“My dat has his heart set on Tyler Yoder.”
Aden let go of her hand and stood up. He shoved his fists into his pockets. “I know. I’ve been stewing about it all day, trying to decide what to do next.”
Lily lowered her gaze and stared at her shaky hands. She didn’t want to hear what Aden wanted to do next—he had probably decided to forget her and pursue Erla Glick, whose dat would never chop down a mailbox out of spite.
“Lily, I’m not giving up.” Aden bent over and nudged her chin so she would meet his gaze. “Ever.”
The way he said “ever” sent a jolt of electricity down her spine. Who could doubt after looking into those eyes?
Her voice trembled like a hummingbird. “Oh, okay. Ever.”
He grinned playfully and pulled her to stand on the second step. At this level, she could look him in the eye. He wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her close, never taking his eyes off her lips. Oh sis yuscht! He was going to kiss her again. She felt giddy and light-headed and completely unprepared. Why didn’t he ever give her ample warning?
His lips came within inches when Lily heard the front door open behind her. She abruptly pushed Aden away. He released her and turned as if searching for something in the woods. If it was anything like what she felt, he was searching for his senses.
“Oh, my,” Anna said. “The things you young people do.”
Seemingly unembarrassed, she waltzed down the steps carrying two empty buckets.
“What are you doing, Mammi?”
“Getting the rest of the tomatoes off the vines before it freezes.”
Aden glanced at Lily and then at his mammi. “I’ll help.”
Anna had almost reached the barn. “Finish your kissing,” she called. “No hurry.”
Finish kissing? Not if Lily died of embarrassment first.
Aden chuckled. “Mammi is always so accommodating.” Again he wrapped his arms around Lily’s waist. “I think we better do as she says.”
Lily’s heart pitter-pattered with delicious excitement. She was ready this time. Exactly as she had practiced, she puckered slightly as Aden bent his head closer.
To her chagrin, he turned his face away at the last minute to peer down the lane.
She’d been concentrating so hard on being kissed that she hadn’t even heard the hum of the truck engine or the crackle of gravel under the rubber tires. Pilot barked and ran around in circles as the truck stopped at the edge of the grass.
Aden’s friend Jamal hopped out of the truck and charged at Aden as if he were going to tackle him. Aden charged right back with a big smile on his face. They met and did a strange handshake before hugging while smacking each other on the back.
“I thought I’d gotten rid of you a month ago,” Aden said. The happiness in his words nearly overflowed into laughter. “Did you drive by the pond?”
“Yeah, the aerator is working well. That was a great idea, whoever thought of it.”
“Tyler,” Lily said. “He thinks of everything.”
She mentally smacked herself upside the head. Tyler’s was probably the last name Aden wanted to hear.
Anna trudged across the lawn with her buckets. Aden and Jamal leaped into action and each offered to carry one. Anna shook her head and kept walking. As she got closer, Lily could see that her buckets were empty.
“It is wonderful gute to see you again, Jamal,” Anna said.
“Your gran makes the best yummy-shettly.”
Aden raised an eyebrow. “When did you eat Mammi’s yummasetti?”
“On Tuesday, dear, when you went to fix Lily’s mailbox. I knew you would be missing supper, so I made Felty’s favorite meat dish. Jamal is not a vegetarian.”
Jamal’s eyes twinkled. “I came by to see you, but they told me you were out sparking with Lily. I don’t know what sparking means, but it sounded important.”
Lily reached for Pilot, who stood sentinel by her side, and vigorously rubbed his head so she wouldn’t die of embarrassment.
Aden didn’t seem embarrassed, but a shadow passed over his features. He wasn’t thinking about sparking. He was thinking about that mailbox. “I thought you were going to pick tomatoes, Mammi.”
“I decided I need a sweater,” Anna said.
Aden took the buckets from her. “I’ll hold these while you get one.”
“Thank you, dear. You’re such a good boy. I tell your mamm, ‘Don’t worry so much about Aden. He might be going through a rough patch, but he’ll turn around all right.’”
