Huckleberry Harvest (34 page)

Kristina’s phone vibrated with another text. She opened it and gave a puzzled squeak. “Wha—what does this mean?”

She showed Mandy the screen.
My favorite color is brown, like chocolate.

“I think it means Davy likes chocolate.”

Kristina narrowed her eyes. “Nae. It’s from Noah.”

Another text showed up on her screen. Mandy eagerly grabbed the phone without even asking.

“Hey,” Kristina said. “What if it’s from Davy?”

Her heart beat double-time as she glanced in Noah’s direction. She could see him in the midst of the surrounding crowd. He looked up from his phone and searched her face, all the while keeping up a conversation with Paul and Titus.

The phone vibrated again.
When Edi died, my mamm stayed in bed for a week, and my dat didn’t utter a word to anyone. I felt guilty that I was still able to function. I made grilled cheese for the kinner every day until Mamm was on her feet again.

Mandy sighed quietly, and her heart broke for the Mischlers all over again. She couldn’t imagine the pain of losing a child.

Bursting with indignation, Kristina grabbed her phone from Mandy’s hand. “It’s my phone, Mandy. Why is he texting all that stuff?”

Mandy felt as light as a feather. “He wants to tell me about his family.”

Kristina snapped her phone shut and inclined her head in his direction. “Then go talk to him. He shouldn’t be using up all my texts.” This from a girl who texted Davy Burkholder even if he was sitting next to her.

Kristina’s phone vibrated again. She lifted her eyes to the sky in exasperation. “There he goes again.” She opened her phone and handed it to Mandy. “It’s for you.”

Mandy clutched the phone to her chest and found him in the crowd again. “You would?” she mouthed.

He nodded. Her heart flipped around like a circus tumbler.

He punched the buttons on his phone again. Kristina’s phone vibrated.

Her eyes shot to his face. He gazed at her with so much love, she thought she might overflow with pure joy.

Kristina snatched her phone from Mandy’s grasp.

“Krissy, please, I need to see it.”

Kristina expelled every bit of oxygen from her lungs in an effort to communicate to Mandy how inconvenienced she was. With irritation written all over her face, she opened her phone and read Noah’s text.

Her demeanor transformed instantly. Gasping, she bloomed into a smile that took over her whole face. She snatched Mandy’s hand. “Mandy,” she said, in what she must have thought passed for a whisper. “Is he asking you to marry him?”

Mandy put her finger to her lips. “I . . . I don’t know.”

Kristina sighed as if she’d held it in for ever so long. “How romantic. That’s how I want a boy to ask me. Over text, like he just can’t wait to do it in person.” She clutched her phone in both her hands. “Oh, Mandy. He’s so handsome. Now that I’ve found the only man I’ll ever love, I want you to find happiness too. And if you’re really set on Noah, I won’t object. He doesn’t deserve you, but what girl ever thinks of that when she falls in love with somebody.”

Mandy smiled warmly. “Denki, Krissy. I hope you know that I never meant to hurt you. Noah and I just . . . happened.”

She patted Mandy’s arm. “I know. Just like me and Davy. There’s no stopping true love.”

Mandy and Noah met eyes. He stared at her doubtfully before resorting to his phone to communicate.

Mandy felt breathless and light as her heart thumped an uneven rhythm. She wanted to push all the boys aside and throw herself into his arms so he could kiss her with abandon. Instead, she handed Kristina the phone. “Would you text Noah something for me? I don’t know how to do it.”

“Okay,” said Kristina. “But then you’ve got to promise I can have my phone back. Davy is getting lonely.”

“It will be the last one,” Mandy said. “Are you ready?”

“Ready.”

Noah didn’t take his eyes from her face as she quietly dictated her message to Kristina. “Text him this:
A boy should not ask a girl to marry him in a text message. I know your mamm taught you better than that.
”

Kristina’s brows inched together. “Are you sure? What if he decides he doesn’t want to ask you after all? You shouldn’t be difficult.”

Mandy stifled a giggle. “I’m sure.”

Kristina punched her buttons with all the dexterity of a seasoned expert. That girl could generate a message without even looking. After she pressed SEND, she snapped her phone shut and took Mandy’s hand. “I hope you won’t regret it.”

Mandy made eye contact with Noah across the room. He had turned a very light shade of green waiting for her reply. Was he truly that uncertain of her love? Their last encounter hadn’t gone well, but surely he knew she loved him.

If he didn’t, he would. Soon.

