Huckleberry Harvest (10 page)

“You’ve already thanked me with a lump of cookie dough.”

“But it’s such a small gift in comparison.”

He twisted his lips into a teasing grin. “I really don’t want to speak of it ever again. And if you keep insisting on bringing it up, I will be forced to remind you of why you fell in the river.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “The most embarrassing day of my life.”

“So you see, it would be wise to forget it ever happened.”

Mandy nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be able to laugh about it in thirty or forty years. No wonder you think I’m strange.”

“But it’s not because of your freckles. I like your freckles.” The way he looked at her made her feel shy—probably because nobody had ever complimented her on her freckles before. Suddenly, she was glad that three full summers of lemon juice and sitting outside in the sun hadn’t faded them like Kristina said it would.

“I . . . I should go . . . do and go . . .” she stammered. What was it she needed to go and do?

“One more thing,” Noah said, growing serious. “Thank you for what you did with Buddy yesterday.”

“What did I do?”

“He asked about my dat. You diverted his attention.” His chocolate-brown gaze pierced right through her. “Why did you, after how rude I was?”

“I could tell it made you unhappy. I didn’t want you to be unhappy.”

“Why?”

Her face got warm again. “I like helping people.”

He nodded. “You like to fix things.”

“I suppose I do. If people could just see how unhappy they are and how easy it is to make things better, there’d be a lot fewer problems in the world.”

“So you came to my house to see if you could patch things up between me and Kristina because you thought it would make me happier?” he said.

Why did her face have to heat up every time he looked at her like that? “Well, it would have made Kristina happier.”

“I know you don’t believe me, but she wouldn’t have been happier. Some things can’t be fixed.”

“Everything can be fixed.”

He stiffened. “Nae. Most things can’t. We must trust in God and let Him take care of the things beyond our control.”

Mandy felt as if they were on the cusp of an argument. She didn’t want to butt heads with Noah today. They were having such a pleasant time together. And she truly didn’t relish the thought of talking Noah into getting back with Kristina. Noah and Kristina would never suit.

“You’re right. We should never second-guess God.” That gaze was too intense. She looked down at her hands. One of them seemed to be glued into a permanent fist with maple syrup.

Noah relaxed his jaw, eased into a smile, and took the napkins she’d crumpled in her other hand. “We should get you to some water as soon as possible.”

They stood up. “I’ll wash at the kitchen sink,” Mandy said. “Would you mind opening the door for me? I might get stuck on the handle.”

He opened the door, and she took the sticky plate and napkins from his hand. He stood in the threshold and watched her as she threw the paper into the trash and washed and dried her hands.

Mammi still sat in her rocker knitting pot holders. “Noah,” she said, “are you finished with the shed already?”

“Nae. Haven’t started.”

“You’re a gute boy, to be sure. I’m sorry I can’t offer you a pot holder, but we’re saving them for Mandy’s suitors.”

He sprouted a self-conscious smile. “No apology necessary. I’m just here to build the shed.”

“I knew you’d understand.”

Noah looked uncertain as to whether he wanted to come in the house or go out. He nearly shut the door and then changed his mind and stepped back into the house. “I could use an extra pair of hands if you want to, Mandy.”

Mandy felt as if she would burst. He wanted her help. She tossed the dish towel onto the cupboard and practically sprinted out the door, mentally reviewing the different kinds of screwdrivers, just in case she’d be called upon to use one.

She’d already impressed him with her wrench experience. He’d be doubly astounded by her screwdriver knowledge.

Noah was as meticulous as he was handsome. On the uneven ground, he insisted on using a level for every board, and screws instead of nails. Dawdi’s shed would probably stand longer than the house. Mandy wondered why she had ever worried about the stove or the ropes or a house explosion. Noah worked as if a shelter for the propane tank was worth his best time and effort. He took great care with every corner and every surface.

Mandy handed him another screw so he wouldn’t have to hold them in his mouth while he worked. In truth, Mandy was completely useless to Noah’s project. He could certainly hold his own screws in the handy pocket in his tool belt. She saved him a little time by handing him tools and wooden slats, but she wasted more of his time with questions and idle conversation. Still, she kind of liked being with him, sometimes just being silent together, sometimes laughing at something funny.

She handed him another slat.

