It was Beth’s turn to blush. The scheming had begun.
Tyler regarded Beth as if he were trying to comprehend her past and future by looking hard enough. She cocked her eyebrows and pursed her lips to scold him for staring.
He quickly looked away. “These are done, Sarah.”
Mamm picked up one of Tyler’s bottles and examined it. “Good enough.” Mamm never sugar-coated her praise. “Beth, take Tyler to the cellar, and each of you bring up an armful of bottles. With all these berries, we’ll use them, sure as you’re born.”
Tyler dried his hands and followed Beth down the stairs.
“We wouldn’t need extra bottles if you hadn’t helped us gather so many berries yesterday,” Beth said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Thanks to you, Mammi and Dawdi will sell a lot of jam this year.”
Tyler shook his head. “I mostly watched out for Toby and for bears.”
Beth smiled. Halfway into their walk into the woods yesterday, Tyler had picked up a stick and started banging it against the trees to scare away any critters lurking in the shadows. “I’ve never seen anyone quite so vigilant about bears and snakes.”
“Snakes have been known to eat small children.”
The laughter bubbled from her lips. “Not typically in Wisconsin.”
“You can’t be too careful.”
“I’m glad Aden never showed up so you could come with us.”
“Unless he’s in the hospital with two broken legs, I plan on giving him a stern lecture about the importance of keeping his appointments.”
Beth led Tyler to the shelf where the extra half pints sat. “If he weren’t my cousin, I might not believe that Aden actually exists. He hasn’t shown himself once since I’ve been to Huckleberry Hill.”
Tyler grinned. “Don’t take it personally. Right now, he thinks he and Lily are the only two people in the whole world.”
Beth checked her laughter. Such thoughts must be at least a little painful to Tyler, even if he smiled about them.
“If we put these jars in a bucket, we won’t have to make so many trips,” she said.
They looked around and found three dust-covered buckets stacked together underneath one of the shelves. Beth picked up the stack and blew some of the dust off the top bucket. “I haven’t had a chance to redd up down here. The dust is thick.”
“You take gute care of your grandparents.”
“They take gute care of me and Toby.”
“I’m glad they do.” That worried frown came back, accompanied by a deep furrow right between his brows as if someone had taken a plow to his forehead. “Do you like living here?”
“There isn’t a better place on Earth. Mammi and Dawdi moved here when I was seven years old. I have fond memories of berry picking and maple syrup time. When I was growing up, we spent many summer days playing volleyball or helping Mammi and Dawdi in the vegetable patch.”
“How long do you think you will stay?”
She would stay forever if she and Toby weren’t such a burden on Mammi and Dawdi. “I need to earn some money first, but I’d like to find a small house in Bonduel.”
He pressed his lips together. “It’s hard for a single mother to make it on her own. Most think it best to remarry.”
Beth couldn’t look at him. She concentrated on prying the buckets apart. They were stuck tight.
His frown looked as if it had been stapled to his face. He held out his hand. She gave him the stack of buckets, and he pulled the top one away from the others as easy as you please. “I’m sorry. I should stay out of your troubles.”
“Don’t apologize. I want to be strong enough to support myself and Toby.”
“I could help you, if you need money. The dairy makes enough for me to put a little away each month.”
Beth laughed as if she’d been holding it in a long time. His offer didn’t offend her. In a strange way, it brought her comfort. “Mammi said you have a kind heart. She wasn’t exaggerating.”
He relaxed his dire expression. “I didn’t say that to beg for praise.”
“I know.”
Tyler shook his head adamantly. “I don’t want you to think better of me than I deserve. I just want to help.” He placed two more jars in the bucket and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “What about your late husband’s family? Can they help?”
Beth turned her face and fixed her gaze out the small cellar window. “Their help comes with strings attached.”
“What do you mean?”
What would Tyler say if he knew what she really thought of her in-laws? “I’ll not be a burden to anyone.”
They loaded jars into two of the buckets, and silence prevailed until Beth talked herself back into good humor. She squared her shoulders and flashed a smile at Tyler. “Denki. I’ll never forget your generous offer.”
