Charlie wore her spring-green dress. Matt Troyer, her sister’s brother-in-law, had told her once that the dress brightened the color of her eyes. It wasn’t vanity that drove her to wear it, she assured herself. It was just that she needed the confidence in knowing that she looked her best when she saw Nate again. The man made her nervous, and her heart fluttered whenever he was near.
She brought a lemon pound cake that she’d baked especially for the brothers last evening. She got out of the vehicle then reached onto the seat to retrieve it. She straightened and started toward the Abram Peachy house only to realize that the door to the farmhouse was open. Nate Peachy stood on the threshold, watching her approach.
Charlie didn’t smile as she walked toward the house. There was no warmth in Nate’s expression and the tension between them was thick. She felt it in her tight throat and the painful butterflies that fluttered in her belly. “Nate,” she greeted just before he stepped aside to allow her entry.
His lack of reply halted her in her tracks and made her face him. She arched an eyebrow.
“You came back,” he said.
“Looks like it,” she replied briskly. Was he unhappy that Ellie hadn’t returned?
A sudden smile hovered on his lips, making him even more attractive to her. She tried not to feel flustered. “Where’s Jake?”
His good humor disappeared. “In the other room.” She started toward the great room and he grabbed her arm to stop her. “I made an arrangement so that there will be no need for him to go upstairs...”
She blushed. “I understand. That’s gut. Ja, gut.”
Nate’s gaze warmed. Shaken by his look, Charlie spun and headed in to see his brother.
Jacob was seated on the upholstered chair with his leg propped up.
He looked up at her with a smile when she approached him. She responded in kind, her mouth curving with happiness to see him looking much better and not in pain.
“Charlie! You’re here!”
She grinned. “How else will I be able to trounce you in cards again?”
Jacob chuckled. His features changed as he glanced past her shoulder to his brother. “You baling hay today?”
Nate nodded. “Not to worry, though. It’ll get done. I’ve got the Lapp bruders coming to help out.”
She eyed him with horror. “My cousins are coming?” When he nodded, she exclaimed, “But what will I fix? There will be many mouths to feed!”
Jacob scowled. “Hey! Who will keep me company?”
“I will. Only we’ll be in the kitchen instead of out here.” Charlie looked at Nate. “What are you still doing here? Don’t you have work to do?” She gasped, as if realizing just what she’d said.
Nate’s astonishment quickly turned to amusement. “Ja, Charlie.” He spun to leave.
“Wait!” she called. “Can you help me get Jacob into the kitchen so he won’t have to sit out here alone?”
Nate stared at her a moment before he nodded. He left the room and headed toward the stairs but then returned moments later with a wheelchair. “This should help,” he said.
“Danki,” she murmured and then watched Nate help his brother into the chair.
When she reached for it, Nate waved her away. “I’ll push him.”
Didn’t he trust her to push Jake into the other room? She hoped that wasn’t the case, but she couldn’t help feeling that it was.
As Nate moved Jacob into the kitchen, Charlie heard vehicles in the barnyard. She went to the window and was pleased to see five of her Lapp male cousins. Upon seeing her through the glass, Jed waved. She saw him murmur something to his brothers and suddenly all five turned to stare at her. Blushing, she pulled back, eager to get to work. First thing she’d do was make coffee. Then she’d think about what food to prepare for lunch. She’d have to decide what to fix for supper, but she had a feeling that by the end of the day her cousins would want to go home to eat with their wives.
Without thought, Charlie poured Jacob coffee, fixed it the way he liked it and set a bowl of cereal before him. Jacob looked at the coffee and his breakfast, then grinned. She realized that she hadn’t asked what he wanted, but he was pleased. She smiled back, knowing instinctively that she’d given him exactly what he wanted. She’d learned a lot about Jacob in the past few days and found that she liked the young man a lot. Despite his injuries, he still managed to smile and show gratitude for whatever she did for him.
Charlie thought of Nate and turned away from the table. No need for Jacob to know that she’d had serious doubts about returning today because of his brother. And her feelings for Nate.
Her cousins had peeked in to say a quick hello. After they went outside, Charlie handed Nate a pair of gloves. “Don’t need you getting hurt like your brother.”