He glanced at her before screwing it into the frame. “I feel like I might be keeping you from something important,” he said. “If your mammi needs you in the house, I can fetch my own wood.”

“I’m okay,” she said, rocking back and forth on her heels. “Unless I’m bothering you. You said you like to be left alone. I can leave.”

A frown stumbled across his face. “I’m sorry I said that.”

“And I’m sorry I spied.”

The storm clouds parted, and he smiled. “We’re not to mention the spying ever again.”

“Or that you saved my life. Let’s just leave it in the past. Everything.”

“Okay. Everything.”

Mandy grabbed another handful of screws. “You know, Noah, I’d be perfectly comfortable letting you raise a baby.”

He snapped his head up and looked at her as if she’d eaten her shoe. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re so careful with everything.”

“I don’t even know how to change a diaper.”

“But if you had to, you’d figure out how to put one on. And then you’d mold it perfectly to fit the baby’s bottom. Diaper rash would never afflict your baby.”

His mouth curved upward. “If you gave me a manual I could probably do it. I’m not all that smart, but I know how to read directions.”

He pulled his battery-operated drill away from the slat he was working on and knelt beside his toolbox.

Mandy stood ready with a board in one hand and a level in the other. “What do you need?”

“A different drill bit.”

“I’ll find it,” she said. “What size?”

They both heard a bell. Mandy peered around the corner of the house and caught her breath. She’d been having so much fun that she’d forgotten about Kristina. Her best friend ambled up the lane walking her bicycle, occasionally flicking the bell with her thumb to make it tinkle. The lane was steep enough that most bikers didn’t try to pedal up the hill.

“Oh.” The word escaped her lips before she could pull it back.

“Who is it?” Noah said, squarely focused on his shed.

A thread of guilt wrapped itself around Mandy’s throat. How would Kristina react if she knew Mandy was spending time with the “enemy”?

Or worse. What if Kristina knew Mandy was enjoying spending time with Noah? Kristina still loved him. Would she be jealous?

Should
she be jealous?

Mandy tossed her handful of screws into the bucket. Of course not. She had recently come to think less harshly of Noah, but Kristina was still her best friend. Mandy would never do anything to jeopardize that friendship.

“It’s Kristina,” Mandy said. Did she sound disappointed?

Noah instinctively stepped back, even though Kristina couldn’t see him from this angle. He crossed his arms over his chest so that the drill pointed into the sky. With the resentful frown etched into his face, he looked like a brick wall, impossible to topple. Whatever kind of attack Kristina planned to use, he was ready.

Mandy’s mind raced for a way to make this awkward meeting less uncomfortable for everybody. Kristina still hadn’t seen Noah. Maybe she didn’t have to know he was here.

“Krissy,” Mandy called, waving and skipping across the lawn to greet her.

Breathing as if she’d run a race, Kristina nudged the kickstand with her foot and parked her bike right in the middle of the lane. “That is a terrible hill. Somebody should make it flatter.”

“It’s not gute with a bike.”

“Next time I’ll ask Mamm if I can bring the buggy.” She pulled a water bottle from her plaid bag and took a swig. “I’m ready to help with the spaghetti sauce. Do you have a gute recipe? My mamm makes the best spaghetti sauce.”

“I don’t know if it’s a gute recipe,” Mandy said, taking Kristina’s elbow and guiding her in the direction of the porch and away from Noah’s hiding place. “It always seems to taste the same no matter what recipe we use.”

“Well, if you want, we can use my mamm’s recipe. I’ll show you how we do it.”

“Okay,” Mandy said, nudging Kristina toward the front door.

“What were you doing out here?” Kristina said.

“What? When?”

“Just now. What were you doing when I came up the hill? Something around the corner of the house.”

Mandy tugged more forcefully on Kristina’s elbow as she paused to peer in the forbidden direction.

“Are there still prickly bushes around that side?” Kristina asked. She slid her elbow free of Mandy’s arm and marched around the corner of the house.

Mandy followed as if to catch her before she went over a cliff. “Krissy, wait.”

Kristina stopped short when she caught sight of Noah, still standing as if he were rooted to the spot. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her nose in the air so far she might have been looking for birds.

Huffing her displeasure, she abruptly turned on her heels and hooked her arm around Mandy’s elbow. With her back as stiff as a board, she marched to the house, dragging Mandy with her.

