Knowing that Betty, Katura and Mildred wouldn’t leave the party until everyone else did, Lucy tried to make the most of the evening. After finishing her cards, she went into the kitchen for a glass of water. She was turning from the sink when Eve walked in. Lucy briefly nodded and started toward the hall, but Eve stopped her.
“Lucy, I’m so sorry I let it slip that Nick’s your suitor,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to, but I was so appalled at Melinda’s remarks it just came out.”
“It’s all right,” Lucy replied. “Mildred was the one who told everyone first.”
“Well, for the record, I honestly wasn’t all that interested in being courted by Nick. I mean, I am interested in having a suitor and Nick seems like a nice person. But I mainly went for a ride with him to keep Melinda from embarrassing both of us even more than she’d already done by pushing us together.”
Lucy eyed Eve skeptically. Was she telling the truth?
“Melinda is my best friend from childhood and I love her dearly. She grew up without a mamm or any female influences in her life when she was a young maedel, so she lacks some of the...the sensitivity or gut manners other meed have. But sometimes I can’t believe she hasn’t matured more,” Eve explained. Then she added, “Just so you know, Nick wasn’t happy about taking me for a ride, either. He was so concerned about what you’d think he couldn’t wait to get back.”
Even though Lucy knew the reason Nick couldn’t wait to get back was because he wanted to be sure she hadn’t told her stepsisters they weren’t actually courting, she was glad to hear he wasn’t really interested in Eve. Lucy regretted not taking him at his word when he made the same claim himself.
Eve chewed on her lip before continuing, “I understand why you’d be upset with me, but please don’t be upset with Nick. It’s not my place to say, but he really cares about you. I knew it from the look in his eyes when he saw you near the porch and invited you to kumme with us. I should have told him right then and there I didn’t want to go for a ride. I should have stepped aside and let you go with him alone. But I selfishly didn’t want to face Melinda’s interrogation if I returned to the haus without Nick, and I’m sorry about that.”
Eve could tell Nick cared about Lucy? Nick might have cared about her as a friend, and he definitely cared about preserving their arrangement, but it was a bit of a stretch for Lucy to believe he cared about her romantically, the way Eve was implying. “Denki for telling me all of that. But there’s no need to apologize. I assure you, nothing you did affected my...my relationship with Nick.”
Eve clasped her hands together against her chest. “That’s wunderbaar to hear because he seemed very worried about it. Not that I blame him—you’re so talented and pretty. It probably took a lot for him to ask to court you in the first place. Men can be insecure like that sometimes. At least, that’s why I tell myself I’ve only ever had one suitor.”
Lucy was surprised by Eve’s compliment, which seemed genuine even though she’d never before been called pretty by anyone other than her father, as well as by Eve’s admission she’d only had one suitor. Lucy would have thought someone as gregarious and becoming as Eve would have had men lining up to court her—to marry her, in fact.
Lucy touched Eve’s arm. “Those men in Ohio can’t be too smart to pass you by,” she said. But inwardly, Lucy was glad the men in Willow Creek—and Nick, in particular—had passed Eve by, too.
* * *
Nick rubbed his hands against his legs as he headed to Lucy’s house on Wednesday night. As frigid as the air was, his palms were sweaty from the apprehension of seeing her again. But when she approached his buggy, she was all smiles. He eagerly offered assistance into the carriage, which she accepted since she was carrying a big plastic container she indicated held Christmas cookies.
“I, uh... It’s really cold. You might need this,” he stuttered, unfolding yet another blanket to add to the two she was already securing around her lap. As he bent down to arrange it around her feet, he clunked his head against hers and dropped back against the seat.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed. “Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?”
Lucy laughed, rubbing her head. “Fortunately, I think my bonnet absorbed the force of the blow.”
He was glad she was so forgiving, but once again his size and ungainliness made him feel like an ox around her, both physically and verbally. Lucy, on the other hand, was extraordinarily chatty that evening. All the way there, she talked about how much she loved the month of December at the soup kitchen. She said during the holiday season several local Englisch companies donated an abundance of delicious treats and items such as toys, toothbrushes and wool socks for the people who came there to eat.
