Sweet as Honey

by Jennifer Beckstrand

  “Lily does. Just look at Paul,” Luke said.

  Dan deflated like a balloon. Paul was more than a grump. He was downright cantankerous, and he would ruin Lily in a matter of weeks after they married.

  Luke glanced at Dan, and the corners of his mouth drooped. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Dan swallowed the lump in his throat. “It’s true. I just don’t like it.”

  Luke growled low and deep. “Oh, sis yuscht, I hate Paul Glick.”

  Josiah shook his head. “You shouldn’t say that.” He was always the one to chastise Dan and Luke if they strayed too far from the straight and narrow. “Jesus wants us to love everyone.”

  “Some folks are extra hard to love.”

  It only took the three of them half an hour to paint the barn door, but with the time it had taken to round up his friends and mix the paint, it must have been almost ten o’clock. Morning was going to come plenty early.

  They stepped back and looked at their handiwork by the light of the flashlight. They’d successfully covered the nasty words. Rose would never suspect they’d been there. The color didn’t look quite right in the dim light, but Lord willing, it would be close enough.

  Luke gathered all the dirty paintbrushes in his empty bucket. “Not too bad for a paint job in the dark.”

  “As long as Rose is happy, I’m happy,” Josiah said.

  Luke leaned toward Josiah as if he were spilling a big secret. “She doesn’t know you’re alive, remember?”

  Josiah pressed his lips into a hard line. “She will.”

  Luke smirked. “As long as you don’t scare her off first.”

  Dan snapped his head around when he heard the front door open. Someone came toward them holding a lantern in her hand. He tried not to let his heart gallop when he saw that it was Lily. She hesitated at the last flagstone, holding her lantern higher as if to make sure the three boys standing in front of her barn were friendly. She wore her gray dress and a black bonnet but had no shoes.

  He hoped they hadn’t awakened her. “Is everything okay?”

  She smiled tentatively and took his question as an invitation to come closer. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you were out here slaving away on my barn. I came to see if you needed my help.”

  “We’re all done,” Dan said. “It was as easy as pies and cakes.”

  They stepped aside so Lily could see the new paint. She opened her mouth as if to speak and promptly closed it again. She got closer to the barn door and held the lantern against it. “Uh . . . the color is . . .”

  “We mixed four different colors to get it right,” Dan said. “What do you think?”

  “It’s . . .” She let out a long breath. The lantern reflected the warm glow in her eyes when she turned to him. “It’s perfect. Perfect. I can’t believe the three of you did this for us. We’re not even family.”

  “Anything for Rose,” Josiah said. Luke nudged him in the back with his shoulder. “All the Honeybee Schwesters,” Josiah added.

  Dan stifled a grin.

  “I hope you know how grateful I am,” Lily said. “For everything.” The look she gave him could have melted ice on Shawano Lake. The air grew twenty degrees warmer, like a tropical heat wave.

  He wanted to bask in that smile forever, but there was really no reason to hang around now that the barn was done. His mind raced for an excuse to stay.

  Luke turned his back on Lily so only Dan could see the look on his face. He smirked and cocked an eyebrow. “I’ve got to get going.”

  Dan did his best not to act disappointed that he’d be forced to leave. “Okay. I’ll drive you home.”

  Luke picked up his paint cans and bucket full of paintbrushes. “No need. I’m the Christners’ nearest neighbor. I’ll walk.”

  He turned and sauntered down the lane, no doubt with a smug grin plastered on his face.

  Josiah had his own way home. He’d ridden his horse over. He picked up his paint cans and set them in Dan’s buggy. “I’ll fetch these from you tomorrow,” he said, nodding as if he were the smartest friend in the world. “We will see you later, Lily. Tell Rose I said hello.”

  “I don’t know if that would be such a good idea,” Lily said.

  Josiah seemed to wilt. “Oh. Okay.”

  Lily laid a hand on Josiah’s arm. “Rose will wonder where I saw you between suppertime and bedtime. She might grow suspicious yet.”

