Anna—Grace carried the stained napkin to the little laundry room behind the kitchen and tossed it in with the load of towels already agitating in the washing machine.
“Sissy, Sissy, come see who is here!”
“Yes, Sunny, I’m coming.” She chuckled to herself at her sister’s shrill, excited voice—her parents had chosen well when they named this child, who found reasons for delight in nearly everything—and headed for the living room. She rounded the corner, then came to a startled halt when she saw who waited just inside the door. Her frozen pose of surprise lasted only three seconds. Then her excitement rose, her feet took wing, and she dashed across the floor with her arms outstretched. “Steven!”
He captured her in a hug. His clothes and hair were damp, and he smelled of fresh rain and wet wool and spice from his aftershave. She buried her face in the curve of his neck, savoring the sweet essence of the man she loved. She would have stayed there much longer if her little sister’s giggles hadn’t reminded her they had a small witness to their embrace.
She stepped away, her face flaming, and locked her hands behind her back. “I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow.”
“Dad has your cousin Theo doing my chores, so he said I could take the day off.”
Having him near again sent her pulse tripping at twice its normal rate, but she kept herself in check to set a good example in front of her impressionable jabberbox of a sister. She hoped his solemn countenance was pasted on for Sunny’s sake. She smiled twice as brightly to compensate for his grim expression. “So you’re free the whole day?”
He nodded.
Sunny pulled at Anna—Grace’s skirt. “Sissy, can Steven color with me?”
Finally Anna—Grace remembered her parents weren’t home. She slapped her hand to her cheek and groaned.
Sunny’s face fell. “Does that mean no?”
She tugged Sunny to her side and turned an apologetic look on Steven. “Dad’s at the stained-glass studio—he needed to finish a project for a customer in Wichita and said he’d probably be out until late this afternoon. Mom isn’t here right now, either. She went to do her weekly shopping. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”
Steven nodded. “I understand.”
She wanted to cry. “I’m so sorry.” An entire day with Steven after two weeks apart would be a wonderful treat. But unless they had a chaperone in the house, he couldn’t stay. The fellowship would never approve, and she understood the wisdom of them not being alone. Only Sunny’s presence kept her from slipping her arms around his torso and holding tight.
“You don’t need to apologize.” Finally a hint of a smile showed on his face, but the timing was all wrong. He shouldn’t smile about leaving. “I should have called first instead of just coming over.”
“No, the surprise was perfect. I loved having you just pop in without notice.” She glanced at Sunny and chose her words carefully. “It was a romantic thing to do.”
He stuck his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a flat rectangular box. “I brought this, too.”
Sunny squealed and lunged. “Candy!” She hugged the box to her chest. Then she turned a sheepish look on Steven. “Oh. This is for Sissy, isn’t it?”
Steven’s lips curved into an impish grin. He went down on one knee and Sunny immediately crowded close to him. He slipped his arm loosely around her waist and whispered into her ear. “Shh, don’t tell Anna—Grace, but the chocolates are really for you. I think you’ll have to let me give the box to your sister, though, since she’s my sweetheart. Otherwise she might get jealous.”
Sunny nodded wisely, then stuck her mouth close to Steven’s ear. “Okay, but you’ll tell her to share with me, right?”
“Right.”
The rasping whispers carried plainly to Anna—Grace, and she bit the insides of her cheeks to stifle her giggles. Sunny plopped the box into Steven’s hand and stepped back, her round face wearing an expression of nonchalance. She swung her arms, swishing her hands against her skirt, and began to hum. Anna—Grace looked quickly away from her sister before the laughter building in her throat escaped, and she caught the tender way Steven watched Sunny. Her pulse skipped. He was so good with children—natural, never stiff or overly jovial the way some men tended to be. He’d be a wonderful father someday.
He shifted his face and his gaze connected with hers. He replaced the smile with a mock-serious expression. “Here you are, Anna—Grace. I hope you’ll be unselfish and share with Sunny.”