“I wish I could knit. Then I could make socks, too,” she lamented.
“You don’t knit? But you’re embroidering an entire tablecloth,” he said.
She giggled. “Knitting and embroidery are nothing alike. Sadly, I can’t knit or crochet. I ought to make a resolution to learn because they’re both much more useful skills than embroidering is.”
“But your linens bring in an income. And you’re using your talent to raise funds for the soup kitchen. How can you say embroidery isn’t useful?” Nick marveled.
Lucy cocked her head thoughtfully. “I suppose it is. It’s just... I don’t know. Haven’t you ever wished you had a skill that you don’t have?”
Nick nodded. “Jah. I wish I could sing better,” he admitted. “My voice is baremlich. Sometimes during church worship, I mouth the words. I’m thinking about what they mean and I’m trying to praise the Lord in thought, but I’m not singing aloud. I wouldn’t inflict noise like that on everyone else.”
Even though he was serious, Lucy laughed. “Kumme now, it can’t be that bad. Besides, you’re singing to the Lord. What business is it of anyone else’s how Gott made your voice to sound?”
She was right, and Nick momentarily regretted having shared this shortcoming with her, knowing it made him seem vain. But then Lucy added, “For what it’s worth, I think your speaking voice is pleasant. It’s very masculine and comforting. Not too loud or overbearing, the way some men’s voices can be.”
Nick was sure he was blushing. “Denki,” he replied, relieved his voice didn’t crack when he said it.
As they pulled up to the parking lot in front of the church where the soup kitchen was located, Nick spotted a young man on the sidewalk beneath the lights. Lucy simultaneously yanked the blankets over her head and dropped to her hands and knees on the floor of the buggy, causing Nick to halt the carriage.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“That’s Dan Ebersole. Usually my daed brings me here. Dan can’t see me arriving with you. He’ll think we’re actually courting.”
Nick was confused. He lifted the blankets enough to peek at Lucy and asked, “Isn’t that what we want people to think?”
Peeping up at him, Lucy said, “Jah, I guess you’re right.” Then she stood and brushed off her skirt. “Sorry. I’ve heard a lot of...of far-fetched gossip lately, and I suppose I panicked when I saw one of my peers. But since you and I will be ending our arrangement in a couple weeks anyway, I’d prefer that as few people as possible know we’re supposedly courting. Too many already know about it, which means they’ll all find out when we ‘break up,’ too. It’s going to be awkward enough as it is to be the subject of that kind of gossip among our peers. The soup kitchen is the one public place I go where none of my peers go. Except for Dan, I mean. So I’d prefer it if he didn’t find out about either our courtship or our breakup, if that makes sense. So would you mind dropping me off here? And can you pick me up a little later, say eight fifteen, so no one sees you?”
Nick agreed, “Of course. Hold on a minute and I’ll help you down.”
But Lucy insisted she could manage, and she was out of the buggy and down the walkway in a flash. Nick watched as she
caught up with Dan, who turned and grinned and then carried the container of cookies for her.
At the cabin while he used the technique Hunter advised to apply stain to the new pieces of paneling, Nick thought about Lucy’s reaction to seeing Dan. Rather, to Dan possibly seeing her. Her explanation about why she wanted to limit the number of people who knew about their pretend courtship made sense, but Nick couldn’t help but wonder if Lucy was interested in being courted by Dan. Maybe that was really why she didn’t want Dan to see her with him. The thought shouldn’t have bothered Nick, but he was so distracted he spilled stain on the floor and then spent the remaining time cleaning it up.
Afterward he was relieved that when he picked up Lucy Dan was nowhere in sight.
“Was your evening productive?” Lucy asked as they got underway.
“Actually, I spent more time fixing my own mess than I did cleaning up Kevin’s,” Nick said.
“Kevin was helping you?” Lucy asked, startling Nick. He hadn’t intended to mention his brother. His mind was really not where it should be tonight.
