Christmas in Apple Ridge (29 page)

Gideon pondered the opposite reactions the Zook twins had to Annie. Of all the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites he’d known, he’d never heard of anyone crossing the line from one sect to the other—not even to court, much
less marry. It was forbidden, and if one of them was interested in her, it could cause a rift between her grandfather and the Zooks, perhaps destroying the family business as well as the years of trust between them.

If Gideon understood anything about love between a man and a woman, he knew it could grow where it wasn’t planted and thrive without anyone nurturing it—like poison ivy. And it could make a man just as miserably uncomfortable.

“Roman.” Gideon nodded toward the cash.

“Oh, ya.” He passed him the money.

Gideon shoved it into his pocket, grabbed the takeout boxes, and said good-bye.

Regardless of what was going on with these three, Gideon had his own battle to focus on—the one of avoiding Mattie Lane.

Mattie sat in Beth’s office at Hertzlers’ Dry Goods, using the community phone to make calls. If Mattie used the phone shanty at home, Mamm would fix her a favorite meal or start making her a new dress. Whenever Mattie was doing business on their property, Mamm was on the move. So each time Mattie thought of someone who’d ordered a cake from Mattie Cakes, she came here to call them and let them know she was
out of business, probably until April. She wished she had a better way of reaching everyone, because relying solely on her memory could cause someone not to be ready for a big event.

Once a piece of information concerning a client came to her—like an address, a relative’s name, or a husband’s first name—she called directory assistance to get the phone number. She dialed Mrs. Gibbons, an Englischer who’d ordered a cake for her parents’ sixtieth anniversary. This was Mattie’s third phone call of the day, and each one was difficult to get through. She explained the situation to her, and just like all the others she’d spoken to, Mrs. Gibbons was kind in accepting that she couldn’t fill the order. But every client asked what caused the fire. When she explained she’d left the place unattended with papers near the wood stove, they seemed satisfied with the answer. What she didn’t tell them was that in her pleasure at seeing Ryan’s excitement over his cake, she might have laid her notebook on the wood stove before leaving the store for more than an hour.

Being creative was fun. But for her the flip side of creativity was being scattered, and she
really
didn’t enjoy that part.

Lizzy quietly slipped into the room and went to a file cabinet. Mattie finished her phone call and put the receiver in its cradle. “Seems to me the more you add on to this store, the busier you get. You’re not getting ahead, Aunt Lizzy.”

“I said the same thing the other day,” she teased.

Her aunt always seemed to look a decade younger than she was, but now she absolutely glowed. Lizzy’s dark hair had very few strands of gray, and her sparkling brown eyes said she’d never been happier. Mattie wondered how amazing it must feel to be forty and getting married for the first time.

Maybe she would be that happy by the time she reached forty. It felt as if it’d take that long, anyway.

She caught a glimpse of movement across the yard and glanced that way.

Gideon.

She’d once loved him—his energy, his sense of humor, his dedication to God, family, and work.

He had a stack of two-by-fours on one shoulder and a huge bucket of paint, maybe twenty gallons, in his free hand, carrying them as if they were no heavier than an umbrella.

Beiler Construction belonged to Gideon’s grandfather and then to his Daed, who had several sons, but the business was in serious financial trouble by the time Gideon graduated from school at twelve. Even as a scrawny kid, he poured his energy and heart into the business, as did his brothers. By the time he turned seventeen, no worker was more powerful or capable.

Over the years she and Gideon had discovered some of the problems Beiler Construction had with supplies, contracted labor, and scheduling projects. She’d cherished those times of
talking over business issues while on a date or sharing a meal with his family. She had come up with some helpful solutions, and it’d made her feel valuable to him. And to his family.

But somewhere along the way, Gideon decided that she didn’t mean enough to him.

Lizzy followed her gaze. “Is something wrong?”

Mattie cleared her throat, trying to think of a cover. “Just wondering if the house will be done in time.” That was true enough, wasn’t it?

“I’m sure it’ll be done sufficiently.”

Wondering what had caused Gideon to change his mind about her was a subject she’d put away a long time ago, and she refused to start rehashing it now. As long as she was on this earth, she wouldn’t know the answers to lots of things, and that was one of them.

“Do you have pictures of the types of cakes you’re making these days?”

Mattie shook her head. “When I find something similar, I’ll show it to you. With the big day in two weeks, I have no time to lose.” She didn’t even have the right cake pans for what she hoped to make for her aunt.

“I don’t want anything fancy,” Lizzy said. “But I’d like it to be memorable.”

Mattie suppressed a smile. She heard this sentiment regularly
when making cakes for the Amish. “I’ll do just that. And I want your cake to be quite different from Beth’s. What did you have in mind?”

“Omar’s eyes always light up when people have one of those enormous cakes like you made for your parents’ anniversary a few years ago. I was going to try to make it myself, but since you’re here, I’ll gladly turn that responsibility over to you. Is it possible to make one like that?”

“Unfortunately, that large pan was charred and warped in the fire. I could bake several smaller ones and put them together.”

Lizzy frowned. “You can’t keep doing that forever. You need new pans. If you’ll order them, I’ll be glad to pay for them.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

“You most certainly can, and I’ll not hear another word about it, or I’ll go straight to the bishop.”

Mattie laughed. “You’re going to take full advantage of marrying the bishop, aren’t you?”

Lizzy moved around to Mattie’s side of the desk. She cupped Mattie’s face in her hands. “Seriously, let us replace those pans.”

She’d forgotten how pleasant it was to be treated special by Lizzy. “Denki.”

“So where do we buy them?”

