Huckleberry Hearts (23 page)

The sound of Dawdi's footfalls in the snow broke the silence. Cassie shined the flashlight in his direction as he trudged toward them. “I lost you,” he said.

“Sorry, Dawdi. I almost fell.”

“You should find some good walking sticks. You don't fall when you have walking sticks.” He pointed to the north. “I found a place for smelling, just up ahead.”

Zach shook his head as if to clear it and glanced at Cassie. His expression made her want to cry. “I'm sorry, Felty. I made a big deal about coming with you, but I just realized I need to get back to feed my turtle.”

Feed his turtle? That was a lamer excuse than having to wash his hair.

Dawdi nodded. “No turtle should go hungry. Do you want us to walk you back to your car?”

“No,” Zach said, more forcefully than he needed to. “I don't want to interrupt your smelling. I can find the way back.” He didn't wait for a reply, just started walking backward the way they'd come. “Thanks for a great dinner, Cassie. I'll see you in a couple of days.”

Cassie tried to look anywhere but in the direction Zach walked. She might be able to maintain her composure if she pretended he was already gone. A weary sigh escaped her lips. In his mind, he was long gone.

“Come on, Dawdi,” she said, pointing the flashlight down the path. “Show me the place you found.”

“No need,” Dawdi said. “My bones don't lie. The sap will be running in ten days. We'll start two Mondays from now.”

“You already know?”

“You and the doctor were lollygagging, and I thought you might want to be alone.
Die youngie
prefer to do their sparking without the grandparents hovering about.”

Dawdi's words only compounded the heaviness she felt. Zach would never want to “spark” with her.

“Nothing spoils the romantic mood like an old man with two walking sticks,” he said cheerfully, not sensing the unhappiness behind Cassie's silence. “Not that I'm an old man. Older than you and Dr. Reynolds, anyway. I had to do something to pass the time.”

With both of his sticks in one hand, he put his arm around Cassie and nudged her down the path toward home. “Your mammi will be pleased to know that things are coming along nicely yet.” He cleared his throat. “With the sap, I mean. Maple sugaring is one of her favorite times of the year. So much wonderful can happen that we don't even expect.”

 

 

“I can't do this, Mom,” Zach said, dragging his fingers through his hair.

“Can't do what? You've been to medical school. I think everything would be downhill from here.”

“I can't do the ‘Impossible Dream' thing. You know. Love pure and chaste from afar.”

“This girl must be amazing.”

“She's everything, Mom. And I almost screwed it up.” Cassie had been so soft and vulnerable in his arms, and he'd nearly lost his senses and kissed her. “When I'm with her, I go crazy just wondering what it would feel like to hold her hand. And, heaven help me, I can't stop staring at her lips. She probably thinks I'm the weirdest guy in the world. What guy goes around staring at lips?”

“You know, Zach, when I was growing up, hardly anybody had sex before marriage. Wow, I sound old, but it doesn't hurt you to learn a little self-control. It's not an altogether foreign concept. Lots of people wait until they're married.”

Zach ran his hand across the back of his neck. “Those are the virtuous people. I am not virtuous. You should have heard the thoughts racing through my head tonight.”

“Do you remember your dad's definition of courage?”

“Sure. I used it on a patient the other day. Courage is being scared and doing it anyway.”

“Right. It wouldn't be virtue if you weren't tempted. Virtue is facing the temptation and choosing the harder way.”

Mom always made such good sense. He had wanted to kiss Cassie in the worst way tonight, but he had controlled himself. It was a small victory. “It never hurts to learn a little self-control.”

He could almost hear Mom smiling over the phone. “It's nothing you didn't hear a hundred times growing up.”

“I wasn't listening.”

“You were listening while pretending not to listen.” She paused for a minute. “Whatever you do, don't break this girl's heart. You'll never forgive yourself.”

“It's a thousand times more likely that she'll break mine. I can't even convince her to go out with me.”

“She needs to learn to trust you.”

Zach nodded. “That's why I'm going all out on this virtue thing.”

“I love how you call it ‘this virtue thing.'”

Zach, not quite so annoyed with himself, sat down on his ancient sofa. “How's your arm?”

“Two more weeks in a cast, but the auxiliary bazaar went off without a hitch. The roses were beautiful. Tell Cassandra thanks again.”

“It's not Cassandra. It's Dorcas.”

He heard her jaw drop from California. “What are some parents thinking when they name their poor children?”

Zach chuckled. Mom was always so practical. There was no time for absurdity in her world. “By the way, some Amish guy broke my nose.”

“Were you fighting over Cassie?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, young man, you know I don't like fighting, but if it happens again, protect your face. I don't want you scarred for life.”

“It's not bad. She likes my crooked nose.”

“Don't we all.”

Almost immediately after Zach hung up the phone with his mom, it rang again. He didn't even glance at the number, assuming Mom had forgotten to tell him something.

