Read Huckleberry Summer Online
Authors: Jennifer Beckstrand
Tags: #Fiction, #Christian, #Romance, #Amish & Mennonite
Huckleberry Summer (20 page)
“Aden, you’re already up? Felty said you got up earlier than usual, but I didn’t believe him. I wanted you to sleep in after working so hard at Lily’s house yesterday. Your mamm would be unhappy if you work yourself to death on your dawdi’s farm.”
Aden hung his hat on the hook by the door. “I’ll try to relax after dinner.”
“Lily will be here soon.”
Aden felt weary to his bones at the sound of her name. “I don’t think Lily will be here today. She is not feeling well.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Do you think a pair of mittens would cheer her up?”
“Jah, I’m sure they would.”
“She is such a gute girl. I’m glad you two are coming along so nicely.”
Aden gave his mammi a hug and a kiss. “Mammi, I know you think we are coming along nicely, but truth be told, I wish you had found me a girl who already has a mailbox.”
Chapter Seventeen
Pilot ran to her as soon as she stepped out of the house after work. That dog seemed to have an extra sense about Lily’s location at all times. Even when she saw no sign of him from the kitchen window or he had run off with Aden to do chores, Pilot always reappeared to tell Lily good-bye after work.
Lily took Pilot’s face in her hands and then caressed his ears and neck. As always, he tried to lick her fingers, but she didn’t mind so much anymore. She kept her hand sanitizer within reach.
Aden walked out of the barn, and she waved to him. He’d been extra somber today, serious and untalkative, but she hadn’t minded his mood. Not that she tried to avoid him, but the bike incident still troubled her. And she hadn’t told him about the mailbox yet. The truth would make him unhappy. She hated to see him unhappy.
He gave her the first smile she had seen from him today as he strolled toward her. “Going home?”
“Jah.”
“We will see you Monday, then.”
She turned away from him but couldn’t bear the thought of going three whole days wondering how he felt about her. She changed direction. “You have been awfully quiet today.”
“Have I?” He took off his hat and fingered the scar at his eyebrow. “I suppose I have. I’ve been thinking deep thoughts.”
Jah, he was probably thinking he never wanted to kiss a scaredy-cat ever again. “Are you mad at me?”
He bowed his head. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was. Estee begged me to go. She called me a chicken.”
He opened his mouth and closed it again and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, you’re talking about Floyd’s bike. Floyd shouldn’t have involved you or Estee. I told him to come to me next time. I’m not afraid.”
Lily slumped her shoulders. “I’m such a coward.”
Aden donned his hat. “You’re cautious, that’s all.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better. I should have done it for Estee’s sake, like you would do for Pilot.”
Taking her hand, he led her to sit on the porch steps. “When it’s dire enough, you’ll find your courage.”
“If I couldn’t even find it for Estee, what makes you think I’ll find it for anything else?”
“You will. Deep down, there are things you would die for.”
“Maybe it’s harder to find something to live for,” Lily said.
“So true.”
Lily savored the feel of his hand comfortably encircling hers. “I have something to tell you.”
He looked into her eyes and frowned. “Okay.”
“Please don’t feel bad about this. He’s only doing what he thinks is best, and I love him dearly.” If she didn’t have it before, she had his undivided attention now. “Dat moved the mailbox.”
“Moved it? He chopped it down like a tree.”
“Oh, you saw?”
“When we brought Floyd’s bike back.”
“My dat has his heart set on Tyler Yoder.”
Aden let go of her hand and stood up. He shoved his fists into his pockets. “I know. I’ve been stewing about it all day, trying to decide what to do next.”
Lily lowered her gaze and stared at her shaky hands. She didn’t want to hear what Aden wanted to do next—he had probably decided to forget her and pursue Erla Glick, whose dat would never chop down a mailbox out of spite.
“Lily, I’m not giving up.” Aden bent over and nudged her chin so she would meet his gaze. “Ever.”
The way he said “ever” sent a jolt of electricity down her spine. Who could doubt after looking into those eyes?
Her voice trembled like a hummingbird. “Oh, okay. Ever.”
He grinned playfully and pulled her to stand on the second step. At this level, she could look him in the eye. He wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her close, never taking his eyes off her lips. Oh sis yuscht! He was going to kiss her again. She felt giddy and light-headed and completely unprepared. Why didn’t he ever give her ample warning?
His lips came within inches when Lily heard the front door open behind her. She abruptly pushed Aden away. He released her and turned as if searching for something in the woods. If it was anything like what she felt, he was searching for his senses.
