Huckleberry Christmas (3 page)

Mammi went back into the house where she retrieved her bonnet and black sweater and a light yellow sweater for Beth. “Should we pick some of the huckleberries this morning? We can gather enough to make Christmas jam tomorrow, and the family can pick the rest of the berries on Saturday.”

“I would love to pick today.” Beth gazed at the clear blue sky of late August. They wouldn’t need sweaters, but she didn’t mention that fact to her mammi. Mammi loved seeing her grandchildren wear her knitted gifts. Beth slipped the sweater around her shoulders. Black was the traditional sweater and coat color that all Amish wore, but when it came to knitting, Mammi either forgot or ignored the rule. Beth shrugged. Mammi had gone to a great deal of work to knit her a yellow sweater. She would wear the yellow sweater.

Tyler and Dawdi reappeared on the threshold, and Tyler immediately lifted Toby and gave him a squeeze. “Toby’s new bed is ready.”

“All Tyler did was push the center down. I should have thought of that,” Dawdi said.

Tyler stared intently at Beth and didn’t look away when she caught his eye. “That’s a wonderful-pretty sweater,” he said.

Hoping her ears hadn’t turned bright red, Beth reached for Toby, and Tyler flew him down the steps like an airplane. He even supplied the airplane noises. Toby’s giggles bubbled from his lips as Tyler placed him in Beth’s arms.

“Mammi and I are going to pick huckleberries,” Beth said. “Denki for your help.” Especially the part where he’d come just in time to fend off a marriage proposal. “I hope Aden comes soon so you’re not left waiting again.”

“Come on, Sparky,” Mammi called. The dog waddled out of the house as if she had just awakened from a nap.

Worry etched tiny lines around Tyler’s eyes. “It’s quite a walk to the huckleberry patch. Can you manage Toby by yourself?”

“He loves to explore the woods.”

“Does he ever wander off? It wouldn’t be easy to find him if he wandered off. Do you have a bell or something you could tie to his arm?”

A smile tickled Beth’s lips. “Like a cow?”

“Jah. We sometimes use bells on our cows when they graze.”

The laughter tripped out. “I will keep a careful eye out.”

Mammi handed Beth a bucket, and the two of them strolled toward the path into the woods.

Undeterred by her teasing, Tyler followed. “Aden saw a bear there last year. You should take a frying pan.” That deep furrow right between his brows was adorable.

Beth strolled blithely down the path. “We’ll make lots of noise, and Sparky will scare off the bears.”

She and Tyler glanced at Sparky, who shuffled lazily after them as if merely lifting her feet were a monumental chore. Beth and Tyler locked gazes. Beth giggled. Tyler frowned.

He held up his hand to motion for Beth to stop. “Wait. Wait a minute. We’ve got to think about this. I’m worried you’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger.”

“When I was a little girl, I used to go to the huckleberry patch by myself all the time.” She leaned closer to punctuate her next words. “I ran all the way. With scissors. While being chased by three bears and a cat. And I didn’t wear sunscreen.”

Tyler didn’t even flinch. Didn’t even crack a smile. She would definitely have to help him with his sense of humor. With a frown still firmly riveted to his face, he took Toby from Beth’s arms, grabbed her bucket, and walked briskly into the woods. “I’m coming with you.”

“What about Aden?” she said, grinning and struggling to keep up with him.

He glanced back at her while sustaining his breakneck pace. “I wouldn’t consider myself any kind of a man if I let two women and a baby traipse into the woods by themselves.” He halted abruptly and pinned her with a concerned look. “And you shouldn’t run with scissors.” Without another word, he turned and marched adamantly down the path.

Beth was laughing too hard to argue.

Huckleberries had taken over Mammi’s kitchen. With Tyler’s help yesterday, they had picked five bucketsful, enough to make seven or eight dozen half-pints of huckleberry jam to sell at the Christmas bazaar. Making that much jam was quite a production. With mashing, stirring, boiling, and processing, it would take them all day.

