“I know exactly what you mean,” Nick said. And he did know, because what Lucy just said described exactly how he felt about her beauty. It was quietly winsome and true, not flashy or bold. He licked his lips, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t kiss her. Not without asking to be her suitor for real, first. And he couldn’t do that unless he was sure she felt the same way about him as he did about her. Never before had the possibility of rejection scared him so much. When he asked to court women in the past, he always leaped in, feet first, instead of weighing the consequences. Am I becoming more mature or just overly cautious?
Lucy sighed and said, “Well, either way, it’s too late now.”
“What’s too late?”
“It’s too late to change my pattern. I have to turn it in on Thursday. That’s only six days away. But thanks to our arrangement, I’ll meet the deadline. It looks as if you’re going to finish on time, too.”
The thought filled Nick with dread. He actually didn’t want to finish yet. “Jah,” he said reluctantly. “Unless something goes wrong.” The truth was, if he worked all afternoon on Saturday, he’d be done by evening. He didn’t tell Lucy that, though. “Speaking of finishing, I think I’ve had it for the night, what about you? The fire is nearly out.”
“Jah, my eyes are going to cross if I work on this any longer.”
“I heard there’s a gathering after the singing. Would you like to stop by? Maybe we ought to reinforce the idea we’re a couple.”
Lucy pulled her head back and looked at him wide-eyed. Uh-oh, did she think he meant they ought to convince their peers by kissing each other again? “I mean, they’ll see us together again.”
“Oh, okay,” she said hesitantly. “I suppose that would be all right.”
She didn’t seem enthusiastic about the offer, but now that he’d proposed it, Nick didn’t know how to take it back. He suggested she remain inside until he loaded his things into the buggy and then he’d return to double-check that there were no live embers in the fireplace. But when he stepped outside, everything was dusted in a fine, fluffy powder and he had an idea.
“It snowed enough to sled down the hill in the back at least once,” he told her. “If you think Penny is fast, you’re going to love this!”
Lucy didn’t question how he knew about the hill—she probably assumed he’d been sledding with his Englisch friend there before, but she did ask, “Do the Nelsons have a sled we can use?”
Nick hadn’t thought of that, but he didn’t let it stop him. “Neh, but we can use the lids to their garbage cans. Kevin and I used to do that all the time when we were kinner.”
Lucy laughed. “Okay, if you go first.”
Nick retrieved the two round metal tops to the garbage cans and flicked on the floodlight over the back deck. It illuminated a steep hill that disappeared into the darkness below. They made their way to the backyard, where Nick solemnly advised Lucy, “When you get to the bottom of the hill, if the sled—I mean the garbage can cover—doesn’t stop, you need to roll off it. Otherwise you’ll keep going right into the woods. There’s a little ditch at the very end of the slope, but after that, it’s all trees. I don’t want you crashing into one.”
“This sounds risky.”
“That’s what makes it so thrilling,” Nick teased, “Don’t be a chicken, Luce.”
“Who’s a chicken?” she bantered. “Not me. I’ll go first if you want me to.”
Nick had no doubt she would have, but he wanted to be sure he was at the bottom of the hill when she came down in case he needed to help stop her. “No way, I’m going first. I already called it! Now give me a push.”
He plunked himself down on the lid, crossed his legs into a pretzel shape and scooted himself toward the edge of the hill. Lucy placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed for all she was worth, running a few feet behind him until he picked up steam and was sailing through the dark. The snow was so scant he figured most of his speed was gained from sliding over old, wet leaves, but it hardly mattered—he was cruising. Within seconds he’d reached the end of the decline and since he was traveling too fast to stop, he rolled off the garbage can lid just in time. The metal lid continued its trajectory without him, rattling against the rocks in the gully at the base of the hill.
“Are you all right?” Lucy called.
“Jah. But I’m not so sure about the lid,” he yelled back. “Maybe you shouldn’t do this after all.”
“Just try to stop me!” she taunted, and then all was quiet until he saw her flying over the crest of the hill. She squawked, “Ahh!”
