The Trustworthy One

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  “Yes?” she asked when she opened the door at last.

  He held out a handful of shiny metal screws. “I’ve got the screws you needed.”

  She plucked them from his palm. “Danke. But why are you here?”

  “Because I heard you have been having a difficult time putting together a cabinet.”

  “Nee, what I meant was where is my sister? I sent her over to get these.”

  “Naomi is fine. I left her in the shop talking to my new employee. Let me in, wouldja?”

  Her feet moved before she was aware of what she was doing. And, of course, he walked right in. “Nate, what are you doing?”

  “I’m doing what it looks like. I came over to help you build the cabinet.”

  “There’s no need.”

  “Sure there is,” he murmured as he walked to the pile of parts scattered like leaves all over the floor. “Whoa.”

  “I know. Why the maker decided this needed to come in a hundred pieces is beyond me.”

  “It is a mystery,” he said as he picked up a rather thick piece of particleboard. “Most likely it’s because it’s made of such bad materials.”

  “I knew it wasn’t great quality, but the price was right.”

  “I wasn’t criticizing you.” He looked irritated. “Kendra, you really need to stop seeing everything I say and do in the worst light. I’m not like that.”

  Though it was practically ingrained in her to take everything that he said as a putdown, she knew he had a point. She was being far too sensitive. “You’re right. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

  “Thank you.” He smiled at her slightly before waggling his fingers. “Now, hand me the directions, and I’ll put this together for you.”

  Smiling back at him, she felt her pulse give a little jump before she got back to the task at hand. “Here they are,” she said, slipping the packet into his hands.

  His fingers brushed against hers as he took hold of the papers. “Thank you.”

  Worried that she was starting to notice far too much about him, she smiled weakly. “How can I help?”

  “You can relax and work on something else,” he said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “More than sure. I’ve got this.”

  Since he was currently on his knees lining up the scattered parts, she decided to take his advice. After looking out the window and noticing Nanny standing in line at the food truck, Kendra walked over to the box she’d just received and started carefully opening the blown-glass vases.

  Soon, Nanny returned holding a brown sack. The moment Kendra unlocked the door, she bounded in. “I got us four hot dogs! We had enough money for two each. Isn’t that great?”

  Her sister sounded just like a little girl again. Grinning, Kendra said, “It is great, indeed. Now, go ahead and eat yours in the back room.”

  “Wait… don’t you want to eat, too?”

  “I’ll eat later.”

  “But they’re hot, and I asked them to put on cheese and onions, just like you like. They’re going to be gross if you wait too long.”

  Naomi was probably right, but there was no way she was going to eat two hot dogs in front of Nate. “Danke, but I’m afraid I’m a little busy now.”

  “I’ll watch the door if you want to go eat,” Nate said. “I don’t mind.

  “See, it’s all right,” Naomi said.

  Now she felt even more self-conscious. “Go on back, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “But—”

  “Please, dear?”

  After the back door was closed, Nate said, “She looked disappointed. You should go on back there with her.”

  “She’ll be fine. I’m really not too hungry.”

  “But she looked like you let her down.”

  “She worries about me not eating.” Before she realized how it sounded, she waved a hand across her hips. “Obviously being hungry isn’t an issue anymore.” Of course, the moment the words were off her lips, she wished she could take them back. “Forget I said that.”

  “Not a chance.” He grinned. “For what it’s worth, I think you look great.”

  There it was again, that new sense of awareness that was floating between them. “Thank you.”

  “And… I hate that she worries about you going hungry.”

  There were a lot of ways she could respond. But only one honest answer. “I hate that, too. But at least she isn’t worried about being hungry. I would hate that more.”

  Nate’s hazel eyes clouded. “I’ve got a feeling you went without a lot of meals when she was little.”

  She had, but it wasn’t anything she cared to remember or talk about. “I learned a while ago that everyone has something to overcome. One can’t dwell on the past.”