Aden smiled sheepishly. “Thanks for your confidence, Mammi.”
Anna went into the house, and Aden turned to Jamal. “So, not that I’m not happy to see you, but knowing how much you love Bonduel, why are you in Wisconsin again?”
“I wanted to come back and look at the pond.” He paused. “And check things out while I’m in the area.”
“Looking for environmental transgressions?”
“Pretty much,” Jamal said. He cleared his throat, and Lily could see him studying Aden out of the corner of his eye. “I need your help with something.”
Aden raised both hands in surrender and backed away. “Oh, no, Jamal. You heard my grandma. I’m going through a rough patch. I don’t need to go looking for trouble.”
“Oh, come on, Aden. It’s just for a couple of hours and no police will be involved, I promise. It’s not a big deal.”
Lily held her breath. She had an inkling that whatever wasn’t a big deal would involve either police officers or deep water.
“You have a specific set of skills,” Jamal said.
“Oh really?”
“I need someone Amish.”
Aden shook his head as a grin played at his lips. “You can dress up. I’ll give you some suspenders and a hat.”
“Oh, yeah, like anyone is going to believe an African American Amish guy who can’t speak the language.”
“You could dress as a Mennonite,” Aden said.
Jamal threw up his hands in disgust. “Come on, Aden. This is a big deal.”
“You just said it wasn’t a big deal.”
“I meant you won’t have to do much, but it’s for a really good cause. You like dogs, don’t you?”
“I like dogs.”
“There’s some Amish guys running a puppy mill about an hour outside of Shawano. And I’ve heard stuff. It’s bad in there.”
Aden massaged the back of his neck. “Puppy mills are legal, Jamal. We can’t do anything to shut them down.”
Jamal and Aden seemed to forget their surroundings as they focused on each other, and the fire of indignation smoldered between them.
“But there are animal cruelty laws, Aden, and the authorities can’t get in to look without probable cause.”
“And you want to give them probable cause.”
Jamal laid a hand on Aden’s shoulder. “Look, I just want you to knock on their door and distract them while I go around back and take some pictures. I’ve already scoped the place out, and I can’t get in there by myself. There’s three or four Amish guys prowling around there all the time.”
Aden glanced at Lily. “I don’t know. Maybe we should leave well enough alone.”
“I don’t know how to leave well enough alone. Besides, this isn’t ‘well enough.’ Those dogs are starving. They’ve got skin diseases and rotting teeth. I won’t stand by and let that happen. And you shouldn’t either.”
Lily could tell the moment Aden made his decision. He stood up straight, which at his full height was quite impressive. “How many puppies?”
“Maybe fifty. Plus a dozen adult dogs.”
Anna came from the house wearing a deep purple sweater fastened with jumbo hooks at the front. She carried a sizable rust-colored sweater over her arm. “Jamal, I knitted this for you.”
She held it out to him, and he took it almost reverently. “Wow, thank you, Mrs. Helmuth.” He pulled it over his head and slipped his arms into the sleeves. It fit perfectly and brought out the yell
ow specks in his brown eyes. The cable pattern on the front wove over and under itself in beautiful symmetry. “No one’s ever made me something so nice,” Jamal said.
Anna’s eyes twinkled. “Ohio autumns can be almost as chilly as Wisconsin.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll wear it tonight when I’m out with Aden.”
Anna took her buckets from Aden. “Where are you going?”
Aden looked from Lily to Jamal to Anna and back again. “Mammi, there is a puppy mill Jamal wants me to help him photograph. If the police see how badly the puppies are being treated, we might convince them to shut it down.”
Anna gasped. “Why would anyone want to hurt a puppy?”
“Do you mind if I go?”
Anna frowned. “Your mamm would write me a stern eight-page letter if she knew.”
As if on cue, Pilot nudged Anna’s elbow with his nose and whined pathetically, standing in for all the puppies in all the puppy mills in the world.