She had to wipe that look of distress off his face. She smiled and winked. He cocked an eyebrow as rosy red replaced the green pallor of his skin. Was he blushing? She’d never seen him quite so discomfited. Or so attractive. Her heart whirred like a hummingbird in flight.

His phone lit up, and he pushed the button that would allow him to read her text. Were his hands shaking?

He clenched his jaw as he read her message, and then rolling his eyes in exasperation, he curled his lips into a very attractive grin, stuffed his phone into his trousers pocket, and ambled toward her, nudging boys out of his way as he came.

As Noah approached, Kristina giggled and squeezed Mandy’s hand until her knuckles cracked. Mandy could barely keep to her seat as he took her by the hand, all the while looking as if he might burst into laughter. “Everyone,” he said, raising his voice above the chatter.

Oh, no.

Mandy’s face felt as if it might burst into flame. He wasn’t going to do it in front of everybody, was he? Well, she
had
told him he needed to show people his heart.

Noah looked around the room to make sure everyone was listening. No doubt about it, they were. “Since I’ve resolved to quit hiding from the people I love the most, I want you to be the first to know that I am in love with Mandy Helmuth. I adore her. I can’t live without her. I want her to be my wife.”

The Sensenig sisters sighed rapturously.

Mandy’s heart had never been so full. She couldn’t possibly utter a word when she felt this happy.

Noah got down on one knee and brushed his lips across the back of her hand, causing her to tremble all over. Kristina squeaked and looked as if she might faint in a fit of euphoria.

“Mandy Helmuth, you know I don’t have a place to call my own yet, but if you’ll be patient with my weaknesses, I’ll build us a house with my own two hands. A house where we can raise our children and grow old together. Will you marry me?”

Everyone paused breathlessly, staring at Mandy as if she held the success of the party in her hands.

Her heart raced as she squeezed his hand in hers. “Yes. It will be the happiest day of my life.”

The room came to life once again. Noah pulled Mandy to her feet as their friends cheered and clapped. This was probably the most excitement they’d ever had at a party before, even a party with Do You Like Your Neighbor.

Dodging bodies, Noah hastily pulled Mandy through the group of friends and out to the porch for a little solitude. She shut the door behind them an instant before he captured her in his arms and kissed her urgently. She kissed him back with all the joy of having found something that she despaired was lost.

“Noah,” she whispered. “You came back to me.”

“I couldn’t bear to stay away.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I am nothing without you.” His eyes glistened with tears. “I’m so sorry, Mandy. Can you forgive me?”

“That’s a silly question. Of course I can.”

“So I guess this means you’ll stay an extra week?”

Mandy giggled. “Mammi will get her fondest wish. But then I’ll have to go home and order plates for the wedding. How does October sound?”

His shoulders bounced up and down as he chuckled. “I want to marry as soon as the plates can be ready.”

“We’ll pick a time when your mamm and family can come to Ohio.” She kissed him on the cheek. “And what about your dat?”

Noah frowned and tightened his arms around her. “Things at home are very, very rough right now. Jessica says it’s going to get worse before it gets better. With things the way they are, I shouldn’t have asked you to marry me, but I couldn’t bear the thought of not being with you. I don’t know how this is going to end with my dat. I only know that I love you, and I’ll do anything to keep you close to me forever.”

She skimmed a finger across his bruised lips. He trembled. “Shh. We’ll bear this together. No matter what happens, you can be sure of me.”

She savored the feel of his strong arms around her. Arms like these had never known a day of idleness. Arms like these would cradle her babies, roast marshmallows, hammer thousands of nails, and hold her close. Noah would love and protect her, and God would watch over them both.

“And you can be sure of me,” he whispered as he brought his lips down on hers.

She’d never felt more sure of anything in her life.

As the party went on behind them, Anna positioned herself at the kitchen window where she had a good view of the kissing going on outside on the porch. “I have to admit, Felty, I never saw that one coming. Who would have thought gloomy Noah Mischler would have caught the attention of our dear Mandy?”

“Who indeed,” Felty said, his eyes twinkling like July fireworks.

“To be sure, it’s a wonder.”

Felty took another bite of one of the six different kinds of cookies Mandy had made for the going-away party. “You’re not disappointed, are you, Banannie?”

“Disappointed? Stuff and nonsense. Noah is the best kind of boy I can imagine. I just don’t see how I could have missed the fact that he and Mandy are perfect for each other.”

Felty nodded. “They seem to suit quite well.”

