“But if I do, would you bid on it for me?”
Delbert’s eyebrows rose. “Why would I bid on it? You’re the one who wants it.”
“I—I know, but if I try to call out a bid, I’ll get tongue-tied and start stuttering.”
“Here’s what I’ve got to say about that. If you really want to meet the girl, then you’ll call out the bid, even if you have to trip over your own tongue.”
Joseph kept his gaze straight ahead. He’d wait until he saw the finished cake and then try to persuade his friend to do the bidding. After all, Dell had told him several times that he’d do almost anything for him.
Chapter 17
The cake pans were finally in the oven, and it was time for Thelma to remove the cake they had brought from its container. Placing it on the table, she faced the audience, removed the lid, and lifted the cake plate out. “Oh no,” she murmured, staring in disbelief. Their cake was even more lopsided than it had been last night. The trip to Shipshewana, with Rusty acting up, had obviously not helped.
Thelma looked at Elma, who was clearly upset. “What happened to our cake?” Elma whispered, giving her a sidelong glance. “It looks baremlich.”
Thelma couldn’t argue with that; the cake did look terrible. Not only was the top lopsided, but the frosting barely covered the sides. What icing was left on the cake seemed to have accumulated on the plate, around the base. The cake must not have been cool enough, which had caused the frosting to run. No one will ever bid on this now. We ought to leave the stage, Thelma thought. I’ll explain things later, she mouthed to Elma.
A middle-aged English man approached the stage with some paperwork. He talked to the woman in charge, and when they parted, he grabbed the microphone.
“All right, now, who’ll start the bidding with five dollars?” he shouted.
Thelma gulped, feeling trapped by the audience. There was no way they could leave the stage—at least not until they’d become thoroughly embarrassed, because she was certain no one would place even one bid on this pitiful cake. I should have listened to my sister and gotten out of this event.
Joseph leaned over and whispered something.
“What was that, Joe?” Delbert asked.
Joseph’s ears turned pink, like they always did when he was embarrassed. “I need you to bid on the cake for me.”
Delbert frowned. “Why would you want a lopsided cake?”
“It’s for a good cause, and I want to meet that girl. Come on, Dell. I’ll give you the money for it.”
“Okay, but you’re gonna owe me for this.” Delbert lifted his hand. “Five dollars!”
“I’ll make it ten!”
Delbert looked at Joseph, and they both looked around the room. Where had that deep voice come from, upping the bid?
“Fifteen,” Joseph whispered. “Hurry, Dell, do it now.”
“Fifteen dollars!” Delbert shouted. Looking at Joseph, he chuckled. “Think I’m getting into this bidding game, especially since I’m spending your money.”
“Twenty!” the other bidder hollered.
Delbert looked at his buddy again, and when Joseph nodded, Delbert raised his hand and upped the bid—this time for thirty dollars.
Excitement wafted over the crowd. Some people even clapped.
“Fifty dollars!” the other man shouted, a little louder this time. Was there no stopping this fellow? Why was he so desperate to have a pathetic-looking cake?
“Go higher,” Joseph prompted, bumping Delbert’s arm. “Take it up to sixty.”
Delbert raised his hand again. “Sixty dollars!”
“Seventy!”
Joseph, rocking back and forth in his chair, looked almost desperate. “Go to eighty. I—I want that c–cake.” He wiped his sweaty forehead. The poor guy had started stuttering. Delbert knew he’d better get that cake, no matter what it cost. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Eighty dollars!”
By this time, the audience was in an uproar. Some people stood, and even more applauded. Delbert and Joseph kept their eyes on the auctioneer.
“Eighty dollars once… Eighty dollars twice… Do we have another bid on this unusual cake?”
Delbert watched the two women onstage, holding the cake with quizzical expressions. They were probably as surprised as the audience that two men were bidding on their crazy-looking dessert.
“I’ll make it ninety!” the other bidder bellowed.
