Rebecca's Rose (12 page)

“It is in the toolshed,” she said, pointing to the far side of the barn. She paused. “You didn’t steal them off a clothesline, did you?”

Amused at some private joke, Levi thumbed his suspenders. “They were my dat’s,” he said.

“Your dat’s? What are you talking about, Levi Cooper?”

Levi winked. “If you are nice and don’t give me any more trouble about being here, I might be persuaded to let you in on my secret.”

He turned and left her standing on the porch, clutching her rose, with her mouth wide open. Collecting her scattered wits, she went back inside and slammed the door behind her.

What went on in that boy’s brain was a true mystery.

While she kneaded the dough, Rebecca tried to keep her eyes from wandering to the large kitchen window. Levi, perfectly framed between the two panes, sat on the grass tinkering with the lawn mower while Danny, enamored with the presence of a stranger, stood over him watching his every move. Rebecca couldn’t hear the conversation, but she guessed Danny had offered suggestions on how to fix the rickety old thing. Levi smiled and nodded and acted as if Danny were the greatest companion in the world for a guy who had to repair the mower before he could cut the lawn.

Levi said something to Danny and Rebecca’s little brother took off across the lawn like he was running a footrace. He soon returned with a wrench and a screwdriver. Levi pulled Danny over to sit next to him, and soon the two of them were fiddling busily and laughing and talking as if they had always been friends. Max, true to form, was nowhere to be seen.

There was still hope for Danny. He just needed a little encouragement, maybe someone to show some faith in him. A mentor, a big brother. Rebecca turned from the window. Danny needed a father.

The long-stemmed rose, in a small vase, stood tall on the vast expanse of the kitchen table where Rebecca had placed it. She went to the table and inhaled the sweet fragrance of her flower. She thought of Dottie Mae. No one had ever given her best friend a rose. And she had deserved thousands of them.

After separating the dough into loaves, Rebecca set the bread on the counter to rise. Hearing the halting
putt-putt
of a motor, she looked out the window. Danny pumped his fists in the air and cheered as Levi pushed the mower around the yard. The engine produced a steady hum, not the coughing, choking sound it usually made, and no white smoke puffed from the carburetor.

So, Levi was handy. Did she dare ask him to fix the broken door on the barn or the wobbly buggy wheel? She didn’t want to impose on him like that. His being here was a gift. Let him do whatever he wanted to do today.

Linda came padding into the kitchen, no doubt completely worn out from filling the washtub. Dropping crumbs on Rebecca’s clean cupboard, she cut herself a piece of bread and plopped a healthy dollop of strawberry freezer jam onto her slice. As she took a sizable bite, something out the window caught her eye.

“
Oh, sis yuscht!
” she murmured. “Oh, sis yuscht!” Laying her bread on the cupboard, she hurried to the window for a better look. “Who is that?” she said in awe, as if she were looking at an angel from heaven.

Rebecca turned her back and pretended to busy herself with the bread dough. “Who?” she said indifferently.

“That handsome boy mowing our lawn.”

Rebecca didn’t turn around. “Oh, him. He is a—”

Linda seized Rebecca’s arm and pulled her to the window. “Do you see?” she said. “That boy. Do you see him?”

“Jah.”

Linda rested her forehead against the window. “Oh, Rebecca. Oh, Rebecca. He is handsome. Look how tall he is. Look at the muscles.”

She gazed longingly at Levi for a full minute before grabbing Rebecca by the shoulders and shaking her excitedly. “Who is he? Do you know him?”

Rebecca was sorely tempted to tease her sister and plead ignorance, but instead she said, “He is a friend of mine. He came to help with the chores.”

Linda turned back to the window. “A friend? Why didn’t you ever tell me about this friend? Oh, Rebecca, he is—well, you have eyes to see.”

“Jah, he is very handsome.”

“How do you know him?”

“I met him in Patton.”

Linda glued her eyes to the good-looking boy happily mowing the grass, until, starting from her trance, she smoothed the wrinkles of her dress. “I must get out there and…hang laundry.”

Rebecca propped her hands on her hips. “You’d better wash it first.”

“Jah. But how long will he be here?”

“All day, he says.”

Linda bolted for the mudroom. “I will hurry.” She stopped and smoothed the creases of her apron. “How do I look?”

