“Somebody has been using the salve I gave him,” she noticed.
“Jah. It’s working well and it smells gut, too.”
“You hurt yourself though,” she said, indicating his thumbnail. “Poor aim?”
“Poor concentration. I was thinking about a certain maedel.”
“I’ve been thinking about you a lot, too, Fletcher. As difficult as it was, I’m glad we had this discussion.”
“If the river had no rocks, it would not have a song,” he quoted as he picked up a stone and tossed it into the creek.
She crumpled the note into a ball and cast it into the current, as well. “For the birds to make a nest,” she said and tugged at his fingers. “Now kumme, let’s go have dinner before my brothers eat it all.”
They dropped hands before entering the kitchen, where Naomi had set a place for Fletcher.
“You’re just in time for grace,” she remarked warmly.
After thanking the Lord for their food and other blessings, Fletcher said to Naomi, “I hope I’m just in time to help Roy and Raymond with any house repair or yard projects you’d like finished before the wedding, too.”
Anna’s pulse skittered at his reference to their upcoming wedding. Although she still wasn’t positive their pending nuptials would occur as scheduled, with every interaction they shared, she was growing more confident he was the husband God had provided for her.
“Denki, that would be appreciated,” Naomi said. “There’s a fence post in the yard Roy and Raymond are having trouble setting and I’d like your opinion on the window in the attic. It feels drafty up there and I don’t want our guests’ kinner to catch a chill.”
“I noticed a loose floorboard in the mudroom, too,” Fletcher commented. “The boys and I may also have to take a look at the porch stairs.”
The three young men clomped into the mudroom. Eli and Evan were tasked with helping Naomi till the soil for her gardens while Anna focused on scrubbing the floors. In deference to Dr. Donovan’s advice, she stopped short of beating the rugs herself, instead hanging them so Melinda could complete the task later that afternoon. The day took on a festive air and by the time the group stopped for supper, they’d accomplished more than they’d set out to.
“If it’s alright with you, Anna, I’d like to take you for a ride after supper,” Fletcher said over dessert.
“Not so fast.” Naomi waved a finger at him, “You still need to address the draft in the attic.”
“Of course,” Fletcher agreed. “I meant after that.”
“Why the disappointed expression? You’re being let off easy,” his future mother-in-law teased. She turned to her sons. “When your daed was keen on me, he volunteered to help your groossdaadi build an entire house just for the chance to say hello to me when I came out with a pitcher of water.”
Anna fidgeted in her chair and glanced at Fletcher, who was studiously focused on scraping the ice cream from his bowl. Nothing escaped Naomi’s notice.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, you two. It would serve most couples well to remember after they’re married how eager they were to spend time in each other’s company before they wed.” Naomi sighed, wiping the corner of her eye. “Time spent with those we love is one of Gott’s most precious gifts. We ought to value it more dearly because it passes so quickly.”
“Mamm,” Evan whined, “the last time Melinda and Aaron mentioned mushy grown-up love talk at the table, you said my ears were too young to hear that kind of thing.”
The others joined Naomi in laughter. “That’s right,” she said, patting his head. “How about if we talk about turtles instead?”
By the time Anna finished washing and putting away the dishes and Fletcher and the boys installed insulation and repaired the window in the attic, it was dusk.
“Why don’t we have a cup of tea on the porch instead of going for a ride?” Anna suggested.
They sat side by side on the swing, gently swaying as they chatted. The rhythmic motion lulled Anna into a deep sense of relaxation, and she rested her head against Fletcher’s shoulder. Lowering her lids, she imagined the two of them spending evenings like this on the porch of their own house. She could picture their children romping on the front lawn and in her imagination they all had Fletcher’s lustrous wavy hair and intense blue eyes.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
“Neh, I’m peaceful,” she replied. “In fact, I haven’t felt this peaceful in a long time.”
“That’s too bad,” Fletcher said. “Because there’s something I want to show you, but you’ll have to get up and kumme with me.”
