Joyful

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  Elizabeth gulped. “So those clothes are stained with . . . cow?”

  Micah winked. “Yep. And I’m smelling kind of pungent. I need a shower in the worst way. Will you let me in now?”

  If she knew him better, she would have made him take off those pants at the front door. But no doubt, that would be a bit shocking.

  “Come on in,” she grumbled. “Try not to touch anything when you go to your room.”

  “I’ll do my best,” he said almost meekly as he strode by her, leaving both a faint dusting of mud and grime and a definite cow scent in his wake.

  “Come on in, too, Neil. How come you aren’t dirty?”

  “I’ve got a bit more experience,” he said as he strode into the kitchen. “Plus, I made Micah do most of it.”

  “Ugh.”

  Neil shrugged. “We’re brothers. We aim to make each other do things we don’t want to do.”

  “It seems I have a lot to learn about being around so many people,” she mumbled to herself as she hastily cleaned up the latest footprints. “Especially boys.”

  “Don’t worry, Lizzie,” Levi said as he trotted by her, now looking very relieved. “You’ll get the hang of us Beilers in no time. Every one of us is a fair sight better than Randall, anyway.”

  “You think?” Spying one last dirty patch, she mopped it up, then rested on the end of the mop with a happy smile. She’d done it. The floor was mopped and clean.

  “Oh, for sure. We are all easier to be around than him. At least, lately,” Levi said with a wink, just as the front door opened again, bringing Randall and Kaylene inside like a burst of fresh air.

  All over her clean floor.

  “Your shoes!” Elizabeth cried.

  “What?” Randall asked, standing there in the middle of the entryway, inspecting the bottom of each boot.

  “Didn’t you two see the pile of shoes outside?” Elizabeth demanded.

  Kaylene peeked outside. “Now I do. Do you want our shoes off?”

  “I surely do.” She made sure to smile at Kaylene as she dutifully scampered out and pulled off her shoes. “And now you may go join your brothers in the kitchen.”

  Kaylene walked down the hall and was promptly handed a glass of milk by Neil.

  Suddenly, she and Randall were alone again.

  And just as if a flame had appeared between them, the tension in the air heated up.

  Looking at her closely, he raised a brow. “What do you want me to do, Beth? Do you want me to take off my things as well?”

  Her mouth went dry as she realized he had deliberately used her pet name and had purposely laced his words with innuendo.

  Something had changed between them and he was flirting with her.

  “Jah,” she whispered. “I want you to.”

  “You sure?”

  “Jah. When I am here, you must do what I say, you see.”

  After another long look, Randall turned, walked to the door, and pulled off his boots and his socks. Coming back in on bare feet, he stopped directly in front of her. “Now what do you want me to do?”

  All sorts of bad ideas floated through her head. Things that had everything to do with memories of being in his arms and nothing to do with her mopping his floors.

  Meeting his eyes, her mouth went dry.

  Being around Randall this much was a mighty bad idea. A mighty bad idea indeed.

  chapter twelve

  Looking at Elizabeth, meeting her startled gaze, thinking about the way her lips were slightly parted, as if a pesky word that she just couldn’t quite say was on the tip of her tongue, Randall knew that he was playing with fire.

  He should not be teasing her, especially not in the suggestive way he was. It was too familiar, too sweet. It made them too close. Made him recall how much he was tempted by her. And made him remember just how much he’d lost when he’d broken up with her in such an abrupt way.

  It wasn’t fair, not for either of them.

  “I know what I should do,” he said with false brightness.

  “You do?”

  “I’ll go dump this water out for you. Stay here and I’ll be right back, okay?”

  “But your shoes are off.” She said that like it was a big deal. And made him realize that she, too, was just as affected by the sparks flying between them.

  “I’ll put them back on.” Eager to put some space between the two of them, he practically ripped the mop out of her hands and took it and the bucket back out the front door. Two minutes later, his feet were in his boots and he was tromping to the side yard and dumping a bucketful of dirty water onto a patch of dry-looking grass.

