An Unlikely Match

for supper.”
He was still focused on figuring out why Evelyn kissed him. But he wasn’t one to kiss and tell. He pulled out a chair andsat, then gave the women a brief rundown of the evening.
“That sounds like a nice time.” Esther sipped her coffee. Jayce would be up all night if he drank coffee this late.
“Yeah, she’s a nice girl.” He eyed the pies, trying to decide between the two. Finally, he sliced into the apple pie.
“You didn’t kiss her or do anything inappropriate, did you?” Lizzie drummed her fingers against the table. He looked up andpaused. She looked different. It took him a few seconds to realize it was because she wasn’t wearing her dentures. They hadalso both replaced their white head coverings with scarves.
Smiling, he said, “No. I didn’t kiss her or do anything inappropriate.” But she sure laid one on me. He lifted the piece of pie onto his plate, pulled it toward him, and took a bite.
Lizzie yawned. “You seem like a nice young man, but I have a special talent for spotting a liar, so I had to ask. You’re notlying.”
Esther scowled at her sister.
“No, I’m not lying.” Jayce recalled the feel of Evelyn’s lips on his. It had happened and ended before he even knew. He suspected it was a bold move for her. She’d immediately hightailed it inside without looking back.
“However . . .” Jayce kept them in suspense as he ate another bite of pie. “She’s going to show me around tomorrow.”
“Really?” Esther took another sip of coffee. “That’s nice.”
Something about her tone seemed to ask for a response, but he was busy with the pie and not sure how to respond anyway.
“She’s Amish, you know?” Esther ran a finger around the rim of her coffee cup while keeping an eye on him.
He raised both hands to cover his mouth and gasped. “You’re kidding.”
Esther grinned. “Silly thing to say, I suppose.”
Lizzie yawned again. “Did you have any trouble with Poppy?”
Jayce shook his head. “Nope. I picked up Evelyn and delivered her home safely without a hitch.”
“Well, we just wanted to make sure you were a gentleman. I’m sure things are a lot different here than where you come from.”Lizzie rubbed her eyes.
“You could say that.” Jayce laughed, again recalling the kiss. He stood after finishing his pie and thanked the women. Temptationflowed through his veins like a rushing river, prodding him to tell the sisters that Evelyn had kissed him. Instead, he thoughthe’d better mention the vanilla. “Lizzie, did you spill something in your buggy?”
“Nee. Why?” She slouched in her chair and chewed a fingernail.
Jayce waved in front of his nose. “The smell of vanilla was so strong I worried we might throw up. I don’t mean to sound disrespectful at all. I appreciate you letting me borrow the buggy, and it was fun driving it. But . . .” He shook his head. “I’ve never smelled that much vanilla in my life. Even with the windows open, it was pretty overbearing.”
Lizzie shrugged. “I’ve never noticed that.”
Jayce found that impossible to believe, but maybe Lizzie had a medical condition that prevented her from smelling. He decidedto let it go, excused himself, and went to bed.
*  *  *
Esther waited until Jayce was out of earshot before she turned to Lizzie. Her sister looked like a rag doll slumped in herchair as she avoided looking at Esther, still nibbling on her fingernail. “Vanilla?” She raised an eyebrow.
“What about it?” Lizzie continued to avoid Esther’s inquiring eyes.
“Why would your buggy smell like vanilla?” Esther leaned forward. “And enough to make those young people feel sick.”
Lizzie moaned as she straightened in the chair, then sighed. “Vanilla is an apple-desiac. It draws people together and makesthem feel romantic.”
Esther gasped as she brought a hand to her chest.
“Why do you look so shocked? It was just a little nudge to help them feel comfortable on their first date.” Lizzie stiffenedas she placed her palms on the table. “I read that in one of my romance books.”
Esther held her forehead in her hands before she looked at her sister. “First of all, you need to stop reading those books. Secondly, the word you misspoke has a different meaning from what you think.” She shook her head. “How did you get enough of the scent to stay in the buggy and overwhelm the kinner?”
Lizzie pressed her lips together, then let out a dramatic sigh. “I left some vanilla candles out in the sunlight behind thebarn until they melted a little. Then I smeared the wax on the back seat and floorboards.” She paused, raised her chin. “Icouldn’t smell it all that much so I mixed some vanilla extract and water together, put it in a spray bottle, then sprayedeverything in the buggy.”
Esther wasn’t sure when her mouth fell open, but she forced it closed and thought for a few seconds. “I thought we were inagreement that we should not encourage anything between Evelyn and Jayce.” She shook her head. “Vanilla?” she asked again.
“I like that boy.” Lizzie pushed her lip into a pout, exaggerated by the fact she didn’t have her dentures in.
“You don’t know that boy.” Esther stared at her.
“Ach, well, I like him anyway.” She lifted her chin. “He might not be lying, but he’s not telling us something.” Lizzie pressedher lips together, moving them from side to side, the way she often did when she didn’t have her dentures in.
Esther’s sister had smoothly changed the subject, but Esther had to agree with her. “I had the same feeling.” It hadn’t beenanything Esther could put her finger on, but Jayce had seemed to be evading the entire truth. “Maybe he just needs a friend.We can’t assume that every time a young man meets a young woman, they will become romantically involved.”
Lizzie huffed. “We always assume that. It’s what we do.”
“Not in this case.” Esther picked up one of the pies, walked to the counter, and began covering it. Lizzie followed with the other pie. “It’s not just that one of them is