A Hope Springs Christmas (7 page)

“We should have a good turn out. Her
mamm
has so much to do with two weddings this year that I offered to host the bee.”

“That was very kind of you, Sally. Wasn’t it, Levi?” Sarah glanced from Sally to Levi. This was his chance to say something flattering to the girl about her thoughtfulness. He nodded and kept eating. Sarah rolled her eyes.

For the rest of the meal, Sarah studied Levi’s reaction to her two friends. His polite response to their questions was usually a monosyllable reply, but neither of the women let that stop them from including him in the conversation. Sarah couldn’t detect any interest on Levi’s part for either woman. He finished his plate and made his escape, much to Sarah’s dismay.

Sally said, “He doesn’t say much, does he?”

“He’s the strong, silent type,” Leah answered.

Sarah quickly added, “He’s a hard worker, he’s a kind neighbor and a nice-looking man. A woman could do much worse for a husband.”

Leah grinned. “Sarah, I didn’t know you were on the look out for a
mann.
Levi would be a fine choice for you.”

“For me?” Sarah squeaked. She shook her head violently. “I’m not looking for a husband. I was talking about some other woman.”

“Sure.” Sally winked at Leah.

Sarah saw her plans blowing up in her face. If these women thought she had her eye on Levi, they wouldn’t go out with him.

She lowered her gaze and spoke with quiet sincerity. “Levi is a fine man and would make a wonderful husband, but I’m not planning to marry again. No one could replace Jonas. I was simply making conversation.”

Sally laid a hand on her arm. “We’re sorry to tease you.”

Sarah smiled. “I forgive you, but I must ask a favor in return.”

“Ask away,” Sally replied.

“I need help. I’m taking Grace’s place at the carriage shop while she is gone. I’m supposed to do the inventory this week. I simply can’t do it alone. Levi and the twins are much too busy to help me. Could you spare a day or two to give me a hand?”

Sally grinned. “Absolutely. We aren’t that busy at Elam’s shop now that the tourist season is over. I’m sure he can spare me for a few days.”

“I would be more grateful than you know.” Sarah took a bite of the peach pie on her plate, satisfied that things were back on the right track. Sally really did make a good pie. Surely, Levi had noticed that.

* * *

Levi stayed at the Nissley farm until late afternoon. He enjoyed watching Atlee and Moses play several games of volleyball. Unlike their older brother, the twins were outgoing and well-liked by their peers. They never had trouble fitting in.

When it grew late, Levi helped Eli Imhoff and a few others load the seats back inside the bench wagon. When he finished, he went looking for his brothers. He found the twins waiting for him by the front porch. He said, “It’s time to go.”

“We were thinking of staying for the singing. We’ll walk home later,” Atlee said.

Both boys had their eyes focused on a group of young people gathered at the side of the barn. Levi noticed the pretty Miller sisters glancing frequently in his brothers’ direction. The girls were twins and the same age as his brothers. Levi accepted that he was on his own for the short drive home.

He fetched his horse from among the few still remaining and backed Homer between the shafts of his buggy. When he finished harnessing the gelding, he turned to get in and found Sarah once again at his side.

“I hate to be a bother, Levi, but is there any way you can give me a lift home? I walked this morning, but it feels like I have a blister forming on my heel. I really would appreciate a ride.”

Sarah had never gone out of her way to spend time with him. What was going on? “
Ja,
I can give you a lift.”

She got in without waiting for him. He climbed in after her. The inside of his vehicle had never felt so small. Their knees were almost touching.

He swallowed hard and slapped the reins to get the horse moving. As they rolled down the lane, he wondered what he should say.

Sarah had no difficulty talking. “It was a very nice sermon today. Bishop Zook has a way with words that makes you feel that God is speaking through him.”

“I reckon He is.”

“You’re right. Did you enjoy Sally Yoder’s peach pie?”

“Ja.”

“I knew you would. Peach is your favorite, isn’t it?”

“Ja.”

“I remember that because it’s my favorite as well. Sally is a very nice girl, isn’t she? Not a girl really, she’s a young woman. Certainly old enough to be courting.”

“Nice enough, I reckon.”

“Leah Belier is another nice woman. Did you enjoy your conversation with her?”

He slanted a glance at Sarah. “She wanted to know how the twins got the skunk into the coatroom at the school without getting sprayed themselves.”

Sarah laughed out loud. It was a delightful sound and made him smile, too. She said, “It was a mean trick, but it was pretty funny. I doubt anyone will be able to top that anytime soon.”

