As he’d hoped, the faint lines that had appeared on her forehead lessened. “Too many to count.”
“I’ll try, though. I’d say at least two hundred. What do you think?”
At last, a genuine smile played on her lips. The first one he’d seen since before the accident. “Oh, more than that, Lukas.”
“Really?” He pretended to look confused. As if he actually cared about having a right answer.
“Really. I know I’m right about this. I mean, if one insisted on trying to count them.”
The front door opened again and out came Maisie and Patsy. Each was holding a Mason jar filled with lemonade and ice.
Patsy led the way. “When Maisie said you were out here, I couldn’t believe it. I had to come out and see if she was telling the truth,” she said as she set the jar in front of Lukas. Then she plopped in the empty chair between them.
“Why would I lie?” Maisie said, handing Darla her jar.
“No reason,” Patsy said. “But your appearance here is something of a shock, Lukas.”
“Hey, Patsy.” He knew there was no need to say another word. In her own way, Patsy was as protective of her family as her sisters. She also was a bit bolder. If she wanted an answer, she never hesitated to ask for it.
“So, why exactly have you darkened our doorstep?”
Lukas raised his eyebrows. “I believe so far I’ve only darkened your front porch.”
“Does this mean our dear sister is going to have her best friend again?” she asked.
“Oh my heavens, Patsy!” Darla said around a moan. “Stop.”
“Don’t get upset. You know I’m only teasing.”
Still, Lukas knew that Patsy always had a reason for what she did. He glanced at Darla, wondering if she was becoming upset. However, she didn’t look much different than she usually did when she was surrounded by her siblings. She was sipping lemonade and had one foot propped on the bottom railing of the porch. Just like she used to do.
“I wanted to spend some time catching up with Darla,” he said at last. “It’s been a while.”
Patsy raised her brows at his statement. “Aaron ain’t gonna be pleased that you’re here. For that matter, I don’t know if I’m real happy about it, either.”
“I didn’t come over here to make you happy, Patsy. I came over for Darla.” Patsy’s comment didn’t come as a big surprise to Lukas. Though Darla was older, Patsy had always acted more protective of her brothers and sisters.
“If you think you’re helping her by being rude to the rest of us, you’re mistaken.”
“I’m not being rude,” he countered. “Just honest.”
“Obviously some things never change.” Darla pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Settle down, you two.”
“I’ll settle when your guest becomes nicer.”
Lukas rolled his eyes. “Enough with the dramatics. I’m not your enemy. You and I both know that.”
Instead of answering, Patsy glared at Darla. “Having him over was a mistake.”
Only years of experience managing employees and keeping his emotions in check allowed Lukas to keep his patience. He instinctively knew that none of his siblings would put him down in front of others. But still it was amazing to see the family dynamics at play here. Nothing had changed. “What about your sisters and brothers?” he asked.
Patsy’s eyes widened. “What about them?”
“Are they upset I’m here, too?” Lowering his voice, he added, “Are you really mad at me?”
After glancing at Darla again, Patsy met his gaze. “Not really.” She shrugged. “I’m just tired. We’ve had some mighty long days since Mamm left. I simply don’t want to deal with one more thing.”
“None of us do,” Darla said. “I didn’t bring Lukas over to cause a row.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Lukas, no matter what Aaron says, I don’t think you caused the fire.”
“Of course I didn’t. I lost my father, too, Patsy.”
“Lukas and I have talked,” Darla interjected quickly with a hard stare at both of her sisters. “We agreed that a lifetime of friendship should mean something.”
“It does. Daed thought that, too, but now he’s gone.”
Darla inhaled sharply. “No good will come from clinging to hurts.”
“No good will come from ignoring what is apparent to us all, either. Lukas, you are a good man, and I know you are doing your best. But being here isn’t helping you or Darla or any of us. I think we should all keep our distance as long as we can.”