“Of course they do. Now that they’re together, I can’t imagine any boy better. He’s got nice teeth, he’s a gute swimmer, and . . .” Anna’s mouth fell open. “Ach, du lieva, what muscles! No wonder Mandy fell for him.”

Delight spread across her face as she leaned close to Felty so she could whisper in his ear. “And I don’t have to bribe any more boys with pot holders. All these boys will just have to find their own wives without my help or my pot holders. I can get started on making you a Christmas sweater instead of knitting pot holders all day. This is wonderful gute.”

Felty thumbed his suspenders. “Wonderful gute. It’s not Christmastime without a new sweater.”

Anna frowned as a sad thought came to her. “Felty, do you think I’ve lost my touch? I mean, Mandy and Noah came like a bolt out of the blue. What if I don’t have the gift anymore?”

“Of course you have the gift. Look how many grandchildren you’ve been able to match up. I think we’ve more than done our duty as grandparents.”

Anna brightened considerably. “You’re right. Even though we didn’t arrange the match, it was successful all the same. Mandy fell in love while she was here, and she did it in the four weeks we allotted her. Isn’t that nice?”

“Very nice, Banannie.”

“I feel so much better.” She clapped her hands together. “I’m ready for a new project.”

“My Christmas sweater?”

“Now that we won’t be having guests for dinner every night, we’ll have time to start thinking about our next match.”

“But, Annie, I thought you were tired of knitting pot holders.”

Anna squared her shoulders and raised herself to her full height of five feet zero inches. “I’m willing to sacrifice your Christmas sweater for the good of our grandchildren.”

“Oh, okay,” said Felty, squinching his eyebrows together. “I suppose I am too, if you think it’s best.”

“I’m quite worried about Cassie. She has so much love to give, and no one to give it to.”

“Cassie? You’re not going to try to pull her back into the church, are you? I don’t think she’ll come back, even though her mamm would jump for joy if she did.”

Anna took one more peek out the window and closed the curtains on Mandy and Noah, whose lips were surely going to fall off with all that kissing. “Now, Felty,” she said. “Cassie’s mamm will work herself into an ulcer if she keeps fussing about Cassie coming back to the church. She’s not coming back, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find her a gute match. Remember that new doctor at the hospital? He’s young, he’s single, and he has the light of God inside him.”

Felty rubbed his beard. “The doctor seems nice enough, but how are you going to get him to come to Huckleberry Hill? And what about Cassie? She hasn’t been home for months.”

Anna patted her husband on the shoulder. “I have a very powerful gift, Felty. Leave it to me.” She got that look on her face that she always did when she was thinking deep and sneaky thoughts. “But the doctor won’t be lured here with anything less than a scarf, a beanie,
and
a pair of mittens.”

“Knitted, I expect?”

Anna smiled slyly. “And a matching set of earmuffs. Let’s send these youngsters home. I’ve got some knitting to do.”

Anna Helmuth glanced up from her knitting long enough to study the top of Dr. Reynolds’s head. “Doctor, I can see your whole head from up here, and I’m happy to say that you haven’t got any bald spots.”

“That’s good news,” the doctor replied. “My maternal grandfather was as bald as a cue ball.”

Anna sat on the exam table with one shoe off and one shoe on knitting a baby blanket for the newest arrival in the Helmuth family, a baby daughter to her grandson Aden and his wife Lily. Anna’s husband Felty sat next to her with a gift box in his lap.

The young, handsome doctor with the slightly crooked nose perched on his rolling padded stool carefully examining the bottom of Anna’s foot, and that’s why she had such a good view of the top of his head. He worked his thumbs around the edges of the black spot the size of a quarter on the pad of her foot. She squirmed and tried not to drop a stitch while he poked at her.

“Sorry, Mrs. Helmuth,” the doctor said, applying firmer pressure so as not to make Anna jump out of her skin.

“Call me Anna. We Amish don’t go by
Mister
and
Missus.
”

One side of the doctor’s mouth curled upward even as his eyes danced with good-natured humor. “Sorry, Anna.”

His smile was one of the reasons Anna was considering him as a match for her granddaughter. Cassie needed a pleasant young man who would make her laugh and wasn’t afraid to be laughed at. He had good teeth and a full head of hair, which made it more likely that Cassie would take a second look, and although Cassie wasn’t Amish anymore, she needed a godly husband more than anything else. The doctor had a way about him that told Anna he was a man of God, deep down.

Anna’s knitting needles clicked in an easy rhythm born from years of practice. “You’re not married, are you, doctor?”

