Huckleberry Summer (4 page)

Lily trudged up Huckleberry Hill, panting all the way. She’d get some good exercise working this job. In the past, Lily’s dat would have driven her all the way to the top of the hill out of concern for her safety and health, but he had told her that he had decided to quit being so anxious and let her spread her wings a little.

Halfway up the hill, she found a stick, about four feet long, that she could use to fight off any dogs that decided to attack her. She didn’t plan on hitting the beast, only on using the stick to keep it at arm’s length, or stick’s length, as the case may be.

She walked up to the porch, keeping a sharp eye out for dogs slinking in the shadows. She breathed a sigh of profound relief. Maybe Aden had remembered she was coming and locked his dog in the barn. She leaned her stick against the porch railing. She’d probably need it if she came outside to do chores.

When Lily got no answer from knocking, she decided to walk in. The Helmuths expected her, and they were probably too old to hear her knock.

To her horror, that dog stood inside the door waiting for her. She caught her breath.

He smiled.

Dogs couldn’t smile.

Well, he looked positively cheerful in a dog sort of way. He barked once, jumped up, and plunked his paws on her shoulders. This time, Lily had nothing to prop her up. Grunting in surprise and fright, she toppled to the ground and landed on her backside. That dog still had his paws firmly planted on her shoulders as he leaned in to lick her face. Resisting the urge to burst into tears, she balled her hands into fists to keep from trembling.

“No!” Lily squealed. “Don’t you dare lick me.”

The dog immediately backed away and cocked his head to one side.

Lily laced her voice with authority. “Sit, Piecrust, sit.”

To her relief, the stupid dog took two steps backward and sat down. He gave her a little whine of contrition and looked at her like a naughty schoolboy caught doing mischief.

“And stay there.”

Now
Aden decided to show himself. He ran down the hall and into the kitchen. “Pilot,” he growled, but he didn’t sound mad at all as he gave the dog’s head a quick pat. “What did you do, Pilot?”

He bent down, gave Lily his hand, and pulled her to her feet as if she weighed no more than a feather. “I’m real sorry about that. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, really. I brought him in the house so he wouldn’t scare you when you got here. I had no idea you’d just walk in.”

Lily huffed her displeasure to cover her distress. “If you taught him some manners, he wouldn’t attack innocent people.”

Aden had the nerve to grin. “Sorry.”

She didn’t for one minute believe he felt any remorse at all.

Once on her feet, Lily smoothed the hair under her kapp and reattached a few pins. Her black bonnet had slipped off her head and hung around her neck like a bib. She quickly untied it.

The best course of action, instead of lecturing Aden about his dog’s behavior, would be to pretend that nothing had happened. Then she might be able to retain her dignity. She squeezed past the dog, who sat in the doorway behaving himself. “Where are Anna and Felty?”

“In the back. I helped Dawdi fix the toilet. He was trying to do it with duct tape.”

Lily stood in the middle of the kitchen, unsure what to do next. Dat had told her to stay away from Aden as best she could, but Aden didn’t seem inclined to go anywhere, and she didn’t know what Anna wanted her to clean first.

The great room appeared tidy, except for an odd little pile of socks on the floor next to the rocking chair. The table was cleared, but the breakfast dishes sat in the sink. Lily hung her bonnet on a hook and rolled up her sleeves. She’d start on the dishes. If she ignored Aden, maybe he’d get the hint and go somewhere else.

She went to the sink and started filling it with water. That giant of a dog followed and stood next to her like a sentry. His gaze reached above the level of the counter so he could watch intently as Lily poured the soap, picked up a sponge, and started washing.

He twitched his ears and cocked his head to one side and then the other as if trying to figure out how she washed dishes. She looked up to see Aden staring at her. “He likes you,” Aden said.

Lily took a damp towel and wiped the paw-shaped dust prints from the shoulders of her navy blue dress. “I’m not sure I return his affection.”

“No doubt about that.”

Anna appeared just as Lily was about to ask Aden to quit staring at her. Anna’s little white dog followed close behind. Sparky padded into the kitchen and stationed herself next to Aden’s dog, which still stood guard faithfully by Lily’s side. Sparky gazed up at Aden’s dog as if looking for her next set of instructions.

