If the truth be told, Lillian had been interested in him for the past year, ever since he started coming into the bakery on a regular basis. But though he would sometimes linger, he never said very much, especially nothing that would give her the impression he liked her. She was hopelessly infatuated with him, and it frustrated her that she was alone in her feelings. She couldn’t even be sure she could consider Seth a friend because friends usually talked more than the two of them did.
Hannah pushed out her lower lip. “Or he’s just shy. Lillian, you’re much prettier than I am. How could he not want you for his fraa? A man would have to be blind not to see how perfect you are.”
Lillian turned her back on her schweschder. “Don’t insult me, Hannah. We both know you inherited mamm’s beauty. And no man is that shy. I think he has too much responsibility to his daed. Maybe that’s why his schweschder ran away all those years ago—because of Hiram Miller’s strict parenting.”
Hannah stayed on her heels. “I’m not going to criticize the man’s parenting, but I’ll agree he does seem to work poor Seth to the bone. His loyalty to his daed is honorable—that’s a gut quality in a man. As far as you not being pretty, maybe if Seth saw you in something other than work dresses, he might take notice. Every time he comes into the bakery, your hair is always messy, and you’re wearing flour-covered work dresses, and your underarms are sweaty. You might as well wear Daed’s trousers and suspenders for all the feminine quality you display.”
Lillian turned sharply to confront her younger sibling. “That’s because I’m always working! Maybe if you worked as hard as I do you’d understand that. Seth has seen me at the church services in my Sunday dress, and he doesn’t take notice. What have you to say about that?”
“I’d say I’m going to make you a new dress! You haven’t made a new dress in at least two years, and you wear the same dull, worn out brown dress every service. You would look nice in a blue. Maybe that would attract his attention. And the blue would go nicely with your eyes.”
Lillian pursed her lips. “Such talk of vanity. You better not let daed hear you talking like that or he will make you have a meeting with Bishop Troyer.”
Hannah waved a careless hand at her. “I’ll begin your dress today after I go into town with daed. I will get the most beautiful blue material for a dress, and you can wear it to the singing on Saturday.”
Lillian continued on her path to the kitchen door. “I have never attended a singing, and I have no intention of attending one now. I’m too old.”
“You are not too old. I want you to come to the singing with me and Jonathon Graber. I’ll have him bring his cousin, Henry, and we’ll make Seth jealous.”
“First of all, Seth will likely not attend the singing because he’s older than I am—he’s thirty! Second, Henry is barely twenty, so I’m way too old for him. And third—when did you start dating Jonathon?”
Hannah smiled. “We’ve been sneaking around for months, and you would know that if you didn’t work all the time.”
Lillian narrowed her eyes. “You think I want to work so much? I didn’t ask for that bakery—let’s not forget that.”
“You don’t have to take it out on me. But promise you won’t tell daed about Jonathon; I don’t want him interfering.”
“So my little boppli schweschder is to be married before me. I’m going to be the last one to be married in the community—if I’m lucky enough to marry at all!”
****
Seth entered the small baking house nestled on the main road at the far edge of the Stoltzfus farm, and spotted Lillian immediately. His heart thumped in his chest, and heat crawled up his neck when her blue eyes pierced his. She was waiting on an Englisch woman, but she paused to look at him at the sound of the bells on the door that jingled his presence. He hated those bells that caught him unaware every time he entered the small bakery, forgetting to avert his eyes in time to avoid eye-contact with Lillian. It caught him off guard every time, but yet for some reason, he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her.
He tried not to stare as she pushed stray, dark blonde tendrils behind her ear with the back of her flour-covered hand. A light dusting of sheen illuminated her cheeks, indicating she’d been hard at work preparing his special order—the same order he picked up every Monday and every Thursday for the past year. He’d come in every week, and still he found it difficult to converse with Lillian, though he’d been hopelessly infatuated with her for some time. If not for all the work he did around the farm, his waistline would be a tell-tale sign of his feelings for Lillian.
At twenty-nine, he’d missed his chance to court in his teenage years and his twenties due to extra responsibilities on his daed’s farm. And now, he felt socially awkward from lack of experience at a time when he’d felt more confident, but his youthful bravery had faltered with time. He had no hope for a suitable mate, feeling he’d become set in his ways and wouldn’t know how to act even if the situation presented itself. Working long hours on the farm, sometimes alone, had rendered him speechless in Lillian’s presence, lest he open his mouth and make a fool of himself by tripping over his words.
No, it was best to keep as quiet as possible around her, and not risk gazing upon her beautiful face too long. Though he knew it was pointless to hope for a life with her, it didn’t stop him from wanting to take her for a buggy ride.
****
Lillian tried not to let her voice falter as Seth stepped forward to pick up his order. She’d added a couple of pumpkin muffins to his regular order, and now she wished she hadn’t done it. It was a bold move on her part, but she had to do something to get his attention once for all. Though she now second-guessed her assertiveness, it was too late to remove them from the closed box. He’d think it un-Christian of her if she removed items from his box after he’d already paid. She’d put them in as a gift, and there was no taking them back. Thankfully, he wouldn’t discover them until he reached home.
