“Well, I assume you don’t need me now that you have Eve.”
“I don’t have Eve! I only took her for a ride because you weren’t here and I wanted to get out of the house. Besides, it was the only way to get Melinda off my back. She was the one who practically pushed Eve into my buggy!”
Lucy felt more relieved than she cared to admit. Just to be sure she understood, she clarified, “So you still need me to cover for you while you make repairs to the cabin?”
“Jah. And despite my stupidity tonight, I hope you’re still willing to.”
Lucy sighed again. She wasn’t quite sure she believed Nick had taken Eve for a ride just to appease Melinda. For all Lucy knew, Nick had proposed courtship and Eve had turned down his offer while they were out riding around. It was possible he was only coming back to Lucy because, once again, he had no other option. But then she reasoned if Nick wanted to continue their charade, it would still give her a chance to finish her project, which was the reason she’d agreed to the arrangement in the first place. Besides, she’d given Nick her word. She supposed she couldn’t desert him now, for the sake of the Nelsons’ Christmas reunion. But Lucy realized from now on she was going to have to keep her feelings in check. She couldn’t afford to experience the kind of emotional turmoil she had tonight. It was too distressing, and she didn’t want her Christmas season ruined.
“I’m still willing,” she agreed. “But only until I finish my project. After that, we’re ‘breaking up,’ whether or not you’re done with the repairs.” Then, just in case Nick still had any mistaken notion Lucy was a pushover, she added, “And when we do supposedly break up, we’re going to say I’m the one who ended our courtship.”
“All right,” Nick said, nodding. “Denki.”
He was so amenable to Lucy’s conditions she almost wanted to rescind them. Almost, but not quite. Don’t let his big blue eyes or earnest expression get to you, she reminded herself. Or you’ll end up like every other maedel he ever courted: sad and alone.
Chapter Five
“I’m surprised Lucy’s eldre allow her to go out so often,” Nick’s mother said to Nick before he went to milk the cows at first light on Monday morning. “I didn’t mind you walking out with her on weeknights last week, but your daed has been looking especially run-down and I think he needs more rest. I’d like him to kumme home earlier in the evenings this week. You’ll have to cut back on how much time you spend with Lucy so you can help Kevin at the store.”
“All right, but I did promise I’d take her to the soup kitchen. The Englisch one where she serves supper on Wednesday nights. Is that okay?”
At the mention of the soup kitchen, Nick’s mother said, “That’s wunderbaar you’re so committed to going to the soup kitchen with Lucy. Didn’t I say she’d be a gut influence on you?”
Nick ambled to the barn, feeling guilty for allowing his mother to think he was actually going to help Lucy serve at the soup kitchen, when in fact he needed to reserve at least one evening away from the store during the week to work on the cabin. While he was milking the family’s two cows, he reflected on the previous evening. Given how miffed Lucy had been about the business with Eve, Nick didn’t look forward to calling off their previously arranged meeting tonight. While she said she forgave him, Lucy nevertheless had refused a ride from him, claiming she’d promised to wrangle her stepsisters home early that evening.
Not that he minded taking a break from being her pretend suitor. It was true that initially his fake courtship with Lucy had been more harmonious than any of his actual courtships, but their spat last night left him on shaky ground with her. That kind of conflict and sense of uneasiness inevitably resulted in Nick ending his relationships before things really soured or anyone’s feelings were hurt even more. But this time, he didn’t have the option of calling it quits, not until he completed the cabin repairs, anyway. I’ll have to keep things as amicable between us as possible for a couple more weeks, he thought. Perhaps a brief separation would help toward that end.
Meanwhile, Nick was still at a loss on how to proceed with the repairs and he made it a priority to speak with Hunter and Fletcher that week. Since Hunter owned a furniture restoration shop on Main Street, Nick figured during a lunch break he could talk to him about replicating the color of the stain and the best method of application. As a carpenter, Fletcher frequented the hardware store, so Nick had hopes of speaking to him, too.
