Sweet as Honey (14 page)

“And be sure to tell your aunt what I'm up to. I don't want her to see me lurking in the shadows and load her shotgun.”

Lily grinned. “She doesn't believe in guns, remember?”

“I don't know if I'm convinced of that.”

He stared at her until she had to say something to break the silence. “I . . . I don't know how to thank you. Words don't seem enough.”

He winked at her. “Your smile will always be enough.”

That grin of his would not make her faint.

Even if it killed her.

Chapter Thirteen

Dan, Luke Bontrager, and Josiah Yoder regarded the barn door by the light of Dan's flashlight.

“Who would do something like this?” Josiah asked.

“I don't know,” Dan said. “Somebody out to play a prank.”

Luke took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “Somebody who knows there's no man here to protect them.”

After he'd left the Honeybee Farm, Dan had gone to Luke's house and then Josiah's to borrow paint. Both of his best friends had insisted on coming back to the farm with him. Looking at the vandal's work, Dan was glad he hadn't been able to talk his friends into staying in bed. Painting the barn door would be a bigger job than he'd anticipated.

Dan glanced at the seven paint cans at his feet containing various shades of leftover paint. Four cans from Luke's house, three from Josiah's. “Unless we match this color exactly, we'll have to paint the entire door. Both panels.”

Luke nodded. “And they still might notice.”

“Rose will worry herself sick if she suspects,” Josiah said.

“We'll just have to do our best in the dark.” Dan picked up a can of paint and shook it hard. “Let's test a patch of each of these. Lord willing, this can contains the exact same color on the barn.”

Luke smirked. “That would be too easy.”

It was harder to tell in the dark, but the first can they opened seemed nowhere near red. It looked more like a lovely shade of pink. Luke shoved Josiah in the shoulder. “Pink? What kind of barn color is that?”

“Hey!” Josiah said. “It's mauve, and my sister's always fiddling with the paint colors. All these are supposed to be red.”

Luke grunted. “I've never heard of mauve. Must be one of those girly colors.”

Josiah chuckled. “If you lived next door to your sister, you'd know a lot more than what mauve looks like. You'd also know how to burp a baby and change a diaper.”

“I can safely promise you that I will never change a diaper,” Luke said. “It's bad enough that I now know what mauve is.”

“That's why you'll never get a wife,” Josiah said.

Luke shoved him again.

Dan squatted next to the remaining six cans. “Do you think you two could concentrate long enough to help me find some red?”

Luke pointed to one of his paint cans. The dried paint on the outside of the can looked red enough. The label even had a picture of a barn on it. “This looks promising.”

Dan shook the can and pried it open with a flathead screwdriver. He grabbed one of the smaller paintbrushes, also supplied by Luke, dipped it in the paint, and swiped it over the top of the black spray paint. Luke's cherry-red paint was about ten shades too bright for the country red of the Christners' barn.

“It's closer than mauve,” Luke said.

While Josiah and Luke opened the rest of the cans, Dan slipped into Lily's barn and found a small can of black paint. Maybe they could darken the red a little.

They mixed black with the bright red plus another red from one of Luke's cans and came up with something they hoped was pretty close to the barn color. At least it looked that way in the dark. They each picked up a wide paintbrush and started painting. Luke and Josiah each took one end and Dan started in the middle. It would need at least two coats.

Luke made long vertical strokes with his brush. “How did you see this? The Christners' house isn't exactly on the way to your house.”

Dan smiled to himself. In spite of how the evening had ended, Lily Christner had smiled at him more than once. And the touch of her hand had felt like a jolt of pure energy. “I brought over some beehive mesh for Bitsy.”

“What is beehive mesh?” Josiah said.

Luke narrowed his eyes. “And why did you bring it?”

Dan painted like a madman. “I . . . just, well . . . you know.”

Both Josiah and Luke interrupted their painting to stare at him. Surely it was too dark for them to see the light dancing in his eyes.

“In case you didn't notice, Lily Christner has a boyfriend,” Luke said.

Josiah drew his brows together in concern. “The same boyfriend she had when you liked her in eighth grade, Dan.”