Mandy glanced back at Noah and shrugged before Kristina spirited her away. Noah remained immovable except for the twitching muscles of his clenched jaw.

Kristina raced into the house with Mandy in tow. Breathlessly, she slammed the door and leaned her arms and cheek against it as if she had just run a marathon and was too exhausted to stand on her own. She panted with excitement as a smile formed on her lips. “Ach, he is so cute.”

“I’m sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable. He’s building a shed for—”

Kristina pushed away from the door, yanked on Mandy’s arm, and dragged her to the kitchen window. She craned her neck to gaze around to the side of the house. Mandy heaved a sigh. Kristina wouldn’t be able to see a thing from that angle. “Do you think he noticed how mad I was?” Kristina said.

“Maybe.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “Gute. He’ll not get one kind word from me until he apologizes for what he did.”

Mammi stood at the sink up to her elbows in soapy water. “Hello, Kristina. It’s very nice of you to help us do spaghetti sauce.”

“I don’t mind,” said Kristina, turning her attention back to the window.

A row of quart jars sat next to the sink. Mammi dunked each one in the soapy water, swished the water around inside the jar, and then rinsed them in the clear water sitting in the second sink. “How is your mother feeling?” Mammi asked without looking up from her task.

“She’s getting her gallbladder out day after tomorrow,” Kristina said.

The lines in Mammi’s forehead deepened. “So soon? I’ll have to think of something nice to bake for your family. Can people without gallbladders eat haggis? I’ve got a new international recipe book. Haggis is from Scotland. You use all the innards of the sheep that usually get thrown out.”

“Oh, well, we don’t need anything like that,” Kristina stuttered, giving Mammi her full attention for the first time since she walked into the house. “My sister is coming up from Wautoma, and Aunt Esther will help for a few days. Esther makes gute potato soup.”

A stack of newly knitted pot holders sat on the table. Mammi had been busy while Mandy had worked outside with Noah. Mandy smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Mammi. I should have helped finish the pot holders.”

Mammi waved away her apology, sending bubbles flying in every direction. “Felty’s wonderful eager to get that shed up. He said Noah needed your help. I got seven pot holders done. That should tide us over for a few days.”

“How many quarts are we doing, Mammi?”

Mammi took a paper towel and swiped a sticky spider’s web out of one of the jars. “I’ve got two bushels of tomatoes downstairs, and Felty is out picking more right now. At least three dozen quarts. I hope the new stove holds up.”

Mandy thought of Noah’s careful hands. The stove would hold up just fine.

Kristina still peered out the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of Noah. It was no use. Unless he came around to the front of the house, she wouldn’t be able to see him.

“We’ll fetch the tomatoes,” Mandy said, taking Kristina’s wrist and pulling her in the direction of the cellar. Kristina reluctantly followed.

“And I’ll need more bottles. Another dozen will do it.”

They tromped down the stairs, Mandy still holding on to Kristina’s wrist just in case she decided she couldn’t live one more minute without a glimpse of Noah.

“Do you think Noah will come in for a drink soon?” Kristina said.

The way Noah had reacted when Kristina came up that hill, he wouldn’t even come in the house for emergency medical attention. “I don’t wonder but he’ll keep outside.”

“I wish he were working right by the kitchen window. Then we could spy on him while we wash tomatoes.”

“It’s gute we can’t see him, then,” Mandy said, stooping to pick up one of the baskets of tomatoes. It wouldn’t budge. “We’ve too much work to waste time spying.”

Kristina gave Mandy a smug smile. “It’s easy to spy while you work.”

“It doesn’t matter, because you promised there would be no more spying.”

Kristina ran her finger along one of the shelves as if she were looking for dust. “Spying doesn’t hurt anybody.”

Mandy scolded Kristina with her eyes. “Have you forgotten that I almost drowned two days ago?”

“Nae,” Kristina said, without a hint of remorse in her expression.

“Spying makes you look desperate.”

“It does not.” She smoothed her hand down her purple dress, leaving a smudge of dust from the shelf. Blinking as if holding back tears, she sighed dramatically. “Besides, I am desperate. I love Noah so much I think I’ll die if he doesn’t love me.”