After breakfast Nick prepared to jot a note to Lucy informing her he had to cancel their evening plans. He’d give the written message to her sisters at the mercantile so they could deliver it to Lucy that afternoon. He picked up a pen and stared at the blank sheet of paper, wondering how to word it. He would put the note in a sealed envelope, but that didn’t guarantee her stepsisters wouldn’t open it. He was probably wrong to suspect them of doing something like that, but he couldn’t be too careful.
He hesitated with the pen angled an inch above the paper. Should he address her “dear Lucy?” Or just “Lucy”? He decided on just “Lucy,” writing:
Lucy,
My father needs a break from the store a couple of evenings this week, so unfortunately I won’t be able to follow through with our plans for tonight. But I’ll see you Wednesday, when I’ll pick you up to go to the soup kitchen.
Thank you for your understanding.
The note sounded dry to Nick so he added, “I look forward to being with you again,” and hastily signed his name. It would have to do. As he sealed the envelope, a selfish thought crossed his mind: Let’s hope she isn’t able to continue embroidering until then. I need her too much to allow her to end our courtship just yet.
* * *
When Katura and Mildred returned home on Monday afternoon, Katura extended an envelope to Lucy. “It’s from Nick.”
“Denki.” Lucy left the room so she could have some privacy, but her stepsisters followed her into the parlor. Betty was there, too, rocking in a chair and sipping tea. She greeted her daughters and asked what the commotion was about.
“Nick gave us a note for Lucy. Isn’t that odd? We thought you were going out with him tonight. Couldn’t he have waited until then to talk to you?”
It was frightfully cold outdoors and a draft swirled through the room so Lucy took a seat near the woodstove. “Maybe something came up,” she said, tearing the envelope open. After reading it, she announced, “See? I was right. Nick has to work at the store tonight because his daed is under the weather.”
“Really?” Katura eyed her suspiciously.
Lucy thrust the letter at her. “Read it for yourself if you don’t believe me.” She was getting sick of her stepsisters doubting her word.
“Oh, I believe you. It’s Nick I doubt. He was awfully friendly with Eve last night, no matter what excuse you claimed he gave you for taking her on a ride. Has it occurred to you he’s getting ready to break off your courtship so he can court her instead?”
Lucy wanted to deny the possibility, but she wasn’t positive she could defend Nick. She was still having the same doubts about him Katura had expressed.
“I doubt that’s it,” Betty interjected, to Lucy’s surprise. “I was speaking to Nick’s mother last week at church and she told me how worried she’s been about her husband’s health. Anyway, this works out better. Now Lucy can join us at Doris Plank’s home this evening.”
Every year Doris held a Christmas card–making event in her home. It was a time of celebration, and the Amish women from the Willow Creek district brought food for a potluck supper. Lucy generally loved the occasion, but she’d rather progress with her embroidery project.
“Actually, I have work to catch up on for my tablecloth for the auction,” she said. “I’ll stay behind and make supper for Daed and me.”
“I’ve already prepared beef Stroganoff. There’s enough for us to take and I’ve set aside some for him to have, too,” Betty argued
. “You really ought to kumme.”
“I would, but I’m concerned about meeting the deadline for the auc—”
“Lucy Knepp, sometimes I think you suffer from hochmut,” Betty said, using the Amish word for pride. “If you would have had enough time to go out with Nick, you should have enough time to spend with the women from church. It’s only one evening.”
Lucy felt stung. Hochmut? That was the opposite of what she felt like most of the time. She didn’t feel proud—she felt small. And not just physically small, either.
“All right,” she agreed. Fighting tears, she rose and said, “I’m going to go finish my work in my room. I’ll be down in time to go to the gathering at Doris’s haus.”
* * *
“As long as you’re working tonight, I’m going to take off early,” Kevin said to Nick after their father had left for the evening. “I haven’t been out on a Monday in ages.”
“It’s hardly been a full week!” Nick exclaimed. “Besides, I’m not going to manage all the customers by myself.”
“Why not? I handled the Grischtdaag shoppers with Daed all last week so you wouldn’t have to.”
Nick couldn’t believe Kevin’s unmitigated gall. “That’s because I was out fixing your mess!”