Luke shook his head. “I hate to break the news to you, but you're not good-looking enough to change her mind.”

It was always the same way with his friends. Josiah was the thoughtful and serious one. Luke was flippant and realistic. Neither of them wanted him to get hurt.

“Paul Glick thinks he owns her,” Josiah said.

Luke scowled. “I hate that guy.”

“We're not supposed to hate anybody,” Dan said, clenching his jaw.

Luke huffed out a breath in surrender. “I don't hate him. I just can't stand him.”

The feeling was mutual.

Josiah dipped his brush in the paint can. “I thought you'd given up on that two years ago. You went to Pennsylvania to find a wife.”

“I meant to give up. Even when I came home I was going to leave her alone. But my
mammi
died, and Lily was there and it hurt too much when I thought about not trying.”

Josiah glanced at him between paint strokes. “It's going to hurt even worse when she marries Paul.”

Dan scrubbed his hand down the side of his face. “I know.”

“So why go to all the trouble?” Luke said.

Dan's lips twitched upward. “Because it's going to feel really, really
gute
if she chooses me.”

Josiah lost that stricken look and smiled. Luke laughed out loud before remembering that they were supposed to be quiet. “All you have to do is show her what a
dumkoff
Paul is.”

“
Nae,
” Dan said. “I can't get Lily to love me by putting Paul down.”

Luke filled his brush with more paint. “Then what are you going to do?”

“I'm sort of sneaking up on her.”

Luke smirked. “Were you sneaking around her barn tonight? Is that how you discovered the spray paint?”

Dan raised his eyebrows. “They invited me to dinner.”

Luke looked mildly impressed. “
Gute
work.”

“I took the sisters home from the gathering Friday. Even Poppy was nice.”

“I don't believe that,” Luke said. “Poppy would just as soon smack you as look at you.”

Dan flashed Luke a smug smile. “You maybe. Not me.”

“Ha,” Luke said.

Josiah dabbed at the same spot over and over again as if he were concentrating real hard on painting. “Does Rose ever talk about me?”

Luke snorted softly. “Have you and Rose ever had a conversation?”

Josiah lifted his chin. “Three months ago at a gathering I said, ‘Your honey cake is delicious,' and she said ‘
Denki
.'”

Luke rolled his eyes. “You two are pathetic.” He motioned toward Josiah with his paintbrush. “Rose doesn't even know you're alive.” He tilted his head in Dan's direction. “And Lily has a boyfriend.”

“Only a true friend would kick a guy when he's down,” Dan said, smiling as if Luke's teasing hadn't made him feel about two inches tall.

Lily had a boyfriend, and there wasn't much Dan could do about it. What a depressing thought.

Josiah dipped his paintbrush in the bucket. “Well, Poppy despises you. So you're in the same boat as the two of us.”

Luke looked as if he'd swallowed a bee. “Poppy? Why would I be interested in Poppy? I'm glad she despises me, because I can't stand her.”

“I don't think so,” Josiah said. “I saw the way you looked at her after
gmay
last week.”

Luke swatted at Josiah like a fly. “I was not. She may be pretty, but she's got the temperament of a badger. I want a wife who's soft and feminine. Someone who has never given me a bloody nose. Is that too much to ask?”

“I've always pictured you with someone a little feisty yet,” Josiah said.

Luke pinched his lips together. “Nope. Soft, gentle, and sweet. Not Poppy.”

“It's not like anyone is going to have you, Luke,” Dan said. “You're a grump. Girls don't like grumps.”

“Lily does. Just look at Paul,” Luke said.

Dan deflated like a balloon. Paul was more than a grump. He was downright cantankerous, and he would ruin Lily in a matter of weeks after they married.

Luke glanced at Dan, and the corners of his mouth drooped. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”

Dan swallowed the lump in his throat. “It's true. I just don't like it.”

Luke growled low and deep. “Oh,
sis yuscht,
I hate Paul Glick.”

Josiah shook his head. “You shouldn't say that.” He was always the one to chastise Dan and Luke if they strayed too far from the straight and narrow. “Jesus wants us to love everyone.”

“Some folks are extra hard to love.”

