Huckleberry Hearts

by Jennifer Beckstrand

  Of course, that didn’t mean he’d separated himself from her entirely. His eyes followed her every move, drank in the grace of every gesture, and although he never ventured too close, he hovered as if he were in orbit around her. When she moved one way, he did too. When she stopped, he stopped and pretended to gaze elsewhere while keeping his attention squarely on her.

  He had never met anyone like Cassie Coblenz. She was tender and gentle, resolute without being pushy. Forgiving and patient. The Bible called it “long-suffering.” Cassie had no doubt suffered much unhappiness at the hands of her community and family, but she didn’t seem to harbor ill will for anyone.

  Of course, that meant that Zach was far beneath her, both in virtue and in faith. He could live three lifetimes and never deserve her. The thought discouraged him but didn’t keep him from wanting her all the same. He was a doctor and a star soccer player. Plenty of girls thought he was a good catch. It gave him hope for Cassie.

  Even now she voluntarily visited with her mother while they both examined the stitching on one of the quilts up for sale at the auction. Her mom reached up and adjusted the white covering on Cassie’s head, and although Zach was too far away to hear their conversation, he could guess that Cassie’s mom criticized how Cassie wore it. His mouth drooped into a frown even though Cassie took her mother’s criticism with a cheerful, even kindly look on her face. She even gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

  Cassie moved with easy grace as she shifted from quilt to quilt, bestowing that angelic smile on everyone she came in contact with. A woman tending to her quilt dropped an entire tin full of pins as Cassie walked by, and Cassie got down on her hands and knees and helped her pick them up. She helped a fallen toddler back to his feet, kissed every baby she encountered, and found an elderly Englisch woman a chair to rest on.

  With every movement and action, she displayed her deep and irresistible goodness. It was an extremely attractive quality, and Zach was extremely attracted. He massaged the back of his neck. She’d already rejected him once. How in the world could he convince her to give him another chance without being annoying?

  He also kept a close eye on Cassie to see if the legendary Elmer Lee would appear and sweep her off her feet. Zach, who already knew his limitations when it came to Cassie, envisioned the whole troubling scene in his head. Elmer Lee would march into the barn like David walking into the Valley of Elah to face Goliath. He’d say a few enticing sentences to her in Pennsylvania Dutch, and she’d agree to marry him on the spot. Then he’d take her into his arms, carry her to his buggy, and drive her to the church, where they’d be married immediately and live happily ever after raising a dozen Amish babies.

  He clenched his teeth and tried his best to drum that picture out of his head. Cassie had told him she didn’t want to be Amish anymore. But what if Elmer Lee was too persuasive and virtuous to resist?

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw three young men stroll into the warehouse. One wore the familiar Amish horseshoe beard. The other two were clean-shaven.

  They paused at the door as they peered around the warehouse. A navy-blue streak of lightning bustled over to the three of them. Cassie’s mother. She reached out and rested a firm hand on the bearded one’s shoulder. They put their heads together as Cassie’s mother Esther looked to be talking a mile a minute. She glanced up and her eyes met Zach’s from a distance. How did she know right where he was? He looked away, even as he watched them out of the corner of his eye. Esther pointed right at Zach, a gesture that he found appallingly rude. Hadn’t her mother ever taught her that it was impolite to point? He thought about that for a second. Anna Helmuth was Esther’s mother. Sweet, guileless Anna had most certainly taught her daughter good manners.

  The bearded one stared at Zach for a minute while Esther acknowledged the other two Amish young men, then stormed away in the direction she had come.

  Zach’s heart flopped around his chest when the three men headed straight in Cassie’s direction. Elmer Lee and his two bodyguards? Or his two best men? The one with the beard was of average size, maybe five-eight, five-nine. Zach would have run circles around him on the soccer field. Norman, maybe? The one who had made Titus cry?

  The other two could have been weightlifting partners. The shorter looked to be almost six feet with hair the exact color of Cassie’s and arms as solid as tree branches. The taller one stood at least Zach’s height, about six foot three, but he probably had thirty pounds on Zach. Zach was solid, lithe and muscular, but this one was as thick and as immovable as one of the stone pillars at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. He had a square jaw, a cleft chin, and hair so black it glistened under the fluorescent lights of the warehouse.

