Joyful (3 page)

Thank goodness no one else knew how much he regretted breaking up with her.

Or how much he still loved her.

Y
ou, Elizabeth, are a fool,” Elizabeth Nolt mumbled to herself. “For sure and for certain.”

Leaning back on her haunches, she squinted her eyes against the morning sun and surveyed the dinky row of seedlings she'd just planted. If anything, they looked worse than the two rows of beans she'd planted yesterday.

One would think even a child could plant a decent vegetable garden; however, it seemed to be completely beyond her grasp.

“How are ya faring, Lizzy?” her grandmother called out from where she sat on the porch swing. “It looks to me like you've been taking a bit of a breather.”

“I needed one, I'm afraid.” After slowly getting to her feet, Elizabeth dusted off her skirts. Then, with a resigned sigh, she went to her grandmother's side. “I'm a poor gardener, Mommi, and that's a fact.”

“I'm sorry to say this child, but it's true. Some days, I don't think you could get weeds to grow.”

“I'm that bad?” She didn't even try to hide her amusement. Her sweet grandmother was never one to hurt another's feelings. For her to say such a thing had to mean that she was doing a really poor job of it. “And how can you be so sure?”

“Besides the fact that we've yet to eat anything you've tried to grow . . . I could hear you coughing and sighing and grunting from here on the porch. That's never a good sign.”

“Mommi, I don't grunt.”

“You don't sing when you're planting, either,” she quipped.

When Elizabeth sat by her side, Anna Mae grabbed her hand. “You need to face it, dear. You and gardening don't mix. We'll simply need to get our food from the grocery store like the Englischers in town.”

“Mommi, you know as well as I do that we need this garden to work. Food is expensive.”

“Most everything is, it seems.”

That was the Lord's honest truth. Things had become very tight in the Nolt household, especially after her mother remarried and moved to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. Though her mother had wanted Elizabeth to come along, Elizabeth hadn't been all that eager to live with a stepfather. Milton was a nice enough man, but he had particular ways of doing things, and Elizabeth knew she would have had to follow his rules.

Of course, that hadn't been the only reason she'd stayed behind. Though she'd volunteered to take care of her grandmother, everyone also knew that Elizabeth had only been biding her time until Randall Beiler finally proposed.

To her shame, she realized that she'd been hoping he would suddenly change his mind and come back to her. Realize that she could actually help him and his family once they got married.

She would have done that gladly, too. She liked looking after other people. She liked cooking and sewing and planning and fussing.

But he never had come back. Actually, he'd never even looked back. Just as she'd never tried to convince him that things could work out. All they'd done was try to avoid each other as much as possible.

Now she was trying to take care of her grandmother on a shoestring budget and spending the rest of her time living in the silence of her regrets.

She'd lost weight and couldn't seem to lift the cloak of disappointment that surrounded her now. It was a difficult thing to realize that one conversation could remove all the joy from her life.

It was even worse to realize that she had no earthly idea how to get it back.

“I don't know if you already know this, but you're planting your potatoes too close together,” Levi Beiler said when he came to a stop just two feet away from where Elizabeth was kneeling in the dirt the following morning.

Elizabeth was so irritated she didn't even bother asking him why he had stopped by. Or what had possessed him to take an interest in her root vegetables. After glaring at the row of seedlings she'd just planted, she raised her chin to meet his gaze. “Are you sure about that?”

Levi used one finger and slowly tipped up the brim of his hat. When his blue eyes came into view, he met her gaze and nodded. “I'm real sure. Believe me, I've planted my share of 'em.” With a grimace, he mumbled, “We're kind of fond of them at our
haus
these days.”

“I can't believe this. Levi, I've almost finished planting the whole row.”

“Um, I don't think so.”

She set down her spade. “What do you mean by that?”

He stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets. “I'm just sayin' that you won't have finished much if the plants don't have room to grow. All you'll be getting is a mess of undergrown veggies. Ain't so?”

