Jonah said she loved animals. Enough to try to see a moose again? It seemed unlikely, but he didn’t have anywhere else to start. He called for Jonah and heard the boy answer, “I haven’t found her.”
“I’m going down to the highway. You keep looking around here.”
“Okay.”
Gabriel walked quickly down the lane and followed the edge of the highway until he came within sight of the pond. She was there. Sitting in the grass with a sketch pad on her lap while a huge moose grazed on water plants a hundred yards from her. He let out a breath of relief.
He crossed the highway, sat down beside her and touched her shoulder. She turned to him with a huge grin on her face. “Do you see him? Isn’t he beautiful?”
Impressive, yes, but not as beautiful as her face in the morning sun. Her amazing amber eyes sparkled with delight, like honey in a clear glass jar, only warmer. Momentarily at a loss for words, he looked down and cleared his throat. “Breakfast is ready.”
He felt her hand under his chin as she lifted his face and turned it toward her. “I can’t see what you are saying unless you are looking at me.”
“I said breakfast is ready if you’re hungry.”
She turned back to the moose. “Nee, I could sit here all day watching this fellow. He’s so big. He can keep his head underwater for the longest time. I wanted to get closer, but I wasn’t sure it was safe.” She looked at him again. “I wouldn’t want to force you to save my life again.”
Gabe smiled, rose and pulled her to her feet. He wanted to make sure she could see his lips. “A cow with a calf can be dangerous. As can the males during the mating season, but this time of year they are mostly interested in food. You are safe enough at this distance.”
“Say that again, and slower, please.”
“You’re safe as long as he’s eating. Speaking of food, I’m hungry. Now that I have found you, I’m not going back without you. Your family was worried.”
She shook her head. “Nee, they were not. They’re used to my odd behaviors. They know I’ll turn up eventually.”
“Okay, then, I was worried.”
“Why?”
“You hit your head hard enough to get a concussion. The papers the doctor sent said confusion was one of the signs we should look for.” Her gaze drifted back to the moose.
Gabriel cupped her cheek and turned her face toward him, remembering he had to speak slowly and distinctly. “I was worried you might have become confused and gotten lost.”
He realized how close he was to her. His hand still cupped her delicate cheek. If he bent closer, he could kiss her softly smiling lips.
Why would he even think such a thing? He released her abruptly. “We need to go back before my rumbling stomach scares the poor moose into thinking I want his waterlilies.”
“I am a little hungry, now that you mention it.”
He rubbed his hands on his pant legs to erase the feel of her soft, warm skin against his palm. She caught his arm before he turned away. “I have something to tell you.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“My stepmother believes she is a wondrous goot matchmaker. I know Jonah mentioned that she had picked you as a potential spouse for me. I’m grateful for what you did. You’ve been very kind and I’m sure you would make a fine husband. For someone. Just not for me. I can’t—I won’t begin a romantic relationship with a hearing man. It’s too hard. For me and for him. I hope you understand. I owe you a great deal, my life in fact, but all I can repay you with is honesty.”
Gabe was taken aback by her candor. “I appreciate that.”
“I’m so glad to clear this up. My sisters hope to wed one day soon, so if you’d like to take one of them out while we are here, that would be more than acceptable.”
He managed a wry smile. “I am not looking for a wife.”
She tipped her head to the side. “Why not?”
He thought about explaining his business plans but remembered her brother saying she might only understand half of what he was trying to tell her. He would need Jonah or one of her sisters to help. “I’ll show you after breakfast,” he said slowly, hoping she understood.
* * *
Esther walked beside Gabriel with a much lighter heart. Even her headache was nearly gone. Now that he knew she wasn’t angling to become his wife, perhaps they could enjoy a friendship while she was staying with his family. She liked him and wanted to get to know him better. She cast a covert glance his way. Was it only because he had saved her, or was there something else that attracted her to him? She wasn’t sure.
And if she did find him attractive, there was nothing wrong with that. She could admire a fine horse without having to own it or a cute puppy without taking it home. She could enjoy the company of a handsome man without thinking of him in a romantic fashion. She realized how liberating it was to have finally admitted the truth to someone. She didn’t want a hearing husband.
At breakfast she met the rest of the family. Zeke Fisher was a burly man in his early fifties with streaks of silver in his blond hair and beard. Seth bore a striking resemblance to Gabe, but she could have told them apart without the tiny scar in Gabe’s eyebrow. Seth’s face was softer, less angular than Gabe’s, but he had the same sky blue eyes. If he was uncomfortable with her deafness, it didn’t show. He made an effort to converse with her through her sisters. Asher and Moses, on the other hand, reacted the way most people did when they met her. They kept their eyes averted except for covert glances and they avoided speaking to her. They weren’t trying to be unkind. They were simply uncomfortable. She understood but wished she could slip away to the moose pond again. He hadn’t minded her presence at his breakfast. Animals were much more accepting than people.
She was buttering her toast when Nancy touched her arm to get her attention. Everyone was looking at her. She laid the knife aside. “What?”