  Josiah stood up straighter. “Your reasoning is wise.”

  She smiled that summery smile again. “I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you as soon as an opportunity arises. Anyone who comes in the middle of the night to paint my barn deserves a good word.”

  Dan could see Josiah trying not to smile too hard as he mounted his horse and waved good-bye.

  “That was nice of you,” Dan said under his breath.

  “Josiah is a gute man. I like him very much.”

  He really liked her smile. It almost made him wish the Amish weren’t against photographs. He’d take a thousand pictures of Lily’s face.

  Standing close together, they watched Josiah disappear down the lane. Being with Lily felt comfortable, like coming home. Like a bowl of warm bread pudding. Like the song of a bird outside his bedroom window or the touch of his dat’s strong arm around his shoulders. There were no awkward silences that he felt obliged to fill, no clumsy words he needed to say. He savored every second of nearness to Lily because any moment now she would break the connection and tell him he had to go.

  “It’s a beautiful night,” she said. “I know it’s late, but would you like to sit for a minute on the porch?”

  Would he? “I don’t want to keep you up too late.”

  “I can’t sleep.” She gazed at him doubtfully. “But if you need to go, I understand. Cows come early in the morning.”

  “I wouldn’t be able to sleep even if someone hit me over the head with a two-by-four.” She had turned him inside out. He might not ever sleep again.

  “Cum then. Let’s sit.”

  He took the lantern from her, and they sat on the top porch step looking out at the barn, which they couldn’t really see in the dark. “You worked everything out with Rose?”

  Lily nodded. “I told Aunt Bitsy and Poppy about the barn. They were very grateful that you were painting it.”

  He wanted to ask her who she thought might be making mischief on their farm, but he didn’t want to upset her on such a pleasant evening. When he had offered to paint the barn, he was thinking as much about Lily’s feelings as he was about Rose’s. The message troubled Dan greatly, but Lily didn’t need to know that.

  “Are you cold?” he asked when she wrapped her arms around herself.

  “A little.”

  He leaped to his feet and retrieved the SpongeBob blanket from his buggy. A tingle traveled up his arms as he laid the blanket over her shoulders. “You know, we’ve never talked about that book,” he said, sitting down and leaning back on his hands.

  “Did you cry at the end?”

  He nudged her shoulder with his. “Bawled like a baby.”

  She beamed like the moon itself. “It takes a strong man to admit that.”

  Dan tilted his head and gazed at the stars while Lily gave her opinion about Where the Red Fern Grows. He could have listened to her rich, lilting voice all night. She laughed at something funny he said. He told her she was clever.

  All the while, he fought hard to keep his thoughts on the book and the stars and even the barn door instead of imagining how nice it would be to wrap Lily in his arms and kiss those soft, inviting lips.

  Ach du lieva.

  He never should have thought about the lips. Once the idea crept into his mind, he found it impossible to think on anything else. As they sat there talking about books and beehives, the urge to kiss her grew so powerful, he gripped the edge of the step to keep from moving any closer.

  Lily had a boyfriend. Lily didn’t care one whit for boys like Dan Kanagy. Lily was too wonderful to
hope for.

  Dan practically erupted in an effort to get on his feet and get moving—away from those lips and the cute little dimple that appeared every time she smiled. Lily would not appreciate an uninvited kiss. She’d be appalled if she guessed Dan’s thoughts were within a hundred feet of her lips.

  “Ach,” he said. “I need to go.”

  He took heart from the fact that she looked disappointed. “Jah. I should get to bed before Rose wakes up and realizes I’m missing. Denki for painting the barn.”

  He held up his hand to stop more gratitude. “It was my pleasure, Amtrak.”

  Smiling almost sadly, she handed him the blanket and said good night. He waited on the steps until he saw her safely into the house. Painting the barn had been his pleasure. But it had also been his profound pain.