He took her by the hand, caressing her icy fingers to warm them as they made their way to the expansive maple in the backyard. Its branches appeared black against the ebbing light of the sky, which was beginning to glisten with early stars.
Anna tittered when they stopped beneath its mighty boughs. “Did we argue under this tree, too, as we did when we first met beneath the willow?”
“Hardly,” Fletcher replied and his voice sounded gravelly. “You really don’t remember what happened here?”
Noticing his impassioned tone, she paused, wishing she could claim every second of their courtship was etched indelibly across her heart. “I’m sorry, Fletcher,” she admitted, “but I don’t.”
* * *
Fletcher reached for Anna’s shoulders, gently positioning her against the trunk. “Well, you were standing like this. And I was leaning with my hand here, above you. Your hair was dappled with bits of light and your eyes mirrored the greenery all around us.”
Fletcher gently touched Anna’s cheek with the back of his hand, remembering.
“What happened next?” she whispered.
“May I show you?”
“You may.”
He leaned toward her for a soft kiss.
After a quiet pause, he had to know if she experienced the same depth of emotion he felt. “Now do you remember?” he asked.
“I may not remember the first time,” Anna spoke slowly, “but I won’t forget this time.”
Fletcher’s heart pranced. It wasn’t exactly the answer he’d hoped to hear, but it was the next best thing.
“Evan would be disappointed to hear you couldn’t remember the first time,” he joked, leading her back toward the house.
“Evan?”
“Jah. You and I were sharing our first kiss when you were supposed to be watching Timothy the Turtle. That’s how he wandered away.”
Anna’s laughter rang out through the darkness. “That’s terrible!”
Terrible for Timothy, but wunderbaar for me, Fletcher thought as he ambled up the steps to accompany Anna to the door. “I suppose it’s time to say gut nacht.”
“Could you please help me find the teacups, first?” Anna requested. “It’s gotten dark and I’m not sure I’ll be able to see where we set them.”
As they cautiously advanced toward the front of the porch, Fletcher abruptly stopped, realizing there was someone sitting in the swing.
“I don’t know what Naomi’s so upset about,” Melinda was saying. “I was only an hour or two late. She’s such a worrywart. Besides, if we had arrived in time for supper, she wouldn’t have asked you to stay, even though Fletcher was invited.”
Fletcher coughed to signal Melinda he could hear her, while from behind, Anna loudly cut her short with, “Is that you, Melinda?”
“Jah, and I’m with her,” Aaron answered. “Where did the two of you kumme from?”
“We were taking a stroll. Enjoying the evening air,” Anna responded curtly as she and Fletcher approached the other couple. They were still holding hands and if Fletcher wasn’t mistaken, Anna tightened her grasp as she spoke.
“See what I mean?” Melinda continued, unabashed to have been caught complaining about them. “Naomi gives you and Fletcher
her blessing to do whatever you want whenever you want. It’s not fair.”
“Neh, what’s not fair, Melinda,” Anna rebutted, “is that everyone in this household, including Fletcher, has been working all afternoon on house and yard projects that need to be completed before the weddings. Yet you didn’t arrive home until after seven o’clock, even though your shift at Schrock’s ended at four. If you want Aaron to be included at mealtime, the two of you ought to consider pitching in.”
Melinda shifted in her seat and began to protest, but Anna wasn’t finished speaking.
“As for Naomi being a worrywart, it’s true,” she said. “Naomi often frets when the people she cares about aren’t home when they should be. In part that’s because the last time someone other than you didn’t return home on time was when I had my accident, and the time before that was when my daed died. So you—and Aaron—should think about what goes through Naomi’s mind when you decide to amble home several hours after you’re expected!”