Amused, Rebecca folded her arms and looked at Linda head to toe. “Different shoes. And comb your hair. It is sticking out of your kapp.”

Linda nodded seriously and disappeared. Another advantage of Levi’s presence—Linda might actually finish the laundry. Rebecca smiled in spite of herself.

When next she looked out the window, Danny pushed the lawn mower while Levi headed to the barn.

What did he plan now? Rebecca scolded herself and retrieved the bathroom cleaning supplies from the cupboard. She’d get nothing done all day if she kept checking on Levi. Resolving not to take one more peek out the window, Rebecca hurried down the hall to scrub the toilets.

A half hour later, Max ambled into the bathroom. With his hands in his pockets, he leaned against the doorjamb and watched Rebecca scrub the tub.

“That boy wants to know where he should dump the manure when he is finished mucking out the barn,” Max said, with his devil-may-care attitude.

Rebecca sat up on her heels and brushed an errant lock of hair from her face. “Tell him to spread it in the corn. You can show him the corn rows?”

“Jah, I guess.”

“Gute.”

Max didn’t seem to be inclined to go anywhere, so Rebecca went back her scrubbing.

“Why is he here?” Max said.

Rebecca dipped her sponge into her bucket of water. “He is helping with the chores.”

“He is a pest.”

“A pest?”

“And he cannot hardly find the words in
Deitsch
. Like he never learned to speak it gute.”

Rebecca had to fight hard to hide her astonishment. Levi’s father owned a set of Amish clothes and Levi spoke the old language? What exactly was going on? “He is not from Apple Lake. Maybe you do not understand his accent.”

“He said he loves to milk cows, but then he didn’t do it right. I made him stop and finished by myself. What boy does not know how to milk properly?”

Rebecca kept her face expressionless while she wiped down the walls of the tub. “You finished the milking?”

“Jah, the pails are in the kitchen. He is gute with cleaning out the stalls, but he thinks he knows more about the horse than I do.” Rebecca wiped the tub dry, and Max sat on the edge of it. “He says if the stall is not mucked out better, Frankie will get sick. Does he think I don’t know how to care for our own horse?”

“He has worked at a stable,” Rebecca said. “You would do well to listen to what he says. He cares about the health of the animals.”

“So do I,” Max said. “I love that horse better than anything.”

“Then you best take better care of him so Levi doesn’t have to scold you.”

“I am not a child. I know how to take care of the horse,” Max mumbled.

Rebecca didn’t let Max sidetrack her. She sprayed the sink and cupboard and let him do some thinking.

“And then he asked me to fetch the horse brush and soap. I am not his servant.”

“Frankie’s coat could use a good brushing,” Rebecca said, her cheerful tone sending the message that she wasn’t going to be persuaded to feel sorry for Max.

“Frankie is our horse. I can brush him.”

Rebecca pinned Max with a skeptical eye. “And how long has it been since you brushed him?”

Max looked away guiltily then stood up. “I’ll let that boy muck out the stalls. I am going to brush.” He left the bathroom and was halfway down the hall when she heard him say, “I can do a better job than anybody on my own horse.”

Rebecca almost laughed out loud. Levi was a genius.

For dinner, they ate outside under the big cherry tree in the backyard.

All but Mamm. Today had been a bad day. Rebecca served her lunch in bed and rubbed her legs while she ate. Mealtime was a challenge. Mamm didn’t want to eat. Everything tasted like sawdust, she said—but Rebecca wouldn’t let Mamm waste away if she had anything to say about it.

Mamm had not even been aware of Levi’s presence. The curtains in her bedroom stayed closed all day to block out the light and help her rest. Rebecca knew she had been very lucky. Mamm’s curiosity would not be a good thing.

Levi popped the last of his cheese and mayonnaise sandwich into his mouth and chewed with more enjoyment than the sandwich deserved. “Delicious, Rebecca,” he said. “I love mayonnaise.”

Rebecca gave him an apologetic smile. “I ran out of tuna fish. And lunch meat. The meal would have been better.” What she didn’t say was that she had no more money to buy groceries until Fater came home on Friday. The week’s food supply was always rather thin because the money for groceries and prescriptions and doctors only went so far. The next two days, her family would eat whatever she could scrounge up from the canned goods in the cellar.

“We never have tuna fish, Rebecca,” Danny said. “I love tuna fish.”

“Hush, Danny. Finish your sandwich.”

