Huckleberry Christmas

by Jennifer Beckstrand

  “How long were you in Mexico?”

  “Almost four months. I picked up enough Spanish to get by.” Erla set her plate down and leaned back on her hands. “I love weddings,” she said. “I love the way the groom looks at the bride like she is the only woman in the world.”

  “Jah. I like that too,” Tyler said, massaging his forehead as he watched Beth take another bite of cake.

  Erla sighed. “I want my groom to look at me the way you look at Beth Hostetler.”

  Tyler gawked at Erla even as he tried not to act surprised. “What . . . what did you say?”

  Erla tilted her head and smiled sympathetically. “People are usually interested in my Mexico stories, but you don’t seem to be aware that there is even such a country. It’s like Beth is the only girl in the room. You’re completely ignoring me.”

  A pit formed at the bottom of Tyler’s gut. He had offended yet one more person today. He should give up and get out of here. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  She waved away his apology. “I’ve got a very thick skin, Tyler. And if you want to know the truth, I’m envious. If Menno Petersheim looked at me the way you look at Beth, I would be one very happy girl.”

  “Menno Petersheim?”

  She pointed to a muscular, youthful-faced boy sitting in the corner all by himself. “He’s so afraid to talk at gatherings that most of us girls have never heard his voice.” She puckered her lips playfully. “But he’ll talk to me, if I’m persistent.”

  “He’s shy?”

  Erla nodded. “Modest and humble. I wish I knew how to draw him out.”

  Tyler rubbed the back of his neck. He wished he knew how to tug Beth in. “Where does he work? What does he like to do? You could talk about things you have in common.”

  “His family owns a market in Shawano. They make bread and cheese and press apple cider.”

  “Maybe you could volunteer to do the shopping.”

  Erla flashed her teeth. “I already do.” She turned her gaze in the direction of the kitchen. “What’s your story with Beth? Doesn’t she like you?”

  Tyler masked his surprise by turning his face away. He wouldn’t spill his guts to Erla just because she was nosy enough to ask.

  She saw his frown. “I’m not trying to be rude, Tyler. I was never afraid to ask the impolite question.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. “You look miserable. I want to help.”

  “I don’t think you can help.”

  “Beth made specific arrangements for you and me to spend the day together.” Erla lowered her voice in case anyone happened to listen in on their conversation. “Is she trying to get rid of you by matching you up with me?”

  That thought felt like a knife right to the chest. “She wants to help me find a gute wife.”

  “But she doesn’t want it to be her.”

  Another twist of the knife. “Nae.”

  “Then you’ve got a lot of work to do. Girls want to be courted, made to feel special.”

  Beth didn’t. She wanted to be left alone so she could prove her independence to everyone.

  Erla tapped her finger against her lips. “Since Beth thinks she’s helping you find a wife, you’ll have to sneak up on her, like a cat on a mouse, so she won’t know what hit her until she finally realizes she’s in love.”

  “What if she thinks I’m repulsive?”

  Erla locked a firm gaze on him. “Not possible, Tyler. Any girl in Bonduel would be eager to catch you as a husband. Me excepted, of course. I mean, I think you are a wonderful-gute boy, but I’ve had my sights set on Menno for ages. He’s got a mole on his cheek that I can’t resist.”

  “I’m not going to paint moles or scars or cysts on my face to impress Beth.”

  “You have to be yourself to impress Beth. That will be enough.”

  It had to be enough. Tyler refused to be someone else to win Beth’s heart. She had to want him for all his flaws, to love him because of all the things about him that annoyed her. He wouldn’t stop trying to help her, even if she demanded it. He wasn’t that type of person.

  Erla’s face glowed with excitement. “You could pretend to court me to throw her off the scent. She’ll let her guard down if she’s not suspicious of your motives.”

  “I’m not going to deceive Beth.”

  Erla rolled her eyes. “Use your imagination, Tyler. Beth will draw her own conclusions and be watching at the front while you sneak around to the back door.”

  “The back door?”

  “Of her heart, Tyler. Try to keep up, will you?”

  “Why do you want to help me?”

