by Jo Ann Brown
“No, it’s not about donations.” Caleb launched into a very terse explanation of the favor Annie had asked of him. He finished with, “I wanted to let you know, Lyndon.”
“So Annie asked you to take Leanna to the mud sale?” Lyndon pushed back his hat and scratched behind his left ear.
“Ja.”
“Interesting...”
When Lyndon didn’t say anything else, Caleb waited. Lyndon Wagler resembled his twin sisters. He was much taller than they were, and what was left of his hair was reddish brown, but he was like them in other ways. Sometimes he was as talkative and forthright as Annie. At other times he could be as reticent as Leanna. It seemed he was going to be the latter in the wake of hearing about the favor Annie had asked of Caleb.
Lyndon lifted two metal milk containers, and walked toward the door at the end of the open space. Caleb picked up a full milk can and followed. He hadn’t planned on helping with the milking here after completing his own less than fifteen minutes ago. He’d assumed Lyndon would be done as well, then he noticed Kenny wasn’t in the barn. The boy must not have helped that morning. Caleb remembered mornings, as a boy, when he’d stayed in bed so late he’d barely made it to school before the teacher rang the bell.
Caleb set the milk can next to the dairy tank. “I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“That you’re interested in courting my sister?” Lyndon shook his head. “No, I suppose I shouldn’t get that idea.”
“Gut.” Caleb went to the door opening into the barnyard, then paused. “It has nothing to do with any member of your family. I’m not looking for a wife.”
“Got it.”
Only later, when he was on his way to talk to Eli about helping load the bench wagon in preparation for the next service, did Caleb realize Lyndon hadn’t specified which of his sisters he believed Caleb was talking about. Not that it made any difference. Caleb wasn’t going to get involved with either Wagler twin. He’d learned his lesson about risking his heart and his dreams.
The hard way.
Chapter Nine
“I like to wash dishes,” Becky Sue said with a laugh as she set a casserole pan in the drainer. “But I hate to dry and put them away.”
“Most girls feel the opposite.” Annie lifted a plate already half-dry from the stack in the drainer. During the past week, she and Becky Sue had got into the habit of doing the breakfast dishes together while Grossmammi Inez and Becky Sue did the chore for dinner because it was only the two of them and Joey at home for the noon meal. Leanna and Juanita had taken over the task for supper. “They don’t want to get their hands greasy or splatter water on their clothes.”
“But the dish detergent makes my hands feel as soft as if I’d been rubbing them against a sheep.”
“There’s lanolin in detergent.” Annie chuckled. “And in sheep’s wool.”
“Too bad it’s not in goats’ wool. Leanna would have the softest hands around. She loves taking care of those goats, ain’t so?”
“Ja. Right now, she’s letting the does she’s been milking go dry because the kids will be born in about two to three months. How Joey will love seeing them play! They’re as inquisitive as he is.”
Becky Sue scrubbed a plate as she stared out the window. “You’re assuming we’ll be here in two to three months.”
“You know you’re welcome.”
“I know.” She flashed a smile at Annie before rinsing the plate. “But I’m not sure how long we should stay.”
“You won’t leave without letting me know where you’re going, will you?”
The girl looked at her again, in what Annie judged to be honest astonishment this time. “Why would you want to know?”
“Because this whole family cares about you and Joey. We won’t force you to stay, but if you decide to leave, we’ll want to know where you’re bound so we can be assured you’ll be okay.”
“I didn’t realize that.”
“Look around. You and Joey are part of our family.”
“Which makes Caleb part of your family, too. That’s inconvenient, ain’t so?” She shot a sly, sideways glance at Annie.
Without hesitation, Annie replied, “We’re all family here in Harmony Creek Hollow.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”
Annie smiled. She wasn’t going to get into a discussion of her relationship with Caleb. The sooner the teen figured that out, the better it would be.
“We have a wunderbaar community here,” Annie said. “Not only the Leit, but our Englisch neighbors.”
“My family would never accept an Englischer in any sort of relationship.” Becky Sue glanced at Annie and then away, but didn’t add anything else.
Had Becky Sue let slip that Joey’s daed was an Englischer?
Annie wanted to ask, but finished the dishes in silence. By the time she put the last ones away, Becky Sue had already left to spend time with her son. Was the offhand comment a clue to the truth the girl had been hiding?
* * *
The day was flashing by, and Caleb was beginning to believe the kitchen would be done in time. The refrigerator and the freezer had been hooked up that morning, and the quartz counters were being delivered the next day. The butcher block for the island had been fabricated by his neighbor and friend Jeremiah. That would be in by week’s end. After that, his attention would be on the front room where the baked goods would be sold.
Digging his fingers into his lower back, he stretched and tried not to groan at his tired muscles as he looked across the room to where Annie was unpacking paper supplies and putting them in the storage closet. He hadn’t been certain how many bags and boxes to buy, but he’d know more once he saw how many customers came and, more important, how many returned.
“I thought about what you said about customers seeing the back wall,” he called across the kitchen.