  “Everyone does, but I reckon you had things a lot harder than most.”

  He sounded so sincere. She met his gaze, and for the first time, she felt warmer.

  A rap at the door broke the moment. She turned abruptly. “Boy, it’s busy here today.” Then seeing who it was, she grinned. There were Will and John B.

  “Hiya, you two.”

  “Hey, girl.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “We wanted to see your shop and how you were doing. What do you need help with?”

  “Why aren’t you two at the trailer factory?”

  “We’ve both got the day off,” Will answered as he stepped in farther. “And just to let you know, we heard from more than one of the girls that you have been turning away help.”

  “That isn’t quite true.”

  “It kind of is,” said John, right before he caught sight of Nate kneeling on the ground. “Miller? What are you doing here?”

  Nate got to his feet. “Putting together a cabinet for Kendra here.”

  Will looked offended. “Kendra, you didn’t want to ask us to do that?”

  “I didn’t ask anyone. Nate just showed up.”

  “After Naomi came over asking for help.”

  “She asked for screws,” Kendra corrected. “That’s all.”

  Will smiled. “Nanny’s here? Where is she?”

  “In the back room.”

  “Nanny! Nanny, come out here and join us.”

  Knowing her little sister was never going to be able to ignore handsome Will Kurtz, Kendra grinned at the closed storeroom door and started counting to three.

  Sure enough, before she even got to two, the door opened and out popped Nanny like a newborn lamb in a freshly mowed field.

  “Will! Hiya.”

  “Hi to you, too. Now come over here and give me a hug.”

  Without a bit of caution, Naomi walked to his side and hugged him hard.

  Kendra felt warmth permeate her insides. This was what she’d always wanted for her little sister. To be surrounded by good people who cared for her. And Will Kurtz? Well, Will was one of the best.

  Will chuckled as he patted Nanny on the back. “Say hi to John B.”

  Nanny blinked. “You’re dressed English now.”

  “That’s because I married an Englischer.”

  “Not just any Englischer, either,” Will teased. “He put a ring on our Marie.”

  Kendra groaned. “Can’t wait until she hears you refer to their marriage that way.”

  “Maybe it’s better if you don’t repeat that?” Will asked, his cheeks flushed.

  “I don’t plan to,” she teased.

  Nanny was obviously still trying to keep up with the latest news. “I must admit that I’m shocked,” she said.

  “It was a bit of a surprise, but a good one,” Kendra said, putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

  “I’m happy for you,” Nanny said.

  “Thank you. I’m blessed, it’s true,” John B. said.

  “You look just as pleased now as you did on your wedding day,” Nate said.

  John B. smiled. “That’s because I am.”

  Kendra might have imagined it, but it seemed as if the men had for
gotten all about Nate Miller. There was definitely a new tension surrounding him. Some of the ease that she usually noticed in his expression had vanished. In its place was something new. It almost looked like jealousy, but that couldn’t have been it. Confusion, maybe?

  “You know, there’s no reason for you to stay here if you need to get back to your store,” Will said. “We can help her now.”

  “I’m in no hurry. I can finish this first.”

  John B. looked back at Kendra. “Is that all right with you?”

  Nate turned to her. “What have you told them?”

  “I’ve said nothing to anyone,” she said hastily. “There was nothing to say.”

  “Are you sure? Because I’ve apologized to you more than once now.”

  “Apologized for what?” Naomi said.

  “Nothing,” Kendra said quickly. “It’s old history.”

  But instead of doing the polite thing and dropping the subject, Nate’s jaw hardened. “Actually, I think we should clear the air, since everyone is hinting around our history anyway.”

  Looking directly at Naomi, he said, “The truth is I did something I’m not proud of. I made fun of Kendra back when we were in middle school, and she’s held it against me ever since.” He paused. “I didn’t do it just once, either. I kind of put her down quite a bit.”

  “Why would you do that?” Naomi asked.

