Lydia's Charm

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  “How come?”

  “They’re new to the area. I figured it’d be a good chance for us to get to know them. Besides, you said you had promised to show Andy’s goat to Lydia’s boy.”

  Levi’s forehead wrinkled. “I did promise, but I never thought you’d invite them to supper, especially with Pop’s injuries and all.”

  She squinted at him. “I’m the one who’ll be doing the cooking, not your daed.”

  “I know, but you’ve been running yourself ragged ever since Pop came home from the hospital. You don’t need one more thing to do.”

  “I’ll have Betty and Selma’s help in the kitchen; and if you’re concerned about it, you can help, too.” Mom shook her finger at him. “Now take that worried look off your face. Everything will go fine, and we’ll all have a good time.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Mae had just taken a bowl of leftover vegetable soup from the refrigerator when Lydia stepped into the room. “Josh and I will be leaving for the Stutzmans’ soon, but if there’s anything you need me to do before we go, I can take a few minutes to do that now,” she said.

  “I don’t need anything done, but I wish you wouldn’t go.”

  Lydia’s forehead wrinkled. “How come?”

  “I just don’t, that’s all.”

  “Josh has really been looking forward to seeing Andy’s goat, and he’d be disappointed if we didn’t go.”

  “You’ll be going out with Menno and his boys tomorrow night. That ought to be good enough.”

  “I’m sure our supper with Menno and the boys will be nice, and Josh is looking forward to that, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go to the Stutzmans’ tonight.”

  “How about you, Lydia? Are you looking forward to Saturday night?”

  Lydia’s only reply was a brief nod.

  “At least Menno’s an appropriate suitor for you.”

  Lydia’s eyes widened. “Menno is not my suitor, and neither is Levi. He didn’t even invite Josh and me to supper tonight; his mother did. Nona said they wanted an opportunity to get to know Josh and me. And as far as Menno’s concerned, I’m sure the only reason he invited us to join them for supper was so that Kevin could spend some time with Josh.”

  As if on cue, Josh bounded into the room. “I drew Urgrossvadder a picture and took it to his room. I know he liked it, ’cause he smiled at me and said, ‘Danki.’ ”

  Mae frowned. Josh had gone into Dad’s room several times in the last few weeks, and each time she found him there, Dad had been smiling. It was good to see Dad smile, but did it have to be Josh who’d put that smile on his face? Mae would have given anything if Dad would smile at her that way.

  Lydia placed her hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I’m glad he liked your picture.” She lifted her dark bonnet from the kitchen wall peg and placed it on her head. “Are you ready to go?”

  He nodded and grinned up at her.

  “Good-bye, Mom. We’ll see you later tonight.” Lydia took Josh’s hand, and they hurried out the door.

  Mae’s stomach clenched as she watched out the window as Lydia and Josh got into the buggy. She hoped Lydia wouldn’t be swayed by Levi’s wit and handsome face and would have a better time with Menno and his boys tomorrow evening than she did with Levi and his family tonight. Lydia needed someone stable and serious-minded like Menno.

  When Lydia pulled her horse and buggy into the Stutzmans’ yard, she spotted Levi kneeling on the ground beside a scruffy-looking, black-and-white terrier. Next to him stood a small boy with reddish-brown hair and a face full of freckles. He wasn’t much bigger than Josh.

  When Levi caught sight of them, he left the dog and hurried over to their buggy. “I’ll put your horse away, and then Andy and I will take Josh to the barn to see the goat.”

  “I’d like to see it, too,” Lydia said. “That is, if you don’t mind me tagging along.”

  Levi hesitated a minute, then shook his head. “We won’t be eating for a while, so you’re welcome to join us.”

  As soon as Levi put the horse in the corral, he led Lydia, Josh, and Andy to the barn.

  “Here’s my gees.” Andy pointed to the small white goat, munching on a clump of hay in one of the stalls.

  “Can we pet him?” Josh asked.

  “Sure.” Levi opened the gate, and the boys stepped inside.