Anna dropped Fletcher’s hand as she stooped to pick up a teacup and saucer near the side of the swing. Fletcher retrieved the other cup and saucer from where Anna left it balanced on the railing and wordlessly followed her to the side door. When she turned to say good-night, Anna’s hand was shaking so furiously that the cup rattled against the saucer. Fletcher took the china from her and stacked it with his on the bench beside them. He gingerly ran a finger beneath her chin, tilting her face upward. It was too dark to read the expression in her eyes, but he felt the wetness of a tear moisten his skin.
“Anna,” he whispered. “This evening has been too special to allow anything to spoil it.”
“I know it has and it still is.” She sniffed. “But there are still many memories about our courtship I hope will return to me, so I don’t want Melinda’s rude comments about your presence here to keep you from visiting me as often as possible in the next two and a half weeks before the wedding.”
“Are you joking? Wild horses couldn’t keep me away!”
“Do you promise?” Anna asked.
“I promise and I’ll even seal it with a kiss,” Fletcher pledged, bending to brush his lips against hers.
On the way home, he marveled over the amount of time he’d spent anguishing over Anna’s note, when he could have spoken to her about it earlier and alleviated his fears. Even if she still couldn’t say for certain what she meant by her message, her guesses seemed more likely than the assumption he’d made. He belatedly reckoned his experience with Joyce had colored his perception, but he wasn’t going to allow it to cast a shadow on his relationship with Anna any longer. No, after their conversation—and their kisses—this evening, Fletcher was thoroughly convinced she carried a torch for him and him alone.
“Denki, Lord!” he prayed aloud as his horse trotted through the night. “Denki for Your grace and goodness toward Anna and me, by providing us for each other and by keeping my foolishness from destroying our relationship.”
In light of his conversation with Anna, any misgivings he’d felt toward his cousin dissolved completely and soon he was asking God to bless Aaron’s marriage to Melinda, too. The two of them seem to need all the prayer and help they can get before becoming husband and wife, he mused.
But by the time Fletcher stretched out on his bed, Melinda and Aaron were far from his mind. His only thoughts were of Anna: Anna beneath the willow and Anna under the maple; Anna in sunlight and Anna in starlight; Anna then and Anna now. Anna, Anna, Anna, he mumbled drowsily before dozing off. My bride-to-be.
Chapter Eight
On Sunday morning, Anna sat bolt upright in bed, unsure whether the vision that just raced through her mind was a memory or a dream. In it, Fletcher had just kissed her and she was filled with repulsion. The images were fuzzy, but the way they made her feel was undeniably clear and Anna shuddered violently.
“What’s wrong with you?” Melinda muttered, squinting one eye at her.
“I had a nightmare, that’s all,” Anna replied.
Melinda rolled over and pulled the quilt up to her ears, but Anna got up, made her bed and dressed and then padded downstairs to begin making breakfast before the family held their home church services. She was cubing potatoes for breakfast when the image of kissing Fletcher crossed her mind again, except this time she recalled his hands gripping her shoulders as well as the breeze lifting his dark, wavy hair when he pulled her toward him for an emphatic kiss.
Disconcerted that the dream played itself out in her waking moments, Anna sat down at the table and covered her eyes with her hand. I must be overly tired, she thought. My mind is playing tricks on me.
“Are you okay?” Eli cheeped, startling her.
She jumped up and said, “Guder mariye, Eli. Jah, I’m fine. I was just resting my eyes before I started making breakfast casserole. Look, I’m going to use bacon instead of sausage, the way you like it. I notice you haven’t been eating a lot lately.”
The boy’s eyes brightened. “Denki, Anna. I’ll go get the eggs from the henhouse.”
Naomi was the next person awake. “That smells gut already, Anna. But you should allow me to make breakfast. I’ll have to get used to cooking all our meals again once you move out.”
“Mmm,” Anna said noncommittally.
Naomi immediately panicked. “Uh-oh. Is something wrong? Did you and Fletcher decide not to carry through with your wedding? You were getting on so well yesterday.”
Anna chuckled. “All I said was ‘mmm.’”
