“Chemistry.” Meghan grinned like she’d just announced the best thing, ever. “Yesterday, I talked to my physics teacher about you and she gave me suggestions of what we should tackle next.” Looking at Lilly with a gleam in her eye, she added, “What do you think? Are you ready to tackle freshman chem?”
Flipping through the pages, Lilly bit her bottom lip again. “I’m not sure. This all looks pretty complicated.”
“That’s why you have me, silly girl. We’re going to do this together. I would never make you work on it alone.”
Lilly smiled and couldn’t help but think that what Meghan said was true. Now that she’d opened herself up to accepting and asking for help, everything was becoming easier.
“Lead the way, then, Meghan. I’m all ears.”
“You are too cute.” The high school girl grinned as she flipped to a new page on their spiral notebook and opened up the textbook to the first lesson. “Now,” she began, “the first thing you need to know is the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry.”
Lilly wrote that down. Then thought about nothing but what Meghan was teaching for the next hour and a half. In many ways, it was the fastest ninety minutes of her life.
“SO, HOW DID it go today?” Peter asked after school when they were walking back home. “Did you learn anything new?”
Lilly grinned. He always asked that. Ever since he realized that she’d already learned what Mrs. Mast was teaching and wanted to learn new things, too, he acted like her education was the most important thing in the world.
She thought it was very sweet.
“Meghan decided that we needed to start chemistry today. So that’s what we did.” Holding out her book bag, she said, “Feel this.”
He grabbed ahold of it, then looked at it in shock when he realized how heavy it was. “What did she give you? Rocks?”
After setting the bag on the dirt path, she dug out her new textbook. “It’s a giant chemistry book. From the high school.”
“What are you going to do with that besides get sore arms?”
“Ha-ha,” she said as she bent down to place it back in her tote. “I guess I’m gonna learn chemistry.”
“Why? What will you do with that?”
“Actually, I have no idea. I guess one day I’ll figure that out.”
He smiled. “I bet you will.”
She’d just picked up her bag when he held out his arm. “Give me that.”
“Peter, I can carry my own bag.”
“I can, too.”
“But there’s no need.”
“Lilly, I’m here, I’m stronger. Let me, okay?”
Since it was probably past time to give in gracefully, she nodded. “Thank you.” As they started walking back on the path between the two farms, Lilly looked at Peter. “What about you?” she asked.
“What about me?”
“Come on. I’m tired of us always talking about me. What did you do in class today?”
He shrugged, and his expression shuttered. “Nothing too special. Just the regular stuff.”
“Don’t you want to talk about it?” She never wanted him to think that she wasn’t interested in him, too.
“Not really. I got most of my work done, which was all I really care about.” Puffing up his chest, he said, “I’m working at Kinsinger’s today.”
“Again?” She was surprised. “You worked yesterday. I thought you only worked a day or two each week.”
“Nee, I used to only work a day or two each week. Now I am working four.” Looking really proud of himself, he said, “Mr. Kinsinger himself talked to me on Monday about taking a new position at the mill.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
Peter stopped. Turning to her, he smiled. It was a beautiful smile, one that made her realize that while he often looked amused, he didn’t often look truly happy.
“I’m gonna be a runner,” he said.
“What does a runner do?”
“You see, most of the employees are taught to work on computers when they are hired. But Mr. K. said some of the men aren’t liking that method real well. They miss interacting with people or something. Because of that, I’m going to deliver different messages and such around the offices and warehouses a couple of times an afternoon.”
“It sounds kind of fun.”
He nodded. “Jah. I think so, too. Plus, I’m going to meet a lot of important people there. Most of my messages are going to go to the team leaders and those are the men who do a lot of the hiring. If a couple of the men there take a liking to me, I won’t have to worry about getting full-time work as soon as school gets out.”
She felt a little dismayed, though she carefully tamped down that emotion. “You don’t like school, do you?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, I am just tired of it.”
“It’s a blessing that you’ve found someplace where you want to work.”
“Jah. It is.” Looking really pleased, he added, “I can’t wait to work there full-time.”
“Guess what? My uncle Jacob is working at the lumber mill now, too. He really hated farming.”
“I heard he was there. Someone said that some of the old men farmers in the area were making fun of him. Is that why he stopped?”
“Nee. Oncle Jake doesn’t let other people’s opinions bother him too much. He told me that he just knew that God hadn’t given him a farmer’s mentality. He didn’t understand how to read the soil and crops and such. Plus, he hated working alone every day.”
“I would hate that, too.”
“My uncle said he was meant to be a carpenter.”
“It sounds like it.”
They were at Main Street now. To the right was the way to her grandparents’ farm. To the left was Kinsinger’s Lumber Mill.
Lilly was startled that their afternoon walk had happened in a flash. How come time with Peter always went by far too quickly? “I guess this is where we say good-bye.” She held out a hand. “You better hand me my book bag.”
“Here you go,” he said as he handed it to her. “But do you have to say good-bye just yet?”
“Well, no . . .”
“Want to come to the mill with me? You could go inside and see what it looks like.” Peter brightened. “Maybe you could say hi to your uncle.”