He looked startled by her concern but took the gloves before he left to join her cousins in the hayfields. It was quiet with the men gone and Jacob silently reading a book. Charlie stared about the kitchen, wondering what to make for lunch. She needed to go grocery shopping—something she could handle tomorrow—but that wouldn’t help her decide what to cook now. Feeding three was no problem, but having to make a meal for eight? That was something else altogether. She tensed as she started toward the refrigerator and opened the door wide.
Jacob looked up from his book. “What’s upsetting you?” he asked, watching her closely.
“I don’t know what to make for lunch.”
He smiled. “Charlie, this is my bruder and your cousins. Cake, pie and cookies would be enough.”
She gasped. “For dessert maybe, but not for lunch.” She shut the refrigerator door. “I’m going to check the freezer.” She started toward the back room, worried that she couldn’t pull off a meal to be proud of, even though lunch was still a few hours from now. Charlie gasped when Jacob grabbed her arm. He had risen from his chair to reach her. “Jacob! Be careful. I don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself again.”
“I’m fine. Steady as a rock. See? I’m holding on.”
“What do you need?” She swallowed hard. If she caused Jacob to get hurt again—and if she messed up the meal, then she’d never live it down. And she’d feel terrible forever. And Nate would never forgive her.
“I need you to stop worrying,” Jacob said. “You’re amazing. You’ll do fine.”
She released a sharp breath. “Danki.” She briefly closed her eyes. “I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” he said teasingly, which made her smile. He released her arm and lowered himself carefully into his chair. “Go look in the freezer, but I’m telling you desserts will be fine. If you want more, you can offer peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Nate and I love them.”
She felt herself relax. “I’ll see what I can do.” She paused on the threshold between the kitchen and the back room. “What kind of cake?”
“Chocolate?”
She grinned. “I’ll see if you have all the ingredients.”
Jacob went back to his reading while she assembled what she considered a makeshift meal. She only hoped it would be enough food for five hungry farmworkers.
By the time the men returned to the house for lunch, Charlie had soup simmering on the stove and a plate of peanut butter with jam sandwiches on the kitchen counter ready to be served. She’d found three types of jam in the refrigerator—strawberry, peach and boysenberry. The soup was a simple chicken noodle recipe that her mother had taught her to make. There had been just enough frozen leftover cooked chicken. The bread was homemade, and she’d made chocolate cake with fudge frosting that morning. And there was the lemon cake she’d brought with her. She stood, watching as the men filed in. Her cousin Noah grinned at her when he saw the chocolate cake. Everyone in the family knew Noah’s preference for anything chocolate. She had no idea what Nate liked best, but she hoped he’d be satisfied with the meal she’d provided.
“Smells gut in here,” her cousin Jedidiah said.
“Chicken soup?” his brother Isaac declared as he moved to look in the pot on the stove. He grinned as he faced the others. “Ja, chicken soup with lots of noodles!”
Her fraternal twin cousins, Jacob and Elijah, expressed their appreciation as they took a seat at the table. Since all of their hands were clean, Charlie knew the men must have washed up outside despite the cold weather.
She chanced a look toward Nate, who chatted with Jed as he took his seat at the long trestle table. Worried whether or not she’d done well in the kitchen, she filled soup dishes from the pot on the stove, then carefully set a bowl before each man. Then she grabbed the dish of sandwiches from the counter and set them in the middle of the table. She’d placed small plates at each setting earlier.
“Peanut butter and jam sandwiches?” Elijah asked.
Tensing, Charlie nodded.
Her cousin beamed at her. “Yum.”
She smiled and turned for the pitcher of iced tea. As she spun back, she caught Nate watching her with an odd expression. Feeling her face heat, she looked away, unwilling to let him know how much he affected her.
The men ate their soup and sandwiches while they discussed the work they’d accomplished. She gleaned from their conversation that the hay was pushed into rows, which would be swept up from the field later by the baler. She knew what the work entailed, although she’d never been allowed to bale hay. A worker would run the baler over the rows of cut hay then bales would come out the end and be placed onto a platform. Once the platform on the baler was full, the bales of hay would be moved into wagons that would transport them closer to the barn. When they were done baling, the men would move the hay bales into a storage building on the property.