The crowd whooped and hollered even louder. Several started shouting, “Higher! Higher! Higher!”
Delbert looked at Joseph. “Now what?” He glanced around, trying to see who was bidding against him, but it was so crowded, he couldn’t tell.
“Go again, Dell. Make it one hundred.” Joseph pointed his finger toward the ceiling. “Raise the bid. Hurry, please.”
Delbert’s hand shot up. “One hundred dollars!”
“One hundred going once… One hundred going twice…”
Delbert held his breath, waiting to see if the deep voice would speak again and outbid him, but all was quiet.
“Sold—to the man wearing a blue shirt in the fourth row!”
“Th–that’s you,” Joseph said a bit too loud, jumping up. “You won the cake!”
The audience clapped again. Those folks closest to Delbert congratulated him. Someone patted his shoulder. Joseph slunk down in his seat. The auctioneer slowly shook his head. Delbert was glad it was over.
Now a part of the audience again, Elma sat next to her sister, watching the rest of the contestants. After each demonstration and bidding was completed, she was surprised to see that, so far, their cake had brought in the most money.
Glancing around the crowd then settling her gaze a few rows back on the Amish man who’d won their cake, Elma quickly turned her attention back to the stage, embarrassed when he caught her staring. “Do you think this show will be over soon?” she whispered to Thelma.
“Aren’t you having a good time?”
Elma fidgeted in her chair. “Guess I am, but my stomach is starting to growl, and I can’t stop thinking of all the things that need to be done at home.”
Thelma patted Elma’s hand. “This is the last item up for bid. As soon as it’s over, we can give our cake to the man who won it then get a little something to eat before we run a few errands and head for home.”
Elma’s nerves escalated. If standing onstage in front of all those people hadn’t been bad enough, now they’d have to give the lopsided cake to the man who’d bid that outrageous price of one hundred dollars.
When the cooking show let out, Joseph asked Delbert if he would go with him to speak to the twins, because he was too nervous to speak to them alone.
“I suppose I should,” Delbert said. “I must admit, once I got into that bidding war, it became an exciting game—especially when the crowd starting urging me on. And after all I went through to get you that cake, I’d like the chance to meet those twins. When the woman in charge first introduced them, she said they were single.”
“Which of the women are you interested in?” Joseph hoped it wasn’t the same twin he had his eye on. But they looked so much alike, he couldn’t be sure which one he’d met in Topeka. What if I can’t talk to her without stuttering?
Delbert shrugged. “I’m not sure which one I met before. Right now I’m thinking the more serious one.”
“Not the twin who was holding the lopsided cake?”
“Nope. Did you see the look of disapproval on her sister’s face when she took that dessert out of its container?”
Joseph nodded. “I wonder how it got that way.”
“We’ll never know if we don’t talk to them.” Delbert thumped Joseph’s back. “I see ’em by the table where all the other baked goods are. Let’s head over there now.”
When the men approached Thelma and Elma, Joseph couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He stared at the twins, feeling rather foolish.
“I’m Delbert Gingerich, and this is my friend, Joseph B
eechy,” Delbert spoke up. “I’m the one who gave the winning bid, but it was really for him.”
Joseph’s face felt like it was on fire.
“That was an interesting presentation you ladies gave.” Delbert chuckled. “The humor you added really got the audience enthused. Did you plan it that way?”
The twins looked at each other with strange expressions. Then the one wearing the green dress spoke up. “It was definitely not planned. I think I speak for my sister when I say that we were both nervous wrecks.”
“That’s right,” the other twin agreed. “We’ve never cooked anything in a public setting before. I was surprised that anyone even bid on our crazy-looking cake, much less paid so much for it.”
Joseph, finally finding his voice, said, “It didn’t l–look like you were n–nervous.” Not like I feel right now, he mentally added.
“Which one of you is Elma and which one is Thelma?” Delbert asked.
“I’m Elma,” the twin wearing the blue dress said. “And this is my sister, Thelma.”