Felty drummed his fingers on the top of the box in his lap. “You asked him that same question at our last appointment, Banannie.”

Anna raised her eyebrows at her husband. “It’s been two weeks. I’m just making sure his situation hasn’t changed.”

Dr. Reynolds chuckled softly even as his fingers probed the bottom of Anna’s foot. “Nope, not married.”

“And what about a girlfriend? Do you have any girlfriends?”

“No girlfriend.”

Anna winked at Felty as her smile grew wider. “You must be wonderful lonely yet,” she said, starting a new row of stitches on her blanket.

The doctor let Anna’s foot slip from his grasp and scooted over to the cart that held his computer. “I don’t have much time for a social life. The hospital kind of owns me until I finish my residency. I live in a one-bedroom apartment with an ancient sofa and a turtle named Queenie. I don’t get out much except to come to the hospital.” He looked up from his computer long enough to give them a genuine smile. “But I don’t mind. I’ve wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember, and I get to treat good people like you. You are the first Amish folks I’ve ever met.”

“It’s gute you met us first instead of David Eicher,” Felty said. “He’s a hard pill to swallow.”

Anna nudged her husband with her elbow. “Now, Felty. Be careful what you say. David’s daughter is married to our grandson.”

The doctor looked like he was doing important work on his computer and she hated to interrupt him, but she had to know a few things before committing to him altogether. “Do you like children, doctor?”

“Children? I love ’em. I want a whole passel of kids someday.” His lips curved as he typed away at his computer. “Which is probably why I don’t have a girlfriend. Talk of kids tends to scare women off.”

“Not if you’re Amish. We’re determined to multiply and replenish the Earth.”

“Single-handedly,” Felty added with a twinkle in his eye.

“Now, Felty.” Anna looped the yarn around her needle and eyed Dr. Reynolds. “Are you a hard worker, doctor?” Her mamm always used to say that being a hard worker was the best quality a son-in-law could possess.

The doctor stopped typing long enough to consider the question. “I hope so. You can’t survive medical school without knowing how to work hard. My family owned a cherry orchard growing up. I used to work in the orchards with my dad. In the spring I pruned trees until I thought my neck would fall off. In the summer my brothers and I memorized Scriptures while we picked cherries.”

“You memorized Scripture?”

The doctor sprouted a crooked, unnatural grin and nodded.

That was all she needed to hear. God had put the doctor in Anna’s path, and Anna wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. There wasn’t even time to consult Felty. She had to act fast.

The doctor rolled back to the exam table and took Anna’s hand in his. Sympathy flooded his expression. “Mrs. Helmuth—”

“Anna.”

“Anna, I’m afraid I have bad news. We got the results from the biopsy we did at your last visit. That black patch on the bottom of your foot is cancer. Melanoma. It will have to be cut out.”

Anna furrowed her brow. “Does this mean I need to come back?”

Dr. Reynolds nodded gravely. “Several times. We’ll have to cut out the bad part of the skin, and if it’s deep, you’ll need a skin graft. Someone will have to come to your house several times a week to change the dressing and check the site for infection.”

Anna burst into a smile. “So we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Not exactly the reaction I expected.”

“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.” Anna deposited her knitting in the canvas bag next to her, slid from the table, and took the box from Felty’s lap. “You’ll be the one operating, won’t you?”

“I could do it, but I’m on my dermatology rotation right now. You might want the plastic surgeon to do your skin graft. I’ve only done six weeks of plastic surgery.”

“Stuff and nonsense. You’re being humble.” Anna pursed her lips and turned to Felty. “Another wonderful-gute quality in a husband.”

The doctor’s lips twitched. “I assume you want someone to operate on you, not marry you.”

Anna pinned the doctor with the look she usually reserved for naughty grandchildren, complete with the twinkle in her eye. “
I
don’t want to marry you, doctor. Felty and I have been very happy for sixty-four years.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Dr. Reynolds said.

“But I’ll only agree to the surgery if you do it,” Anna added, standing firm so that not even a team of Percheron horses could move her.

A grin played at Dr. Reynolds’s lips. “I’ll have to check with Dr. Mann first, but it should be okay.”

Beaming like a lantern on a dark country road, Anna handed Dr. Reynolds the box. “I made these especially for you, doctor. I know you won’t disappoint me.”

Dr. Reynolds opened the box and pulled out the navy blue mittens that went with the fire-engine red scarf and the red and blue beanie Anna had knitted, also in the box. “These are for me? Why would you knit a pair of mittens for me?”