“Really? How do I know you were working on the cabin all that time? For all I know, you and Melinda’s friend, Eve, spent most of last week walking out together while you were pretending to be working at the Nelsons’ haus,” Kevin suggested. “Don’t deny it—I saw you leave with her last night. And I saw the look on Lucy’s face when you came back in. You’ll be fortunate if she doesn’t blow your cover out of spite.”
“You’re really something, you know that, Kevin? You’ve got to stop gossiping—it’s going to get you in a lot of trouble some day. Especially since you don’t have a clue about what’s going on.”
“I know a scorned maedel when I see one. I’m beginning to think little Lucy Knepp has a crush on you. Are you sure she knows this phony arrangement is temporary?”
“Jah, but it’s going to be a lot more temporary if you don’t knock it off, because I’ll quit working on Jenny’s cabin in a heartbeat if you so much as think about abandoning your duties here this evening.”
“All right, no need to get huffy,” Kevin griped.
Despite his bluster, Nick was concerned. How many others had noticed he’d left the singing with Eve? His father’s health was precarious—Nick couldn’t let anything jeopardize the secrecy about the fire Kevin had started. He was beginning to wonder if he should have let Kevin suffer the consequences of his actions. But then, that would have meant their father would suffer, too. Nick had come this far; he couldn’t allow that to happen now.
But how could he be sure Lucy was still as dedicated to protecting their shared secret as Nick was? After all, this was the same woman who’d been a notorious snitch when she was a child. But that was ages ago and Nick couldn’t imagine Lucy exposing their secret, especially not out of spite. In order for her to be spiteful, she would have had to be romantically interested in Nick in the first place. And if he’d ever thought that was possible, their interaction the previous evening rid his mind utterly of such a notion.
Nick resigned himself to putting his worries aside and focusing on the steady stream of customers winding their way through the store’s aisles. As it happened, Fletcher Chupp was among them so Nick was able to ask his questions about the drywall for his project.
After advising him, Fletcher remarked, “Sounds like you’re doing some hefty renovating. I don’t remember there being paneling in your haus.”
Nick coughed, stalling. “Neh, there isn’t. This is for a...a part-time job I’ve taken on after hours. Just don’t mention it to anyone, all right? It’s a long story, but it’s sort of a Grischtdaag surprise.”
“Mum’s the word,” Fletcher said. “I’ve been staying late on my job, too—so I can build a new chest of drawers for my wife. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if she knows already. Women are intuitive like that. Nothing gets past them.”
Thinking of Lucy’s stepsisters and of Melinda Schrock, plus his own mother, Nick could only hope that wasn’t true.
* * *
There were at least two dozen women at Doris Plank’s house and Lucy was glad she went. After sharing their potluck entrées, the women got busy making cards. Sending and receiving homemade Christmas cards was a cherished Amish tradition in Willow Creek, and designing them was one of Lucy’s favorite activities because it increased her anticipation of the upcoming holiday and allowed her to keep in touch with people she held dear.
“Look at that, you’re so creative,” Doris commented over Lucy’s shoulder as she circled the tables serving cookies. Lucy had used construction paper, glue and a sprinkle of glitter to create two pairs of skates hanging side by side from hooks. Next to them was a window with a wreath in it, and snow was falling outside the panes. The card was for Bridget.
“Denki,” Lucy said without looking up. “But I don’t think it’s really very creative. It’s more like a habit. When you embroider as much scenery as I do for the Englisch, it becomes second nature.”
“Jah, Betty told me you were decorating a beautiful tablecloth for the Piney Hill festival. And Melinda Schrock said you’ve been a busy beaver, filling specialty orders for customers at the shop. How do you do it all?”
Lucy was amazed such mundane details of her life were fodder for Melinda and Doris’s conversations. “It’s not so difficult,” she said. “I get a lot done in the evenings when I—”
Too late she realized she was on the brink of giving her secret away. Not knowing how to explain, she bit into a cookie and then tried to change the subject, saying through a full mouth, “These are appenditlich. Did you make them, Doris?”