“Z? It's about time you actually picked up. You said we could still be friends.”

Blair. He cussed himself out for not checking the caller ID. “Hi, Blair. Of course we're still friends. I've been busy.”

“Did you get my message? About being in Stevens Point next week?”

“Yeah. I got it. I've been busy.”

“I closed a two-hundred-thousand-dollar deal in November. It's not the hugest thing the company's ever seen, but it earned me a nice commission.”

“That's great, Blair.”
I don't really care, but good for you.
He wished her well, he really did, but his interest in Blair had waned like a spent candle.

“So, I bought a Lexus, and you've got to see it.”

“I don't know if I can handle the envy. Once I see your car, I'll probably cry every time I climb into my old Honda.”

Blair squeaked with glee. “You will. It's that chrome blue color you like so much. With a sunroof. I figured, hey, it's not every day I buy a new car. I might as well go all out.”

“With premium sound?”

“Fully loaded.”

He groaned. “I'm turning green.”

“So, do you want to see it? Stevens Point is like super-close to Shawano. We could meet for dinner.”

He massaged a spot just above his eyebrow. “I don't know, Blair. My schedule is unpredictable, and it seems like I'm at the hospital twenty-four seven.”
When I'm not on Huckleberry Hill.

“Come on, Z. I only want to meet for dinner.”

“I'm very busy.” It was the cowardly way out, and he knew it. But today, the last thing he wanted was another heart-to-heart with Blair about why he didn't want to date her anymore.

“You keep saying that. It's a lame excuse,” she said, with just a hint of petulance to her tone.

“Yeah. It's lame. I'm sorry.”

She tried too hard when she sensed he wouldn't budge. “Let's do this. I'll call you when I get into town. If you happen to have a free night, we can get together. The car really is worth taking a look at.”

Good plan. He could ignore her calls, and she could come and go from Stevens Point without creating any sort of ripple in his life. Maybe she'd take the hint and quit trying for a relationship. “That sounds great. I'll wait for your call.”

“I'd rather not have to track you down.” She laced her laughter with sarcasm. “Answer your phone.”

Hopefully he'd be smart enough to check caller ID before he did anything as foolish as that.

Chapter Twenty-One

The snow and ice were mostly melted as Zach made his way up the lane to Huckleberry Hill. His car didn't sputter once. Fifi seemed to be getting used to the brisk Wisconsin weather.

His heartbeat surged when he caught sight of her. She looked like a vision in a puffy white coat and red scarf. She wore a bright white beanie, and wisps of yellow hair escaped from under her hat. He gripped the steering wheel tighter. Oh, how he wanted to stroke his fingers through that hair!

From what he could tell, under the coat she wore a plain gray dress and a pair of black boots. Had her mamm talked her into that dress? He clenched his teeth. Maybe Cassie had worn it to avoid trouble before it even started.

It didn't matter the reason. It made Zach want to challenge every Amish person in Bonduel to a wrestling match.

He gazed at Cassie from behind his windshield, and the familiar longing came to life inside him. Cassie hadn't been exactly cold to him this week, but she hadn't been warm either. She'd stopped smiling spontaneously at him after he'd been forced to flee the forest to avoid kissing her. Maybe she had realized how close his resolve had come to crumbling. Maybe she didn't want anything to do with such a weak and untrustworthy man.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and resolved to show her that he could be what she wanted. He would always maintain his control, and maybe she'd learn to trust him.

She stood on the edge of Anna and Felty's yard holding a galvanized metal bucket in each hand, looking down the lane as if she were waiting for him. She bloomed into an unexpected smile when he waved at her. Maybe she was happy to see him, after all.

But his heart tripped over itself and thudded onto the pavement as Elmer Lee, Luke, and Norman came out of the house and converged on Cassie. It was lucky he was sitting in the car with the windows rolled up. It wouldn't be good if Cassie heard the growl that came out of his mouth.

Cassie had said that a lot of the family were coming. Zach had been hoping that it was different family. And indeed, he had never seen most of the handful of Amish men and women congregating in the yard. Lots of new relatives to meet. He hoped they weren't all as abrasive as Norman. Enduring Norman was taxing enough.

Norman and Cassie's bossy, prickly Amish mother.

Hopefully, Esther had better things to do in her spare time this afternoon than to tap maple trees with the family. At least he could hope that Norman would honor his promise and quit bullying Cassie about being baptized. Then Zach could focus on being close to Cassie instead of thinking about rearranging Norman's face.

He felt like the marshmallow man as he climbed out of the car and headed in Cassie's direction. He hadn't known quite what to expect of sap collecting, so he had worn a pair of thermal underwear, a long-sleeved T-shirt, sturdy winter boots, snow pants, and his coat with a faux-fur lined hood and that special thin insulation. And of course, Anna's red scarf, the mittens, and the beanie she had knitted. When he got out, he realized the afternoon temperature was a lot higher than he'd anticipated—several degrees above freezing anyway.