  “I don’t have any excuse, not anything worth mentioning, at least. The truth is that for a while there, I was feeling pretty full of myself and did and said some things that I’m still embarrassed about. I was a jerk and I’m ashamed of myself.”

  “That’s so mean.”

  Looking at her sister’s stricken face, Kendra felt dizzy. She put out a hand to stabilize herself. “Nanny, don’t worry about it. Like I said, it was a very long time ago.”

  But Nanny was standing in front of all of them like a bantam rooster. “Why did you make fun of her?”

  Maybe it was the pain in her little sister’s voice, or maybe it was that he suddenly realized what he had said, but Nate looked as ashen as she felt. “I… it wasn’t nothing important.”

  Nanny walked to stand in front of him. “No, what was wrong with her? Was it her dyslexia or our living situation?”

  Kendra could practically feel John B.’s and Will’s attention settle on her.

  Nate opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then blurted. “Both.” Straightening more, he said, “I made fun of both.”

  “We don’t have to do this,” Will said, glancing at Kendra. “Nate, I think you should leave.”

  “No, wait,” Nanny said, her voice cracking. “My parents were awful to all of us, but Kendra took the brunt of it. They didn’t give us a lot of food, but Kendra got the least of it so the rest of us could eat. My brother Chris has a learning disability, too, but he had the rest of us to help him. Kendra had nobody.”

  “Like I said, I’m not proud of what I did.”

  “Not proud?” She shook her head. “Oh nee. You should be ashamed.”

  “Easy, Naomi.” Kendra put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “I’ve already forgiven him. He was just being stupid. We’ve all done stupid things one time or another. It’s really okay.”

  “It isn’t, though,” she retorted. “Home wasn’t good. It was bad enough that you had to leave. Bad enough that Jeremiah had to convince Mommi and Dawdi to take me in.”

  “They wanted you to live with them. It wasn’t a hardship. And as for the other? Well, it was a long time ago,” she said gently. “I’ve moved on. I’m better now.”

  “I know, but you were always so alone.” She pointed to John B. and Will. “You always wanted to be one of the Eight. But you weren’t because they had their friends and didn’t want one more.”

  Feeling even more awkward, Kendra shook her head. “It wasn’t exactly like that. I was alone, but it wasn’t the Eight’s fault. I never told you that it was.”

  “You didn’t need to. Mary and I knew.” Her voice cracked again. “You had so much trouble in school, too. It ain’t fair that you had to listen to boys like him, too.”

  “I don’t know what else to say. I can’t go back in time,” Nate said slowly. “I can only apologize and move on.”

  Kendra’s little sister’s eyes were filled with tears. “And you have. Are you happy now?”

  “Nanny, stop.”

  Nate shook his head. “No, it’s okay. She can say whatever she wants. And to answer your question, no, I’m not. I feel awful about the pain I caused.”

  Shoulders shaking, Naomi turned away from him.

  Oh, but this was awful. “Nanny, please calm down.”

  She hiccupped. “But you haven’t even eaten the food I brought you. What if you get hungry again?”

  “Oh, my.” Kneeling at her feet, Kendra whispered. “I’m not hungry. I’m fine! I promise, I am. Darling, I eat all the time. I’m never hungry now.”

  When Nanny started crying in earnest, it was John B. who came to their sides. Holding out his hands, he reached for both Kendra and Naomi. “Come now. Let me take you both to the back. You can sit down for a spell and eat that lunch. Will and I will fix things up for a bit.”

  “That’s right,” Will said. “We’ll make sure everything is right as rain.”

  “Danke,” Kendra murmured, all of her attention on Nanny. “I appreciate it.” Glancing at Nate before they headed down the hall, she said, “I am sorry.”

  “It’s all right,” he murmured.

  She hoped Nate was telling the truth, just as she hoped he knew she was being sincere. Everything between them was finally getting better, and she wanted things to continue improving.

  Now, though, all that mattered was helping Naomi. Her little sister needed her, and Kendra wanted to be there for her, just like she always had been.

