Nelson hadn’t expected to spend his evening searching for his wayward nephew—who was going to get a stern talking-to as soon as he showed up—and revealing to Ella his plans for the warehouse, much less admitting that he didn’t have a clue what he was doing. But the biggest surprise was her offer to help him. For a split second he couldn’t fathom why she wanted to, but then he remembered her family owned the grocery store next door and understanding started to dawn. She wasn’t doing this out of kindness or for his benefit but with her own motives. He might not know much about business, but it was plain as day that their customer base would overlap. While it made sense that his possible butcher shop would be advantageous to her business, it also raised his guard.
“When I, um, we decided to move here from Lancaster and open the store,” Ella said, her tone tinged with excitement, “I bought at least twenty books about running a business. I keep them in my—in my daed’s office. They were very helpful while we were learning the ropes.”
He didn’t respond. He was open to assistance, and he had plenty of entrepreneurs in his family who could teach him how to run a business. But even with their help, he still had a lot to learn, and most of that would be on the job. What he didn’t need was a woman’s help, especially not this one. Being around the female persuasion after he’d sworn them off was the worst thing he could do. Besides, even though he and Ella were being cordial to each other, he’d seen her unpleasant side. No thanks.
“Well? What do you think about mei proposal?”
He turned to her. A proposal? What?
“About working together. We can start as soon as the warehouse sale is final.” She grinned. His coat was so big the collar was almost covering her mouth, and the hem hung well past her waist. She kind of looked cute, not that he was open to noticing. “What do you think?” she asked.
He pulled his gaze from her and was relieved to see that they were almost to her house. On instinct, he quickened his steps. The faster he took her home, the sooner he could get away. He quickly outpaced her, and he could hear the patter of her footsteps behind him.
“You can use mei catalogs to order your equipment.” She was still yammering, although it was breathless yammering. “Can you slow down a little?”
He shortened his strides but didn’t turn around.
Now she was alongside him again. “I don’t have any specific to butchery, but you’ll need some display cases, shelving, cleaning supplies—those sorts of things. Oh, and a cash register. I keep telling Daed we need one too, but he refuses. He prefers to add in his head or on his little adding machine, which is basically just a calculator. It would be so much faster if we had a register, though.”
He never would have guessed she was so talkative. Or presumptuous. He hadn’t agreed to anything, including running a butcher shop to begin with, and definitely not to her proposal, whatever that was. They were a few feet from her front porch. Almost free!
“Nelson.”
He froze. She had stopped behind him, and the adamant way she said his name made him turn around, even though he didn’t want to.
“I’d appreciate a little input from you.” She lifted her chin. “We can’t be partners if you’re not willing to do your share.”
He barked with laughter. “Partners? That was your proposal?”
“Ya.” Her chin tilted higher. “Weren’t you listening?”
He’d already fallen for two liars, and he wasn’t apt to believe her either. And she wasn’t just lying, she was trying to take advantage of him for her own gain. “Sounds more like a plot to sabotage me than a proposal,” he said.
“What?” She looked and sounded completely offended. “I would never do that to you, or anyone else.”
“How am I supposed to know that? We just met and all of a sudden you want to be partners?” Before she could protest, he said, “Don’t bother. I made mei decision. I’m not buying the warehouse, or any other place in Marigold.”
“But—”
He held up his hand. “You’re home now. Mei obligation is done.” He started to walk away.
“I didn’t obligate you to do anything,” she called out to him.
Nelson spun around. “You sure were trying to.”
Her mouth dropped open. Then closed. Satisfied he’d shut her up for good, he spun on his heel and hurried off. If Malachi wasn’t at Jesse’s by the time he got there, Nelson was leaving him behind. He’d have to figure out his own way back to Birch Creek. Nelson was more than ready to get away from Ella Yoder and Marigold, and he wasn’t coming back.
* * *
Ella watched as Nelson rushed off, practically running down her short driveway. An icky sensation filled her stomach. She had handled that badly. Very badly, according to Nelson’s angry expression. A bit of anger started to rise within her too, though. How dare he accuse her of plotting against him? Her proposal was extremely sensible. She hadn’t suggested a legal partnership, but more of a mutually beneficial business relationship that would help make their stores successful. Now that she thought about it, though, she shouldn’t have said they would be partners. Or even brought it up. He had a teeny-weeny point about them barely knowing each other. Why would he trust her based on almost nothing?
She winced. It wasn’t the first time she leaped before she thought, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. But in this instance, she might have cost Nelson a prime opportunity.
She turned and went into the house, searching her mind for a way to fix what she’d inadvertently broken in record time. As she opened the door, she felt a blast of warm air from the woodstove on the opposite side of the living room. Daed was sitting in his usual spot—an old hickory rocker with a well-worn quilted cushion on the seat and a crossword puzzle on his lap. And on the couch across from him was . . . Junia.
Ella’s eyes widened. In all the excitement about Nelson’s butcher shop, she’d forgotten Junia had disappeared. And now she was here, sitting in front of the cozy fire, bringing a mug of hot chocolate to her lips, her eyebrows lifting in mockery.
“Welcome back, Ella,” Daed said. He looked her up and down. “New outfit?”
She glanced at Nelson’s coat enveloping her. That was something else she’d forgotten. Apparently he had, too, since he stormed off without asking for it back. As she yanked it off, she glared at Junia. “Where have you been?”
“Out.” Junia cradled the mug in her hands.
“With Malachi?”
“That’s none of your business, Ella.”
She wanted to scream. “You were gone all day.”
Junia took another nonchalant sip of her drink as their father cleared his throat.
