19

Anna stiffened, crossed her arms, turned to stare at Chad’s car, and then looked back at him. He only shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

She couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. Surely he wanted something, although she didn’t know what. If he wanted a good meal he was going to be very disappointed with whatever he’d done for a picnic dinner for two, compared to what Mama had cooked. She’d made en heenaborde met bubbat for supper, which was one of his favorite meals.

Yet since he’d spoken to Mama, surely he knew what she’d made. During their time in the kitchen today to prepare ahead, she’d almost felt like they had been cooking with Chad in mind. She’d even said so, but her mama hadn’t told her Chad was coming until they heard his knock on the door. Then Mama had nearly pushed her to the door and told her to open it, which hadn’t made any sense until she saw Chad standing there.

Going to his car without Mama’s cooking didn’t make sense. He was even going to miss the Syrutstlatz cake they’d made for tomorrow’s dessert after they came home from church. Even though no one in the family could touch it before Sunday, Mama would sneak a piece to Chad, because she always did.

She didn’t know what he had planned, but he would be very disappointed when she told him what he’d left behind. She had no idea what he could possibly have prepared. All she could think of was what Ted, as another single man living alone, would have done.

She’d never had cheese and crackers for supper before, but there was always a first time for everything.

Since supper was not going to be included in their outing, she tried to figure out another reason for his strange plan.

It wasn’t possible he wanted to talk about the new overtime plans at work. They’d already set up all the procedures, and everyone was very excited. More than that, since his arrival in Piney Meadows, Chad had always been very adamant that all talk of business remain at work, during working hours. The minute the door closed behind them as they left every day, their conversation always changed to other things. He always held firm with no exception.

The most likely conversation he would want to have in private would probably be another request to find another activity to help him become more familiar with the ways of her people. While everyone at the factory seemed to like him and he’d been doing fine at the Bible study meetings, he had dropped out of the young adult group. He’d told her that too many of the young ladies were looking at him as husband material, and he didn’t want to mislead any of them or their mamas.

Even though most of his interaction with her people was in church on Sundays, almost everyone knew him better than he knew them. Word of Chad’s chicken coop had spread quickly. Many people had come to her home on the pretext of talking to her mama or papa when all they’d wanted was to peek over the fence to see the infamous chicken hotel. At first Anna had cringed and wanted to reprimand people for ridiculing him for building such an extravagant structure for two chickens. But then, with the only exception being Rachel’s mama, instead of being amused at Chad’s expense, everyone actually liked it. Oddly, the person who liked it the most was elderly Mr. Reinhart. He snapped at everyone to mind their words and told each person how he saw much potential in Chad and to give “City Boy” time to adapt and prove himself. Naturally, everyone always minded Mr. Reinhart. After all, no one wanted to feel the rebuke of his cane.

Thinking of elderly Mr. Reinhart’s words brought her mind back to Chad’s chicken coop. She’d seen him put the chickens in it every night, and despite his worries, they settled in quickly. Every night, not long after she tucked herself into bed, she only heard one small bit of rustling, and then for the rest of the night, all was silent until he went into the coop the next morning to feed them.

She didn’t know why he did that. Chickens were self-regulating and didn’t need their food monitored or to be fed at intervals. They simply ate the amount they needed when they needed it. Yet every morning, Chad was there, picking them up and talking to them.

One day she would speak to him about that, but this was not the time.

She didn’t know what he needed to talk to her about, but she could certainly listen, especially since he had gone to so much trouble. It was obviously something he couldn’t talk to her about at work.

Once again, Anna glanced toward his car. Unlike her mama, she hadn’t been in it often, but she could understand her mama’s fascination with it. Riding in Chad’s car was fun, except for the time he’d played some horrible music. “This is fine. Let us go. I suppose I will not need my purse if we are only going for a walk at Cass Lake.”

“And a picnic supper.”

She sighed. “Ja.” Mama would have plenty of food in the fridge for her to eat when she got home. Of course the evening would not be over, because Mama would invite Chad in to eat, and he never turned down Mama’s cooking.

Like he did every time she got in his car, he held the door open for her as she slid into the seat, and then he made sure she had her seatbelt buckled, as if she were incapable of clicking it together herself. In some ways it annoyed her, but another part of her liked his concern.

While he walked around the car to get in, a piece of paper lying on the dash with a badly drawn map complete with landmarks and mileage caught her attention.

She smiled. It was a map of how to get to Cass Lake.

As soon as the car started moving, Anna picked up the map. “I could have given you directions. Anyone could have given you directions. But this looks like Brian’s bad handwriting.” A smudge of grease on the edge of the paper also gave away its origin.

“Yes. This was Brian’s idea. I trust him because I’ve never been there.”

“Cass Lake is beautiful. In the summer, there is good fishing, and in the winter, it is good skating.”

“Skating? Why didn’t anyone ask me to go skating?”

The memory of his struggles the first time he tried to walk in snowshoes flashed through her mind’s eye. “I would think it is because everyone was too afraid that you would break your leg or hurt yourself. Or maybe no one has skates in your size they could have loaned to you.”

His cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink. “My feet aren’t that big.”