But he was done with keeping his distance. He needed Darla in his life. He needed her friendship. “Keeping away from each other isn’t really possible.”
“Perhaps. But being over at each other’s houses isn’t the best idea, either.” She moved her head, gazing out at the drive.
Following her gaze, Lukas watched Aaron approach. Even with the distance, it was apparent that his stride was angry. Maisie moved to Lukas’s side. Her eyes were wide and she looked worried.
“It’ll be all right,” he murmured to her.
“I don’t think so, Lukas.”
“I’ll make things better.”
She wrinkled her nose. “How will you do that?”
“Trust me.” When she stared at him in confusion, he smiled at her and hoped that she’d try to believe him.
“Maisie, go inside,” Aaron called out.
Maisie slipped a hand on the top of Lukas’s chair and gripped it tight. “How come? I did my chores.”
“You know why,” Darla said. “Go on inside, dear.”
Maisie looked panicked. “But all he’s gonna do is yell at you, Darla. If I stay here maybe he won’t get so mad.”
Patsy pressed her hands on Maisie’s shoulders. “I won’t let him yell at Darla. It will be okay.”
Fury burned deep inside Lukas. No longer caring who overheard their conversation, he turned to her. “Does Aaron yell at you a lot, Darla?”
Patsy rolled her eyes. “He yells at all of us.”
“But mostly Darla,” Maisie said. “Two days ago he grabbed her, too. Real hard.”
Darla’s cheeks flushed. “Maisie, there’s no need to share this.”
Lukas got to his feet. “He hurt you?”
“I’m fine.” Standing up, too, she said, “Patsy, go take Maisie in. You know as well as I do what Aaron is going to say. There’s no reason Maisie needs to witness it.”
“Someone needs to stay with you.”
Lukas stepped closer. “I’m not leaving her side.”
Patsy took the twelve-year-old’s hand. “Come on. Darla’s right. We know what is about to happen.”
The moment the two girls entered the house, Aaron walked up the steps. “You had no business bringing him here, Darla. Have you already forgotten what his family has been doing? What his father did? Are you stupid?”
Lukas stepped forward. There was no way anyone was going to speak to Darla like that in front of him. “I don’t like how you’re speaking to her. Watch yourself.”
“Stay out of this, Lukas. I might have to listen to you and your brother at the mill, but I surely don’t have to listen to ya at my own haus.”
“If you are speaking to Darla in a way that I don’t like, it’s my business, no matter where we are.”
Aaron glared. “Go home. Darla, what is wrong with you? How could you bring him here?”
Lukas stepped closer to Darla. “Do you really think I’d leave with you talking to her like this?”
“It’s all right, Lukas,” Darla said.
“Nee. It ain’t,” Lukas bit out. He was so angry with the situation and upset with himself for not being more attentive to her, he let his voice rise. “It ain’t all right at all.”
“Darla’s none of your concern, neither. Now, get off my property.”
“This is my house, too, Aaron,” Darla said quietly. “You can’t order people off the property.”
“I can and I will.” His chest puffed up.
“I’m the man of the house.”
Lukas was done having Darla fight this battle. Disdain coating his words, he said, “For only a few more months, though, right?”
“What I do is none of your concern, Kinsinger.”
“You calling me Kinsinger now? You don’t even want to say my name?”
“I don’t even want to know you.” Folding his arms across his chest, Aaron said, “Now, I’ll only tell you this one more time. Leave. My family ain’t no concern of yours.”
“It is. I care about your siblings. And don’t forget, you work for me.”
“Are you threatening me?” Aaron asked. Before Lukas could say a word, he turned to Darla. “What did you tell him? Are you betraying me, too?”
“I have betrayed no one.”
Only his aim of protecting Darla kept Lukas from getting up and walking away. “Aaron, I think it’s time we all disposed of some of this anger we’ve been feeling. We have already lost so much. Why, both of our fathers are in Heaven. Isn’t that enough?”