“For Leah’s sake, I hope not.”

“I have to wonder if she isn’t ready to give up teaching and get married. She would certainly make a good wife. We all know she has a way with children. Don’t you think she would make someone a fine wife?”

“I reckon.”

After a long moment, she asked, “Have you thought about it?”

“Thought about what?”

“Honestly, Levi, what have we been talking about?”

“Peach pies and skunks?”

“You are being deliberately obtuse.”

“You’ve been talking about Sally and Leah.”

“And if Leah might be ready to wed. Have you thought about marriage?”

He didn’t care for the topic. “Have you?” he countered.

She grew somber. “No.”

“Why not?”

She stared at her hands. “Because I’ll never find someone as special as my Jonas.”

It wasn’t what he hoped she would say, but one thing Levi knew for certain. He wasn’t anyone special.

Chapter Seven

S
arah counted the number of lynchpins in the wooden box and added the total to the sheet of paper on the clipboard beside her. Inventory was tedious work whether she did it at the fabric store or here. It was part and parcel of a business. It had to be done.

It was her second day of working with Levi since riding home with him after the preaching. She could count on one hand the number of words he’d spoken to her since that evening.

“If he gets past ten words, I can make a tally sheet for him and keep it on my clipboard,” she muttered to herself.

The twins were outside working on the church district’s bench wagon. Eli Imhoff had brought it in that morning. The rear axle had cracked and needed to be replaced. Fortunately, Levi had an axle that would work and gave the project to the twins to finish before the day was done.

The wagon would be needed to carry the benches to Samuel Stultz’s farm for a wedding service the day after tomorrow. The first of his five daughters was getting married. A second daughter, Ina, would be wed in three weeks’ time. Sarah had promised Grace she would attend the quilting bee for her early next week. Weddings were wonderful events, but they were also sad reminders of what God had taken away from her.

Through the closed window, Sarah could hear the sounds of the twins’ heated debate as they disagreed over the best way to undertake the bench wagon repair. It reminded her so much of the conversations she’d had with her sister when they had been teenagers. Her mother used to say they fought like cats and dogs. Sarah knew that wasn’t entirely true. She had loved her sister unconditionally, even if she didn’t always approve of Bethany’s actions or her choices. She had loved Bethany and God had taken her, too.

If she never loved anyone else, she would never have to suffer such loss again. It was the main reason she wouldn’t consider marrying again.

Suddenly, Sarah caught the mention of Leah Belier and she listened more closely.

“He did not,” Moses said

“He did,” Atlee insisted.

“Levi took Leah Belier, the teacher, riding in his buggy?”

“I saw them together yesterday with my own eyes. What do you think it means?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t mean nothing.”

Atlee said, “It doesn’t mean anything. Have you forgotten all your English classes with Leah?”

“I try to. Give me a hand with this wheel or get lost.”

The boys continued to quarrel, but they had given Sarah something to think about. So Levi had taken Leah for a ride. That was promising.

Letting her mind wander for a minute, Sarah shifted her gaze from the twins to where Levi was affixing a new tongue to a farm wagon. In spite of the cool temperature in the building, he had his sleeves rolled up. His light blue shirt was darkened with sweat between his shoulder blades. He was hatless, and she could see the beads of perspiration clinging to the hair at his temples.

He lifted the heavy wooden bar with an ease that surprised her. When he finally had it seated to his satisfaction, he stood back, dusted his hands together and propped them at his hips.

Why hadn’t she noticed before what a fine figure of a man he was? While he wasn’t a brawny fellow like her husband had been, his slender frame was well muscled. All in all, Levi was an attractive man. She hoped the women she had in mind for him would notice.

Sarah tipped her head slightly as she studied him. She already knew his crystal-clear blue eyes were his best features. His forehead was broad, and his chin jutted out slightly, giving him a look of determination. His nose was a little big for his face, but not overly so. She smiled. He could have been blessed with his grandfather Reuben’s nose. Fortunately, he hadn’t been.

He didn’t smile often, but she knew there was a dimple in his right cheek. It made him look less severe, less aloof. He didn’t smile enough.

Sarah was ashamed to realize how much she had ignored Jonas’s friend over the past few years. Now that Grace had brought Levi’s needs to her attention, Sarah was determined to find him a wife. Her aunt Emma might think he was destined to be an old boy, but Sarah didn’t believe it.