Norman took one look at Zach and busted out laughing. “You're going to sweat something wonderful, Doctor.”

Zach pressed his lips into a line. He hated to admit Norman was right, but it had to be at least forty degrees out here. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It had turned out to be a sunny day, and the sweat already trickled down his back. Was there a graceful way to shed his layers without attracting Norman's ridicule? Unfortunately, Norman had only promised to stop bothering Cassie. He apparently had no reservations about mocking Zach.

“There's no reason to make fun of him,” Cassie said. “How could he know how cold it was going to be this afternoon?”

Elmer Lee riveted his gaze to Zach's face. The black eyes looked much better after nearly two weeks. There was still a lot of purple and light blue around both eyes, with hints of yellow and green for variety, but compared to what it had been last week, he didn't look too bad. Still, if Elmer Lee felt a little guilty about breaking Zach's nose, it served him right.

Zach unwound his scarf and let it hang loosely around his neck. The minute Norman was out of sight, the coat was coming off.
“Gute maiya,”
he said, doing his best with the accent.

Norman and Elmer Lee eyed him as if he'd said “good day” in Chinese instead of Deitsch.

What a stupid idea to attempt to impress anybody with his nonexistent language skills.

Cassie gave him a courtesy smile as if to say, “Oh, you're so cute to try to attempt the language, but maybe you shouldn't ever do that again in front of my brother.”

Luke proved more polite than either of his companions. He extended his hand and smiled warmly. “
Gute maiya
, Dr. Reynolds.”

“What happened to your face?” Norman asked, almost pulling off wide-eyed innocence in his expression.

“An accident,” Zach said, waving Norman's question away as if the colorful bruises around his eyes were no big deal. He didn't want Cassie to suspect that Norman had anything to do with the condition of his face, and he kind of felt sorry for Elmer Lee. Even though Elmer Lee had broken Zach's nose, Norman was the one who had volunteered him for the wrestling match, and Elmer Lee really had felt bad about breaking Zach's nose.

“He was wrestling with a friend,” Cassie volunteered.

Norman smirked. “Looks like you got the worse end of that fight.”

Zach gave Norman a wide smile. “You should see the other guy.”

Cassie grinned and shook her head indulgently. “I'll never understand why boys think pummeling each other is fun.”

“It's not fun,” Elmer Lee said, shifting his weight and looking positively sullen. “He didn't mean to break your nose.”

Zach glanced at Cassie as his mind raced for another topic of conversation. Cassie didn't seem to notice anything strange, but if they kept talking about it, someone was bound to let something slip. “Are the Brewers going to be any good this year?” The blank stares he got from his companions told him he'd said the wrong thing. He mentally conked himself on the head. What did the Amish know about baseball? He didn't even like baseball. It was just the first thing that had popped into his head.

Someone tapped Zach on the shoulder. At least he thought someone tapped him on the shoulder. He was wearing about six layers. He couldn't be sure. He turned to see Titus with the ubiquitous toothpick in his mouth and two other Amish men. “Hullo, Dr. Reynolds.”

Zach smiled and shook Titus's hand. It was nice to see a friendly face.

Titus pointed to the blond man who was almost as tall as Zach. “This is my brother Ben, and this is Cassie's nephew-in-law Tyler Yoder.”

Zach smiled and raised an eyebrow. “How does that work?”

“He married my niece,” Cassie said as if that cleared up all confusion.

Tyler Yoder had dark hair and dark features, and the makings of a thick beard grew on his chin the same as Ben, except that Ben's beard was blondish brown and barely visible on his face. They had both probably been married less than a year.

Tyler had good humor in his face even though his lips didn't even hint at a smile. “I married Beth, who is Sarah Beachy's daughter. Sarah is Cassie's oldest sister. Cassie is Beth's aunt. That makes me Cassie's nephew-in-law.”

Ben seemed even less inclined to smile than Tyler, but neither of them acted hostile, at least at the moment. Norman, on the other hand, glared at Zach as if he were going to pounce on him at any moment. Probably nothing would make Norman happier than Zach's immediate departure.

“Thank you for helping our mammi with her foot,” Ben said. “Titus and Cassie tell me you have been very kind to her.”

Zach relaxed slightly. Neither of them seemed concerned that Zach might drag Cassie into a life of wickedness and depravity. “Anna is my favorite patient.”

A pretty young woman in a black coat and dark blue dress walked their way as if to join in their conversation. Her foot caught on a chunk of snow, and she tripped. Ben shot out a hand and caught her arm before she ended up on the ground. Gazing at her as if she were the sun, moon, and stars, he secured an arm around her waist to make sure she was stable and pulled her into their circle.