“Oh, my,” Anna said. “The things you young people do.”
Seemingly unembarrassed, she waltzed down the steps carrying two empty buckets.
“What are you doing, Mammi?”
“Getting the rest of the tomatoes off the vines before it freezes.”
Aden glanced at Lily and then at his mammi. “I’ll help.”
Anna had almost reached the barn. “Finish your kissing,” she called. “No hurry.”
Finish kissing? Not if Lily died of embarrassment first.
Aden chuckled. “Mammi is always so accommodating.” Again he wrapped his arms around Lily’s waist. “I think we better do as she says.”
Lily’s heart pitter-pattered with delicious excitement. She was ready this time. Exactly as she had practiced, she puckered slightly as Aden bent his head closer.
To her chagrin, he turned his face away at the last minute to peer down the lane.
She’d been concentrating so hard on being kissed that she hadn’t even heard the hum of the truck engine or the crackle of gravel under the rubber tires. Pilot barked and ran around in circles as the truck stopped at the edge of the grass.
Aden’s friend Jamal hopped out of the truck and charged at Aden as if he were going to tackle him. Aden charged right back with a big smile on his face. They met and did a strange handshake before hugging while smacking each other on the back.
“I thought I’d gotten rid of you a month ago,” Aden said. The happiness in his words nearly overflowed into laughter. “Did you drive by the pond?”
“Yeah, the aerator is working well. That was a great idea, whoever thought of it.”
“Tyler,” Lily said. “He thinks of everything.”
She mentally smacked herself upside the head. Tyler’s was probably the last name Aden wanted to hear.
Anna trudged across the lawn with her buckets. Aden and Jamal leaped into action and each offered to carry one. Anna shook her head and kept walking. As she got closer, Lily could see that her buckets were empty.
“It is wonderful gute to see you again, Jamal,” Anna said.
“Your gran makes the best yummy-shettly.”
Aden raised an eyebrow. “When did you eat Mammi’s
yummasetti
?”
yummasetti
?”
“On Tuesday, dear, when you went to fix Lily’s mailbox. I knew you would be missing supper, so I made Felty’s favorite meat dish. Jamal is not a vegetarian.”
Jamal’s eyes twinkled. “I came by to see you, but they told me you were out sparking with Lily. I don’t know what sparking means, but it sounded important.”
Lily reached for Pilot, who stood sentinel by her side, and vigorously rubbed his head so she wouldn’t die of embarrassment.
Aden didn’t seem embarrassed, but a shadow passed over his features. He wasn’t thinking about sparking. He was thinking about that mailbox. “I thought you were going to pick tomatoes, Mammi.”
“I decided I need a sweater,” Anna said.
Aden took the buckets from her. “I’ll hold these while you get one.”
“Thank you, dear. You’re such a good boy. I tell your mamm, ‘Don’t worry so much about Aden. He might be going through a rough patch, but he’ll turn around all right.’”
Aden smiled sheepishly. “Thanks for your confidence, Mammi.”
Anna went into the house, and Aden turned to Jamal. “So, not that I’m not happy to see you, but knowing how much you love Bonduel, why are you in Wisconsin again?”
“I wanted to come back and look at the pond.” He paused. “And check things out while I’m in the area.”
“Looking for environmental transgressions?”
“Pretty much,” Jamal said. He cleared his throat, and Lily could see him studying Aden out of the corner of his eye. “I need your help with something.”
Aden raised both hands in surrender and backed away. “Oh, no, Jamal. You heard my grandma. I’m going through a rough patch. I don’t need to go looking for trouble.”
“Oh, come on, Aden. It’s just for a couple of hours and no police will be involved, I promise. It’s not a big deal.”
Lily held her breath. She had an inkling that whatever wasn’t a big deal would involve either police officers or deep water.
“You have a specific set of skills,” Jamal said.
“Oh really?”
“I need someone Amish.”
Aden shook his head as a grin played at his lips. “You can dress up. I’ll give you some suspenders and a hat.”
“Oh, yeah, like anyone is going to believe an African American Amish guy who can’t speak the language.”
“You could dress as a Mennonite,” Aden said.
Jamal threw up his hands in disgust. “Come on, Aden. This is a big deal.”
“You just said it wasn’t a big deal.”
“I meant you won’t have to do much, but it’s for a really good cause. You like dogs, don’t you?”
“I like dogs.”
“There’s some Amish guys running a puppy mill about an hour outside of Shawano. And I’ve heard stuff. It’s bad in there.”
