A Reluctant Bride (36 page)

As he walked into the barn, he heard rustling sounds. He went to the first stall and saw Sol pouring feed into Apple's trough. “You don't have to do that.”

“They're hungry. I'll get to Rusty and Jasper in a minute.”

Aden wasn't going to argue with him. “Where did you sleep last night?”

“There.” Sol pointed at a short stack of hay bales in the corner of the barn. “I rearranged them a bit. I'll put them back.”

Aden clasped the back of his neck, still coming to terms with the changes in his brother. He was reminded how God could make the impossible possible. Now he was witnessing it firsthand.

“How's Sadie?” Sol asked, his voice tentative. “I didn't mean to upset her last night.”

“She's okay.”

“I thought it would be better if I stayed out here.” He pushed open the stall door and stepped out. “She's really scared of me, isn't she?”

“Do you blame her?”

“
Nee
.” He went to Rusty's stall and gave the horse his feed.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment. “Have you eaten?” Aden asked.

Sol shook his head.

“I'll be back in a minute.”

He went into the kitchen and found Sadie cleaning up. He stopped near the back door. Maybe he should wait until she was working at the store to get food for Sol. But he was done with secrets. The truth always seemed to come out anyway. “Sadie.”

She turned and looked at him. The circles under her eyes were still there, but her posture was less tense. She didn't seem happy or content, but she didn't seem angry either.
That's something, at least
. “Sol spent the night in the barn,” he told her, trying to break the news to her gently.

She paled, but only slightly. “So he's still here.”

Aden nodded. “I wondered if he could come in and have breakfast.”

Sadie's lips pinched together.

“He's changed, Sadie.”

“Maybe he just wants you to think he's changed.”

“That could be true. But I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Turning from him, she said, “After all he's done to you? To me?” She paused. “To
us
?”

Aden scrubbed his hand over his face. She would be within her rights to say no. He was asking a lot, and she had already given up so much. He was about to tell her never mind when her words stopped him.

“All right.” She faced him. “I trust you know what you're doing.”

He couldn't help but smile. She had given him a gift, whether or not she knew it. “If there's a problem, I'll make sure he leaves. I promise.”

“You always keep
yer
promises, don't you?”

Aden saw something in her eyes that made his heart do back flips.
Respect. She respects me.
Grasping to keep his composure, he said, “I always try.”

Sadie pushed around the scrambled eggs on her plate. To her right sat Aden, to the left sat Sol, who had eaten his meal in silence. Although she didn't want to, she couldn't help but watch him, her nerves on edge as she waited for him to do something, anything that would give her and Aden an excuse to ask him to leave. Aden seemed to believe Sol had changed, but Sadie didn't. No one turned his life around in a few days . . . especially not Sol. He didn't have it in him.

But all he did was eat his meal, keeping his gaze on his plate and almost inhaling the food. He didn't try making small talk with Aden or throw a sarcastic backhanded compliment at Sadie. When he was finished he barely glanced at her. “
Danki
,” he said, his voice nearly inaudible.

She blinked but didn't respond. He was probably lulling them into a false sense of trust. She couldn't blame Aden for
falling for it. Sol was his brother. Family ties ran deep, even when they were torn and frayed. It also wasn't lost on her that they were disobeying the bishop and the
Ordnung
by eating with Sol. Even allowing him in the house was forbidden. Aden hadn't mentioned his father at all, and Sadie wasn't about to. How much trouble would they be in if they were caught? Was Sol worth it?

Aden seemed to think so.

“I have to get to the store,” she said, rising from her chair, eager to get out of the room and away from Sol. She started to pick up the dishes when Aden stopped her.

“I'll take care of these. You don't want to be late.”

“I can help,” Sol added, gathering up his plate and utensils.

Sadie froze. Had the world turned upside down? Doing the dishes was a woman's job, and their father had stressed the delineation between male and female work more than once in his sermons. Of course, Aden had broken that ideal already, mostly because she'd been too focused on the store—and on herself. But she hadn't expected Sol's offer of help at all. “Okay,” she mumbled, not knowing what else to say, and left the kitchen and headed to the store.

The steel gray sky threatened rain, and a swift wind swirled a few dead leaves around her ankles. She pulled her navy blue sweater around her mauve dress, warding off the sudden chill. Next week she would turn the calendar page to October, and fall seemed to have finally arrived. The faint scent of smoking wood hovered in the air, carried by the fall wind from a nearby chimney. Last night had probably been cold, but she'd been warm and snug in the cocoon of Aden's arms.

She paused, putting her hand over her heart to steady its thrumming beat. Even Sol's presence couldn't completely douse the embers of yearning for Aden that had been stoked last night.
Suddenly she resented Sol's presence for another reason. How long would Aden allow his brother to stay? Would she and Aden ever have time alone? Because, despite herself, that's what she wanted.

A bark sounded behind her, and she turned to see Homer barreling toward her. She knelt down as he pounced on her, his tongue licking her face in one long stroke. He smelled much better. Earthy, as if he'd been rolling in mounds of dirt for a week. “Where have you been,
bu
?” she said, scratching him behind the ears.