Anna grinned. It was always gute to keep potential suitors a little off balance. “There’s a beanie and scarf to go with it.”

“It’s an extraordinary gift for someone you barely know.”

“My grandmotherly talents haven’t led me astray yet. You’re the one I’ve chosen to receive the special beanie.”

The doctor looked as if he didn’t quite know how to argue with that. Smiling, he picked up the red and blue beanie and stretched it onto his head. It fit perfectly over all that thick hair of his. “Thank you. It’s very kind. Knitting reminds me of my mother.”

“I want you to feel warm and cuddly when you think of the Helmuths.”

Dr. Reynolds grinned as he wrapped the scarf around his neck. Anna had made it extra long. She didn’t want a stumpy scarf to be the reason he wouldn’t marry her granddaughter.

“Just in time for the coldest days of winter,” he said.

Anna was sure he would have put on the mittens, too, if he weren’t still working on the computer. He finished whatever he was typing, took Anna’s hand, and guided her to sit in one of the soft chairs. Felty, bless his heart, waited on the exam table—probably keeping it warm in case she needed to sit there again.

The doctor, with his beanie and scarf, rolled his stool directly in front of Anna. “I don’t want you to worry about this. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to get all the cancer during surgery. You’re going to be just fine. And have a killer scar on the bottom of your foot.”

Anna waved her hand in the doctor’s direction. “Oh, I’m not worried. The good Lord has a purpose for everything. Isn’t that right, Felty?”

“Yes, it is.”

She patted the doctor’s hand. “But if
you’re
worried about it, we should pray together. God will comfort you better than even my beanie can.”

A shadow flitted across the doctor’s face. “I’m not worried. You’ll be fine.”

Anna didn’t especially like that expression. “You’re uncomfortable praying?”

“I suppose I am.”

“But you said you used to memorize Scriptures.”

“I did. Out in the orchard.” The doctor lowered his eyes. “That was a long time ago.”

Anna scrunched her lips together. “Oh, dear.”

Dr. Reynolds swiped his hand down his face. “The truth is, Mrs. Helmuth—”

“Anna.”

“Anna, God and I aren’t on speaking terms, but if you want someone to pray with you, I can call Marla. She’s one of the nurses, and she goes to Mass every Sunday.”

Cassie might not have been Amish anymore, but she still needed a godly husband, and someone who didn’t talk to God would not be a godly husband. How could Anna have been so mistaken about this one? He seemed like such a nice boy. And,
ach, du lieva,
she’d already given him the carefully knitted beanie and scarf. And mittens! Mittens were no small thing.

“Oh, dear,” Anna said again. “Felty, I’m afraid I’ve cast my pearls before swine.”

“No such thing, Annie.”

Dr. Reynolds cracked a smile. “Am I the swine?” He pulled the beanie off his head, and wisps of his sandy blond hair stuck straight into the air. “If you’d rather offer this to someone more religious than I am, I completely understand. You had no idea what my relationship with God was before you gave it.” His expression almost melted her heart. He truly held no hard feelings whatsoever. Maybe there was hope.

What kind of person would she be if she took back a gift simply because the young man might be unsuitable for her granddaughter? “Of course not,” Anna insisted. “Even if you are a swine, I gave that beanie freely. I want you to have it.”

Dr. Reynolds chuckled as his eyes danced with amusement. “I guess I’m not used to the Amish customs yet.”

Anna wrung her hands. “Oh, dear. I didn’t mean to call you a swine. It’s just an expression.”

The doctor patted her hand reassuringly. “I know what you meant. And if it makes you feel better, you’re not the first woman to call me that.”

Felty always seemed to be able to get to the heart of the matter. “So you don’t believe in God?”

Dr. Reynolds frowned in concentration. “I’m not sure.”

“That’s better than a ‘no,’” Felty said.

Anna tapped her finger to her lips. “So your faith is wavering, but not altogether extinguished. Felty can work with that, can’t you, Felty?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Annie.”

“I mean that there’s still hope for Dr. Reynolds,” Anna said.

The doctor lowered his head to hide another grin. “Probably not.”

“Just you wait,” Anna said, nodding at the good doctor who’d misplaced his faith. “By this time next week, your faith will bloom like a cherry tree in springtime.”

The doctor cocked an eyebrow. “What’s so special about next week?”

Cassie was what was so special, of course, but Anna couldn’t very well ruin the surprise. The doctor would take to Cassie like a fruit fly took to a mushy apricot. And Lord willing, he’d find his faith again.

Maybe the beanie was in the right hands after all.