He followed her into the elevator, pushed the button and stood silently, studying her as he waited for them to reach the bottom floor. She didn’t look at him once during the entire ride. It didn’t bode well for their having coffee together. He would just have to somehow put her at ease.
Jacob studied Annie across the table as she sipped from her cup of coffee, set the mug down and stared into its contents. The hospital cafeteria was quiet. The long institutional-type tables were empty except for Annie and him and two female nurses and a male hospital worker, who occupied another table on the other side of the room. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. “How’s the coffee?” he asked softly.
She lifted her gaze from the steaming mug. “Gut.” He could see the sheen from the rising moisture on her forehead. She looked at him a moment, her blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears, then glanced away. He could see how the events of the morning had taken a toll on her. “Jacob, I appreciate your help with Dat,” she said, almost reluctantly.
“I didn’t do much—”
“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped to help,” she admitted.
“I wouldn’t have left you,” he assured her. “I knew something was wrong the minute I saw you.” He frowned. “How are your feet?”
She blushed as she shifted briefly to glance beneath the table at her grandmother’s navy sneakers, worn over her grandfather’s black socks. “They are fine. They barely hurt.”
“Must have been broken glass alongside the road.”
“I was so scared, I just ran,” she admitted. “I didn’t take time to look down.” Her blond hair was a beautiful shade of gold beneath her white head covering. After the blush of embarrassment left her, she looked pale, too pale.
“May I get you something to eat?” he asked. She looked lovely and vulnerable; he wished he could do more for her.
Annie shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
“We’ve been here for over two hours and the only thing you’ve had is that coffee. Once your vadder is out of surgery, you may not have another opportunity to eat. How about a sandwich?” When she declined, he said, “A cookie? A piece of cake?”
She didn’t answer. He heard her sniff. “Annie.” Jacob hated to see her troubled, but he understood. “Annie.”
She looked up, started to rise. “We should get back.”
He stood. “I’ll get the coffee for Josiah and Nancy. You can go ahead if you’d like.”
She shook her head. “Nay I’ll wait for you,” she said, surprising him. “You may need help with the coffee.”
Jacob paid for the drinks for Josiah and Nancy, and on impulse, he purchased two large chocolate-chip cookies. He tucked them under the coffee fixings in the center of the cardboard cup holder. He was back with Annie in less than a minute. There’d been no one in line at the register. “I grabbed sugar and cream for the coffee,” he told her. She inclined her head.
He silently rode with her on the elevator up to the surgical floor. The doors opened and Jacob waited for Annie to precede him. To his surprise, she suddenly stopped and turned to him. “What are we going to do, Jacob? How will we make do, when Dat can’t work?”
Jacob considered the woman before him, noting the concern in her expression. “I can help out in the shop, and our community will be there for you, too.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have enough experience. You could do more harm than good.”
“I’m not a boy, Annie. I can do the job.” There was a charged moment as awareness of her sprung up inside him. Jacob shook it off. “If I don’t do it, who will?”
“I don’t know.” She seemed to think about it. “I’ll have to ask Dat.”
She had grabbed his hat from the table, where he’d set it down when he’d gone for the coffee for her brother and Nancy. Now she fingered the brim nervously.
“We are friends, aren’t we, Annie?” he asked. “I remember seeing you in the open shop doorway when we were kinner, watching me with your dat.”
She hesitated, then smiled slightly. “I was sure you would burn yourself with the hot metal, but you never did.”
“Not that you ever saw.” He remembered her as a young girl, the first girl he’d ever liked.
Her expression turned serious. “Jacob, it’s nice of you to offer your help, but we can’t accept it.”
“But if Joe agrees?” he said softly.
“Then I guess the decision will be made.” She continued down the hall toward the surgical waiting room.
Jacob fell into step beside her. He studied her bent head, admiring the beauty of her profile. She looked pale and tense, and he didn’t seem to be able to help. He saw Josiah leave the waiting room up ahead and approach.
“How’s Dat?” Annie asked.
“No word yet from the doctor.” Josiah nodded his thanks as Jacob handed him a cup of coffee. He declined sugar and cream and grabbed the other cup for Nancy.
Inside the waiting room, Jacob set down the cardboard cup holder, accepted his hat back from Annie and then took a seat near her. They waited in silence. He retrieved and handed her the wrapped cookies. “For when you’re hungry.”
Annie’s eyes locked with his. She opened her mouth to say something but then nodded silently instead. Jacob found that he couldn’t look away.
“Are those cookies?” Josiah asked, capturing Annie’s attention.
“Ja, Jacob bought them.” Annie handed him one, and Josiah beamed.
“Gut thinking, Jacob,” Josiah said before he unwrapped the treat and broke it in half. He handed a piece to Nancy and then took a bite of his own.
Jacob smiled. He was pleased to see Josiah enjoying it, even more pleased to note that Annie had kept one for herself.
It wasn’t long before there was a light commotion right outside the waiting room. Soon, others within their Amish community arrived, having received word of Joe’s accident. As the newcomers entered the room, he got up and moved away to give Josiah and Annie the time to be comforted by their friends. Among the new arrivals were his parents—Katie and Samuel Lapp—Josie and William Mast and Mae and Amos King. Annie and Josiah rose, and their friends immediately surrounded them.
William Mast took off his hat, held it against his chest. “How’s Joe?” he asked Jacob.
Jacob acknowledged the older man. “He’s still in surgery.”
“Any idea how long?” the older bearded man asked. When Jacob explained it could be another half hour or more, William left to stand near his wife, Josie, who was comforting Annie.
Josie moved aside, and Jacob’s mother stepped in to give Annie a hug. She spoke briefly to her and Josiah before she moved back to allow others to talk with the Zook siblings.
His mam turned and saw him standing outside the group. She approached. “How bad?”
“Bad enough.” Jacob was conscious of Annie across the room. He glanced over briefly to see how she was faring, before he turned