Nancy spoke and signed, “Several friends of the Fishers are hosting a picnic for us in a few days at the school. Waneta doesn’t want you to feel you need to go.”
Holding back a grin with difficulty, Esther rubbed her brow. She was being given a chance to say no. She should take it. “I will have to wait and see.”
“I’ll stay with you if you don’t feel up to going.” Nancy said.
“Nee, I don’t want to spoil anyone else’s fun. I’ll be fine here alone.”
Nancy shook her head. “You won’t be alone. Gabe isn’t going.”
Esther looked at him. “Why not?”
“I have my leatherwork to catch up on,” he said, staring straight at her.
She tipped her head slightly and watched his mouth. “What kind of work?”
“Leather goods. I will show you my shop when you are feeling up to it.”
She didn’t need Nancy to sign—she understood him. It was unusual to find someone she could speech-read so readily.
“I would like that. I feel well enough at the moment. My headache is bearable.” She smiled at him and finished buttering her toast.
After breakfast Gabe led her and Jonah to his workshop beside the barn. He opened the door with a flourish. “This is where I make harnesses and other leather goods.”
The smell of leather and oils delighted her. She gazed about in awe. There were harnesses and straps of every kind for working horses, but it was the small items that caught her attention. Wallets, key chains, dog collars of every size with matching leashes. There were sheaths for knives and hatchets as well as tool belts. There were even small boots. She picked one up, thinking it was the wrong shape for a child’s moccasin. She held one out to him. “What are these?”
She looked to Jonah as he signed Gabe’s answer. “Dog boots. In the winter there are a lot of dogsled races here and in neighboring areas of Canada. The dogs wear boots to protect their feet from the ice and snow while they are running.”
She touched some of the belts and ran her fingers along the perfectly aligned stitches. “You have a steady hand.”
She caught sight of a familiar apparatus and stepped over to it. She turned to grin at him. “This appears to be the moose-size version of my humble sewing machine.”
He patted the top of it. “It’s old and has seen better days, but it is hand operated and can stitch through three thicknesses of leather.”
“And this?” She pointed to a set of rollers that resembled the wringer on her washing machine only with different size grooves in it.
“It’s a creasing machine. Let me show you how it works. I’ll make a strap.” He picked up a tool. “This is a draw knife. I use it to cut strips of leather from the tanned hide. Once I have a strip the length I want, I feed it into the creaser. It comes out perfectly trimmed with creases that give me a stitch line as a pattern pressed into the leather. Then I take it to the sewing machine.”
He demonstrated how to position the piece, set the pressure foot and then reached to pull down a lever with a ball on the end. He stopped with a grimace, unable to raise his injured right arm high enough. He motioned for Jonah to operate the lever and set the first stitch. With Jonah’s help he stitched about four inches and stopped. “That’s how it’s done.”
“May I try it?” Esther asked, intrigued by the machine.
“Sure.” He showed her how to set the stitch length and how to make a turn, then he stepped back. She quickly found the rhythm and was able to complete the strap.
He snipped the threads and examined her work. “Goot. Very straight. Nice and even.”
She grinned at his praise. “I told you I like to sew. This is very interesting. How do you sell these things? I didn’t see any signs advertising them. Do you have a shop in town or someone who sells them for you?” She looked to Jonah to sign Gabe’s answer.
“These are the inventory I’m taking to the Potato Blossom Festival in three weeks. I paid for a booth there, and I plan to sell them during the festival.”
She raised one eyebrow. “You can’t run a business on a single festival.”
He tipped his head toward her and grinned, deepening the laugh lines bracketing his mouth. “You are absolutely right. I will need a storefront in time. There isn’t enough room in this building right now, but it will be easy enough to add onto it.”
She enjoyed his enthusiasm. She could see he liked his work. He had an artist’s gift, something she hadn’t expected. “Have you thought about selling on the internet? I ask because I have a friend who makes reed baskets. She sells them online. She hired a manager, an Englisch woman, to handle the orders and the computer side of her business.”
He sobered. “It’s an idea I mean to explore in the future. For now, I plan to hand sell my items.”
“If your church district allows it, you should look into it sooner rather than later.”
He shrugged and turned away. She tapped on Jonah’s shoulder to relay Gabe’s words to her. Jonah scowled. “I know. He said a man needs to make a living to feed his family and help in the community, but he doesn’t need to make a lot of money. If he has a business that makes a profit, he doesn’t need to go bigger.”
He was right. There was a lot to like about Gabe Fisher. He believed in living the values taught by their church. God first, family second, community third. He would make a fine husband for a woman who could hear. She checked the pang of self-pity that hit her and turned her attention to the enormous sewing machine. When she had her emotions under control, she smiled at him and gestured around the room. “How much more inventory do you want to take with you to the festival?”
“About twice as much. My problem has been finding the time. Spring and summer are busy times for buggy and wheel repair with all the farmwork underway. I can’t slack on the work that is paying our bills while I daydream about earning more.” He flexed his injured arm gingerly. “This is not going to let me catch up.”