  It was torture squeezing bits of hope from every word she spoke, every smile she gave him. Despair and faith warred constantly inside his head. Would she send him crashing to the pavement with an engagement announcement? Had he run out of the time before he’d even started?

  He shook his head. She had smiled at him. A lot. She had laughed and teased and held on tight when she thought there was danger. Surely she liked him.

  He’d grab every shred of hope she offered him. Maybe it would be enough to keep him from falling on his face.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lily dialed the number for the market, feeling almost ashamed for hoping that Paul would not be there.

  “Hello, Glick’s Amish Market.”

  Her heart sank at the sound of Paul’s voice. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to Paul, she just didn’t want to talk to him today. She’d already wasted precious time hiking to the phone shack. She didn’t want to have to spend time explaining herself. “Paul?”

  “Lily?”

  “I got your note this morning.”

  “Gute. I want you to come and see what I’ve done at the market. Peter and I rearranged the displays so the Amish-made jams and jellies are right at the front of the store. We’re going to put your honey there too.”

  “It sounds wonderful-gute, Paul,” Lily said, steeling herself against his reaction. “But I can’t come to the market today.”

  She heard the frown in his voice. “Why not? I had Perry make sure to deliver the note early so you could rearrange your plans.”

  “We’re pulling honey today, Paul. Poppy and Rose have already started, and I need to get back to help. I called because I didn’t want you to wait for me.”

  “Of all the stuff, Lily. How long will that take?”

  “All day for the next three or four days,” Lily said.

  “Four days?” She could tell the frown deepened without having to see it.

  “Sorry, Paul. We have a lot of hives.” Lily paused for barely a moment and wondered if Paul even knew how many hives they had. Dan Kanagy knew the number of hives plus where they were located.

  She shook her head in an attempt to banish that thought. Paul was her boyfriend. His good qualities greatly outweighed the fact that he didn’t know how many hives she had. Lately, it seemed she’d been almost purposefully trying to find fault with him. What was wrong with her?

  “Let’s hope you don’t get too much honey. We’d hate to be stuck with a surplus at the store.”

  “I don’t think there can ever be too much.”

  Paul sighed loudly. “That’s because I promised we’d buy all of it. You know we’re taking a risk.”

  Lily felt a twinge of guilt that Paul would buy all her honey no matter what. It only proved what a good person he was. “You know I’m grateful, Paul. Your family has always been gute to us.”

  “I know. Don’t mention it. I just wish you could come to the market today. Can’t your sisters take care of the honey?”

  Lily didn’t want to argue with him, not when he was being so nice about the honey. “Maybe I can come on Saturday.”

  “Saturday? That’s almost a whole week away.” She knew he was pouting on the other end of the phone. She just didn’t know what she could do about it. “You would think my girlfriend would make more of an effort to see her boyfriend, if I really mean that much to you.”

  “Paul, you are very special to me.”

  “It doesn’t seem like it,” he said. “It sounds like you don’t even want to come.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Paul. We have to get the honey in.” Silence on the other end. “We have extra help today. Maybe we’ll finish early enough that I can come over tonight. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see.”

  “Who’s helping?”

  Oh dear. She shouldn’t have said anything. He might be pouting now, but he’d be positively petulant if he ever found out who was helping with the honey. “A boy from town.”

  Technically true. Miles away from the truth as far as Paul was concerned.

  “Don’t pay him more than five dollars an hour.”

  “We won’t.” Dan had volunteered to help. Dan was irrationally excited to help. He would be offended if they offered him money.

  Paul would be offended if he knew she’d allowed Dan onto her property. Lily bit her tongue. One more thing Paul would never have to know. She didn’t even feel guilty about that list anymore. Paul was happier not knowing. What could be so bad about that?

  “I’ll see you on Saturday then,” she said.

  “Okay, I guess.”

  Lily hung up the phone and sighed with her whole body. Was it her imagination, or were conversations with Paul becoming more and more taxing? It was so hard finding the right words to keep him happy, measuring her responses so he didn’t get offended or think she was arguing with him. Sometimes, she simply wanted to say what she thought without the fear of ruffling Paul’s feathers.