She gave a little bow as she accepted the box and matched his formal tone. “Thank you very kindly. Of course I’ll share with Sunny.” She examined the box, pretending to think deeply. “Hmm, there are twelve candies in this box, so I’ll let Sunny have …”
Sunny stopped humming. She stared at Anna—Grace, her dark eyes shining.
“One.”
Sunny’s jaw dropped open.
“Okay, one and a half.”
“Sissy-y-y-y-y-y …”
Anna—Grace burst out laughing. She captured Sunny in a hug and planted a kiss on her warm hair. “You can have half of them.”
“Yay!”
Steven put his hand on Sunny’s head. “If you get half of the candies, and there are twelve all together, how many candies will be yours?”
Sunny screwed her face into a look of concentration. “There’s, um …” Her face lit. “Six! I get six! As many as I am old!”
“Exactly right. Good job.”
Sunny beamed.
Anna—Grace gave her sister the box. “But you can’t have them all at once, and you have to wait until after lunch to eat one. All right?”
The little girl sighed, but she agreed. She bounced into the kitchen with the box cradled in her arms, humming again.
Anna—Grace turned her attention to Steven. “You know, we—Sunny and I—could bundle up, and we could all wait on the porch for Mom to come home. No one would have cause to disapprove if we were out in the open without a chaperone.”
Steven’s brows pulled into a sharp V. “Sit out there in the rain?”
She laughed at his sour face. “The porch roof would keep us dry. And I happen to like rain. Especially the kind we’re getting today, falling straight down like a curtain. It’s a cleansing rain.”
“It’s gray and gloomy and wet.”
“Why, Steven, I didn’t know you disliked rain showers.” Unlike many people, she never found rainy days melancholy. She touched his arm. “God brings both the rain and sun, and each has its purpose.”
“I guess.” He didn’t look convinced.
She caught the ends of the ribbons trailing beside her cheeks and gave them a toss over her shoulders. “Let me check on Sunny, make sure she isn’t in there devouring the box of chocolates you brought. Then I’ll get our heavy jackets. We’ll sit on the porch and watch the rain, and I’ll see if I can put a smile back on your face.”
He lifted his hand and grazed her cheek with his knuckles. “If anyone can do it, you can.”
His words warmed her. She backed up to keep herself from leaning into his sturdy frame. “I’ll be right back.” When she returned with Sunny, their jackets draped over her arm, she found Steven beside the kitchen table examining the test papers Miss Kroeker had given her to grade.
He tapped the stack with his finger. “What are these?”
Anna—Grace helped Sunny into her jacket. “Just something I’m doing for Miss Kroeker. Every now and then she asks me to grade things that don’t require me to know the material. Those are all multiple-choice questions. Easily done.” She felt guiltier about giving up her volunteer work at the school than she did leaving her paid position at the café. Deborah Muller had already hired someone to fill the waitress position, and she hoped someone would step up to assist Miss Kroeker. The teacher had her hands full, covering all eight grades by herself.
He shifted the stack slightly and began sliding his finger down the line of questions. “I remember studying about the explorers. Magellan,
the first captain credited with circumnavigating the world even though his crew finished the journey without him, and Cortés, who cheated the Aztecs out of their gold.” He shook his head. “This student must not have been paying attention. Five wrong just on the first page.”
Steven flipped the test to the second page and scanned the questions. “Six wrong here. Wow. Thirteen out of twenty-four correct is only—” He rolled his eyes ceilingward for a few seconds, then looked at the test again. “Fifty-four percent.” He blew out a breath. “That’s not very good.”
Anna—Grace gazed at him in amazement. “How can you remember all that?” If she were to take the grade-six test today, she’d probably fail it. “And how did you figure the percentage in your head?” She coughed out a disbelieving laugh and held up the grading scale Miss Kroeker had loaned her. “I have to use this thing. You’re amazing.”
Oddly, he didn’t smile in response to her praise. Even more confusing, he slid into a chair, picked up the red pen she’d been using, and began grading, his forehead crinkled into a series of serious furrows. Sunny sent a questioning look at Anna—Grace, but she only shrugged, completely baffled by Steven’s behavior.
