Free Brian's Choice by Vannetta Chapman Page A

service began.
    More than an hour passed before she had a chance to sit down and eat. She’d plopped the first bite of ham into her mouth when Brian sat down beside her.
    â€œYou’re looking awfully pretty this morning, Katie.”
    â€œ Danki .” She reached for her glass of water and washed down the bite she hadn’t properly chewed. “It’s gut news about Stella.”
    â€œYes, it is.”
    â€œDo you know what happened?”
    He glanced left and then right before leaning forward and lowering his voice. “I wouldn’t want to spread their business, but as you are a teacher in the school, it’s understandable you would want to know the details.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œStella called her parents from Tulsa. She’d gone there with some Englisch friends.”
    â€œTulsa?”
    â€œWhat I didn’t tell you, what I was embarrassed to tell you, was that the afternoon Stella stayed after school, she…well, she admitted her feelings for me.”
    Katie sat back and stared at him. She didn’t know what to say.
    â€œI had noticed she had something of a crush on me, but I didn’t think it was so serious. When she told me how she felt, I thanked her and told her it would pass.”
    â€œYou thanked her?”
    â€œWhat else was I supposed to say?”
    â€œI don’t know, Brian, but no girl wants to be thanked when she confesses her love.”
    He waved away her objections. “Perhaps someone could fall in love at fourteen, but I doubt Stella did. It was only that I was different and she was attracted to that.”
    â€œBut you aren’t different. You’re one of us.”
    He squeezed her hand and then continued. “She didn’t think her parents would worry. Older girls had left for a few days during their rumspringa , and she never thought it was a big deal. But when she saw on the Internet—”
    â€œInternet?”
    â€œShe saw on someone’s phone that I was being questioned. She said she had to come back because she couldn’t bear the thought of me taking the blame for her disappearance.”
    Katie picked up her fork. “She’s a good girl. I always knew she was.” She took a large bite of pasta salad.
    â€œYou always knew?”
    Katie nodded.
    â€œThere’s something else I told Stella that afternoon.” Brian was smiling now and staring at the saltshaker he was spinning round and round. When he paused and looked at her, Katie was reminded of the Scripture about her heart’s desire. “Stella said she would wait until I felt the same. I told her there was someone else I cared for, and I hoped she would find someone she loved in the same way.”
    â€œYou told her that?”
    â€œI did.” He looked as if he would say more, but just then they were joined by a passel of children who were convinced their teacher would like to join a game of softball.
    Katie was left alone, eating a meal that no longer held any appeal and wondering exactly what Brian had just shared with her. As she watched him play ball, he would look occasionally her way and once he raised his hand, waving for her to join them.
    JoAnna was standing beside her. “Go on. It’s plain as the kapp on your head that he wants you with him.”
    That was all that Katie needed to hear.

EPILOGUE
    May
    The end-of-the-year picnic had gone very well. Now Brian and Katie were closing up the schoolhouse. Actually, they were both procrastinating. The room was as clean as a brand-new buggy—both students and parents had seen to that. Brian realized he didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to close the door. He wasn’t ready to spend the summer farming—or, rather, he would have been happy to farm if it meant he’d still see Katie every day.
    They walked out together, shutting and locking the door behind them. Brian pocketed the key to the building. “I’ll give this to the