Charlie didn’t eat or sit. She stood at the counter, listening. Not wanting to appear nosy, she worked to put away the dishes she used and washed earlier. She felt out of sorts, as if she didn’t belong, despite the fact that Nate had asked her to come and the others were her cousins.
“I’ll oversee the baler,” Nate said.
“Nay,” Jed protested. “You already have one Peachy man down. We’ll not be taking a chance that you’ll get hurt, too.” He paused. “You can steer it.”
“You all have wives and children. I don’t,” Nate insisted.
“I can do it,” Isaac said. “I have a wife but no children.”
Charlie snorted. “Yet,” she said with a snicker. The women of the family had recently learned that Isaac’s wife, Ellen, was with child.
Isaac smiled sheepishly at his brothers, and Nate raised his eyebrows as he offered his congratulations.
“That’s it, then. I’ll work behind the baler.”
“Nate, it takes more than one man to run the machine. We’ll take turns.”
Nate gazed at his friends. “Fine. We’ll take turns, then, and be very careful.”
The men stood after finishing their lunch that ended with the chocolate and lemon cakes for dessert. Charlie was pleased that no one turned a slice down. Jacob asked for a second piece. Noah enjoyed a huge piece and asked Charlie if another one could be packed up for him to take. She laughed and told him she’d have it ready and waiting for him.
“Great meal, Charlie,” Jed said.
Her other cousins echoed his sentiment. Nate hadn’t said anything as he stood.
“Nate,” Jacob said, “would you mind helping me into the other room?”
“I’m sorry, Jake,” Charlie said. “I should have realized you’d had enough of the kitchen.”
“I enjoyed watching you work,” he assured her as Nate brought the wheelchair close and helped his brother into it.
Charlie started to collect the dishes and stack them on the counter near the sink while Nate pushed Jacob into the other room. She ran water into the dish basin and added a squirt of dish soap, then turned off the spigot when the basin was full. She grabbed a sandwich plate and was washing it when Nate reentered the kitchen. He didn’t say anything, and her discomfort grew. She was afraid that he wasn’t happy with what she’d made for lunch—or that she’d kept Jacob in the kitchen for too long.
She tried to ignore him and the lump in her throat as she continued to wash dishes before setting them in the drain rack. Sensing that Nate hadn’t moved, she spun to face him. “What? Is there something you want to say?” She blinked rapidly as she eyed him defiantly. He studied her a moment before he nodded slowly. “I know it wasn’t the best meal, but I used what I had available,” she muttered.
He frowned as she glared at him. “It was a gut meal,” he said quietly. But his expression didn’t clear.
She scowled as she wondered whether she’d done something wrong.
Nate started to approach then halted. “Don’t look at me that way. I was just thinking that you made an amazing meal with little in the cupboard. I should have bought groceries,” he said huskily. “I’m sorry.”
Charlie felt a jolt. He was apologizing? That was the last thing she’d expected from him. “You didn’t mind peanut butter and jam sandwiches?”
His features smoothed out as he gave her a genuine smile. “I love peanut butter and jam sandwiches.” A look of amusement entered his blue eyes. “I’m sure Jacob gave away that little secret.”
She felt her lips curve in response. “He might have mentioned it, but I wasn’t sure if sandwiches were enough for you. You’ve all been working hard.”
“You also made us chicken noodle soup and cakes.” He chuckled. “I’ve never seen anyone enjoy chocolate cake more than Noah.”
She grinned. “’Tis common knowledge in our family that he loves chocolate.”
He gazed at her with tenderness for several seconds. “I need to get back to work.”
His expression serious again, he headed toward the door.
“Be careful,” she called.
He halted and faced her. There was something in his eyes she couldn’t read, but it was a look that somehow terrified and excited her. “I will,” he murmured before he left.
Charlie went to the window and watched through an opening in the sheer white curtains as Nate joined her cousins in the yard. She saw him laugh at something Elijah said. The sight of his grin and happy face made her reel with pleasure. She cared for Nate Peachy. Too much. Maybe it would be best if she asked one of her sisters to stay with Jacob tomorrow, provided that Jacob still needed someone to come.