  When Josh dropped to his knees and stroked the goat’s head, the goat stopped eating and nuzzled his hand. “The gees likes me,” he said, looking up at Lydia with a wide grin. “He’s feischtielich.”

  She smiled. “I’m sure he’s very soft.”

  While Josh and Andy petted and fussed over the goat, Lydia and Levi sat on a bale of straw and visited.

  “How do you like it here in Charm?” Levi asked. “Is it much different from your home in Illinois?”

  Lydia shifted on the prickly straw. “The area’s definitely different, but what I miss most are my friends.”

  “I know what you mean. When my family moved here from Geauga County, we left lots of good friends.” He yanked a piece of straw from the bale he sat on and stuck it between his teeth. “Fortunately, Geauga County isn’t that far from here, so we can hire a driver and be there in less than two hours. Only trouble is, we’re so busy in the store most of the time that we have a hard time getting away.”

  “Do your friends from Geauga County ever come here to visit?”

  “Not yet, but I’m sure some of them will, eventually.”

  “Do you have family living there, too?”

  Levi nodded. “My aunt and uncle on my daed’s side, and I also have a few cousins there.”

  Lydia was tempted to ask if Levi’s relatives were little people, but she thought that might appear rude.

  “How about you? Do you have relatives living in Illinois?”

  She shook her head. “My husband’s family lives in Wisconsin. After he died, they invited me to move there, but I had a job and didn’t want to leave my home in Illinois.”

  They lapsed into a comfortable silence, broken only by the sound of an occasional ba–a–a, and the boys’ laughter as they played with the goat. Every once in a while, Levi looked at Lydia and smiled, but instead of making further conversation, he leaned his head against the wall and continued to chew on his piece of straw.

  Lydia wondered if Levi felt uncomfortable around her. But if that were so, then why’d he invite her to bring Josh over to see Andy’s goat? Maybe the conversation had lagged because he’d run out of things to say or was tired.

  Ding! Ding! Ding!

  “That’s the dinner bell,” Levi said, jumping up. “Mom must have everything ready to eat. Guess we’d better get the boys and head for the house.”

  Lydia rose from her seat and followed Levi to the goat’s stall. “It’s time for supper,” she said to Josh. “We need to go into the house now.”

  He scrunched up his nose. “Do we hafta go? Me and Andy was havin’ fun pettin’ the gees.”

  “My mamm rang the dinner bell, and that means she’s ready for us to eat.” Levi gave Josh a light tap on the head. “You can come over and play again some other time.”

  Andy scrambled to his feet and held his hand out to Josh. “Let’s go. I’m hungerich.”

  The goat let out a loud ba–a–a when they walked away, but Josh kept going, with only a quick glance over his shoulder.

  As they made their way through the cool grass, a warm wind rustled the trees overhead and caressed Lydia’s face. Despite being a bit nervous over meeting the rest of Levi’s family, she was glad she and Josh had come here tonight and hoped by the time they left that she’d feel fully relaxed.

  When Lydia entered Nona’s kitchen, a savory aroma greeted her. She was surprised to see a clean plastic runner covering the table, but at each place setting there was only a napkin and a glass of water—no silverware or plates.

  Nona stood on her tiptoes and greeted Lydia with a hug; then she introduced her and Josh to the rest of the family. “This is Peter, who’s t
en; Betty, who’s sixteen; Selma, age twelve, and Andy, whom you’ve already met, is eight.” She glanced over at the small man with thinning light brown hair who stood near the table. “And this is my husband, Harold, who’d probably prefer that I don’t tell his age.”

  Harold looked up at Lydia and grinned. “I don’t mind admitting that I turned fifty not long ago.” He held out his hand. “And it’s real nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Lydia said. “I was sorry to hear about your accident.”

  He gave a nod. “Jah, it was clumsy of me to trip and fall down the stairs, but my injuries could have been much worse.” He pushed his metal-framed glasses back in place and lifted the arm that bore a cast. “All I can say is, I’m glad to be doin’ as well as I am.”

  “I hope you’re hungry,” Nona said, “because I made plenty of Frogmore Stew.”