  He waited a moment, half expecting Micah or Neil to come out and fill him in on how things were going. But after waiting for a few minutes, doing nothing more than watching the water seep into the ground, he went back to the front door, took off those boots, and padded into the kitchen.

  The whole lot of them were sitting around the kitchen table, Kaylene next to Elizabeth. Glasses of milk and lemonade were out, and everyone was eating thick slices of what looked to be chocolate cake.

  Randall’s mouth watered. “You had time to make a cake, Elizabeth?”

  “I did. Kaylene, I was going to make cookies with you this afternoon, but I was afraid we wouldn’t have enough time for that. So I whipped up this box cake.”

  “It doesn’t taste like a plain old box cake,” Micah said.

  “It’s all in the frosting,” she explained with a smile. “I found everything in your pantry and fridge to make a sour cream frosting, so I made that fresh. It makes a difference, I think.”

  Randall shook his head in wonder. He’d hardly been able to toss five potatoes in the oven to bake. Here in the span of less than three hours, Elizabeth was serving them thick slices of chocolate cake with homemade frosting—and apologizing for it! “I’m impressed.”

  Neil raised his brows. “That’s all you have to say, bruder?”

  “Well, I haven’t tried it yet.”

  Looking gratified, Elizabeth stood and went to the cupboard for a knife and a plate. “Would you like a slice of cake, Randall?”

  For some reason, he felt that if he gave in to the chocolate cake, he was going to give in to their attraction, too. And that was not why she was there. “I’ll wait. It’s close to supper time, you know.” Feeling like a cad, he gripped that excuse like it was his lifeline. “Actually, all of you probably should have waited to eat your snack.”

  “I should have waited to eat my snack?” Neil murmured. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

  “You know what I meant, Neil.”

  “I don’t,” Levi said around a disgruntled scowl. “Are you crazy, Randall? It’s gut. Mighty gut. Plus, Elizabeth made a taco casserole for dinner. We’ll eat that. You know we will.”

  “Perhaps.” He glanced at Elizabeth. To his shame, some of the light that had been in her eyes had dimmed. He felt bad, but tried to tell himself that keeping things distant was better than the spark that had been between them when he’d first arrived. “But all the same, I’ll wait.”

  Elizabeth put the knife down. “Of course.”

  In unison, his four siblings glared at him, making him feel like he’d just kicked a puppy.

  After an awkward silence, Neil stood up and pulled out a chair. “You don’t need to stand and wait on us, Elizabeth. Please, sit down again.”

  Her eyes darted from the empty chair to Randall and then back again. “Danke, but I’m all right. I will need to head home soon, anyhow.”

  “The cake, it is wonderful-gut, Elizabeth,” Micah said, his voice sounding almost reverent. “Ain’t so, Kay?”

  “It’s wunderbaar,” Kaylene said with a sweet smile.

  “Look at you!” Elizabeth said. “You have chocolate on your mouth.” With an economical motion, she handed Kaylene a paper towel. “Wipe.”

  Kaylene wiped. “Do ya have to leave already?”

  Elizabeth’s expression softened. “I do, but I’ll
be back again tomorrow. Maybe then you and I can spend some time together, if you’re not too busy?”

  After Kaylene nodded, Elizabeth turned to Randall. “I’m going to head on home now.”

  “Wait. I’ll walk you.”

  “There’s no need. I’ll be fine.”

  Knowing it would be best for the both of them to have their space, Randall nodded. “All right then. See you tomorrow.”

  Again, the three other men in the room gaped at him.

  Finally, looking terribly irritated, Levi scooted his chair back with a screech. “How about I walk you halfway home, Elizabeth?”

  “There’s no need—”

  “I’d like it. I need a break from the house.”

