Nick and Lucy waved to both of them. They sat closely next to each other on one of the logs arranged like benches near the edge of the pond so they could lace their skates. Then they tentatively made their way across the frozen earth to the homemade rink.
Lucy stepped onto the ice first and within a few strokes she was gliding so gracefully it seemed as if she was born wearing skates. She had perfect balance. In choppier movements, Nick skated briskly up to her and said, “You’re really gut at this. You have no fear.”
“That’s because I don’t have far to fall,” Lucy joked. “And because I’ve been skating since I was pretty young.”
Nick laughed. “How is it you had to stay inside during recess but you were allowed to go ice skating?”
“It wasn’t really that I was allowed,” Lucy admitted. “It was that my daed didn’t know about it. I’d use the skates Bridget had outgrown and the two of us would sneak off to the pond together. By the time my daed found out, I was a teenager and by then I was capable enough to convince him if I took it easy I could skate without losing my breath.”
“Aha. That explains why you’re kind of slow. Graceful, but slow,” he taunted, and she whipped her scarf at him. He caught one end of it and asked, “Do you want a tow? Are you up for a little speed?”
“If you think you’re strong enough to pull me, go ahead,” she dared. He took off, pulling her in fast circles around the pond. She was shrieking and laughing, and he was laughing, too. Whoever else was on the rink, Nick didn’t know; he only had eyes for Lucy.
“Okay, okay, I need a rest,” she finally called, and he abruptly brought himself to a stop, holding out his arms to stop her, too. She glided right toward him, coming to a gentle stop beneath his chin. It was as if she fit perfectly there, and he dropped his arms to embrace her before she backed away. Although accidental, the public display of affection was more than most Amish youth demonstrated in public.
“How about some hot chocolate?” she suggested, gesturing across the lawn to where a bonfire was roaring.
“Jah, let’s.” They changed out of their skates and then Nick carried both pairs as they walked side by side to the bonfire. Lucy poured hot chocolate from one of the jugs someone had brought for the occasion and moved as close as she could to the fire.
* * *
Nick stood next to her, warmed through and through. The flames reflected off the front of her lenses, but from the side, he could see the corner of her eyes creased from her smile.
Suddenly, a deep voice questioned, “Lucy, is that you?” It was Dan, the young man from the soup kitchen. Despite Lucy’s wish that Dan not discover their courtship, Nick found himself hoping the young man had seen them skating together. Or was it enough for Dan to see Nick and Lucy standing together like this in order to assume they were courting?
When Lucy grinned and replied, “Hi, Dan. I’m so glad to see you,” Nick felt a stab of jealousy because she really did seem glad. “This is Nick.”
That was all she said by way of introduction and Nick felt let down. Then someone nearby broke into song. Soon, everyone around the fire was singing Christmas carols, including Dan, whose singing voice was a rich baritone. Nick tried to recall what Lucy said about his own voice, but he couldn’t. When she glanced his way and winked at him, he had to force himself to smile in return.
All the way home, Lucy raved about what a fun evening it was. “By the way, that little hug on the ice rink was a nice touch,” she said. “I think we fooled everyone, don’t you?”
Whether they fooled everyone or no one at all, Nick didn’t care; he was consumed by the wish for their courtship to be as real as they were pretending it was.
Chapter Seven
“There was a skating party last night?” Mildred asked on the way home from church on Sunday. “Why didn’t anyone tell us? Why didn’t you tell us, Lucy?”
“You’ve always said you dislike being outdoors in the cold,” Lucy explained, referencing the reason her stepsisters gave for needing to take the buggy instead of walking to their jobs. “Besides, you don’t have skates.”
“You should have let us know anyway. We could have hung out by the bonfire,” Katura quibbled. “We haven’t had any schpass all weekend. Not unless you consider helping our adolescent cousins bake four batches of sugar cookies for their school Grischtdaag pageant to be fun. Which I definitely do not.”
Having met Mildred and Katura’s cousins, Lucy couldn’t argue. The young girls were notoriously messy, noisy and ill behaved. Lucy was glad her arrangement with Nick had spared her from spending late Saturday afternoon with them.