It only took the three of them half an hour to paint the barn door, but with the time it had taken to round up his friends and mix the paint, it must have been almost ten o'clock. Morning was going to come plenty early.

They stepped back and looked at their handiwork by the light of the flashlight. They'd successfully covered the nasty words. Rose would never suspect they'd been there. The color didn't look quite right in the dim light, but Lord willing, it would be close enough.

Luke gathered all the dirty paintbrushes in his empty bucket. “Not too bad for a paint job in the dark.”

“As long as Rose is happy, I'm happy,” Josiah said.

Luke leaned toward Josiah as if he were spilling a big secret. “She doesn't know you're alive, remember?”

Josiah pressed his lips into a hard line. “She will.”

Luke smirked. “As long as you don't scare her off first.”

Dan snapped his head around when he heard the front door open. Someone came toward them holding a lantern in her hand. He tried not to let his heart gallop when he saw that it was Lily. She hesitated at the last flagstone, holding her lantern higher as if to make sure the three boys standing in front of her barn were friendly. She wore her gray dress and a black bonnet but had no shoes.

He hoped they hadn't awakened her. “Is everything okay?”

She smiled tentatively and took his question as an invitation to come closer. “I couldn't sleep knowing you were out here slaving away on my barn. I came to see if you needed my help.”

“We're all done,” Dan said. “It was as easy as pies and cakes.”

They stepped aside so Lily could see the new paint. She opened her mouth as if to speak and promptly closed it again. She got closer to the barn door and held the lantern against it. “Uh . . . the color is . . .”

“We mixed four different colors to get it right,” Dan said. “What do you think?”

“It's . . .” She let out a long breath. The lantern reflected the warm glow in her eyes when she turned to him. “It's perfect. Perfect. I can't believe the three of you did this for us. We're not even family.”

“Anything for Rose,” Josiah said. Luke nudged him in the back with his shoulder. “All the Honeybee Schwesters,” Josiah added.

Dan stifled a grin.

“I hope you know how grateful I am,” Lily said. “For everything.” The look she gave him could have melted ice on Shawano Lake. The air grew twenty degrees warmer, like a tropical heat wave.

He wanted to bask in that smile forever, but there was really no reason to hang around now that the barn was done. His mind raced for an excuse to stay.

Luke turned his back on Lily so only Dan could see the look on his face. He smirked and cocked an eyebrow. “I've got to get going.”

Dan did his best not to act disappointed that he'd be forced to leave. “Okay. I'll drive you home.”

Luke picked up his paint cans and bucket full of paintbrushes. “No need. I'm the Christners' nearest neighbor. I'll walk.”

He turned and sauntered down the lane, no doubt with a smug grin plastered on his face.

Josiah had his own way home. He'd ridden his horse over. He picked up his paint cans and set them in Dan's buggy. “I'll fetch these from you tomorrow,” he said, nodding as if he were the smartest friend in the world. “We will see you later, Lily. Tell Rose I said hello.”

“I don't know if that would be such a good idea,” Lily said.

Josiah seemed to wilt. “Oh. Okay.”

Lily laid a hand on Josiah's arm. “Rose will wonder where I saw you between suppertime and bedtime. She might grow suspicious yet.”

Josiah stood up straighter. “Your reasoning is wise.”

She smiled that summery smile again. “I'll be sure to put in a good word for you as soon as an opportunity arises. Anyone who comes in the middle of the night to paint my barn deserves a good word.”

Dan could see Josiah trying not to smile too hard as he mounted his horse and waved good-bye.

“That was nice of you,” Dan said under his breath.

“Josiah is a
gute
man. I like him very much.”

He really liked her smile. It almost made him wish the Amish weren't against photographs. He'd take a thousand pictures of Lily's face.

Standing close together, they watched Josiah disappear down the lane. Being with Lily felt comfortable, like coming home. Like a bowl of warm bread pudding. Like the song of a bird outside his bedroom window or the touch of his
dat
's strong arm around his shoulders. There were no awkward silences that he felt obliged to fill, no clumsy words he needed to say. He savored every second of nearness to Lily because any moment now she would break the connection and tell him he had to go.