An Honest Love (22 page)

Lukas’ good mood was infectious. It wasn’t long before Anna shed her worries and relaxed on the buggy ride to his house. Assuming he had brought her over for supper, she looked forward to spending time with his family. But once they had arrived at the Bylers’, he had caught her off guard by asking her to close her eyes before helping her out of his buggy. Now he was guiding her somewhere. She felt a tiny thrill move through her as Lukas took her hand and threaded his fingers through her own. She loved the feel of his rough skin against her palm, knowing that his calluses were the result of long hours of hard work.

She heard the sound of a door opening, then smelled fresh wood. Warmth enveloped her. “We’re in your
daed’s
shop.”

“
Ya
, but don’t open your eyes.” He squeezed her hand and led her forward, guiding her steps until he released his grip. She heard him move to stand behind her, then felt the light touch of his hands on her shoulders. “Okay, you can open them.”

Her eyelids parted and she drew in a deep breath as she took in a gorgeous hope chest. “It’s beautiful, Lukas.” A true work of art. The cherry-stained wood gleamed in the fading sunlight coming through the windows of the shop. Before she realized it, she had reached out her hand to touch the glossy wood, only to pull back at the last minute.

“It’s okay,” Lukas said softly. He took her hand in his and placed it on the top of the chest.

She ran her fingertips along the smooth lid, marveling at the perfect shape of the rectangular chest. There were no visible flaws anywhere—not in the grain, the stain, or the shiny finish.

“Open it up.”

Anna hesitated. She knew cedar was more expensive than the typical pine or oak used to make most Amish hope chests. Usually the pricey chests were special ordered by Yankees. She didn’t want to damage the piece in any way since he had obviously spent a lot of time and effort in making it. She glanced over her shoulder and looked up at him. “Are you sure?”

Lukas smiled. She loved how the cleft in his chin widened a bit when he grinned, and for the moment she forgot about everything but him. Sometime between the ride home and when he led her to the shop, he had removed his black hat, and she marveled at the deep black color of his hair. His skin tanned in the summers, but his hair never lightened, and the darkness was a gorgeous contrast to his hazel eyes.

“Anna, I want you to open the chest.”

She could see the anticipation in his eyes, and it both confused and excited her. He moved to stand next to her as she carefully lifted the lid. The smoky-sweet scent of cedar filled her senses. “Mmm,” she said, unable to keep her pleasure to herself. “I love the smell of cedar.”

“I know.”

She glanced at him and smiled at the twinkle in his eye. Peering inside, she could see the interior of the chest was as perfect as the outside, although free of stain and lacquer. Deep and wide, she could tell right away the chest would hold several quilts and bed linens. “You do such beautiful work, Lukas. I would be happy to sell this in my shop.”

But before she could close the lid he stopped her. “That’s not why I showed it to you. Did you notice anything else inside? Look carefully.” He stepped close to her, his hip touching hers.

She looked inside the chest again, this time scanning the interior more thoroughly. Then she saw it, in the bottom right hand corner. Two plain letters had been carved deep into the wood.
AB
.

AB
?

He put his arm around her shoulders and gently turned her to face him, then dropped his arms and took her hands. “Anna . . . I made this chest for you.”

Her breath caught. “You did?”

“
Ya
.” He rubbed his thumbs over the top her hands. “A wedding gift. To put at the foot of our bed.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Oh, Lukas.”

“Anna, I love you. You would make me the happiest
mann
in the world if you would be
mei frau
.”

Tears sprang to her eyes.

He grinned, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. “Don’t cry,
lieb
. I never want to make you sad.”

“I’m not sad,” she said, her voice growing thick. “You make me so happy, Lukas. I’m so lucky to have you in my life.”

“
Nee
, I’m the lucky one.” He gazed at her intently. “We’ll have a wonderful life together, Anna. God has blessed me—blessed us—with a
gut
livelihood. I’ll be able to provide for you and our children.”

She swallowed and forced a smile. “How many children?”

He smiled. “About a dozen or so.”

“Oh.”

His grin faded. “Anna, I’m kidding. If you don’t want that many
kinner
, we won’t have that many.”

“
Nee
, it’s not that.”

“Then what’s wrong?” He touched her face. “Don’t you want to marry me?”

She could barely contain her emotions. She wanted to marry Lukas more than anything. He had healed her broken heart, made her believe in love again. She couldn’t think of anything better than spending the rest of her life with him.

But would that life include children? And what if it didn’t? Would he still love her?

“Anna?”

She gazed into his eyes, unable to look away.

“I know what you’re thinking. And I promise you I’ll never abandon you. We will be married, Anna Esh. Next week, if you want to.”

He thought she was worried about him doing the same thing Daniel had? If he only knew how wrong he was. But she didn’t dare tell him. Instead, she said, “I don’t think we can do it that soon.”

“Then when? Church is this Sunday. We can announce it at the service.”

“We should wait a few more weeks.”

“Then the end of February, but not longer than that. I love you Anna, and I don’t want to wait to marry you.”

She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. His words strengthened her resolve, and her faith. God would heal her. He wouldn’t deny children to a good man like Lukas. “I love you, Lukas, and I can’t wait to be your
frau
.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, never wanting to let go.