Although it was hard work, Beth always looked forward to jam making day, especially when she did it with Mammi and her mamm, Sarah. It had been four years since she’d been part of a jam frolic. They would spend the day stirring, visiting, and laughing, and she loved seeing the bright purple jam glistening in the jars when they finished. And the jam tasted wonderful gute. Neither Beth nor Mamm were known for their cooking skills and Mammi was the worst cook of all, but jam only had five ingredients. It was hard to mess up.

Besides, Amos wasn’t here to remind Beth of her poor cooking skills. Food tasted better without the constant criticism.

Dawdi and Sparky’s job was to entertain Toby while Mamm, Mammi, and Beth worked.

After checking for stems, Mamm rinsed the berries in the colander. Once the huckleberries were cleaned, Mammi deposited them into every available bowl in the kitchen. The table and counters were soon a sea of shiny purple berries ready for processing.

Beth rinsed out the galvanized metal bucket. Every last huckleberry had been washed. She glanced at Dawdi, who sat in his recliner with a box of crackers and a can of Easy Cheese. He sprayed the pasty cheese onto a cracker and handed it to Toby, who eagerly ate crackers while playing with his blocks. Sparky cheerfully cleaned up Toby’s crumbs, which often turned out to be whole crackers with generous globs of smeared cheese.

“You doing okay, Dawdi?” Beth asked.

“Right as rain,” Dawdi said, popping a cracker into his mouth. “This cheese is the weirdest stuff I ever seen.”

Beth smiled. Everybody looked perfectly content on that side of the room.

Mamm filled a measuring cup with water while Mammi pulled a large saucepan from under the sink. “Moses stacked the sugar in the cellar last time he came,” Mammi said. “Can you manage, Beth?”

“Jah, of course.”

Beth skipped down the cellar stairs and had no trouble locating the three large bags of sugar that Moses had stacked against the wall. She propped her hands on her hips. How would she ever lug a fifty-pound sack of sugar up the stairs? What had cousin Moses been thinking?

She stooped and wrapped her arms around the top sack as best she could. Using all her strength, she managed to lift it a few inches before her arms gave out. Unless she wanted to break her back, she’d have to find another way. Huffing in exasperation, she grabbed the sack by two corners and grunted as she strained to slide it off the pile. It fell with a thud onto the cement floor, sprinkling grains of sugar as it landed. Hunched over like an old man, she dragged the sugar to the bottom of the stairs, leaving a grainy trail behind her.

Breathing heavily, she attempted to yank the sack up one stair at a time and almost toppled head over heels. Was it possible to rip her arms out of their sockets? Maybe she would have to leave the sack down here and bring the sugar upstairs one cup at a time.

“Can I help?”

She turned to see Tyler Yoder at the top of the stairs, with Toby in his arms and that deeply concerned frown on his face, as if a great tragedy had befallen her and he wanted to help any way he possibly could.

His expression made her smile. She took a deep breath. “Never wrestle with a bag of sugar. It shows no mercy.”

He came down the stairs carrying Toby. “Are you hurt?”

“Nope. Just humiliated.” She flashed a smile, hoping to coax him out of his distress. She thought maybe his eyebrows moved apart a fraction of an inch. Maybe not. The cellar was sort of dim.

“That’s a lot of sugar,” he said.

“It takes more sugar than berries to make jam.”

He nudged her elbow and slipped Toby into her arms. “He wanted me to pick him up the minute I walked in the door. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course. You were his berry-picking buddy yesterday.”

In one swift movement, Tyler reached down and hefted the heavy bag over his shoulder. Beth’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she didn’t even try to pull her gaze away as she instinctively hugged Toby tighter. Muscles had always been a weakness of hers. She pressed her lips together so a girlish sigh wouldn’t escape her lips. She’d rather not make a fool of herself so early in the morning.

Tyler tromped up the stairs with Beth and Toby following close behind. He propped the sack on the counter. “Is this a gute spot?”

“Wonderful-gute,” Mammi said, her eyes twinkling. “I’m glad you came by when you did. Beth needs a strong young man around the house.”

Tyler merely nodded and sprouted that worried look on his face again, as if all of the Helmuths’ problems had just become his problems.

