Lavinia watched Abe walking slowly toward the section of benches set up for the men today. Her eyes widened. He was out of the wheelchair and using a walker! Her heart leaped at his progress. Then she frowned. If they’d been speaking, he’d have told her about it.
She’d been wondering if he would attend church services this morning and how she would handle seeing him again. She wasn’t looking forward to it. The only thing that had saved her from having to talk to him was the fact that others arrived right behind him so she was able to avoid him and join her friend Rebecca on a bench.
“It was gut to see Abe doing so well,” Rebecca said. “I didn’t know he was out of his wheelchair.”
Lavinia didn’t want to tell her she hadn’t known, either. She nodded and hoped that Elmer would begin the service quickly.
“I heard Wayne and a couple of men had to get up on the roof and repair it,” Rebecca went on. “I’m glad they were able to do it safely.”
Lavinia hadn’t heard about it. She glanced in Abe’s direction and saw him staring at her. Quickly she averted her gaze and was grateful when Elmer stepped to the front of the assemblage. She sent up a quick prayer for Abe, hoping that the roof repair hadn’t cost him too much. He’d had enough challenges without the expense of losing the crops that fed his dairy cattle.
When she sighed, Rebecca turned to look at her. “Are you allrecht?”
She nodded. “Just glad to sit down.”
Not that three hours on a hard bench was the most comfortable. Then she thought about how hard it might be for Abe with his injuries. Nee, she was not going to think about him. Not when she was still feeling a little tender at the way he’d treated her. And not when she was in a church service.
Peace settled over her. It was always so during church.
When the service was over, she jumped up and went to help the women with the light meal and coffee they’d serve. The men moved the benches to make it more convenient for the churchgoers to sit in groups and share conversation while they ate and sipped coffee.
She was roaming the room with a carafe of coffee when she had to stop at the table where Abe sat with other men.
“Wayne told me the roof repair was extensive,” Lester was saying.
Abe nodded but didn’t say anything.
Shocked, she nearly spilled coffee as she filled his cup. More problems?
Their gazes met, locked. She stared at him, filled with sympathy, but he frowned and looked away.
Feeling rebuffed, she moved on, checked the cups of the other men, filled them, and walked away quickly. She needed to compose herself, and the nearly empty carafe was a gut excuse to hurry to the kitchen.
She almost ran into Waneta.
“Lavinia? Are you allrecht? You look upset.” She stared at Lavinia with concern.
“I—ya, I’m fine.”
Waneta looked past her. “Did Abe say something to upset you?”
“Nee.” She hesitated. “Waneta, I overheard him telling the men sitting with him that the roof had to be repaired—that there was a lot of damage.”
Waneta nodded. “None of us thought about having it looked at after his accident. Then it started leaking again, so Wayne and some of the men had to fix it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Abe’s upset, of course. He didn’t need another expense when he’s worried about milk prices and medical bills. But the farm’s had tough times before. And we’ve always managed. Faron and I have told Abe that. All will work out. He’s doing so well with his therapy, and that’s the most important thing. Won’t be long and he’ll be gut as new.” She turned back to the bread she was slicing and arranged it on a plate. “Why don’t you put some church spread on this while I get more coffee?”
Lavinia got a butter knife and began spreading the bread with the mixture of peanut butter and marshmallow creme that was a favorite for the after-service light meal. It wouldn’t be a Sunday service without it, she couldn’t help thinking. Since Waneta was still seeing to the coffee, she carried the plate out and began offering it around.
Wayne and Faron had been sitting with Abe, but she saw that they had left the table. Abe sat brooding into his coffee cup.
“Would you like something to eat?” she asked him as she stopped at his table.
He looked up, his dark blue eyes taking a moment to focus on her. “Schur. Didn’t get much breakfast this morning. I was running late getting ready.”
“I’m glad to see you’re out of your wheelchair. That must feel gut.”
He nodded. “Therapist says the next step is a cane.”
She held out the plate as she glanced around the crowded room. “Are Wayne and Faron coming back?”
“Eventually. They went off to talk with the other men.”
“Your mudder said you had to repair the roof.”
He frowned. “Ya. Listen, Lavinia, we need to talk.”
She shook her head. “Not now.”
“When?”
Lavinia glanced around and saw several people looking in her direction. “I have to pass out the bread.”
He called out her name, but she pretended not to hear him.