“Lily,” Anna said, “how nice to see you. Don’t worry about the dishes, dear. I want you and Aden to go milk the cow. Together.”

“I already milked, Mammi,” Aden said.

“Then go out and stake the raspberries. The raspberries need staking, don’t they, Aden?”

Aden seemed almost reluctant. “I could always use a second pair of hands.”

“I think I should . . . my fater . . .” Lily glanced at Aden. She couldn’t very well tell him what her fater had said, but how could she work here and be obedient to Dat’s wishes at the same time? She might have to speak with Anna privately about keeping Aden out of her way.

Anna came around to Lily’s left side where there were no dogs and plunged her hands into the dishwater. “Go now. Go. Those raspberries aren’t growing any shorter.”

Lily didn’t have a choice. Anna was her employer, after all. She could still be a faithful employee and avoid Aden. They didn’t have to say a word to each other to stake raspberries. She dried her hands and walked past Aden to retrieve her bonnet. Aden’s dog followed close behind and stared up longingly at her while she tied the bonnet under her chin. Did he want food?

“Would you like a scarf?” Anna asked. “I knitted one last week.”

A scarf in the third week of June would be toasty, but Lily could pretend she was cold and wrap it around her face. A perfect excuse not to talk to Aden.

“Jah, I would love a scarf.”

Anna burst with delight. After drying her hands, she bustled to her hall closet and pulled out a deep purple scarf and a green one exactly the color of Aden’s eyes. Anna handed the purple scarf to Lily. It felt fuzzy and oh so soft.

“Oh, my. This is beautiful,” Lily said.

Anna gave Aden the green scarf. He took it without complaint, though Lily knew they would both be sweating within minutes.

Aden shrugged and curled his lips into a good-natured smile. “Come on, Pilot.”

The dog tore his gaze from Lily’s face and eagerly followed Aden out the door. Lily wrapped the scarf around her neck and then covered her nose and mouth. Perfect.

She ambled behind the barn to the raspberry patch, which probably covered an eighth of an acre. Stakes were already in the ground with three levels of wire strung between them.

Aden emerged from the barn with the dog trotting cheerily behind him. He took one look at Lily with her ridiculous scarf-mask and his eyes danced. Twitching his lips as if he were trying to hold back a laugh, he said, “Lips cold?”

Lily was glad for the scarf covering half her face since she was certain her cheeks had bloomed bright red.

Aden’s scarf hung casually around his neck, lending added brilliance to his eyes. Their depth only strengthened Lily’s resolve to stay away from him. She could lose herself in those eyes.

Getting lost was dangerous.

He handed Lily some shears and a ball of twine. “Some of the canes are tall enough to stake to the second wire.”

Lily nodded. He laughed.

After cutting herself a piece of twine, she sat in the dirt next to the first raspberry plant, picked a cane, and tied it to the wire. Aden sat in the dirt on the opposite side of the row and started tying his own canes.

She got along fine until that mutton-headed dog sauntered toward her. Standing over her like that, he could lick her whole head if he wanted to. Why in the world couldn’t Aden babysit his own dog?

Ignoring the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach when she came near a dog, she held up her hand as if stopping traffic and spoke in a loud, authoritative voice so she could be heard through the scarf. “No, Pie Man. Get away.”

The dog halted in his tracks, tilted his head, and let out a little whine. All that dog needed was a firm hand and a little discipline. He stared at her pathetically for a moment, then lay down with his paws resting in front of him.

“Good. Stay.”

She looked at Aden, who seemed intent on tying his bushes, but a hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. Didn’t he feel even a smidgeon guilty that he should have been the one disciplining his dog?

Lily tied another cane before glancing at the dog to make sure he still behaved himself. She was a bit startled to discover that he lay in the same position but that his front paws were mere inches from her foot. How had he managed that?

While tying the next cane, Lily watched Aden’s dog out of the corner of her eye. He scooted toward her, quarter inch by quarter inch, until his massive front paws touched her foot. Swallowing her fear, she narrowed her eyes and scowled at him, which probably didn’t look too fearsome with a scarf over her face.