“You did?” She set a handful of flattened white boxes on the lowest shelf and then straightened. Pressing one hand against her lower back in a motion that copied his, she faced him. Fatigue shadowed her eyes and dimmed her bright smile.
Guilt lashed at him. Was he insisting she work harder than she should? In addition to helping at the bakery, she had her chores at home and kept an eye on his cousin and the boppli. Though she hadn’t said much, he knew she was worried about her grossmammi. At least he’d been able to ease her concern about her sister getting to the mud sale in time to see her quilt auctioned. However, it seemed there must be other ways he could have helped than offering her sister a ride to and home from the mud sale.
What if he was escorting Annie instead of her twin sister? His mind lingered there. He’d driven Annie to the bakery and home many times, but there would be something different about riding with her to the firehouse south of the village. And when he drove her home at the end of the long, exciting day...
Caleb halted the thought before it could take him where he shouldn’t go. Not if he wanted to keep his dream moving forward. He was keeping the doubts planted by Verba out of his head, and he must be as vigilant about banishing thoughts of how wunderbaar it would be to slip his arm around Annie’s shoulders as they rode through the late-winter twilight and...
Again he squashed the image in his mind. It wasn’t easy when he was looking at her by the closet door, so he cut his eyes to the cupboards that soon would be filled with more supplies. He couldn’t forget how relieved he’d been to set aside the burden of establishing the settlement. How much heavier were Annie’s obligations? And she couldn’t step away from her duties to her family.
No, it wasn’t that she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
Just as she’d keep working with him for as long as he needed her.
Lord, don’t let me take her for granted again. Help guide me to show her I appreciate her efforts. But not by asking her to walk out with him when he
couldn’t offer her anything but friendship.
Discovering she was waiting with unusual patience for him to continue, Caleb said, “Ja, I’ve been thinking about the color for the wall.”
“It should be bright.”
“Bright? Why?”
Annie crossed the kitchen and stretched out her arms. She motioned for him to come stand beside her. When he did, hoping she didn’t sense that his back was protesting again from long hours of work, she turned to face the front of the building. She tugged on his sleeves, so he copied her motion.
“See?” she asked. “If the color of the wall catches their attention, their eyes will be drawn right to the display in the cases. And once they see the goodies for sale, they won’t be able to leave without buying something. Even a small order to sample your baking.”
“What color do you suggest?”
“Yellow.”
He gave her a wry grin. “You didn’t hesitate on that.”
“It’s my favorite color. Reminds me of sunshine and daffodils and cake batter.”
“Not chocolate cake batter?” he asked as he walked toward the door. Taking his hanging coat off the wall, he pulled it on, trying not to wince as he stretched.
“Gut to eat, but not a color I’d want on the wall.” She smiled while she came toward the rear of the kitchen. For a moment, she turned and considered the room again. “If you don’t like yellow, there are other nice colors like blue or green or purple that would grab customers’ attention.”
“You aren’t planning on using them all, ain’t so?”
“Like painting stripes?” she laughed. “Not if you want me to paint the wall. My skills aren’t up to that task. However, we can paint some rectangles in different colors, so you can consider them and make your choice.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go into Salem next week, and we can look at the color choices at the hardware store.”
“You want me to go with you?”
He nodded, pleased to be the one to disconcert her for once. “I’m sure they have lots of colors. I could use your advice on which to pick.”
“But what if you don’t like what I do?”
“I’ll let you know.” He lifted her coat off its peg and held it out for her to slip her arms into it. “You aren’t the only one who’ll be working here. I’m going to be spending a lot of time in this kitchen, too, next winter when work on the farm is slower again. It’ll help if I like the color on the walls.”
“Okay. I’ll go with you to the store.” Several emotions scurried across her face, but she turned away to pull on her coat, preventing him from discerning what she was thinking.
Why was she making such a big deal out of an errand to get paint?
Why was he?
His gaze slid toward her as he reached for his hat. His fingers were awkward and groped for the peg while he found himself admiring the curve of her neck in the moment before she slid her bonnet into place, blocking his view. She and her sister were identical, but there was something unique about Annie Wagler. Something vital and vivacious, so alive that being near her seemed to bring life to parts of him he’d thought long dead: hope, as well as belief in the best in others and in himself.
Annie drew her shawl over her shoulders, and he looked away so she didn’t catch him staring at her. That might lead her to believe he had time in his life for more than his work. He didn’t.
Caleb closed up the bakery and locked the doors, wondering why he bothered. Nobody had tried to get inside since Becky Sue and Joey had taken shelter there. Each time he had someone come to work at the bakery, he had to make sure he was there to open up for them.
He went to get Dusty from the rickety barn owned by the bakery’s neighbors. The old couple living next door wasn’t using the space, so they’d accepted the offer he’d made last week to rent the barn from them. They also told him his horse could use the field connected to the barn, which would work well when the weather warmed.
After hitching his horse to the buggy, he climbed in along with Annie. He gave her one side of the thick wool blanket, and she tucked it in around herself. She had to shift to sit closer to him, but he didn’t mind.