“Jah, but it was the way you said it,” insisted Naomi.
Eli burst into the kitchen with his basket of eggs. “Guder mariye, Mamm,” he greeted Naomi. “Anna’s putting bacon in the casserole instead of sausage.”
“Just the way somebody in this family likes it, but I can’t remember who,” Naomi teased.
“Me!” Eli cheered.
“I guess your sister has a better memory than I do,” Naomi said. “She must have decided to make it specially tailored for you, because you’re the first one up. Now please go wake everyone else—without shouting.”
After Eli dashed out of the room, Anna replied to her stepmother’s earlier question. “Nothing went wrong between Fletcher and me. In fact, yesterday was one of the best days we’ve had together yet.”
“But?” Naomi asked, setting the plates around the table.
Anna sighed; Naomi was so perceptive. “But I guess I’d still like to remember more about our courtship and I’d still like to find my journal,” she admitted. “I think that would allay any lingering qualms I might have.”
Especially after this morning’s nightmare, she thought.
“I can’t make your memories return, although I’ll continue to pray about that,” Naomi offered. “As for your journal, we’ve practically turned the house inside out with our spring cleaning, so it seems we would have found it by now. Is it possible you stashed it in the stable?”
“I doubt it,” Anna said, “although it’s worth a look.”
“Guder mariye,” Roy, Raymond and Evan greeted the women before taking their seats.
“I couldn’t get Melinda to wake up,” Eli reported, wiggling onto a chair.
“She’s probably tired because she was out on the porch late last night with Aaron,” Evan commented knowingly.
“Evan, what did Mamm tell us about eavesdropping?” Eli chastised his younger brother.
“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” he insisted innocently. “The window was stuck open.”
“Oh! I’m sorry,” Anna quickly apologized. “I couldn’t get it down again after I washed it. I hope you boys weren’t too cold last night. Roy or Raymond, you should take a look at how it sits in the frame.”
“See? That wasn’t my fault so it doesn’t count as eavesdropping,” Evan retorted to Eli. “Besides, I didn’t even repeat that I heard Melinda asking Aaron if he was jellies because Fl
etcher is marrying Anna, not him. And Aaron said if he was jellies, would he do this, then she said to stop that because it tickles and then she kept laughing.”
“Melinda didn’t ask Aaron if he was jellies, Evan,” Eli hotly refuted. “She asked him if he was jealous, but you still repeated gossip because you just told everyone.”
“Boys!” Naomi squawked, clapping her hands sharply together once. That’s all the reprimand they needed to stop talking.
No one else said a word, either, until Melinda sidled into the room. “It’s so quiet in here, I thought maybe it wasn’t an off-Sunday and you’d all left for church without me,” she joked as she heaped casserole onto her plate.
After everyone had eaten their fill, Anna cleared the table, contemplating Evan’s disclosure about the conversation he’d overheard. She knew Melinda had come up with some ludicrous theories in her time, but this one took the cake. If Aaron was envious of Fletcher, it was because of Fletcher’s inherent character and his superior abilities—it had nothing to do with Fletcher marrying Anna. Still, Anna hoped Melinda and Aaron had resolved the issue; the last thing she wanted was more tension between her and her cousin. Anna felt bad enough about her strong words from the previous night as it was.
Once they finished worshipping together, Evan asked if Anna would accompany him and Eli to the stream.
“Why not?” she asked, eager to lighten the mood after their morning squabble.
“Watch yourselves around the rocks,” Naomi cautioned, waving goodbye.
The trio spritely marched through the dewy grass, down the hill and across the meadow. Once they arrived at the creek, Anna alighted on the boulder nearest the willow. Due to the spring rains, the creek’s current was moving swiftly and she kept a close eye on the boys as they attempted to chuck stones across to the opposite bank. She was thinking about how the willow’s lengthy fringe dancing in the breeze reminded her of a woman’s long hair, when she was struck with another memory like the one that had afflicted her earlier that morning.
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