  SEVEN

  Tricia Clark interrupted. “Really? My brother never said a word to me about you.”

  “He wouldn’t have, you see. Andy was a lot of things, but he was really good at keeping secrets.”

  WEDNESDAY

  When the girls disappeared behind the door with John, Nate sighed. “Let’s get started.”

  Will knelt down, picked up a screwdriver, and handed it to him. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”

  “No, but I don’t think it’s the time or the place.”

  “I disagree. After what I just heard, I think there’s a lot to discuss.”

  “Will, I promise I didn’t know the extent of Kendra’s problems back then.” Worse, even if he had, he wasn’t sure how different he would’ve acted toward her. Sure, he hoped he would have been more sympathetic, but he wasn’t sure if his fourteen-year-old self would’ve been a whole lot kinder. The fact was that he’d had a fairly idyllic life with his parents. There had always been food on the table, clothes for him to wear, and an ear to listen when he was worried about something. Getting in trouble meant getting grounded for a few days.

  “I didn’t, either.” Will paused, then shook his head. “No, that ain’t true. All of us knew Kendra was in a bad way. But back when we were small, we didn’t see her all that much. Later, when we were twelve or thirteen, I think it was easier to pretend not to know. Even when I was Naomi’s age, I never said anything when Kendra said everything with her was just fine.”

  Thinking about Allison and the work he was doing on her house, Nate said, “I’m a different person now.”

  “All of us are a work in progress. Ain’t so?” He scanned the directions, then tossed them on the floor. “Looks like we need to put sections A and D together first.”

  Nate picked up the particleboard. “This is so badly made, I’ll be surprised if it holds anything at all.”

  “Well, that’s not our problem. Kendra got them. All we can do is put them together for her so she doesn’t have to worry.”

  Nate agreed. “Looks like parts F and H attach on the ends.”

  Will sorted through the pieces, found them, and handed them
over. “We’ll get this one done in no time.”

  And so it continued, Nate and Will hunting for pieces, helping each other, working methodically. Twenty minutes later, they had the first shelf done.

  Will grunted. “Only two more to go. Maybe if we get lucky, we’ll finish by supper.”

  Nate was about to reply when John B. came out. Noticing that his expression looked strained, Nate walked toward him. “Is everything okay?”

  “With Kendra? I think so. I’m not sure about Nanny, though.” His voice lowered. “I think it’s evident that Kendra didn’t shield her as much as she’d hoped. That girl is really worried about her sister.”

  “I wonder how we can help,” Nate said. “Any ideas? Should we try to plan some activity together to help get her mind off her worries?”

  “Uh, no offense, but I don’t think you should do anything,” John said.

  “You, too? John, don’t block me out for something I did ten years ago.”

  “I’m just saying that you don’t really know her. We do.” Before he could add something, Kane pulled open the door. “Nate, I really need some help. The store’s filled, and some of the customers are asking me to do things I don’t know how to do.”

  He jumped to his feet. “Sorry about that. Of course, let’s go.” He looked back at John B. and Will and raised a hand. He wished he could say something else, but there really wasn’t anything else to say.

  Nothing that mattered, anyway.

  When they were walking down the sidewalk, Nate said, “I’m glad you came to get me.”

  “I didn’t think you were going to be gone so long.” Kane ran a hand through his dark red hair. “I kept telling everyone you’d be right back…”

  “I didn’t intend to. It was just that some of my friends came over, and I decided to help them build bookshelves.”

  “Where were Kendra and Naomi?”

  Kane’s voice was carefully light, but Nate wasn’t fooled. “In the back room eating lunch.”

  “Oh.” Just before they entered the store, Kane asked, “How well do you know Naomi?”

  “Well enough. Why?”

  “Do you know how old she is?”

  “I reckon she’s probably around your age.” Realizing that his young employee was definitely interested in Naomi, he murmured, “So, it’s like that, hmm?”