Huckleberry Summer (12 page)

“I like it when you scold me.”

“You do not.”

“Jah, I do.” He held out the garbage bag to her and when she reached to take it, he seized her fingers and squeezed them.

His skin felt rough with callouses like a favorite, timeworn saddle. She snatched her hand away. What a tease!

She glanced at Erla Glick one more time. “Will you fetch me if I fall in?”

His eyes held a deep green forest. “Oh, yes.”

“Well, I’m not going to fall in, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Aden laughed. “Thanks for coming today.”

He walked away, leaving Lily gathering her scattered wits in his wake, and made a beeline for Erla. Erla graced him with a smile that showed off her straight teeth.

Erla had a reputation for being fearless and a little wild. Lily had heard that Erla went cliff diving in Mexico last year, and Erla had two little yippy dogs and a tabby cat as pets—a real animal lover, the sort of girl Aden would be attracted to. Lily narrowed her eyes as she watched Aden and Erla together. Just Aden’s type.

Lily couldn’t hear what Aden said to Erla, but he pointed toward Lily while Erla nodded vigorously. They seemed perfectly happy to shoot the breeze while everyone else slaved in the hot sun. Aden said something, and Erla’s laugh tinkled delicately over the trees.

Lily felt her face get hot. She refused to let Erla pick up one piece of her trash, even if it meant Lily must dive clear to the bottom of the pond for a gum wrapper.

With purposeful steps, she marched to the other side of the pond as far from Erla as she could get and found a nicely littered spot. There was enough trash to pick up here that she wouldn’t need to venture near the water. Erla could get her toes all wet and wrinkly if she wanted. Lily was fond of her dry feet.

Across the way, Estee waved to Lily and then must have decided that waving was an insufficient greeting. She grabbed Floyd’s hand and dragged him to Lily’s side of the pond. They both wore sky-blue scarves tied loosely around their necks. “Floyd found a watch,” Estee announced.

Floyd pulled it out of his pocket. “It still works.”

“It’s like a treasure hunt. Floyd’s going to write his cousin Arty about this pond-cleanup frolic. The folks in Ohio need to know what a gute boy Aden is.”

Floyd put the watch to his ear. “Oh. I think it stopped. What do you think, Estee? I can’t hear it ticking.”

“I didn’t see your buggy, Floyd,” Lily said.

Estee shook her head. “Floyd picked me up on his bike. Aden says bikes are eco-friendly. It’s a new word he taught us.”

“It means it doesn’t pollute the air to ride a bike,” Lily said.

“That’s right,” Estee said. “Aden’s so smart.” She looked toward the road. “Is Dat coming?”

“Nae. He called it one of Aden Helmuth’s crazy schemes, but he gave me permission to come.”

Estee laid a hand on Lily’s arm. “You should have seen him.”

“Who?”

“Aden.” Estee’s eyes got wide. “He wouldn’t let anyone else go in. He must have gone down there twenty times to get those ropes around that car so they could pull it out.”

Lily caught her breath.

“Two times he was down there so long, I was sure he got stuck. I told Floyd to go in after him.”

Floyd shook the watch and tapped on its face. “But he came up before I had a chance to jump in, praise the Lord.” He furrowed his brow. “I mean, not ‘praise the Lord’ because I didn’t have to jump in, but ‘praise the Lord’ because he came back up.”

Lily reminded herself to breathe. He’d made it out safely, and she hadn’t had to watch it. No harm done—except for her near heart attack at hearing Estee talk about it.

“He asked about you,” Estee said.

“Who?”

Estee rolled her eyes, willing Lily to keep up with her galloping thoughts. “Aden. First thing, he wanted to know if you were coming. Then he asked what time. He wanted to get that car out before you got here, though I don’t know why.”

“Come over by us,” Floyd said. “We found a fire pit with about a hundred beer cans. Aden says we can get money for them.”

Lily looked across the pond to where Estee and Floyd had been working. Erla Glick lingered there, playing with the braid that cascaded from beneath her scarf in between picking up cans. “Nae. I have plenty to do on this side.”