Another lick was her answer, then he took off and disappeared in the woods. “What a strange dog,” she muttered as she opened the door to the store. But he'd been a welcome diversion and had given her the short time she needed to gain her composure and face the day.

Facing tonight would be a different story.

“I wonder what
Daed
would say if he saw us.” Aden handed a wet dish to Sol, who grabbed it and haphazardly ran a towel over it.

“We both know what he would say,” Sol said in a bitter voice.

They were nearly done with the dishes, and Aden was glad. This wasn't his favorite chore. Not even in the top ten. But since he married Sadie he had cooked, washed dishes, and done his own laundry, tasks his mother had always taken care of. While he didn't mind doing them, he would rather be working outside.

“Do you think Sadie will ever forgive me?”

Aden glanced at Sol. “I don't know. I'm still not sure she's forgiven me yet.”

“What do you mean?”

Aden yanked his hands out of the soapy water. He turned to Sol. “For leaving her with you.”

Sol leaned against the counter. “She shouldn't have held that against you.”

“Well, she did.” He pulled the plug out of the drain. “I should have stayed and stuck up for her.”

“I would have pounded you into the ground.”

Aden looked at him. “It would have been worth it.”

Sol still looked concerned. “What if she tells
Daed
I'm here? I don't want to get you in trouble.”

Oh, how the tables had turned.
Sol had never worried about Aden getting into trouble. In fact, sometimes Sol had told on Aden for the purpose of getting him in trouble. He pressed down the sudden resentment, reminding himself that he had forgiven his brother. Someday he might be able to forget.
I hope.

“She won't say anything to
Daed
,” he said. “She's busy with the store, so she doesn't have time to see him.” He didn't want to add that he knew Sadie no longer thought much of their father.

“
Gut
.” Sol yawned. “Sorry. I didn't sleep well last night.”

“You can take a nap in Abigail's room.” He wasn't about to admit to his brother that he and Sadie slept in separate rooms. He'd figure out what to do about that tonight. But right now Sol looked like he was going to drop from weariness.

Sol went upstairs, and Aden sat down at the table. He drummed his fingers against it, deep in thought, his mother coming to mind. She would want to know Sol was okay, but he also remembered her warning about not crossing his father.
Too late.
He'd already broken more than a few rules. He wasn't only tired of secrets . . . he was also tired of regrets. Too many
times in his life he had thought about what he should have done instead of doing the right thing. His father had also threatened consequences for Sadie if he didn't have that natural gas rights paperwork by now, and he needed to tell him how hard he had tried to find it. He had to protect Sadie from whatever his father had in mind.

Aden rose, put on his boots, grabbed his hat, and went to the store. He wasn't going to skip telling Sadie he was leaving this time. She had worried about him last night. His lips lifted into a smile.

“Sadie's in the office,” Patience said from behind the counter as Aden walked in.

Aden nodded his thanks and strode to the back of the store, feeling more confident about his decision to see his mother. He knocked on the door and opened it, unsure about Sadie's mood. He wished they'd had more time to talk about Sol, but she didn't need to get upset while she was at work. “Sadie?” he said, peeking into the office.

She looked up. To his surprise, she smiled and motioned him in as she jumped up from the chair.

Instinctively his arms lifted, half expecting—and half hoping—she would run into them like she had last night, before Sol had showed up. When she stopped a few feet in front of him, he winced and dropped his arms. Clearly he expected too much.

“I found something,” she said, holding a thick envelope. She opened it so he could look inside at the stack of bills.

Now he understood her excitement.

“They're all ones,” she said, still smiling. “I found it way in the back of the middle drawer of the desk. It was stuck and I had to yank on it a few times. It's not marked, of course, so I have
nee
idea what it's for. But it's fifty dollars I didn't have before.”

His pulse settled. “That's great, Sadie,” he said, meaning it, but unable to hide a slight note of disappointment in his tone.

She nodded and sat back down. “I think I'm going to tear this desk apart. Who knows what's hidden in here.” She looked up at him, her eyes widening. “Maybe I'll find the natural gas rights paperwork. Do you mind helping me?”

Her request surprised and pleased him. Maybe their relationship was changing after all. “When I get back,” he said.

Her expression turned serious. “Where are you going?”

“To see
Mamm
. I have to tell her Sol is okay.”

“What about the bishop?”

He shrugged. “I'm concerned about
mei mamm
. I'll deal with
mei vatter
if I see him.”

Apprehension tugged at her mouth. “And Sol?”

“Sleeping in Abigail's room. I reckon he'll be asleep for the rest of the day. He won't bother you.” He waited for her to protest. To insist that Sol leave. To tell him at the very least that Sol had to stay in the barn.

“I saw Homer this morning.”

He took her changing the subject as tacit approval. “He came back?”

“For a minute. Then he went back into the woods.”

“Strange dog.”

She gave him a half smile. “That's what I said.”

Chuckling, he put his hand on the office doorknob. “I'll be back soon.”