Covered Bridge Charm (22 page)

It was a pleasant afternoon for Adam even though Carly turned introspective after her conversation with Michelle Zook. The pleasant aroma inside her cottage was gladly received since he hadn’t been sure she could cook. It had even crossed his mind that Ann might have to teach her. He knew Carly could do anything she tried.

Her aunt Fannie stooped to pet Cocoa. “I suppose I’d better go feed this spoiled rabbit.”

Jimmy followed Carly into the kitchen. “I’ll set the table.”

Adam grinned, following his friend. “I’ll watch. I’ve no idea how to set a table.”

Sneering, Jimmy asked, “You eat on paper plates?”

“Whenever I can,” Adam admitted, his gaze stealing to where Carly worked over the stove. She bent to put rolls in the oven, and he looked away. After that, the conversation turned to Jimmy’s trip to the badlands. He had them enraptured until it was time to do the dishes and Aunt Fannie shooed them out of the kitchen.

“Wanna help me restock Carly’s stick pile?” Jimmy asked.

Adam grabbed his coat and followed.

“This isn’t working. I saw the way she looks at you. How you look at each other,” Jimmy clarified. “Did you tell her about Nappanee?”

And he’d thought he’d reined himself in all day.

“So far there’s nothing to tell.”

“So that’s a no.” Jimmy threw some sticks on the pile. “I shouldn’t have stayed away so long.”

“It’s not what you’re thinking. I’ve been busy at the farm. I’m not even going to Sweet Life anymore.”

“Either you get serious about Carly or you need to stay away.”

“
She
invited
me
today.”

“You could have said no.”

“You’re the one who told her she could come to me when she needed help.”

“Because I trusted you.”

“You still can. Besides, it’s not like you’ve never hurt a girl before.”

Jimmy’s eyes darkened, and he softened his tone. “You’re right. By the way, your sister Faith smiled at me in church today.”

Adam bristled, wondering who this stranger was in his best friend’s skin.

“Hello! Hello!” Magnificent called as Carly passed by the bird at Sweet Life’s assisted-living lobby.

A cheerful face greeted her. “Hi, I’m Becca.”

Carly introduced herself, happy to meet Sherie’s new volunteer and loving the middle-aged woman’s enthusiasm. “We’re happy to have you here.”

“Thanks. Sherie told me whenever I can’t find her, you’re next in line to answer any questions.”

Carly’s brow arched in surprise at the plumpish Englísh woman with a flushed face and short curly hair. “Of course. I’m happy to help you get settled in.”

“Just answering phones today and making some calls for Sherie.” She picked up a file and fanned herself. “Don’t mind me, just having a hot flash.” Beads of sweat had popped up on the volunteer’s forehead.

“Why don’t you bring in a fan?”

“Oh, could I? That’d be great.”

The assisted-living alarm went off, and Carly cut off the conversation, hurrying to Nines, who was pushing the double glass doors.

“Why won’t it open?”

Carly gently removed the woman’s hands, hoping the incident wasn’t going to frighten any of the residents. “What do you need?”

“I need to find my son. I need groceries.”

“I heard he visited you yesterday.” Since he lived out of state, the visit must have stirred up some confusion. “Did he bring the children?”

Uncertainty colored the woman’s expression. “They were here yesterday?”

Carly nodded. “Jah.”

“Then why didn’t he take me grocery shopping?”

Nines was definitely having an off-kilter day to appear in the lobby in pajamas. “I have an idea. Let’s go to your room and write down any items you need on your white board.”

“What?”

“Come. I’ll show you. Let’s use your favorite purple pen.”

“I do like purple. Reminds me of wine,” she snickered.

About half of the residents weren’t Mennonite. Nines was one of them. Carly steered the conversation away from wine, lest she have to listen to her drunken stories again. Giving up wine to enter the facility had been hard for the woman. “You haven’t gotten dressed yet. Let’s look in your closet for a purple top. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Okay!” Nines picked up her speed, heading down the hall to her room.

But as they turned the corner, Sherie motioned to Carly. “We need to talk.”