She had a plan to change that, and she’d already set it in motion. Levi deserved someone who cared about him, who could work beside him and bear his children to carry on his business.

She stopped when she realized how much that sounded like the hopes she once held dear. It wasn’t to be for her.

She shook off the sad thought. Because that dream wasn’t what God had planned for her didn’t mean it couldn’t come true for Levi and his wife.

A buggy pulled up outside. Glancing out the window, Sarah grinned. Part two of her plan was about to get underway. Sally Yoder stepped down from her carriage.

Sarah hurried to hold open the door for her. “
Guder mariye,
Sally. I’m so glad you could come.”

“Good morning, Sarah. I hope I’m not late.”

“Not at all.”

“Isn’t this the strangest weather we’re having? Cold and snow one week, sunny and warm the next.”

“I’ll take sunny and warm any day.”

Sally shook her head. “I like snow during the holiday season. Not a lot, just enough to make everything look sparkling and new.”

Sarah kept her opinion of snow to herself. She glanced in Levi’s direction and found he was watching them. Taking Sally by the elbow, Sarah led her toward him.

“Levi, I forgot to mention that I asked Sally Yoder to give me a hand with the inventory. You don’t mind if she helps, do you?”

“I reckon not.”

Sarah thrust her clipboard into his hands. “Wonderful. If you have a few minutes, can you show her what needs to be done? I would appreciate it. I’ve got something on the stove I have to check on. I’ll be right back.”

She hurried out the front door leaving the two of them together.

* * *

Levi had never considered Sarah a flighty woman until she had started working with him. He vowed to be less critical of Grace when she returned. Sally stood waiting for his instructions.

He handed her the clipboard without meeting her gaze. “This is a list of things to be counted. The shelves and bins are labeled. Write down the number of items you find in each one.”

Sally glanced at the clipboard. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.” He nodded and returned to work on the farm wagon.

“Levi, what is an axle nut?” Sally asked as she stood looking at the eight-foot-tall wooden cabinet filled with drawers that covered the west wall.

He put aside the hardware meant to hold the tongue to the front axle and crossed the room to show her the correct drawer. Pulling it open, he said, “It’s used to hold the wheel on the axle.”

“I thought as much.” She counted the ones in the drawer and pushed it closed.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“No, I’ve got this.” She opened a second drawer and began counting.

Levi returned to wrestling with the wagon waiting to be finished.

“Why do you have left and right axle nuts?”

He exhaled in frustration. “Because the nut on the axle had to be threaded to turn right on one side and left on the other side.”

“Why?”

“To prevent the nut from being spun off when the wheel is going in the same direction. If that happens, the wheel falls off.” He lay down to tighten the bolts under the tongue.

“I see. What is a clip bar used for?”

He finished tightening the bolts, wiped the sweat from his face and rose to walk past to her. “Moses will be in to help you. I have work to do outside.”

He rolled down his sleeves, donned his jacket and escaped out the door. How many questions could one woman ask? Outside, he found young Ben Lapp unloading a wheel from his wagon. Ben was a few years older than the twins. He rolled the wheel toward Levi. “I’ve got a broken fellow on this one. Any chance I can get it replaced today?”

Behind Ben’s wagon, Daniel Hershberger was helping his new wife out of their buggy. He had a second horse tied on behind.

Atlee and Moses came hurrying up. Moses took the wheel from Ben. “We can’t get to it today. It will be tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.”

Ben nodded. “That will work. I also need a new left axle nut.”

Levi pointed over his shoulder. “Sally Yoder can find you one.”

Ben’s eyes brightened. He looked with interest toward the building. “I didn’t know Sally was working here.” He headed inside without another word.

Dan Hershberger, with his bride, Susan, at his side, approached Levi. They made an imposing pair for both were tall with ample figures and stern expressions. Dan said, “I understand my wife’s new carriage is done.”

Levi nodded. Atlee said, “I’ll hitch your horse for you. The two of you can take it for a ride around the block to make sure it’s to your satisfaction.”

Susan folded her arms and gave Levi a stern glare, ignoring the twins completely. “I would prefer that my husband harness the horse.”

She wisely didn’t trust his brothers. Neither of the boys looked disappointed, so perhaps they didn’t have a prank in mind. Levi said, “It’s this way.”

Levi walked toward the back lot. Dan followed, leading his spare horse. It was a high-stepping and spirited coal-black mare. Glancing over his shoulder, Levi saw Susan waiting near their buggy. She was keeping a close eye on the twins.