Nick could tell she was too light to steer the lid in a forward motion; it was spinning around and around as she zoomed down the hill, completely out of control. “Roll!” he yelled as she approached the end. “Roll off, now!”
But she had gained too much momentum. She was tearing right toward the gully! Nick jumped in her path and his lower legs suffered most of the blow as she barreled into him. For someone so thin, she packed a punch, and he flipped over her head and landed on his side as she continued traveling—slowly but unstoppably—smack into the gully.
“Lucy!” he yelled even before he was upright. He’d never forgive himself if she was hurt. “Lucy! Lucy, answer me! Are you all right?”
Suddenly, he saw her head pop up in the ditch. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
He didn’t know if his knees were weak from relief or from being knocked into by her, but he fell onto his backside in the snow. “Jah, I am now,” he uttered weakly.
“Gut!” she exclaimed. “Because I never did anything like that before, but I want to do it again!”
They managed to get in three more turns apiece until there was no discernible snow left to sled on. As they slowly hiked back up the hill together a final time, Lucy’s breathing was heavy so Nick slowed his pace.
“That was such schpass,” she gushed deliriously. “I didn’t know I had it in me to do something like that!”
“Really?” Nick was surprised. “I never had any doubt,” he said.
Chapter Nine
When Lucy awoke in the early hours of Saturday morning shivering with cold, she figured she had never completely warmed up after sledding with Nick. She rose and donned a pair of wool socks, added another quilt to her bed and then drifted back to sleep. But when she woke again at sunrise and had a coughing fit that rivaled the performance she’d put on for Mrs. Nelson, she knew she wasn’t just cold. She was sick.
She intended to hide her condition from Betty and her father, but they noticed the moment she finally walked into the kitchen sometime later, while everyone else was eating breakfast.
“What happened to you?” Mildred asked. “You look baremlich.”
“I just overslept,” Lucy began to say, but she interrupted herself coughing.
Her father immediately rose from his chair and placed his hand on her forehead. He’d been the one checking her for fever since she was a child, and the weight of his hand on her head was so familiar it was comforting even if she was sick.
“You’re running a fever. You need to go back to bed.”
“Here, let me feel her,” Betty said, and took a turn placing her hand over Lucy’s forehead. “Ach, he’s right. You are a little warm. I’ll make some tea and bring it to you upstairs. Katura, go fill the hot water bottle for Lucy. Mildred, please see to it she has enough pillows. She should keep her head elevated so she doesn’t cough.”
Lucy wanted to argue, but she acknowledged another hour of sleep would do her good. After that she’d be refreshed and ready to get to work on her weekend chores and then her embroidery orders. Climbing the stairs, she felt like she had lead in her socks. Mildred helped put a fresh case on a second pillow while Lucy removed a third quilt from the shelf in the closet.
Then Katura entered the room. “Have you seen the hot water bottle?” she asked.
Lucy gestur
ed toward the chest of drawers. “It’s in there, I think.” She eased herself into bed as Katura pulled a drawer open.
“Look at this!” she exclaimed, and pulled out the box of candy from Nick that Lucy had hidden there. Katura lifted the lid and looked inside. “No wonder you’re sick. How long have you had this? It’s half gone.”
“That’s mine,” Lucy said, and Katura dropped it back into the drawer.
“I know it’s yours. I wasn’t going to take it, but you don’t have to be so selfish.” She flounced out of the room without locating the hot water bottle.
Lucy hadn’t meant Katura couldn’t have any candy; she’d responded only like that because she was surprised her stepsister had opened her private gift from Nick without asking first. “I didn’t mean to offend Katura,” she mumbled. Her lips and throat were dry and she felt teary. “You can both have some if you want.”
“Denki.” Mildred didn’t hesitate to retrieve the box from the drawer. Even though it wasn’t yet nine o’clock in the morning, she helped herself to a big piece of peanut brittle. “Yum, this is the expensive stuff. Did you get it from Nick?”
