Huckleberry Summer (3 page)

“We can learn together,” Anna said. “I just bought a new cookbook called
The Happy Herbivore
. Doesn’t it sound fun?”

Aden shifted in his chair. “Mammi, I hate to be a nuisance. I’ll get by. Really.”

Anna pursed her lips and shook her head. “I won’t allow anyone to go hungry in this house. Right, Felty?”

“I’ve never gone hungry for one day since I married you, Annie.”

“What could go wrong when we’ve got
The Happy Herbivore
as our guide?”

Felty shook his head and smiled affectionately at his wife. “Nothing. It’s a wonderful plan, Annie.”

“I will have to ask my dat’s permission,” Lily said, “but I think I should be able to start next week.”

“Okay, then. Tell your dat he won’t regret it,” Anna said.

“I will tell him.”

They stood in unison. Anna came around to Lily’s side of the table. She hooked one arm around Lily’s waist and the other around Aden’s and pulled both of them close to her.

Lily’s heart thumped in her chest. She stood within two feet of Anna’s good-looking grandson. He was tall and muscular, and up this close, he smelled really good. Could this moment be any more awkward?

Neither Aden nor Anna seemed uncomfortable at all. Aden swung his arm around his mammi’s shoulders.

“Aden, this is Lily Eicher, one of our closest neighbors. Lily, this is Aden Helmuth, one of our favorite grandsons.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lily said breathlessly. Fresh-cut grass. He smelled like fresh-cut grass and cedar.

Aden flashed a smile that brightened the whole kitchen. “Nice to know you have a name.”

They stood like that for a few uneasy moments until Lily pulled away. “I will see you on Monday, then.”

“Okay,” Anna said. “You can help Aden grow vegetables. We are going to need a lot of vegetables. And he tells me he’s got some grand plans for our farm.”

Aden nodded.

A vegetarian? She hoped they didn’t chop down all the trees to plant something awful like parsnips. Lily hated parsnips.

“Wait,” Anna said as she opened a tall closet. She handed Lily three knitted pot holders, one green, one sunny yellow, and one with brown and blue stripes. “Give these to your mother and tell her I send my love.”

“Denki,”
Lily said. Anna handed out pot holders like most mammis handed out cookies. “These are so nice.”

Lily opened the front door. Pilot and Sparky waited patiently for someone to release them from exile. She hesitated, not relishing the thought of a repeat of her earlier ordeal.

“I’ll walk you to the buggy,” Aden said.

Lily quickly weighed her options. She’d rather not spend more uncomfortable moments with Anna’s handsome-but-strange grandson. What other weird habits did he have? “No need,” she said. “Will you just make sure the dog doesn’t follow me?”

“Jah. I’m sorry about your cookies. Pilot wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

 

 

Aden watched from the porch as Lily drove her buggy down the hill. “Go play, you two rascals,” he said. Pilot and Sparky came to life, bounded off the porch, and chased each other around the yard. “And don’t bother the chickens,” he added. Pilot still didn’t comprehend why the chickens should not be eaten. Aden had to keep a sharp eye on them.

He walked into the house where Mammi and Dawdi waited for a report. They’d told him yesterday what they were up to. They wanted to match him up with a girl in the district and see him “happily settled”—meaning they thought it was time he stopped getting arrested. Well, maybe a change of location would help. Mammi’s letter had been the chance for a new start, or a way to hit the reset button, as Jamal would say. Since Mammi’s invitation had come three days after the accident at the lake, Aden had taken it as a sign that this was the door Heavenly Father wanted him to walk through.

Aden still had no idea what that message meant, but Huckleberry Hill seemed a good place to start. Besides, at home, his mamm harangued him every time he walked through the door. A stay at Mammi and Dawdi’s would at least give his ears a much-needed rest, although he’d probably get eyestrain from reading all Mamm’s letters of chastisement. Mamm wrote notoriously long letters.

Aden didn’t regret one thing he’d done, but the good Lord had saved his life, and maybe it was time to include God in his plans. Or rather, time to let God include Aden in
His
plans.

Aden didn’t mind if Mammi and Dawdi wanted to find him a wife, but he didn’t hold much hope for it working out. If it hadn’t already, his reputation would catch up with him, even from as far away as Ohio. And no good Amish
fater
would approve of Aden Helmuth marrying his daughter.

Unless he assumed a new identity and moved to Mexico, his grandparents’ scheme wasn’t going to work. He went along with it because it made Mammi and Dawdi happy to meddle in his life. Old people, especially old ladies, were like that. They saw a single young man and couldn’t resist pairing him with every eligible girl they knew.

Mammi laced her fingers together and lifted her hands as if she were praying. “So, what did you think? She’s a very nice girl.”

“She’s very nice, Mammi.”