She walked over to the table where Rebecca sat with her dochder, Lizzie, and the kind’s eyes lit up when she saw the plate.
“Mamm, can I have some bread?”
“‘May I?’” Rebecca corrected.
“Schur, you may, too. Right, Lavinia?” Lizzie laughed and then said, “Sorry, may I, Mamm?”
“Ya. And I’ll have a slice, too.” She gestured for Lavinia to lean closer and whispered in her ear. “I’m eating for two.”
It took a moment for what she’d said to register. Her friend the midwife was going to have a boppli. Her eyes widened.
Rebecca nodded and grinned.
“Oh, I’m so happy for you!” Lavinia said quietly.
Rebecca had been a wittfraa, losing her mann after they’d been married just a few years. Lavinia knew how hard it had been for her friend to continue her work as a midwife after losing her mann and the boppli she carried.
How wunderbaar to see her looking so happy with Lizzie, the dochder she’d gained when she married Samuel, the widower who’d moved here several years ago. Lavinia had loved the story of how Lizzie—then six years old—had played matchmaker and gotten the new mudder she wanted by finding ways to bring the two together.
Lizzie tugged on Lavinia’s skirt so that she’d bend down. “Mamm says we’re not telling everyone yet,” she whispered, and then gave her a big grin. “Daedi and I are so happy!”
Rebecca wiped at the peanut butter on Lizzie’s chin. “I didn’t hear you say danki to Lavinia.”
“Danki, Lavinia,” she said as she swung her legs and munched on her treat.
“You’re wilkumm.” She looked at Rebecca. Lavinia thought about how wunderbaar it was that things had turned out well for her friend. She knew the couple had had problems but had worked them out….
“Lavinia?”
She realized she’d been standing there woolgathering as Rebecca stared at her.
“Are you going to talk to him?” Rebecca asked.
“Who?”
“You know who. Abe can’t take his eyes off you.”
“Do you want me to leave a slice for Samuel?” she asked, pointedly ignoring the question.
Rebecca grinned. “Schur, that would be nice. He’s off talking to some of the other farmers about getting in the crops.”
It was the hot topic of the day, Lavinia thought, glancing back at Abe. She saw that he was watching her, so she quickly turned and offered the bread to those sitting at a nearby table.
He’d said they needed to talk. She knew he probably wanted to apologize.
She just wasn’t schur she wanted to listen to another apology from another man who’d behaved badly.
* * *
Abe watched Lavinia moving gracefully around the room offering refreshments. He couldn’t help feeling a little envious of the sweet smiles she bestowed on others—except, he noted with surprise, Ben. Apparently Ben wasn’t getting smiles from her any more than he was. What had happened between them to earn that frown from Lavinia? he wondered.
His dat and Wayne returned to the table, talking about what the other farmers were saying about the progress they were having with harvesting their crops. Abe listened with half an ear as he watched Lavinia.
“Samuel Miller said he pulled three big trout from his field.”
Abe dragged his attention back to the conversation. “Huh? Trout?”
Faron laughed. “I don’t think you’re paying attention.” He looked at Lavinia walking on the other side of the room. “Wonder what you’re looking at. Or should I say who?”
“So, are we going to get enough help bringing in our crops?” he asked his dat, hoping to distract him.
“That’s not a problem. Everyone wants to help since you’ve been laid up,” his dat told him.
That made him feel a little better. He had to believe all the bad things that had happened were over or he was never going to dig himself out of the hole he felt he was in.
His mudder stopped by the table. “Your dat and I are going to get a ride home with Wayne.”
Surprised, he stared at her. “Why?”
Waneta glanced over at Lavinia then back at him. “I think you have some unfinished business.”
She knew him too well. “You don’t have to get a ride with Wayne. We can go home now. I don’t think Lavinia’s going to talk to me.”
“How is she going to avoid it?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Think about it. You’re both going to be in the same place, so it’s going to be hard for her to avoid you.”
Abe hadn’t thought about that.
“I always knew I had a smart mudder,” he said thoughtfully. “But I had no idea how smart.”
“It’s how I ended up with your dat.”
“It’s me that’s smart,” Faron said, and Waneta turned to see him standing behind her. “I went to schul with her and saw she wasn’t just beautiful, she was the most intelligent maedel I knew.”
Abe hoped one day he had a woman look at him with the kind of love his mudder showed his dat. She positively glowed with it.