  Cassie’s back was turned as they approached. When the one with the beard said something to her, she looked around and her smile wilted like a daisy in the wintertime. Zach took a deep breath. If that was Elmer Lee, she wasn’t happy to see him.

  Before her companions had a chance to notice it was gone, she shoved a smile back onto her lips and stiffened her spine as if it were made out of oak.

  The one with the beard seemed to be the spokesman. He stretched a smile across his face, almost as painful as Cassie’s, and motioned stiffly to his tall, dark, and brooding companion. The Pillar nodded to Cassie, but couldn’t have said more than about three words to her. Cassie nodded back, looking as if she wished someone would pull the fire alarm so she could escape.

  The one with the beard spoke again. His smile disappeared as he and Cassie exchanged words, and Zach could tell that the bearded one was dishing it out and Cassie was meekly taking it. It looked as if he were giving Cassie a very stern lecture. Like she had with her mother, Cassie lowered her eyes and laced her fingers together.

  Instinctively, Zach took a few steps forward. He didn’t know much about the Amish culture, but even at the risk of offending everybody, he wouldn’t let anyone else bully Cassie. Even her brother.

  He decided to get within earshot so he could actually hear what was being said before he rode in on his white horse to rescue the maiden. They might just be talking about the weather. With consternation he gazed at Cassie’s expression, pretty sure they weren’t talking about the weather. He sidled closer to them and stationed himself behind a large Englisch guy who was intently studying his phone.

  “Elmer Lee wants you to go on a ride with him,” the bearded one said. “When a boy has gone to that much trouble to arrange a ride, a decent, godly girl should say yes. Have you forgotten your manners as well as your faith, Cassie?”

  “We can go to the overlook at the lake,” said the tall, dark pillar. His deep bass voice sounded as if he had a ping-pong ball stuck in his throat. Definitely Elmer Lee. As solid as a tank.

  “I’m going back to Chicago in a few months, Norman,” Cassie murmured, speaking to the one with the beard.

  Norman. The one who was supposedly going to make him cry. Zach wasn’t intimidated in the least. In his day, he’d flattened soccer forwards twice Norman’s size.

  “It wouldn’t be fair to Elmer Lee to get his hopes up,” Cassie said. Apparently Elmer Lee didn’t mind that they were talking about him as if he weren’t there.

  “What is out there for you, Cassie?” Norman hissed through his teeth. “Do the Englisch boys treat you with respect?”

  Zach was about to come out from behind the wide Englischer and intervene when he caught Cassie’s soft answer.

  “No,” she said.

  No? The muscles of Zach’s jaw tightened. He suddenly wanted to round up all the guys Cassie had ever dated. He’d teach them some respect.

  Norman grunted. “The Englisch boys only want one thing from a girl.”

  “I know,” Cassie said, and Zach could hear the real anguish in her voice. “But I will wait for marriage to a man of God.”

  “Then you’ll never marry,” Norman said. “Because the only godly men left are the Amish yet.”

  Cassie’s voice was barely audible. “I’ve made m
y choice. I’m not coming back.”

  Zach felt sick to his stomach. Was that what Cassie thought about all Englisch boys? Was that what she thought about him? It made him even sicker to realize that she was not that far from the truth. How many girls had he slept with since high school? Not as many as someone like Finn McEwan, but still, there had been a few, and Zach had attended enough Sunday School classes to know that his behavior wouldn’t meet with God’s approval.

  “An Amish man would never use a girl the way the Englisch boys do,” Norman said. “The only place you are safe is with us.”

  The other young man spoke up. “We want you to come home. We love you.”

  Norman definitely wanted to be completely in charge of the conversation. He ignored the other young man altogether. “We fear for your soul. I have a prayer in my heart for you always.”

  “I’d really like to take you to the lake,” the Pillar added.

  A man of few words. Why wouldn’t he be, with someone like Norman to do his talking for him?