He graded three tests, even adding comments on the back page of each, before he suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing. He dropped the pen and jumped up, taking a huge step away from the table. Then he looked at Anna—Grace. He must have recognized her bewilderment because he said, “Sorry. Kind of lost myself there for a minute.”
She laughed lightly. “Obviously. You must have really enjoyed studying about the explorers to get so caught up in the questions.”
“History intrigues me. To really understand where we are now as a nation, we have to look back at where we’ve been. Here in our community, we sometimes forget there’s a world outside of Sommerfeld that has an effect on us and how we live. History—the events of years ago and the things happening today that will be the next century’s past—is important.”
He spoke with such intensity, the fine hairs on Anna—Grace’s arms tingled. She stared at him, trying to understand. Steven tended to be quiet and introspective. She liked that about him—he wasn’t thoughtless or flippant like some of the other young men in the community. Although still young he possessed a maturity that made her feel secure in his presence. But this sober, almost grim man seemed a stranger.
His stiff shoulders wilted. “And why am I lecturing you?” He huffed an amused-sounding snort and shook his head. When he looked at her again, he seemed more like his old self. “We were going to sit on the porch and watch your rain curtain. We better go before your mom comes home and catches us in here alone.”
Sunny piped up, “You’re not alone. I’m here, too!”
Steven laughed. Whatever odd mood had struck, it appeared to slip away with the light sound of merriment. He chucked Sunny under the chin. “Yes, you are, and you’re all bundled up for the outdoors. So let’s go.” He held out his hand, and Sunny caught hold. They headed for the door. Halfway there he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Aren’t you coming, Anna—Grace?”
She hadn’t realized her feet remained glued in place. She offered a nervous chortle. “Yes. Yes, I’m coming.” She hurried after them and tried to toss aside the uncomfortable feeling that had gripped her while Steven studiously graded those papers and then spoke of the importance of history. But even though the rain fell softly in a fresh-scented shower that pleased her senses and Sunny entertained them by playing a noisy game of hopscotch back and forth across the porch, a niggle of unease remained in the back of her mind.
After years of acquaintanceship, months of courting, a pledge to marry, and plans to spend a future together, she should know her intended husband well enough not to be taken aback by his behavior. His actions were troubling, but the deeper concern came from her feeling of uncertainty.
Mom’s car pulled in a little before eleven. The rain had slowed to a drizzle by then, but Steven grabbed up his umbrella and trotted across the soggy yard to escort her to the porch. Then he made several trips from the car to the house, carrying in the sacks of groceries she’d purchased. He unbagged everything while Mom and Anna—Grace put things away and Sunny scampered around, getting in the way. Then Mom shooed them to the table while she fixed a simple lunch of tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches, which Steven stayed to share.
When they finished eating, Mom rose. “I’m going to take a lunch to your dad. He gets so caught up in his projects, he forgets to eat if I don’t remind him.”
If Mom left again, Steven would have to leave, too. Anna—Grace said, “Why not let Steven and me take it? You’ve already been out most of the morning. Stay home and relax now.” She looked at Steven. “Is that all right?”
Steven gazed at her for several seconds. The same serious expression that had captured his face when he graded papers returned, bringing with it another rush of unease. He spoke slowly, as if weighing his words. “What if … you stay here with your mom … and I take the lunch to your dad? The rain has stopped, but everything is muddy. No sense in both of us getting mucked up.”
“Oh, but—”
Sunny grabbed Steven’s hand. “Will you come back after you take Daddy his lunch? We haven’t colored together yet.”
Steven gave Sunny a little smile and nod before turning to Anna—Grace again. “I don’t mind getting muddy. Farmers are used to getting muddy.” A slight touch of sarcasm seemed to enter his tone, but his face didn’t reflect it. “It’ll give me a chance to talk a bit with your dad—something I don’t do very often.”