Beth felt as if her cheeks had burst into flames. She bent over and put Toby on his feet. It gave her an excuse to hide her face momentarily. Mammi had been on her side about Alvin Hoover. Surely she wasn’t trying to shove Tyler Yoder on her. Both Mammi and Mamm knew perfectly well that Beth had chosen to remain single permanently.

Beth’s lips twisted in annoyance. Her refusal to marry wouldn’t stop Mammi from trying to find her a husband. Dawdi had told Beth that Alvin “wasn’t the one Anna wanted,” which clearly meant that Mammi had somebody else in mind. But it didn’t matter how big Tyler’s muscles were or how much he helped with Toby, she was immune to every good quality. She refused to marry ever again.

It was as simple as that.

Beth’s mamm took some scissors and cut the top off the sugar bag. “We could use some strong arms, if you can stay, Tyler,” she said.

“Mamm,” Beth protested, suddenly irritated beyond endurance. “We don’t need Tyler’s help making jam.” She looked at Tyler. “I’m sure you’ve got more important things on your schedule today,” she added, in case he thought she wanted to get rid of him.

One side of his mouth turned down. Beth wasn’t the only one irritated. “I’m waiting for Aden. Again. He assured me he’d be here at ten o’clock. That’s why I came at ten-thirty.” He rolled up his sleeves. “How can I help?”

Mamm turned on the water and started filling the sink. “Wash bottles.”

Beth was tempted to point out that it didn’t take big muscles to wash bottles, but they’d already reeled Tyler in. Mammi had told Beth that Tyler liked helping people. He couldn’t very well back out now. He plunged his hands into the water and started washing.

“How old are you, Tyler?” Mamm asked.

“Twenty-three.”

Mamm nodded in satisfaction. “Same age as Beth.”

“How very nice,” Mammi said, gushing like a geyser.

Beth clenched her teeth.

Mamm was just getting started. “Tell me about your dairy. Is it making gute money? Can you support a wife and children?”

“Jah,” Tyler said, unsuspecting of where Mamm’s questions led. “I planned it all out last year before I got engaged.”

Beth tried not to let her eyes pop out of her head. “You’re engaged?” Unexplainable disappointment sneaked up on her, which she immediately quashed. How could she possibly feel disappointed? Tyler may be solidly built, but she didn’t in a million years want to marry him.

Tyler’s expression deflated. “Not anymore.”

Studying his face, Beth clapped her mouth shut and determined not to ask more questions. Some sad story had to be behind a broken engagement, and she wouldn’t force Tyler to relive the memories.

Mamm had no such reservations. “His fiancée ended up with your cousin Aden.”

Beth couldn’t keep her eyes from popping out of her head. “That was you?”

Tyler washed the jars with increased vigor. “Yep.”

“I heard the story, of course, but Mamm never told me the name of the jilted fiancé.”

Tyler turned one shade darker and glanced at Mamm. “I suppose you wanted to spare my feelings by not repeating it?”

Mamm nodded. “I suppose I did.” She waved her hand as if brushing aside the topic. “That’s all water under the bridge. The important thing is that when you do find a girl to love, you’re ready to provide for a family.”

“That’s right,” said Mammi, winking at Beth. “Somewhere out there is a beautiful girl who needs a pair of strong arms to take care of her.”

It was Beth’s turn to blush. The scheming had begun.

Tyler regarded Beth as if he were trying to comprehend her past and future by looking hard enough. She cocked her eyebrows and pursed her lips to scold him for staring.

He quickly looked away. “These are done, Sarah.”

Mamm picked up one of Tyler’s bottles and examined it. “Good enough.” Mamm never sugar-coated her praise. “Beth, take Tyler to the cellar, and each of you bring up an armful of bottles. With all these berries, we’ll use them, sure as you’re born.”

Tyler dried his hands and followed Beth down the stairs.

“We wouldn’t need extra bottles if you hadn’t helped us gather so many berries yesterday,” Beth said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Thanks to you, Mammi and Dawdi will sell a lot of jam this year.”