Estee took Floyd’s arm and dragged him away. He didn’t take his eyes from that watch.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Tyler and Aden and four others carried the pieces of that contraption to a part of the pond that would get plenty of sunlight but be mostly hidden from view. Aden might have stunning green eyes, but he was still an odd young man. Who ever heard of giving a pond air like a patient in the hospital?

Lily was glad that Tyler was predictable and steady and had a good future ahead of him. Dat thought very highly of Tyler, and Dat’s opinion was good enough for Lily. Dat’s wisdom, gained from years of experience, was certainly more reliable than the whims of a naïve girl who could easily be swayed by a pair of green eyes.

Her search for trash took her closer to the water, and she spied a Styrofoam cup floating not three feet from shore. She glanced about her. Erla had somehow managed to make her way around the pond and gathered trash in the shallow water no less than twenty feet from where Lily stood. That was quick.

She gritted her teeth. Lily wasn’t about to ask Erla for help. She found a long stick and leaned out over the water to snag the cup. Some people didn’t need to get wet to get the job done.

Lily heard him charging through the grass mere moments before he attacked. Before she could pull back and get out of his way, Pilot smashed into her and sent her flying into the pond.

Gasping as the cool water washed over her, Lily lost her bearings and thrashed about in panic before her foot found the muddy bottom. As she righted herself, her heart resumed something akin to a normal pace. Although Pilot had given her a good dunking, she stood in less than three feet of water. It didn’t even come up to her waist. She swiped the water from her eyes. Pilot swam around her as if playing a game of tag and she was now “it.”

Lily growled. “You stupid dog.”

She heard a splash and turned to see Aden sloshing his way to her. His look of concern cut deep lines around his eyes and mouth. She had never seen him like that before.

Without a word, he promptly scooped her into his arms. She gasped and clasped her hands around his neck so she wouldn’t topple into the water again. Surprise rendered Lily mute. What did Aden think he was doing?

With ease, he carried her to shore and gently set her on a flat-topped boulder. She shivered. Whether from the cold or from shock, she could not tell. Aden took the cheery yellow scarf from around his neck and wrapped it awkwardly around her shoulders while she peeled off her soaked gloves. Then he knelt next to her and took her hand. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so cold anymore.

But she still felt shivery. All over.

Pilot had the nerve to follow them to shore. He shook the water out of his fur, spraying both Aden and Lily with water droplets. She didn’t protest. She couldn’t get much wetter. Then Pilot sat on his haunches and innocently studied Lily as if he had no part in her current predicament.

“It’s okay,” Aden said, his voice filled with compassion, giving her words of comfort she didn’t need. “I’m sorry about Pilot. Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I feel terrible.”

Lily couldn’t believe it. He was truly distressed, when she felt nothing worse than annoyance at that dog.

Aden studied her face and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “Are you hurt? I promise I will never ask you to come here again.”

How fragile did he think she was?

Judging by his reaction, china-doll fragile. He reached up and nudged a lock of wet hair from her cheek with his fingers. Her skin tingled where he touched her, and those brilliant green eyes pierced her skull.

He hadn’t let go of her hand. For some strange reason, she didn’t really want him to. Could they sit like this indefinitely?

Shivery. She felt very shivery.

Even in her flustered state, her brain registered that she should have been indignant—indignant that he believed her to be a delicate female who couldn’t hold her own against a mouthful of pond scum. But her irritation melted at the thought that Aden was truly anxious about her feelings. She hadn’t displayed a lot of fortitude before, so why should he think she possessed any courage today?

Aden’s lips drooped as he studied her face. “Please say something.”

Lily took a deep breath to clear her head and raised her voice as if she were making an announcement. “That dog is officially out of my good graces.”

The look of surprise on Aden’s face was priceless. He must have liked what he saw in her expression. He threw back his head and laughed. Lily smiled to herself.

“You’re not mad?” he said.

“Mad?” She pulled her hand out of his, if only to gain clarity of thought. “I’m furious.” She glowered at Pilot. “Come here.”