  Randall turned his back and pretended to be very busy going through the mail while Elizabeth told Neil how to heat up the casserole and gave Kaylene a little hug good-bye.

  Only when the door closed behind them did he at last turn and breathe a sigh of relief. He was so mixed-up when it came to Elizabeth, he hardly knew what to do anymore. He hoped that eventually he could be around her without comparing their current relationship with their former one. Surely their time together would be easier to get through with practice.

  “What was that all about?” Micah asked.

  Turning around, Randall was surprised to see that their usually even-tempered brother looked irritated. “What?” he asked, though of course he knew.

  “You know what. You couldn’t have been ruder to Elizabeth.”

  “I wasn’t rude. I just didn’t want to eat any cake.”

  “You ran her off,” Neil said as he gathered the dishes and started rinsing them. “She was just about to have a slice of cake with us.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “You would if you hadn’t been on some dessert patrol.” Neil shook his head in disgust. “Since when did you care whether I’ll eat my supper, anyway?”

  Put that way, Randall supposed it had been a bit over the top. “Elizabeth was only supposed to be here for three hours. Her time was up. She’s here to work, you know. It’s a job.” But of course, as soon as he said that he felt even worse. He knew she hadn’t made that cake because she was getting paid to do it. No, it was obvious that she had been really trying to make them happy.

  “Why don’t you like Elizabeth no more?” Kaylene asked. “She’s nice.”

  “What? Oh, I still like her.”

  “You don’t act like it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You know, I saw you kiss her once.”

  “You shouldn’t have been spying on me, Kay.”

  “You shouldn’t have been kissing her unless you were married.”

  As Neil sat by with a smug expression, Randall felt his neck heat. “There was nothing wrong with that kiss.”

  “Kisses,” Micah corrected under his breath.

  Kaylene frowned up at him. “How come you used to kiss her but now you only want her here to clean our haus?”

  “The answer is complicated.”

  “It’s not all that complicated,” Micah corrected. “In fact, it seems pretty obvious to me.”

  “What is it?” Kay asked, her little foot tapping the floor. The very clean wooden floor.

  “I don’t owe you an answer, Kaylene. And you’d best stop using that tone with me.”

  “I wouldn’t use it if you’d be nicer.”

  “Kay!”

  “Kaylene, don’t you fret,” Micah said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Randall is just being a dummy.”

  “I’m not.”

  Kaylene rested her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Randall, but I wish you’d go back to how you used to be.”

  And then, before he had a chance to chastise her, Kaylene ran up to her room.

  Neil turned off the faucet. “Great job, Randall. That makes the fourth night in a row that our little sister has run up to her room.”

  “Hey—”

  “I actually agree with her on this point. Things would be a lot better if you went back to how you used to be.”

  “That’s not going to happen. Don’t you realize that? We can’t ever go back.”

  “I realize that you keep forgetting that you’ve got three brothers who are more than willing to help you.”

  “But you two have other things to worry about. I told you I’d take on the bulk of the responsibility now.”

  Micah raised a brow. “You said that, but for the life of me, I’ve never understood why. I’m smarter, and Neil is a better farmer. Listen, it’s time you stopped trying to manage us all and start leaning a little bit.”

  “I know you are trying to measure up to Junior,” Neil said quietly. “But don’t forget that pride is a sin. Remember, even Junior leaned on Beverly and Claire. And the rest of us. He’d be the first to admit that, too.”

  While he was attempting to formulate a reply, Micah and Neil left the kitchen.

  So he sat down at long last, wondering how he’d managed to single-handedly clear the room in less than thirty minutes.

  That, at least, seemed to be something he could do well.

  By the time she flipped the sign to Closed at the front of the restaurant, Pippa was so exhausted she was wondering how she was going to find the energy to walk the three blocks back to her apartment.

  At the moment it felt like it might as well be three miles.