She’d seen his boots beside all the others when they went to Bible study meetings. When they went to someone’s home in the winter, everyone brought extra shoes or slippers and left their boots on a mat beside the door. Chad’s boots were the largest by at least two sizes. “You are tall, so it is natural that you will have large feet. But I think after helping you with the snowshoes, everyone wanted to be cautious. It does not hurt to fall on snow, but it does hurt to fall on ice. No one would like it if you were injured. I am sorry, I did not mean to hurt your feelings.”

Chad shrugged his shoulders. “It’s okay. But since I know now, I’d like to try skating. I’ve never done it before.”

“You have not? How can this be?”

“I don’t know. I guess when I grew up I spent more time in the winter in a warm living room playing video games than outside in the cold. But if I can do snowshoes, I can do skates.”

She wasn’t going to tell him that balancing on skates was harder than it looked and it would take him a while to build up the strength in his ankles, just as it had taken him a while to build up the muscles in his legs to keep up with the rest of the men on snowshoes.

Anna pointed forward, to the side of the road. “Be careful. There is a moose. It should not walk onto the road, but you must be careful.”

“I see it,” he muttered as he slowed his speed. “My camera is on the floor behind my seat. Can you reach it and get a picture of him as we go past?”

“Ja, I have taken pictures with Brian’s camera. I think I can do that.” She turned and reached behind the seat, but instead of touching a camera, she felt a large shape. She squirmed to look behind the seat. “You have your guitar down there.”

“It’s not mine. I’ve only got an electric guitar. This one is an acoustic and it’s Brian’s. He let me borrow it for the night.”

“Why have you brought a guitar?”

“I thought we might sing together. You have such a beautiful voice. I remember you singing the part of the angel at the Christmas play the first night I got here. Why don’t you sing like that in church? You’re so quiet I barely hear you on Sundays.”

Anna felt her cheeks grow warm. “If I sing loud at church, then sometimes people close to me stop their own songs of worship and watch me. That is not right or good that I would overpower them. I will not distract people who have come to worship for themselves in God’s house.”

“Now I’m really glad I brought the guitar. You can sing as loud as you want, and I’ll bet the birds and animals will stop what they’re doing and sing along with you.”

Before Chad had come to a full stop, Anna found the camera and snapped a picture of the moose. “You are a crazy person,” she muttered, wanting to reproach him, but at the same time, she did miss singing loud and clear on Sundays. After Christmas, the church had meant to start a choir, but with both Miranda and Ted gone no one had volunteered to take on the job of leadership.

He followed her directions instead of Brian’s map. She showed him where to turn and the best place to park the car. “There is the path. We can walk to the lake from here.”

After he opened the door and escorted her out, Chad stepped back. Instead of opening the trunk, he extended one arm toward the path’s entrance. “This is it? It looks like it’s only single file.”

“Ja. For much of the way there is no path except for the one leading to the area where people can swim without getting tangled in seaweeds.” It appeared Brian hadn’t told him a walk around Cass Lake meant exactly that—walking around the lake, at the shoreline, single file. “We will probably work up quite an appetite after walking around the lake, and then we can eat the picnic you have brought.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Actually, there’s more to it than that. I brought the small barbecue I used to have on my balcony.”

“You have brought a barbecue? Is that not a lot of work?”

“Not really. I thought it would be fun, barbecuing for two out here in the middle of nowhere. Nothing I brought is heavy, but it looks like it’s going to take two trips.”

“I will help carry things.”

Chad shook his head. “No. This is my treat for you, and I’m doing all the work.”

“That makes no sense. However, if there is much to carry, there is no one here except us. We can have our meal here, where the ground is level, and when we are done, we can go walk around the lake.”

At first she thought he was going to argue with her, but he only shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. I guess there’s no reason why not. It will also be harder lugging everything back to the car uphill. We’ll eat up here, but I want to check out the lake first.”

Anna looked down the hill to the lake. “That would be good. Also, the sunset is always very beautiful over the lake. We can watch it for a short time, as long as we leave with enough time to get back to the car before it is dark.”

“Sunset over the lake? Brian never told me about that.”

“That is strange. Brian has a camera and he enjoys taking photographs.”

She waited while Chad walked to the car and opened the back door. He removed the guitar from behind the seat, slung the strap over his shoulder, hung the camera around his neck, picked up a book, and turned toward her. “Lead the way.”

She led him down the path to the lake, making sure to go slow to account for the extra height of the guitar over his head, as he had to duck beneath the lower branches. Once at the shore, they stood and looked out over the calm lake. In the distance, birds chirped and ducks quacked, accompanied by the rustle of leaves in the wind. The only movement was a slight ripple of waves, and every once in a while, a fish broke the surface of the water to catch a bug.

“Brian was right. This is so peaceful.”

“Ja. Today is a busy day for everyone on the farms—that is why it is so quiet. Tomorrow, after church, many will be here fishing and swimming.”

He snickered. “I hope not in the same place.”

Anna pointed across the lake. “Everyone goes to fish over there. Everyone says it is a secret spot. But since everyone knows about the same spot, it is not a very good secret.”

