“Now tell me how your mamm is doing,” Aenti said while she poured iced tea into pretty goblets and served up chunks of meatloaf and creamy mashed potatoes along with steamed string beans.
“She is fine,” Eva replied. “She fretted about me coming alone, but she refused to leave her work and friends, and she hated the idea of getting on a bus. I think she’s afraid of everything in life.”
Ramona nodded, her dark eyes full of understanding. “Ech, vell. Helen always was the cautious one, while I was the adventurous one. I do miss her though.”
“And she misses you, but she enjoys sewing and keeping up with the doings of Campton Creek.”
Aenti laughed at that. “I know it was hard for her to let you kumm here alone. I had to do some tall talking to persuade her. But I promised I’d look after you and that I shall do. I wish Helen would have kumm, but you and I will have a great time. And I thank Tanner here for picking you up at the bus station.”
“Not a bother,” Tanner said, his tight smile almost human. “I get this wunderbar meal, so it wasn’t half bad going to the bus station.”
Eva studied him while they waited for her aenti to sit down. He was tall and rugged looking, with hair the color of burnished straw. His eyes were interesting, topaz and ever changing, but she only glimpsed at him when he wasn’t looking. She did not want that dour gaze to zoom in on her.
He had a neat beard, which meant he could be married. What woman would want such a rude and burly man anyway? He looked old enough to know better than to act like that. Maybe a few years older than her twenty-two years. Not her type, and already taken possibly. But then, she didn’t really have a type. Alive and available might be her only requirements, but she wouldn’t hold her breath on anything.
“Okay, now we can eat,” Ramona said, smiling at them as her gaze bounced from one to the other with pride before she lowered her head to silently pray.
Eva did the same, praying she could make friends here and feel better, and hoping this man would stay away from her once he’d had a meal. He could get back on his strange cart and go back to whatever work he seemed so inclined to finish.
But when Eva lifted her head and caught his gaze on her, something like a streak of bright sunshine hit her soul.
He blinked and grabbed a biscuit at the same time she reached for one.
“Excuse me,” he said, pulling his hand away.
Eva held to her biscuit and nodded, the warmth of his touch burning her fingers. “I’m hungry so I apologize.”
“Oh, my. Eat up, you two,” Ramona said. “And after you’re settled in and rested, we can take a stroll. I can’t wait for you to see the ocean, Eva. It’s one of Gott’s greatest creations and a gift to all of us.”
Eva wanted to shout that the man sitting across from her might think he filled that category of being a gift, too. But the woman who got stuck with him would not be gifted with his charm. She’d be in trouble.
Tanner ate his food in silence until Aenti asked, “How is little Becky?”
Then the man looked up and smiled for the first time since Eva had met him.
She almost choked on her green beans. He was quite good-looking when he smiled. Quickly, she took a sip of tea. Maybe he did have a loving wife after all. Maybe Becky got to see that smile a lot.
“Becky is Tanner’s little daughter,” Aenti explained. “She is eight years old and the cutest little thing.”
So he did have a wife. Confused, Eva didn’t ask. Things could be different down here and she didn’t want to pry. “Maybe I’ll get to meet her soon.”
“I doubt that,” Tanner said, then realized he’d said it. “I mean, she has lots of people looking after her while I work.”
“Hard to pin down,” Eva filled in, accepting the brush-off with a tad of regret. So... Becky didn’t have a mother?
“Ja, hard to pin down.” Then he lowered his head. “Her mamm died when Becky was a baby.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Eva said, wishing she hadn’t been too curious. Now she understood the beard and the gruffness. Poor man.
“Denke.” Tanner stopped eating and took a gulp of tea.
Something shifted in the air, but Eva couldn’t put her finger on it. His words and actions reminded her of someone else she knew well.
Her mother.
Overly protective and distant, that’s what Tanner was. Just like Mamm. And Eva wanted no part of anyone else who was that way. She’d come to Florida to take a break from her mamm’s protective, well-meaning misguided love. Eva had always been bold and curious, as her mamm pointed out. Reckless, Mamm would say. Too curious and caring for her own good.
Mamm had tried to reel her in, but Eva had a streak of adventure in her and this trip had resulted, ironically, from that streak and her constant health problems.
