The Innkeeper's Bride

by Kathleen Fuller

  Jackson thought he must have landed in some sort of alternative universe where his father actually admitted to his faults. “Have you been drinking?”

  “Not since this morning.” He slipped his hand into the inside pocket of his coat and handed Jackson a piece of paper folded in half lengthwise. “This is for you.”

  Jackson took the paper and opened it. When he read the words, his mouth dropped open. “You paid off my loans?” After the initial shock he thrust the receipt back at him. “I can’t let you do this. It’s going to cost me too much.”

  Dad shook his head. “Not this time, and it’s too late. I’ve done it. I should have paid these off a long time ago. Maybe that’s why all this time I hung on to the information I’d need to do it.” He sighed. “You’re right, Jackson. I need help. I have for a long time. I can’t explain it, but when you left my office this morning, something finally clicked in here.” He tapped his head. “Ashley dumped me because of my drinking. I don’t want to keep hurting people because of that—especially you.” He finally looked at Jackson. “I’m going to start going to some meetings, and I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to figure out what else I can do to get my life together.”

  “What about the hotel?”

  “I’m going to see Lois after I finish here. I’ll get down on hand and knee if that’s what it takes to get her to come back.”

  “You might have to give her a raise. A big one.”

  “Whatever it takes.” He paused again. “I’m not asking you to come home. I don’t think that would be a good idea for either of us until I get back on the right track. I was on the right track . . . once. When I met your mother. We had a few good years, she and I.” His lower lip quivered. “The best thing about them was you, but I let my resentment over the divorce eat me alive. I’m sorry, son. For everything.” Before Jackson could react, his father gave him a quick, hard hug and then walked away.

  Jackson couldn’t move. When was the last time his father hugged him? Tears came even though he tried to fight them off, and he watched his father’s car pull out of the driveway. He looked at the loan payoff. If he didn’t have the proof right here in his hands, he wouldn’t believe what had just happened. A miracle, that’s what. He looked up at the sky.

  Chapter 24

  The next day, Selah went to work, her nerves in overdrive. She kept telling herself that the family wanted her there, but she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t be angry with her for quitting. When she arrived, though, Nina gave her a hug, Delilah gave her a cinnamon roll, and Loren said, “Welcome back.” Levi was nowhere to be found.

  The women spent some time at the kitchen table discussing plans for the wedding—the food, the guests, the set up in the area along the side of the inn. The latter hadn’t been fully landscaped yet, and probably wouldn’t be by the time of the wedding, but they could do some things to the yard to make it look special.

  Right before lunch, Nina jumped up from her chair. “The laundry! I forgot all about it.”

  Delilah frowned. “The clothes will all be wrinkled by now.”

  “I’ll iron them, Grossmutter. Don’t worry. But I better get them out on the line.” She dashed out of the kitchen.

  “Sometimes that maedel would forget her feet if they weren’t attached to her body.” Delilah turned to Selah. “I’m glad you decided to come back.”

  “I’m sorry I quit on short notice.” She looked down at the table. “That wasn’t right of me.”

  “Well, it all worked out for the best, didn’t it?” She patted Selah’s hand. “Now, we have some extra chairs in the shed behind the haus. I can’t remember how many, though. Would you mind counting them? Then we can determine how many we still need for the guests. I also need to get with Cevilla and find out how many people from Richard’s side will attend.” She shook her head. “Never in mei life would I have thought I’d be planning a wedding for Cevilla Schlabach. God has a sense of humor.”

  Selah smiled, but she’d have to take Delilah’s word for that. Nothing about her own life had been funny lately.

  She went out to the backyard and found the shed. It was small, and she wondered how many chairs would fit in there along with the yard tools usually kept in a shed. Enough apparently for Delilah not to remember, but then the woman was in her seventies.

  Selah opened the door to the shed and had walked inside before she realized Levi was there. She froze a few steps from the doorway as he turned a metal bracket in his hand, the kind used for wall shelving. As he looked up, the shed door closed behind her, leaving the two of them in the small room, the only light available streaming from the window near Levi.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step back. “I didn’t know you were in here.”

  He quickly turned from her. “Grossmutter wanted me to clean up a little in here. Hang the rakes and shovels on the wall, put up some shelves, that kind of stuff.”

  “I’ll come back later, then.” She started to leave.

  “What were you looking for?”

  She turned. Hammer now in hand, he was positioning the bracket on the wall, not looking at her. “Chairs. Delilah said you have some in here, and she wanted me to see how many.”

  He frowned. “We keep the chairs in the basement.” Levi gestured around the space. “We don’t have room for them here, plus we have a lot. We bought some extra ones when we started renovating the inn.”

  “But I’m sure she said to check the shed.” Unless she’d heard her wrong.

  A click sounded behind her, and she turned toward the door. Levi moved past her and turned the knob. The door wouldn’t budge. He tried again. “It can’t be locked,” he muttered. But when he tried to open the door once more, he still couldn’t.

  “We’re locked in here?” Selah said.

  “Nee.” He pushed on the door again. “The only way to lock this door is with a key, and I have the only one. Plus it has to be locked from the outside . . .” He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. “They didn’t.”