“I guess you're right. It's just so hard, though. I've been out here for three hours.”

Levi looked at her crooked row, at the basket of tiny seedlings that she no doubt had paid too much money for, and sighed. With a look of distaste, he rolled up his sleeves and held out his hand. “Hand me that spade.”

Hope, followed by the smallest amount of guilt, led her to pick the spade back up. “Are you sure?”

“I'm sure.”

Since it was a sin to be prideful, Elizabeth handed it to him without another word. She needed help and was even willing to get it from a know-it-all sixteen-year-old.

She sat down on the hard ground and watched Levi nimbly walk to the beginning of her row. Then, without a bit of fuss, he dropped to his knees, dug up her seedlings, made each hole a little deeper, and then replanted every other one. He completed the task in under fifteen minutes.

Then, to her amazement, he started on the next row.

To say it took him less than half the time to dig each hole was putting it mildly. Actually, he looked a bit like an Englischer's fancy machine, his muscular arms making easy work of the hard soil. The entire time he didn't seem eager to speak, either. Instead, he merely continued to dig and repair.

And then, not even thirty minutes later, he handed her back the hoe and spade. “Now you'll have all the potatoes a person could want, Elizabeth.” He frowned. “Probably more than you'd ever want.”

“Danke.”

“It weren't no problem.”

As she watched him brush off his hands and roll down his sleeves, she murmured, “I don't know whether to thank you again or hug you.”

His head popped up. “You could do both,” he said with a wry grin. She knew he was only saying such a thing as a bluff.

But because she was relieved enough to call it, she walked over, threw her arms around him, and gave Levi a little squeeze. “Thank you again, Levi. You've saved the day.”

Raising his arms, he hugged her back, and then with a blush, hastily stepped backward. “Hardly that.”

“I'm serious! You not only saved me hours of work, you saved me hours of frustration. I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to return your favor.”

“I do.”

“Oh?”

“Uh-huh. I came over to talk to ya about something, you see.”

“I guess I had better listen, then. Come on in the
haus
and I'll get you something to drink. I made some lemonade this morning. I bet it's real cold by now.”

“That sounds really
gut
.
Danke
.” At last, he smiled, showing off those dimples that were surely going to be the downfall of many a girl's heart.

As Elizabeth led the way into the house, she wondered why he'd come over. And she couldn't help but wonder about his blush when he'd hugged her.

Of course, it probably meant nothing, but the way his eyes had lit up at her offer of lemonade made her wonder if he'd come courting.

Surely he was too young for that; he was only sixteen to her twenty!

But if he was? She was going to have to let him down gently.

Her grandmother was resting so the house was dark and silent as they walked through the front room into the kitchen. At least there the room was sunny and bright. The yellow paint, blue cabinets, and white tiled countertops never failed to make her smile.

“Have a seat and I'll get you some lemonade,” she said after they washed up. “I have some cherry pie, too. Made it fresh just yesterday. Would you like a slice?”

“I sure would.”

She would have giggled at the speed to which he accepted the offering if not for his expression. It was one of pure bliss. Almost as if he didn't get such treats all the time.

Which was most curious. His sister-in-law, Miriam, was known to be one of the best cooks in the area.

After serving him a generous slice, complete with a dollop of whipped cream that she'd just prepared that morning, she sat down across from him.

Without a trace of embarrassment, Levi drank his lemonade like a man dying of thirst and attacked the pie like a man going into battle.

Only when his plate was scraped clean did he look up. A pained expression entered his eyes as his fork clattered onto the dish. “Sorry. I was a real pig, wasn't I?”

His obvious embarrassment amused her. “I wouldn't call you a pig. More like someone who was ravenous.”

“I was, at that.”

“Any special reason you're so hungry? I never have known your family to have any problem keeping food in the cupboards.”

“Oh, it ain't that. It's just that no one in the
haus
can cook too
gut
.”