“Wasn’t it enough that your family caused an accident and then decided to cover it up by acting as if it was my father’s fault?”
“The mill is safe. It was safe then, too.”
“My daed didn’t cause the fire.”
“No one in my family has ever said that he did. We paid for your father’s funeral and have given your family a check to help with expenses.”
“That wasn’t enough.”
“The amount?”
“Of course not. The amount was too small, and the deed was too little. At the end of the day, we are all burdened by the veil of accusations surrounding the accident.” He turned to Darla. “And you. You are acting as if none of that is important.”
Darla glared back. “Aaron, you are exaggerating everything.”
Aaron clenched his fists. “Don’t ever side against me again, sister. Especially not in front of him.”
Lukas stepped forward, ready to place her behind him for protection. “Stop threatening her.”
“It ain’t a threat. It’s a promise, Darla.”
When Lukas saw her tremble, the last of his patience left him. Standing nose-to-nose with Aaron, he released all the pent-up anger that had been held hostage inside him for far too long.
“Hear me now, Aaron,” he said, each word low and careful. “Hear me now and listen good. I will be watching you. And I’ll be checking on Darla every day. If I hear or sense that you have been anything but respectful to her, I will find you.”
“All you have to do is leave your office and find me on the line.”
“Not any longer. You are fired.”
Darla gasped.
Aaron looked stunned. “You canna do that.”
“Of course I can. I would never keep anyone on a Kinsinger payroll who is not only back-talking me but telling lies about the factory.”
Bitterness flashed in Aaron’s eyes. “Why don’t you admit that you will do anything you want, anytime you want to do it? The power has gone to your head.”
Lukas knew that wasn’t the case, but at the moment he didn’t really care. He was tired of dealing with Aaron Kurtz. “Though you’re wrong about my motives, you are exactly right about one thing. It’s my mill. Mine.”
“Since I’m no longer your employee, it’s past time you left.”
He had no choice but to comply. “Come walk me down the drive, Darla,” he said quietly.
“Don’t follow him, Darla,” Aaron ordered. “You stay here.”
“Oh, Aaron,” she whispered before following Lukas down the steps—much to Lukas’s relief.
He wasn’t sure what was going to happen between them now. All Lukas did know was that he needed to say something to help her. As he waited for her to reach his side, he silently prayed that the Lord would give him the words he needed. Because he was fairly certain that what happened next between them was going to matter most of all.
Chapter 9
It was no doubt foolish to blatantly ignore Aaron’s order and walk Lukas down the driveway, but as far as Darla was concerned, the time had come for her to follow her own instincts.
And she still wanted to be Lukas’s friend.
After they walked a couple of yards, the gravel crunching under their feet, Lukas looked her way. “I’m sorry, Darla.”
“It’s not your fault. I knew if you came over, things wouldn’t go well. I let you walk me home anyway.”
“I knew it, too.” Looking almost embarrassed, he added, “Maybe a part of me wanted to confront Aaron. I don’t know.”
“If we need to assign blame, it should be to all three of us. I knew better, you had an agenda, and Aaron . . . well, Aaron has no boundaries anymore,” she said, though admitting such a thing was difficult. “He says and does whatever he wants without a care for others.”
But instead of looking relieved that she wasn’t taking the blame, Lukas looked shamefaced. “I had no idea things had gotten so bad. I should have been coming over here every day, checking up on you. I’m sorry I haven’t.”
“There is nothing to apologize for. I am not your responsibility.” She also didn’t like being thought of as a victim.
As they continued, Lukas absently kicking a couple of stones with each stride, he asked, “What do you think is going to happen now?”
“I guess Aaron will be staying home a lot more,” she quipped. It truly was nothing to laugh about but she feared if she didn’t make light of it, she’d cry. Though the mill had given them a sizable check to help pay for their expenses after her father’s death and there was a lot of money in their savings, they’d also been counting on Aaron’s paycheck to take care of their day-to-day needs.