Levi frowned but didn’t say what he was thinking.

Max sat next to Danny, sullenly eating his sandwich but glancing at Levi from time to time. He’d finished brushing Frankie. He’d even helped Levi spread manure in the corn. Rebecca couldn’t remember a day when her brother accomplished so much. Still, he made it clear that the presence of a strange boy on the farm displeased him.

Linda sat close to Levi on the blanket, but he didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t take her eyes off his face for the entire meal and giggled at every word that came out of his mouth. Rebecca didn’t know whether to feel amused or annoyed. Levi acted as if Linda’s behavior was an everyday occurrence, and Rebecca had to admit that it probably was. A boy like Levi couldn’t escape being fawned over by every silly girl in the vicinity.

The good news was, Linda had run the wash with blinding speed and spent a great deal of time and care in hanging the clothes on the line. One of Max’s shirts ended up in the dirt with two or three socks when Linda diverted her attention from the laundry to gaze at the handsome boy repairing the hinges on the barn door. Still, what usually took Linda all day to accomplish was completed before noon. Rebecca couldn’t help but be pleased.

Levi gulped down his ice water and handed his glass to Linda. “Could I ask for one more glassful?”

Linda leaped from the blanket. “Jah, I will be right back.”

They watched her run to the house.

“Thank you for all your work,” Rebecca said.

He shook his head. “No thanks necessary. It’s been really fun. I had almost forgotten.” He knocked Danny’s hat off his head and mussed his hair.

“Hey!” Danny protested before snatching his hat and placing it back on his head.

Levi spread his legs in front of him and leaned back on his hands. “What can I help you with, Rebecca?”

“You have already helped so much.”

“I’ve made a list of things I think need to be done around here,” Levi said. “But I want to know what you want done. You run this operation.”

“I do not want to impose.”

Levi held out his hands. “Impose? What kind of a thought is that? I’m here. Use me.”

Rebecca stifled a grin. “I am thinning peaches next.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Levi said. “You’ll have to give me lessons.”

Rebecca nodded.

“What else?” Levi said.

Sighing, Rebecca recited her list. “Garden weeded, peaches thinned, bathrooms finished, furniture dusted, lamps and propane tanks filled.”

Levi threw back his head and looked to the sky. “I’m almost sorry I asked.”

“Jah, I knew you would be.”

Levi tossed a crumb of bread at Max’s head. Max looked up with lidded eyes. “What?”

“Have you guys ever used a power sprayer?” Levi said.

Max took another bite of his sandwich. “What is it?”

“It shoots a stream of water out of a hose and washes stuff down really good,” Levi said. “Next week I’ll borrow my friend’s power sprayer and we’ll spray the peeling paint off the barn.”

“What good will that do?” Max asked.

“You are coming next week?” Rebecca said.

“Then we can put a new coat of paint on that barn.”

“That sounds fun,” Danny said. “What would the bishop think if we painted it a crazy color like orange?”

“It looks like it used to be white,” Levi said.

“I like blue,” Max said.

Levi sobered and studied Rebecca’s face. “Do you think you can get some paint? It’s expensive.”

Rebecca blushed. “Jah, my uncle is in construction. He can get some for cheap. Or he might have some left over from a job.”

“Okay,” Levi said, brightening. “You pick the color, and we’ll get it ready for painting next week.”

Linda came back with the water for Levi. “You want to paint the barn?”

“Fater will be so happy,” Danny said.

“That’s why we don’t want him to know anything about me or the power sprayer,” Levi said, winking at Rebecca. “He’s got to be completely surprised.”

“Okay,” agreed Danny.

Levi pinned Max with a stern look. “And you?”

“I won’t tell,” Max said.

Linda smiled flirtatiously. “Me either.”

Levi leaned back on his elbows. “There are several side boards that need repair. I can help Max with those. You probably know that barn better than anybody, Max.”

Max didn’t look happy about being drafted for a job, and he nodded grudgingly. “Jah, okay.”

Levi jumped up and clapped his hands together. “Do you guys like McDonald’s?”

That got Max’s attention. “The hamburger place?”

“Yes,” said Levi. “How about I go get McDonald’s for supper tonight?”

“Oh, sis yuscht!” Danny yelled. “I have only eaten there once.”

Rebecca felt the blood drain from her face, and she hung her head. “We cannot afford—”