  “Because any boy who likes a girl as much as you obviously like Beth deserves a chance with her. Especially you, Tyler. You have a reputation, you know, for being the kindest, most thoughtful person anybody has ever met. We all feel bad about what happened last autumn.”

  “I’ve gotten over it.”

  “Of course you have. Aden and Lily were meant for each other, and we are all happy for them, but none of us liked seeing you hurt like that. You deserve a chance at Beth. And after what she’s been through, she needs a boy like you.”

  A weak thread of hope pulsed through Tyler’s veins. Beth needed him. Maybe he could find a way to convince her. “I . . . don’t know what to do.”

  “Since you are without guile, you will have to leave everything to me.”

  “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

  Erla grinned. “You’re smart to be wary.”

  Tyler glanced at Menno, sipping his punch in the corner. “I have been wanting to learn how to make cheese. I’ll bet Menno Petersheim knows how to make cheese.”

  “He does.”

  Tyler cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve been wanting to learn how to make cheese, haven’t you?”

  Erla’s eyes sparkled as she leaned closer. “More than anything.”

  “We’ll find Menno’s back door yet.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Beth crumpled the paper and shoved it into her pocket, disgusted that she couldn’t keep her hands from trembling. Even though it wasn’t warm in the kitchen, a bead of sweat trickled down her neck. Why did she let Isaac Hostetler frighten her like that? He was blowing smoke, the same as in every other letter he’d written.

  Beth, it’s my duty to marry you and your duty to give yourself in marriage to your late husband’s brother.

  Come home. You’re needed here.

  I’m sorry I lost my temper last time. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.

  Mamm’s health is failing. She needs you to take care of her. Repent of your bullheadedness and return to the bosom of our family.

  Reconsider, Beth. I’ll come fetch you if I have to. Don’t think I won’t.

  Would Isaac really take her back to Nappanee by force? Maybe she should tell Tyler about Isaac’s threat, in case she came up missing.

  She pursed her lips. Isaac made his threats to scare her, in hopes of gaining her cooperation, but he still had his wits about him. He wasn’t so desperate or so foolish as to think he could drag her back to Indiana against her will.

  Blowing smoke. Isaac was just blowing smoke. Tyler need not be dragged into her troubles. Especially since he would want to fix everything for her. She didn’t want his help.

  Beth paused at the window. The snow had made down hard last night, and a glistening blanket of puffy, crunchy snow crystals covered Huckleberry Hill. She caught her breath as a flaming-red cardinal swooped from a nearby tree to nibble at the pinecone birdfeeder that she and Toby had hung on one of the bushes yesterday. They had made the birdfeeder from a jumbo pinecone smeared with peanut butter and rolled in birdfeed. Toby hadn’t really appreciated that he would be feeding the birds, but he’d loved squishing the peanut butter between his fingers and licking it off his hands.

  “Toby, Toby. Come look.” Toby toddled to her, and Beth scooped him into her arms and held him up to the window. “Do you see the bird?”

  Toby stared in awe as the card
inal pecked birdseed off the pinecone. “Ball. Ball,” Toby said. He made a fist and knocked on the window. The cardinal retreated to the safety of the trees.

  Beth’s heart did a little flip-flop as a horse-drawn sleigh appeared around the bend. Tyler, looking alarmingly handsome with one of Mammi’s blue scarves wrapped around his neck, caught sight of her at the window, bloomed into a smile, and waved merrily.

  Toby pounded on the window with his little fist. “Mommy, Mommy.”

  “That’s Tyler. Can you say Tyler?”

  More pounding. “Mommy.”

  Beth bit her bottom lip and attempted to temper her enthusiasm. Judging from the wild galloping of her heart, she was even more excited to see Tyler than Toby was. She turned away from the window. Of course she was eager to see him. She wanted a report on how things were going with Erla Glick. Tyler’s courting adventures always made her laugh, and today, she needed a good laugh.

  Mammi walked into the kitchen carrying three bolts of fabric. “I hope Tyler makes it up the hill. It looks like three feet of snow out there.”

  “He’s here, Mammi.”