Nodding, Carly helped dress and settle Nines, then hurried to the staff room.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Please sit down.”

Carly eased onto the chair by the fridge and waited until Sherie spun her chair around. “How did it go with the fliers?”

“Some friends and I canvassed the area along Halsey—Sweet Home and Old Holley Roads, where most of our people live.”

“It’s still early. I’m sure we’ll get some calls.”

“I think you will. We made some face-to-face contacts. In fact a twelve-year-old girl got me to thinking. She asked if she could read to the residents.”

Sherie’s eyes widened. “That’s good. She’d need a chaperone, of course.”

“That’s what I thought. She’d need one to drive her here anyway. What if we organized an entire children’s group? They could sing or mingle with the residents.”

“What a great idea. Do you want to be in charge of organizing it?”

Feeling a stir of excitement, Carly replied, “I’d love to.”

“Great. I’ll keep you posted about any calls we get from the fliers.”

“Thanks.”

“That’s all.”

Carly stepped out of the room just in time to see Klepto sneaking by and examining something in her pocket. So much for the distraction of the new puzzles. She made a mental note to talk to Kelly’s family about providing clothing without pockets. “Kelly, what do you have in your pocket?”

Klepto’s expression fell. Knowing what came next, she turned her back to Carly and clamped her hand over her pocket. “Nothing.”

Moving to face her, Carly said, “You’re so good about helping everyone find their missing items. Someone’s going to be excited to see what you’ve found.”

But instead of relinquishing her treasure, she turned aside again and dipped her hand in her pocket and then to her mouth.

“Oh, no!” Carly cried, only getting a glimpse but pretty sure what was happening. To her advantage, Klepto seemed stunned when Repeater’s teeth wouldn’t fit into her mouth. Carly gently yet firmly clutched both of the woman’s wrists and commanded. “You already have nice teeth. Now give those to me.”

Klepto stared at Carly for a long moment before she tossed them at Carly. With a yelp, Carly dropped to the floor and caught them in her skirt. She bowed her head with relief as she heard Klepto clattering down the hall. Next she heard the woman’s door slam.

Miranda brushed by, then spun back. “Carly? You okay?” Finally able to smile, she showed Miranda what was in her skirt.

“Ew. Yuck.”

“I know.”

“I’ll get you a paper towel.” When she returned, she asked. “Is your brother back in town yet?”

Rising, Carly replied, “You do realize Jimmy’s Conservative Mennonite?”

“If he’s anything like Adam, that’s fine by me.”

“You’d want to change to a plainer lifestyle?”

Miranda looked stunned. “I don’t know. Does dating have to be so serious?”

“What do you think are the odds of dating somebody and falling in love?” Carly asked.

Shrugging, Miranda replied, “Maybe 10 percent?”

Now it was Carly’s turn to appear shocked. “For me it’s more like 90 percent.”

“Well if I was dating Adam, it would be for me, too,” Miranda teased. “Is Jimmy just as cute?”

Carly only had to think for a moment. “Jah. Girls like him. But he’s not ready to settle down.”

“Perfect. Neither am I. I’d love to see your yellow cottage, and I don’t have anything to do this weekend. Why don’t you hook us up?”

“We’ll see. Right now I’ve got to sterilize these teeth and check on Klepto.”

H
ow can I help?”

Carly couldn’t verbalize the responses that sprang to mind. She was mentally kicking herself for giving in to Miranda’s request. She met the other woman’s dark, imploring eyes, seemingly guileless. Carly was appalled to discover her true feelings as they arose to the surface. She fought to school her reactions. “There’s ice in the freezer. You can fill the glasses if you’d like.”

“Sure.”

Behind her, Carly heard the gentle
plunk, plunk
of Miranda at task. She drowned her out by fervently mashing the potatoes. Heat from the open oven door enveloped Carly as she brought out a savory roast. Preparing dinner was no big deal. She’d wanted to discuss Sherie’s newest assignment with Auntie, anyway. And they usually got together when Jimmy was home. Might as well let Miranda see for herself that Jimmy wasn’t her man.