Elisabeth plopped her bag on top of her desk and rummaged for the key to the safe. She could never find anything in this purse, mostly because she couldn’t keep things organized. She dumped out the contents and searched through a variety of receipts, pens, a few sticks of gum, her wallet, a pad of paper, three unopened Band-Aids, six paper clips, and a book with a pink pig and a green purse on the front. She shook her head. Ruth must have stuck the book in there. She was always trying to get Elisabeth to read.

“Looking for something?”

Elisabeth glanced up to see Aaron standing in the doorway. “
Ya
. My sanity.”

“Think you’ll find it in that mess?”

“I doubt it. But . . . aha!” She picked up the key, which had been lying underneath the Band-Aids. “This is what I needed.” She set the key to the side, then opened her bag and held it below the edge of the table so she could slide everything back inside. She’d sort it out later. Right now she needed to put some insurance papers in the safe. She dropped her bag inside the bottom desk drawer and shut the door. Turning in her chair, she looked at Aaron. “Did you need something?”

“Just wanted to know how your friend was doing. She was pretty upset the other day when she came to the
haus
.”

She’s pregnant and won’t tell the baby’s father, who is a Yankee and a jerk,
but otherwise she’s peachy
. Elisabeth certainly couldn’t tell Aaron that. She couldn’t tell anyone that, as Deborah had begged her not to say anything about the pregnancy. Elisabeth had agreed, but she had urged her friend to at least tell her parents. When she had spoken to Deborah last night, she still hadn’t broken the news to them.

“She’s doing better.” Which was half of the truth. At least she wasn’t sobbing uncontrollably anymore, although Elisabeth chalked up her extreme reactions to being pregnant, remembering how drastic her sister’s mood swings had been recently. Her niece or nephew was due in April, but sometimes she wondered if Moriah would make it until then. No wonder Gabe came dragging into work a couple mornings a week.

“Glad to hear it. I wanted to tell you . . .” He glanced down at the ground, crossing one foot over the other. “If she needs any help, let me know.”

Touched by his generous and unexpected offer, she nodded. “
Danki
, Aaron. I’ll tell her.” Not that he could do anything, but just knowing he was willing meant so much.

Gabe came up behind Aaron and poked his head through the doorway. “Elisabeth, would you mind watching Velda and Ester for a little while? We’re going into town. I have to take Moriah to the doctor.”

Elisabeth jerked up from her chair. “Is she all right? Is there something wrong with the
boppli
?”

He shook his head. “She’s got a sinus infection, I think. Or the flu, I’m not sure which. All I know is she’s miserable.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Not that she’s sick. I mean I’m glad it’s nothing serious.”

Gabe smiled. “Me too. We’re leaving in a few minutes, so I’ll need you to come over soon.”

“Be right there.” She picked up the key off the desk, along with the insurance papers, and handed them to Aaron. “Could you put these in the safe for me?”

“Sure.” He took the key and papers from her, then stepped to the side.

“Oh, and don’t be surprised if I need your help with the
kinner
again. Remember what happened last time.”

Aaron’s look was dead serious. “You won’t need any help, Elisabeth. You can handle them.”

She smiled, appreciating his support. As she walked to the house, she had no misgivings about babysitting her nieces. Aaron had confidence in her, and because of that, she had confidence in herself.

Aaron knelt down in front of the safe on the opposite side of the file cabinet. As he inserted the key into the lock, he remembered when Gabe had picked it up from the discount store in West
Farmington. It wasn’t fancy, Gabe had said, but it was fireproof and theft proof, and they kept the cash and the important papers inside. Gabe and John used to have a small cash box they stored in the desk, but as the business grew, so had the need for a safe. He lifted the heavy lid, put the insurance forms inside, and locked it back up.

As he moved to stand, he noticed a paper on the floor by the desk. He picked it up and realized it was a receipt. Knowing Elisabeth would want to file it, he started to place it on her desk, but then noticed it was from the local pharmacy. A personal receipt. It must have fallen out of her bag when she was searching for the key.

He glanced at it for a moment, noticing she’d bought two candy bars. The third item she purchased stopped him cold.

A pregnancy test.

Elisabeth thought she was pregnant? He crumpled the receipt in his hand and fell back into the chair. His mind went back to the Yoder’s party, when that Yankee Chase had come out from behind the haystacks. He’d been back there with Elisabeth. When she had appeared, he had suspected something was wrong, but she’d refused to talk about it. Then later, she said she was confused and didn’t know what to do. Now he could see why.

His head fell into his hands. Elisabeth, pregnant? He couldn’t believe it was possible. Except for a couple days after the party, she had seemed fine. Yet why else would she buy a pregnancy test?

“Aon!”

He turned to see Velda run into the office, a sweet smile on her round, chubby face. Shoving the receipt in his pocket, he scooped her up and sat her on his lap, still trying to make sense of what he’d discovered.

Elisabeth appeared a few seconds later, holding Ester in her arms. She stood in the office doorway, the baby contentedly resting on Elisabeth’s hip while she sucked her thumb.

In that moment he could picture Elisabeth as a mother. She would be a good one. But she didn’t deserve to go through motherhood alone. If Chase was the father of her child, she would have to. He couldn’t imagine her leaving the Amish faith to marry him.

“Aon.” Velda reached up and tugged on his hair.

He pulled on one of the strings of her tiny black
kapp
. “What are you doing out here?”