“I can’t believe you,” Aenti Ramona said, shaking her head, her smile wide. “Here what—four days—and about to go to work for Tanner Dawson, of all people.”
“Ja,” Eva replied, her stomach roiling in fear while she wished she hadn’t been so impulsive and determined. “I can’t believe it either. It happened so quickly.”
Ramona’s face twisted as if she’d swallowed a lemon. “Are you having doubts then?”
“Neh.” Eva touched at her kapp for the tenth time. “I mean, ja, but I’m determined to try.” Shrugging, she said, “Mamm would worry if she knew. I’ve already gotten a letter from her, which means she had to have written it even before I left. I hate not being honest with her.”
“I see.” Ramona took a sip of her favorite morning tea that she bought in bulk from Detwiler’s Farm Market. “We don’t want to keep things from my sister, but Helen has always been anxious. She frets about a hangnail.”
Eva smiled and nodded. “You’re right. She was a mess about me coming here, but she didn’t want to leave her work, so I had to kumm alone.” She giggled. “Make that, I had to persuade her to let me kumm alone.”
Ramona lifted her head and straightened her back. “I might have had something to do with you being here without Helen, Eva. I suggested it would do you some gut to travel and see the world. By yourself.”
Surprised, Eva studied her aenti. “But why?”
“I was afraid Helen would ruin your trip with all her worries. What if you’d gotten here and she’d made you stay inside or kept you on the porch, watching the world go by, same as she does back home, ain’t so?”
Eva thought about that scenario. “I wouldn’t have seen the ocean, or I might not have met Teresa. And for certain sure, she would not have allowed me to work at Dawson Department Store.”
“Ach, vell, that is a fact,” Ramona replied, her dainty sunflower-embossed teacup in her hand. “I love my sister, of course. But she has bad nerves, as our mamm used to say.”
Eva could agree with that observation. “I’ve never understood it. I went along with her hovering for so long, trying to be mindful of respecting my mamm. I don’t feel comfortable even saying this—but she really has held me back from some many things. I sat at home my whole rumspringa, while all my friends were out having frolics and fun.”
Ramona took Eva’s hand. “She was always fidgety and skittish, but when she lost your daed, she got even worse. That’s why she protects you so much. She is afraid she’ll lose you, too, I think.”
“And I have been such a burden—always sick and coughing, sneezing, taking all kinds of medicines.” Lowering her head, she said, “Mamm has given up a lot for me, and she always takes care of me. I shouldn’t resent that.”
“You might have allergies,” Ramona said. “But my sister tends to make her own diagnoses at times. She could have been wrong on some of yours, and yet she uses your sickness as a shield against the world.”
Eva had never considered that. “I haven’t felt as bad since I arrived here,” she admitted. “I’ve been so busy sightseeing and now, I’ll be working. But it’s only three hours today. I hope I don’t tire out, or worse, start coughing and sneezing all over the customers.”
“I think you’ll be fine,” Ramona said. “Just drink your water and take your pills. That store is clean as a whistle, but Tanner does bring in clothing with a lot of dyes and such, and there could be sawdust and such floating in the air. You should let Martha know if you feel poorly, and then go outside for some fresh air when you can.”
Eva gasped. “Tanner will fire me right off.”
“Tanner has his own concerns,” Ramona said. “His wife died during childbirth, and he’s never fully recovered.”
“Just like Mamm never getting over losing Daed,” Eva said on a low whisper, the pain of what Tanner had been through hitting her heart like an arrow. “Becky?”
“Ja. Her mamm, Deborah, was a sweet woman, but she always seemed to be in another world. Sad at times and she didn’t take very gut care of herself while she was with child. I don’t think she liked living in Florida.”
“That’s awful,” Eva replied, understanding Tanner a little better now. And her own mother, too. “I guess losing someone you love is never easy.”
Ramona nodded. “I lost my Steven ten years ago and I still miss him every day. One reason I moved here. I couldn’t take the cold weather without Steven there to hold me.”
“I’m sorry,” Eva said. “I’ll be nice to Tanner, and I hope I don’t get sick. He wouldn’t like that.”
“Tanner is a kind person, Eva. He just has a lot on his mind. He’s overprotective, same as your mamm.”
