Someday he’d have really nice teeth.
At least she could look forward to that.
Chapter Fifteen
Noah cleaned his tools before stowing them in his toolbox and loading them on the small trailer he’d fashioned out of some old rubber tires and a few boards. Now that the old shingles were cleared from the roof, he hadn’t needed to borrow Shirk’s team and wagon. He could barely afford to keep his own two horses as it was.
Even though the sunset chilled the air, sweat trickled down the back of his neck. He’d put in almost twelve hours today. A gute day’s work, even if it had been tinged with bitterness.
Wiping the moisture from his forehead with his sleeve, he gazed at the half-finished roof. He would have liked to work longer, but dusk had forced him down and turned his thoughts toward home, where nothing but silence, frustration, and heartache awaited him.
One more week and Felty’s roof would be finished. Then what would be his excuse for coming around to see Mandy every day?
He frowned as he gazed up at the overcast sky. The shroud of darkness fit his mood perfectly. Mandy might have liked his kisses, but he could never hope to compete with the parade of suitors that Anna had lined up for her granddaughter.
And he had been unfortunate enough to witness the spectacle from the roof today.
It was bad enough that Paul Zook had taken her out for a lovely picnic at the pond early this afternoon. Noah knew it had been “lovely” because Paul had told him so when he and Mandy had returned. Then less than an hour ago, Adam Wengerd and his brilliant white smile had taken Mandy to a gathering with some of die youngie in the east district.
Watching the girl he loved ride off with someone so irresistibly charming set Noah’s teeth on edge. Why was Anna so enthusiastic about Adam Wengerd? His smile wasn’t that electrifying.
Noah secured the toolbox to the trailer, trying not to frown so hard that he cracked his jaw. Mandy was planning to return to Charm in two weeks, three if Anna had her way, but still, it wasn’t enough time, especially when she was wasting so much of it with other boys. If he spent every waking hour with her for the rest of his life, it still wouldn’t be enough time.
When she left, there would be a hole in his chest where his heart had been. He hadn’t realized there was such a huge void in his life until Mandy had come to fill it.
He’d probably gotten three hours of sleep last night, tossing and turning and wondering what he could do to convince her to stay for another three or four weeks. Or to stay forever.
He shook his head at that silly notion. There was no possible way he would convince her to accept his hand in marriage. They’d only known each other for two weeks yet. And despite her protests, she really was too good for him. He lived in a run-down shack with a fater who was so drunk most nights that he couldn’t even put on his own nightclothes. What girl in her right mind would want to marry into that trouble? Hadn’t she said as much last night when she’d brought that counselor to his house?
Do you want to take care of your dat for the rest of your life? What happens if you want to marry and raise your own family?
It was a sure bet no girl would willingly take that on, even if she was in love with him. If he asked Mandy to marry him, she’d laugh. It was a sin to be prideful, but he didn’t like to be laughed at.
Maybe if he were the bishop’s son with five hundred acres of land and a whole stable full of horses, things would be different.
He wanted to marry Mandy. He couldn’t marry Mandy.
The end.
He swiped his hand across his mouth as if that could erase the memory of Mandy’s sweet lips or her perfect freckles. His gut clenched. He loved her. After only two weeks, he loved her. But she was going to leave him, just like Mamm had left. Just like Yost and Lisa had left.
The pain was so thick, he nearly choked on it. He should never have let his feelings run so far away from him. They weren’t coming back anytime soon.
“Come on, Chester,” he called as he climbed into his homemade wagon with the old courting buggy seat he’d salvaged from a rummage sale. Chester hopped into the wagon and sat on his haunches next to Noah. His ears twitched at the prospect of a ride.
The horse was already pointed in the right direction. Noah jiggled the reins and the horse took a few steps forward. Noah heard a car crunching its way up the gravel lane and pulled back. Better to let the car up the hill first before he tried to go down. He didn’t want a collision.
Who was coming to Anna and Felty’s in a car? Mandy and Adam had left in a buggy.