“At least there’s a singing tonight,” Mildred consoled Katura. To Lucy she said, “Are you and Nick going to that together, too?”
Lucy actually planned to stay home. It wasn’t as if Nick could work on the repairs on the Sabbath. Besides, he’d mentioned his ant and onkel from Elmsville might be visiting their family after church and staying through supper, possibly overnight. “Neh, not this time. I think Nick has other plans.”
Betty turned to face the three girls in the back seat. To Lucy she said, “It’s wise of you to take a little break from Nick. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. And this way, you can go to the singing in the same buggy as Katura and Mildred.”
“But I wasn’t planning to go at all. I’m not in the caroling group,” Lucy protested. She resented it when Betty pressured her to chaperone her stepsisters.
“That doesn’t matter,” Mildred insisted. “It’s just like a regular Sunday singing, but we’ll be singing carols to prepare for caroling. Everyone’s invited.”
“Maybe she’s too tired,” Lucy’s father interjected from the front seat. “The Sabbath is meant to be a day of rest.”
“If Lucy’s that tired, she should limit her outings this week, too,” Betty suggested. Lucy couldn’t believe at her age her stepmother was still trying to control her activities, but she figured Betty was so used to doing it for her daughters she automatically did it for Lucy, too.
“I’m not too tired,” Lucy argued. She didn’t want anything standing in the way of her plans to be with Nick this week. “I’ll go with Katura and Mildred.”
The evening singing was held at the same place church had been held that morning—Doris and John Plank’s house. After Jonas, Doris’s stepson, led the three women to the large gathering room where the youth were hanging out, Doris approached and pulled Lucy aside. She cupped her hands around Lucy’s ear and whispered, “Nick is already here. He’s over there, by Melinda.”
Lucy’s eyes darted to the far edge of the room. Melinda had literally backed Nick into a corner and, from the look on his face, he wasn’t enjoying their discussion.
“I thought Nick wasn’t going to be here, you little sneak,” Katura jeered when she noticed Lucy staring. “No wonder you didn’t put up your usual fight about coming with us.”
Lucy didn’t have the energy to insist she hadn’t expected to see Nick that night. When Melinda suddenly moved away from Nick to make a beeline for Jonas, Lucy joined Nick in the corner.
“Lucy, hi!” He was smiling, but there was a tempestuous look in his otherwise bright blue eyes.
“Hi, Nick. I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
“I didn’t expect to be here tonight, but I’m babysitting.”
Lucy giggled. “I’m unofficially chaperoning, too. I thought Katura and Mildred were the only people who needed looking after. I didn’t realize Kevin did, too.”
“He doesn’t—wait, I take that back. He does, but that’s not why I’m here. I’ve been assigned to keep an eye on my cousins who are spending the night with us. But I’ve already lost track of them.”
As Nick surveyed the room, grimacing, Lucy questioned, “Are you okay? I saw Melinda speaking to you and you seemed upset or something.”
Instead of answering, Nick motioned t
oward the hall with his chin. “Kumme with me, okay?” Lucy followed as he led her from the room.
“What’s wrong?” she asked again, and Nick explained how someone at church reportedly told Melinda he’d spotted Nick on the road to the Nelsons’ cabin the previous afternoon. “It was around the time I supposedly would have been helping you accomplish some special Grischtdaag tasks you needed to do. Which I was, sort of, by bringing you to a quiet place so you could embroider, but, you know... Anyway, Melinda’s nosiness has me concerned. I’m afraid somehow she’s going to put two and two together. You and I are so close to completing our projects. I don’t want her to spoil everything right at the very end.”
Lucy saw red and she clenched her fists. “So what if some busybody spotted you alone in your buggy when you supposedly were spending time with me?” she fumed. “For all they know, you dropped me off at the mall so I could do some Grischtdaag shopping while you...I don’t know, while you did shopping of your own. I’m not saying you should lie about it, of course, but that’s just the point. There are infinite possibilities, none of which are anyone else’s business. So why should you have to explain yourself to Melinda or anyone else?”