  “Who didn’t? What’s going on, Levi?”

  He turned to her. “I think Nina and Grossmutter locked us in here.”

  * * *

  Levi pushed against the door again and then pounded his fist against it. Unbelievable. How could his sister and grandmother be so devious? Nina had to be the one to lock the door. Grandmother moved fast, but not that fast. Before he went into the shed, he saw his sister hanging clothes on the line, which was a fair distance from the shed. He’d thought it was odd that his grandmother had a list of chores for him to do this morning. “Make sure to do these in order,” she’d insisted, giving him the look, which meant she would shut down any contrary discussion. He’d perused her instructions—clean the windows and screens, then the gutters, and then the shed, making sure to hang the garden tools on the walls.

  And now Selah was here, looking for nonexistent chairs on his grandmother’s orders. “Something fishy is going on here.”

  “Can we get out through the window?” Selah asked, her hands clasped together.

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t open. There’s no sash or lock on it.”

  Her eyes widened. “Then how are we going to get out of here?”

  “Hey.” He went to her, stopping short of putting his arms around her—the worst possible thing he could do. “It’s okay. I’m sure Nina will let us out in a few minutes.”

  “Why would she lock us in here?” Selah looked around the shed.

  “Because mei grossmutter told her to.” He knew he shouldn’t have trusted Grossmutter to keep her promise not to meddle. Interfering was in her bones, and now she had gone over the top and dragged Nina with her. Then again, he had a feeling she didn’t have to twist his sister’s arm to get her to agree to this scheme. “I’m sorry.”

  “They want us in here together.” She scowled. “Why?”

  “Why do you think?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So we’ll work things out.”

  She walked to the
back of the shed, which was only a few feet from where he was standing. “There’s nix to work out.”

  “You and I know that. But they don’t.”

  Selah turned around and put her hands behind her back. “What are we supposed to do while we wait?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “We could yell and scream until mei daed hears us. Or Jackson.” He was sure the two of them had no idea what Grossmutter and Nina were up to.

  “And if they don’t?” She bit her bottom lip.

  “Are you claustrophobic?” The shed wasn’t that small, but considering she’d had a panic attack before . . .

  “I’m not going to flip out, if that’s what you mean,” she snapped. Then she cleared her throat. “I’m not going to panic. I promise.”

  “I wouldn’t judge you if you did,” he said softly. “You’re not the only person in the world to have a panic attack.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” She blew out a breath. “This is so stupid. I can’t believe we’re stuck here like this.” She leveled her gaze at him. “Together.”

  “Look, I’m not happy about it, either.” Her little dig didn’t get past him. “You can be crabby about it, or you can make yerself useful and help me hang some tools.”

  “That’s yer job, not mine.” She crossed her arms and didn’t look at him.

  He ground his back teeth. “It’s not mei fault this happened. When we get out of here, you can give mei familye a piece of yer mind, but I’m not going to listen to you snap at me for the next hour or two or however long we’re stuck in here.”

  “Hours?” She looked like a deflated swim raft. “I can’t spend hours in here with you.”

  “The feeling’s mutual, trust me.”

  “Ooh.” Her fists clenched at her sides.

  Levi wasn’t going to put up with this. He grabbed his hammer, the bracket he’d been examining when Selah came in, and some nails. Then he stood on a stool, almost pushing Selah out of the way. “What did I ever see in her?” he mumbled.

  “I heard that.”

  He froze. He hadn’t meant to say those words out loud. He slammed the hammer as hard as he could, ready to drive the nail—and his frustration—into the wall. He missed.

  “Ahh!” he yelled. Then he wavered on the stool, losing his balance and dropping the hammer. He fell against Selah, and they both tumbled to the floor.

  * * *

  The wind blew out of Selah’s chest when Levi fell on her. But he immediately rolled off her, and when she caught her breath, she sat up. He was curled in a lump on the floor, groaning.

  “Levi?” She scrambled to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  “Barely,” he croaked. “Are you?”

  “Ya. Can you move? Did you break anything?” She moved closer to him, peering at his face over his shoulder. His eyes were shut, and he was holding his hand. “Levi, talk to me.”

  “I’m all right.” He rolled toward her a little bit, and she moved away until he was flat on his back. “Good grief, that smarts.”

  “What hurts?”

  “Mei thumb. I hit it with the hammer.” The color drained from his face as he held up his hand. His thumb was already red and swollen, and there was no way to get any ice. Her anger toward Delilah and Nina grew. Locking the two of them together might have seemed like a joke to them, or even like they were doing a favor for her and Levi, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now Levi was injured. Now on her knees, she put her arm around his shoulders and tried to lift him to a seated position, which was difficult in the confined space.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, giving her an odd look.

  “Trying to help you sit up.”

  “I can do that myself.” But he winced as he sat up and leaned his back against the shed wall. He held his hand in his lap, not looking at her. She scooted away from him, staring at the wood floor, which was covered in dirt and dust. Guilt and concern slammed into her. This was her fault—at least his thumb injury. She had been pushing his buttons on purpose, out of her own frustration. Would she ever stop dragging other people into her emotional issues?