“See you at home,” he said, but he didn’t think they heard him as they left him.
A few minutes later, Lavinia stopped by his table with a coffeepot in hand. “I thought I saw your eldres leave.”
“They did.”
“They’re coming back for you?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t understand.”
“Wayne gave them a ride home so I could talk to you.”
She put a hand on her hip and met his gaze. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
Abe wondered what she’d say if he told her he wasn’t leaving until they talked. He didn’t think he had the nerve. And really, that wasn’t the kind of man he was….
“Lavinia. Please,” he said quietly.
She turned and left the room. He sat there for a few minutes more and finally decided she wasn’t coming back. Nearly everyone else had gone. Giving up, he got to his feet and found he’d gotten stiff from sitting so long. He grasped his walker and made his way carefully from the room.
Just as he reached the front door, he heard Lavinia call his name. He turned.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m leaving since you won’t talk to me.”
She walked toward him. “You couldn’t expect me to talk to you when there are others around.”
“Allrecht,” he said, careful not to let her see his relief. “Do you want to go for a ride?”
She sighed. “Fine.”
They walked outside, and he navigated his way carefully down the stairs.
“I’ll go get the buggy.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said crisply. “I sent Daed out for it.”
Schur enough, her dat pulled up in front of the house.
“Danki,” Abe said as Amos got out of the buggy.
“Have a nice drive,” Amos said before walking off.
Abe couldn’t tell if the man knew his dochder was upset with him, but when Amos walked away without further comment, he decided maybe Lavinia hadn’t shared it with him. Most couples didn’t talk about who they were dating. Many might suspect, but often the eldres didn’t know about a decision to marry until right before—or during—the announcement of banns at a church service.
“It feels gut to be driving a buggy again,” he said after they got into it.
“Ya, I saw you out driving around the other day,” she told him.
When he heard the chill in her tone, he realized he’d been right to think she might have misunderstood seeing Naomi in his buggy.
“I was just giving her a ride.”
“I see.”
“Speaking of seeing…”
“What?”
“When I drove past your house, I saw Ben coming out.” He hesitated. “Someone told me he drove you home from the singing.”
“He did.” She frowned. “And if you must know, he had to apologize for not being a gentleman.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
He nodded. “I’m not happy he behaved badly, but I’m glad you’re not interested in him.”
“I’ve never been interested in anyone else, Abe.”
He felt hope rise. Then he saw the gift bag with the chocolates his dat had bought for him. He didn’t remember seeing it in the buggy when they left for church earlier.
Had his dat or mudder put it in the buggy, planning a little matchmaking? he wondered. Glancing over, he saw Lavinia’s gaze dart to the bag, and when she realized he was looking at her, she jerked her glance away and stared straight ahead.
“It’s for you,” he told her.
“Me?”
He nodded.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Take a look.”
She picked up the bag as he guided the buggy down the drive, checked for traffic, then pulled out onto the road.
He heard the rustle of the tissue paper, then her murmur of pleasure when she drew out the package. “I love chocolate,” she said.
“I know. I remembered.”
She opened the box and offered it to him.
“I don’t think I’m supposed to eat them,” he said.
“Why not?”
“They’re part of an apology, so it doesn’t seem right. I got them for you because my dat says it’s a better way to say you’re sorry than flowers. Seems he’s bought them for my mudder a few times when they’ve had a disagreement and such.”
She chose a chocolate and then looked at him, surprised. “So you told him about us?”
“He kind of noticed you weren’t coming around.”
She popped the chocolate into her mouth and chewed, looking thoughtful.
He turned and looked at her. “I’m really sorry I treated you the way I did, Lavinia. You didn’t deserve that just because I was upset with my life.”
“You’ve had a really bad time,” she said.
“I don’t want your sympathy,” he told her. “I wouldn’t have gotten through the past weeks without you. I want you to know that.”
“I care about you.” Her voice was quiet, but he heard every word. And clung to them. “We’ve been friends for years.”
“I want us to be more,” he said.
Her gaze flew to him. She took a deep breath and then she nodded. “I want that, too.”
The timing couldn’t have been better. A covered bridge loomed ahead. The Amish called them kissing bridges because, in the privacy of them, a couple could steal a kiss.
The buggy entered the bridge. In the dim light, he turned to her and saw her eyes grow wide as they leaned toward each other.
He kissed her and her lips tasted of chocolate.