After three quick raps, the door flew open, and the man in her thoughts bound into the room. “Smells great, Sis.”

Cocoa hopped out from hiding when he heard Jimmy’s voice, and Jimmy knelt to scratch him behind the ears. But his brow lifted with surprise when he saw Miranda. Before he could say anything, Aunt Fannie arrived and plopped a pumpkin pie on the counter.

Miranda giggled and introduced herself as Carly’s friend from Sweet Life.

Jimmy wiped his hand on his pants and held it out for Miranda. She gave it a gentle squeeze, then jerked away. “Sorry. I was filling the glasses.”

He rubbed his hands as if to warm them. “Glad to hear it. For a minute I thought you had ice flowing through your veins.”

“Hardly.” She flashed a knowing smile.

“Good to know,” he grinned back.

“Maybe this will help.” Carly handed Miranda the warm roast platter. “You can sit by the window.”

Jimmy peeled his eyes away and brought the mashed potatoes to the table. As usual, he stuck his finger in and stole a taste, winking at Miranda. Carly swatted his arm. “Just for that, you can pray.”

It didn’t take long for Carly to relax. In fact she found herself laughing near to tears as Miranda shared stories about their work at Sweet Life. And when she started talking about living at a house with six other Mennonite volunteers, Carly realized that Miranda had a servant’s heart. Of course, she’d always known the young woman was a hard worker. It was her own fault she’d kept their relationship shallow. But when the flirting resurfaced, Carly remembered why they’d never clicked. Miranda was too immature for her taste.

Once they’d cleared the table, Auntie shooed Jimmy away with a snap of a towel. “There’s too many for this small kitchen. Why don’t you go talk to that rabbit and keep it out of mischief.”

“I didn’t even know about Cocoa until today,” Miranda accused, eyeing the creature that had hopped under the table and tried to hide behind the round central table leg.

“Really?” Carly read the hurtful glint in the other woman’s eyes. “Why don’t you go get acquainted now.”

“Oh, no. I want to help with the dishes first.”

Reluctantly, she shook her head. “Auntie’s right. It’s too crowded here.”

Miranda gave her a thankful smile.

Carly plunged her hands into the hot sudsy water.
She thinks I’m helping to set them up.
When she heard Jimmy speaking softly, she forced herself to ignore them. “I told Sherie about my idea of bringing children into the volunteer program.”

“Wonderful,” Auntie replied.

Only her enthusiasm didn’t match her words. For the first time, Carly realized her aunt was distracted. “Something wrong?”

“What? Oh, nothing important. Just thinking about a problem I’m trying to work out.”

“One of your quilt patterns?” Carly asked.

“I found a contest in
Quilter’s
magazine, and I’m thinking about entering.”

“Really? That’s exciting.”

“What’s exciting?” Jimmy asked, refilling his glass.

Soon all four were squeezed back into the kitchen, discussing Auntie’s entry.

Carly asked, “Why not enter your sunflower pattern? It’s my favorite.”

“I really want to do something new.”

“When’s the deadline?” Miranda asked.

“November 30. The winners will be published in the magazine’s January edition.”

Carly folded her dishtowel and placed it on the towel bar. “Why such a short deadline?”

“Oh, it’s not. The contest has been running for a while.”

“But that’s hardly time for something new.”

“I know, but I’m thinking of a Christmas theme, and I’m not happy with anything I’ve already done. I should have started earlier, but…” She shrugged.

“Christmas…” Miranda tapped her fingers together. “Let’s see. You could do angel’s wings and halos. Snowmen. Or how about wreaths made out of gingerbread men?”

Auntie stared at her, then her eyes widened. “Jah, those could work.”

They discussed it a bit, and then Miranda asked. “Carly? You have any paper?”

Later Carly glanced around the table, watching Miranda sketch several ideas. Jimmy was mesmerized by the flourish of her slender, red-tipped fingers. Auntie was more excited than she’d seen her since the rejection at Salem’s Quiltopia.

Finally Miranda pushed the papers away and blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take over here.”