“I don’t know.” Gideon had special-ordered them from a
man who’d never made cake pans before. All she had to do was find the courage to ask Gideon for the man’s name and number. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Sounds good to me. I need to get back to work, and you need to get busy finding some answers.”

“Denki, Lizzy.”

“It’s good to have you back, Mattie.” She closed the door behind her.

Mattie didn’t want to ask Gideon for help, but she couldn’t afford to lose time searching for someone else to make the pans. She put on her coat and walked onto the main floor of the dry goods store.

“Hey.” Beth stopped sorting books. “You leaving?”

“I need to ask Gideon a question, and if he has an answer, I may need to use your phone again. I’m trying to avoid doing business at home because Mamm stays on her feet the whole time.”

“Come back whenever you need to. If the store is closed, just bang on the door. I’ll hear you.”

“I’m sure you’re looking forward to living somewhere other than above this store.”

“I’m looking forward to getting married.” She raised her eyebrows. “Where we live isn’t that important right now.”

Mattie laughed. “Must be nice.” She waved. “I hope to see
you in just a bit.” She left the store and walked across the parking lot and the lawn and into Beth’s new home. “Hello?”

“In the kitchen,” Gideon groaned.

When Mattie walked in, he had a large kitchen cabinet balanced between the wall and his shoulder. One hand was stretched up as high as he could reach on the front of the cabinet, his face was turning red, and his arms were shaking.

“Could you do me a favor?”

His predicament and his nonchalant question didn’t exactly match, and she found it quite amusing. It was obvious her answer needed to be yes, but something playful in her, or maybe the need to aggravate him, came out of hiding. “Maybe.”

“Mattie Lane,” he growled.

She laughed. “Well, what is it?”

He nodded toward the floor, and she noticed a broken deadman brace. “There’s another one on the back porch.” He gritted his teeth under the weight of the cabinet.

She ran to get it and hurried back. She propped the T of it as he’d shown her years ago. Then she crawled onto the makeshift countertop and helped hoist the cabinet into place and held it steady while he got one nail in—hopefully into a stud, or the cabinet would fall.

She closed her eyes while the hammer banged away.

“We did it.” Gideon rubbed his shoulder. “That’ll keep it
from falling while I get the screws in.” He offered her a hand down.

She hesitated, confusion churning. Taking his hand could be a mistake, one that might unleash thoughts and feelings she couldn’t allow. She shooed him away and hopped down. “Where’s your helper?”

“The crews are at another home, trying to get it dried in before bad weather hits.” He used his level to get the cabinet just right, and then with a battery-powered screwdriver, he sank two long screws into the cabinet and wall.

“The business must really be behind schedule.”

“Might be the worst yet.” He removed the brace and set it aside.

Memories of their brainstorming about scheduling issues stung her heart for a moment. She’d loved those times—looking for solutions, laughing at some of the ridiculous predicaments Beiler Construction dealt with, and letting him vent his frustrations. Apparently he hadn’t felt the same way.

Mattie rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them. “Why are you installing cabinets anyway? Does Beiler Construction do that now?”

“No. That’s why this cabinet job wasn’t likely to go well no matter how many hands were here. But my oldest brother decides who’ll be where these days.”

“John? That’s your position. You earned it.”

He shrugged, obviously not interested in talking about John taking over as the lead contractor of Beiler Construction. He dusted off his shirt. “Denki for your help, Mattie. If I’d tried to set the cabinet down, it would’ve toppled and gotten damaged, and I couldn’t keep holding it up.”

She dropped the subject of John. It wasn’t any of her business who was the walking boss of Beiler Construction, but if Gideon were running it, no one would be finishing a job by himself.

He folded his arms, leaned against the counter, and narrowed his eyes at her. “I was in a bind and asked for help, and your answer was ‘maybe’?”

She barely managed to keep the grin off her face. “It was tempting to see how long you could last. When you said you needed a favor, it was all I could do not to ask, ‘Now?’ ”

The amusement in his eyes made her long for the days when she was the one who’d mattered most to him. Uncomfortable with her thoughts, her mirth vanished.

She pulled a scrap of paper out of her coat pocket and laid it on the counter. “The reason I’m here is to ask if you have the name and number of the man who made those custom-sized pans for me.”

“Ya.” He pulled out the tape measure and started working again.

“May I have it?”

“Now?”

She resisted laughing. “No. I could wait until you’re asleep tonight and toss a rock through your window.”

“Again?” He mocked gaping at her. “Didn’t we get into enough trouble the first time?”

“Uh, I didn’t get into trouble. Only you did. Actually, I think my Daed was quite proud that his only daughter could throw a rock that far and that hard at twelve years old.”

“What was the deal with you throwing a rock and me getting in trouble for it? I was asleep!”

“Mammi Beiler said it had to be your idea, and since you were older, I was totally under your influence.”

“Whatever,” he teased.

Her heart pounded, enjoying the nostalgia they so easily shared. She reminded herself of who he was and cleared her throat. “The man’s name and number?”

“Sure. Dennis Ogletree. I met him on a job site one time, and we’ve stayed in contact. He’s a machinist by trade. He can make the pans in less than a day once he gets to the project. I’m just glad to see a spark of life returning to your face.”

“Do not say the word
spark
to me, please.”

His familiar lopsided smile that held more compassion than humor sent fear running through her. Getting along with women came effortlessly to him, and she was a fool to be drawn in so easily.

A hint of a thought darted across his face before he took a wristwatch out of his pants pocket and glanced at it. He grabbed a carpenter’s pencil off the countertop.

While he wrote down the information, she noticed a small bucket filled with a bundle of fall flowers sitting on the floor near the washroom. Since it was the end of November, they had to come from a florist.

“Aw, Beth’s getting flowers from Jonah. How sweet.”