Even though it wasn’t completely dark yet, the headlights led the way as the car crawled up the lane. Cars always took the road to Huckleberry Hill slowly. If they went too fast, they’d just spin their tires on the gravel, not to mention risk hitting a horse or a bicycle coming the other way.
Noah recognized the car as it came closer. It was Peggy Lofthouse’s. She often drove the Amish around town. Peggy pulled next to Noah’s wagon and rolled down her window. It was too dark to see much inside her car, but Noah could see that someone sat next to her in the passenger seat. “Noah Mischler. I thought you’d be up here. How’s the roof coming?”
He managed a smile. Peggy didn’t need to take the brunt of his sour mood. “About half done. Should be another week or so.”
“I brought you a visitor.”
Noah glanced behind him wondering if she were talking to somebody else. “Me?”
The car door opened, and shock like a bolt of electricity hit Noah squarely between the eyes.
“Yost?”
With his hand leaning against the roof, his brother stood with one foot still in the car as if unsure he should have been there. “Hey, Noah. How are you?”
Considering he hadn’t seen his brother for three years, he was completely stunned. That’s how he was. “I am gute. How are you?”
“I . . . um . . . I . . .” Yost’s voice cracked into a million pieces. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you.” Noah’s eyes stung with sudden tears. Yost was back, looking older but still so young and so unsure of himself. Noah wasn’t about to let him stand there wondering if he was welcome or not.
Half laughing, half sobbing, he leaped from his wagon, strode around to the other side of the car, and took his brother into a rib-crushing embrace. Yost laughed as if his heart would break and returned Noah’s hug with a powerful embrace of his own.
Noah pushed Yost to arm’s length. “Look at you. You’re probably four inches taller.”
A wide grin exploded onto his brother’s face. “And you’re probably four inches thicker.”
The laughter overflowed and left both of them breathless.
“What are you doing here?” Noah asked, the astonishment clear in his voice.
“I rode the bus to Shawano, and Peggy was kind enough to pick me up.”
“Where are you sleeping? Do you want to stay at my . . . the house?”
Yost nodded and there was a tinge of sadness in his voice. “Of course. Peggy took me there first, but no one answered when I knocked. She thought we might find you up here.”
“Do you need me to drive you back to the house?” Peggy asked.
Noah leaned over so he could see Peggy inside the car. “Nae. He can go with me.”
Peggy propped both hands on the steering wheel. “Okay. Call me when you need another ride.”
Yost pulled a small leather bag from the floor of the front seat and gave Peggy some cash. “Denki for the ride.”
Peggy put the car in reverse, did a four-point turn, and disappeared down the lane.
“I’m glad we found you up here,” Yost said. “I wasn’t sure if that house was really where you lived. I’ve never been there.”
Noah slung an arm around Yost’s neck. “You won’t hurt my feelings to say it.”
“Say what?”
“It’s a shack.”
Yost’s eyes flashed with pain. “I just didn’t realize. I thoug
ht . . . I guess I didn’t know what I thought. You’ve been sending a lot of money to Mamm. Maybe more than you can afford.”
“We do okay. There’s a shed where Dat can work.”
Yost’s voice cracked again as if he couldn’t possibly keep it from breaking. “I should have known you’d send everything to us.”
Noah didn’t deserve anybody’s thanks. “How’s Mamm?”
“She’s okay,” Yost said, setting his leather travel bag on the ground. “The community accepts her, mostly. She has a job cleaning houses.”
“I know,” Noah said. “She told me.”
“Lisa thinks she’s in love with a boy named Joe Mast, but he’s stringing about five girls along at the same time.”
Noah gave Yost a half smile. Lisa was all grown up now, and he was missing it. “Tell her not to worry. I’m saving a little extra for her wedding.”
Yost nearly catapulted himself into Noah’s arms once again. “I’m sorry, Noah,” he sobbed. “I missed you so much.”
Noah couldn’t speak. Not with this overpowering emotion threatening to burst from his chest.
“I was so mad at you,” Yost said. “I wanted you to pick me over Dat. He chose to drink. I thought he should bear the consequences of his drinking. I wanted you to love me more than you loved him.”
