Thankful (2 page)

A better man would have admitted that he should never be praised for that day. A better man would have never accepted a room in their loving household.

Unfortunately, he'd always found it easier to keep silent instead of refuting their belief in him. And he definitely never allowed them to guess his deepest, darkest secret. After ten years living as her sibling, he still was in love with Christina Kempf.

T
here Aden was, standing beside the buggy, lost in thought and looking as handsome as ever. Since he still hadn't noticed her, Christina took a moment to stare and let herself have a little moment to hope and dream. To imagine that he was her beau. To pretend that he was waiting for her because he couldn't stay away.

Instead of waiting for her because her mother had asked him to.

Then, as he blinked and focused on her, she rushed forward, taking care to keep her voice easy and breezy. Carefree. “I'm so sorry. It took me a little longer than I expected to get my things together.”

“There's no reason to apologize. See, I'm only now hitching up the buggy.”

“My, you really are moving slowly today,” she teased. “Perhaps Mamm is right. Maybe we do need to make January third your own special holiday.”

His mouth tightened. “If we could take this day off the calendar forever, I'd be grateful.”

She knew how he felt. Though no one suspected, she still dreamed about the accident at least once a week. It was always the same nightmare. She'd relive the incident, hearing again the crack of the ice under her feet, feel the painful rush of icy water on her skin, followed by the burst of panic when she couldn't breathe.

Then she would jerk awake in a cold sweat. Her heart would be pounding and she'd be gasping for air.

And then it would take at least another hour for her to calm down enough to drift back into sleep.

What her parents seemed to forget was that the skating accident was all her fault. She'd had a terrible crush on Aden when she was twelve and was constantly doing everything she could to try to impress him. That day, it had included skating as fast as she could across the pond. If she had been looking at the ice instead of imagining him gazing at her in admiration, she would have realized that the ice had begun to crack.

If she'd been smarter, she would have saved them both a lot of trouble and he never would have almost died from a terrible case of pneumonia.

Looking back on those days, she ached to rewrite history. Without a doubt, she had embarrassed them both multiple times a week with her puppy love. After all, who would ever take a young girl's infatuation seriously?

“Maisey's hitched. Are you ready to go?”

“But of course.” Without waiting for his help, she climbed into the buggy and scooted right next to him, positioning her tote bag as she did.

When the skirts of her light green wool dress brushed against his leg, he stiffened before scooting another inch or two to his left. “So, what are your plans for the day?” he asked as he jiggled the reins and encouraged Maisey to begin her trot down the driveway.

“The usual things, I suppose. I'll work in the kitchen at the inn.”

His lips thinned. “Are those ladies letting you do more than wash dishes yet?”

“Sometimes,” she said as he directed his horse to turn left and they began the fifteen-minute journey to her job at the Sugarcreek Inn.

“It's not right, the way they have you standing at the sink from the time you get there until the moment you leave.”

“I'm the youngest and the newest employee. You know how it goes, Aden. Besides, Marla let me help her make rolls the other day.”

“Do you want me to talk to them? You know, remind them that you were hired to cook and serve, not just be a dishwasher?”

“Definitely not!”

“You sure? I don't mind.”

“Positive. Besides, Mrs. Kent said that she's going to hire a new girl to wash dishes now that Miriam's left. I think that was her way of telling me that I'm getting a promotion of sorts.”

“
Gut
.”

As they got closer to the Sugarcreek Inn, the traffic around them got a bit heavier. Christina kept silent, knowing Aden needed to keep his attention on the vehicles trying to pass them. Maisey was a calm horse, to be sure. But that didn't mean she didn't have moments of skittishness.

At long last Aden pulled into the Sugarcreek Inn's parking lot. After guiding Maisey to one of the hitching posts at the back of the lot, he hopped out.

Christina knew by now that he would take it as a personal offense if she merely climbed down from the buggy and went on her way. For some reason known only to him, Aden always liked to help her down.

“What time do you get off today?” he asked when he appeared at her side.

“Four o'clock.”

“Do you need a ride?”

“I'm not sure. Probably Mrs. Kent or Ruth can take me home. I'll ask them,” she answered as she slipped her right hand in his while his right curved around her waist. For the briefest of moments, they were as close as they'd ever been. Just long enough for Christina to smell the soap on his skin and look into his caramel-colored eyes.

Then all too soon she was standing firmly on the ground and Aden was stepping away.

“I'll call the restaurant around two o'clock to make sure you have a ride,” he said.

She didn't dare tease him about this. He took her safety very seriously. “All right. I'll know who will be taking me home by then.”

“Gut.”

He had just turned around, and when she knew she couldn't let another moment go by without saying something, she added, “Aden, even though you don't like celebrating today, I'm grateful for it. I will always be grateful for you jumping in the pond and pulling me out. For saving my life.”

A myriad of expressions crossed his features—pain, remembered fear, embarrassment. She knew each one by heart because she'd felt the same things.

But then he took her hand in his, curved both of his around it, and pressed. “It was a life worth saving. I, too, will always be thankful for that day, Christy. Always.”

Then with his cheeks a brilliant red, he turned around as she slowly walked into the restaurant.

She had a new tingle on her skin. After ten years, she'd never given up on the thought that Aden might someday be hers. Every time she was sure that there was no chance of them having a future, something like this would happen, making her heart soar all over again.

But of course, she knew better than to do anything to encourage him. The last thing in the world she wanted was to embarrass them both.

She'd done enough of that for two lifetimes.

chapter two

“Watch yourself today, Christina,” Marla whispered into her ear as Christina neatly placed her coat and lunch container on her hook at the back of the restaurant. “Jana is in a terrible mood this morning.”

“Again?”

“Again.” Marla shrugged her shoulders, the movement in obvious sympathy. “I can't figure it out. Business seems good, the customers seem happy enough.”

“Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the inn, then.”

“If it doesn't have anything to do with the restaurant, what could be wrong? All Jana does is work.” After peeking around the corner, she added, “I don't know what's going on, but I wish she'd take out her bad mood on other folks besides us. I'm getting right tired of it.”

Christina mentally agreed, but didn't dare risk saying anything out loud. She was lucky to have this job and she certainly didn't want to risk it by talking badly about the restaurant's owner. “More dishes today?”

Ruth, the kitchen's other worker—and the only one of the three of them who wasn't Amish—trotted over and gave her a little hug. “Aren't you just the sweetest thing?” she said with a smile. “I was just telling Jana that you'd probably wash dishes all day, every day for the next year if we let you. But I've got some super news to share.”

“And that is?”

Ruth pointed to a young girl. “This is Jolene. She's our new dishwasher.”

Christina smiled warmly and extended her hand. She didn't want the young girl to realize how thrilled she was with this news.

“Hi, Jolene,” she said politely. “I'm
verra
glad you're here.”

As Jolene shyly smiled, Ruth grinned in a far bolder way. “I had a feeling you would be excited to see our new girl. Now, off you go.”

“To do what?”

“You're going to be a server this morning.”

“Truly?” She didn't even try to hide her excitement.

Marla came over and stood next to Ruth. “
Ach,
but your eyes are so wide, Christina! You look like it's Christmas and your birthday, all rolled into one.”

“I'm just
verra
thankful that I won't be washing dishes all day long. Not that there was anything wrong with it, of course,” she said to Jolene.

“I don't mind it,” the new girl replied.

Reaching around Christina, Ruth pulled out a crisp white server's apron and pressed it into Christina's hands. “Slip this on and go on out to Jana. She's going to supervise you herself this morning. And good luck with that.”

Unable to help herself, Christina traded glances with Marla.

Marla shrugged. “She's in a mood, but she likes you, dear. Don't worry, she'll be patient.”

After tying on her apron, Christina walked toward the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the dining area. “It's times like this that I really miss Miriam,” she murmured.

“I know. Miriam would have teased ya, and then would have probably been your shadow all day, watching over you like a doting mother hen,” Marla agreed. “But she's a housewife now. And a mighty happy one at that.”

Christina smiled. After working at the Sugarcreek Inn for more than five years and pretty much being the backbone of the restaurant, Miriam and Junior Beiler had gotten hitched in a whirlwind wedding. It had been a big one, and somewhat of a grand occasion since they'd decided to hold the reception right there at the inn. Even the bishop had approved such a move, taking into consideration that the two of them had known each other so long that there was no need to wait to wed.

But the short engagement had meant that there was no time to reserve a kitchen wagon. Christina, Marla, Ruth, Jana, and about a dozen more girls had worked in the restaurant's kitchen, making chicken, stuffing, and even an assortment of wedding cupcakes for the happy couple.

Practically the whole town had attended, and it had been quite the loud and boisterous celebration.

But now all of that was over. Long over.

“Hurry now, Christina,” Ruth called out. “If you don't get a move on, Jana's going to hustle in here to see what's keeping you.”

That was all the encouragement she needed. With a deep breath, she walked through the doors and felt her cheeks heat when some of the customers looked at her curiously.

Mrs. Kent smiled at her as she approached. “Ready for today?”

“
Jah.
I'm eager to be a waitress.”

Mrs. Kent chuckled. “I'm glad you feel that way. I know you're going to do great. I'll stay by your side for a few tables, then you can be on your own.”

“So quickly?”

“Don't worry, Christina. It's just food. If you mess up the order, it can always be fixed. And all you have to do if you do run into trouble is ask me to join you.”

After giving her a pad of paper and a pencil, Jana went through a few points, then had Christina shadow her the next hour. By the end of the hour, Christina was feeling comfortable enough to do all the talking. At that point Jana seemed content to stand by her side and listen.

As the restaurant began to fill with the lunch crowd Jana gave her a little push toward the back tables. “It's time we split up, dear. Just do things like you did them with me and you'll be just fine.”

And wouldn't you know it? She was fine. Since she'd worked in the kitchen she was familiar with all of the dishes and was therefore able to answer most questions. Next thing she knew, she was taking a break, then darting back and forth from the tables, taking orders, delivering glasses of tea and lemonade, and refilling coffee cups.

She was doing so well, she was caught off guard when Jana called her over to take a phone call. “Aden is on the line,” she explained. “He wants to know if you need a ride home. Do you?”

“Oh, I was so excited about waitressing, I forgot to ask if you could take me home today. Can you? Ruth has other plans.” Jana usually never minded taking a few minutes to get out of the restaurant.

“I'm sorry, but I can't do it today. I've got a meeting with my accountant at five.”

Spirits sinking, she took the receiver from Jana. “Hi, Aden.”

“Hi. How are things in the kitchen?”

“For your information, I'm not working in the kitchen.”

“Oh? What are you doing?”

She couldn't help the excitement from seeping into her voice. “I just happen to be waitressing today.”

He chuckled. “Is that a fact? Well, good for you. I can't wait to hear all about it.”

Little by little, her excitement faded. He was sounding very much like a doting uncle, which was nice, but it wasn't quite the response she'd hoped for. “I will tell you everything. When we have time to talk, that is.”

He chuckled. “I'm sure that will be sooner rather than later. So, do you need me to pick you up today?”

“I'm afraid I do.”

“You do?” She heard a couple of papers being shuffled and something clanging in the background. “All right, then,” he said around a sigh. “I better go tell Janice that I'm going to have to leave soon.”

“Who is Janice?”

“She's one of my supervisors. Look, I might be a few minutes late, but don't worry. I'll be there as soon as I can.”