“Oh, Levi. We both know that Miriam can cook rings around most anyone, especially any girl my age.”

“She's not there. Her parents helped buy her and Junior a
haus
near them.”

“Doesn't she still bring some meals around?”

“Not too often.”

“What about your sisters? I'm sure they've kept you fed just fine.”

“Beverly and Claire haven't come around too much, either.” Looking at his plate, he said, “Junior, Beverly, and Claire seem to be more concerned with their new spouses than keeping their siblings fed.”

“Hmm.” She was surprised by that. Everyone in Sugarcreek knew the Beilers were an especially close family. She, for one, had always been more than a little envious of the way the eight siblings looked out for one another. Being an only child, the idea of having so much help and support sounded like a dream.

Getting up, she brought over the pitcher and refilled Levi's glass. “Where are they living? I'm pretty sure I saw Beverly and Joe walking downtown the other day.”

“Beverly and Joe are living on his family's farm. Joe and his
daed
are already adding on a new wing to their
haus
.”

“Ah. And Claire?”

“She and her husband moved to Charm 'cause Jim already had his own place.”

“I'm sorry, I should've known all that. I guess I've been too busy with things here.” Observing his expression, she realized that he wasn't staring at her like a boy with a crush. Instead, he was looking like he needed a friend.

Suddenly, Levi Beiler looked exactly like what he was—a teenager who still needed someone to mother him every now and then.

“It sounds like you all have had to make a lot of changes around your house lately,” she commented. “That must be kind of hard.”

“Uh-huh.” He grimaced. “Now there's only me and Micah, Neil and Randall and Kaylene. We've got a lot more room, but things aren't going all that good at the moment.”

“Oh?” Levi's comment surprised her. Every time she'd been at the Beiler house, it had been a bustling place. But more than that, it had been as if every member of the house worked together to make things run like clockwork. Junior, being the eldest boy, was their unofficial leader with Claire and Beverly his second and third in command. The girls had also shared the kitchen duties.

Thinking about how happy the slice of pie had made Levi, she asked curiously, “Who is doing the cooking now?”

“Randall.”

With effort, she schooled her shocked expression. “I have to say I'm surprised. I didn't think he could cook well.”

“He can't. Well, he can cook chicken and potatoes and heat up beans.” Levi eyed his empty plate with what could only be described as a look of pure longing. “I'm really sick of canned beans.”

Without another word, she brought over the pie plate, sliced another generous portion, and slid it onto his dish. Levi grabbed the carton of whipped topping, heaped another generous spoonful on top of the pie, then ate some more. “
Danke
, Elizabeth,” he said around his second bite.

“Anytime.” Watching him eat, she knew it was time to get to the point of his visit. “So, care to tell me why you are here? As much as I'm happy to feed you, I have a feeling you had a different reason in mind. What did you want to talk about? Did Randall ask you to come over?”

“Nee.”
For the first time, he averted his eyes. “Randall doesn't know I'm here.”

Thoroughly confused now, she made her tone a little firmer. “Why did you come over, Levi? Please, just spit it out.”

With a look of deliberation, he set his fork down. “Elizabeth, I came over to see if you'd come to work for us,” he said in a rush. “Please.”

Surely she had misunderstood him. “What did you say?”

“I want to hire you.”

“You want to hire me?”

“
Jah
. I mean, no.”

“Now I'm even more confused.”

He shook his head, obviously aggravated with himself. “I mean, yes, me and my siblings want to hire you. Please.”

“Because . . .”

“Because we need someone to help with all the female work around the house.”

“You need a female.”

He nodded. “Uh-huh. To do the cooking, especially.” He wrinkled his nose. “And maybe some laundry, too. Neil's always got a bunch of it.”

“You need a cook and a maid. And so the first person, the first
female
you thought about asking was me?” She wasn't sure whether she was thoroughly irritated, or maybe just thoroughly amazed at the boy's audacity.