“I do, Yost.” Tears trailed down his cheeks. “But I couldn’t leave him to himself like that. Even when we sin, even when our trouble is of our own making, Jesus doesn’t abandon us. I couldn’t abandon Dat. He needed me.”
“I needed you.”
“I know, but God wanted me to stay. I knew you would be okay. I knew you were strong enough.”
Yost covered his eyes with his hand. “I can never be as strong as you.”
“Jah, you can.”
“You’re so good, Noah, and I’m so stupid.”
“No brother of mine was ever stupid.”
“I’ve held on to this grudge and cut off all contact. I should have written. I could have visited. Even from long distance, I needed you, but I was too proud to admit it. You could have helped me in so many ways if I had let you. The letter finally made me realize that.”
“The letter?”
“From your friend Mandy.”
Yost might as well have socked Noah in the mouth. “Mandy wrote you a letter?”
“Didn’t you know?” He furrowed his brow. “Maybe I misread the letter. I thought you wanted me to come.”
“Of course I wanted you to come. Just because I didn’t know about it doesn’t mean you’re any less welcome. I’m surprised, that’s all.”
He didn’t know why he felt surprised. Mandy couldn’t resist sticking her nose into his business. She thought he needed fixing.
“What did the letter say?” Noah asked.
“She told me that you are taking gute care of Dat, like the Good Samaritan. Like the Lord Jesus would have wanted you to. She said that staying behind with Dat was the hardest decision you ever had to make, and you shouldn’t have lost your family because of it.” Yost put a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “She set me straight, that’s what she did. She told me that as a Christian, I needed to forgive you, and as a brother, I needed to make amends. It wasn’t anything I didn’t already know. I suppose I just needed a kick in the pants.”
“Mandy can do that to a person.”
“I took some days off work and got on the first bus to Wisconsin.”
Noah eyed his brother. Praise the Lord, Mandy had sent the letter before he’d gotten mad at her last night. She probably wouldn’t have sent it after his reaction, but this time her meddling had never been more appreciated.
“She went on and on about what a godly man you are and a devoted son and how gute you are with a hammer and how you can fix any machine ever built. Three whole pages about how wonderful you are.” He grinned. “She likes you.”
Noah couldn’t stifle a smile. Just thinking about Mandy made him goofy. “She’s exaggerating.”
“Do you like her? Or is she a forty-year-old spinster with knobby knees?”
Noah took Yost’s bag from the ground and laid it in his wagon. “No knobby knees. She has freckles.”
Yost rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. “Freckles? She sounds cute.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“So you like her.”
“If you think I’m going to spill my guts to you when you’ve only just come, you’re crazy,” Noah said.
Yost thumbed his suspenders. “Spill your guts? It sounds serious.”
If Yost knew that he had only known Mandy for two weeks, he would probably have serious doubts about Noah’s sanity. And if he guessed how deeply Noah was already in love, he’d know for sure his brother was crazy. Noah sobered slightly. He was crazy, because Mandy was never going to love him like he loved her, not with Adam Wengerd coming around so often.
Noah pushed down the sadness that threatened to overtake him and smiled. He’d forgotten that mischievous grin of Yost’s. “I bet you’d like to know.”
“I’ve got some time. I’ll wear you down.”
Noah gave Yost a friendly shove. “How long are you going to be here?”
“A week is all I was able to get off work.”
“It’s not enough, but it’s something,” Noah said.
Yost pumped his eyebrows up and down. “Will I get to meet the girl with freckles?”
“Not if I can help it.”
Yost threw up his hands in protest. “Hey, we’re practically old friends. She sent me a letter, remember?”
Noah pointed to his wagon. “You’ll have to sit in back.”
“Is this because you’re afraid I’ll steal your girl?”
“It’s because there’s only one seat, and I’m a better driver than you.”
Yost shrugged and jumped into the small wagon bed. He wrapped his arms around Chester’s neck. “Chester. You’re not a puppy anymore.” Chester whined and licked Yost’s hand. Yost scratched behind Chester’s ears and nuzzled his face close to Chester’s.