After she’d fixed herself a sandwich, put away the leftover food and cleaned the kitchen, Charlie went to check on Jacob. She smiled when she saw him seated in the wheelchair by the window. His foot was propped up on the ever-present wooden chair and he was fast asleep. Jacob was a good man. And so is his bruder. Her heart thumped hard as she returned to the kitchen. She shouldn’t be thinking about Nate. She was here for Jacob and she had to remember that.
She grabbed pencil and paper from the kitchen drawer then sat at the table to make a grocery list. Nate and Jacob would need to shop for food now that their family wouldn’t be home for another week.
There was no telling if Nate would want her to come again after he finished making hay. He’d be around for Jacob then and he’d no longer need her. Still, they would need food. She checked the refrigerator for basic items, then she wrote the low or missing items on the list. There wasn’t much flour left, she thought. The least she could do before she left was to make a few loaves of bread for them to eat after she was gone. She closed her eyes as a wave of feeling washed over her. She’d miss Jacob. She’d miss Nate.
She rose from the chair and went to the kitchen window that overlooked the pasture and the farm fields beyond. She could make out the men working some distance away, knew that with her cousins’ help, the hay-making would be completed sometime today. Charlie felt a little pang in her chest as she resumed her seat and forced herself to concentrate on what needed to be purchased. Laundry soap, she thought and wrote it down. “Vanilla and cocoa powder.” One couldn’t make a chocolate cake or brownies without them.
She lifted a hand to tuck a tiny strand of red hair under her prayer kapp as she tried to think what else they needed. It had been a busy morning and she felt less put together. Charlie reached up and removed her kapp and combed fingers over her hair before donning her head covering. List complete for now, she stood and walked around the kitchen suddenly feeling at a loss. She felt antsy. She needed to do something. She’d visit the horses in the barn but she didn’t want to leave Jacob alone in case he needed her. If he was awake, she could tell him where she was going and be confident that he would stay put until her return.
* * *
“You oll recht up there?” Jed asked.
Nate flashed him an amused glance. “I’m fine. What’s the matter? Getting tired of walking along beside the baler, Jed?”
“He can always trade places with me,” Isaac said from where he steered the equipment.
“I’m fine,” Isaac’s older brother said with a scowl.
Laughing, Nate said, “Don’t look fine to me.” He looked across the property to where the other Lapp brothers were working another hay baler. “You can always switch with Elijah,” he suggested, noting that Elijah was positioned on the baler like he was.
“You don’t look fine, Nate,” Isaac said. “You keep looking toward the haus. Something or someone there on your mind?”
“Jacob?”
“I was thinking that maybe you’ve been thinking about my cousin.”
Nate froze. “Not likely. Jacob is the one who’s hurt. Charlie is just here to help.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask Mae to come by.”
Mae King was Nate’s stepgrandmother. “The less people who know the better,” Nate said. “Charlie was there when Jake had his accident. We worked out an arrangement for her to stay with him while I was working.”
“And that’s all?”
Nate’s throat tightened. “Ja, that’s all. What else would it be?”
Isaac flashed him a crafty look. “Ja, what else can it be?”
He noticed one of the Lapp twins, Jacob, driving the wagon of baled hay in their direction. “Wagon’s full,” Nate called, eager to end the conversation about Charlie. Did they see something in his expression that gave his thoughts away? He only wanted to help Charlie. There was nothing more to his friendship with her. Distracted, he started to climb down from the baler and slipped.
“You oll recht?” Isaac asked.
“Fine.” But his heart beat rapidly as he recalled how easily someone could get hurt after a fall. His thoughts went again to Charlie. She’d been on his mind too often lately. But he got a chill as he envisioned her on the mower, the danger in which she’d placed herself. He scowled. Why couldn’t he get her out of his thoughts? She wasn’t his responsibility. After the way he’d failed Emma, he was the least one capable enough to help her.
“’Tis nice to see Charlie mothering Jacob,” Isaac said, bringing up his cousin again.
Jed continued to walk beside the baler. “Apparently, she has some nurturing instincts.”
Despite himself, Nate couldn’t control a smile as he held up his gloved hands. “She made me wear these.” He snorted. “To protect my hands.”
Isaac laughed. “’Tis funny that she’d be thinking of safety when she is the one who frequently got hurt and into trouble.”
“I haven’t seen that side of her in a long time,” he admitted.