  She huffed out a sigh and forced her lips into a smile. It would be better when they were married and she had more freedom to speak her mind.

  She gingerly made her way down the steep incline to the dirt road. Six families shared the phone shack partially hidden in the trees far enough off the road that a casual passerby wouldn’t see it. Poppy wanted the family to get their own phone. The bishop probably would have allowed it since they had a honey business. Most Amish businesses in Bienenstock had phones.

  Still, Lily had talked it over with Paul, and he hadn’t seen the need for it, especially since their business was small and they didn’t deal with the public all that much. Paul’s family took care of all the sales details, and they could always take the short ride into town if they needed anything else. Still, on days like today when a phone would have saved her nearly half an hour of precious honey time, Lily was tempted to covet one.

  She quickened her steps, wishing she hadn’t taken the extra time to call Paul. He would have been furious when she hadn’t shown up at the market, so the choice between losing precious honey time and angering Paul hadn’t been much of a choice. She’d just have to work extra fast to make up for being gone for half an hour.

  She heard a horse and buggy come up behind her. “Daddy Long Legs,” Dan Kanagy called. Ach. The last thing she needed was Dan’s insults. She had dressed in her beekeeping clothes first thing this morning since they were going to be working with the bees on and off all day. He didn’t need to remind her how inappropriate he thought her outfit was.

  She didn’t have the heart to be mad at him, though. He had spent Saturday evening painting her barn just to protect Rose’s feelings. He could call her whatever he wanted, and she resolved not to be cross.

  She turned to him, and his smile completely disarmed her. He stood in his two-seater courting buggy as the horse pulled it down the road, oozing with enthusiasm and waving as if there might be a chance she hadn’t seen him. He stopped his buggy next to her and transferred both reins to one hand. “What pleasant surprises you can find by the side of the road!”

  She shooed his flattery away. After the Daddy Long Legs comment, she didn’t believe him anyway.

  He
held out his hand to her. “Would you like a ride? I assume we’re going to the same place.”

  A reluctant smile fought through her wounded feelings, and she held out her hand and let him pull her into the buggy. A ride with Dan would save her a few minutes. Maybe they’d get the orchard hives done today.

  Dan couldn’t seem to stop smiling as he prodded the horse with a gentle tap of the reins. “Out for a stroll before we do honey?”

  “Nae. I had to call Paul.”

  Did his lips droop slightly? “Is he coming to help?”

  Lily shook her head. “He wrote me a letter asking me to come to the market today. He didn’t know we were doing honey. I had to call and tell him I wouldn’t be coming.”

  His lips twitched, as if he were thinking of something clever to say. “He wrote you a letter? He lives not a half hour away.”

  Her gaze fell to the floor of the buggy. “He finds it convenient to send letters.”

  “I see.” He prodded the horse to go faster. “I’m sorry I’m late. Bitsy said to be here at six but I had to finish helping Dat and my bruders milk the cows.”

  “Your help is very much appreciated, tardy or not.”

  “Gute, because I wouldn’t have missed it, even if Dat had forced me to milk a thousand cows first.”

  In good conscience, she couldn’t let his excitement go unchecked. “Dan,” she said, pinning him with a serious look. “I have to tell you something.”

  His smile faded. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Besides the Daddy Long Legs comment? “I know you are excited about helping with the honey today, and while it is gratifying to see full jars of honey lining the shelves of the pantry, you will not have a gute time.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I won’t?”

  “Pulling honey is hard work. The supers are heavy, the bees can be uncooperative, and it’s hot and uncomfortable because we have to keep the doors to the honey house closed tight or we’ll get swarmed with bees. And”—she took a deep breath—“it’s likely you’ll get stung.” She slumped her shoulders. “I should have told you the other night when you volunteered, but I was being selfish. I thought it would be nice to have your help.”