“I want to help.”
“You needn’t worry about me. I have a plan.” She put one last jar on the top of her stack. “Forgive me for saying so, but I’m a gute seamstress. I can whip out a dress on my old treadle machine in less than two hours. Kapps take even less time. I have done the figuring. If I make three dresses a day and sell them for forty dollars each, I can make a gute living. Enough to buy a house and keep chickens if I want.”
Tyler took her bucket. It wasn’t that heavy, but he insisted. “You want to make dresses for Amish women?”
“And Mennonites and German Baptists. And even the Englisch want the Amish dresses. The Englisch will pay the most.” She studied his somber face, and her hopes sank. “You think it’s a bad idea. Amos thought it was a bad idea.”
“Nae, I think it is a wonderful-gute idea. Everyone would buy. My mamm hates to sew. She would love it if someone else made a dress for her.”
“Do you think the bishop will approve?”
“My dat is the bishop. He’ll approve.” He placed his buckets on the floor and shoved his hand into his pocket. “It wonders me if you would sew a dress for my mamm for her birthday. Purple is her favorite color.” He pulled out two twenty-dollar bills and stuffed them into Beth’s fist.
A thrill passed through her as she stared at the money in her hand. “You want me to make your mamm a dress?”
He cracked a smile. “It’s worth the forty dollars to see how wide your eyes are.”
“I can’t take your money. I haven’t even officially started the business yet.”
“You have now.”
She tried to give the money back, but he refused to take it. Her insistence and his refusal became a sort of tug of war as she tried to shove the bills into his hands, and he raised them in the air so Beth could not reach them. They both laughed as she backed him against one of the cellar walls. He was cornered, but he wouldn’t lower his hands.
Beth, giggling uncontrollably, finally threw the money at him. It fell at his feet. He snatched it off the floor and stuffed it into one of the empty jars sitting in one of the buckets.
“I haven’t even made the dress yet,” Beth insisted between giggles. “Pay me when I finish.”
Tyler was breathless with laughter. “You need money for fabric, and I don’t think Toby has the cash to loan you.”
Beth slipped the bills out of the jar and smoothed them in her hands. “My first customer.” Her lips curled in satisfaction. “I think I’ll put your name on a plaque over my sewing machine.”
Tyler chuckled. “Be sure to spell it right.”
“I’ll make a very nice dress for your mamm,” Beth said. “But I might have to charge you extra for the wrinkled money you paid your bill with.”
He picked up the buckets and stomped up the stairs. “Charge me anything you want. Your dresses are probably worth twice what you’re asking.”
It turned out that Tyler’s muscles came in handy making jam after all. He lifted boiling-hot pans of jam off the stove and poured their contents into bottles. He packed boxes with finished jam and lugged them downstairs for storage until Christmas. Between batches, he took
Toby outside and chased him around the yard when Dawdi ran out of energy to look after him.
Tyler had to leave at three to milk cows at his dairy. Aden hadn’t shown up again, and Beth began to suspect that Aden was in on Mammi’s scheming. Why else would he invite Tyler to Huckleberry Hill and then not show up himself? She’d have to give her cousin a good talking-to.
Beth couldn’t help but be touched. Aden may have tricked Tyler onto Huckleberry Hill, but Tyler’s gute heart had compelled him to stay and help with whatever project she happened to be working on that day.
Amos certainly wouldn’t have been so kind-hearted.
Thoughts of Amos jolted Beth back to reality. No amount of scheming by any of her relatives would convince her to waste her life on another husband. Not even someone with big muscles and an adorable frown.
She’d be much better off on her own.
Chapter Five
Tyler strolled into Aden’s barn with his hands in his pockets. His friend sat at his workbench studying a book by the light of a kerosene lantern. Even though a bright autumn sun glowed outside, the barn was mighty dim for reading without a lamp. “You should drag a recliner out here if you want to be more comfortable.”
Aden burst into a smile when he saw Tyler. He hadn’t stopped smiling since he’d married Lily. It was a wonder that someone so deliriously happy could keep from floating off the ground. “I’m trying to figure out how to use my new composter.”