“Neh. But he borrowed my tool kit and I couldn’t find anything I was looking for in it. Kevin’s not the most organized person in the world.” It wasn’t a lie—Kevin had borrowed his tool kit and returned it in disarray, but that wasn’t the mess Nick had been referring to.
Lucy clicked her tongue sympathetically. “That sounds like what Mildred does when she borrows something from my sewing basket.”
Relieved, Nick asked, “How was your evening?”
“It was wunderbaar. Because of the cold weather, we had twice as many people kumme in as usual, so the place was jammed. Since the oven’s broken, we couldn’t prepare warm meals, but we put on a spread of picnic foods like potato salad and burgers and hot dogs, which the men made on the grills everyone brought.”
“Ah, I get it. Instead of a ‘Grischtdaag in July’ event, you had a ‘July at Grischtdaag’ supper.”
Lucy clapped her gloved hands. “Oh, very clever! We should have thought to call it that.”
Nick grinned, pleased she found his idea clever. Lucy was chipper as she described the scene at the soup kitchen, and her mirth buoyed Nick’s mood, as well.
“There was a high school choir there singing Grischtdaag songs while everyone ate, and afterward we got to distribute some of the donated items. That was the best part. I don’t know why Gott allows me to be in a position to witness joy like that, but I’m so grateful He does.”
Moved by her sentiment, Nick stole a sideways glance at Lucy. She was glowing, her face directed toward the sky. He felt like he was the one who got to witness pure joy.
“Look!” she suddenly demanded. “Is that snow?”
Sure enough, white flakes dotted the night sky. They were so light they floated instead of fell, but they were undeniably snowflakes.
“I do believe it is,” he replied.
“It’s snowing!” Lucy yelled, pushing the blankets aside. She stood and flung her arms in the air. “It’s snowing!”
“Hey, you’re going to fall,” Nick cautioned, attempting to slow the horse at the same time he reached to steady Lucy.
“Neh, I’m not. Don’t slow down, please,” she pleaded. “Go faster. Faster!”
“You’re narrish!” he declared, but he honored her request to increase their speed, keeping one hand against the small of her back in support.
She rode like that for a good two miles, her arms outstretched, her face tipped toward the sky. Her outer winter bonnet slipped from her head and dangled by its ribbons down her back. She removed her glasses, saying they were too wet to see through, and that’s when Nick noticed what a gentle profile she had, with her delicately pointed nose and sharp cheekbones.
Finally, as they approached the bend toward her house, he said, “I think you should sit down now, Lucy. I don’t want you to fall when we round the next corner.”
“All right,” she agreed readily, dropping to the seat. She was so close to him that if he had moved his knee an inch, it would have touched hers, but surprisingly she made no attempt to move away. Beneath a streetlamp, Nick could see her cheeks glistened with snow and the bun in her hair was coming loose.
“We, ah, better stop here so you can pull yourself together,” he suggested.
“Ach, do I look that bad?” Lucy asked, although she giggled as if she hardly cared.
Actually, she didn’t look bad at all. She looked, well, she looked free. She looked the way Nick felt whenever Penny ran this fast—as if everything was exciting and anything was possible. “Neh, but your hair is coming down, here,” Nick said, gently lifting a strand. His hand trembled. “And I don’t know where your prayer kapp is, but your bonnet is hanging down your back. I wouldn’t want anyone to think...”
Modesty kept him from saying what he feared others might think, but Lucy seemed to catch on right away. “Neh, of course not,” she said. When she lifted her hand to fix her hair, it bumped his hand, which made him realize he was still holding the silky lock between his fingers.
After fixing her bun and looking around in vain for her prayer kapp, Lucy donned her bonnet and tied it beneath her chin. They continued in silence to her house, where Nick bounced down to help her from the carriage, extending his hand. Her small fingers disappeared within his larger ones, but instead of stepping down, she lingered there until his eyes met hers.
“Denki, Nick. That was exhilarating.”
Exhilarated was exactly what Nick felt when he looked at Lucy. He swallowed and said, “Anytime.”