Eva didn’t want to deal with that kind of pressure any more than she already had, but she surely didn’t expect Tanner Dawson to protect her or even notice her. “I’ll be aware. And Becky seems to be a spry adorable little thing.”
“She is that, and she’s the apple of his eye.” Ramona nibbled on an oatmeal cookie, her expression serene and calm.
“I could tell that Becky is special when we saw them last night,” Eva said. “Becky asked me if I could babysit her.”
“Do tell.”
She filled Ramona in on what had happened.
“He might take you up on the watching Becky,” Ramona said. “After he lost his wife, his aenti and onkel moved their whole brood down here to help out. Two of the three girls and married now, but they still rotate taking care of Becky. Between all of them, Becky has plenty of people who love her, but sometimes he still has to find substitutes, since they all have families and jobs of their own.”
“What about his parents?”
“They are still in Ohio. Old and ornery. They send Becky things, and he takes her up there to visit once a year.” Ramona shook her head. “I hear they are not close with their son because he uprooted his life and moved down here with Deborah, but they tolerate each other. Maybe that’s where he got his studious attitude.”
“Studious? That’s a gut word for it,” Eva replied with a chuckle. “He has a permanent frown. But last night he did smile when Becky was around.”
Ramona’s all-knowing gaze held Eva. “As I’ve said, she is his world. Be aware of that, too.”
“Are you concerned for me, Aenti?”
“I’m concerned for your young heart, Eva.”
Confused, Eva shook her head. “I think my heart is intact.”
“And we must keep it that way,” Ramona said with a soft smile.
Eva went through the day with nerves on edge and dread in her heart. Why had she agreed to work for the most brooding man she’d ever met? A man even her jovial aenti had warned her about.
Because she had something to prove—to herself and to Tanner Dawson. Now that she had some background information on him, she would try to be more considerate toward the man. But still...he would be a challenge. Had she been cloistered so long she now felt the need to take on a massive task, like David staring down Goliath?
She only hoped she didn’t sneeze all over the pretty clothes she’d be showing off to tourists and Amish alike. Martha had told her she’d train her this first day and that she’d probably only work two or three days a week, and only a few hours per day.
“More than I’ve worked before,” she mumbled as she helped Ramona set up a tea party for some Englischers.
That task distracted her for a few hours since she learned how many different tea choices Ramona served, along with fruit-infused water, fresh coffee and orange juice punch. Then she learned how to stack food onto the tiered serving plates and trays, sandwiches and savories on the bottom, scones and cream on the second tier and finally to top it all off—dainty little petit fours and colorful macarons sitting next to mini cheesecakes and shortbread cookies. Once loaded with delectable food choices, the white serving plates and trays etched with pink-and-red roses around fluted edges made for a beautiful display. Eva felt as if she’d fallen into a storybook world.
The six women who’d reserved the tearoom for their private party loved the food and the tea. And they had dressed for the occasion in floral sundresses and pretty straw hats with ribbons around their brims. They smiled and chatted like colorful birds while Ramona, Eva, and the kitchen help did their jobs.
Eva stood in awe watching Ramona explain how she brought the water to a soft boil in the sturdy white teakettle. Then she heated the teapot with hot water and poured that out before she placed the tea ball holding measured teaspoons of a peach-flavored tea into the warm pot, letting it steep for four minutes. Then Ramona served it with an elegant flair as she explained the menu. The excited women called out compliments while they picked from the sandwiches, scones and desserts layered on the serving plates.
Eva marveled at Ramona’s efficiency and knowledge. She loved the pretty mismatched fine china plates, cups and saucers. Somehow, it all worked with the white wicker furniture, fresh-cut flowers and lacy curtains in the long dining room that looked more like a sunroom.
“That was so much fun,” she told Ramona after they’d had their own servings in the kitchen. “And this food is wunderbar.”
“I enjoy the tea parties,” Ramona said. “They bring in much-needed funding because I offer all kinds—from birthday parties to wedding showers and anniversary celebrations. You name it—I can create a tea party for it. My home is paid for, and I can thank ladies in hats for helping me there.”
Impressed, Eva patted Ramona’s hand. “I’m glad I could help, since you won’t accept any rent money from me.”
“You are family, child.” Ramona patted her hand back. “Now that we’ve rested and eaten, you will be full of energy so you can work hard at the department store.”
Eva nodded and stood, then took a deep breath. “I hope I last longer than a day.”