  From behind the large cell phone user, Zach saw Norman lay his hands on Cassie’s shoulders. “I fear and tremble when I think that my own sister is going to burn in the fires of hell for eternity.”

  Zach had heard enough. He stepped from behind the fat man and stepped in between Cassie and Norman. “Hey,” he said, extending his hand to Norman and trying for a smile. “My name is Zach Reynolds. I’m a friend of Cassie’s.” No need to be confrontational. Yet.

  Norman acted as if Zach were offering a snake instead of his hand. He frowned persistently as he glued his eyes to Zach’s pink shirt. “Are you trying to couple up with Cassie?”

  “We’re just friends.” He moved a few inches closer to Cassie so their pink sleeves were touching, just to goad Norman a little—probably not the most Christian way to behave, but then, Zach wasn’t much of a Christian.

  It worked. Norman’s frown settled into his face like a deep rut in the dirt. “Cassie doesn’t want an Englisch boyfriend.”

  He could hear Cassie’s shallow breathing and resisted the nearly overpowering urge to grab her hand and give her something solid to hold on to. He also resisted the urge to lay into Cassie’s brother and tell him what was what.

  Cassie managed to recover herself enough to speak. “Norman, this is Mammi’s foot doctor. Dr. Reynolds, this is my brother Norman.”

  Norman peered at Zach as if he were sporting a black cape and sinister mustache. Still, he remembered his manners and stuck out his hand. “You did the surgery on my mammi?”

  “Yes,” Zach said. “She’s by far my favorite patient.”

  Cassie motioned to the shorter of the twin pillars standing beside her. “This is my brother Luke.”

  Luke looked younger than Norman. Judging from his baby face, probably younger than Cassie, and there was good humor in his eyes. He gave Zach a tentative smile. “Nice to meet you.” He had a firm handshake, only to be expected from a guy with arms as thick as loaves of bread.

  Cassie motioned toward the Pillar, and Zach could see the color creep up her neck. “This is Elmer Lee Kanagy.”

  Elmer Lee’s handshake could have broken the hand of someone who wasn’t UChicago’s all-conference center back two years in a row. But Zach didn’t sense any malice in Elmer Lee’s grip. He was a big man, shaking the hand of another big man. Elmer Lee was trying to be neighborly.

  Probably.

  “You and Cassie match,” Elmer Lee said, as if he’d just noticed it.

  “She’s much prettier than I am.” Zach flashed a smile at Cassie, trying to put her at ease. It didn’t seem to work, but she did return his smile with a halfhearted curl of her lips.

  Another frown layered itself on top of the frown Norman already wore. “Cassie would not be so vain to think she’s pretty.”

  “Elmer Lee thinks her dress is pretty,” Luke offered. “Don’t you, Elmer Lee.”

  Elmer Lee nodded.

  As if on cue, Cassie lowered her eyes to the ground. Trying to prove her humility or just wishing this conversation would end?

  Well, I think she’s pretty, Zach wanted to say. I think she’s as exquisite as a ten-carat diamond. He kept his mouth shut.

  Norman folded his arms across his chest. “Mamm says you have your sights set on Cassie. She says you wore the pink shirt on purpose because you want to lead her astray.”

  “That’s not true, Norman,” Cassie said.

  Norman ignored her. His quick dismissal of his sister made Zach more irritated than anything else Norman had done. “I understand boys like you. You lure girls with your pink shirts and fancy cars for one reason. You want to steal their innocence.”

  Well, he might be able to lure girls with his pink shirt, but he wouldn’t impress anybody with his car. Zach worked very hard not to glare at Norman. The conversation had turned ugly. Titus had warned him not to be overconfident, and Zach understood why. Norman was like one of those bears in the stories they were always reporting about in the news. Some naturalist lives with the bears for months until one day the bears turn on him and eat him alive.

  Zach wasn’t about to get eaten.

  But how to defend himself without making Cassie uncomfortable?

  Cassie actually nudged him out of the way and stepped between him and Norman. “Norman, you are embarrassing yourself and our whole family.”