She’d avoid Tanner as much as possible, but she felt an instant bond to little Becky. But when she looked at him, he seemed confused and sad. He was a widower after all. He’d had to raise Becky on his own, just as Mamm had raised Eva on her own.
Eva ventured another glance at him. Tanner looked up, his bronze-colored eyes going dark. “Ramona knows everyone, so I’m sure you’ll have plenty of friends soon.”
“I hope to meet a lot of people here,” she said, trying to smooth over the situation. “I want to explore all of Pinecraft.”
“Oh, gut,” Aenti said, “but that’ll take only about an hour or so. We are a small community.” Then she laughed. “You’ll soon know everyone here and you’ll see a lot of this one.” She pointed to Tanner. “I help watch Becky at times.”
Eva nodded, but she saw the dread in Tanner’s eyes. And something else. Fear.
What was he so afraid of?
Tanner walked back into his shop and let out a long sigh. That had taken longer than he’d planned. He’d eaten too fast and now the spicy meatloaf was burning against his ribs. At least he’d made a fairly proper exit after dessert and some forced small talk with Ramona and her niece. Still not sure about Eva, he did like her pretty eyes and her shy nature. Shy until he’d acted like an idiot around her. Then she’d let him have it.
But he hoped Ramona wasn’t trying to match him up again. The last few times she’d tried had not turned out so well. Disasters, that’s what they’d been. Giggling girls, pushy mothers, stone-faced fathers. And so much food he’d had to give some of it away. He’d had enough for one season.
Ramona meant well, of course, but Tanner planned to stay single for a long, long time. He had Becky to consider after all.
“Daddi!” His daughter came running, her blue sneakers hitting the wooden floor with a squeak, her kapp ribbons flying out with a few strands of unruly strawberry blond curls fluttering along with them. Stopping to put her hands on her hips, she stared at him with deep blue eyes. “Where you been?”
Martha followed, shaking her head. “She just arrived from school a half hour ago. You’d think you’d been gone for months.”
“It seems that way,” he said, still rattled by all the feelings he’d experienced each time he looked at Eva Miller. Scooping Becky up, he held her close, the scent of milled soap and chocolate surrounding her. “Did you have your drink?”
Becky bobbed her head. “I did. Aenti Martha made it extra special ’cause I got a boo-boo on my knee.”
“From running too fast up the street,” Martha said. “I waited at the front door, so I saw her all the way home.”
“Denke,” he said as he lowered Becky down. “Okay, time to rest and go over your lessons.”
“I don’t have any lessons,” Becky said. “I learned it all at school.”
“You are a smart one,” he replied as he watched her head to the play area he’d set up for her behind the big long front desk. “Now I must get back to work. James can’t be left alone too much.”
“’Cause you have customers?”
“I do. I have lots of orders to make special things for so many people.”
“I luv you, Daed.”
“I love you, too, Becky-boo.”
Martha gave them both an indulgent smile. “James is delivering that small side table to Mrs. McCormick. She called asking about it.”
Tanner nodded to Martha and then went back into his workshop, where the world went away and the quiet would take over.
The quiet of being lonely, of a tension that never left his mind, of always worrying and wondering and thinking of Deborah. His wife who’d died shortly after giving birth to Becky.
He’d loved Deborah for a long time, but she had planned to marry another man. A forbidden man. That had not worked out. So Tanner had confessed his love and Deborah had agreed because he was her only hope. They’d had a gut life, and she did love him, even if she had not been in love with him. But their time together was short and over before they could really grow close.
Then came Becky, without a mom. Him without a wife.
This workshop was his sanctuary and his life now. He created beautiful things from natural wood, and he’d even begun to create some pieces from recycled plastic, reusable vinyl, aged brocade and other materials. His work kept him calm and steady, while Becky reminded him of unconditional love.
It was enough. It had to be enough. He would never marry because he had to protect his daughter from the cruelty of the world.
When he heard her giggling in the front room, Tanner nodded and reaffirmed his reasons for this life.
He’d never marry again.
Even if his friend Ramona had a new prospect for him. Obviously, that’s why she’d sent him to the bus stop when she could have easily walked there herself to receive Eva. He didn’t want a new relationship.
Even if Eva turned out to be very pretty when she smiled.
