Made with Love (10 page)

Lovina finished her sandwich and dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin. Mem rose and removed the banana sour cream bread from the loaf pan, wrapping it in wax paper.

“Oh, and did I mention that Thomas Chupp has a lovely farm?” Mem commented, returning the wax paper and closing the cupboard. “It's his parents who are hoping to live here year-round. As the youngest, he'll be returning to Pennsylvania to run the farm. Remember how much we enjoyed Somerset on that visit? You said you wouldn't mind living there…”

Snickers emerged in chorus from Grace's lips, but Faith sat in stoney silence. Lovina directed a glare first to one, then to the other, but they refused to make eye contact. Grace because of the humor of it, and Faith…was she jealous? Lovina looked at the wind-up wall clock in the kitchen, making a mental note to talk to Faith later about Thomas Chupp.

Lovina spun around and caught the mischievous look in Mem's eyes. How had she missed it before? Mem wasn't sad or forlorn, she was trying to be subtle. Mem was trying to set her up!

Lovina cleared her throat. “Oh, I see now the reason for me being the one to make the delivery.”

Mem shrugged and took another sip from her lemonade. “Well, you were the one who offered.”

“That's because you set it all up. You made it sound so innocent…” Frustration tinged the corners of her words, but then she blew out a breath and calmed down. Lovina reminded herself that Mem did all she did out of love. Out of a desire to see her daughters happy and provided for.

“Are you saying you won't help me now?” Mem's gaze met hers. Her eyes grew round with worry.

“I'm not saying that. I'll go, but I'm not going to be offering up my heart as I pass over this banana sour cream bread.”

“You can't fault a mother for trying.”

Lovina reached over and squeezed Mem's hand. It was cool from the condensation on the glass. “I know. I have no doubt that you and Dat care. And that's why I was hoping to talk to you…soon.”

Mem looked up then, curiosity clear in her gaze. “Is it about a young man?”

“Partly.” Lovina said, calmly. She was telling the truth since Noah was involved, but even as she said it she knew her answer was misleading.

“You can talk to me anytime you want,” Mem said. “I'm listening.”

“But Dat, well, I assume he's napping, and I'd really like to talk to you both.”

Lovina glanced at her sisters. Both sat as quiet as church mice, listening to every word intently. “And more than that, I'd like to do it without an audience.”

“I already know what it's about.” Grace smirked. “Faith and I saw you just before you got home. You were on your bicycle talking to a very handsome bachelor.”

“You saw me? Why didn't you say something?”

Faith tapped a green colored pencil on her chin. “We were waiting for you to bring it up. So who is he? I don't think we've met him before.” A smile filled her face, and she returned to her sketch. “I would know. I'd never forget that face.”

So much for her interest in Thomas Chupp.

“I want to talk to Dat and Mem first.” Lovina rose and threw away her napkin. “Don't worry,” she said, tossing the words back over her shoulder. “If things work out like I hope they will, then I'll be able to fill you in with all the details soon.”

Lovina looked back to her mem before she rounded the corner
to her bedroom. Mem's jaw dropped, and excitement flashed in her eyes.

“When would you like to talk?” Mem asked.

Lovina paused her steps. She shrugged as if it was no big thing. As if her heart wasn't hammering in her chest. “I'd like to take you and Dat out to dinner. Maybe at Yoder's?”

“Ja.” Mem nodded. “I'm sure we can make it work. I'll talk to your dat and let you know the time.”

“
Gut
. I'd like that.”

Lovina went to her room and moved to her hope chest. She lifted the creaky lid and rested it against the wall. At twenty-five, she'd had plenty of time to fill her chest with items she'd need after marriage, and it was overflowing. Yet out of all of the things she'd sewn or collected over the years, nothing meant as much to Lovina as her notebook. She moved her embroidered pillowcases to the side and lifted the notebook from its nest of blankets. Then she took a cloth book bag, tucked the notebook inside, and put the bag's straps over her shoulder. She hadn't shared it with her sisters or Mem yet, but she would when the time was right. Something warmed inside—even warmer than the Florida sun beaming through the windows.

All eyes were on her as she returned to the kitchen and picked up the loaf of banana sour cream bread. It was still warm through the wax paper. “I'd better go deliver this. Time to be neighborly and all.”

“Especially to single and eligible bachelors who are in need of a friend,” Grace called out.

“A friend? Yes, that's what she's thinking…just being a friend,” Faith added, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Yet Lovina didn't have time to worry about that now. For even as Lovina stepped out the door into the muggy heat of the midday, she wasn't thinking
of Thomas but of another bachelor. Noah was also new in Pinecraft, and he most likely needed a friend too.

She placed the book bag and bread into her bike's front basket and then got on, riding down the street. A new thought hit her.