“I don’t want to bother him.”
Eyes sparkling, Peter said, “You could see Miss Rebecca, too. She’s at the reception desk.” He lowered his voice. “Everyone says your uncle and her are sweet on each other.”
“I know they’re friends,” she said hesitantly. Although, to be sure, she’d seen both Rebecca and her uncle stare at each other when they thought no one was looking.
“They’re more than that,” Peter said confidently. “I think they might be a real couple now.”
Lilly gaped at him. But then, as Peter’s words sank in, she realized he was probably right. Furthermore, she kind of thought it made sense. Both her uncle and Rebecca had experienced loss yet still carried a positive attitude with them wherever they went. “If that’s the truth, I think it might be a good idea to say hello,” she said with a smile.
“Gut. Now we don’t have to say good-bye to each other yet.”
Lilly didn’t add anything, but she was secretly glad about that, too.
“REBECCA,” LUKAS CALLED out, “did we ever hear from the shipment that’s late out of northern Michigan?”
“We did. It should be here within the hour.”
“And did you talk to Roman about the famous football player who wanted him to design two enormous front doors?”
“Not yet,” she answered as the front door opened and Peter and Lilly walked in. “But Peter just got here. I’ll ask him to do it.”
Lukas, who had been standing in his doorway as was his habit, both talking to her and anyone else who walked by at the same time, grinned. “Peter, you are exactly who I need to see.”
Peter raised his brows. “Any reason why?”
>
“Jah,” Lukas said, “I’ve got a list of things for you to do about a mile long.”
Peter’s lips curved up. “Don’t know if I’ll get everything done, but I’ll do my best.”
Lukas grinned. “Gut, because I’ve got to tell ya that every team leader has taken time to tell me that he’s impressed with you. Watch out, son. You’re well on your way to becoming indispensable.”
“I’m not real sure what that means,” Peter quipped, “but I’m hoping it means something good.”
“It means they are starting to depend on you, Peter,” Lilly said.
Rebecca watched the boy pull back his shoulders and nod importantly.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
As Lukas’s gaze drifted toward Lilly, he raised a brow. “Any special reason you decided to bring your girlfriend to work?”
Lilly’s eyes widened. She also flushed from her hairline to her toes.
“Nee,” Peter sputtered. “This here is Lilly Yoder. Her uncle just started working here. She wanted to say hi to Rebecca.”
Lukas looked even more confused. “Why Rebecca?”
“I think I’d better leave,” Lilly whispered.
“Nee, stay!” Rebecca called out. Getting to her feet and circling around the desk, she said, “Lilly, I’m so sorry. My bruder doesn’t always say things in the best way. He’s teasing you, I promise.”
Lilly relaxed. “Oh.”
Peter had taken a step closer to the girl. Rebecca thought his protectiveness was quite sweet. She just wished her brother would sometimes stop being so bossy.
Turning to Lukas, Rebecca said, “I met Lilly when I was volunteering. And you know Jacob. He’s our new hire for shells. You know, from Pinecraft. Now, be nice.”
“Oh. Now I understand.” Looking far less scary, Lukas smiled Lilly’s way. “It’s gut to meet you, Lilly. Do you want me to send your uncle out front?”
“Nee.” After darting a look at Peter, she said, “I don’t know why I came here with him.”
“I’m glad you did,” Rebecca said. “Do you have time to have a snack or a drink? The café is open upstairs.”
“I have time.”
“Gut. All right, then. Let me go see if Mercy can come take my place. Then you and I can get a cool drink and visit for a few moments before I go back to work,” she added, just in case Lukas was going to start worrying that she was done for the day.
Lukas rocked back on his heels. “Now that Lilly is settled, Peter, come with me. I’m gonna write out a note I want you to give to Roman in woodworking. Then, I’ve got another job for ya, too.” As was his way, he was talking and walking at the same time. “Hey, do you have a locker yet?”
“I do,” Peter said as he looked back at Lilly.
“Gut. Go put up your things while I write out the note,” Lukas called out from his office.
“See ya, Lilly,” Peter said.
“Bye,” she said, blushing again. But this time, Rebecca noticed that her blush wasn’t from embarrassment, it was from something far different.
Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca had the chance to ask Lilly about that blush. Mercy had stepped into Rebecca’s place for the next hour. Therefore, Rebecca was going to have time to visit with Lilly as long as the girl wanted to.
After ordering a small sandwich and some lemonade, Lilly looked around the café with interest. “I thought there would be more workers here. Onkle Jake says Kinsinger’s is a big place.”
“It is. It’s so big that we have three break rooms for the employees. The biggest is in the retail building, two others are near the collection of warehouses in the back. This café usually just serves customers or vendors. But I like to come up here, too, from time to time. It’s nice that we have a place to order something good to eat.”
“The sandwich is good.”
“I’m glad.” Rebecca smiled. “So, how is school going? Mrs. Mast told me that you are a mighty smart girl.”
Lilly grinned. “Mrs. Mast connected me with some tutors from the high school. I’m learning chemistry now!”
Rebecca had no idea what chemistry entailed but she was glad that Lilly’s eyes were shining when she talked about it. “And it seems that everything with you and Peter is going well?”
