An Honest Love (8 page)

“You should have left it alone.”

“It’s all soupy.” She set the bowl on the counter then went to the pantry and threw open the door.

“Put some more chicken in it.”

“I don’t have any more chicken. I used it all up yesterday.” She put her finger to her lips as she scanned the ingredients in front of her, her brows knitting into a line. “You think potato flakes would work?”

“Potatoes in chicken salad?” His stomach lurched at the thought.

“I’m trying to improvise!” Her hand went to her forehead. “Why did I think I could improve on
Mami’s
cooking?”

Lukas walked over and peered inside the bowl. Chunks of chicken and sliced celery seemed to float in a sea of mayonnaise. While he had no problem fixing a toilet or building cabinets, he didn’t cook, and he had no idea how to salvage the salad.

Elisabeth shut the door. “I’ll have to ask her what to do. I should have just left it alone.”

“Elisabeth, it’s not that bad. It’s just chicken salad.”

“That’s the point. I screwed up something so simple. Again.”

Lukas didn’t know what she was talking about, but before he could ask her, she flew out of the room in search of their mother. He looked around the kitchen at several dishes and desserts his mother and sisters had made yesterday. Their guests would also bring food, so there would be a lot to go around and probably plenty to spare. He didn’t know what she was getting so upset about, but at least she’d stopped talking about Anna. Now if only he could stop thinking about her.

He spied his mother’s Ho Ho cake on the counter, pushed far in the corner. He’d recognize that familiar foil-covered pan anywhere. After taking a quick glance around the room, he snuck over to the pan and lifted the corner. Just one little taste; no one would know. Grabbing a fork out of a nearby drawer, he moved in for a bite when he heard the back door slam. Quickly he ditched the fork and covered the cake before turning around.

“Hi.”

He turned around, stunned to see Anna standing in his parents’ kitchen. The word
hello
caught in his throat.

“I hope I came in the right way. I wasn’t sure.”

Finally he found his voice. “It doesn’t matter. We use both the front and back.”

“
Gut
.”

He stood still for a moment, taking in the fact that she had shown up. She looked lovely, as usual, with added rosiness to her cheeks from the chilly weather outside. Then he noticed her holding a covered casserole dish. “Here,” he said, going to her. “Let me take this.”

“
Danki
.”

While he set the dish down on the kitchen table, he said, “I can take your bonnet and shawl too.”

She unpinned the black shawl around her shoulders, then removed her bonnet. He watched her reach up to touch her white
kapp
for a moment. What had made her change her mind?

He hurried to the mudroom just outside the kitchen and hung up her bonnet and shawl on one of the pegs nailed to the rack on the wall, afraid if he took too much time she might leave. When he walked back into the kitchen, he saw her and Elisabeth standing near the counter, talking, his sister still upset.

“Do you know how to fix chicken salad?” Elisabeth asked.

Anna nodded. “I’ve made it many times. My
Onkel
Zeb loves it. I think he’d eat it for all three meals if he could.”

“
Nee
, I’m not talking about making it. I mean
fixing
it.” She held up the bowl and showed Anna. “It’s ruined.”

Anna peered into the bowl. “It doesn’t look too bad. Why don’t you use it as dip?”

“Chicken salad dip?”

“Sure. Do you have some crackers?”

Elisabeth’s features relaxed. “
Ya
, some of those round buttery ones.” She went to the pantry and pulled out a sleeve of crackers. “I’ll put some of the salad in a small bowl, then the crackers on a plate.” She smiled at Anna. “What a great idea.”

Lukas smiled and walked up to the women. “Need someone to do a taste test?”

“You can wait.” Elisabeth retrieved a plate from the cabinet. “Like everyone else.” She set the plate on the counter and picked up the crackers.

“Elisabeth!” Their mother’s voice sounded from the living room. “I need your help for a minute.”

She handed the crackers to Anna. “Would you mind setting these out?”

Anna nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

“
Danki
.” As she left the kitchen she called out over her shoulder, “Don’t let Lukas get into the Ho Ho cake. He’s already tried that once today.”

“How did you know?” Lukas yelled back.

Elisabeth poked her head back into the kitchen. “You’ve been sneaking bites from Ho Ho cakes since you were a
kinn
. Everyone knows that.” Then she disappeared.

Anna opened the wax paper tube of crackers and began placing them on the plain white plate.

“So now you know one of my deep dark secrets. I can never resist a Ho Ho cake.”

She gave him a half smile but didn’t say anything. Lukas watched her for a moment. “I’m glad you came.”

She paused briefly, then continued putting out the crackers, arranging them in concentric circles.

He moved opposite her and leaned his hip against the counter. “What made you change your mind?”

“You.”

A surge of happiness shot through him. He grinned.

“I wanted to square things between us. I have a check in my purse to give you before I leave.”

His grin faded. That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear. “Anna, I won’t take your money.”

She put the last cracker on the plate and faced him. “I figured the labor costs based on what is typically charged for the jobs you performed, so I think you’ll agree it’s a fair amount.”

Her intelligence was impressive and one of the many things he liked about her. Right now it was also irritating. “You’re not listening to me. I didn’t help you out for the money.”

“I understand that, Lukas. And I know that it’s our way to give our time and talents to others. You’ve been generous to me with both.” She glanced away for a moment before looking back at him. “But I don’t need your help anymore. I want to make sure I’ve covered my obligations.”

Lukas shook his head. She was the most stubborn woman he’d ever met. “You’re not obligated to me, Anna. I don’t know what else I can say to make you understand that.”

“And I don’t know why you won’t accept that this is how it is.”