“What’s to figure out? You dump leaves and peelings in and get compost out six weeks later.”
“Not this composter. It’s complicated. It makes tea and does all sorts of fancy things.” Still grinning like a cat, Aden stood, strode to Tyler, and shook his hand firmly.
Tyler sighed in mock relief. “I’m so glad to see you haven’t broken your legs. Or your ankles. Or even your toes.”
Aden raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. “Nae. I’m walking around just fine.”
“Lift up your sleeves,” Tyler said. “I want to see your hives.”
“I don’t have hives.”
“Shingles? Chicken pox?”
Aden, realizing Tyler’s game, chuckled and shook his head.
“The croup? Or measles? What about fibromyalgia?”
“I’m fit as a fiddle, thank you very much.”
“So,” said Tyler, folding his arms and looking his friend up and down, “it wonders me why you have missed three appointments with me on Huckleberry Hill. I assume you still want help with Lily’s Christmas present.”
Aden would not stop grinning. Tyler found his amusement slightly annoying. “A few unexpected things came up. I hope you made good use of the time you spent waiting for me.”
“I picked huckleberries one day and made jam the next.”
“Gute. Picking huckleberries is hard on Mammi’s back.” Aden leaned against a wooden pillar. “Did you meet my cousin Beth?”
“Oh, jah, I met her.”
Aden didn’t take his eyes off Tyler’s face. “She’s pretty, ain’t not?”
“Sure. And feisty. Keeps me on my toes.”
Aden smirked. “I knew you’d like her.”
Tyler eyed Aden suspiciously. “Did you?”
Aden cleared his throat and suddenly became very interested in his boots. “Everybody likes Beth.”
Tyler groaned as realization caught up to him. “Please don’t tell me you and your mammi are in cahoots to match me and Beth.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you.”
He put a hand on Aden’s shoulder. “Look, I know you still feel guilty about stealing my fiancée.”
Aden sighed. “I suppose I do.”
“Well, don’t. Lily is much happier being your wife. And I don’t feel bad anymore. Lily is a wonderful-gute girl, but we never would have suited. I’m glad she came to her senses before it was too late. I was embarrassed, to be sure, but I have a thick skin. I got over it.”
Aden kicked the pieces of hay at his feet. “I want you to be happy as I am. You deserve a girl like Beth.”
Tyler shrugged off such a thought. “I gave up the notion of romance a long time ago, Aden.”
“And it’s my fault you did.”
“When Lily broke our engagement, I realized that I’d been chasing after an illusion.”
“You’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not. I got swept away by infatuation when I should have been more levelheaded.”
Aden pressed his lips into a hard line and shook his head. “Why don’t you admit that the rejection stung and that it’s painful to think about trying again?”
“Romance doesn’t work for everybody, Aden. You don’t need to feel bad about that.”
“So you’re giving up on Beth?”
“Beth is Anna’s and your idea, not mine.”
Aden sat down at his workbench. “She’s a wonderful-gute cousin.”
Tyler couldn’t argue with that. He liked Beth a lot. It was nice to have a friend he enjoyed being with, someone who actually tempted him to smile occasionally. “I worry about her, trying to pull through life without a husband. She shouldn’t have to struggle like that while she’s still grieving the loss of her husband.”
Aden snorted. “Amos? That grumpy toad? Amos didn’t deserve her.”
With an ear-splitting bark, Aden’s giant of a dog came barreling into the barn. Before Tyler could fend him off, the dog jumped up and propped his paws on Tyler’s shoulders.
“Pilot, get down,” Aden said.
Tyler nudged Pilot off him and ruffled the curly fur on the dog’s head. “It’s good you’re so lovable, Pilot, or I might find you annoying.”
Pilot trotted to Aden for some love. Aden held Pilot’s face in his hands. “Jah, no one can resist your cuteness.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. That dog would never learn to behave with Aden as his master. Aden didn’t have a stern bone in his body.