His eyes still stormy, Nick shook his head. “Melinda said she doesn’t believe we’re really a couple. And I think she’s determined to prove it, Luce.”
Nick had never called her Luce before and, despite her apprehension, Lucy was pleased by the familiarity of the nickname. “But she saw us together last night at the rink.”
“Apparently, she wasn’t convinced.”
“Why does it matter to her anyway?” Lucy wondered aloud. “Is it because she’s upset you turned Eve down?”
“It could be...” Nick hesitated. “Or maybe it’s because, well, there was a time when Melinda and Jesse were courting and they broke up for a while. During that period, I walked out with Melinda. I quickly realized I didn’t want to be her suitor, which she wasn’t too happy about. Ever since then, I’ve kind of had the feeling she’s been trying to get back at me.”
Lucy stared at him, simultaneously trying to reconcile her annoyance at Melinda with her disappointment in Nick. Didn’t he have any discretion at all, to court Melinda Schrock? For the first time, she understood how Katura felt that Nick never asked her out—Lucy felt the same way. She wondered what Melinda had that Lucy didn’t have—except a talent for gossiping.
Shaking her head, Lucy realized that was beside the point at the moment. All that really mattered was how desperately the soup kitchen needed funds. Lucy was so close to finishing the tablecloth and napkins. If she and Nick ended their pretense now, she wouldn’t be able to help raise funds, which would be like taking away hot meals from homeless people. And if Nick couldn’t finish his repairs, he’d be denying the Nelsons the opportunity to enjoy one last family celebration in a place they held dear.
“I’ve got a plan,” she said, trembling. What she was about to suggest was the most brazen idea she’d ever expressed, but Lucy refused to allow anything to stand in the way of accomplishing what she and Nick had dedicated themselves to doing.
* * *
Nick couldn’t guess how Lucy thought she could remedy the situation, but he was willing to try anything. He couldn’t bear the thought of his father finding out about Kevin’s fire—or about Nick’s involvement in the cleanup efforts. He shuddered to think how his father’s health might suffer, at Christmastime no less. But Nick doubted there was any convincing Melinda, for once and for all, that he and Lucy were truly a couple.
“What is it?” he asked.
Lucy bit her lip. Does she even have a plan? Nick wondered. She looked downward as she wrung her hands, speaking so quietly he could hardly hear her. “We’ll stay out here talking until Melinda walks by. She’ll see we’re spending time alone together. She’ll see how close we’re standing.”
“She saw that last night, too, but it didn’t convince her.” Nick was losing hope.
“Jah, but tonight when she walks by, you’re going to...” Lucy waved her hand about her lips.
He couldn’t hear what she said, and he didn’t understand what she was supposed to be miming. “I’m going to what?” he asked.
Averting her eyes, she pulled on the strings of her prayer kapp. “You’re going to kiss me.”
Nick’s legs felt rubbery and he couldn’t speak.
“Suddenly, I mean. As if we don’t think anyone is watching and you’re stealing a kiss,” she explained, her cheeks flaming. Her ears were, too.
Her abashment was endearing but it was also contagious. Nick had never been so nervous in his life. Not even with his first kiss. “Okay,” he said, and placed his hand on Lucy’s shoulder.
Flinching, she huffed, “What are you doing?”
“I’m...I’m getting ready,” he hemmed and hawed. “It—it will look more natural if I have my hand on your shoulder. You know, like I’m sort of leading up to kissing you.” Upon saying the words “kissing you,” Nick’s mouth went dry.
“Oh, okay.” Lucy allowed him to put his hand on her shoulder again. He could feel the angular bone of her clavicle beneath his thumb. “Should I take my glasses off?”
“Neh, that won’t look spontaneous enough.”
“Right,” she whispered, nodding. “Let me know when Melinda comes by.”