Lucy nodded, smiling at the memory. She felt so sick she didn’t mind if Mildred ate the rest of the candy, but Lucy was going to save the box as a cherished memento.
“I can’t wait until I have a suitor who brings me gifts like this,” Mildred said in between bites, and Lucy smiled. Nick might not have been her suitor, but that didn’t mean the gift wasn’t thoughtful all the same. Uncharacteristically empathetic, Mildred said, “Don’t pay any attention to Katura. Her nose is bent out of shape because Frederick Stutzman gave Fern Slagel a ride home from the caroling practice last night.”
“Really? Fredrick and Fern?” Lucy was glad to know he was pursuing another courtship. Or that his mother was pursuing it for him. “But why would Katura be upset about that?”
Mildred rummaged through the box for another piece of peanut brittle. “She’s developed a little crush on Frederick, but don’t let on like you know. That’s why she’s so upset about Nick being your suitor. First you turned down Frederick and now Nick is courting you. She feels like she should be courting someone first, since she’s older than you are.”
“Only by three months,” Lucy said drowsily, and she wondered if she was dreaming. Because Katura made no attempt to hide her interest in Nick, it was surreal to discover she was interested in Frederick. Aloud Lucy muttered, “There’s nothing to be envious of. Nick isn’t really courting me.”
“What?” Mildred’s ears perked up, but Lucy was too tired to fix her mistake.
And then Betty must have walked in with a cup of tea. Lucy couldn’t lift her eyelids to look, but she could faintly smell the honey-lemon tea—which actually contained no tea, just honey, lemon and hot water—Betty served whenever someone had a cold.
“I think she dozed,” Mildred told her mother. “But she’s definitely feverish. She was just talking gibberish about Nick.”
“Is that candy you’re eating? At this hour?” Lucy heard Betty ask Mildred. That was the last thing she remembered before falling asleep.
* * *
Even though he had told his father he wanted to spend the afternoon with Lucy on Saturday, Nick worked at the hardware store until closing time because he decided he’d rather stall his project than to forfeit an excuse to go out with Lucy the following week. So when she didn’t come to the porch a few minutes after six thirty, their agreed-upon time, Nick decided to take the opportunity to greet Betty and Marvin. He climbed the steps and had lifted his hand to knock on the door when Katura emerged.
“Hello, Nick,” she said warmly. “It’s gut to see you, but Lucy’s been sick all day, so she can’t go out with you.”
Nick’s heart tripped, missing a beat. “She’s been sick? How sick?”
Katura rolled her eyes. “It’s probably just a case of the sniffles, but with Lucy, everyone babies her if she so much as sneezes. Anyway, where were the two of you going? There’s a party after caroling practice, you know.”
Nick had to think fast. Since he hadn’t worked on the repairs that afternoon at all, he and Lucy had planned to spend a few hours at the cabin and then stop by the party after the rehearsal by way of putting in an appearance. Now that Lucy couldn’t come with him, Nick figured he should briefly drop in on the carolers first and then go to the cabin. That way, even if his parents found out Lucy was sick, Nick could legitimately tell them he’d gone to the gathering instead of going out with her.
“Jah, I know. Since Lucy can’t kumme out with me, I might drop by to listen to the carolers practice for a little while,” he said.
“Gut, will you take me there, then?” Katura asked. “Since you’re already here and all.”
Nick stalled, trying to think of an excuse for not taking Katura without seeming rude. “I don’t know how long I’ll stay. If I leave before the rehearsal is over, you won’t have a ride home.”
“That’s all right. By then Mildred will have arrived and she can bring me home. She’s not ready to go to the singing just yet, but I’d like to get there early. I need all the practice I can get.” Without waiting for Nick to agree to give her a ride, she added, “I’ll go let her know I’m leaving now and I’ll be right out.”
Nick turned and waited in his buggy. He jiggled his knee, wondering what kind of illness Lucy had. If only he’d been able to talk to her for a few minutes...
“Can you help me up?” Katura asked when she arrived with a platter wrapped in tinfoil. “It’s hard to balance this.”