“Nay, she’s grown up.” Isaac climbed down to walk alongside the baler while Nate got up into the seat behind the horses and Jed hopped up to exchange places with his brother Elijah near the back of the machine.
“Ja, she is.” Elijah stepped onto the wagon attached to Nate’s hay baler, catching the block of hay as it came out. “Charlie will make someone a gut wife one day. Matt Troyer seems interested.”
Nate’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t know they were friends.”
“His brother is Nell’s husband,” Isaac pointed out. The baler started to move and Isaac followed alongside on foot. “Her birthday is soon. Mam will be hosting a surprise nineteenth birthday party for her the day before. You, Jacob and your family should come if Jake is feeling up to it.” He mentioned a date.
“My family should be home by then. I’ll talk with Jacob and let you know.”
“No need,” Isaac said. “There’ll be plenty of food. Just come if you can, and be willkomm.”
Nate clicked his tongue as he flicked the leathers to get his team of horses moving. As he drove, he found his mind wandering again to Charlie. Nineteen years old. Not a girl, but a young woman. He’d known it, of course, but somehow it seemed better for him to forget the age difference. Safer to think of her as a girl and not a woman. He tensed up at the memory of Isaac’s teasing remarks. Yet, the image of her married to Matt with children of her own formed a knot in his belly. He forced it away, reminding himself of all the reasons that he shouldn’t see Charlie as more than a girl...more than a friend.
Go to a surprise party for her? Why not? As long as Jacob was well enough. If not, they would stay home. It wasn’t as if Charlie expected him to come. She didn’t know about the party. If he attended, he could watch how she interacted with Matthew Troyer, to make sure he was someone who could make her happy...who could love and handle her, keeping her safe—and alive. The knot in his stomach intensified.
What could he give her for her birthday? He had a little time to think of something but still, he couldn’t stop wondering about a gift.
The men grew silent as they worked. Nate was thoughtful as he drove down one row of cut hay then carefully maneuvered the baler onto the next row. What could he give Charlie that she would like? He recalled how she loved horses and the way she looked when he’d found her in the barn brushing the coat of a chestnut gelding.
A slow smile came to his lips as he had a germ of an idea. He could do it. He could make her something special that he was sure she’d enjoy.
“Christmas is almost here,” Isaac commented. “I have no idea what to give everyone this year.”
Elijah smirked. “You always give the right thing, bruder.”
“What about you, Nate? Do you think you’ll have another little bruder or sister by Christmas?”
Nate shook his head. “Not supposed to. Baby is due in January.” Men usually didn’t talk about women’s business, but he didn’t mind. The Lapp brothers were his friends, and they were willing to discuss most any topic.
Jedidiah chuckled. “Babies don’t always come when they’re supposed to.”
“’Tis going to snow soon,” Isaac mentioned, changing the subject.
“You don’t want to talk about babies,” Jed said with a chuckle.
“Not supposed to,” Isaac grumbled.
“I hope it doesn’t snow,” Nate said, understanding that a new father-to-be might be nervous. “At least, not until my family’s safely home again.”
“We usually have snow before Christmas,” Jed pointed out, and the others agreed.
Isaac grabbed a hay bale and tossed it behind him onto the flatbed of the wagon. “Perhaps we should think about cutting pine and holly before it does.”
“Won’t last if we cut too early,” Jed said.
Conversation lagged after a while as they stayed busy to complete the work.
Two hours later the men finished making hay. The bales were carted to an area outside the storage barn where they were wrapped in plastic to protect them from the elements of the weather. Tomorrow morning he’d move the rest of them into the building on his own. Jed and Noah had already moved most of the bales inside, so the work should be easy.
“I appreciate your help today,” he told his friends. “The job was done in half the time because of you.”
“We didn’t mind. ’Tis only one day,” Jed said. He glanced toward the sky and noted the setting sun. “But I do need to get going. Sarah will have supper ready.”
“Martha will, too,” Elijah murmured.
The other brothers made the same comment about their wives.
The men walked toward the barnyard where their vehicles were parked. “I’ll come for the baler within the next couple of days,” Jed said.
Nate nodded. “I’ll be happy to bring it.”
Jedidiah shook his head. “Nay, you’ve enough to worry about.”
Minutes later the Lapp brothers left, and Nate headed toward the house. He wondered what Charlie was doing.
