by Gail Sattler
Chad closed his eyes. As he listened to the pastor’s prayers and murmurs of agreement from the congregation, he felt his throat tighten, and his eyes started to burn.
Since hopefully everyone there had their eyes closed, he quickly swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, preparing himself for the group’s “amen.”
“Welcome, Chad Jones! Now let us all turn to hymn number 447, and let us sing ‘Who Is on the Lord’s Side.’ ”
Pastor opened his hymnal to the page already bookmarked, held it so they could both see it, and began to sing. Having to concentrate on reading the music helped Chad to focus and compose himself, so by the time they’d finished and Pastor had given the closing prayer, he was okay to talk to people without blubbering like an idiot.
More people came to him than he’d expected, although a very noticeable absence was Anna’s father. Without her parents, Anna had moved to sit beside Kathleen. Chad gladly accepted Pastor Jake’s invitation to lunch, and he thought it quite interesting that Pastor Jake and Kathleen had automatically assumed Anna would be with him.
By the time everyone had filtered out, it was later than the usual end time for the service. Along with Anna, he helped Pastor and Kathleen tidy up the lobby and make sure all the hymnals were tucked neatly into the shelves on the backs of the pews, and waited while Pastor locked up the building. Two other couples had already arrived by the time they arrived at Pastor’s house, comfortably sitting on chairs near the door and chatting.
One of the ladies, whose name he couldn’t remember, smiled at him. “I see that you have walked here. I was hoping you would have your shiny red car, so that you could take us for a ride. I have heard of your car.” Her voice lowered. “And I have seen it parked at Frank’s store.”
Chad bit back a grin. No matter where he went, his shiny car was quite visible. Even back in Minneapolis, the vivid red made it easy to find in most parking lots, at least the smaller ones. Here, in any parking area, it was impossible to miss. Besides the bright color, it was the only car in sight.
Her husband frowned and rested his palm on her forearm. “Mary, do not ask such a thing. Many people would like to ride in Chad’s car, but he will not drive it unless it is a necessary thing.”
Chad couldn’t hold back his grin. Now he knew her name. He turned to Mary’s husband, whose name he knew was Robert, then back to Mary. “I certainly don’t mind when people need a ride. If you have something heavy to carry or are going a longer distance that you’d rather not walk, just give me a call.”
She smiled at him. “Danke shoen. I will do that.”
The other lady, whose name he knew was Catherine, looked at him from her seat. “Would it be acceptable if I can have a ride in your fine car as well? I have heard the seats are very soft.”
Chad frowned. “Who did you hear that from?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I do not remember.”
“Sure, you can have a ride, too.”
Anna’s elbow poking him in the ribs made him turn. “I hope you realize that if you start giving rides in your car to a few people, you will have many more requests.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t mind. It’s not like anyplace around here is far to go.” The farthest he’d been from home had been George Rempel’s farm, and for that trip, they’d taken the bikes. Besides, it wasn’t like he had a lot else to do. Piney Meadows wasn’t exactly a hub of activity.
Anna leaned closer. “I am saying this because everyone finds your car very attractive. Especially the ladies.”
The conversation he’d had with Brian about him wanting to drive the car flashed through his memory. With the ladies suddenly asking to be taken for a ride in his car, he wondered what exactly Brian had done with it on his alleged “test” drive while Chad was in the store doing his grocery shopping.
He stepped toward the door but stopped on the porch when Pastor Jake, frowning deeply, stopped. “This shiny red car of yours, it is causing quite a stir. As you know, I have a car and Ted had a car, but they do not look like your car.”
In the back of his mind, Chad pictured both cars. Both were plain, basic, dull, and functional. The only other non-farm vehicle in town was Brian’s beat-up pickup truck. The opposite of those vehicles, Chad’s car was built for speed, looks, and impressing the women.
He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but apparently, the car had done what it was designed to do. He’d known all along that his car was an oddity here, but now, looking at it from a different perspective, it was wrong for this community and especially wrong for the lifestyle here. It was flashy and sexy and went from zero to sixty in 5.8 seconds, while he doubted the pastor’s car had ever made it to sixty in the ten years he’d owned it. He’d seen Pastor Jake drive. Little old ladies in Minneapolis drove faster and with more flare than Pastor Jake.
He had a feeling he was going to be getting a lot more use out of his car, just driving people around.
As he scanned both couples, who were still watching him, Chad thought back to giving his testimony. It had probably been the hardest thing he’d ever done, facing them while laying his soul bare for all to see. While he’d seen many faces and hearts close up, more had opened, and even though no one here approved of his past, he felt more accepted into their hearts in those few minutes than he had in the past six months he’d been here.
Up until now, except for Anna’s mother, no one had asked him for a ride in his car, but now, as a new official member of their church, already he’d had two requests. With more people accepting him into their tight-knit community, he couldn’t help thinking that he was going to be spending more on gas, especially since the price of gas had just gone up again.
In his mind, he pictured Brian changing the price per gallon on the sign at his gas station. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford a few dollars; he was just annoyed it was going to cost him more money.