Mom started for the kitchen, talking over her shoulder. “Well, it sounds as though we have a plan. Anna—Grace and Sunny, clear the table, please. Steven, I’ll have that lunch ready to go in just a few minutes.”
“I’ll get out of your way here.” Steven headed for the living room, an eager bounce in his step.
Steven
Steven pulled up to the curb outside the stained-glass studio on the edge of town where Anna—Grace’s father had worked for as long as Steven could remember. Even though Andrew Braun’s father and brothers farmed for a living, he was an artist. An artist. Something no other man in the community had ever been. If anyone would understand Steven’s desire to break free of the traditional occupations of his faith, Andrew Braun would. And Steven silently applauded the opportunity to talk to the man one-on-one.
He cleaned the mud from his boots on a metal scraper outside the door before entering. He’d never been in the studio. Based on the dozens of framed, bright-colored stained-glass pieces hanging behind the large plate-glass windows, he expected the entire place to be feminine. The smell took him by surprise. There was nothing feminine about the overpowering scent of hot machinery and turpentine. Underneath the odors he detected a slight essence of vanilla—probably an attempt to mask the metallic scent. But it failed. He rubbed his nose.
The high-pitched whine of a power tool pierced Steven’s ears, and he moved farther into the building past worktables and displays of books, sheets of glass, and unfamiliar tools and hardware, seeking the sound. He located it, and the worker causing the noise, in the far corner of the building. Mr. Braun, his face covered by a clear plastic shield, stood behind a tall wood counter and ran the edges of a bright-red glass diamond along a rapidly spinning cylinder. Tiny bits of glass flew in an arc, catching the light as they fell toward the floor.
Steven waited until he pulled the diamond away from the sander before speaking. “Mr. Braun?”
The man straightened, flicked a look at Steven, then snapped the little switch on the sander. The quiet that fell left Steven’s ears buzzing. Mr. Braun lifted the shield from his face, dropped it on the counter, and swiped his forehead with his sleeve. He popped off his leather gloves as he rounded the wood barricade. “Well, Steven. Hello. It’s good to see you.”
They shook hands, and Steven matched the older man’s grip. Then he held up the lunch Mrs. Braun had prepared. “I brought you something
to eat. Your wife was worried about you.”
Mr. Braun laughed. “She’s always worried I’ll forget to eat. Skipping a meal now and then won’t hurt me. I don’t get as much exercise as I should.” He patted his stomach through his tucked-in flannel shirt. “But since you brought it, I’ll eat it.” He took the sack and moved to a bench stretched along the back wall. “Come. Sit.”
Steven didn’t need a second invitation. He bowed his head while Mr. Braun asked a blessing for his meal, then patiently waited until he’d taken the sandwich and small thermos of soup from the bag. When the man seemed settled, he opened his mouth to finally ask the question only Mr. Braun could answer.
“How’s the work coming on the house?” Mr. Braun spoke before Steven had a chance.
He cleared his throat, forcing his question aside. “Pretty well. Still a lot to do, but it’s a lot better than it was when I first started.”
“As long as it sat empty, I’m sure it was in disrepair.” Mr. Braun took a big bite of his sandwich, chewed, and chased it with a draw from the thermos. “But your dad says it has the potential to be a real nice place. Livvy and I are eager to drive over and see it.” He took another bite before adding, “Of course, we’ll wait until you’re ready for company.”
“You can come anytime,” Steven said, mostly because it was the right thing to say. He rubbed his palms up and down his thighs, gathering his courage. “Mr. Braun, I—”
“You know, Steven, I think it would be all right if you wanted to call me Andrew. It won’t be long now, and we’ll be related.” He grinned, but his eyes seemed sad. “Maybe if we get a little friendlier, I won’t have such a hard time letting you take my daughter away.”
Steven swallowed. “All right. Andrew.” It seemed strange calling one of his elders by his given name, but it also seemed to put the two of them on more equal footing. Maybe it would make talking to him easier. “May I ask you a question?”
When Grace Sings Page 18