Harvest of Hearts (12 page)

Daed nodded and straightened a bit, frowning at the car. He pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it, and his frown deepened.

“Nate’s car broke down.” Shanna didn’t know why she felt obligated to explain. “I need to take him to Springfield.”

“Hmm.” Daed turned to look at Nate. “Where’s the car?”

Nate stepped closer and pointed toward the road. “About half a mile down, on the left.”

“You were headed the wrong way to town, ain’t so?” Daed speared him with a sharp look, then glanced back at Shanna. “Did you call a tow truck?”

“Nein. Didn’t consider it. It’s kind of late now, anyway. Nate can call for one tomorrow.”

Daed nodded. “Give me a minute, and we’ll tow the car here. It isn’t safe to leave vehicles unattended beside the road for long. In the morning, I’ll take a look and maybe find out what’s wrong with it.”

“You can fix cars?” Nate’s voice squeaked in surprise.

Daed shrugged. “Maybe. Matthew, kum with me. We’ll be right back.” They disappeared into the barn. A minute later, they returned, Matthew carrying a tow rope, Daed hefting something else Shanna couldn’t identify. She opened the trunk of her car, and Daed and Matthew loaded the items before crawling into the backseat.

Nate settled next to Shanna in the front, and she pressed the gas pedal. “Left at the road and about half a mile,” Nate instructed her. “You’ll see it.”

Shanna drove down the driveway and turned left.

“I used the horses last time I had to pull a car out of the ditch,” Daed said, leaning forward. “Driver had slid off in the twelve inches of snow we got last winter. Don’t get accumulation all that often around these parts, so no one knows how to drive in it.”

“I’m not exactly in the ditch.” Nate glanced back at Daed, then faced forward again. “It’s kind of half on, half off the road. So, no, it isn’t safe, but I didn’t know what to do.” He pointed ahead at a dark shape. “There it is.”

Shanna passed the car and turned into the next farmhouse drive, then backed out into the road. She came to a stop in front of Nate’s car. “Okay, now what?”

Daed opened the back door. “You hold the flashlight. Matthew and I will get this hooked up in no time.”

When she stepped out of the car and joined him on the road, he handed the light to her.

“Can I help?” Nate came around the front.

Daed gave Nate a dubious stare. “I’m guessing not. Unless you want to hold the light.”

Nate took the flashlight from Shanna as Matthew went around to the trunk of the car and got the rope. “Where do you want me, then?”

“Matthew will hook up under the car. You could shine the light under there so he can see what he’s doing.”

Shanna wasn’t sure if Matthew had heard or not, since he remained silent, but he worked as if he knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Without asking any questions, he slid under Nate’s car. Maybe Amish men knew instinctively how to hook up cars for transport. She grinned. Could be from having to hook up horses or oxen to buggies and farm equipment.

Daed attached the rope to Shanna’s vehicle as Matthew shimmied out from under Nate’s car. Then, Matthew leaned close and whispered something to Daed as he double-checked the ropes. Her father straightened, gave Shanna a look she couldn’t identify, and whispered something back to Matthew. Finally, they moved away from the cars. “Okay, we’re ready now. Nate, you want to shift into neutral? Make sure the brake’s off.”

Nate slid in behind the wheel of his car, while Shanna scampered over to hers and got back in the driver’s seat. Ten minutes later, she pulled to a stop in front of the barn.

While Matthew got to work disconnecting the cars, Daed turned to Shanna. “If you want to go down to the basement and get one of the cots, your friend can sleep inside the haus tonight. I’ll send him home tomorrow in his own car.”

Shanna hesitated, not sure how she felt about Nate spending the night. Not that she wanted to be antisocial, but, well…. She didn’t trust him, she realized.

“Wait a minute.” Nate scratched his head. “You’re Amish. How would you know how to fix a car?”

Daed grunted. “Jah, I’m Amish. Not stupid.” He paused. “Will it be all right with you to sleep here?”

Nate hesitated, fixing his gaze on Shanna. “I guess. I have to work tomorrow, but I don’t have to be in until eleven.”

“If I can’t fix it, or haven’t finished by the time you need to leave, I’ll call a driver for you.” Daed strode away. “Shanna, the cot.”

She started to move, but she wasn’t out of hearing when Daed turned back to Nate. “Don’t for a moment think that because the haus isn’t locked, the barn will be open, too. It will be securely bolted. Not much is more valuable than a daughter.”

A grin spread across Shanna’s face. Daed still considered her his daughter? And he valued her?

***

Levi turned and disappeared inside the house, leaving Matthew to take care of the towing equipment. Nate trailed him into the barn. “If daughters are so important, why is he making Shanna sleep in the barn?”

“He’s not making her. She has the option of sleeping inside, but she’d have to share a bed with her sisters, and they thought she’d be more comfortable in the apartment. It has electric.”

“You don’t have electricity?”

Matthew didn’t answer. He picked up a lantern and lit it.

Nate looked at the buggy, illuminated in the flickering light, and his eyes widened. “And you drive buggies! Why would you want to do that? You have choices! There’s a whole world out there.”

Matthew set the lantern on a shelf and began coiling the rope. He didn’t bother responding to Nate’s questions. It would be impossible to explain his beliefs and lifestyle to a city-dwelling Englischer. If he wanted to know the reasons, he could always ask Shanna later.

“And you guys dress like you just came off the
Mayflower
.”