  “Gute. Right on time.”

  “I didn’t know we were expecting him.”

  Mammi’s eyes twinkled with the delight of a hundred secrets. Her lips formed into an O. “Maybe I didn’t know either.”

  Beth eyed Mammi suspiciously. There was nothing wrong with Mammi’s memory. Hearing Tyler’s quick steps on the porch, she couldn’t help herself. She put Toby down and smoothed the creases of her dress before checking to make sure her kapp sat in place.

  Why he even bothered knocking anymore was anybody’s guess, since he was practically a member of the family. Mammi opened the door to Tyler, who grinned from ear to ear. He didn’t smile often, but when he did, the sight of it stole her breath.

  Once he was inside, he laid a brown paper bag on the table before Toby raced into his arms.

  “Ball, ball.” Toby squealed and patted Tyler’s cheeks. “Mommy, ball, side.” Apparently Tyler now had three names. Mommy, ball, and outside. Toby’s favorite things.

  “Did you make it up the hill okay?” Mammi asked.

  Tyler nodded. “That snow is so wet, a bucketful would weigh thirty pounds.” He turned his eyes to Beth and almost blinded her with the warmth of his gaze. “Hello, Beth.”

  Why did she immediately feel self-conscious? “Hello.”

  Tyler put Toby on the floor, pointed out a ball for him to chase, and said to Beth, “I brought you a present.”

  She tried not to frown. He acted so happy. “I said I don’t want presents.”

  “You’ll like this one. It’s for you and Anna and Felty.” He unfolded the top of the bag and pulled out a white paper package about the size of one of Mammi’s balls of yarn. He handed it to Beth. “Open it.”

  Beth folded back the paper to reveal a cream-colored ball of lumpy cheese.

  “This is our third attempt,” he said. “I fed the first two to the hogs.”

  She turned it over carefully in her hands. “You made this? It’s wonderful.”

  His face glowed with warmth. “It might not be wonderful. You haven’t tried it yet.”

  Beth pulled a knife from the block and cut a thick slice for each of them. The buttery, salty flavor danced on her tongue as the cheese seemed to melt in her mouth. She sighed with pleasure. “Oh, Tyler. It’s wonderful-gute. What kind is it?”

  “It’s supposed to be mozzarella.”

  “Just like my mamm used to make,” Mammi said.

  Tyler’s eyes danced. “It’s quick and doesn’t have to be aged. We made another white cheese that Menno said needs to sit for a couple of weeks. I don’t know how it will taste, but at least it looks like cheese.”

  “Menno?”

  Tyler suddenly seemed very interested in how Toby got along with his ball on the other side of the room. “After Thanksgiving, I asked Menno Petersheim to teach Erla and me how to make cheese.”

  Beth hadn’t expected the profound disappointment that pounced on her and left her short of breath. “Oh. He’s teaching you and Erla?”

  “I think a man who has a dairy should know how to make cheese. It might come in handy.”

  Beth suddenly lost interest in Tyler’s cheese endeavor. She went to the kitchen sink and picked up a rag. Maybe she could find something to wipe down.

  Tyler cleared his throat and sat down at the table. “Beth, I need your help.”

  She found a grimy smudge on one of the cupboard doors and swiped at it. He probably wanted her to help him make a cheese for his precious Erla, but she really couldn’t spare the time.

  Again he turned his gaze from her. “There’s a group of us going ice skating at one o’clock. I need you to come with me.”

  “What for?”

  “I want you to see how things are coming along between me and Erla Glick.”

  She’d rather a horse stepped on her big toe. On both big toes. “You don’t need me for that.”

  “I thought you might want to see how it’s going.”

  She scrunched the dishrag into a soggy ball in her hands. “It’s none of my business how it’s going.”

  “Of course it is. You’re the one who got us together.” He smoothed his hand over the table, brushing off imaginary dust. “Please come ice skating, Beth. It will be lots of fun.”

  “It’s too cold out for Toby.”

  It seemed Mammi was waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. “I’ll stay with him. I’ll put him down for a nap and catch up on my knitting.”