Anna patted Pilot’s head and sighed. “Of course you must help those poor little puppies.” She plopped her buckets on the ground and wrapped her arms around Aden’s waist. “Don’t get arrested. Your mamm would be quite out of sorts with her mother-in-law if you got arrested.”
Aden gave his mammi a squeeze. “I will help you pick the tomatoes tomorrow.”
Anna waved away his suggestion. “Lily can help me pick. You go save the puppies.”
Lily’s heart lodged in her throat. Every muscle in her body seemed charged with energy even as she felt the urge to throw up. “I’m going with Aden.”
Aden gaped at her as if she’d announced her intention to join the Army.
Jamal furrowed his brow. “We don’t really need . . .”
Aden scraped his jaw off the ground and bloomed into a smile. “She’s joking. Lily would never go in for this.”
Aden had no idea how much his words stung. She would always be a disappointment to him.
Well, not today. Today, she would be the kind of girl Aden could admire.
As long as she didn’t throw up all over his boots.
Besides, she refused to play the waiting game again. Storming a puppy mill couldn’t be more frightening than staring down the lane wondering if Aden was alive, wishing she had gone with him in the first place so her regrets didn’t overwhelm her later.
“I can help,” she said.
Jamal rubbed his chin. “I don’t mind if you come.”
Aden’s eyes grew wide. “Of course you’re not coming.”
“Of course I am coming.”
Aden pressed his lips into a rigid line. “This is because of the bike, isn’t it?”
“I’m not going to chew my fingernails to stubs waiting for you to come back.”
“Then keep your hands in your pockets. You don’t realize how fast these things can get out of hand.”
Lily wouldn’t budge. “Then you shouldn’t go.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Jamal interjected. “And it’s for the puppies.”
Anna worried the hem of her apron. “Oh dear, Lily. Your fater would not like it one little bit.”
“Dat doesn’t have to find out.” The guilt flooded over Lily as she said the words.
Aden sighed. He took Lily’s hand in plain sight of Jamal and Anna and led her around to the side of the house. “Lily, I am doing my best to get on your dat’s good side. He would never let me talk to you again if he knew you came with us.”
“It doesn’t matter. When it comes to you, Dat doesn’t have a good side.”
She might as well have kicked his dog for as stricken as he looked. “This would definitely make it worse,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to be the girl no one can count on.”
Aden placed his hands on her arms. “You’re cautious, that’s all. You work very hard to do what is right. I admire you for that.”
“Even Estee says I’m a chicken. You told me one day I’d find out what it is I’m willing to take a risk for. Well, this is it. I want to do this for the puppies.”
Aden shook his head. “It is not for the puppies. It’s because Estee got mad at you.”
“I sat there for five hours worried sick about my sister, and I didn’t lift one finger to do anything about it. I was too scared to leave the house. You are the reason things didn’t turn out much worse.”
“That doesn’t mean you should come with us.”
“I’m so ashamed of doing nothing.”
Compassion filled Aden’s eyes, and he pulled her into his embrace. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. I like you just the way you are, Lily, concerned about doing the right thing. I would find you very unappealing if you were one of those girls always looking for a way to break the rules.”
“Saving puppies isn’t breaking the rules.”
“Nae.”
“I want to show you I can do it.”
Aden fell silent as he held Lily in his arms. He felt so warm, he probably could have melted ice in the dead of winter.
He suddenly let go of her and took two giant steps backward. “Oy anyhow, I should never have kissed you.”
Lily almost choked on his words. “What?”
“Because I want to do it all the time now.”
Lily’s heart did a little pirouette. “Don’t change the subject.”
“What were we talking about?”
“Please let me come.”
Aden slumped his shoulders. “Okay, but you’re staying in the truck.”
Lily gave a little hop for joy. She wasn’t about to tell Aden that she had no intention of staying in the truck. He’d find that out soon enough.
They pulled down the deserted country road past the house and parked near the thick bushes off the blacktop. Jamal killed the engine, and they sat in silence for a few moments. Could Jamal and Aden hear Lily’s pulse pounding? It seemed to be the loudest thing in the cab of the truck.