She grinned as if this sort of thing happened all the time. “Sorry. I don't do very well in snow.”

“Dr. Reynolds,” Ben said, smiling for the first time, “this is my wife Emma.”

Zach's gut clenched. Ben's obvious affection for his wife mirrored what he felt for Cassie. Would he ever get to show her how much he loved her? Would he have a chance someday to wrap his arms around her, whisper deliciously sweet words into her ear, and plant kisses on those petal-soft lips?

He took a deep breath. It would be better if he didn't drive himself crazy today.

“This is Mammi's foot doctor,” Ben said.

“The one your mammi talks so much about? The one who broke his nose?”

Ben nodded.

Emma smiled at Zach like a dear friend. Maybe Norman's resentment hadn't infected the rest of the family. “You and Cassie have matching scarves.”

Cassie fingered the scarf around her neck. Was she happy about the matching scarves or afraid they'd make trouble? “Mammi made them for us.”

“Mammi Anna is quite fascinated with you, Doctor,” Emma said. Her lively eyes twinkled as if she knew more than she was letting on.

“But how was she able to convince you to make a house call three times a week?” Tyler asked.

Emma nudged her cousin-nephew-relative-in-law in the arm. “Look at Cassie, Tyler. Do you think it would take much to convince the doctor to come around?”

Cassie lowered her eyes and turned pink with that attractive blush that Zach loved so much. It hadn't even taken a puff of air to convince Zach to come to Huckleberry Hill. He'd follow Cassie to the Amazon jungle if he had to.

Ben's lips curved upward slightly. “Mammi can be very persuasive when she wants to be.”

“The doctor cares for Mammi's foot,” Norman said too loudly. “But Elmer Lee helped us butcher the hog yet.”

Titus pulled the toothpick from his mouth. “The doctor saved Priscilla from catching fire.”

Norman's frown settled deeper into his face. “It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been chasing her.”

“It wasn't Titus's fault,” Cassie said.

Zach nodded. If she hadn't said it, he would have.

Titus grimaced and stuck the toothpick back in his mouth. “I should have been a bunny.”

Emma laid a hand on Titus's shoulder. “You would have made a wonderful-gute bunny.” She turned to Zach. “Cassie says you put out the fire with your hands and got burned yourself.”

“Anyone would have done the same,” Zach said. “Titus would have, but he was too far when it happened.”

“Elmer Lee fixed his sister's roof during a snowstorm,” Norman said.

Zach almost laughed out loud. Cassie tried valiantly to suppress a grin. Norman couldn't bear to surrender bragging rights. It was becoming a little comical.

Ben folded his arms across his chest and stared at Zach. “I like you. You'll do just fine.”

What did he mean by “do just fine”? Do just fine with the sap collecting?

Zach's smile faded as Cassie's mother sauntered out of the house and down the porch steps with a battery-operated drill in each hand. She looked like a gunfighter from the Old West complete with scowl and menacing look in her eye. She zeroed in on Zach, and he could almost hear her hiss like a cat. What possible threat could he be? He was surrounded by Amish people, some of them as tall and muscular as he was.

Was there anything he could do to soften her up a bit?

“Gute . . .” Wait. Probably shouldn't try that. His Deitsch seemed to raise a lot of hackles. “Good afternoon, Esther,” he said flashing the smile he only used for special occasions.

“Afternoon, Doctor,” she said with little enthusiasm. At least she didn't snarl. “Good to see you, Ben and Emma, Tyler. How is Beth?”

“She is feeling a little better. She thinks the worst of the morning sickness has passed.” Tyler motioned to a little boy running circles in the snow. “I brought Toby. Neither of us have tapped maples before.”

“Neither have I,” Zach said.

Tyler nodded solemnly, which seemed to be his normal state of emotion. “We can learn together.”

“Elmer Lee has been tapping maples ever since he could walk,” Norman said.

“We have trees on our property,” Elmer Lee said. “There's enough land to build two or three more houses.”

Zach pressed his lips together. Elmer Lee had land, and a girl like Cassie would want her man to build her a house.

He should buy some land.

“You've got to drill the holes just so or you'll damage the tree,” Esther said. She handed a drill to Elmer Lee and one to Norman. “Norman, take the doctor with you and show him how it's done. Doctor, you'll have to carry the buckets and the taps. Cassie will go with Elmer Lee. No trees less than eighteen inches.”

Zach nearly bit through his tongue. The thought of spending the afternoon with Norman instead of Cassie was worse than the prospect of tooth decay.

“But, Mamm,” Cassie said. “Dr. Reynolds—”

“Won't do us much good if he doesn't know what he's doing,” Esther said.

His hands were tied. If he put up any sort of a fuss about being with Cassie, he'd come across as selfish and disrespectful. Cassie hated conflict. If he wanted to make her happy, he'd try to please her mother.