Ramona’s smile shone in a smug way. “Oh, I believe you will last a long time. Tanner needs someone to ruffle his prickly feathers. And I believe you are just the girl for that.”
“Ja, since I seem to have done that several times already.”
She grabbed her tote bag and made sure her kapp was on straight, then headed out on foot toward Dawson’s Department Store. All the while wondering how these next few hours would turn out.
Tanner listened to the chatter coming from the front of the shop. A busy day, and a different kind of day. Earlier, Martha had greeted the new hire with open arms.
“Eva, what a lovely pink dress. Did Ramona make that for you? It goes so well with your fair skin and those pretty blue-green eyes. Your hair looks like pure honey. The customers will love you, but you don’t have to have your picture taken. They might ask because you are so pretty, but you can decline, of course.”
Tanner had that image Martha had loudly described in his head now. Eva in a pretty pink dress, smiling at some flirty Englisch boy. Memories clouded his head like a true thunderstorm hovering in the sky, but as he always did, Tanner pushed the bitterness away. No point in remembering things he could never change.
Giggling from up front brought him back to the here and now and the big stump a customer had brought in today to be sawed and shaped into a table. It came from a beautiful cedar tree, but the tree man had salvaged almost all of it and his wife fancied a nice cedar table to place between two rocking chairs Tanner had made for them last year. They lived on Sarasota Bay in a large fancy two-storied home.
He needed to work.
He needed to check on things out front.
So with a grunt of a sigh, he opened the swinging door just to the left of the long counter and cash register and glanced about the aisles of the small department store.
Eva was folding beach towels. He had to smile at the way she held up each one of the oversize towels and studied whatever pattern was woven into the thick terry cloth. Palm trees and beach chairs on one. Flamingos, Becky’s favorite, on another. A school of blue-and-yellow fish on yet another.
“Are you watching so you can learn how to fold towels?” Martha said from behind him, causing him to straighten his back and turn to glare at her.
“I’m watching the person you forced me to hire, to make sure she folds those towels correctly.”
“Ach, vell, since when have you cared about beach towels?”
“I like beach towels. Becky has a whole collection.”
“Because you never say no to that child.”
“I discipline her as needed.”
“Your Becky never is a bother. Is she coming here today since Katie has to work later at the bakery?”
“That is the plan,” he said. “I’ll fetch her from school and you and... Eva...can give her small tasks to keep her busy.”
Why did saying Eva’s name seem so intimate to him? He couldn’t stop watching her and the awe on her pretty face as she discovered something new with each touch of her hand on material.
“She’s gut at folding towels.”
“What? Who?”
Martha’s knowing smile only made him grumpy again. “Your dochder,” she said. “And apparently Eva is doing a fine job, too.”
He turned away so fast, he hit a rack full of shell necklaces his other cousin DeAnna had handmade. The whole thing rattled, tittered and fell over, causing both Martha and Eva to stare at him while he turned red and hastily tried to pick up the rack and the scattered necklaces.
“Let me do that,” Eva said, kneeling beside him to reach for the jewelry, the scent of rose-fresh soap all around her.
“Neh.” They both lifted their heads at the same time and came eye to eye with each other while Martha observed with a keen interest. Tanner looked into Eva’s ocean-wide eyes and felt a strange burning in his heart. “I mean—I’ll take care of this. I’m clumsy sometimes.”
“Ja,” Martha said as she pretended to be going over purchase tickets. “That’s why we keep him in the back.”
Eva startled laughing.
Tanner wanted to be mad, but he soon started laughing, too.
They laughed as they watched each other, and something so foreign happened inside Tanner’s chest, he thought he might be having a heart attack.
He felt a burst of sheer joy as he stared at Eva.
“You smiled,” she said, wiping at her laugh-filled eyes. “And laughed. You actually laughed.”
“It happens,” he replied, standing so quickly he got dizzy. Or maybe that was from staring at Eva for too long.
After placing the wire rack back onto the counter with a slide, he dropped the few necklaces he’d managed to retrieve next to it. “I... I...have to get back to work.” Before he started stuttering like a shy youth.
He turned and rushed through the swinging door, its creaks and whines laughing at him as he went.
Martha was right. He should have stayed in the back.
Because now he had a really up-close image of Eva Miller imprinted in his head.