“Jah. We are good friends.”
“Just gut friends?” Rebecca was fairly sure that Peter thought of Lilly a bit differently.
“Well, we’re close. But we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend.” Looking worried, she added, “My grandparents wouldn’t like that. I don’t think Uncle Jacob would, either. Please don’t tell him about us.”
“I won’t say anything. But I have to share that if you are happy with your new friend, I’m happy. It’s hard moving to a new place. It’s even harder finding happiness when one has suffered so much loss.”
Lilly nodded.
Rebecca was tempted to reach out and clasp Lilly’s hand but she was afraid the girl might find it off-putting. Instead, she said, “I am glad you are settling in.”
“My uncle is, too,” Lilly volunteered. “He seems a lot happier now that he’s working at Kinsinger’s.”
“That’s gut to know, too.” Thinking about how their paths crossed, she added, “Funny how the Lord was working with both him and me at the same time! Both of us were trying to fit in where we didn’t belong, Jacob with farming and me with teaching.”
“He’s said much the same thing to me.”
Rebecca smiled. “Like you and Peter, he has become a good friend.”
“I heard he’s walked you home a couple of times.”
Now Rebecca was certain that she was the one blushing. “He has. I’m far too old for that, I think.”
“I don’t think so.” She shrugged. “Besides, it doesn’t matter if you’re too old or not, as long as something makes you happy.”
“Those are wise words.”
Lilly grinned. “I am a pretty smart girl.”
“So modest, too,” Rebecca teased. She was enjoying their time together so much.
She also had a pretty good idea that Lilly would adore Amelia. Amelia had that perfect combination of motherliness and irreverence that Lilly would likely find irresistible. After all, Amelia also lost her mother at a young age.
Thinking of Oscar and Princess the goat, Rebecca decided she knew of just the right way to lure Lilly over to the house. “Lilly, did you know we have both a puppy and a baby goat at our house?”
“I heard Onkle Jacob fixed the goat’s pen.” Lilly’s eyes were dancing.
“Would you like to come over sometime and see the animals? The goat is Amelia’s, but the bulldog pup is mine. They are both mighty friendly.”
“Do you mean you want me to come over with my uncle?”
“You can come with him, or by yourself, or . . . hey, I know, how about all of you come over on Saturday night? Your grandparents, too.”
“I could ask them.”
“Please do. It would be fun to have all of you over. Wunderbaar.”
Looking at her carefully, Lilly nodded. “I think so, too. I’ll ask Mommi and Dawdi.”
“Just send back word with either Peter or Jacob.”
“I will do that,” Lilly said with a smile.
Rebecca smiled back but felt as if Lilly was holding a secret. She wondered what it was.
Chapter 21
Saturday, September 19
Rebecca Kinsinger’s invitation might as well have come from the Bishop himself. It had thrown Jacob’s parents into such a tizzy, his mother, especially.
Looking at the basket filled with fresh bread, canned pickles, and an apple-rhubarb pie, Jacob knew something had to be said. He didn’t know a whole lot about social graces, but he was pretty sure that arriving to a dinner party with so much food was rude. “Mamm, they didn’t ask us to bring anything. You can’t show up at their doorstep with all of this.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s practically an entire meal. Rebecca’s go
ing to think you think that she can’t cook.”
“She’s not going to think that.”
“She might. Or her sister, Amelia, might. I got the impression Amelia wears her heart on her sleeve. You might offend her.”
“I won’t. Now, settle down, son. It ain’t a meal. Just a couple of baked goods.” Looking a bit put-upon, she added, “I have never heard of visiting a house without bringing a dish. It ain’t done.”
Now that he’d said his piece, Jacob knew better than to continue arguing his point. He was never going to win when the topic involved baked goods and hostess gifts. “We better get going. What can I help you carry to the buggy?”
“The whole basket, son,” Daed called out with a grin. “And be quick about it. We decided it would be a gut idea to walk there.”
Walk? “It’s a good half hour walk for me.” He didn’t add the obvious—that it would be even longer for his parents. And that it was warm. And that they were already verging on being late. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to take the buggy? It might turn dark by the time we head home.”
But his father was not deterred. “Your mother and I have been walking in the dark for quite a while, Jacob. Plus, the good Lord gave us feet. We might as well use them.”
Looking at the basket filled to the brim, Jacob was starting to think he was going to get to put his arms to work, too.
“All right. If you want to walk, we need to get started before we’re too late. Let’s go then.”
“Lilly, come along now, child,” his mother said.
“I’m ready!” Lilly called out from her room down the hall. “I’ll be right there.” Seconds later they heard her door slam.
Stunned, Jacob looked at his parents, who were wearing happy expressions. Well, his father was. His mother looked on the verge of tears.
“That’s the first time since she moved in that she’s acted like a child,” she whispered. “Jacob, did ya hear that door slam?”
“I did.” He decided not to point out that he and Marc used to get in trouble whenever they slammed doors.
“She sounds happy,” his mother added, clasping her hands together. “Thank the good Lord.”
“She sounds like her father used to,” Daed added. “He loved to get together with friends.”
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