  After making sure the front door was securely locked, Pippa strode back to her office to gather her belongings. But when she got to the soothing office and eyed the pair of comfortable swivel chairs that she’d recently put in the corner of the room, she felt an overwhelming urge to simply sit and put her feet up.

  It had been one of those days. Everything that could have gone wrong had. Ruth—who never got sick—called in with the stomach flu. Then Jolene called in sick, too.

  After that, things picked up steam. They ran out of split pea soup. And coconut cream pie. And meat loaf. Then some jerk from Cincinnati complained about the service and made Christina cry. And while she was crying, her brand-new husband, Aden Reese, came in.

  And before Pippa could smooth everything out, Aden had informed her that he was taking his wife out for a break and that she’d be back when she was ready.

  Which meant she suddenly became shorthanded again.

  For the first time since she’d taken over the restaurant, Pippa was getting a pretty good idea about why her partner, Jana Kent, had longed for a break.

  She spun her chair a bit, eyed the phone and her purse.

  And then spied the canvas bag that Bud had left at her place and that she’d brought to the restaurant to return, in case he ever stopped by again.

  And then, of course, she spied the one thing she’d really been trying very hard not to look at—his phone number.

  Maybe because she wanted to think of something besides the restaurant, she picked up the phone and gave him a call. If he didn’t answer she would leave him a message.

  Maybe even text him later.

  He answered after one ring. “Hello?”

  “Hi, ah, Bud,” she stuttered, caught a bit off guard by how quickly he’d answered. “This is Pippa Reyes.”

  “Pippa?” His voice warmed. “It’s good to hear from you. I wasn’t sure if you were going to ever call.”

  “I wasn’t sure if I ever would, if you want to know the truth.” She took a deep breath. “The reason I’m calling is that I have your tote bag and your handkerchief.”

  “My what?”

  “The handkerchief you loaned me the night you helped me with my groceries.” When she’d teared up in front of him. “And your canvas tote.”

  “Oh. Well, I’d sure forgotten about those things. Neither is important; you can keep them.”

  “I don’t think that would be right.”

  “Again, I haven’t spared either a second thought. You should give them away or toss them in the trash if you don’t want them.”

  Feeling strangely deflated—becau
se now she had no reason to see him again—she made herself reply. “All right, then. Well, thanks, and I’ll—”

  “Wait. What are you doing now?”

  “Oh, nothing much,” she said around a tired sigh. “It’s been a long day.”

  “You home?”

  “Home? No, I’m not. I’m still at the restaurant but I’ll leave pretty soon.”

  “Pippa, it’s late,” he said, his voice now sounding far more personal and less distant. “And it’s dark out.”

  She peeked out her tiny office window. “I know that.”

  “How are you getting home?”

  “The same way I always do. I’m going to walk.”

  “By yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s not safe.”

  “It’s safe enough. It’s how I get home every night, Bud. I’ll be fine.”

  “You know what? I’m only five minutes away. How about I give you a lift?”

  That curious combination of elation and apprehension raced through her yet again. “Oh, I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Pippa. Take a chance. I’d like to give you a ride home . . . and maybe visit with you for a few minutes. What’s wrong with that?”

  “You know what? Not a thing. Thank you.”

  “Great. I’m on my way.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you outside in the parking lot.”

  “Definitely not. I’ll text you when I get there. Until then, you stay inside and put your feet up.”

  Taking off her shoes, she propped them on the corner of her desk. “My feet are now up,” she said around a smile.

  “Good. I’ll see you soon.”

  He hung up before he said good-bye. And to her surprise, she kind of liked that. She actually liked not saying good-bye to him just yet.

  She actually liked having something new to look forward to.

  Getting to her feet, she decided to run a brush through her hair and freshen up her lipstick. Not because she was excited to see Bud or anything.

  It just seemed like a good idea.

  chapter thirteen

  “He’s so awful, Mommi,” Elizabeth declared as she curled up on the couch late that night next to her grandmother. “I mean, really.”