Chapter Six
Lucy was so jubilant after her Wednesday night buggy ride with Nick she didn’t even object when Betty said she ought to accompany her, Katura and Mildred on a trip to visit their relatives in Elmsville for supper on Thursday evening. Although she was slightly behind where she wanted to be with her special embroidery project, Lucy figured on Friday night she and Nick would be able to stay out later so she could catch up then.
On Friday morning, she journeyed into town with her stepsisters to drop off an order at Schrock’s Shop. Joseph Schrock, who managed the family-run business, was delighted to see her.
“Your linens are flying off the shelf, Lucy,” he said. “One customer wanted to buy all of your Christmas place mats. I limited her to a set of six because I didn’t want to disappoint other customers, but I promised I’d ask if you could make an extra twelve for them by next Thursday, the fifteenth. They’re having a special family gathering this Grischtdaag and they want enough place mats for eighteen people. If you’re not able to make them by then, they’d like to know so they’ll have time to kumme up with something else to adorn their table.”
Lucy hesitated. The place mats’ intricate poinsettia pattern was more time-consuming than some of her simpler designs. She wasn’t sure she could fulfill that request, plus keep up with her other orders and finish the tablecloth for the auction, as well. “I hesitate to commit to that,” she said. “My hands are full with other things I need to do before Grischtdaag.”
Lucy was unaware Melinda had sidled up to her until she butted in. “It’s probably difficult to keep up with work when you’ve got so many...shall we say, social commitments.” Because Melinda was married to Joseph’s nephew, Jesse, she worked at the shop, and Lucy silently asked the Lord to prevent her from saying anything more about her courtship with Nick. It was bad enough most of the women in Willow Creek knew; Lucy didn’t want the men knowing, too. It would only make things more awkward when her arrangement with Nick ended.
“Social commitments?” Joseph repeated blankly.
Concerned Melinda was about to go into detail, Lucy quickly offered, “I’ll do my best to embroider another twelve place mats by Thursday, Joseph. I’ll deliver them that afternoon, sometime after four o’clock.”
He grinned. “Denki, Lucy. I knew you weren’t the type to put pleasure before w
ork.”
Joseph shot a pointed look at Melinda.
Lucy understood he intended his remark as a compliment, but it rubbed her the wrong way. Didn’t people think she liked to have any fun at all? After paying Lucy, Joseph walked away quickly to serve a customer in the candle and soaps aisle.
Apparently, Melinda was supposed to be working the cash register, and she sauntered to the other side of the checkout counter and said, “I heard Wheeler’s Pond is frozen over. If this cold snap keeps up, some of us are going skating tomorrow night. You and Nick should kumme. Unless you’re too busy sewing. Or unless he can’t make it for some reason.”
Lucy felt more like Melinda was challenging her than inviting her to join their peers for skating. It was as if Melinda doubted Lucy and Nick were a couple. They weren’t, of course, but Lucy was provoked all the same. “I’d really like that,” she said. “I’m going to the hardware store next, so I’ll see what Nick thinks of the idea. Usually he likes to keep me all to himself, but maybe tomorrow evening we’ll squeeze in a little social time with the rest of you.”
When Melinda’s lower lip jutted out in a pout, Lucy felt victorious. But, after exiting the shop, she paused on the front stoop and clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. It was true she’d intended to go to the hardware store next, but not to talk to Nick. Not specifically, anyway. She planned to purchase a toolbox for her father’s wood-carving tools for Christmas. Now how was she going to break it to Nick she’d just committed them to showing up for skating on Saturday evening? Lucy considered not telling him at all, but she couldn’t put it past Melinda to check up on her by questioning Nick. He deserved fair warning.
Lucy was only halfway through the entrance when she spotted Nick chatting with an Englisch customer, who held his rapt attention. Noticing the way Nick’s strong hands gestured as he spoke, Lucy was reminded of how safe she had felt when he’d steadied her in the buggy the other night. A shiver wiggled down her spine, just as it had done from his touch that night. She heard Nick wish the customer success with his renovation, and then he turned in Lucy’s direction. A wide smile broke across his freckled cheeks.
Her Amish Holiday Suitor (Amish Country Courtships Book 5) Page 8