“Don’t let Lucy fool you,” Betty cut in. “She hasn’t been working as much as she says. She’s been going out with a certain suitor nearly every evening. If he hadn’t been busy, she wouldn’t be here tonight.”
Lucy wanted to slink beneath the table. The worst part of Betty’s gossiping was that she was beaming, as if being courted by Nick Burkholder was Lucy’s greatest achievement in life.
“A certain suitor?” Doris’s ears seemed fine-tuned to the slightest mention of a courtship. “I had no idea you were walking out with someone. But if I had to venture a guess, I’d say it’s Frederick Stutzman. Am I right?”
Lucy dabbed a cotton swab into a pool of glue and then applied it to her card. How could it be Doris had heard the minutest details of Lucy’s life, yet didn’t know Lucy had turned down Frederick’s offer of courtship? Speechless, she shook her head in reply to Doris’s question.
“If we guess, will you tell us?” Melinda Schrock taunted from the far end of the table where she was seated next to Eve.
“Oh, leave her alone,” Eve scolded, to Lucy’s surprise. “In my district in Ohio we don’t talk about our courtships.”
Iris Schwartz chimed in, “We don’t usually discuss them publicly in Willow Creek, and we don’t pressure others into discussing them, either. Doris, please pass that cookie platter this way.”
Lucy appreciated their tactful scolding, but Doris and Melinda ignored their hints to drop the subject.
“That’s okay, I already know who it is,” Melinda said in a singsong voice. “It’s someone named Dan Ebersole, isn’t it? I’ve heard about a young man who’s new to the area and he volunteers at the soup kitchen where Lucy serves. It’s got to be him. There’s no one else who’s available.”
Lucy was mortified. All she needed was for Melinda to start a rumor that Dan was Lucy’s suitor. She liked him as a friend, of course, but as his friend Lucy didn’t want Dan to think Lucy had started the rumor. For a split second, she considered telling everyone at the table it was Nick, not Dan, who was her suitor. Somewhat surprised Betty didn’t volunteer that information hers
elf, Lucy glanced at her stepmother, who caught her eye and winked at her.
“There’s no one else available to do what?” Mildred asked as she pranced into the room carrying another tray of cookies.
“To court Lucy. She’s got her first suitor and she won’t tell us who it is,” Doris announced. Lucy was mortified she emphasized the fact this was Lucy’s first suitor—especially because he wasn’t actually her suitor at all. Did all of the women in Willow Creek know she’d never been courted?
“Oh, that’s easy,” Mildred said, and Lucy wished she could reach across the room and clap her hand over Mildred’s mouth. “It’s Nick Burkholder.”
“Ha!” Melinda sneered. “If he turned down the chance to court Eve, he wouldn’t court Lucy.”
“Melinda!” Eve exclaimed. “What kind of thing is that to say? He probably has no interest in me because he’s courting Lucy.”
Lucy didn’t know what was more humiliating: Melinda’s proclamation Lucy was less desirable for courtship than Eve was, or Eve’s condescending denial. She wanted to flee the room, but the heaviness in her stomach kept her anchored to her chair.
Eve’s admonishment, coupled with the other women’s silence, must have shamed Melinda into recognizing how offensive her remark was. “I didn’t mean it the way it came out. I just meant Nick is so outgoing and so is Eve, and Lucy, well, you’re as quiet as a church mouse.”
Lucy wanted to tell Melinda what animal she was as loud as, but instead she silently prayed for grace.
“Sometimes opposites attract,” Betty stated. Her face was blotchy, as if she were the one who’d been insulted, not Lucy.
“That’s very true. In some ways, John and I are as different as night and day. For example, he used to love kaffi but I only liked tea,” Doris said. “Yet while we were courting, he drank tea just to please me. It was so romantic.”
As Doris continued to blather on about trivial differences between her and her husband, Lucy fought back tears. She wished she could sneak away to the washroom, but if she did, she’d draw more attention to how uncomfortable she felt. So she continued to work on her card for Bridget. I’ll be so glad when she gets here, she thought. Bridget would understand how Lucy felt.
Her Amish Holiday Suitor (Amish Country Courtships Book 5) Page 7