“You said everyone is busy on the farms today. I know a lot of the people who work at the factory only work a few days there and the rest of the days on their farms. But there are many who work five days a week. Are you saying on Saturday, most of them go work on the farms, too?”

“Ja. They will be helping their friends. But no one will work on Sunday.”

“I found that out the hard way. I don’t mean about working at the factory, I mean everywhere else. Even the restaurant is closed on Sunday.”

“Of course.”

“Back in Minneapolis, all retail stores and restaurants are open and in full operation on Sundays. In fact, it’s their busiest day. Many factories run 24–7. Nothing shuts down, ever, except maybe on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, the hospitals and police work Thanksgiving and Christmas, too, but on reduced staff. Sundays are business as usual. I think I’m used to it here with everything shutting down every Sunday, but it took a while.”

Anna couldn’t imagine working Sundays. She turned to Chad. “When I find a job in the cities, will they expect me to work on the Sabbath?”

“It depends. Most offices, no. But if there is a crisis, yes. The Lord’s Day doesn’t mean the same thing there as it does here. Many Christian people work Sunday as a normal day because they have to or they won’t have a job. They choose to take another day as their Sabbath. But for the most part, Sunday as the Sabbath day has completely lost its meaning.”

She couldn’t imagine that. If getting a good job might mean working on the Lord’s Day, Anna had some very serious praying to do.

Chad slung the guitar off his shoulder, carefully set it on a fallen log, found a safe place to rest his camera, and opened the book to a page he had marked.

“You have brought a hymnal.”

“Yes. Ted left it for me. All the hymns are chorded for guitar in this one. He said Miranda did it for him. He left it behind for me because she has a full selection of chorded hymnbooks at home, including this one.” He played the introduction for “Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine,” one of her favorite hymns, then stopped and looked up at her. “I don’t have any of these memorized, which is why I brought it. Besides, the hymns have a lot of words. Would you like to sing with me?”

The only times she’d sung outside, it had always been with a group and they’d gone caroling, of course without an instrument. It had only been a few years ago that they had started using a guitar in church, when Ted returned from college. Even though it felt less reverent singing with a guitar than with a piano, she enjoyed the sound. “I would like that, but only if you sing with me. I do not wish to sing alone.”

“That was my plan.”

He played the last line again as the introduction, and they began to sing. When they got to the chorus, Chad changed from singing unison to a harmony line that was so beautiful she nearly lost her concentration and stopped. At the last verse they sang the chorus a little slower, which seemed to emphasize the words, bringing the meaning closer to her heart. As Chad played a few more chords to close the hymn, she watched his hands, then looked up to his face while he continued to read the chords from the book. Her eyes started to burn and she struggled not to cry, which made no sense, because she had sung this same hymn more times than she could count, and this had never happened to her before. As he played the last chord, he closed his eyes, sighed, and smiled. While she watched, he raised his head, opened his eyes, and, still smiling, turned to her.

The second they made eye contact, his eyes widened and his smile dropped. “Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

Anna nodded, then shook her head. She wanted to say she was fine, but she was too afraid. If she tried to speak, her voice would crack, and then she really would start to cry and there would be no stopping it.

Completely serious now, Chad quickly shrugged the guitar strap off his shoulder, gently set the guitar down, and reached toward her, resting his hands on her shoulders. Very slowly, he lifted one hand and, using his thumb, brushed one tear off her cheek. “I know. That was really something, wasn’t it?”

“Ja,” she choked out, barely able to speak, knowing she couldn’t say more.

His eyes softened, and his hand returned to her shoulder. Very gently, he pulled her toward him while leaning forward to meet her in the middle. As he shuffled his bottom closer to her, his hands slid to her back. Because it felt so good, she leaned into his chest and tucked her head beneath his chin. His hands slid further down her back, his fingers splayed, and his grip tightened, pressing her firmly into his chest; but not so firmly that if she tried to push herself away, he wouldn’t let her. Slowly, he rested his cheek against her hair. She felt the expansion of his chest as he sighed, and then his embrace tightened as he released his breath.

Anna closed her eyes and leaned into him, enjoying his warmth and the steady beat of his heart. William had hugged her a few times, but it didn’t feel like this.

Not able to help herself, Anna slowly ran her hands to the center of his back and gave him a gentle squeeze. For a brief second, he stiffened slightly, and then his heart started beating a little faster. He gave her a tiny squeeze, then released her, forcing her to lower her arms and sit straight.

The second they were no longer touching, Chad reached for the guitar, picked it up, and stood. “We should get back to the car. I wanted to cook supper, and if we’re going to be finished before the sun sets, I have to start now.”

She looked at her watch. The sun wouldn’t be setting for hours, but then she had no idea of his plans. While part of her wanted to sing another hymn with him, part of her needed to move. “Ja, we probably should start to make our supper,” she said as she pushed herself up off the log.

By the time she was standing, he already had the guitar slung on his back, the camera hanging from his neck, and the hymnal tucked under his arm.

“When I said I was cooking, I meant it. All you’re going to do is watch and talk to me as I cook, then eat what I made.”

Anna looked at him, his face stern, allowing no room for argument. All she could do was nod, then follow him back to the car.