Suddenly she saw a way to repay some of his kindness. It was so simple and something she liked to do, anyway. “Maybe I could help.”
Both his eyebrows shot up. “You? How?”
“I’m known as a good seamstress. I could do your stitching while you did the tooling on the pieces. Some of the items in here don’t need tooling. The dog leashes are just simple stitching. So are the belts. Even some of the gun holsters and knife sheaths don’t require much tooling.”
She held up a small holster. “Take this piece. I could add a concho threaded with leather fringe for decoration and sew the two pieces together in no time. I wouldn’t mind helping.”
She saw his indecision and put the holster down. “You gave me my life back yesterday. I feel this might repay you in some small way. Please allow me to help.”
He rubbed his hand across his chin as he considered her offer. He didn’t look convinced. She held her breath, wanting him to say yes. Only because she wanted to stay busy until she could return home. Not because the thought of spending time in Gabe’s company was appealing. Even if it was.
Chapter Four
Gabe considered Esther’s offer to help. He looked around his workroom. It was filled with his cutting table, stacks of tanned hides, rollers, presses, machines to stitch and mold leather. There was barely room for him to move around as it was without adding another person underfoot. Two, since she would need Jonah to convey what he said.
Anyway, how much help could she be if she wasn’t familiar with the equipment or even sewing leather? Completing one strap wasn’t enough to make her an expert. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he would be better off if she stayed with her sisters. She would be better off, too.
He shook his head. “I understand you want to repay me in some way. It isn’t necessary. It’s kind of you to offer, but you are here to enjoy a visit, not to work.”
Disappointment flashed in her eyes and then something that looked like defiance.
Her chin went up a notch. “You think I can’t do it?”
He sought to smooth over the moment. “I’m sure you could if someone taught you.”
“You can teach me.”
He glanced around again. “I wouldn’t know where to start. There’s a lot more to harness making and leatherwork than simple sewing. It isn’t like making a dress.”
She crossed her arms. “Have you made many dresses?”
He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Nee, I haven’t.”
“Then you don’t know if the skill required is similar or not. I’m not offering to make a complete harness. I have no idea how to operate your equipment. I’m offering to stitch and perhaps embellish some of your smaller items.”
He stared at her intently. What was behind this offer? “Why?”
She held out her hands and gestured around the room. “This would keep me from becoming bored while I’m here. I like to sew.”
Or was it her way of trying to ingratiate herself to him? She might say she didn’t want a hearing husband, but she hadn’t come all the way to Maine to view the wildlife. He didn’t like the feeling that he and his brothers were on Waneta’s shopping list. It made him suspicious.
The outside door opened, and Waneta stepped in. “There you are, Jonah. I need your help with something. Come along.”
“But I’m signing for Gabe,” the boy said.
Waneta sent Gabe a knowing smile. “I’m sure he can make himself understood. Esther reads lips better than she lets on. Don’t make me wait.” Waneta held the door open. Jonah sighed heavily but went out with her.
When the door closed, Gabe looked at Esther. She was still staring at the door. He hesitated, then touched her arm. She glanced at him. “Do you?” he asked.
“Do I what?”
“Speech-read better than you let on?”
“Is that w
hat she said?” Anger flashed in her eyes before she schooled her features into the appearance of calmness. She did it so easily he wondered how often she was forced to practice the move. He admired her self-control.
She kept her gaze fastened to his. “I didn’t know she had come in. I wasn’t looking toward her until I noticed Jonah staring behind me. All I caught was ‘Don’t make me wait.’ I have no idea what she said before that.”
“That has to be frustrating, only catching part of a conversation because you happen to look away or don’t see someone behind you.”
She tipped her head slightly as she regarded him. “It is. Few people make that connection unless they are used to being around a deaf person who lip-reads.”
“I don’t know any deaf people personally. It just seems logical.”
Her eyes sparkled as a slight smile curved her lips. “You would think so, but not everyone is as observant as you are.”
He wanted to ask her why she hadn’t taken the information about the hearing device yesterday but thought better of it. It wasn’t any of his business. He needed to get to work, not stand here wasting time visiting with Esther, no matter how interesting she was turning out to be.
“About my offer?” she prompted.
“I appreciate it, but I think not.” He hoped he wasn’t going to wound her, but she deserved his honesty. “I don’t have the time to teach you what you would need to know.”
Her expressive face went blank. “I should go back to the house.” She hurried to the door.
He had hurt her feelings. “Esther, wait. I’m sorry.”
She left the shop without looking back. Of course she didn’t turn around. She couldn’t hear him.
He stood staring at the door for several seconds. He could chase after her and apologize, but maybe this was for the best.
He picked up a length of leather and fed it into his shiver to cut down the thickness of the piece. When he was done, he added it to the pile of belts on the table waiting to be stitched. Working the shiver to decrease the thickness of the leather didn’t pull his stitches the way trying to operate the sewing machine did. He would cut out as many pieces as he could and do the sewing when his arm was better in a day or two. He hoped.
Someone to Trust Page 4