Instead of taking her hand, Nick reached for the platter. “You’ll have an easier time if I take this for you.” He placed the dish on the seat between them. “So, did Lucy ask you to give me a message or anything?” he inquired. He thought it was odd she didn’t at least meet him at the door herself. If she was really that sick it must have struck quickly.
“She didn’t say anything at all. Of course, she was sound asleep, so she couldn’t have. Lucy’s daed is the one who told me to tell you she couldn’t go out tonight. But don’t worry, he’s just overly protective of her. I’m sure he doesn’t blame you that she’s ill.”
Nick hadn’t been worried until Katura mentioned that. It was kind of his fault—he was the one who’d suggested sledding. Nick swallowed, silently praying Lucy would recover after a bit of rest.
“Would you tell her I’m sorry she’s under the weather?” Nick asked.
“I will if she’s awake when I get home,” Katura agreed. “You know what a little mouse she is. She always scurries off to a corner and hardly talks to anyone. And even if the only thing she does all day is sew, she’s in bed by the time the clock strikes nine. Now that she’s sick, she’ll probably be even more lethargic.”
“That doesn’t sound like the Lucy I know at all,” Nick said, annoyed her stepsister was casting her in such a poor light. “She might be small but she’s a ball of energy. And when she’s quiet it’s because unlike some people, she waits until she has something to say before she opens her mouth.”
He hadn’t directly been making a comparison between Lucy and Katura, but to young women like Katura. However, she was insulted, apparently, by his insinuation, because she folded her arms across her chest and didn’t say another word until they arrived at their destination.
“You can go ahead in while I hitch the horse,” Nick suggested. The last thing he needed was for someone to start a rumor because they arrived together.
Katura stuck out her lower lip as Nick handed her the platter, and then she stamped across the yard toward the big barn where tonight’s singing was being held. Now that he was here, Nick realized how hungry he was. He didn’t want to sing, but he could at least grab some food before going to Jenny’s house.
To his surprise, when he crossed the threshold he noticed several Englisch young people mingling with the Amish. Nick made his wa
y to the snack table where Kevin was stacking cookies onto a plate. “What’s going on? Why are the Englisch here?” he asked his brother.
“Our carolers invited some of the Englisch churches’ singles’ groups to go with them this year. They’ve been rehearsing separately, but since they’ll be singing together all week in public when they begin making their caroling rounds tomorrow evening, they wanted to squeeze in a practice session tonight.”
“Jah, well, don’t forget what happened the last time you were around the Englisch,” Nick warned. He recognized a few of the Englisch youth and he was surprised they were here. They didn’t seem like the type who’d be interested in singing. Maybe Nick was misjudging them, but he was going to have to keep an eye on Kevin.
“Nick, try one of these.” Katura interrupted his thoughts, elbowing Nick in the side and holding out a gingerbread cookie. Kevin took the opportunity to leave, presumably before Nick could lecture him any further.
“It’s appenditlich,” he mumbled after biting into it. It was actually too crunchy for his taste, but Nick didn’t want to stay on Katura’s bad side, especially since he was relying on her to pass his message along to Lucy.
“Hi there, stranger,” a female said, tapping him on the shoulder. Nick twisted around to see Jenny Nelson.
“Hi, Jenny,” he replied awkwardly, unnerved by the possibility she might mention the cabin repairs in front of Katura. After introducing the two women, Nick said, “I didn’t know you like to sing, Jenny.”
“I don’t, but I just missed you at the hardware store today. Kevin told me I might find you here tonight. Since I really needed to talk to you about—”
“I don’t sing, either,” Nick cut her off. “And it sounds like they’re about to start, so why don’t we go outside to talk? Excuse us, Katura.”
Katura’s eyebrows were raised. “Of course, you two go chat in private,” she remarked pointedly, causing Nick to worry about what she might be assuming.
Outside he said to Jenny, “Sorry for interrupting you like that, but no one knows about the cabin repairs. I didn’t want Katura finding out.”
Her Amish Holiday Suitor (Amish Country Courtships Book 5) Page 13