The dog lowered his head and pretended to settle in for a nap.

When she looked away again, she heard him scoot closer and felt him lay his snout on top of her shoe. She didn’t want to hurt him so couldn’t very well kick him away. There was probably no harm in letting him stay there. Her shoes had been exposed to lots worse germs, and he didn’t seem inclined to bite.

“He likes you,” Aden said.

Lily merely nodded. Why couldn’t Aden and his dog leave her alone?

Aden slid toward her to reach the next raspberry plant. “You must have heard some truly horrible things about me.”

“What?”

“The way you’re acting, you’ve probably been cautioned to stay far away from me, and it’s kind of hard when you work on my grandparents’ farm.”

Confusion overtook her. She was so embarrassed she wanted to wrap her entire face in the scarf and run to the safety of the house. But with her eyes covered, she’d probably trip over her own feet, fall to the ground, and get licked to death by the dog.

“What . . . what do you mean?”

Aden stood up and walked to where she sat. He squatted down, facing her. The sneaky dog crawled forward and laid his head in her lap. An attack from both sides. Lily didn’t move a muscle.

“You’re a nice enough girl, but you don’t like my dog, and I already told Mammi that’s the end of it.”

Lily couldn’t make heads or tails of what he said. Jah, he was an odd young man.

“Look,” he said. “I’m not out to corrupt you or drag you down with my sinful ways. I’m not in Wisconsin recruiting for the devil’s team. I’m here to help Mammi and Dawdi and hopefully find a place where people won’t judge me harshly.” He massaged the side of his face. “Mammi is determined to put us together, and I’d rather not spend the entire summer in silence because you’re afraid of me. Can we call a truce and be friends?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Lily said, wishing for a subtle way to lose the scarf.

“Jah, you are.”

“My dat . . .”

“What about your dat?”

“He told me to stay away from you.”

Aden snorted his displeasure.

“I don’t want to be rude, but I must obey my father’s wishes.”

Aden shook his head. “Did he forbid you to talk to me?”

“Yes. Nae. Not exactly.”

A ghost of a grin played at his lips. Lily hadn’t expected that. “But he said you have to cover your mouth when I’m around?”

Lily whipped off the scarf and hurled it to the ground. “Nae.”

Aden drummed his fingers on his jaw as if deep in thought. “So how far do you need to stay from me to be obedient to your fater?” He scooted two feet away from her. “This far?”

She didn’t know how to answer.

He scooted back farther. “This far?”

Lily lowered her eyes to look at the dog in her lap. She scratched his head, if only to have something to do with her hands. “Maybe that would be okay.”

“So, as long as I keep a distance of four or five feet, your fater will be satisfied?”

Lily felt herself blushing again. Why did she feel so transparent? “I don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to go against your dat. You must be comfortable with the distance. How far back do you want me to stay?”

Lily laced her fingers through the curly fur on the dog’s head. “You are right. It is a little silly.”

“Not silly at all. I don’t want to go against your fater.”

The dog licked the back of her hand, and she sighed in surrender. “Four . . . four feet is enough.”

“Gute, because I think that is the diameter of Mammi’s table. At least we can eat dinner together.”

He flashed that nice smile, and Lily’s heart beat an uneven rhythm in her chest. For such an odd young man, he was certainly charming, even if he was making fun of her.

Aden pointed to his dog, who had rolled onto his back as if wanting Lily to rub his tummy. “And what about Pilot? Should I make him stay away too?”

“He wouldn’t listen. He is the most disobedient dog I’ve ever seen.”

Aden scooted back to his original spot and picked up his shears. “I’ve been in jail three times.”

“What?”

“Only three. Not seventeen times, like I heard yesterday.”

Or dozens, as Estee had told her. The plainly boastful glint in his eye put Lily on the defensive. “Three is a lot.”

“Three times more than you’ve been in jail, I bet.”

Lily scratched the dog’s stomach vigorously as her agitation grew. “I would never think of getting arrested. It’s irresponsible.”