  Tyler winked at Mammi. “Denki, Anna.”

  Beth dropped the rag into the sink. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t have time.” She pointed to a bolt of maroon fabric on the sofa that needed to be cut into a dress by tonight.

  Mammi clicked her tongue. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

  Beth regarded Mammi with puzzlement. How did that scripture apply to her situation?

  “Tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself,” Mammi added.

  The corner of Tyler’s lip turned upward. “There will always be a dress to sew or a cow to milk. How many fine days do we get for ice skating?”

  “I don’t have any skates.”

  “I have a pair you can borrow,” Mammi said. She seemed to have a ready answer for everything.

  Beth resisted the urge to stick out her bottom lip. A woman of her maturity did not pout. But she couldn’t think of anything she’d like to do less than watch Tyler and Erla Glick skate around the pond together. “I don’t skate very well.”

  Tyler raised his eyebrows. “Let me be clear that I don’t think you’re helpless in any way, but I am a wonderful-gute skater. I will help you, if you want.”

  She smiled in spite of herself. “Maybe I don’t want your help.”

  “But I really want yours.”

  All her excuses crumbled. She’d have to give in. “As long as you remember I’m not helpless.”

  “If I offend you,” he said, reaching into his paper bag and pulling out a plastic sunflower, “you can give me a good whack with this.”

  Beth’s insides did a little somersault. Who knew she could take so much pleasure in his teasing? She giggled. “Don’t think I won’t.”

  Tyler probably thought he’d brought a lunatic along with him to the pond. Beth spent most of the sleigh ride waving her hands in the air and whooping and hollering to the sky. She loved the whooshing sound of the runners and the exhilaration of the icy breeze on her face as the horse pulled the sleigh swiftly across the snow. She’d been crouched over her sewing machine too long. Tyler hardly said a word the entire trip. He simply grinned at her with barely contained amusement.

  Tyler put his strong hands around her waist and lifted her from the sleigh, a most unnecessary gesture, but one that Beth found quite pleasant, just the same. His hands lingered on her waist once she stood securely on her feet. “You need to get out more,” he said, chuckling softly.

  “I
do not.”

  The skating pond, not much more than a grand puddle, sat a quarter mile from Erla Glick’s farm. A lot of ice-skating went on there in the winter because it froze over right quick and was shallow enough that if someone happened to break through the ice, they wouldn’t go in over their heads. Patches of brilliant blue sky peeked from behind the dull gray clouds, promising some sun for their outing. Seven or eight young people were already on the ice, some gliding deftly across the frozen pond, some shuffling awkwardly in hopes of staying on their feet. That was how Beth skated, as if she were in a contest to see if she or the ice would break first.

  Erla Glick looked very appealing this afternoon. She wore a heavy black coat and gray sweatpants under her dress. A muted pink and yellow scarf covered her head, with enough length left over to wrap the scarf all the way around her neck. She trudged toward the sleigh, no doubt to lay claim to Tyler. A stocky young man followed close behind her.

  Erla flashed that bright smile she was known for. Beth didn’t like it one little bit. “I’m so glad to see you. Isn’t this a gute day for skating?” Erla hooked her arm through the crook of the young man’s elbow and pulled him forward. “This is Menno Petersheim. He has been teaching Tyler and me how to make cheese.”

  Menno had a manner about him that spoke of extreme shyness. “Hullo,” he said, before lowering his eyes and stepping back a pace, content to let Erla do the talking.

  “The ice is a little thin on the south end,” Erla said, “but it froze nice and smooth.”

  Tyler reached into the sleigh and pulled out their skates. “We’ll be careful. Come on, Beth. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m going to amaze you with all the tricks I can do.”

  Beth glanced at Erla as tension tightened her throat.

  She shouldn’t have come. A cow on skis would fare better than she could. Tyler would feel obligated to help her when he’d rather be spending time with Erla. She’d only be in his way. That thought made her want to plop down in the snow and have a good cry.

  “You and Erla go skate. I can sit by the fire and watch.”

  Erla swatted that suggestion away. “Menno and I are doing some cooking experiments. I’ll skate later.”