She grabbed the bags of food, hurried back into the house, and deposited them on the table.
“What’s that?” Abigail paused in chopping cabbage.
“Just a few things I picked up at the store.” Should she offer to bring more tomorrow? Probably she should talk to her family first.
“For us?” Abigail’s eyes widened.
No…not really, but maybe. Elsie pulled in a deep breath. “Jah.”
Abigail set down the knife as Elsie unloaded the bags. She reached for the cocoa powder as if it were a rare and valuable treasure. “Oh, I’ve been praying for chocolate. Gott is so good.”
That was almost enough to make Elsie cry. “If you have butter, eggs, and milk, we could make a cake.” We. Implying she’d stay. She cringed. “I should’ve said you.”
“No butter, about a cup of milk, and exactly one egg.”
Barely enough milk for a cup of hot cocoa. But Levi would surely milk the cow when he got home.
“He sold the cow.” As if Abigail read her mind. She glanced out the window at the barn.
Elsie followed her gaze. The barn door was open now. She needed to hurry and get out of here before Levi walked in.
Oh, this poor family. Why hadn’t the community been made aware of the need? Or had Levi simply failed to mention it because he worked from sunup to sundown and…
Speaking of which, where was all that money going? Daed had mentioned last church Sunday that Levi must have a padded bank account.
Abigail adjusted the position of her wheelchair.
Right. Funeral expenses. Medical bills. And Abigail’s ongoing therapy.
Elsie’s gaze went to the table, to the check waiting. There were multiple numbers. Then she glanced at Abigail, still cradling the cocoa powder, a bright smile on her face.
Was the community not helping with the medical bills or were they unaware of that need, too?
Elsie pulled in a quick breath. “Do you need help with anything else before I go?” She needed to be gone before Levi arrived.
Abigail returned the cocoa to the table and picked up the knife to finish slicing the cabbage. “No. Danki so much for what you did. And danki for stopping by.”
Elsie nodded, biting her tongue to keep from promising more food tomorrow, though she was certain her parents would agree. “I’ll try to come back sometime and help you organize the kitchen better. Don’t forget to mention the check to Levi.”
She sucked in a breath to try to prepare for the frigid cold and opened the door.
The screen door blew out of her grasp, almost slamming into Levi, who was standing there out of the wind, cell phone to his ear.
His gray eyes widened and he held up a finger, telling her to wait, but she dashed past with an exaggerated shiver.
They had nothing to say to each other anyway.
Chapter 2
Levi half listened as the employer he’d meet Tuesday morning—tomorrow—detailed what exactly he was contracting Levi to build, but mostly he watched the sway of Elsie’s body as she speed walked to the buggy. Her skirts whipped around her legs, giving tantalizing glimpses of skin. He wanted to put down the phone and race after her to discover what she’d wanted in town, and why she’d stopped by to deliver the message personally.
Well, personally to Abigail, anyway.
It probably was about some women’s frolic Abigail wouldn’t be able to attend, because she couldn’t get into a buggy without being lifted in and out, and he couldn’t afford a driver all that often.
Whatever it was, it didn’t concern him, because she hadn’t even bothered to give him a simple greeting. He was the one who’d avoided her in town, though, until that wannabe cowboy so rudely caught Levi’s attention. And then he stood there tapping his feet while waiting for Elsie to catch up. But then he’d gotten sidetracked and raced off to a job instead of remembering that Elsie had called out to him. He was the one who was willing to forgo the check he’d dropped for an undisclosed amount just to avoid seeing her…and breaking his heart. Again.
Sins had consequences. And he was the worst of sinners.
Mostly, he wanted to gaze into her beautiful green eyes and dream about what might’ve been. Back when she loved him. Liked him. Well, at least tolerated him. He didn’t want the cold, sharp shards of green glass he’d looked into after his sister fell during her extended stay at the hospital. After he accidentally forgot he’d taken Elsie to an out-of-state wedding and had rushed back to Illinois to be with his sister. Of course, she might’ve understood if he’d explained, but she lashed out and broke up with him before he could and after that the reason was unimportant. She no longer needed to know.