  Josh’s eyes widened as he shook his head. “I don’t want no frosch for supper.”

  Levi’s brothers and sisters exchanged glances; then they all began to laugh.

  “There are no frogs in the stew,” Nona said, “but I think you’re in for a pleasant surprise.” She motioned to the table. “Now if everyone will wait a few minutes to have a seat, Betty, Selma, and I will dish up the ‘good stuff.’ ”

  Lydia watched with interest as Nona held a large pot, and Betty ladled a blob of food on the table where each person would sit. The “good stuff” consisted of pieces of cut-up chicken, smoked sausage, shrimp, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers. Next to each blob of food Selma placed small containers of barbecue sauce, cocktail sauce, melted butter, and sour cream.

  “This is a fun meal that was passed down to me from my grandparents,” Nona explained after she’d directed everyone to take a seat. “It’s cooked in a broth we call the ‘icky stuff,’ and then we eat the ‘good stuff’ with our fingers. Now, if you should run out of anything, just call out what you need. If someone has extra pieces of that food, they’ll toss it to you.”

  Despite the unusual way they’d be eating this meal, Lydia thought it sounded like fun. Josh must have thought so, too, for the smile he wore stretched from ear to ear. Lydia figured he’d probably enjoy eating with his hands without being corrected for not using proper table manners.

  Lydia noted with interest that Nona’s children sat on stools that were higher than the chairs, so they could easily reach the table. Josh was also given a stool to sit on. Lydia and Levi sat on regular chairs, of course, and Levi’s folks were seated on a couple of thick catalogs that had been placed on their chairs.

  They bowed for silent prayer then dug right in. Everything tasted so good. Lydia especially enjoyed the shrimp dipped in cocktail sauce.

  The conversation around the table was pleasant, as Harold shared several humorous stories about his childhood days. Despite his arm being in a cast, he did quite well eating with only one hand. It didn’t take Lydia long to realize that everyone in Levi’s family had a sense of humor. She was pleased to see how well Josh fit in and was relieved that he didn’t ask any questions about why everyone in Levi’s family, with the exception of Levi, was so small. It was a lot different sharing a meal with these fun-loving people than sitting down to supper with Mom, who did nothing but complain and pick apart everything Josh or Lydia did. Being here this evening reminded Lydia of how it had been when Jeremiah was alive and the three of them had shared happy times together.

  Sometime later, Lydia looked down at her place at the table and was surprised to see that she’d eaten everything that had been set before her. She’d been having such a good time that she’d finished her meal without even realizing it.

  “The food was delicious, and so much fun to eat.” Lydia smiled at Nona. “I’ve never had anything like it before.”

  “No, I wouldn’t imagine so.” Harold chuckled and stroked his full, dark beard, streaked with a bit of gray. “Until I married Nona, I’d never had anything like it, either.”

  “I’d be happy to give you the recipe,” Nona said.

  Lydia smiled. “That’d be nice.”

  “What’s for dessert?” Andy asked when everyone finished eating and their final prayer had been said.

  Harold stepped down from his seat. “After all that food you put away, you can’t possibly be hungry.”

  Andy bobbed his head a few times. “If Mama made strawberry pie, then I’m hungerich.”

  “I think we’ll let our food settle awhile before we eat dessert,” Nona said. “Maybe after the pots and pans are done, we’ll be ready for pie.”

  While the women cleared the glasses off the table and washed them, along with the pots and pans, Levi and his father kept the boys entertained in the living room.

  I really have enjoyed being here tonight, Lydia thought as she carried several glasses to the sink. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much fun. I hope Mom will allow me to invite the Stutzmans to our house for supper sometime.

  CHAPTER 14

  Hold still and quit your rutschich,” Menno said as he attempted to comb Carl’s hair.

  “He’s squirmin’ ’cause he’s got an iemense in his pants.” Dennis snickered and poked his brother’s arm.

  Carl wrinkled his nose and returned the poke. “Do not have an ant in my pants.”

  “Bet ya do.” Another poke.

  “Do not!”

  “Do so!”