“Is it?” He stepped toward her, closing the distance between them. She averted her gaze. “Anna, be honest with me. If you and that other
mann—
”

“Daniel. His name was Daniel.”

“Daniel,” he said, his tone tinged with derision, resenting the man that had hurt her so deeply. “If Daniel wasn’t between us, would you feel the same way?”

She frowned. “Daniel’s not between us. He’s married and living in Maryland. He’s not in my life anymore.”

“Are you sure? Because it feels that way. And you haven’t answered my question. Is Daniel the only thing keeping us apart?”

“There’s our age difference.”

“That doesn’t wash with me. Five years is nothing.”

“You say that now, but what about when I’m fifty and you’re forty-five?”

“Still doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t care if you were ten years older, Anna. I would still like you. I would still want to help you and your
familye
. And I would still want to court you.”

She crumpled the empty cracker sleeve in her hand.

“All I’m asking for is a chance.”

“I . . . I can’t. Not now.”

At least she hadn’t shut him down completely, as she had in the past. “What about friendship? Can we at least agree to be friends?” At the doubt on her face he said, “I promise I won’t push you for anything else.”

She looked him in the eye. “I would like to be friends.”

“Then friends it is.” He took a step back from her. She had given him a thin cord of hope to cling to, and he wasn’t about to let go.

He heard voices coming from the living room. “Looks like more people are here.”

“
Gut
. I’m looking forward to meeting them.”

“Then as your new friend, I would be happy to introduce you.”

At her smile, his hope grew stronger. He’d have to be satisfied with what she could give him, although it wouldn’t be easy. But he wouldn’t abandon asking the Lord to change her heart.

Chapter 5

E
lisabeth stood inside the office and peered out of the door’s small window and into the blacksmith shop. She could still hear the sharp clanging of the hammer hitting the anvil as Aaron pounded on a long strip of metal. The process of transforming a rod of iron into something useful fascinated her.

Her first weeks on the job had gone smoothly, for the most part. While her fears of making a monumental mistake that would cost her job were unfounded, she had made a few minor errors, the latest one last week. She’d gotten delivery dates confused for two Yankee customers who both ordered the same number of horseshoes for their respective farms. But she’d corrected her slip-up before Gabe found out.

She took another bite of her green apple and continued to observe Aaron, his back to her as he pounded the metal into shape. Gabe had left earlier that morning to help one of his neighbors fix a broken plow. It was turning out to be a slow and boring day, which was unusual for a Saturday.

Aaron set the hammer down and turned to the side, his body angled away from the forge and more toward her. He slipped off one of his leather gloves and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, then picked up a glass of water on a table nearby.

Dying to talk to someone, Elisabeth saw the opportunity. She opened the door and walked into the shop, breathing in the familiar scent of burning charcoal and piping hot iron. “Ready for lunch?”

He turned to her, his face streaked with sweat and smudged with charcoal. He glanced up at the battery-operated clock on the wall. “It’s not even ten thirty.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought to check the time. “Then maybe you’d like to take a break. I have an extra apple in my lunch bag.” She held up her half-eaten apple.

“I’ll wait for lunch.” He took a long swig of water, then set it back down. He started to turn back to the forge but paused. “Did you need something?”

“
Nee
.” She ran her finger along the edge of the table, grimacing when she saw the grime on her finger. She put her hand behind her back. “Just hanging out.”

“Finished with your work?”

“Um,
ya
.”

He faced her. “Maybe you should
geh
home then.”

“But what if we get a customer? Gabe’s not here and you’re busy at the forge.”

“I can handle it. I’ve worked alone before.”

She frowned. “That can’t be much fun.”

“Actually, I prefer it.”

His words didn’t surprise her. Aaron personified the word
loner
. Even after working with him several days a week over the last few weeks, she didn’t know him any better than before. Not that she hadn’t tried. She’d invited him to eat lunch with her more than once, but he never took her up on her offer. She had asked him to come to the singing at her house, but he never showed up.

At least Lukas’ friend Anna had come and saved her from screwing up the chicken salad. Turned out everyone liked it as a dip, and one of her friends asked her for the recipe. Elisabeth had liked Anna immediately and admired her for having her own business. She understood why Lukas was sweet on her, even though he had insisted to her later that night they were just friends.

What she didn’t understand was Aaron’s reluctance to visit with her and her friends, or any young people at all. Just last Sunday it had been her family’s turn to host church, and while Aaron had shown up for the service, he didn’t stay for the fellowship afterward. She’d even sought him out right after church ended, but he had dashed out the door before she could catch up with him.

“Why?” she asked, the word out of her mouth before she could stop it.

“Why what?”

She hadn’t meant to voice her question out loud, but now that she’d blown it she might as well find out the answer. “Why do you prefer to be alone?”

“I just do.” He spun around and slid his glove on his hand.

She walked around to the side of the forge. Heat radiated from it, warming her skin. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Does to me.” He didn’t look at her, he merely picked up the hammer and started pounding but then stopped and put the end of the rod into the fire.

“No one likes to be alone all the time.”

“I’m not.” He cast a sideways glance. “You’re here.”

“I mean away from work. What about friends?”

He yanked the rod out of the fire and plunked it down on the anvil. “Elisabeth, you must be really bored.” Sparks flew as he slammed the hammer down on the rod.

“But—ow!” A spark landed on her cheek and she jumped back from the forge.

Aaron dropped the hammer and went to her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” But the burning sensation sharpened. She put her hand on her cheek.

“Let me see.” He whipped off his gloves and bent down slightly to peer at her face.