“We’ll be home in about half an hour,” Noah said. “You don’t mind scrambled eggs for dinner, do you?”
Yost leaned back on one hand while resting the other hand on Chester’s neck. “How’s Dat?” he asked quietly.
Noah lowered his eyes. “About the same.”
Yost took a deep breath. “I’ll try not to be mad at him.”
“It doesn’t do any good and only makes him feel worse.”
Light spilled from the house as Anna opened the front door. “Noah,” she called. “I’m so glad you’re still here. I’ve got dinner ready on the table.” She put her hand to her face as if shielding her eyes from the sun. “Who is that you’ve got out there with you?”
“This is Yost, my brother. Do you remember him?”
Anna bloomed into a smile and clapped her hands. “Remember him? He used to play hide and seek in the haymow with Titus.” She crooked her finger to summon them closer. “Let me have a look at you.”
Yost and Noah marched up Anna’s steps for inspection. Anna reached up and patted Yost’s cheek. “Lo and behold, you’re all grown up. How old are you?”
“Three weeks shy of twenty.”
“What a fine young man you’ve turned out to be. Come in. I want to give you something.”
Anna ushered them into the house and shut the door, then she bustled to her long closet and pulled out a pink pot holder. “I’ve been saving these for Mandy’s special boys, but I don’t see that it can hurt to give you one as a welcome present.”
“Denki, Anna. I love your pot holders,” Yost said. He nudged Noah lightly with his elbow. “But who are Mandy’s special boys?”
“I’ve been working on finding her a husband. I thought maybe the pot holders would give the boys an extra push.”
Yost glanced at Noah, his expression a mixture of confusion and doubt. Noah shook his head slightly, making sure Yost knew this wasn’t the time to ask questions. Anna didn’t think h
e was good enough for Mandy. There’d be plenty of time to explain all that when they got home.
“Dinner is ready,” Anna said. “We’re just waiting for Felty.”
Something smelled very appetizing. Maybe Anna had found a reliable recipe. “I wish we could,” Noah said. Mandy might come home early from the gathering. Eating Anna’s cooking would be worth it if he got to sit next to Mandy at dinner. But Dat needed to eat too. “We’ve got to get home to see Dat.”
“Oh, I see. We’ll have to invite your dat to dinner so you boys can eat with us. Felty likes to talk with your dat about fishing. And license plates. Felty plays the license plate game every year, you know.” Anna pulled a small calendar from the little drawer next to the sink. “What are you doing next Tuesday night? All three of you could come for dinner.”
“My dat doesn’t feel well most nights,” Noah said, letting his eyes dart between Anna and Yost. “We probably shouldn’t make any definite plans.”
Anna stowed her calendar back in the drawer. “I’ll ask Felty to talk to your dat. Felty can talk people into anything.”
Noah shook his head. “I don’t know.” It was too risky for Dat to come to dinner, especially at night when he trembled with the need for a drink. Felty and Anna must never see his dat like that. It was bad enough that Yost would have to witness it, but Anna and Felty were people he loved and respected, and they respected him. He couldn’t risk losing their good opinion.
Hearing a noise outside, Anna stood on her tiptoes and peeked out the kitchen window. “Well. I wouldn’t have expected that.”
“Is something wrong?”
“It’s Adam and Mandy. I didn’t think they’d be back for hours.”
Noah’s pulse sped up. Mandy was back from her date with dazzling-smile Adam. Maybe it hadn’t been such a gute date. Maybe that didn’t make Noah sad at all.
The door opened, and Mandy and her cousin Titus walked into the room. Titus was unexpected but very welcome. Mandy had lost Adam somewhere between the gathering and Huckleberry Hill. Her eyes locked on Noah, and her genuine smile melted his heart.
Titus, with a toothpick hanging from his mouth, followed Mandy into the house. “We’re here,” he announced.
Huckleberry Harvest (The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill Book 5) Page 23