The open carriage was sitting in the center of the back lot. Dan’s stern face broke into a wide grin when he saw it. “This is exactly what I had in mind. Susan will love it. I hope she will love it, for a happy wife makes a happy life.”

The two men hitched up the horse and led her to the front of the building. Susan walked around the buggy, tested the doors, and ran her hand over the leather upholstery. Turning to her husband, she finally smiled. “It is wonderful,
danki, mie
husband.”

“It is my joy to see you happy.” He opened the carriage door and assisted her to climb in.

Levi happened to catch a glimpse of Atlee’s gleeful face from the corner of his eye. A cold feeling settled in his bones. What had they done?

* * *

Sarah finished her cup of coffee and took the blue enameled pot off the stove. She hadn’t lied. She did have something on the stove—her coffee pot. Glancing at the clock, she wondered if twenty minutes was enough time to leave Sally and Levi alone. Hopefully, he had spoken more than a handful of words to her.

Sarah was anxious to see how the couple was getting along. She rinsed her cup and set it to dry on the side of the sink. When she opened the front door, she saw Dan and Susan Hershberger sitting in their new carriage. Levi was with them and not with Sally. Sarah scowled. She hadn’t taken into account that they might have customers.

As Sarah descended her steps, Dan tipped his hat in her direction. Susan lifted her hand to wave as Dan slapped the reins against the rump of his horse. The mare surged forward. Sarah heard a sharp crack. Dan and Susan both fell backward as their seat gave way. The mare trotted smartly down the street with her passengers’ legs sticking in the air.

Horrified, Sarah dashed out her front gate. Levi was already in hot pursuit of the couple. Moses and Atlee were clinging to each other as they laughed hysterically. Sarah stopped in front of them. “Oh, how could you?”

“They are such a pompous pair,” Atlee managed to say when he caught his breath.

“Ah, Levi’s got their horse already,” Moses said with a pout.

Sarah looked down the street and pressed her hand to her heart in relief. “Thank heavens. What if the horse had run into traffic or upset the buggy?”

Moses shrugged. “Nothing bad happened. I was hoping they’d go clear through town that way.”

Sarah wanted to box his ears. “We’re lucky they didn’t. Dan Hershberger could buy and sell this business ten times over. He is an influential man. If he decides to make trouble for us, we could lose most of our business.”

Atlee said, “He won’t make trouble for you, Sarah. You’re a widow. The church elders would never stand for that. Here they come. We better get out of here.”

The boys took off, leaving Sarah and Levi to face their irate customers alone.

It was an ugly scene. It took the better part of half an hour to soothe Dan and his wife’s ruffled feathers. Sarah ended up letting them have their carriage at cost. Levi promised to deliver it to their home tomorrow after thoroughly inspecting it. When they finally left, Levi and Sarah turned to face each other.

“Where did they go?” he asked in a tired voice.

She knew he was talking about his brothers. “They took off running toward the center of town. God only knows where they are by now.”

“I can’t believe they pulled this off. I knew they were up to something, but if I can’t trust them to work for me, what will I do with them?”

“Send them to work for someone else,” Sarah suggested.

He thrust his hands in his pockets and stared at his feet. “Who would have them?”

“Your grandfather perhaps?”

“Maybe. I will speak to him.”

The silence stretched between them. Sarah glanced at Levi just as he looked at her. She couldn’t hold back a grin. “It was kind of funny.”

Levi’s hangdog expression changed to a reluctant smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth. “
Ja,
it was. Susan Hershberger wears pink bloomers.”

“She does?” Sarah choked on a chuckle. Their eyes met. The ridiculousness of the prank hit them at the same time. They both started laughing.

“Snap, wee!” Sarah threw her hands in the air. Levi laughed harder. Sarah pressed her hands to her face as tears blurred her vision.

“Stop,” Levi begged her, holding his sides.

“Snap, wee! Pink I see!” Unable to stand because she was laughing so hard, she fell against Levi and grasped his arm. His hands came up to steady her. She looked at his smiling face and her mirth slowly died away.

Their eyes met. Sarah realized that she was practically in his arms. She took a quick step back. His hands dropped to his sides.

She said, “It was funny, but it could’ve been so much worse.”

Levi nodded. His gaze once more dropped to his feet. “Reckon I should get back to work.”

“As should I. I have left Sally alone for too long.”