“And pretty,” Dawdi added, although Aden sensed that Dawdi only went along with the plan because it meant so much to Mammi.

“She’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Aden didn’t say that to humor his grandparents. He had a preference for hazel eyes.

Mammi clapped her hands. “I knew this would work out.”

“Gute,” said Dawdi, as if that settled everything. “Have a cookie. They’re tasty.”

“I don’t think this girl will work out,” Aden said.

Mammi’s lips twitched downward. “Lily Eicher is the girl I chose specifically for you. She’s cautious and obedient. Your perfect opposite.”

Aden couldn’t help but grin. “Meaning I’m reckless and rebellious.”

“Of course. Lily is your match. There isn’t anyone else.”

Aden massaged the back of his neck as he felt a headache coming on. “I hate to be picky, Mammi, but could you find me a wife who doesn’t think I’m strange?”

“You
are
strange, dear. That isn’t a bad thing.”

“Being a vegetarian is not strange. In some places, it’s trendy. All the cool people are vegetarians.”

Mammi frowned. “I don’t think Lily knows that. Do you think we should tell her?”

“Maybe you could match me with a different girl.”

“I’ll do no such thing, young man. I’m not giving up that easily.”

Aden shut his mouth and nodded politely. He shouldn’t have dared hope.

“Ouch!” Lily’s older sister, Estee, pulled her hand back from the cutting board.

“Oh, Estee,” Mama said, abandoning her pot of stew on the gas stove to examine Estee’s injury. “I forgot to tell you I sharpened the knives this morning.”

A few drops of blood trickled down Estee’s finger. “It’s not bad, but it is a bit annoying.”

Lily took a look at Estee’s finger and retrieved the bandages from the cupboard. “Here, Estee. I will fix you up right quick.”

“And I will cut the bread,” Mama said.

Estee held her finger as if she were pointing at someone as she sat at the table. “Index finger. It’s going to be a nuisance for days.”

Lily dampened a paper towel and smeared some soap onto it. She carefully washed Estee’s finger, dried it so the bandage would stick, and squeezed ointment onto the cut. “Tell me if it’s too tight,” she said as she wrapped the bandage snugly around Estee’s finger.

“That’s gute. Denki, Lily.”

Lily threw the paper towel and bandage wrapping away. “Is Floyd taking you to the gathering tonight?”

“Jah, but you can ride with us. Floyd doesn’t mind.”

“I don’t want to be the third wheel,” Lily said. “I can walk.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re not going to walk when there is a perfectly good ride coming by at seven. Besides, Dat wouldn’t want you to walk.”

Mama put the basket of sliced bread on the table. “It’s better if you go with them, Lily. Two lovebirds had best not be left alone.”

Estee flexed her finger and smiled. “Maybe you won’t have to ride home with us, though. Tyler Yoder likes to drive you.”

Mama raised an eyebrow. “He is a very nice boy, Lily.”

“Oh, jah,” Estee chimed in. “A veeery nice boy.”

“I have noticed,” Lily assured them, “even though he hardly ever smiles.”

Mama clucked her tongue. “He is of a solemn disposition, to be sure, but that means he is steady and reliable. He would make a fine husband.”

Lily giggled. “One wedding in the family is enough this year, don’t you think?”

Estee flushed with excitement. “Floyd hasn’t asked yet, so don’t be saying such things in front of him.”

“As if it will surprise any of us.”

Estee twirled gracefully around the kitchen with the butter as her partner. “Oh, he is the wonderfullest man alive. I want to make a robin’s-egg blue dress for my wedding. That’s Floyd’s favorite color. And Floyd thinks we should marry in November. That way we can be back from our honeymoon trip before Christmas.”

Lily shot a teasing look at her sister. “Floyd wants to marry in November? And you still say I shouldn’t mention a wedding in front of him?”

Estee set plates and cups on the table. “I want him to think he’s surprised all of you. It would make him so happy.”

Dat walked in the back door at precisely five o’clock, as he had every day for as long as Lily could remember. He went to the sink and washed up to his elbows. After drying his hands, he gave Mama a peck on the cheek and then wrapped one arm around Estee and the other around Lily. “How are my gute girls today? What gute daughters you are.”

Without further ado, the four of them sat at the table and bowed their heads for silent grace. Lily always seemed to finish before Dat did, so she squinted to see when he lifted his head. Were her prayers getting shorter or were Dat’s getting longer? That would never do. Tomorrow, she would think of at least four more things to be grateful for. That should make her prayers suitably long.

Once they finished grace, Mama served the soup. With a smile of affection, she gave Dat the biggest helping. Mama took gute care of Dat. Lily wanted that for her own marriage. She wanted to take gute care of a man so that he would adore her the way Dat adored Mama. Lily loved the way her dat looked at Mama, like she was the only good woman in the whole world.

