An Unlikely Match

her head. “Not at all. You won’t be in any trouble. Just me. I’ll be the one in trouble.”
Jayce grimaced. “Yikes. I don’t want that to happen.” He gave Poppy a gentle flick of the reins until the horse picked upa little speed.
“Don’t they have food at the movie theater?” she asked.
“Uh . . . yeah. But they’ll only have hot dogs, pickles, popcorn, candy, stuff like that.”
“I love hot dogs, if that food is okay for you.” Evelyn smiled and Jayce rejoiced on the inside. He loved theater food. Hisdates had never been interested in that type of dining, but Jayce still got popcorn every time.
“Yep, hot dogs are fine with me.” He looked her way again. “Are you sure?”
“Ya, ya. I’m excited to be going to the movies.” She folded her hands over the small black purse in her lap. Jayce wondered whatwas in it. She didn’t need money. He would be paying for their food and tickets. She wouldn’t have any makeup in the bag.Or a brush. Every Amish woman he’d seen had her hair tucked beneath one of those head coverings. He wanted to ask her butrefrained.
“I like the way you talk. You have kind of an accent.” Jayce smiled at her. “It’s cool. Different. It sounds a lot like German.”
She blushed. Soon it would be dark and he wouldn’t be able to catch her reactions with as much clarity. “Pennsylvania Deitsch is our first language. We don’t start learning Englisch until we are five. I think that’s why we sound a little different to outsiders.”
Jayce nodded. He was at a loss for further conversation. It seemed to him that the Amish were the outsiders, disconnectedfrom the rest of the world. There were a lot of things he wanted to ask about her way of life. Why no electricity? Why nocars? Why the clothes? It must all tie in with their religious way of life, but it seemed so foreign to him. And unnecessary.He stayed quiet.
“How did it go in the cave today?” She cringed as she asked. Jayce grimaced as well.
“My dad gave me an out, told me I didn’t have to go on the boat ride inside the cave.” He winced as he recalled the smug lookon his father’s face. “I wanted to go, to prove to him I could, but at the last minute, I just couldn’t get in the boat.”He looked at her and felt his own face turning red. “It’s embarrassing. Especially for a guy.”
“I don’t think you should be embarrassed. Everyone has something they’re afraid of.” He wanted to ask what she was afraidof, but he supposed that was up to her to reveal. He had voluntarily told her about his claustrophobia. He hated being dubbedanything with phobia on the end of the word.
As the sun began its final descent, it came from behind the clouds and was full force in front of them. Jayce dropped hissunglasses down on his nose. Evelyn opened her purse, and he got to see one thing she carried in the bag. She reached insideand pulled out her own shades. He smiled.
Then blurted, “So what are you afraid of?”
“Birds.” She spoke barely above a whisper. “Actually, anything that flies. Birds, butterflies, bees, hornets, and even our chickens. Collecting eggs is usually a daughter’s job, but when I was little, I used to beg mei bruders to get the eggs. They wouldn’t at first, but I’d come back to the haus crying every morning, so eventually Lucas took over the task.”
Jayce thought for a few seconds. “I understand about bees or insects that bite, but butterflies?” He rubbed his chin.
“Ya. I know. It’s silly.” She shook her head, but then lowered her sunglasses on her nose and looked above the rims. “But animalswith wings stalk me. Seriously.” She dramatically pushed the shades back up on her nose. It was cute.
He laughed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh, but butterflies are so dainty.” He lifted a shoulder and dropped it slowly.“Just processing it.”
“They say you should face your fears.” Evelyn sighed loudly. “Mei daed took me to the zoo in Bloomington when I was young, specifically to see the birds. He said if I faced mei fear, I could conquer it.” She giggled, a delightful sound. Kind of childlike and sweet. “I shot out of the bird place screamingand crying, and I got lost. Mei daed was frantic. By the time he found me, we were both too shaken up for him to push the issue. He’s never brought up my fearof birds again.”
“Wow. You’re lucky he let it go like that. My old man never lets up about me being afraid of confined spaces. I mean, it’salready a blow to a man’s ego, but my dad likes to drive the point home every chance he gets, especially in front of people.”
He shook his head as he recalled the elevator incident. He considered telling her since she shared her story, but then thought better of it. He’d already made his father out to be a monster, but there had been some good times between them. He just couldn’t remember those as clearly as the bad times. Anyway, he didn’t need to spill his entire life story to this woman he might never see again.
He slowed the horse when they neared the movie theater. “Wow. I feel like I just jumped back in time. What a cool theater.”He studied the marquee, which resembled half a hexagon. “I’ve only seen theaters like this on TV.”
“I think it was built in the late twenties. It was restored not too long ago.”
He maneuvered Poppy farther down the street where he saw a single hitching post. “No one will try to steal the horse and buggy?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never heard of that happening.”
“You probably don’t even lock your doors at night.” He turned quickly to face her. “Not that I’m planning to sneak into yourhouse or anything.”
She giggled again. “You wouldn’t get far. The entry board creaks, and I’m pretty sure Lucas