How was she going to be able to take care of everyone now?
Her tears would only make Lukas feel worse and she didn’t want to do that.
Abruptly, he stopped. “Will he hurt you?”
“Of course not.”
“But Maisie said he grabbed you. Where did he grab you, Darla?”
His voice was so concerned, she answered before she thought the better of it. “My shoulder.”
As she expected he would, he examined her carefully. “Where? Which shoulder?”
“My left one.” When he reached out, she flinched. Not because she feared he would hurt her, but because she didn’t want him ever thinking about her bruises. “Lukas, stop.”
Looking pained, Lukas dropped his hand. “You’re still hurting, aren’t you?”
“Nee.” And that was true. She wasn’t hurting. Well, not too much.
He turned away, looking toward the front porch. Then, as if he had suddenly solved whatever problem he’d been tackling, he grabbed her hand and guided her farther down her drive, then directed her into a clump of trees surrounding the remains of her great-grandfather’s cabin. The cabin was the first structure on their land and had served as both a reminder of their family’s struggles and a fort to play in when they were young.
When they were hidden from both the house and any stray passersby on the road, Lukas reached for the pin at her collar. “Let me see your shoulder.”
Batting away his fingers, she stepped back. “Lukas, what in the world? Of course you cannot do this.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek. “Darla, I canna leave you without knowing what he did. I’ll stew on it and worry over it. You know I will.”
Darla sighed. She absolutely knew he would. “Lukas, you’re making too much of nothing.”
“If I am, prove me wrong. Either unpin that dress enough for me to see your shoulder or I’ll call Patsy or Maisie to come help you with it.”
She didn’t doubt he was serious. When he had a goal, he fixated on it, he always had. It was why he was now running Kinsinger Mill. It was why she’d always trusted him. Lukas didn’t back down and he didn’t change his mind.
After reminding herself that he was only wanting to inspect her bruises and that he’d seen far more of her body when he’d taught her to swim all those
years ago, she pulled out the top two pins of her dress then spread the opening she’d made along her skin until it stretched across her bare shoulder. Hardly more than six or eight inches of her skin was visible to him. Hardly enough to feel embarrassed about.
Still, she closed her eyes because she knew what he would see.
“Oh, Darla,” he whispered.
She shuddered and fought back tears. Not because of what he saw but because of his reaction. Pain and compassion laced his tone, reminding her that she wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
As he carefully ran one calloused finger along what she knew were four dark purple fingerprints staining her skin, he glanced up. “You are hurting, aren’t you?”
“They’re just bruises, Lukas.” She wouldn’t dare mention that her shoulder had been sore for a good day.
“These are from his fingers. Where was his thumb?” Without asking for permission, he wrapped his hands around her hips and turned her like she was a mannequin. When she felt the tender brush of his thumb along the nape of her neck, tracing the last imprint, she lowered her head in shame.
Aaron wasn’t a violent man, but it seemed he was becoming so. And she was letting him.
With her back still facing Lukas, she fought to keep her voice firm. “Now you have seen them.”
“Jah.”
“So . . . So, I need to refasten my dress. And we need to get back on the drive before someone comes looking for us.”
“Of course.” He stepped back. Dropped his hands. She felt him standing rigidly behind her, whether to offer a tiny bit of privacy or because he was simply waiting for her, she didn’t know.
She supposed it didn’t matter.
After she got the last pin inserted and was covered modestly again, she turned to him. “Let’s go. You need to get home and I need to get back.”
Lukas seemed frozen. “I’ve never hit a man in my life, but I’m tempted to do so now.”
“You know violence is not the answer.”
“It might be.”
“It’s not our answer, Lukas.”
Leading the way back toward the drive, he said, “I’m thinking that your bruder needs to remember that.”
She hoped that would happen, too.
Walking again by her side, Lukas said, “Darla, how often does this happen?”
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