Chad smiled. For the first time, he’d been annoyed rather than accepting that something was going to cost him more money. Maybe he really was starting to fit into this Mennonite community after all.
Kathleen opened the door and waved them all inside. “Lote onns nenn gone en meddach äte. Let us go in and have lunch. I had everything in the oven cooking while we were at church, and now everything is ready to eat. The table is already set. Let us go eat.”
“We need to go shopping.”
Anna’s fingers froze over her keyboard, and she stared at Chad, standing in the doorway of his office with one hand resting over his stomach.
“Wuá romm sajst dü dit? Why are you saying this? And why do you say this now?”
He extended his hand, showing a button in his palm. With his hand sticking out, it showed that the waistband of his pants was loose.
Quickly, Anna averted her eyes. “This is something I do not wish to see,” she grumbled as she pushed herself to her feet. “I will go get a needle and a spool of thread from the factory.”
“No, that’s not what I need. What I need are some new pants. With all the great food everyone’s been giving me, and the recipes I’ve picked up to make all my own favorites for myself, I’ve been putting on a pound or two a month, and I’m afraid it’s caught up with me. All my pants are too tight. I think today’s lunch pushed me over the point of no return.” As if to emphasize his words, he made a fist, raised his hand to cover his mouth, and burped.
As Anna turned to look at him, his cheeks and his ears reddened. “Oops. Excuse me,” he muttered. “Your mother’s Schmoor kohl always does that to me.”
Just because he’d made a point of it, Anna lowered her gaze to look at his belly. Since his shirt was neatly tucked into his pants nothing was exposed; therefore, she could contemplate the truth of his words. He was right in that he had gained some weight since he’d first arrived, but that was not a bad thing. When he’d first arrived he’d been far too thin, which he’d attributed to too many nights of working late and not eating supper, plus too much coffee to keep him wired, as he called i
t.
Anna, as well as all of the other unmarried ladies in Piney Meadows, had considered him very handsome even then. Now that he had filled out a little more, his good looks were an even greater conversation point during the ladies’ group sessions.
“I am thinking you would like to go shopping now, rather than when we have done our work for the day.”
He nodded. “You’ve got that right. Besides, if we go now, fewer people will see me with a button missing. This is kind of embarrassing.”
“Not as embarrassing as if you had split the seam. Let us go.”
As they walked to the store, which was only a few blocks from the factory, Anna couldn’t help feeling that Chad was not walking at as fast a pace as usual. Just as she was ready to tell him to walk faster so they could get back to work in good time, he slowed even more.
“While we’re away from the office, I need to talk to you about something.”
Her stomach clenched. The tone of his voice told her that this was not going to be a conversation she was going to enjoy. “Waut wursht dü mie saje? What did you want to say to me?”
He cleared his throat. “I’m not really sure of how to say this, but I think I’ve been put back on the eligible-bachelors list, and I want to be taken off.”
She wanted to say she had no idea what he meant, but suddenly many of the questions she’d been asked about him in the last few days made sense. “I have heard that you have had many requests to have rides in your car.”
“That’s right, and at first I didn’t think anything of it, but after thinking of everyone who’s asked, it’s only single ladies. I’d expected the guys to be the ones to ask. Back in the city, when we had nothing to do on a Friday or Saturday night, me and a bunch of my friends would just hop in the car and go cruising. But here, the same rules don’t apply.”
“You would go cruising? How can this be? Minneapolis is landlocked. There are no cruise ships there.”
“No, not boat cruising. We’d all throw in some money to split the gas and ride around the hot spots in town until the gas gauge went down, then we’d go home and call it a night. ‘Cruising’ in the car.”
“Do you mean you would drive around, with no specific destination? Why would you do that?”
“Just for something to do. It’s a guy thing. But not only is there nothing to see here, it’s not the guys who are asking. It’s the ladies.”
Anna sucked in a deep breath. “Some of the ladies have asked if you will be needing help when you find Brittany and the baby.” She didn’t want to tell him, but knowing Chad was going to be a single father had regenerated interest in him as a potential husband. Many young ladies hoped that Chad would be looking for a wife to help him raise the baby, even if it wasn’t full custody.
Chad stiffened as he walked, though he didn’t walk any faster. “I know the reason for the sudden interest, and even though I’m going to need help, what they’re all thinking isn’t going to be how I’m going to do this. When I get married, it’s going to be for love and love only. Not for daycare help.” He stopped walking, forcing Anna to skid to a halt and turn around. “What about you, Anna? Do you want to get married?”
She gulped. Of course, she wanted to get married. And, like Chad, she would get married for love, not because her parents selected a man they liked and thought he would be a good addition to their family. Unfortunately, no man here affected her heart that way, although if Chad had been here sooner, she certainly would not be thinking the same way. Like all the other ladies, she couldn’t help liking him. In fact, when she thought about him, she liked him far too much. All the odd things about him, things he would not change about himself, like his love for cooking and the strange way he cared for his chickens, made her like him so much more.
When she finished her online courses and found a place in Minneapolis to live, she would miss him. Greatly.