Eva slept late the next day. Embarrassed when she saw the late hour, she hopped out of bed and hurriedly cleaned her room and freshened up in the tiny washroom connected to it. She put on a bright pink dress her aenti had made for her and tied a white apron over it. After putting her hair up in a neat bun, she grabbed her kapp and hurried into the small, dainty living room.
She found a note by the kaffe pot. “Had to go to the market. Back in a bit. I have Danish in the bread box.” Then the next words encouraged her. “Go out and find a challenge, an adventure if you’d like. Just stay in our community where you are safe.”
Eva poured herself some kaffe and grabbed a cheese Danish then went out on the wide front porch. The warm tropical breeze played through her hair and went on to dance around a set of butterfly-embossed wind chimes made of carved wood and held together by thick leather tethers. Unusual and pretty.
After their lunch yesterday, Aenti Ramona had taken her on a short bus ride to see the ocean. When they approached the worn path down to the beach, Eva had taken off her blue flip-flops, another gift from her aenti.
“We like bright colors down here, Eva. It reminds us of sunshine and the beautiful ocean—gifts from Gott.”
After she’d shyly dipped her toes in the crashing waves and saw all the colors of the water, Eva knew she’d never want to leave this place. The turquoise-and-green water made the prettiest sea lace, as Aenti called it, when it hit the shore.
“It’s so beautiful,” she’d told Ramona. “I can understand why you love it here.”
“I do, indeed,” Ramona had replied with a smile. “I met my husband, Steven, here and well, I couldn’t leave him for some other woman to find.”
Aenti loved to joke and laugh—the opposite of Eva’s stoic mamm. Mamm was distant and quiet. She didn’t like to get together for frolics or any type of celebrations. So birthdays and holidays had been simple and just the two of them most of the time. People would come to visit, but not that often.
Aenti Ramona probably had lots of friends. She’d said to find a challenge or an adventure, but Eva wasn’t sure where to start.
Now as she sat here and enjoyed the strong brew and the wunderbar gut pastry, Eva did want to explore more. She wanted to learn to ride a bike and walk to the market where everyone here shopped. She’d heard of Yoder’s Fresh Market, and she couldn’t wait to see what she could find there. Eva liked to bake, and she aimed to do a lot of that. Maybe her aenti would let her learn, rather than discouraging her and shooing her out of the kitchen.
She was about to get up and go inside to find busywork, but a young woman came strolling up the white brick walkway.
“Gut daag,” the woman said, waving.
“Hello,” Eva replied, smiling. “My aenti is not here right now.”
“Well, I came to see you,” the woman, who looked a bit younger than Eva, replied. “I’m Teresa Stoltzfus. I saw Ramona at the market, and she told me you were here. I decided to kumm and meet you, and to welkom you to Pinecraft.”
“How kind.” Eva took in the light blue dress and Teresa’s pretty organdy kapp. She envied Teresa’s shiny brown hair, thinking how dull her own dirty blond hair must look. “Kumm and sit with me. I’m waiting on Ramona to get back so I can go exploring.”
Teresa clapped her hands together. “She told me you might say that. I offered to be your guide. I know where all the youngies hang out.”
“Oh, I’ve been through rumspringa,” Eva explained, embarrassed.
Teresa sat down in the other rocking chair, her flower-embossed flip-flops snapping with the back and forth of the chair. “Ech, vell, so have I. The most boring part of my life.”
“Really?” Eva sat up. “You don’t like frolics and parties?”
“Oh, I liked them. Too much. But I came to my senses and didn’t do anything I’d have to confess before the brethren, thankfully. But I do know some girls who did.”
Eva gave her a doubtful glance. “So you like to gossip?”
“Neh. I don’t repeat anything that could harm someone. But I do know a few things.” Teresa’s smile was infectious.
Teresa started giggling. “Oh, the look on your face. Of course, I don’t gossip, and I know very little about any scandals around here. But I can tell you all about those who are friendly and those who are best left alone.”
Eva thought of Tanner. Neh, she would not start off on the wrong foot by soliciting gossip on the man. Teresa had been kind enough to kumm and find her and befriend her, so she wouldn’t jeopardize this budding relationship by asking questions about Tanner. After all, the man’s secrets were none of her business.