“Didn’t you stop to think about your job? Or anyone else that was inconvenienced?”
Daed set the crossword book down on the end table next to him. “Now that everyone’s home safe and sound, I’m going to bed.”
“But, Daed—”
“Gute nacht. See you two in the morning.”
Ella didn’t bother saying anything else to him. He always left the room when she and Junia started arguing.
As soon as he was gone, Junia jumped up from the couch. “Ella, I’m in love!” She clasped her hands together and sighed.
“With Malachi?” Ella shook her head. That was ridiculous, even for Junia.
“Nee, with Horace,” she cracked, referring to their rooster. “Obviously I’m talking about Malachi. He’s perfect.”
“You’ve known him for one day. Not even twenty-four hours.”
“But it feels like a lifetime.” Junia plopped back on the couch and sighed again. “I’m going to marry that man. You just watch.”
Ella bit her tongue before she said something she’d regret. Did Malachi have any idea how lazy Junia was, or that this was the third time she’d declared herself in instant love since she was thirteen? Of course not, but there wasn’t any point in saying so. Junia would do whatever she wanted, just like she always did. I wanted her to find a husband, didn’t I? She just didn’t think it would be so fast and with someone she knew so little about.
Junia sat up. “Whose coat is that?”
“Nelson’s.” She’d have to take it to Jesse’s tomorrow so he could give it to him. Or maybe she should run it over to him now. No, it was too late to do that. Since Junia was home, Malachi was surely at Jesse and Charity’s by now, and he and Nelson were undoubtedly on their way back to Birch Creek. They would arrive late tonight, thanks to Junia and Malachi’s thoughtlessness. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me where you two were all day?”
A slow smile spread over Junia’s face. “Nee.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have to.”
No, she didn’t. Her father certainly wasn’t going to make her, and Ella didn’t care anymore. She walked over to the gas lamp near Daed’s rocker and turned it off. Without another word to her sister, she went upstairs to her room and sat on the edge of the bed, still holding Nelson’s coat. Without thinking, she hugged it to her chest and caught the scent of woodsmoke and something indefinable. Nelson.
She popped up from the bed and laid the coat over her hope chest. The cedar chest had belonged to her mother, who passed away from meningitis when Ella was ten and Junia was four. Ever since then, their father, with the help of her aunts, had raised her and Junia. When they moved to Marigold, her father had given her the chest. “Your mamm would have wanted you to have this,” he’d said, his eyes glassy. Ella treasured the gift. If only Mamm were here now. Sixteen years had passed since her mother’s death, and she still missed her very much. There were even times when she sort of missed Aenti Tabitha and Aenti Cora, who were less than supportive about their move to Marigold and never supportive of Ella’s take-charge attitude.
“A woman should be meek,” Aenti Tabitha would say.
“And mild,” Aenti Cora always added. “And of course, sweet and pretty.”
“Like Junia.” Aenti Tabitha always smiled at the mention of Junia’s beauty. “It won’t be long before she finds a husband.”
“You could learn a lot from her, Ella,” Aenti Cora never failed to mention.
Ella yanked the clips out of her kapp. What Tabitha and Cora failed to notice or turned a blind eye to was the fact that Junia wasn’t always meek, mild, or sweet. But she was pretty. No one could deny that—not even Ella. And although no one would probably believe it now, there was a time when she got along with her sister, especially after Mamm died. For almost two years Junia would leave her bed and climb in with Ella, and they would cry over their grief until they both fell asleep. But as they grew older, they grew apart. Now they rarely talked about Mamm.
With a sigh, she unbraided her hair, trying not to think about the sister she was mad at and the aunts who refused to talk to her since she and her family arrived in Marigold. As she brushed through the long strands, her thoughts switched to Nelson again, or more accurately, her guilt. She didn’t want her foolishness to be the reason he didn’t buy the warehouse. That wasn’t right or fair to him. She had to apologize, somehow.
Her brushing slowed as an image of him came to her mind. She could see some family resemblance between Nelson, Jesse, and Malachi, especially their eyes, which were all a startling shade of blue. They had the same sloped nose, although Nelson’s had a little bump at the top. She was surprised she’d noticed something so inconsequential. But that was where the similarities ended. All three men had different hair—Malachi’s straight and blond, Jesse’s dark brown and curly, and Nelson’s was lighter brown and wavy. Their builds were different too. Nelson was burly, but she wasn’t sure why Junia made it sound like a bad thing. He looked strong, and when they were bickering in her driveway, she’d seen the outline of his biceps underneath his short sleeves. If he wasn’t such a jerk, she would have thought he was handsome.
She blinked. What was she doing thinking about his burly biceps? She quickly rebraided her hair and readied for bed. When she turned around, she saw Nelson’s coat. She was in the wrong and needed to make things right with him, even if he wasn’t going to buy the warehouse. She knelt by the side of her bed and said her nightly prayers, asking for forgiveness for what she’d done to Nelson and for patience for herself, a trait that was always in short supply.
As she slipped under the cold covers and pulled the thick quilt over her, she thought about Junia and Malachi again. Her sister wasn’t in love—she was infatuated. It was inconceivable that anyone could fall in love at first sight. That only happened in fairy tales. It certainly didn’t happen to her and Nelson. More like aversion at first sight.
She rolled on her side and scoffed. Me and Nelson. They couldn’t even get through a conversation without fighting, never mind a business partnership. Or any other relationship. Not that it mattered. She had more important things to do than worry about a social life—like running the grocery store. Between her father’s complacency and Junia’s disinterest, the store’s success rested on her shoulders. She just wished the burden wasn’t so heavy.