Pilot crept furtively to her. She put her hands on either side of his head and fluffed his soggy ears while looking him sternly in the eye. “Do you think you are a football player, is that what you think?” She tickled the fur at his jaw, and he wagged his tail hard enough to fan a breeze. “It’s a gute thing you saved Amanda, or you would be off to obedience school this very afternoon. As it is, you will get no leftover bread pudding tonight.”

Pilot cocked his head to one side.

“Nae, do not try that trick on me. No bread pudding, and that is final.”

He stuck out his tongue and licked her arm. She pulled back and lifted an eyebrow at Aden. He stared at her, as usual.

“You’re being unusually lenient,” he said.

“It is a blessing the water wasn’t deeper.”

Pilot barked his agreement and trotted away, probably in search of someone else to send into the water.

“I thought you’d be frightened out of your wits.”

“I’m not afraid of the water, Aden. I’d just rather not see people drown in it.”

“I’m glad to know you’re concerned for my well-being.”

She rubbed her arms to wipe away the chill. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

“I worry about you all the time.”

Lily had no idea what that meant, but the way he looked at her made her feel shy and uncomfortable. She searched for a change of subject when she sensed a wet clump of hair sagging at her neck. As she put her hand to her head to assess the damage, her wet hair tumbled from its bun and cascaded over her shoulders. “My kapp,” she said. “What happened to my kapp?”

Aden’s eyes strayed to her hair, and he reached out his hand to . . . touch it? Instead, he pursed his lips and pulled away.

Breathing heavily, Erla approached Lily’s rock dragging her garbage bag behind her. “Are you okay, Lily?”

Aden stood up.

Erla glued her eyes to his face. “I would have gone into the water for her,” she said, opting to talk about Lily instead of to her. “I saw her reaching for something and then she fell in.”

Lily managed to smile, even though Erla wasn’t as concerned about Lily’s mishap as she was about making googly eyes at Aden.

“Denki, Erla. I am gute,” Lily said, as she plucked a piece of dark green slime from her hair. Nothing that a long bath and a quart of hand sanitizer couldn’t fix.

Erla twirled her braid in her fingers and playfully tilted her head to one side. “I found some sort of metal pipe half-buried over there. Can you help me get it out?”

Aden glanced doubtfully at Lily. “Will you be okay?”

He was leaving her? That thought summoned more disappointment than she would have imagined. Now she was being ridiculous. She didn’t expect him to carry her around the pond, did she? Although that would have been very nice.

She shook her head a few times to clear her brain.

“No?” he said.

Lily bobbed her head up and down. “I am fine.” She most definitely needed a drink. “I will get some coffee from your mammi.”

Aden walked away with Swivel-Hips Erla and left Lily sitting by herself on the rock. She felt like a forlorn, waterlogged kitten.

She watched as Aden and Erla got on their hands and knees and started digging in the dirt like a pair of children in the sandbox. They laughed together as if they were old friends and as if Lily had not nearly died in a tragic pond accident.

The banks of the pond hummed with activity. Some boys pulled long strands of wire and wood from the water. An old fence? That must have been what the horse caught himself on the other day. Two women planted something on the banks near the algae. Tyler still worked on his machine while Anna sat under a tree, knitting. No doubt she was trying to keep up with the demand for pond-cleaning scarves.

Pilot emerged from the water near Lily with something in his mouth. Maybe it was the elusive Styrofoam cup. He jogged to her and dropped his catch at her feet. Lily bent over and picked up the muddy lump of fabric.

Pilot smiled at her.

Her kapp.

She wrung it dry and shook it out. Slimy leaves and twigs clung to it like cockleburs. She couldn’t very well put it on. She’d have to soak it in bleach for hours at home. Lily turned it over in her hand. Might as well make a new one.

She put her arms around Pilot’s neck. He tried to lick her ear. “Denki, you stupid dog.”

Lily combed through the strands of her hair with her fingers. She had lost her pins and elastic bands in the water and wouldn’t be able to fashion her bun back into place, let alone modestly cover her head. Should she let it be? No one would think worse of her knowing she’d lost her kapp in the water.

That didn’t matter to Lily. She hadn’t stepped one toe out of line during
rumschpringe
. She had never worn Englisch clothes, never gone a day without her kapp pinned securely into place. Her dat would have been severely disappointed if she had.