Elsie scampered into the buggy and drove away as the man on the other end of the phone started repeating himself. Levi might be only half listening, but he was sure of that. Obviously, the Englischer sat in a warm place and wasn’t standing outside in the cold wind. Abigail probably wouldn’t tell, though, if he broke the district’s no-phone-calls-in-the-house rule, due to the circumstances.
He watched Elsie make the turn onto the dirt road to head home, swallowed his disappointment on how things were, and turned his full attention back to the Englischer, who sounded like he was wrapping things up. Finally. Levi cleared his throat. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Fletcher.”
He ended the call, turned the sound to vibrate, and went inside.
Abigail sat at the kitchen table in her wheelchair, chopping cabbage and humming.
She looked up as Levi came in, grinned, and pointed the sharp end of the knife at something on the table.
Plastic grocery bags, baking supplies—where’d they come from? But that reminded him: He had a few groceries he’d bought with the money he’d earned from Luke, and he needed to bring them in. He turned around, dashed out to the buggy parked in the barn, and grabbed the bags.
Abigail was no longer smiling when he came in. She glowered as he dropped the full bags on the table.
He held out his hands in an unspoken apology, red and chafed from his labor in the cold. “What? I stopped at Zooks’ Salvage Grocery and got food. Milk, carrots, eggs—”
“I was talking to you,” she said.
He didn’t remember her saying anything, just pointing to the baking supplies. But ouch. Maybe he needed to slow down and actually focus on the people in his life instead of not listening and driving wedges into his relationships.
Starting now with his sister.
“I’m sorry.” He took his boots off and set them by the door, added a log to the fire in the woodstove, then sat at the table and looked at Abigail. “What were you saying? Someone brought the flour and sugar…?”
Abigail’s frown deepened.
He wanted to do something to ease her frown and make her smile again. She hadn’t smiled often since the accident—until she’d pointed at the supplies.
“Elsie brought your check.”
Levi blinked at her. “Check? Oh, from…She found it?” He looked around but didn’t see it. “Why didn’t she give it to me?” And then he knew. While he was avoiding her, ignoring her calling out his name, and then forgetting her when he got sidetracked, she’d been trying to return his check. “It was nice of her to bring it by,” he added rather inanely. “Along with the flour and stuff? You told her danki, right?”
“I did.” Abigail leaned forward and picked up a folded piece of paper. She held it out. “And you need to, as well.”
He took the check, opened it, then stared. Four digits in front of the decimal, but the first two were large. It was enough to pay the balance he still owed for Abigail’s medical care. It’d be so nice to have that burden lifted. Enough to maybe hire an occasional personal shopper since he forgot to grocery shop so often.
And then he noticed the note on the memo line.
To Santa Claus for the carvings.
Despite the store owner’s excitement, Levi hadn’t expected things to sell, but still, he’d agreed to a commission.
&n
bsp; To Santa…
His thoughts wandered to his cluttered workshop and disorganized office. The way he hunted for hours to find anything. His gaze landed on his seventeen-year-old sister, who, at least for now, lived in a wheelchair. There was so much she needed help with.
To Santa…
And he remembered the huge order the gift shop had made when they saw the circus train toy he’d brought in today. Complete with lions, and tigers, and bears…
To Santa…
“Maybe I could hire an elf.”
Abigail smiled. “I know just the person.”
* * *
The next day, Tuesday, just after noon, Elsie hitched up her horse, Dart, and headed for Thomas Zook’s Amish-owned salvage grocery store. Her younger brother, nineteen-year-old Noah, had mentioned during breakfast that he’d heard they were hiring and desperate for help. That sounded promising. Unless news of her ineptness preceded her. But how much damage could she do at a salvage store, where almost everything was bent and dented already? There wouldn’t be any unruly scholars to try to teach—which had prematurely ended her promising teaching job. She had the not-so-great honor of being the only teacher fired. And after only two weeks!