It was all Hannah’s fault for planting ideas in her head about Seth, and making her think she had a chance with him. And now she was trying to win his attention with baked goods? Heat crept up her cheeks as she felt like a fool for thinking Seth would show an interest in her over a couple of pumpkin muffins. He’d been ordering from her bakery since she opened it last year, and he’d never offered her any indication he was interested in anything beyond the pies and pastries she baked for him and his daed every week. But it was Seth’s loyalty to his daed that kept him from having a life of his own, and that didn’t give Lillian confidence that she could ever win his heart—not that she was sure if she even wanted to. To open herself up to him could mean heartache, and she wasn’t sure she could risk it.
What she still couldn’t figure out was why Seth’s silence irritated her so much today. Perhaps the surprise in his box of baked goods would spark a conversation from his all-business tone when he came back in on Thursday.
She could only hope…
**********************
CHAPTER 2
**********************
Hiram Miller sat down with his cup of kaffi and a pumpkin muffin from the bakery. He wondered why Seth had gotten the extra goody, but as he bit into the moist treat, he had no complaints.
Seth came in from the morning milking and stared at the confection in his daed’s hand. “Where did that come from?”
Hiram held up the muffin for inspection. “It was in the box you got from the bakery. Didn’t you check the order yesterday when you got it?”
Seth went to the box that rested on the counter, and saw the other muffin and reached inside to retrieve it. “I didn’t think to check it. Miss Stoltzfus has never gotten our order wrong. Maybe she was having a sale, or they’re day-old and she was giving them away. But in case it was a mistake, I’ll make up the difference when I go back on Thursday.”
Hiram chuckled. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy this muffin. No sense in letting it go to waste.”
/> Seth poured himself a cup of kaffi and joined his daed at the table and decided he would do the same. One bite of the delicious muffin sent his senses straight to Heaven. Not only was Lillian beautiful, she could bake like an angel. He looked across the table at his daed, who sat silent, and wondered what it would be like to have Lillian sitting across the table from him chattering in her pleasant, joyful tone with him. He was lonely, and he had been for a long time. Was it too late to hope he could ever win her heart? One thing he was sure of; it would never happen if he couldn’t get up enough courage to talk to her.
****
“Hold still or I’m going to stick you with a pin.”
Lillian fidgeted on purpose. She didn’t want to be on display in front of her mamm and daed while Hannah measured the bottom of her new dress for the hem.
“I’m being as still as I can, but you’ve had me standing on this chair so long I’m getting dizzy.”
Hannah looked up at her and scoffed. “That’s a fib, Lillian, and you know it. Confess right now!”
Lillian narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms. “I will do no such thing. You’re making me feel uncomfortable with all this attention. I don’t need a new dress.”
Beth Stoltzfus looked up from her mending and admired the blue dress on her dochder. “Yes you do. And that color is perfect for you. I get tired of seeing you in the same dull brown and gray dresses all the time. The brighter color will do you some gut.”
Lillian’s cheeks heated. “But mamm, this is the color for marrying. And it’s November now. I don’t want to wear this color during wedding season. The entire community will believe I am fishing for a husband!”
Thankfully, her daed hadn’t looked up from his reading with her comment.
Her mamm tipped her head. “I could see them thinking that. But since when do you let gossip control what you do? It makes me froh to know that I have a dochder who is strong enough to withstand the pressures of the rest of the youth.”
Lillian conceded. There was nothing to gain from openly disagreeing with her mamm, and Hannah was determined to make her social life her personal responsibility until her match-making efforts were successful. Perhaps when she failed and Seth failed to show interest in her, Hannah would eventually give up. If not, she was in for a long winter.
****
Lillian looked at the time, noting that Seth was later than usual in picking up his order—not that she was keeping track of him or anything. But he was a creature of habit, and he was never this late, and there was no sign of him. She stared out the bakery window, wondering what could be keeping him, as she dialed the phone to her daed’s barn.
He picked up on the fourth ring. “Efram Stoltzfus here.”
Lillian cleared her throat. “Daed, would you mind hitching the small buggy for me so I can make a delivery?”
“If it’s far I can drive you. It will be dark soon.”
Lillian could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks. She didn’t want her daed tagging along, and having Seth think she was a boppli.
“No. it’s just down the road to the Miller’s. They never picked up their order and I don’t want it to turn stale.”
“I should have it ready by the time you walk down to the barn.” He hung up without another word.
****
Lillian felt her nerves jangle as she drove the small buggy down the lane toward Seth’s farm. She wasn’t sure if she hoped he was there or not, but she had to admit she was a little concerned about why he hadn’t shown up for his order. As she pulled into the yard, she spotted Hiram Miller mending a section of fence near the barn.
He tipped his hat when she exited the buggy, the box of baked goods in her hands. “Evening, Miss Stoltzfus.”
“Gut evening, Mr. Miller. When I closed the bakery, I realized Seth had not yet picked up your order. I hope you don’t mind I brought it over, but I didn’t want it to get stale, and I figured you would want the pie for your evening meal.”
He took the box from her. “Denki. Seth had to go over and help his schweschder, Lizzie and her husband. I expect him back any time if you’d like to wait for him.”
Hiram smiled knowingly, making Lillian worry that he could read her anxiousness in knowing Seth’s whereabouts.
She shrugged. “I don’t need to see him for anything. He can settle his bill when I see him on Tuesday. Have a gut night, Mr. Miller.”
He tipped his hat again, the corners of his mouth forming a smile. Lillian could feel the heat reaching her cheeks, and she bolted away without another word. Did he know how she felt about his son? She prayed Seth wouldn’t think she was being too forward by bringing his order to his haus.
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Jacob's Daughter: Book One Page 10