Because he could easily see over Lucy’s head, Nick had a clear view through the entryway into the gathering room. They didn’t have to wait long until someone clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, a signal the singing would soon commence. Nick figured it was a matter of seconds before Melinda came out looking for them.
“It won’t be long now,” he said as his stomach jittered. From beneath lowered eyelids, he peeked at Lucy, whose face was level with his chest, to behold her fine bone structure. Someone who was meeting her for the first time might have mistaken her for a much younger teen, but once you spoke with Lucy, you could never again see her as anything other than a bright, self-possessed and skillful woman. How did I miss so many qualities in her? Nick mused. A shadow crossed the door, and Nick immediately used his knuckle to tilt Lucy’s chin toward him. He bent forward, his mouth hovering over hers.
“Sorry, false alarm. It was Doris,” he said when he realized his mistake. His lips nearly touched hers with each syllable he pronounced.
Lucy smiled. “It might have been just as effective to have Doris see us as to have Melinda see us,” she said, just as Melinda stepped into the hall.
Nick didn’t have time to warn Lucy before he brushed his lips against hers. Their skin barely made contact long enough for him to feel the plush softness of her mouth before she drew back. He felt like a thousand hummingbirds were darting through his veins as his gaze lingered on her. In that moment, he couldn’t have cared less about whether Melinda had seen them or not. It wouldn’t have mattered if Lucy and Nick’s entire plan failed and Melinda exposed their charade that very evening. Kissing Lucy was worth ten times the amount of trouble Nick would get into if his parents ever found out about the cabin.
When Melinda cleared her throat loudly, Nick turned his attention to her. She had thrust her hands on her hips. “There you two are,” she said. Her voice registered annoyance, indicating she had indeed witnessed the kiss. “We’re about to start singing and Dan said he heard about our group from you, Lucy, so I thought you two might want to share a songbook.”
Nick had been so intent on watching Melinda’s reaction to the kiss he completely missed noticing Dan, who was shifting from foot to foot behind her. “Hi, Lucy. Nick,” he said awkwardly.
Appearing flustered, Lucy pivoted toward Dan and Melinda and gushed, “Dan, I’m so glad you could kumme. Let’s go into the other room. After the singing Nick and I will introduce you to everyone.”
Nick’s elation was quickly replaced by a crush of disappointment. His legs felt wooden as he followed Lucy and Dan into
the gathering room. After they took seats in chairs arranged around the periphery of the room, Nick kept ruminating on the fact that Lucy had invited Dan to the singing. When? At the soup kitchen? Or had she told him about it today at church? For a fleeting second, Nick’s imagination ran away with him, and he wondered if Lucy had actually proposed the kiss to make Dan jealous.
No, that couldn’t be. Lucy hadn’t even been aware that Nick thought Melinda was on the verge of figuring out their secret until he told Lucy that evening. The kiss had to be Lucy’s spontaneous plot to throw Melinda off, not a planned one for Dan’s benefit. I’ve got to get a grip, Nick thought. But no sooner had he put one worry to rest than another one popped up in its place: Was Lucy only biding her time with Nick until they’d completed their respective Christmas projects? Was it her hope that after Christmas Dan would offer to be her suitor?
As the others lifted their voices around him, Nick decided he couldn’t let that happen. No, he had to extend the length of the project at the cabin. He wasn’t ready to let Lucy go just yet.
* * *
Although Mildred and Katura dropped off almost as soon as their heads hit their pillows on Sunday night, Lucy couldn’t sleep, so she gathered her embroidery materials and crept downstairs. She still had to finish two more place mats for the special order Joseph Schrock had requested. She turned on a lamp and snuggled beneath a quilt, but she couldn’t focus on embroidering. All she could think about was the kiss she’d shared with Nick. Never in a million years would she have imagined herself suggesting such a thing, but now she was so glad she had. As momentary as their kiss had been, it was the most powerful physical sensation she’d ever experienced and a shudder racked her body as she thought about Nick’s thick, full lips skimming her own, her shoulder warm beneath the weight of his palm.
Her Amish Holiday Suitor (Amish Country Courtships Book 5) Page 10
