“You’re an official landowner now, Loyal,” John Weaver, his uncle, teased from the other side of the counter of his donut-and-coffee restaurant, The Kaffi Haus. “How does it feel?”
As several of the men in the restaurant looked on with amused smiles, Loyal shrugged. “For the most part, it feels pretty good.”
“That’s it?” John asked, his expression filled with surprise. “You are the nephew who has something to say about everything.”
“Not really.”
“No, I’m afraid I have to tell you differently. Even when you were small you were never satisfied with a simple ‘pretty good’ with anything. Always, you had to expound upon things. Two words were never enough.”
His uncle’s words embarrassed him. Made him think that perhaps he’d said too much too often. Or, perhaps he’d always liked the sound of his own voice? “Maybe I’ve grown up.”
“Maybe.” Uncle John looked at him intently—in the way he had of making Loyal feel, with just one look, that he knew his deepest feelings. “Are the bills and the obligations already weighing ya down?”
“Never. I can handle all of that with no problem.”
“There’s the Loyal Weaver I remember,” Henry Miller said, making a small toast with his cup. “You always did have confidence to spare.”
“Only a bit.”
“It near drove your father to distraction when you were small,” Henry said as he eyed him with a smile. “But then, you were also a great source of pride, too. He’d be proud of you.”
“I hope so,” Loyal said, feeling his heart expand in his chest. Sitting among his father’s friends brought forth a fresh wave of nostalgia. Being the middle son had always made him feel like he was not quite old enough, that he would never measure up to either his father or Calvin.
But now, at this moment, it felt like he’d finally made a step forward into adulthood.
It felt momentous.
“Owning my own land feels like I expected,” he said after taking another sip of coffee. “Well, it feels like what I’d hoped,” he amended.
“You’re going to do just fine. You’ve always had a way about you.”
Actually, the whole situation felt far different than he’d anticipated. For most of his life, he’d yearned to step out of his father’s and Calvin’s shadows. He’d known the only way to do that was to go someplace where he could be in charge. For the last year, he’d been patiently waiting for some land to become available.
As soon as he’d learned Ella Hostetler was putting her land up for auction, he jumped at the chance. On paper, it had sounded like a wonderful-gut situation. The Hostetler’s land was close to his family’s acreage. He would be nearby but also living a more independent lifestyle. In short, it would give him everything he’d always wanted.
He’d been able to get the land for a good price, too. His mother was happy. And his brothers, while not necessarily understanding of his excitement, were sure to come around.
After a few more minutes of ribbing, John said, “I haven’t seen Ella lately, but I hope she is making her adjustment all right.”
“I hope so as well.”
Every time he thought about Ella, and the complete look of dismay he’d seen on her face during the auction, a shadow fell upon his mood. He’d convinced himself that he was giving her the opportunity to live a better life in Jacob’s Crossing. Living in the middle of town instead of the outskirts gave her an opportunity to be around more people, to have her dream job of working in the library. After all, everyone knew she’d basically been by herself for the last year, caring for her mother as she had.
But she’d looked so devastated at the auction, Loyal felt as if he’d just done something terrible. He really should have ignored Calvin’s advice and gone over to talk to her.
Mr. Schlabach looked him over. “What are you going to do first? Repair the barn or the house? I heard both need a lot of work.”
“I hope to work on both at the same time. Both are usable, just in need of some elbow grease.”
One eyebrow rose. “From several elbows.” Looking at the other men at the breakfast bar, John said, “I am thinking next Saturday would be a wonderful-gut time to lend you a hand. What say you?”
“I’d say I’d be grateful for your hands. And elbows! Danke.”
“We’re happy to help, aren’t we, men?”
That, of course, brought along another round of teasing. Then, one by one, they got up and said goodbye. “Good luck to you,” Henry said as he left the donut shop. “See you on Saturday.”
Taking a tasty bite of his chocolate donut, Loyal waved him and the others off and noticed Ella leaving her house and walking down the sidewalk.
Her gray dress seemed looser than usual, her pace slow. Actually, her whole body looked tired and depressed.
Instantly, the guilt came back. No matter how hard he tried to pretend otherwise, he knew he was the cause of her pain.
There was no way he could stay seated as she walked by. What he needed to do was finally gather his courage and go say something to her. Even if she was mighty angry at him, it was the right thing to do.
It was surely what his father would have expected of him.
After a quick wave goodbye to Uncle John, he darted out of the shop and ran across the street. “Ella? Ella, hello!”
She stopped for him, but even he couldn’t describe her expression as anything less than put-upon as he approached.
“Gut mariye, Loyal.”
“Good morning to you.” When she continued to look curiously at him through her glasses, the pretty little speech he’d planned to say went walking. “I was, uh, just having a donut. Want to join me?”
She froze, looking like he’d just sprouted feathers. “I already had breakfast today.”