Matthew forced a smile. He’d seen pictures of Pilgrims. Their clothes didn’t remotely resemble Amish dress.

“Why would you want to do that? They make belts to hold pants up, so you don’t have to wear suspenders.”

“Jah. I know.” Matthew picked up the lantern and turned toward the door. He considered mimicking Levi’s curt “
I’m Amish, not stupid
” comment. “Kum. We’ll get you settled in the haus.”

“So, are you one of Shanna’s brothers?” Nate followed him out of the barn and across the yard.

Matthew sighed. Those who said that northerners were nosey had obviously never met Nate. “Nein. Not her brother. I’m….” What? Slightly more than an acquaintance, slightly less than a friend. “I’m a boarder.”

Shanna came around the corner, dragging a cot and smiling. Was she that happy Nate would be sleeping here? If only she knew what Matthew thought. It had been too dark to be absolutely positive, but it had appeared Nate had disconnected a wire to the alternator. Matthew had definitely noticed something dangling in that area. He’d told Levi as much.

Shanna touched Matthew’s arm lightly, then pulled her hand away, probably because he had done the same so quickly before. “You’re more than a boarder, Matthew. You’re a friend.”

A friend? Maybe. The temptation was there to be more. Much more.

The next morning, Shanna woke up to realize she had overslept by half an hour. She needed to hurry to get to work on time, so she didn’t have time to help with the morning chores in the barn. Daed and Matthew were already tinkering with Nate’s car when she drove past them on her way down the driveway. At least, they appeared to be. Matthew sat on the ground in front of the car, like he’d been fixing to slide underneath or had just slid out. He raised his hand in a wave.

She waved back. She didn’t see any sign of Nate. Of course, she’d never known him to get up before ten in the morning. He always managed to schedule his classes around his penchant for sleeping late. Englisch were funny that way. She’d been raised to be up before the sun.

When she returned home four hours later, Nate was gone. Daed must have been able to fix his car. Shanna ran upstairs to her apartment and changed out of her uniform into a blue dress. She’d retrieved all of her old clothes from her sisters’ bedroom. Good thing they still fit.

She was on her way to the house when Matthew came out of the shop. He grinned at her. “Shanna. You got a minute? We need to talk.”

“Jah. What’s up?”

He hesitated, the expression on his face changing from pleasure to trepidation. He gestured toward the fields. “Let’s walk.”

A walk sounded nice, but Matthew looked too serious. Troubled. Like she’d done something wrong. She couldn’t think of what she might have done to bother him. And she hated getting into trouble. Shame, since she seemed to be good at it. She didn’t even have to try.

“I planned to help Mamm with the baking. Cookies, again.” She forced a smile, but he didn’t return it. In fact, his eyes turned even more serious. She sighed. “Will this take long?” Might as well get it over with. Then, she could apologize and go her way.

“That depends on how blunt I am. If you’d prefer, I can get your daed. He thought maybe you’d take this better from me.”

Shanna tensed. Daed was using Matthew to pass along criticism? Anger flashed through her, and she glared at him. “Just spit it out.”

Matthew frowned, his eyes narrowing in confusion. “Spit it out?”

“Say what you’re going to say, okay? And in the future, if you want to keep being my friend, maybe you shouldn’t get involved in Daed’s never-ending issues with me. He can yell at me himself.”

Matthew’s eyes widened. “Whoa. Maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions so fast.”

She fixed him with a hard stare and straightened her shoulders defensively.

Matthew pulled his shoulders back, as well. Not to mention, his jaw tightened, and a muscle flexed in his neck. Stubborn, was he?

“I’m not going to stand here and blurt out things where others might overhear.”

Shanna lifted her arm and massaged her neck muscles for a moment. Then, she dropped her hand to her side, ready to give in.

The shop door opened, and Daed strode toward them. “Matthew. Never mind. Furniture truck should be here in a short while. Why don’t you help Joseph get the order together?”

Though he’d phrased it like a question, it was an order. Matthew glanced at Daed and nodded, then gave Shanna a long, pointed look before he turned and headed into the shop.

His expression had shifted from anger to concern, perhaps even pity.

Maybe she would rather have heard whatever it was from Matthew. Daed’s expression almost terrified her. His eyebrows drew together as he studied her with obvious assessment. She stiffened.

“Kum.”

She hesitated and glanced toward the house, then the shop, hoping for something urgent that needed her attention. A fire, maybe. Or a roof that was about to collapse.

Not seeing anything, she followed Daed out behind the barn.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Shanna. The bu had disconnected his alternator. Those don’t come detached by themselves. He had deliberate car trouble.”

Shanna stared at him. “Deliberate?”

“Jah. Maybe you should choose your friends more wisely. He isn’t a gut choice.”

“Nate?” She scratched her head, forgetting about the prayer kapp she wore, and stabbed a pin into her scalp. So, she chewed her lower lip, instead. The wire
must
have become detached on its own. While she’d realized she didn’t fully trust Nate, she didn’t believe he’d deliberately disable his car. That didn’t make any sense. “I think I know him a lot better than you do.”

Daed frowned. “Maybe so. But it’s clear that bu has designs on you, and they don’t include marriage.”

Withholding a snort, Shanna looked away. “If that’s true, he’s had ample opportunity. I went on a date with him. To the movies and out for pizza. Seriously, Daed.” She shouldn’t have to describe their date to him. Anger flared within her. “Maybe you should leave my choice of friends alone. Just because he isn’t Amish doesn’t mean he’s bad.”