  After a few moments she couldn’t take her conscience anymore. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice low.

  “It’s not yer fault.” He leaned his head against the wall.

  “Don’t let me off the hook that easily. I was trying to get a rise out of you.” She sat back, her legs tucked to the side, and stared at her lap, embarrassed.

  “It’s not like I didn’t deserve it.” He wiggled his thumb, wincing again. “I think I might have broken it.”

  She got up from the floor and looked around the shed, finding some pruning shears. She picked them up and cut a jagged piece of cloth from her apron.

  “What are you doing now?” he asked, his brow lifted.

  “Stabilizing yer thumb.” She knelt next to him and wrapped his thumb the best she could. When he flinched as she tied the scrap of cloth together, she loosened the knot.

  “Danki,” he said.

  “Does it feel better?” When she looked at him, he was staring at her, his green eyes not moving from her face.

  “Some,” he said, still gazing at her.

  Her heart somersaulted, and as she usually did when her attraction to him overwhelmed her, she started to move away. But he touched her forearm with his good hand.

  “Don’t, Selah. You don’t have to run from me.”

  “I’m . . . I’m not.”

  Levi gently squeezed her forearm. “You are. You have been since the first time we met.”

  “That’s because you’re mei boss.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not talking about that. That first day, at Martha and Seth’s wedding. You couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

  She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes. “That wasn’t because of you.”

  “You could have fooled me.” He released her arm. “Now it’s mei turn to apologize. I always seem to cross the line when it comes to you. I can’t help it. But I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I don’t want to be the reason you can’t work here or that you feel uncomfortable around me.”

  “You’re not,” she whispered, sitting back on her heels. “I’m the problem.”

  “I’m the one who kissed you.”

  Selah met his gaze again. “I didn’t exactly stop you, did I?”

  His eyes darkened. “Nee. You didn’t.”

  “But then you said the kiss didn’t matter.”

  “That’s because I’m an idiot.” He moved until he was sitting directly in front of her. “Selah, when I’m around you, mei brain takes a vacation. I can’t help it. You’re beautiful and kind and smart, not to mention a little mysterious.”

  “And more than a little messed up.” Her heart was warmed by his words, but she couldn’t accept them entirely.

  “Who isn’t messed up?” He gave her a half-smile. “We all have our stuff, Selah.”

  “Not you, Levi.”

  “I just smashed mei thumb with a hammer and fell off a stool.”

  She shook her head. “That doesn’t compare to . . .”

  “I know.” He took her hand and then looked into her eyes.

  When she saw the questioning there, she nodded and squeezed his hand. “But you don’t know. I haven’t told you anything about mei problems . . . mei past.”

  “You don’t have to. Selah, even though mei actions lately haven’t shown it, I care about you. Nix you could tell me would change that.”

  “I have clinical depression.” There. It was out now, like an open wound. And now that it was, she couldn’t stop there. “Before I left Birch Creek, I ran away from Christian to be with mei English boyfriend. I thought he was the answer to all mei problems.” She swallowed. “But he said I had to prove that I loved him. He wanted to . . .” She couldn’t face Levi. “He wanted . . .”

  Levi squeezed her hand. “I get it.”

  “When I wouldn’t, he dumped me. I had nowhere
to geh but back to mei bruder. I knew something was wrong with me—and not because he rejected me. He was a jerk, but I had mei own problems.”

  Levi’s voice was low. “Sounds like you were better off without him.”

  “That was mei wake-up call to get help. I’ve been in therapy ever since. I take medication too. I didn’t have it with me the night of the blizzard, and that’s why I panicked. Now I have it with me at all times.”

  “Do you have it on you now?”

  She shook her head. “It’s in mei purse.”

  “Are you feeling panicked?”

  Selah held on to his hand. “Nee. Not when I’m with you.” She looked down at their hands clasped together. “Can you see why I keep mei distance? I don’t make gut decisions when it comes to men. I get rattled sometimes. I can be mean when I’m angry, as you found out.”

  “And I’m dim-witted when it comes to women. I’ve made that painfully obvious. Although in mei defense, until you, I’d never met one who was worth getting dim-witted about. And I’ll state it again—nix you can tell me could change mei feelings about you. Whatever problems we have, whether separate or together, we can work it out.”

  “We have to. We’re coworkers.”

  Levi looked at her for a long moment and then pulled his hand away. “I guess I made another mistake.” He sat back from her, pain in his eyes, and she knew it wasn’t from his sore thumb. “I thought you felt something for me too.”

  * * *

  Levi’s heart ached more than his thumb, which was saying a lot, because his thumb was throbbing. How could he have been so wrong about Selah’s feelings for him? Or lack of, apparently. He usually could read people well, but when it came to her, he failed time and time again.

  Trying to gather his composure, he shrugged. Better to make light of things than to get into another argument. “But hey, I’m glad we cleared the air. Because you’re right, we’ll be working together, and we have to keep things professional between us—”

  “Would you stop saying that?” She leaned toward him. “If I hear the word professional come out of yer mouth one more time, I might just . . .”