Aden massaged the back of his neck. “Puppy mills are legal, Jamal. We can’t do anything to shut them down.”
Jamal and Aden seemed to forget their surroundings as they focused on each other, and the fire of indignation smoldered between them.
“But there are animal cruelty laws, Aden, and the authorities can’t get in to look without probable cause.”
“And you want to give them probable cause.”
Jamal laid a hand on Aden’s shoulder. “Look, I just want you to knock on their door and distract them while I go around back and take some pictures. I’ve already scoped the place out, and I can’t get in there by myself. There’s three or four Amish guys prowling around there all the time.”
Aden glanced at Lily. “I don’t know. Maybe we should leave well enough alone.”
“I don’t know how to leave well enough alone. Besides, this isn’t ‘well enough.’ Those dogs are starving. They’ve got skin diseases and rotting teeth. I won’t stand by and let that happen. And you shouldn’t either.”
Lily could tell the moment Aden made his decision. He stood up straight, which at his full height was quite impressive. “How many puppies?”
“Maybe fifty. Plus a dozen adult dogs.”
Anna came from the house wearing a deep purple sweater fastened with jumbo hooks at the front. She carried a sizable rust-colored sweater over her arm. “Jamal, I knitted this for you.”
She held it out to him, and he took it almost reverently. “Wow, thank you, Mrs. Helmuth.” He pulled it over his head and slipped his arms into the sleeves. It fit perfectly and brought out the yellow specks in his brown eyes. The cable pattern on the front wove over and under itself in beautiful symmetry. “No one’s ever made me something so nice,” Jamal said.
Anna’s eyes twinkled. “Ohio autumns can be almost as chilly as Wisconsin.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll wear it tonight when I’m out with Aden.”
Anna took her buckets from Aden. “Where are you going?”
Aden looked from Lily to Jamal to Anna and back again. “Mammi, there is a puppy mill Jamal wants me to help him photograph. If the police see how badly the puppies are being treated, we might convince them to shut it down.”
Anna gasped. “Why would anyone want to hurt a puppy?”
“Do you mind if I go?”
Anna frowned. “Your mamm would write me a stern eight-page letter if she knew.”
As if on cue, Pilot nudged Anna’s elbow with his nose and whined pathetically, standing in for all the puppies in all the puppy mills in the world.
Anna patted Pilot’s head and sighed. “Of course you must help those poor little puppies.” She plopped her buckets on the ground and wrapped her arms around Aden’s waist. “Don’t get arrested. Your mamm would be quite out of sorts with her mother-in-law if you got arrested.”
Aden gave his mammi a squeeze. “I will help you pick the tomatoes tomorrow.”
Anna waved away his suggestion. “Lily can help me pick. You go save the puppies.”
Lily’s heart lodged in her throat. Every muscle in her body seemed charged with energy even as she felt the urge to throw up. “I’m going with Aden.”
Aden gaped at her as if she’d announced her intention to join the Army.
Jamal furrowed his brow. “We don’t really need . . .”
Aden scraped his jaw off the ground and bloomed into a smile. “She’s joking. Lily would never go in for this.”
Aden had no idea how much his words stung. She would always be a disappointment to him.
Well, not today. Today, she would be the kind of girl Aden could admire.
As long as she didn’t throw up all over his boots.
Besides, she refused to play the waiting game again. Storming a puppy mill couldn’t be more frightening than staring down the lane wondering if Aden was alive, wishing she had gone with him in the first place so her regrets didn’t overwhelm her later.
“I can help,” she said.
Jamal rubbed his chin. “I don’t mind if you come.”
Aden’s eyes grew wide. “Of course you’re not coming.”
“Of course I am coming.”
Aden pressed his lips into a rigid line. “This is because of the bike, isn’t it?”
“I’m not going to chew my fingernails to stubs waiting for you to come back.”
“Then keep your hands in your pockets. You don’t realize how fast these things can get out of hand.”
Lily wouldn’t budge. “Then you shouldn’t go.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Jamal interjected. “And it’s for the puppies.”
Anna worried the hem of her apron. “Oh dear, Lily. Your fater would not like it one little bit.”
“Dat doesn’t have to find out.” The guilt flooded over Lily as she said the words.
Aden sighed. He took Lily’s hand in plain sight of Jamal and Anna and led her around to the side of the house. “Lily, I am doing my best to get on your dat’s good side. He would never let me talk to you again if he knew you came with us.”
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