  “Sit down on the sofa and stop bothering your brother!” Menno had been rushing around for the last half hour trying to get the boys ready to go out to supper, and he was nearly out of patience with their silly antics. If they weren’t ready soon, they’d be late picking up Lydia and Josh.

  Dennis shuffled across the room and sank onto the sofa next to Ike. “How come Papa ain’t combin’ your hair?”

  “I combed my own, and get away from me ’cause you’re sittin’ too close.” Ike elbowed Dennis in the ribs.

  “Stop it!” Dennis slid to the other end of the sofa.

  “I want you all to be on your best behavior tonight,” Menno said. “And be nice to Lydia and Josh.”

  “Okay, Papa,” the boys said in unison.

  When Menno finished with Carl’s hair, he worked on Kevin’s. “I think we’d better go out to the kitchen and wet this comb,” he said in frustration. “Your hair’s sticking straight up, and I can’t get it to lay flat.”

  Kevin followed Menno out to the kitchen, while Carl joined his brothers on the sofa.

  When Menno returned to the living room he discovered that Carl and Dennis were gone.

  “Where’s your brieder?” he asked Ike.

  The boy shrugged. “Don’t know. Think they went outside.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “They left the room as soon as you and Kevin went to the kitchen, and I heard the front door open.”

  “That’s just great.” Menno grunted. “At this rate we will be late picking up Lydia and Josh.”

  He stepped onto the porch and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Dennis! Carl! I need you in here, right now!”

  No response. No sign of the boys in the yard, either.

  He gritted his teeth and started across the lawn. Most likely, they had gone to the barn and were fooling around. With his luck they’d probably gotten dirty, too.

  The barn door squeaked as he opened it, reminding him that it needed a good oiling. He grimaced. It seemed like there were more jobs to do around here than he would ever get done. If he didn’t have to cook, clean, and take care of the boys, he’d have more time to keep up with all the outside and inside repairs that needed to be done. When Sadie was alive, he’d never really appreciated everything she’d done to keep up the house and look after the boys.

  Of course, he reminded himself, if we hadn’t moved here from Pennsylvania, I’d have the help of my family right now and wouldn’t be trying to do everything on my own.

  Seeing no sign of Carl or Dennis in the barn, he called their names, thinking the
y might be hiding in the loft.

  No reply.

  Menno groaned. Those boys had better not be hiding from me. He stepped out of the barn and went around back to look out in the field. As he approached the silo, he stopped and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Carl! Dennis!”

  “We’re in here, Papa,” came a muffled voice. “We’re trapped in the silo.”

  Menno started grabbing silage and pulling it away from the opening leading to the chute. “What in the world are you two doing in there?”

  “We got bored waitin’ for you to comb Kevin’s hair, so we went outside, and then…” Dennis’s voice trailed off as he sneezed. “We came in here to play, and when we tried to get out, we couldn’t, ’cause the entrance was blocked.”

  “We cried for help, but no one came.” Carl sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

  “Well, that was a dumb thing to do,” he scolded. “You could have suffocated in here.”

  By the time Menno managed to get enough silage moved away so the boys could slip out, his clothes were dirty, and of course, theirs were, too.

  “Now, because of your little stunt, all three of us will have to wash up and change our clothes.” Menno motioned to the house. “Thanks to you two, we’ll be late picking up Lydia and Josh.”

  The boys hung their heads as they shuffled toward the house.

  Menno lifted his face toward the cloudless sky. Oh Lord, what am I gonna do with these boys of mine?

  Lydia glanced at the battery-operated clock on the kitchen wall. It was almost five thirty, and Menno had said he’d pick them up at five. She hoped he hadn’t forgotten or changed his mind about taking her and Josh to supper, because Josh was really looking forward to going. For the last thirty minutes, he’d been sitting on the porch swing, staring at the driveway.

  “Wasn’t Menno supposed to pick you up at five?” Mom asked, stepping into the kitchen.

  Lydia nodded and glanced at the clock again.

  Mom touched her arm. “Don’t look so worried. I’m sure something must have come up to detain him. He’ll probably be here any minute.”