Mandy tried not to be impatient. Poor Kristina hoped for something that wasn’t going to happen. Ever. Noah’s heart was completely set against her. Mandy had seen it in his eyes a dozen different times since she’d met him. It was as if he’d never liked Kristina at all.

Mandy took Kristina’s hand. “I think you’re going to have to accept that Noah doesn’t want to get back together with you.” She felt a twinge of guilt. Was she glad that Noah didn’t want to get back together with her best friend?

Kristina lifted her chin. “You’re wrong. If he knew me better, he’d want to court me.”

With all her might, Mandy tried to scoot a bushel of tomatoes toward the stairs. After she managed to move it about eight inches, she gave up. “I thought you said you dated over the summer. Didn’t you get to know each other?”

Kristina suddenly became interested in the empty jars sitting on the shelves. “He drove me home hundreds of times in his courting buggy.”

“But did he go to your house and sit with your parents and play Scrabble and Life on the Farm?”

Kristina picked up a jar and blew the dust off the top of it. “He doesn’t like Scrabble.”

“What does he like to do?”

Kristina’s face lit up like a propane lantern, as if she were thinking about something else entirely. After returning the jar to its shelf, she pulled out her cell phone and started pushing buttons. “I’m going to text him. He’ll die when he sees who it’s from.”

Mandy snatched the phone from Kristina. “You’re not going to text him. That’s ridiculous.”

Kristina stuck out her lower lip. “I’m just teasing. Boys like to be teased.”

“He doesn’t. He’ll think you’re a nuisance,” Mandy said.

“That’s not true. We used to text each other all the time over the summer.”

Mandy pressed her lips together. She wasn’t as eager to believe Kristina’s side of the story as she had been last week. “How often did you text Noah, really?”

“Twenty, thirty times a day.”

Mandy’s jaw clunked to the floor. “Twenty or thirty? And he texted you back?”

Kristina looked positively sullen. “Sometimes. And then he stopped responding altogether. I think he blocked my number or something.”

No doubt he blocked Kristina’s number. Mandy would have blocked Kristina’s number. Mandy’s throat went dry. She was beginning to suspect that she’d given Noah a scolding he hadn’t deserved.

Kristina’s eyes pooled with tears. She had a talent for turning on the water with only a few seconds’ preparation. “He treated me so bad, but I still love him.”

Even though her sympathy felt thin, Mandy snaked her arms around Kristina’s shoulders. “Don’t cry. Noah would no doubt make a fine husband, but there are plenty of other boys who might suit you better. If you stopped pining for Noah, you might find someone else.”

“I don’t want someone else,” Kristina sobbed, compelling Mandy to lean away so her eardrum wouldn’t shatter. “Noah is the only one. He knows how to fix anything. He takes his Bible everywhere he goes. He is the first one to help at the auctions and always goes to the barn raisings. He’s wonderful. Wonderful. There’s no boy in Bonduel even half as wonderful.”

Mandy didn’t know if she should pump Kristina with hope or serve her a dose of reality. It was plain that Noah had decided against Kristina. Mandy couldn’t blame him. A girl who spied on a boy and texted him dozens of times a day needed to grow up before she ever thought about trying to find a husband.

She grasped Kristina by the shoulders and forced her to make eye contact. “Krissy, I know this is hard for you, but I don’t think Noah is ever going to want you back.”

“But why?”

Mandy cleared her throat. “He told me.”

Kristina’s eyes got as round as plump, juicy tomatoes. “He told you? When?”

“Today while I helped him with the shed.”

“You and Noah talked about me? Behind my back?” Her voice rose in pitch.

“He said you’d be happier without him.”

Kristina narrowed her eyes into slits. “Last week you told me he was a
dumkoff
, and suddenly you two are building sheds together and gossiping about me? Are you trying to steal my boyfriend?”

Leave it to Kristina to blow things out of proportion. Mandy sighed to herself. At least she’d stopped crying. “Nae, of course not. Noah pulled me out of the river. I’m very grateful.”

“Grateful enough to forget your best friend?”

“I would never forget my best friend,” Mandy said.

“Then you shouldn’t be nice to Noah. I promised myself I wouldn’t even smile at him until he agreed to get back together.”

“Noah and I are friends, Krissy.” Mandy’s heart did a little skip in her chest. Was she really friends with Noah Mischler, the boy who’d ordered her to get her hinnerdale off his porch? She swallowed the lump of guilt forming in her throat.