  “You are the one who embarrasses the family,” Norman shot back.

  “You can criticize and shout at me all you like,” she said, “but I will not let you talk to the doctor this way. He is my guest, and you will treat him with respect or I will walk out of this warehouse, away from Mamm and the family, and never come back.”

  Zach couldn’t have been more astonished if Cassie had laid a big kiss on his lips. The girl who didn’t dare stand up for herself against unjustifiable and hurtful attacks was defending him? Not just defending him, but doing it forcefully so that Norman had no other choice but to shut his mouth—that or risk a scene.

  Her posture was ramrod straight, her eyes on fire with righteous indignation. She was fierce and beautiful and angelic all at the same time.

  He would have defended himself but didn’t know if he could have done so without offending the entire Amish community and making Cassie uncomfortable. Meek, gentle Cassie had risked herself for him, even though she surely thought he was like every other guy she’d met in college.

  A thread of warmth snaked its way through his veins. She had completely disarmed him. He had to convince her to give him another chance.

  Norman clapped his mouth shut and glared at Zach. Zach didn’t even flinch. Didn’t feel one bit like bursting into tears.

  “Norman didn’t mean to be disrespectful,” said Luke. “We’re glad you’re taking care of our mammi.”

  Zach tried to focus his attention on Luke when his thoughts were saturated with Cassie. “Anna knitted me a scarf and mittens,” he said, grasping for something to keep the conversation light.

  This did not make Norman happy. “What is Mammi thinking? You’re not even Amish. Doesn’t she want someone Amish?”

  Zach had no idea what he was talking about. Cassie seemed just as confused. “Mammi hands out scarves like cookies,” she said.

  Norman looked positively sullen. “But not mittens too.”

  “They’re very warm,” Zach said.

  Cassie smiled uncomfortably at Zach. “Dr. Reynolds, would you excuse us for a few minutes?”

  He was being dismissed? He’d only come this way to save Cassie from her brothers. Didn’t she realize that? Wasn’t she grateful?

  “Oh . . . okay. I’ll go find Felty and we’ll get a seat for the auction.”

  She seemed very happy to get rid of him. “That would be wonderful good.”

  His heart felt like an anvil as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and strolled away from Cassie, her brothers, and the Pillar.

  He was the outsider. Cassie had made that perfectly clear.

  He ambled to the furnitu
re up for auction and pretended to be interested in the construction of a rocking chair, all the while keeping an eye on Cassie and the others.

  Still standing tall, Cassie said something to Norman, who seemed to brighten immediately. He nudged Luke on the shoulder, and they walked away, leaving Cassie and Elmer Lee staring at each other. Zach ground his teeth together. She had protested that she wasn’t interested in Elmer Lee, yet there she was, smiling at him and talking as if he were a long-lost friend.

  Oh. Well. Elmer Lee was Cassie’s long-lost friend.

  Zach had trouble prying his gaze from Cassie’s face, but he should give her some measure of privacy with her old boyfriend. If they kissed each other right in the middle of the barn, Zach was pretty sure he didn’t want to witness it.

  She wasn’t going to kiss Elmer Lee, was she?

  He turned his back on them, found a bench to sit on, and faced the stack of hay bales that would serve as the auction block. His scalp tingled at the wish that he could grow eyeballs on the back of his head. Nope. He wouldn’t look. Cassie’s relationship with Elmer Lee was none of his business.

  But right now, it was his most profound concern.

  He didn’t notice Norman until he plopped next to him on the bench. Zach grimaced. He’d hoped to avoid Norman for the rest of the night, but it looked like he was back for round two. Where Zach had restrained himself when Cassie was around, he wouldn’t feel obligated to do so when he had Norman alone.

  Norman dispensed with any pleasantries and got right to the matter. “What are your intentions with my sister?”

  Never a good sign when a guy looked at him like that.

  Zach folded his arms across his chest. “You don’t like me very much, do you?”

  “Nae. I do not.”

  “Is it because I’m Englisch?”

  “I have no respect for a man who hides behind a woman’s skirts and is too weak to speak for himself.”