He pushed open the back door. No one was in the kitchen. “Hallo?” he called as he headed toward the great room. He entered to find Charlie and Jacob sitting close with only a small table between them. On the table surface sat a wooden board with six sides and slots with marbles. They hadn’t heard him, as they were teasing each other while they played Aggravation. Hearing their shared laughter, Nate felt a kick to his gut. She was never that relaxed and carefree with him. But then, she and Jacob were close in age and it was only natural that they should like each other.
“Who’s winning?” he asked loudly as he approached.
Charlie gasped and Jacob looked up with laughter. “I am,” his brother said with a smug smile.
She returned her attention to Jacob. “Maybe this game, but I won the last five.”
“Huh,” Jacob muttered, and Nate chuckled, knowing that Charlie had spoken the truth.
He approached and stood over them. Charlie refused to meet his gaze, but he caught sight of a pulse fluttering at the base of her throat and wondered what she was thinking. “We’re done making hay,” he said.
She glanced up. “That’s gut.”
His lips twitched. “I wore the gloves you gave me all afternoon.” He remember how she’d had handed them to him this morning right before he’d left for the fields.
“You listen well.” His reward was her crooked smile. “Sometimes,” she teased.
“What’s wrong with your hands?” Jacob asked.
“Not a thing, and apparently Charlie wanted to make sure they stay that way.” Nate pulled up a chair and studied the board. He felt her tense up as he leaned closer. “You going to let Jake win?” he asked, focusing on her flushed face.
Jacob grinned. “Ja, she is.”
Charlie suddenly stood. “I’m sorry. ’Tis late. I need to get home.” She turned away and headed toward the kitchen.
“You intimidate her,” Jacob said sharply.
He frowned. “Nay, I don’t.”
His brother bobbed his head. “Ja, you do.”
“I don’t mean to.” Nate stood and left the room to go after her. He had many mixed feelings when it came to Charlie Stoltzfus, but the last thing he wanted to do was to scare her. When he entered the kitchen, she was putting away the last of the dishes.
“Charlie,” he said gently.
She turned. “There is chicken corn chowder in the refrigerator,” she replied briskly. “There should be enough for two meals. Tomorrow for breakfast, there are eggs and you can eat the biscuits I made today.”
He watched her shift nervously about the room. “Charlie,” he said softly, approaching to gently clasp her arm. “Tell me what’s upsetting you.”
She blinked as she jerked away. “Nothing. Why?”
Nate blew out a startled breath. “Are you afraid of me?”
“Nay,” she said firmly. She eyed him with a level gaze that convinced him to believe her. His relief made him realize how happy he was that Jacob was wrong.
“Here’s a grocery list.” She handed it to him. “Just a few things that you could use.” Her lips firmed. “You may want to consider buying meals that are easy to prepare.” She bit her lip. “For when I’m not here.”
He stiffened with his disappointment. “You’re not coming tomorrow?”
Charlie wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I have a few things to do.”
“Christmas shopping?”
She shook her head. “Nay.”
“I see.” He knit his brow. “Will someone be here for Jacob?”
Her eyes briefly locked with his. “Probably Ellie again.”
“I apologize if we’ve monopolized your time,” he said gruffly.
She blinked. “You haven’t. I came here to help because I wanted to.”
He regarded her with tenderness. “Danki.” He sharpened his gaze when she blushed and suddenly busied herself. She bustled about the room as if she needed to get all her work done. As if she didn’t plan to return. He reached out to stop her frantic movement, his fingers surrounding her upper arm, turning her to face him. “Charlie. What is it? Why do I make you uncomfortable?”
Her green eyes bright, she shook her head. “You don’t.” Her smile lacked luster, and he was upset because she had to work hard to convince herself that it wasn’t true. “I should get home.”
He had made her uneasy. He nodded. “May I carry something for you?”
“Nay, I’ve only this plate,” she said, referring to the dish she’d brought with the lemon pound cake.
He followed her outside and waited as she climbed into her pony cart. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for us,” he told her, watching her closely.
“I would have done the same for anyone,” she said quickly. Then with a flick of the reins, she left while Nate stood in the yard, staring after her, wondering why it bothered him so much that she’d gone.