There was no hot coffee to pour on unsuspecting customers’ laps—who knew it was so hard to talk and pour at the same time? No fragile figurines to break, no books to sidetrack her from doing her job…
Jah, she had a well-rounded employment history. Just no longevity. It seemed that quick turnover was a deficit. Especially since she couldn’t even pretend interest in the hated jobs. She did like interacting with the people, though.
The owner, Thomas Zook, was just opening the door after their closed lunch hour and turning the gaslights on as Elsie pulled in. She parked at the red hitching post, pulled her heavy black sweater tighter against the cold wind, and hurried into the store. If she’d known they were hiring yesterday, she could’ve saved herself the cold ride today.
That would be a benefit to leaving the Amish. Heated vehicles. Too bad she didn’t know when she was going. That all depended on…
Thomas Zook looked up from loading the cash drawer into the register. He smiled. “Elsie Miller. Weren’t you just here yesterday? What brings you by again today? Did you hear about the fine sale we have on baloney?”
She hadn’t but didn’t want to admit to not reading their flyers, which were delivered with the weekly marketplace news. “I heard you need someone to work for you. Stocking shelves and stuff. It just so happens that I need a job and I’m good at lots of things. Especially customer service.” She couldn’t remember exactly what her brother said the store owner needed. She aimed what she hoped was a bright smile at Thomas Zook, but it faltered as his lips flatlined and his eyes turned to steel.
“Why do you think you’d be a good fit for Zooks’ Salvage Grocery?”
Oh. She hated this question. And the correct answer wasn’t You need someone to give money to in exchange for showing up. Why not me?
“I shop here a lot. I know the layout.” An embarrassed giggle escaped, which only made things worse. Could she possibly act any more immature? She set her jaw, determined to get this interview going in the right direction.
“You do shop here a lot, and I appreciate that.” Thomas Zook closed the register, leaned his elbows on the counter, and surveyed her. “But I know your employment history. The only job you kept was for that Englisch dental office until it blew away. You’re a screwup who spends more time talking than working. Why should I take a chance on you?”
Of course he knew. Elsie restrained a huff. “Customer service is important. And I wouldn’t be dumping hot coffee on people, hiding in dusty corners reading books, or trying to teach thirty scholars of assorted ages, none of which know the meanings of ‘sit’ or ‘quiet.’ And, no offense, but there’s nothing in this store I could damage much worse than it is.” She cringed. And there went her chances of getting hired here.
Thomas Zook slowly straightened. He stared at her, silent, one hand tugging at his salt-and-pepper-colored beard. Then he cleared his throat. “I do carry honey and homemade jams and jellies in glass jars.”
Oh.
“Pickled eggs, chowchow, and relishes, too.”
Elsie pulled in a deep breath and forced a smile. “I help with canning at home. I haven’t broken any jars. Well, not that many, anyway.”
Thomas Zook chuckled. “I appreciate your honesty. When can you start?”
Elsie blinked. “You’ll hire me?”
“Step into my office,” he said, coming out from behind the counter. “We’ll get the paperwork squared away, then put you to work.”
Elsie tugged her sweater off as she followed him down the wide aisle to a swinging, canvas-style door at the back. He pushed through the heavy material and on the other side immediately took a left into a doorless room with a cluttered desk, overflowing file cabinets, and chairs piled high with boxes.
She’d love to get her hands on this room and clean it up. Organize it. Her fingers twitched. She tried to hide them in the folds of the oversize black sweater draped over her left arm. She wasn’t sure of her job description but was pretty sure it wasn’t office manager. She’d loved working for the dentist though her official title there was receptionist. She did the filing and helped out in other ways as needed.