Mem, more than anyone, knew every new person in town. She knew nearly every visitor too. Why hadn't she baked a special treat on Noah's arrival? Tension tightened Lovina's shoulders as she rode. Noah had also been to the house. He'd visited to give Dat a bid on the roof. Yet Mem hadn't said a thing. She hadn't invited Noah to dinner. She hadn't made him banana sour cream bread. She hadn't even mentioned his visit at dinner. A handsome bachelor had been to their home, and not one word had been mentioned about it.

Suddenly all the good feelings about Noah Yoder dissipated like the small puddles on the roadway, evaporating in the sun.

There had to be something wrong with Noah Yoder. Something big. Otherwise all of them would have gotten an earful about the handsome bachelor.

Worries bubbled up inside of Lovina, and she slowed her pedaling.

Who was Noah Yoder, and just what did Mem know?

Lovina glanced at her notebook tucked inside the bag on her handle bars. Was Noah Yoder worthy to be trusted with her dreams?

 

Banana Sour Cream Bread

3¼ cups sugar, divided

3 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

¾ cup butter

3 eggs

6 ripe bananas

16 ounces sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking soda

4½ cups flour

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease four small or two large loaf pans. In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Use cinnamon-sugar mixture to dust pans. In large bowl, cream butter, three cups of sugar, eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla, and remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour. Stir in nuts. Bake 1 hour, covering loaves with foil for the last 15 minutes of baking time.

Eight

Each new day can be a door to joys we've never known before.

A
MISH
P
ROVERB

N
oah walked in the back door of his uncle's cottage to find the three teenage boys sitting at the kitchen table. Each with a large bowl of cereal in front of them, shoveling it into their mouths. When he'd left they'd been eating caramel popcorn—one of the few things his uncle Roy could make—and playing video games. He'd told them this morning to be dressed and ready for work by noon. To his amazement they were.

Their faces were eager as they looked to him, and each of them wore their Amish clothes. In the house the teens wore jeans or basketball shorts and T-shirts. But on the drive down to Pinecraft their driver had given them advice. They'd get more work around Pinecraft if they dressed Amish. No matter if they were all in their rumspringa years.

So before they went out each day they put on the handmade trousers and shirts that their mems had made with care. Not that it helped. It had been two months and they still hadn't gotten work.

Noah had been fooling himself thinking that his reputation
wouldn't reach them there. Most Amish read
The Budget
. Most knew of Ray Yoder's wayward nephew and all the trouble and damage he'd caused. There'd also been plenty of news about the trouble these boys had caused. They'd all traveled far from home, but obviously not far enough.

“Are we still going to tear down that shed today?” Mose asked, setting his spoon on the table. His eyes flashed excitement, and Noah knew he was thankful they were going to make some more money. That's what Noah had promised, after all—that they'd build their carpentry skills and put some money in their pockets. But sifting through materials at remodeling projects and cleaning out old buildings hadn't provided that.

Noah shook his head. “I stopped by to check on that, and Mr. Hosteler would like to wait a week. There's a family in town looking to see if they want to buy the place. Mr. Hosteler figured that an old shed still standing would be less of a problem than his backyard filled with the noise and mess.”

Mose scoffed. “Or most likely that he didn't want the likes of us hanging around there—giving the place a bad vibe.” He ran his hand through his hair and then balled his fist.

“Now, don't jump to the wrong conclusions.” Noah tried to stay upbeat. He shrugged like it really didn't matter, but he'd also had a problem with how the guy handled the situation.

Noah pulled up a chair and sat facing them. His stomach growled, and he knew he should eat lunch, but he didn't feel like cooking and it looked as if all the cereal was gone. Being a bachelor left him wanting for some good home cooking.

He debated whether to tell the guys more about the warehouse, and from the forlorn looks on their faces decided it was a good idea.

“I have a lead, and I hope it pans out. There's someone who
wants to turn the warehouse behind us into a bakery. I'm meeting with her—this person—in just a little bit to sketch some ideas.”

“Yeah, we were here, remember? We answered the door. She's pretty. And kind of young.”

“Too young for me? I'm not going to date her if that's what you're thinking.”

“Too young to wrap herself up with a money hole like that,” Gerald butted in, pointing out the back kitchen window.

“Have you learned nothing I've taught you over the last few weeks?” Noah opened the cupboard and scanned the sparse contents. He didn't feel like Ramen noodles again. He closed the cupboard, deciding ice cream would make the perfect lunch. “People often overlook treasure, thinking it's trash.”

No one argued then. They'd all been there, hauling away items from the dumpsters. They'd all been amazed what people threw away. An old iron railing had been his best find and had provided enough income to keep these guys fed for a few weeks, which was saying something, considering the amount of groceries they went through.