Breathless and flushed, Aden’s wife and Tyler’s former fiancée, Lily, appeared at the door of the barn. “Pilot, you little sneak. How did you slip out of that knot?” When she stepped farther into the barn, she caught sight of Tyler and hesitated for a fraction of a second. After almost a year, it still felt a bit awkward between them even though there was no ill will on either side.
With satisfaction, Tyler noted that the sight of Lily didn’t upset him at all. He was finally over her and his juvenile dreams of giddy romance.
“Hi, Tyler. Sorry about Pilot. He’s supposed to be having a bath.”
Tyler smiled, hoping to put her at ease. “It’s Aden’s fault. He lets Pilot walk all over him. Or rather, jump all over him and every other poor soul who happens to set foot on your property.”
Aden grinned and brought his face within inches of Pilot’s nose. “You wouldn’t hurt a fly, would you, boy? Tyler’s just being crabby.”
“Oh, sure. This is my problem.”
Laughing, Aden patted Pilot’s neck. “At least you’re man enough to admit it.”
Lily marched up to Pilot and grabbed his collar. She and Aden briefly brushed hands, and the look they gave each other didn’t escape Tyler’s notice. Romance came naturally to some people. It just wasn’t Tyler’s thing.
“I don’t know how, but Pilot can sense when I’m about to give him a bath,” Lily said as she pulled him toward the open barn door. “He’s a master of escape.”
“It’s chilly outside,” Aden said, obviously trying to keep the concern out of his voice.
Lily looked up at him and winked. “Don’t worry. I’ll make the water nice and warm. He’ll love it.”
Aden didn’t take his eyes off Lily until she disappeared from sight. “Isn’t she beautiful? I am blessed beyond measure.” He glanced at Tyler, lowered his eyes, and cleared his throat. “Sorry. That was insensitive.”
“I don’t want you to spend one more minute worrying about it.” Tyler pulled up a milking stool and sat down next to Aden. “I’m sincerely happy for you. God sent you a wonderful-gute wife, and I hope I am as f
ortunate someday.”
“But you just said you’ve given up on marriage.”
Tyler shook his head. “I still want to get married. I just don’t believe in romance anymore.” He propped his elbows on his knees. “Mamm says that unmarried men over the age of twenty-five are a nuisance. I only have two years left before I become insufferable and annoying. I’d rather find a wife.”
“But you don’t want a romantic relationship?”
“What I really need to find is a good woman to share my life. A companion and helpmeet. No romance required.”
Aden nudged him in the shoulder. Hard. “Then why not Beth? You’ll never find a harder worker or a girl who’s more fun to be with.”
“She still misses her husband.”
“I already told you, Amos was a toad.”
Tyler knew better. He had seen the look of pain that flitted across Beth’s face every time she mentioned Amos’s name.
Aden nudged him again. What? Did he think Tyler hadn’t been paying attention? “It’s plain as day that my cousin needs someone to care for her, and Toby needs a fater.”
Aden was right. Ever since that first day on Huckleberry Hill, Tyler hadn’t been able to stop worrying about how Beth would support herself and care for her small son. She’d wear herself to a frazzle in a matter of months. She needed help.
It concerned Tyler that Toby would never have a dat to teach him how to fish or show him how to plant and harvest crops. A boy should grow up with a fater.
“Amos has been gone for almost a year and a half,” Aden said. “You wouldn’t be offending anybody’s notions of what’s proper and what’s not.”
“I might be too late. Alvin Hoover’s already set his sights on her.” Tyler’s mouth went dry at the thought of Alvin courting Beth.
Aden grimaced. “Alvin’s old. What young widow wants to marry someone who will make her a widow again in twenty years? She’d definitely pick you over Alvin.”
Before he could raise another objection, Tyler pictured Beth in his mind and clamped his mouth shut. Beth was a gute woman who had the qualities he wanted in a wife. It seemed too good of an idea not to at least consider.
Beth needed someone to take care of her. Even if the sewing business did well, she would only be able to make enough dresses to barely eke out a living. He could help her rear Toby, and Beth could lend a hand at the dairy. A mutually beneficial arrangement.
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