For the hundredth time, Lily rethought her decision to come along. Aden had not been exaggerating. Lily had ridden in a lot of cars with a lot of different drivers, but Jamal was the worst driver she had ever seen. He liked to talk and drive, and he looked at the person he talked to instead of watching the road. Lily regretted sitting between Jamal and Aden. Jamal leaned forward to look at Aden when conversing with him, leaving no one to actually mind the steering wheel.
Aden had told Jamal three times to “shut up and drive,” but it wasn’t until Jamal missed a tree by mere inches that he paid Aden any heed. Lily had not planned on dying in a truck accident. Maybe she and Aden could walk home.
“Okay,” Jamal said. “Here’s how it’s going to go down. First you’ve got to sort of amble around the barn area and see if there is anybody on the lookout. Figure out a way to round them up and get them into the house.”
“Any suggestions on how to do that?” Aden asked.
“You’re the brains. You’ll think of something. Or let Lily think of something. She looks a lot smarter than you do.”
“She’s staying in the truck.”
“No, I’m not,” Lily said, daring Aden to contradict her. “I can help you.”
Aden frowned. He didn’t look like he wanted her help.
Lily tried a different strategy. “What if a wolverine attacks me in the truck? I’d be safer with you.”
“A wolverine can’t open doors.”
“Nae, but he could gnaw through the metal before you and Jamal got back. You wouldn’t want that on your conscience, would you?”
Jamal fiddled with his camera. “She’s got a point, Aden.”
“Wolverines can’t chew through metal.”
“No, I mean about being able to help you. You’d be a lot less suspicious with two of you, especially if one of you is a girl.”
“I’m not staying in the truck,” Lily said. “If you go without me, I’ll wait until you leave and sneak out behind you.”
Aden rubbed his face and slowly let out a breath. “Okay, but only because I don’t want y
ou wandering around this place by yourself. But you’ve got to promise to stick by my side every minute.”
“Cross my heart,” she said. That was a promise she would have no trouble keeping. Her legs were already weak with fear, and they hadn’t saved one puppy yet.
They got out of Jamal’s truck and shut the doors as silently as they could.
Aden pointed into the thicket near the edge of the road. “Jamal, hide over there until you see us go in the house. Hurry and get your pictures, because I’ll run out of things to say in about two minutes.”
Aden took Lily’s hand, and they walked around to the back of the small clapboard house. “Where are we going?” Lily whispered.
“Follow my lead.”
She could tell his nerves were tight as a wire as his gaze darted back and forth around the yard.
He squeezed her hand. “I shouldn’t have let you talk me into this.”
“You won’t regret it.”
“I already do.” He stomped around the backyard. “Is all this excitement making you thirsty?”
Before she could form an answer to his strange question, a dark figure loomed in front of them. Lily bit back an impulsive scream. If she wailed like a baby, she would rouse suspicion if she hadn’t already.
A boy, probably a few years younger than Lily, stepped out of the shadows and scowled at Aden, a pretty gutsy expression considering Aden was almost a foot taller than the boy. Even Lily stood taller than the boy did.
What he lacked in height, he made up for in bulk. His arms and legs could have been fashioned out of tree trunks.
Jamal had been mistaken. This boy wasn’t Amish. He wore a cowboy hat and blue jeans with a silver belt buckle the size of a large orange.
“What do you want?” the boy said.
Lily clamped her fingers around Aden’s hand, likely cutting off his circulation.
“Do you know where Hannah and Marvin Lapp live?” Aden said.
“There ain’t no Lapps around here,” the boy said.
Aden looked as if he were quite unhappy about this news. “Is this State Road Forty-Five?”
The boy shook his head. “Twenty-Nine.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Keeping hold of Lily’s hand, Aden turned as if to go. “I’m sorry to bother you, uh . . .”
Huckleberry Summer (Huckleberry Hill) Page 19