“Dat,” Lily said, “Anna Helmuth wants me to work for her this summer. Three days a week. What do you think?”

Dat spread a thick pat of butter over his bread and looked doubtfully at Lily. “That is a generous offer, but I know how you like to be at home.”

“Jah, but I want to earn some money. I’ve never had a job before.”

“She’s so timid, Dat,” Estee said. “It would do her good to have a job.”

A worry line made a furrow between Dat’s eyebrows. “And she’d be working for one of the Plain people. It’s too easy to get pulled to the world working out for an
Englischer
.”

“I work out,” Estee protested.

Dat reached over and pinched Estee’s cheek. “It’s only Mrs. Deforest, and I keep a close eye on you.”

“Oh, Dat, you do not.”

Dat studied Lily’s face. “Estee is right. It would be good for you. Can you spare her here at home, Mary? Estee is already gone so much working full-time.”

“Jah, it is only three days a week. We can do the canning and cleaning the other days.”

“Can you be home every night for suppertime?” Dat asked.

“I think so,” said Lily. “Anna wants me to help cook fancy meals, but she didn’t say anything about eating supper with them.”

“You have my permission,” Dat said. “You will do a gute job for them. This is delicious, Mary.”

Estee blew on her stew. “Why does Anna want fancy meals? I wouldn’t know where to begin to cook a fancy meal.”

Lily didn’t know why her face suddenly got warm. “They have to fix special food for their grandson Aden. He is staying with them over the summer, and he only eats vegetables.”

“Does he have a disease?” Mama asked.

“Nae. I think he doesn’t like meat.”

Mama buttered a slice of bread. “Is he a special child, like Treva Schrock? You have such a way with special children, Lily. Maybe that is why the Helmuths want your help.”

“No, he isn’t special.”

“Then he must be an odd young man not to like meat,” Mama said.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Estee volunteered. “He’s been in jail before.”

The other three stopped eating and stared at Estee. “How do you know that?” Dat asked.

“Floyd has a cousin.”

“We all have a cousin.”

Estee laid her fork on the table and leaned closer to her family to prepare them for the shocking details. “Floyd’s cousin, Arty, lives in Sugarcreek, Ohio. He’s in the same district as the new boy.”

“Aden Helmuth,” Lily said.

Estee nodded. “He’s been in jail dozens of times, Floyd’s cousin says. He came to live with his grandparents because his folks are beside themselves.”

Lily caught her breath. Aden, with those irresistible green eyes, had been in jail? “I would die if I got arrested.”

“You aren’t even brave enough to cross the street without being in the crosswalk,” Estee said.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Lily said. “I don’t like getting in trouble.”

“I thank the Lord that you are an obedient child,” Dat said.

Of course she was. Lily would never, ever want to disappoint her father.

“And I’m not obedient?” Estee said in mock indignation. Lily giggled. Estee didn’t mind that Lily was the compliant child. According to Estee, Lily was afraid to have any fun.

Lily wasn’t afraid, exactly. Just cautious. If Estee participated in too many footraces with the boys, she was sure to twist an ankle.

Estee had more news. “They say the new boy chained himself to a tree once.”

Dat reacted as if he’d bitten into a sour pickle. “Chained himself to a tree? Why would anyone chain himself to a tree? Are you sure he’s not special?”

Lily didn’t know why, but she felt the need to defend Aden even though she barely knew him. “He seems a very nice young man.” Her heart did a little skip when she remembered his good looks. “He has a scar on his eyebrow and a dog as big as a bear and he wants to save the planet for . . . something. That’s all I know.”

Dat chewed slowly and thought for a minute. “He must not be right in the head.”

Mama clasped her hands together and looked exceedingly worried. “Maybe you shouldn’t work for them, Lily. Being so near the grandson all day is sure to make you nervous.”

Estee shook her head. “It will be a great adventure. This boy is one of God’s children. We shouldn’t shun him simply because he’s different.”

Lily frowned. “I see the way people avoid Treva, and it breaks my heart. Because she’s not as smart as everyone else, people don’t see her beautiful spirit. They won’t look past her handicaps.”

“You always had a soft spot for the downtrodden,” Mama said.

Dat buttered another slice of bread. “But you say Aden is not handicapped.”

Lily looked to her father, the last word on everything. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, Dat.”

Dat leaned back in his chair. “If he has come to Bonduel to mend his ways, we shouldn’t let his past hold us back from doing our Christian duty.”

“So I should take the job?”

Dat took another bite of stew and nodded thoughtfully. “You may work at Helmuths’, but stay away from the young man. He isn’t right in the head, and I don’t want you bringing strange notions into our home. Who knows where they could lead?”