Kristina let out a squeak of indignation. “You can’t be friends with someone who treated your best friend like dirt.”

Nae. She couldn’t be friends with someone like that, but Mandy was beginning to think that, as Noah had told her, she’d only gotten half a story that hadn’t been true to begin with.

Kristina grabbed her phone from Mandy’s hand. “I’m going to text him and tell him to help us carry the tomatoes.”

“Don’t, Krissy.”

“They’re too heavy to lug all the way up the stairs, and he has muscles.”

The thought of Noah’s muscles stole her breath for a second. “I don’t want to interrupt him. I can carry the tomatoes upstairs. I just need a better grip on the handles.”

Kristina made a halfhearted attempt to lift one of the bushels. “Come on, Mandy. We need his help for reals.”

“If he blocked your number, he won’t get your text.”

Kristina’s eyes sparkled playfully. “I’ll go outside and fetch him.”

“You said you weren’t ever going to talk to him again.”

She was already halfway up the stairs. “How I am going to get him to come in here if I don’t talk to him?”

Dread settled like a pile of rocks in Mandy’s stomach. Would it be better or worse if she went out there with Kristina? Would Noah accuse her of spying?

She had the almost overpowering urge to protect Noah from Kristina’s attack, and yet her feet felt as heavy as a bushel of tomatoes. She didn’t think she could bear to see the contempt or the betrayal on his face when Kristina asked him to do something that he knew perfectly well they could do themselves.

Maybe he would refuse to do Kristina’s bidding. He avoided her whenever possible. Perhaps he would tell Kristina he was too busy to heft tomatoes. Mandy took heart at that thought. She’d rather not face him.

Her heart sank as she heard footsteps upstairs. Those heavy ones didn’t belong to Kristina. When she heard Noah’s boots on the stairs, she wanted to fold herself into a small pile and hide in one of Mammi’s empty jars.

She stood there like an idiot watching as he clomped down the stairs with Kristina right behind him.

Kristina rattled on in that gushing tone she saved for babies and boys she was trying to impress. “Two whole bushels, that’s what there is down here. Anna needs that spaghetti sauce done and we can’t even get the tomatoes upstairs. But we knew you’d be able to do it. You’re so strong, Noah.” Mandy wished Kristina would make up her mind about whether she despised Noah or wanted to win him back. Mandy found it impossible to keep up.

They could probably turn all the lights off in the cellar and be able to see by the glow of Mandy’s warm cheeks. When Noah got to the bottom of the stairs, his eyes met hers. He was grumpy, no doubt about that, but he didn’t seem particularly angry with her, even though he should have been. She should have lugged the tomatoes upstairs instead of wasting time arguing with Kristina about it.

She raised her eyebrows and mouthed the word “Sorry.” He turned his head slightly in Kristina’s direction and smirked.

Kristina pointed to the tomatoes in case Noah didn’t see them sitting in the middle of the floor. “There they are. I don’t know how Felty got them down here, but you are the only one who can help us. We’re just helpless girls, you know.”

As easy as if it were a basket of feathers, Noah lifted one of the bushels and started up the stairs, frowning as if Kristina had asked him to marry her. Determined to pull her own weight, Mandy grunted as, with every ounce of strength she had, she lifted the second bushel.

Noah glanced back at her. “No, you don’t. I’ll come back for that one.”

She ignored him, held her breath, and stumbled up the stairs. She thought her arms might fall off before she reached the top.

“Oh, Noah, you’re so strong,” Kristina cooed. “I’m such a weakling. It’s so nice to have a big, strong man around to do the heavy lifting.”

If Noah was even remotely impressed by her praise, he didn’t show it. It was obvious that he was trying his very best to politely tolerate Kristina and her incessant chatter. After depositing his bushel on the table, he quickly grabbed Mandy’s. His hand brushed against hers, and she didn’t even try to ignore the pleasant roughness of his calloused palms. “I told you I would get this one,” he scolded mildly. “These probably weigh fifty pounds.”

“I didn’t want to impose. We are perfectly capable of carrying our own tomatoes.”

His lips still turned downward, but she could have sworn he was smiling with his eyes. “I can spare an extra two minutes so you don’t break your back.” He brushed his hands together a few times. “Is there anything else you need, Anna?”