“Oh, I have, too. I ate early. Lucy’s cooking for us now, and she makes a fine breakfast at five A.M.” He closed his eyes as he realized he was rambling. “I’m, uh, just having a little snack. Would you care for one?”
“A snack?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, nee. No, thank you.”
Loyal supposed he didn’t blame her. Never before had he gone out of his way to talk with her, not even when they were teenagers and both were at the same singings. Actually, he’d gone out of his way to ignore her.
Remembering how brash he’d been, he tried to connect with her again. “I didn’t know if you’d had breakfast yet. It was just an idea.” Still floundering—floundering terribly—he added, “I can’t seem to stay away from the donuts.”
Her gaze skimmed his face, then, to his surprise, a reluctant smile formed. “Obviously not.” Pointing to the corner of her lips, she said, “You’ve got a bit of chocolate there.”
“Do I?” Feeling like he’d lost all his manners, he wiped his face with the side of his hand. “I guess I should be more careful, hmm?”
“Perhaps.” After another, almost-amused look his way, she started walking again.
He fell into step beside her. “So, where are you going this morning?”
“Work.” Beneath the glasses, her brown eyes lit up. “Today is my first day of work at the library.”
“Are you looking forward to it?”
“Oh, yes.” Some of that light in her eyes seemed to travel to her cheeks, turning them rosy. The added color did wonderful things to her skin, making it seem almost translucent. All of a sudden, Plain Ella didn’t look plain at all.
No. All of a sudden, she looked pretty and fresh—and younger, too.
With another almost-hesitant smile his way, she continued: “I’ve always loved the library. I feel blessed to work there now.”
Something about the way she said it gave him pause. She really was looking forward to her job. “What will you do?”
“Oh, shelve books and check them out, I suppose.” Darting a sideways glance his way, she smiled. “And do whatever else Ms. Donovan asks of me.”
Her enthusiasm made him smile, both at her and at himself. Selfishly, he’d been only thinking about how different her life was. And that she would be sad because of his part in it.
Sometimes his ego seemed too big for his head!
“I hope you have a good day,” he finally murmured, though he ached to say so much more. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was that both her parents had gone to heaven.
And how bad he’d felt for her circumstances, having to work her land by herself for the last year. And that he was going to do his best by her property. How he would be a good protector of it.
But how could he put all that into words without seeming too full of himself?
“I hope you have a pleasant day as well.” She took two steps, then looked his way again. Probably because he was still walking with her!
“Loyal . . . ah, I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, but please don’t feel guilty about the auction. Or my move.”
Now he was completely embarrassed. He really should have said something earlier. “I don’t,” he fibbed. At her look of confusion, he amended his words. “Well, not too much.”
“You shouldn’t feel guilty at all. I’m the one who put it for sale. Not you.”
“But I was anxious to have the land,” he admitted, his cheeks heating.
To his amazement, she chuckled. “That’s the way of auctions, don’tcha think? Someone has to buy what’s offered.”
“I suppose . . .”
“I just want you to know that, since someone had to buy my farm, I’m glad it was you.”
“Really?” He couldn’t have been more surprised. Or humbled.
“You care about the land.”
She swallowed, finally losing some of that careful reserve he’d spied under her frames.
“And, um, you’ve always been a nice person.”
He’d never imagined she’d thought about such things. Never imagined that she’d thought about him. Like that. Especially since he knew that he could’ve been a fair sight nicer.
“I will get used to living in town, and getting the chance to work at the library is nice. I couldn’t work here if I was still on the farm.”
“All right. But if there’s a reason for you to come show me something at the farm, would you?’
“What could you possibly need?”
He started walking with her toward the library. “Well, I thought I might paint the walls in the house and refurbish the floor. What do you think of that idea? Have you ever painted it a color? Or was it always white inside?”
“It has always been white, but I have thought a pale gray or blue would look nice in the bedrooms,” she said, surprising him. “The shade trees make things so cool in the afternoons, I thought a faint color would be pretty. You know, it might warm things up a bit.”
Eager to talk with her a little bit longer, Loyal said, “Do you have a trick for the front door lock? It sticks.”
“I don’t think I locked the door much,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “But there is a trick. You have to pull in the knob sharply before you turn the handle.”
“Pull in the knob, turn the handle. I’ll do that.”
Stopping in front of the library, she hugged her arms in front of her. “Well, I suppose I had best go in now. I don’t want to be late for my first day of work.”
“And I don’t want to make you late. Hey, um, Ella?”
“Yes?”
“I just wanted you to know . . . I’m mighty glad we walked together.”
She blinked behind her glasses, then smiled. The genuine expression lighting up her face and transforming her shy expression into something far different. She looked almost pretty. . . . No, she was pretty, he realized with a start.
“I am as well,” she said, then turned and walked away.
As she went, he wondered when he would find an excuse to stop by to see her again.