepy.