“My treat,” Levi said, taking her hand and pulling her up from the blanket. “But,” he said, “I buy only if Danny and Max weed the garden before supper.”
Max groaned, but Danny jumped up and down like the twelveyear-old he was. “Come on, Max. Let’s go, let’s go.”
“And Rebecca has to approve your work,” Levi said. “So do a good job.”
Danny was halfway to the toolshed when Max slowly stood and brushed the crumbs off his pants. He pointed an accusing finger at Levi. “You do not have to trick me into doing work. I would have weeded anyway.”
With all the bravado he could muster, Max walked away from Levi and yelled at Danny to fetch him some gloves and a hoe. Levi smiled and winked at Rebecca, who couldn’t help a soft giggle escaping her lips. Max didn’t know it, but up against Levi, he was fighting a losing battle.
Just after five o’clock Levi appeared in the lane, carrying three large McDonald’s bags. Rebecca watched from her place at the window as Danny, whooping and hollering, ran to Levi and took one of the bags from him. Levi grinned and, catching sight of Rebecca at the window, raised the bags in triumph as he approached.
Rebecca still puzzled at his behavior. Surely Levi had better things to do than slave away at the Miller farm all day. He had repaired the lawn mower, fixed the hinge on the barn door, mucked out the stalls, cleaned and oiled the buggy, patched holes in the barn siding, thinned peaches, and helped to weed the garden—all this on top of the chores he had convinced Linda and the boys to finish. Never had so much work been done in a single day. Rebecca wanted to weep for joy. Perhaps she would get to bed before midnight.
She ran outside with the picnic blanket and spread it on the lawn. Max and Linda must have been watching for Levi because they appeared in the yard before she even called them. Levi grinned as he clutched his bags of food.
“We’re eating outside again?” Max said.
“Jah,” Rebecca said, kicking off her shoes and sinking to the blanket. “Then the kitchen will stay clean.”
That was true. No dinner dishes was good reason to eat out on the grass. But outdoor dining also meant Mamm wouldn’t catch a whiff of the five large cartons of french fries.
Rebecca had made Mamm some potato soup and served it to her before Levi’s return. Mamm wasn’t expecting McDonald’s.
Levi knelt on the blanket and pulled food from the bags the way the Englisch Santa might pull gifts from his red sack.
“Who wants a Big Mac?” Levi said.
“What is it?” Danny asked.
Levi’s eyes got big. “A Big Mac is like food from heaven,” he said. “Two meat patties and cheese. The best.”
“I’ll have a Big Mac!” Danny yelled.
“Here,” Levi said, pulling another burger and fries from the bag. “Max, you take a Big Mac too. You’ll love it. And I bought enough fries so everybody could have their own. My sister and I used to fight over who ate more than their fair share. It was usually me.”
Max took the burger, trying hard to hide his eagerness. Linda chose a chicken sandwich.
Levi handed the bag to Rebecca. “You get everything else,” he said.
“Ach, no, Levi. Do you think I am a pig?” Rebecca took some fries and a double cheeseburger and gave the bag back to Levi. “Two more burgers in there,” she said. “You have them.”
Smiling, Levi pulled out another Big Mac and rolled the top of the bag down. “To keep that last burger warm,” he said. “When you’re ready to eat it.”
Danny stuffed about ten french fries into his mouth at once while attempting to talk. “I lub fffench fies,” he said.
“Not so fast, Danny,” Rebecca said. “You’ll choke.”
Max polished off his burger in about seven bites. “Is there any more?” he said.
Rebecca grabbed the sack with the extra burger. “You can have this.”
Levi tried to snatch the bag from her hands. She giggled and passed it to Max.
“One of us must go hungry, I suppose,” she said.
Levi produced the third bag from behind him. “Never fear, I brought dessert.” He dumped the contents into the center of the blanket. Five apple pies and five boxes of cookies.
Danny screamed with glee and grabbed one of each.
“Careful,” Levi said, “the pies are hot.”
Everybody dived into the food, Rebecca noted, like they hadn’t eaten well in a long time. And they hadn’t. The only time she felt full was when she ate with Levi on a date.
Danny finished the last bite of his apple pie and fell back on the blanket. Putting his hands to his stomach, he groaned softly. “I am so full, I’m going to die.”
“Do you want the rest of your fries?” Max said, pointing to Levi’s half-full carton.
“Go for it,” Levi said.
“Should we play volleyball after?” Danny asked, flat on his back and looking up at the sky.
Levi picked up a fry Max had overlooked and handed it to Rebecca. “I would like to, but I have to be at my job pretty soon. Maybe next week.”
“I thought you didn’t work on Wednesdays,” Rebecca said.
“I got a second job.”
Linda munched her cookies daintily while staring persistently at Levi. Her persistence had lasted all day. “Where do you live?” she said. “Why haven’t we ever seen you before?”
Levi didn’t let the question derail him. He must have been expecting it. “I live on the other side of town. We just moved into our new place.”
“So will we see you at the gatherings?”
“The gatherings? I’ve never been invited. When do you have them?”
“Every week. In the summer sometimes two or three times a week.”
Levi’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “That sounds like fun. Will you and Rebecca take me?”
Rebecca shook her head in disbelief.
“Can you come on Sunday?” Linda said.
Levi cleared his throat, most likely to hide the laugh Rebecca knew was hidden behind his eyes. “I can’t come on Sunday, but I’ll go home and ask my mother if she can spare me some other day.”
“Okay,” Linda said, grabbing Rebecca’s arm. “We really want you to come, don’t we, Rebecca?”
Rebecca could not muster her sister’s enthusiasm for such a scheme, but she also knew that Levi was teasing her behind Linda’s back.
Levi gathered all the trash into a bag and handed it to Danny. “Will you go throw this away?”
Danny took off to the trash bin.
Max stood and hooked his thumbs under his suspenders. “Denki for the McDonald’s. It tasted gute.”
Levi nodded, and Max sauntered to the house.
Gratitude. That was a new development.
Levi Cooper, miracle worker.
Levi stood, took both of Rebecca’s hands, and pulled her to her feet. His hands lingered on hers a moment longer than necessary. “I’m sorry I can’t stay and do something about that buggy wheel. Maybe next week.”
“Do not give it a second thought. You have done so much already.”
“Will you walk me down the lane? I want you to show me the pasture.”
Linda’s smile faded. She hadn’t let Levi out of her sight all day. She’d even insisted on thinning peaches with them after the noon meal, which was her least favorite job on the farm. She slumped her shoulders and put on the pathetic expression she used when she wanted Rebecca to feel sorry for her. “I will go check on Mamm,” Linda said, trudging toward the house with little enthusiasm.
Rebecca folded the blanket and laid it on the porch steps. Then she and Levi walked toward the pasture.
“I’ll bring the power sprayer next week, and then we can paint,” he said. “Or we can put off the painting until autumn. That will make it less likely your father will find out about me. At least for a while.”
“I do not think we will have that much time. Linda is probably spilling the beans to Mamm right now.”
“All your mom will know is that an Amish boy came to help with the chores today. Will she object to that?”
“Nae, but my fater will.”
Levi stopped walking and took Rebecca by the shoulders. “Then you’ll have to manage things with your mom. She must know how badly you need the help.” He was more somber than Rebecca had ever seen him. “She can’t expect you to carry the burden of the farm and the house all by yourself. Could you convince her that it is for your family’s good not to tell your father?”
“I could try, but she will not feel right about keeping secrets from Fater.”
Levi swore under his breath then glanced at Rebecca. “Sorry. Bad habit. But do you have to…?” He didn’t finish that thought. “I wish it weren’t so hard for you here. They work you to the bone and you get no appreciation.”
“I can manage.”
Levi took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “What about your Amish neighbors? I know from personal experience how kind they are. They help each other with medical bills and farming and everything. Why won’t anybody help you?”
“My fater refuses the help. He thinks it is his Christian duty to care for his own.”
“
His
duty?” Levi raised his voice. “He’s not doing his duty.
You’re
doing his duty.”
“Please. I do not want to talk about my fater.”
This comment seemed to anger him more than anything else. “Good,” he said, “because a problem usually gets solved by not talking about it.”
Rebecca broke away from his side and sat on a low stone wall at the edge of the pasture. “I cannot change my fater, Levi. I can either bang my head against the wall every morning or accept what is.” She pulled him over to sit next to her. “I accept what is.”
“Not me. I like to bang my head against the wall.”
“Jah, I can tell there is some brain damage.”
“Yep, brain damage.”
She studied his face. Did she really want him to know what was in her heart?
Jah, her heart was safer with Levi than anyone else in the world. “I am a wicked girl because, truth be told, I do not want Fater’s help. I am happier when he is away.”
“You have more freedom.”
“I would never be allowed out to see you if he were always at home. And in his mind, I cannot do anything right. The first thing he does when he walks through the door on Friday night is find fault. At least I do not have to hear his criticisms every day.”
Levi put his arm around her shoulder. “How could he ever find fault with you? You’re perfect.”
She couldn’t face the honesty in his eyes. “Nae,” she said, turning her head away. “No one is perfect. Least of all me.”
“I’m sorry I got mad. I’m trying to watch out for you, since nobody else does.”
Rebecca sniffed once. “What is it about you that forces me to confess all my wickedness? You know about my fater, my baptism, the skateboarding.”
He grinned. “Your secrets are safe with me.”
Jah, she knew they were.
With her hand comfortably in his, they continued their stroll through the pasture. Rebecca recovered some of her composure. “A thank-you isn’t enough for what you have done today.”
“I wanted to come. I’d muck out a hundred barns to be near you.”
“You are shoveling manure at me, Levi Cooper.”
“Not at all, kid. You’re like my porch light, and I’m the moth. I’m naturally drawn to you.”
Still walking along, she nudged him so that he lost his balance and tripped into a deep furrow in the pasture. He regained his footing, and they both laughed.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I surrender.”
“I have done all the confessing today,” Rebecca said. “Now I want to hear your confession.”
He grinned. “Um, okay. I get stinking drunk three nights a week. I have a bad reputation with girls. I forgot to say my prayers this morning. And I don’t make my bed. But I’ve never tried a cigarette, and I’m very good to my mom and my sister, and…” He paused significantly. “I’m thinking of becoming a former drunk. Is that good enough?”
“Do not fool with me, Levi.”
“I’m not fooling. I’m a bad guy, Rebecca.”
“I want to know about the Amish fater and the Deitsch.”
“Jah, I thought you would,” he said in Pennsylvania Dutch with a decent accent.
They halted in their progress again when he leaned against a fence post and stared out at the Glicks’ cornfield. “Here’s my confession. Till I was seven, I was Amish. My dat died in a car accident. My mom… she married an Englischer and left the faith.”
Rebecca felt like she’d just crashed into the lake while waterskiing. It was a lot of information to sort out at once. She reached out to the post for support. “Your mamm was shunned, wasn’t she?”
“She fell in love. How could that be bad?”
“I do not know,” Rebecca said.
Levi looked at her closely. “My mom always defends the shunning. I thought you’d defend it too.”
“What do I know about such things?” Rebecca said. “I am sure this has brought much pain to your family.”
“Mom’s new husband adopted us and everything.” A shadow fell across his features. “But when he left us five years ago, we lost our house. Mom’s Amish family wouldn’t help us because of the shunning.”
“I am so wicked,” Rebecca said. “At least I have a fater.”
“Having no father is better than having a jerk father,” Levi said.
“Does he live around here?”
Levi shook his head. “In Chicago with his new wife. Works at some big-time investment firm. Makes a lot of money—not that we ever see any of it.”
“Where does your mamm’s family live?”
Levi paused then pulled his keys out of his pocket. “That’s all the confessing I’m doing today. If you want more info, you’ll have to go out on another date with me. How about Friday night?”
Rebecca ran through the list of tasks in her head. “Fater comes home on Friday night.”
“What time?”
“The late bus pulls in right after midnight.”
Levi jumped over the fence. “I’m thinking laser-tagging. You want to go?”
Rebecca took a deep breath.
He laughed. “Don’t worry. Laser tag is pretty tame for a girl who can water-ski.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Okay, kid. I’ll pick you up at six.”
“I will be waiting, Moe,” Rebecca said.
“Moe? One of the Three Stooges? I’m honored.” Levi bowed respectfully, winked at Rebecca, and disappeared into the bushes.
Rebecca furrowed her brow. Moe was the name of her uncle’s horse. What were the Three Stooges?