Peter continued. “I had to remind my dear, sweet sister that she had to keep the faith.” He reached across their little parlor seats and tapped her with his toe. “Isn’t that right, Rebekah?”
She looked up and smiled. “Yes, Peter. That’s correct.” She shifted her gaze to Joseph. “I was worried about you.”
“Why is that?” Peter continued. “Why did you falter in your faith...you mentioned it earlier too, though you didn’t think I heard you.”
Both men focused their attention on her. Her heart quickened to a gallop within her chest. “You’re right. I didn’t realize.”
“You don’t have to doubt me, Rebekah.” Joseph’s voice was low. “I’ll never give you a reason to doubt me.”
Rebekah shrugged. “My head knows that, but something seems to be niggling at my heart.” She tried to look over toward Joseph, but the catch in her neck caught her off guard. She winced.
Slowly, she turned in her seat to face Joseph. He had turned to face her too. “It’s not you that I doubt.”
Joseph’s dark brows furrowed over his clear, blue eyes. Silently, he nodded her on.
Rebekah drew in a breath. “I didn’t want to say anything, really. Because it’s so silly...”
Joseph reached across the seat and laid his hand over hers. Heat immediately fired to life beneath it. “Anything that gives you pause, Rebekah, we should discuss.”
“Well...” Rebekah shifted her gaze from Joseph to Peter. “I’m not sure Peter should hear this.”
Peter leaned forward on his elbows, his smile replaced by a look of consternation. “Peter shouldn’t hear this because, why?”
“Because it involves the woman you love.” Rebekah fidgeted until Joseph moved his hand. “And not in a positive way.”
Peter sat back with a sigh and looked out the window. “I know there was some bad blood between the two of you; I probably know more than I should.” He sighed again. “I never wanted to say anything to you about it.”
Joseph wrung his hands in his lap. “I think it’s all the more important we talk about it, then. If we are all going to be family, there can’t be any secrets.”
Rebekah thought briefly about her happy home in Gasthof Village. Samuel and Elnora, her parents, always seemed so in love. There was nothing they couldn’t talk about, nothing they couldn’t discuss. And love permeated every inch of their farmhouse, and every child knew exactly how loved they were.
Will my and Joseph’s home be as happy? Rebekah ran her tongue over her teeth and tried to will the tremble in her hands to still. If we are going to have a happy home, we need to be able to talk to each other. May as well start now.
“I have faith in you, Joseph. And I trust you.” Her voice began to shake. She hoped she wouldn’t cry, though her throat burned. “But there’s just something about the way Katie looks at you.”
The truth leaving her lips was freeing, like when she emptied her apron after gathering eggs. Careful, heavy, fragile. And who knew the mess that would ensue if things went wrong.
“I don’t trust her, Joseph. I don’t trust Katie.” Rebekah licked her lips. They were dry as sandpaper. “And I think she would stop at nothing to win your affections—”
Words, please don’t hurt Joseph or Peter.
“Pray continue.” Peter’s voice was flat. Any semblance of a smile was gone. Long gone.
“And I can’t rightly figure if she would stop at nothing to win your affections because she truly loves you...” She dropped her voice and her gaze. “Or if it is because she truly despises me.”
Silence hung over the three of them like a death shroud. Rebekah tucked one of the covering strings into the corner of her mouth and wished she could melt into the floor. If little Thomas could see her now, he would be ashamed. So would her biggest little brother, Jeremiah.
I wish I could go somewhere else. Anywhere else. Anywhere to escape this deafening silence.
After a mini-eternity, finally, someone broke the silence. Joseph.
“You know, my ma always told me, ‘trust your gut feeling.’ Something about it being true no matter what.” He laced his long fingers together and leaned forward. “Your feeling is right on.”
Rebekah stopped fidgeting. The covering string dropped from her mouth. “It is?”
“Katie tried to make us a couple for as far back as I can remember. Usually, it was embarrassing, because I only have had feelings for you, Rebekah.” Joseph’s words ended, but his tone left room for interpretation.
“And?”
“Well, the night you turned me away. I faltered.”
“Faltered?” Rebekah’s heart skipped a beat, then raced to catch up. “Faltered how?”
“I didn’t want you to get mad, Rebekah. That’s why I never told you.” When he looked at her, it appeared as though his eyes had paled to almost white from their normal blue. “It wasn’t anything. It meant nothing. And I stopped it.”
Peter’s voice made them both jump. “What happened, exactly?”
A woman pushing a food cart, stocked with breads and sweets, stopped beside them. “Good morning. What can I get you?” Her voice was chipper. Too chipper.
Nobody answered.
In fact, nobody even looked at each other.
Finally, Rebekah offered her a meek smile. “I think we will pass. Danke.”
With a curt nod, the woman and the cart clattered down the aisle of the mostly-empty train car. When she was gone, Joseph drew in a breath.
“I didn’t want to see you, Rebekah. When Peter appeared and everything fell into question, I felt like you were questioning me. Questioning us.”