Delbert moved closer to the twins. “If I’m not mistaken, I bumped into one of you at Yoder’s Hardware about a month ago.”
“That was me,” Thelma spoke up. “It was when you were waiting at the checkout counter and you dropped your things.”
Delbert snickered. “That was pretty clumsy of me.”
“I met one of y–you, too,” Joseph stuttered. “It was—”
“At the hardware store in Topeka.” Thelma finished his sentence. “That was me, as well.”
Elma smiled. “Apparently, you’ve both met my sister before.”
“Where do you live?” Delbert asked.
“Our home is in Topeka,” Elma said. “We moved there from Sullivan, Illinois, after our grandparents died. They left us their house and variety store. Where do you men live?”
“We’re both from LaGrange,” Delbert said before Joseph could find his voice. It seemed like Delbert was taking over the conversation. Joseph sure hoped his friend wasn’t interested in Thelma.
They talked awhile longer, and then Delbert suggested that Joseph pick up the cake so they could get going.
“We should probably go, too,” Thelma said. “We want to grab a bite to eat and then head for home soon after. Our grandparents’ house is pretty run-down and in need of repairs. We may paint the living room this afternoon.”
Delbert reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “I’m a carpenter with my own woodworking business. If you need any repairs done that involve carpentry, please consider giving me a call.”
Elma smiled. “You may be hearing from us.”
As the men turned away, Joseph nudged Delbert’s arm. “If they call you to go look at their place, I’d like to go along.” He walked with a spring in his step.
Delbert grinned and thumped Joseph’s shoulder. “Sure, no problem.”
As Thelma and Elma headed for home after a quick bite to eat, they talked and even laughed about their lopsided cake. “At first I was mortified,” Elma said. “But everything turned out pretty well in the end. I feel good knowing that our contribution went to a good cause.”
“Jah.” Thelma held firmly to Rusty’s reins. “In addition to our cake going for such a high bid, we got to meet two very nice fellows.” She glanced over at Elma. “Do you think we should call Delbert and see how much he would charge to fix our sagging front porch?”
Elma nodded. “Since Dad gave us that money, maybe we can afford to hire Delbert to do the work. In addition to making our place look nicer, it’ll be a lot safer.”
“You’re right,” Thelma agreed. “Honestly, I fear that someone will step right through the old wood and get hurt.”
Elma sat up straight and loosened her sweater. “Whew! It’s sure getting warm in this buggy.”
I wish it were Joseph we’d be calling to work on our house, Thelma thought. But I’d better accept the fact that I might never see him again.
Chapter 18
The following Saturday, when Elma came into the house after checking messages in the phone shack, she smiled at Thelma and said, “Remember when I left a message for Delbert Gingerich the other day?”
Thelma placed a clean dish in the drying rack. “Jah. Did you hear something back from him?”
“I did. His message said that he would be out later today.”
Thelma smiled, putting a freshly washed glass on the rack. “That’s good to hear. I hope he’s willing to fix our porch and that it won’t cost too much. It would be nice if we didn’t have to use all the money Dad gave us on just one project.” She rinsed some pieces of silverware and set them in the dish drainer to dry.
“I agree. If Delbert’s able to do it and we have some money left over, maybe we can ask him to do a few other projects.”
Thelma grabbed a clean dish towel and began drying the dishes. “That would be good.”
“It will be nice to see him again. He seemed like a pleasant man.” Elma grabbed her to-do list and took a seat at the table. “What do you think would be the second thing we could ask him to do?”
Thelma finished drying a glass and put in the cupboard. “How about putting on some nice cabinet doors beneath this old sink? That would look better than the outdated curtain.”
“You’re right, Sister. That would be a good thing to have done.” Elma jotted it down.
“So it’s Delbert you’re interested in, and not his friend Joseph?”
Elma tapped her pencil against her chin. “What makes you think I’m interested in Delbert?”
