Katie's Forever Promise by Jerry S. Eicher Page A

ago.”
    â€œFast?” Katie laughed. “I like fast horses. And that’s a nice name—Bonnie.”
    â€œYou do?” Norman was looking at her as if she were some strange creature from another planet. “My sisters are always complaining about my driving too fast. Susie just this morning even threatened not to come to church with me if I drove Bonnie. But I wanted her broken in some more before I…well…picked you up tonight.”
    Katie laughed. “I think your sisters don’t know what they’re talking about. There’s nothing like a fast ride home in the dark. It’s romantic.”
    â€œAh…” Norman fell silent but he loosened the reins, and Bonnie raced through the night. The buggy wheels hummed under them at the steady pace of Bonnie’s hooves on the pavement.
    Norman seemed to relax, but he soon tensed again, pulling back on the reins. He glanced sideways at Katie. “I’m…I’m not used to…to driving so fast. Daett says something could fly off the wheels. And there’s no fixing a buggy that slides along the blacktop, to say nothing of the people inside.”
    â€œI suppose so,” Katie allowed, as Norman slowed down even more. She chided herself for allowing Ben to intrude again. Thinking about how it used to be…those evenings dashing home from the Mennonite youth gatherings. Fast living was now a thing of her past, Katie told herself. She was wrong to encourage Norman to live differently than he’d been brought up.
    Minutes later they were turning down the driveway. Norman parked in front of the hitching post and jumped out with the tie rope to secure Bonnie. Katie climbed down and waited for him. She led the way to the house. On the front porch, the swingsqueaked in the evening breeze, bathed in the soft light of the lantern Mamm had left on inside the house.
    Katie paused. Why not sit on the swing at least for a few minutes? She gave Norman a sweet smile. “The swing. We could sit out here for a few minutes.”
    â€œ Yah , maybe.” He hesitated, but Katie had already sat down.
    Lowering himself on the swing, Norman stayed on his side, a wide space between them.
    â€œNorman,” Katie said, “you don’t have to sit way over there. I won’t bite.”
    He laughed and moved closer, but he still kept plenty of space between them. It was clearly going to take awhile for Norman to get over his nervousness. She had to be patient.
    Norman cleared his throat. “You used to date Ben Stoll, didn’t you?”
    â€œYou know I did,” Katie said. “That was a long time ago.”
    â€œSorry. I didn’t mean to…well…I just mean I’m sure you quit the relationship when you found out about…”
    â€œ Yah , I did. In fact, I haven’t spoken to Ben since…” Katie let the words hang for a moment. Her visit to Ben’s hospital room wasn’t something she wished to discuss with Norman. “Well, let’s just say the relationship is over.”
    Norman sighed, his relief evident. “I’m glad to hear that.”
    Apparently she needed to justify herself in Norman’s eyes, so Katie continued. “I know what Ben did was a great evil. I had nothing more to do with him after I found out about it.”
    â€œI expected that of you, Katie. You’re a decent girl,” he said at once, although his tone wasn’t very convincing.
    Katie turned to face him. “Why would anyone expect me to do something else?”
    Norman managed a smile. “We didn’t, but Daett still thought I should ask where you stood.”
    Katie almost gasped. “Your daett must believe I’m committed to Amish ways. He hired me as the schoolteacher.”
    â€œThat’s different. Your joining the church kind of took care of that doubt. But for dating, I guess one must be sure.”
    Katie settled back in the swing. What kind of