progress Isaiah had already made in socializing with his family? How much do my own selfish desires to spend an evening away from the farm like any normal courting couple influence my decision to take him to this party?
And so she vacillated…back and forth until she practically drove herself crazy. By Saturday morning, Catherine realized she had no choice but to follow through as planned. Isaiah had come to the porch for his lunch bag bouncing the beach ball up and down with short precise taps with his wrist. He waved at her through the window and then practiced ball control all the way back to the cornfield. If she were to cancel the date now, she would be the one to hurt his feelings. And that she couldn’t bring herself to do.
After baking a double batch of peanut butter walnut bars and a batch of banana nut bread, Catherine dressed for the occasion with care. Her dress was a flattering shade of cornflower blue, and she donned a freshly starched kapp. Packing the desserts into a hamper, she grabbed her shawl and headed toward the barn before the Grabers returned from the pond. Daniel and Abby had taken their kinner swimming after lunch. Cold-plate suppers waited in the fridge for whenever they became hungry.
Ten paces from the porch, she realized there would be no chickening out. Isaiah waited next to the open carriage with a clean blue shirt, straw hat, and a toothy grin. He’d put on sneakers as she had and had placed a quilt in the buggy for cool evening breezes. He clutched a bouquet of daisies, larkspur, and gladioli in one massive hand. Boots sat at his feet, patiently waiting to see if she would attend the party too. She wagged her tail and then lifted her paw when Catherine drew near.
“Evenin’, Cat,” said Isaiah, tipping his hat. He held out the massive bouquet.
“Evening. Danki for the flowers,” she said with a shy smile. She set the flowers on the seat and bent to shake Boots’ paw. Isaiah had tucked one daisy into her collar.
“Home,” he ordered when Catherine straightened up. Boots looked from one to the other, and then she trotted toward the path through the forest, wagging her tail.
Too bad we can’t follow the dog back to the cabin. We could eat the desserts sitting on the bank of the river, with only annoying mosquitoes to contend with, she thought climbing into the buggy. By the time Boots reached the cabin, they would be halfway to the Millers. Along the way, Isaiah whistled without an ounce of anxiety as Catherine worried, fidgeted, and perspired.
“Lord, give me strength,” she whispered when the buggy turned up their hosts’ driveway. They parked at the end of a long row of buggies and approached a party already in full swing. Catherine placed her desserts on the snack table under a canopy while Isaiah studied the action from the sidelines. Two volleyball matches were underway, with at least a dozen people per side. After rejoining him, she watched too, waving at a few acquaintances that called out her name. Finally, she touched his sleeve to get his attention. “Play?” she asked, secretly hoping he would decline the idea. Then they could head straight for the bonfire, roast a few marshmallows, and go home.
“Jah,” he said, angling his head toward the right-hand game.
Catherine assessed their play, noticing the sides were mismatched, with one team holding an unfair advantage.
Isaiah rolled up his sleeves as they approached the players. With far less enthusiasm, she called out, “Hello, everyone. I’m Catherine and this is Isaiah. Just so that everybody knows, he’s deaf and doesn’t talk much, but he plays volleyball pretty well.”
“Catherine, Isaiah, come join our side!” Several members of the weaker team called out a warm welcome.
They took places in the back row and the game resumed. Catherine’s description of “pretty well” turned out to be woefully inadequate. Isaiah played the game as though he’d practiced every day for years. Catherine? Not so well. He served and returned, volleyed and spiked, bumped and saved, and more than once rescued her feeble hits by diving for the ball and sending it soaring over the net. He sacrificed the knees of his trousers to keep the ball in play. Their team not only caught up, but surged ahead and won by five points.
Isaiah mastered game strategy the way only the athletically gifted are able to do. He and the man on his right developed