“You said it would be nice to see him again, and—”
“Now don’t get any silly ideas,” Elma interrupted. “He will be coming here to work, not for courting.”
Thelma set her dish towel aside and sat across from Elma. “If he showed an interest in you, what would you do?”
Elma blinked her eyes rapidly. “I really can’t say, since that hasn’t happened.”
“But if it did?” Thelma persisted.
“I give up!” Elma lifted her hands in the air. “I can tell that you’re not going to drop this subject till I come up with an answer.”
“That’s right.”
“If Delbert were to show some interest in me, I may be interested, too. But I’d have to get to know him first to see how well we’re suited.” Elma leaned closer to Thelma. “Is that the answer you were looking for?”
Thelma grinned, bobbing her head. “Of course, it would be more fun if we both had suitors. Think of all the things we could do as courting couples.”
“Maybe Delbert could fix you up with his friend Joseph. You did mention the other day that you thought he was gutguckich.” Elma tugged the tie on her headscarf.
“I didn’t say he was handsome. I said he was cute. Delbert’s the handsome one, with that shiny blond hair.”
“You’re right about that.” Elma placed her pencil on the table. “We can’t sit here all day and talk about something that may never happen. We need to get out to the store before any customers show up.”
“Okay, but I’m going to check on the horses first. I want to make sure that Pearl is happy in her new home.”
“Speaking of Pearl,” Elma said, as Thelma started for the door, “since she got new shoes put on last Monday, we can use her instead of Rusty when we need to go somewhere.”
Thelma shook her head. “If he’s not worked with, he’ll never become fully road trained. You can take Pearl whenever you need to go somewhere with the buggy, but I’ll keep using Rusty.” Her face brightened. “I haven’t given up hope on him yet, and I’m going to hang in there till I produce a wonderful buggy horse. Besides, I’m getting more confident each time I take him out.”
“That’s your choice,” Elma said, “but you need to be careful, because you never know what that animal might do.”
“I know, and I will be careful.” Thelma smiled and scooted out the door.
The twins had closed the store for the day, when Delbert sh
owed up. Thelma was surprised and pleased to see that Joseph was with him.
Looking shyly at Thelma, Joseph mumbled, “I—I came along ’cause Delbert owes me a meal.”
“That’s right,” Delbert agreed. “We’re planning to eat at Tiffany’s here in Topeka.”
“We’ve never eaten there,” Thelma said, “but we hear they have good food.”
“If you have no other plans, maybe you’d like to join us for supper,” Delbert suggested.
Elma was about to say that she planned to fix a meat loaf, but Thelma spoke first. “We’d be happy to go to Tiffany’s, wouldn’t we, Sister?”
Feeling like a bug trapped in a spider’s web, all Elma could do was nod. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go to supper with these men. She simply felt like things were moving too fast. After all, they’d only met Joseph and Delbert last week, and here the men were asking them to share a meal at a restaurant. Maybe Delbert was only being polite. It could be that after Joseph said they were going out to eat, Delbert felt obligated to invite the twins to join them. But there was no point in mulling this over; she and Thelma had already agreed to go.
“Maybe I should take a look at your porch,” Delbert suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Thelma spoke up. “Let’s head over there now.”
When they stepped onto the porch, Delbert released a low whistle. “This is sagging pretty badly.” He kicked at a couple of boards with the toe of his boot. “I’d say several pieces of this wood are rotted.”
Elma cringed. “Does that mean it’s going to be expensive to fix?”
“Not necessarily,” he replied. “It’s gonna depend on what I find when I start tearing into it. I can give you an estimate, but it might go over that amount. I’ll try to work within your budget, though.”
Thelma smiled. “We appreciate that. Don’t we, Sister?”
“Of course.” Elma wondered if they should have gotten another carpenter to look at the porch, too, but if Delbert did the job, it would give her a chance to get to know him better. She could tell from the rosy color on her sister’s cheeks that she was glad Joseph had come along with Delbert today, too.
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