Tyler shook his head. “I mostly watched out for Toby and for bears.”

Beth smiled. Halfway into their walk into the woods yesterday, Tyler had picked up a stick and started banging it against the trees to scare away any critters lurking in the shadows. “I’ve never seen anyone quite so vigilant about bears and snakes.”

“Snakes have been known to eat small children.”

The laughter bubbled from her lips. “Not typically in Wisconsin.”

“You can’t be too careful.”

“I’m glad Aden never showed up so you could come with us.”

“Unless he’s in the hospital with two broken legs, I plan on giving him a stern lecture about the importance of keeping his appointments.”

Beth led Tyler to the shelf where the extra half pints sat. “If he weren’t my cousin, I might not believe that Aden actually exists. He hasn’t shown himself once since I’ve been to Huckleberry Hill.”

Tyler grinned. “Don’t take it personally. Right now, he thinks he and Lily are the only two people in the whole world.”

Beth checked her laughter. Such thoughts must be at least a little painful to Tyler, even if he smiled about them.

“If we put these jars in a bucket, we won’t have to make so many trips,” she said.

They looked around and found three dust-covered buckets stacked together underneath one of the shelves. Beth picked up the stack and blew some of the dust off the top bucket. “I haven’t had a chance to redd up down here. The dust is thick.”

“You take gute care of your grandparents.”

“They take gute care of me and Toby.”

“I’m glad they do.” That worried frown came back, accompanied by a deep furrow right between his brows as if someone had taken a plow to his forehead. “Do you like living here?”

“There isn’t a better place on Earth. Mammi and Dawdi moved here when I was seven years old. I have fond memories of berry picking and maple syrup time. When I was growing up, we spent many summer days playing volleyball or helping Mammi and Dawdi in the vegetable patch.”

“How long do you think you will stay?”

She would stay forever if she and Toby weren’t such a burden on Mammi and Dawdi. “I need to earn some money first, but I’d like to find a small house in Bonduel.”

He pressed his lips together. “It’s hard for a single mother to make it on her own. Most think it best to remarry.”

Beth couldn’t look at him. She concentrated on prying the buckets apart. They were stuck tight.

His frown looked as if it had been stapled to his face. He held out his hand. She gave him the stack of buckets, and he pulled the top one away from the others as easy as you please. “I’m sorry. I should stay out of your troubles.”

“Don’t apologize. I want to be strong enough to support myself and Toby.”

“I could help you, if you need money. The dairy makes enough for me to put a little away each month.”

Beth laughed as if she’d been holding it in a long time. His offer didn’t offend her. In a strange way, it brought her comfort. “Mammi said you have a kind heart. She wasn’t exaggerating.”

He relaxed his dire expression. “I didn’t say that to beg for praise.”

“I know.”

Tyler shook his head adamantly. “I don’t want you to think better of me than I deserve. I just want to help.” He placed two more jars in the bucket and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “What about your late husband’s family? Can they help?”

Beth turned her face and fixed her gaze out the small cellar window. “Their help comes with strings attached.”

“What do you mean?”

What would Tyler say if he knew what she really thought of her in-laws? “I’ll not be a burden to anyone.”

They loaded jars into two of the buckets, and silence prevailed until Beth talked herself back into good humor. She squared her shoulders and flashed a smile at Tyler. “Denki. I’ll never forget your generous offer.”

“I want to help.”

“You needn’t worry about me. I have a plan.” She put one last jar on the top of her stack. “Forgive me for saying so, but I’m a gute seamstress. I can whip out a dress on my old treadle machine in less than two hours. Kapps take even less time. I have done the figuring. If I make three dresses a day and sell them for forty dollars each, I can make a gute living. Enough to buy a house and keep chickens if I want.”

Tyler took her bucket. It wasn’t that heavy, but he insisted. “You want to make dresses for Amish women?”

“And Mennonites and German Baptists. And even the
Englisch
want the Amish dresses. The Englisch will pay the most.” She studied his somber face, and her hopes sank. “You think it’s a bad idea. Amos thought it was a bad idea.”