Thomas Zook rummaged through a file cabinet. Papers fell out and landed on the floor, only to be stepped on and crinkled. “My daughter will pick them up when she cleans,” he said. “I’ll refile them later.”
Elsie bit her lip. By the look of things, later never came.
“Ah, here it is.” He pulled out a paper. “You know how to operate a cash register?”
She nodded, accepting the paper he held out.
“Good. You’ll be cashier, stock person, and generally whatever is needed.” He lifted another sheet of paper from the desk and handed it to her.
She looked at the boxes stuffed full of papers. The messy desk. And smiled.
He frowned. “The office is my domain. You stay out unless I call you in.”
Too bad. She could work wonders in here. But she nodded, determined to keep the job long enough to actually start.
“Fill out the papers, then come find me. There’s a table you can use in the storage room.” He led the way out of the room, pointed to a table, and walked away.
Elsie pulled a black-ink pen out of her purse, pulled out a rusty metal folding chair, hung her sweater on the back, and put the papers on the sticky table. What appeared to be jam was smeared on it.
She picked up a balled wet rag at the other end of the table and wiped it clean, then sat on the chair. It wobbled.
Even though she was already hired, she filled out the application for employment, as well as the form for taxes, then gathered her things and went to find Thomas Zook. She didn’t want to lose the job by not doing exactly what he said.
He stood at the front of the store, talking to a man whose back was to her, but she recognized his stance. Levi. What was he doing here? She froze, not wanting to interrupt and very tempted to run and hide. Was he following her? Though, why would he when he’d gone out of his way to avoid her? No. That didn’t make sense.
She started to back around the endcap of the aisle, but Levi palmed his hat and turned, his gray eyes connecting with hers. His eyes widened as if he were surprised to see her there. She forced a weak smile and stepped forward. No point in hiding now.
“Elsie.” Levi gripped his hat with both hands. “I was going to stop by your home after work tonight, but this will save time. Danki for bringing the check and groceries by yesterday. I appreciate them both more than you know.”
That reminded her—she needed to buy more to replace what she’d given.
Levi kind of grimaced. “And I—”
“Elsie is a brand-new employee here,” Thomas Zook said.
Levi sagged. “Congratulations,” he muttered. “I hope you’ll have a good, uh…” He frowned and pre
ssed his lips together.
What had he been about to say? A good long employment? Probably not. Even though they’d been apart for eighteen months, he knew she hadn’t been able to keep a job—other than the one at the dentist office—for longer than two weeks. He probably wondered what was wrong with her and counted it among his blessings that he escaped marrying such a failure.
Oh, that hurt.
Levi dipped his head as he handed Thomas Zook cash for whatever he’d purchased before Elsie came out. Then he cleared his throat and glanced at Elsie. A hint of disappointment darkened his gray eyes. “Danki. Abigail and I appreciate what you’ve done.” He accepted his change, lifted the plastic bag, and walked out.
Elsie watched him go. A strange desire to chase after him and find out what he’d wanted to say filled her.
But bygone romances were best left undisturbed.
Especially since her time as an Amish woman was measured in weeks and days.
* * *
Levi felt strangely disquieted as he drove away from Zooks’. He hadn’t exactly been excited about Abigail’s insistence that he should hire Elsie as his elf, but now that she was unavailable, he was disappointed. And he didn’t have the foggiest of ideas why. It seemed he should be happy, because he and Elsie had history—then again, she’d kept him organized. She’d been the one to call their relationship quits, and he’d readily agreed, just so they could say it was a mutual decision. But in reality, he’d loved her, and if she’d stopped her scolding long enough for him to formulate his thoughts to find the words to explain, maybe they’d still be together. They would have even been married by now. It was just that her mind worked faster or something, because she could spit out what seemed like a thousand words to his ten.
Not that he was stupid. He’d scored at the top of the class during school and could work math problems lickety-split, but when it came to expressing himself verbally, he needed to think.
The Amish Christmas Gift Page 2