Be careful, he warned himself. Keep everything between you business.
She was his sister’s friend. He’d already told her brother he considered the twins to be friends.
But he couldn’t ignore the fact that far too often he found himself gazing in Annie’s direction, losing track of time as he watched her graceful motions or when he listened to her latest idea for the bakery.
He was shaken out of his musings when Annie murmured, “Becky Sue said some things today you should know about.”
“And you’re telling me only now? Why?”
“Because I’ve been fighting the feeling I’m betraying her confidences by sharing them with anyone else.”
“Did she ask you to keep what she said to yourself?”
“No, but if I want her to be open with me, I can’t blab what she tells me.”
He put his gloved hand on top of her thick mitten. “Annie, you aren’t blabbing. You’re confiding in her cousin who’s worried about her.”
“Don’t try to befuddle me, Caleb Hartz!” She yanked her hand from beneath his and folded her arms in front of her. “I get enough of that from Becky Sue with her half answers.”
“I wasn’t trying to confuse you. I was trying to make you feel better about telling me what she said.”
For a long minute, Annie didn’t reply. “You’re right,” she said at last, and he wondered what she’d decided during her silent discussion with herself. “If she were my cousin, I’d want to know everything.”
He listened while she shared what Becky Sue had let slip during their conversation. Asking Annie to repeat as much of the conversation as she could, he considered what his cousin had said and in what order.
“Something doesn’t add up,” he mused aloud when she finished.
“What?”
“I’m not sure, but something seems off.”
“I think so, too.”
He glanced at her and saw her relieved smile. “What do you think is off in her story?”
“If Joey’s daed is an Englischer she met in Lancaster County, why did she come here? It seems unlikely to me she met an Englisch boy from Salem when she was in Pennsylvania.” She raised her hands to halt his reply. “I know what you’re going to say. Englischers travel farther than we do, but that’s not why I’m finding her tale hard to believe. If the boy is here, why hasn’t he come forward?”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to admit to the truth. Or maybe he doesn’t know she’s here.”
Annie sniffed her derision. “Everyone knows everything about everyone in Salem. Isn’t that what you told me?”
“I did.” He thought about the careful questions he’d asked at the fire department, wanting to get advice from his Englisch friends as well as his plain ones about what to do to help his cousin and her boppli. “And you’re right. I would imagine everybody within twenty miles has heard about our discovery at the bakery. Maybe she was honest when she said it was a coincidence she ended up here.”
“Coincidence is, I believe, often God’s way of giving us a second chance to right a wrong we may not have realized we did to someone else. Or to ourselves.”
He gave her a half smile. “It sounds as if you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“I have since Becky Sue showed up.”
“So have I.” And since I asked you to work for me when I intended to ask Leanna instead.
“Give her a chance to be honest with you. If you keep pressing, you’ll back her into a corner. That will make her distrust you more.”
He nodded, knowing her advice was sound. They had to try to follow it in the hope the girl would finally be forthcoming about what had driven her from her
home.
Chapter Ten
Sunday morning dawned with a hint of warmth, a promise winter wouldn’t last forever. Caleb drove his buggy into the busy yard in front of James Streicher’s house. The blacksmith had moved to the community late last summer, and he’d already become an integral part of the district.
Handing his buggy over to Eli Troyer’s nephew, Kyle, who would put Dusty with the rest of the horses in a nearby meadow, Caleb walked to where the other members of the Leit were gathered by the house’s front door.
The women and the men began to divide into two groups as he walked toward them along a narrow path cut into the deep snowbanks. He turned to his left to join the other men, but froze as if the temperature had dropped fifty degrees.
Only his eyes moved as he stared in painful astonishment when Joey, who was in Lyndon’s arms, held up chubby arms to Jeremiah, babbling in excitement. The boppli had never seen Jeremiah before, but was eager for the man to take him. He batted Jeremiah’s face, as he did the Waglers’, and gave a deep chortle that rumbled beneath the conversations around them.
So Joey wasn’t going through a stage where he didn’t like men. He’d been content with Lyndon holding him and gone eagerly to Jeremiah. Yet he screamed in terror when Caleb came near. Had something changed? Caleb wasn’t going to test that before services, so he avoided getting too close to the men and the kind.
Through the service, as he joined others in singing the long hymns and listened to Eli’s sermon and prayed, he couldn’t keep the questions quiet. Why had the little boy had such an instantaneous hatred of him? What could Caleb do to ease the little boy’s fears?
Lord, give me some idea.
* * *
Church Sundays were always among Annie’s favorite days of the month. She could spend time with her friends and catch up on their lives. Before Miriam and Sarah had married, they had joined her and Leanna for outings, like going grocery shopping or attending a charity dinner at the firehouse or special events in the village. Their Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club hadn’t done anything together since before their weddings last fall. Or, as they’d decided when they started the group, the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ and Newlyweds’ Club, agreeing to change the name when one of them married. At the time, none of them had plans to marry, but Miriam and Sarah had in the past year.