She turned, not able to look at him as she spoke. If she allowed it, she could easily fall in love with him, but it was not in her plan. “Yes, I will get married some day. But it will not be for a long time.” It would not be fair to another man to carry a liking for Chad in her heart, so before she considered marriage, she would be gone from Piney Meadows and gone from Chad Jones. “Come, we must get to the store. I have much work to do.”
He resumed walking, and this time he accelerated to his normal walking pace.
Once inside the store, she led him to the men’s clothing. “Which is your size?” she asked with her hand hovering over the rack containing the pants.
Apparently, he didn’t need her help. Without answering, he flipped through the rack, pulled a pair of pants, and held them up, examining both the front and back.
He frowned, draped them over one arm, flipped through the rack a second time, pulled out a different pair, also examined both sides, and draped that pair over his arm as well.
A third time, he did the same, but stopped when he saw there were only two styles in different colors, and he had one of each.
He swept his free hand in the air toward the rack. “Is this all there is?”
“Besides the jeans, yes. Does this surprise you? You go shopping often. I know you have been here before.”
He lowered his hand. “Only once, and I rushed in and bought exactly what I needed, which was a coat, boots, and an emergency off-the-rack suit, and I was out of here in five minutes flat. Other than that, the only thing I shop for is groceries. Which is why I’m now buying new pants.”
“This is all there is, unless you go to the next town. They have a larger store there, but that should not be necessary. I believe those will fit you just fine.”
He held one pair up to his waist. “I’ve worn the same size for years, so I’ve never needed to try anything on, but I think I’d better do that. This isn’t my usual style, and I’m not sure of these.”
While he went into the men’s changing room Anna walked to the sale rack of ladies’ clothing and browsed through the blouses. Not that she needed anything, but when she started a job in the cities she’d need more than her current wardrobe of the same style of blue dresses that now filled her closet.
Just as she selected a pretty green blouse, Chad appeared beside her.
“If this is all they have here for men’s pants, then I see why everyone always wears suspenders. Part of me is saying I don’t have a choice, but another part of me is saying if I want to run with the crowd, this is the way to be. My only other choice would be wearing jeans or sweatpants to the office, and neither one of those is going to happen.” He looked down to the blouse draped over her arm. “Do you like that one? Let me see it. Do you want it?”
She held it up to show him. “Yes. I am trying to buy one new item of clothing every payday. I am a few days early, but this will save me a trip later in the week.”
He removed it from her hand and draped it over his arm, on top of the two pairs of pants. He also carried a small basket piled with smaller and sundry items, on top of which was a pair of suspenders. “Let’s go pay for all this stuff and get back to work.”
She allowed him to carry the blouse for her, but when they reached the till, he didn’t separate the blouse from his own items.
“Nein,” she said to the cashier from behind Chad. “That is not his. That is mine.”
Chad peeked over his shoulder. “Nope. I’m going to buy that for you. My treat, since this is company time.”
“Since this is company time, my time is already being paid for. I do not need you to do this.”
“But I want to,” he replied, then turned back to the cashier. “Keep going. That’s on my bill.”
“Thank you,” she muttered, trying to be gracious rather than embarrassed. No man had ever bought her anything, much less an item of clothing, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it, since it wasn’t her birthday or any other occasion.
When they arrived back at the factory, Chad went straight into his office, and the door closed. When it opened, he had changed into o
ne of the new pairs of pants he’d purchased, complete with suspenders. He sucked in a deep breath, pressed both hands over his stomach, and grinned. “This sure feels better. Maybe this suspender thing isn’t going to be so strange after all. It’s actually pretty comfortable.”
Instead of returning to his desk, he reached into the shopping bag he’d placed in one of his visitor’s chairs and lifted out her new blouse and a small box. After she accepted the blouse from him, he held out his hand toward her, the small box cradled in his palm. “I bought this for you. I probably should have wrapped it, but I forgot to buy wrapping paper.”
She stared at the small box. “I do not understand. What is this for?”
He grinned. “It’s a gift.”
“But it is not my birthday.”
“I know that. But it’s not a birthday gift. It’s just a little something for no reason in particular. Just something to say I’m thinking of you. Take it.”
She didn’t know why he would want her to know he was thinking of her since she saw him every day anyway, but her hand trembled as she opened the lid of the box.
Anna gasped at the small gold heart hanging on a delicate gold chain nestled on a soft velvet liner.
“I hope you like it.”
“It . . . it is beautiful! What is this for?”
“It’s a heart, Anna. Figure it out. Here, let me put it on you.”
All she could do was stare at it—she didn’t trust her fingers to stop shaking to pick up the delicate piece of jewelry. Unable to move, she watched as Chad reached into the box and lifted it out.
“Put your chin down. Now hold still.”
She lowered her chin and pressed it into her chest, while Chad slipped the chain around her throat and clipped the tiny fastener together behind her neck. “There. Done. Let’s see what it looks like on you.”
She couldn’t help pressing her fingers to the small heart, which of course prevented him from seeing it.
All he did was smile. “Okay, break time’s over. Let’s get back to work.”
