Thankful (6 page)

Joe smiled softly. “But see, that's the way of it, Aden. We want to always thank you.”

“But—”

“Aden, we choose to remember. We want us all to remember how you jumped into that pond and pulled Christina out of the ice and water. Of how you breathed life into her lungs, and how you held her in your arms for a whole mile while you ran home barefoot. I don't ever want to forget the sight of you kneeling in our kitchen praying for her. It changed our lives.” He swallowed hard. “It saved our lives.”

He stared directly at Aden. Making him feel like he was a boy again. “From the time we met you, we knew you were a special boy,” he murmured, his voice hoarse with barely suppressed emotion. “I don't want to talk badly about your parents, so I'll only say that they looked after you a bit differently than I would have wished. I felt like when the Lord gave us back Christina, he gave us you, too. You were our present. We've loved you for each day of these ten years.”

Tears pricked Aden's eyes. And though it was unmanly to feel such emotion, he knew he couldn't hide how moved he was. “I feel very fortunate to have you and Martha in my life. I've loved being one of six
kinner
. All of you have given a lonely orphan quite a gift.”

“But you are now ready to move on.”

“I'm older now. Twenty-four. It's time I got a place of my own.” Thinking quickly, he added, “Besides, I like my job at the hospital, and if I lived closer to town I could just walk to catch the van I take to work.”

“That is true. Are you sure these are the only reasons, Aden? Are you positive that there's nothing else spurring you on?”

It felt as if Joe were staring through him. Reading more into his thoughts, reading his mind. Like he knew.

“I am sure. Please don't take this for anything other than what it is . . . a sign that I am growing up.”

“Martha ain't going to like your news, you know.”

Aden smiled softly. “That's why I told you first.”

Joe seemed to weigh that for a moment. “Her feelings might not be too hurt if you tell her that you'd be willing to come over here to eat two nights a week.”

“Two?”

“Sunday supper is a given. Surely one more night ain't too much to ask.”

“Of course not. But—”

“
Gut
,” Joe interrupted, his voice firm. “We've been blessed to eat supper with you every evening, Aden. Don't make us give you up all at once.”

“That is fair.” He chuckled. Because they both knew that coming for supper two nights a week was going to be to his benefit.

Joe clapped him on the shoulder. “Let's feed and water the horses so we can get some breakfast. You know, if we don't hurry, Nate and Henry will eat us out of house and home.”

“I'll do the water, you do the feed,” Aden said.

“Don't make a mess, son,” Joe cautioned.

Aden grinned at the familiar warning. It was the same thing Joe always told him. Just as him watering and Joe feeding the horses was the way they'd always divided the chores.

As he turned on the hose, Aden realized it was going to be yet another thing he was going to miss.

chapter five

Christina tried not to look like she was pouting. She truly did. But as they all sat together in the great room after supper and listened to Aden tell them his big news, she felt betrayed and dismayed.

And so very sad.

And if she was honest, more than a little angry.

For most of her life—well, at least the last ten years—she'd taken to leaning on Aden for just about everything. Since she was her parents' eldest child, she'd long felt the weight of responsibility of much of the chores on her shoulders. It had been nice to know that he, too, could handle some of her younger siblings' problems.

But even more than that, she had truly enjoyed being around him. She'd liked looking across the room and seeing him reading one of the hunting or fishing magazines he'd always liked so much. Even better, she'd enjoyed sharing amused glances with him when her parents said something particularly funny or when one of her brothers acted just a little too full of himself.

Now all that would be gone. Now
he
would be gone.

“I'm sorry, but I just don't understand,” Mamm said for about the eighth time in as many minutes. “Aden, surely there isn't any hurry for you to be out in the world on your own.” Her eyes widened. “Or is there a hurry? Are you unhappy?” Her eyes widened. “
Ach!
Has something happened?”

“Nothing's happened,” he reassured her. “This isn't about me being happy or unhappy here. It's about moving forward.”

Mamm looked skeptical. “Moving forward?”

“Martha, I'm talking about being older. About needing some space of my own.”

“But . . . you have your own room.” Her brow wrinkled. “Do you need a bigger room?”

“My room was fine. It
is
fine. But what I am trying to say is that I need more than that.” Obviously agitated, he met Christina's eyes. Wrapped in his gaze was everything he was obviously feeling— frustration that his meaning was being misconstrued as well as humor in her mother's need to wrap everything up into something she could easily understand.

But overriding both those emotions was an unmistakable plea for help. And right then and there, Christina knew she had no choice but to back him up. Even though she didn't understand his decision, she couldn't refuse his need any more than she could refuse her youngest sister's need for hugs.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Mamm, Daed, you all are forgetting that Aden is not a child or a teenager in the middle of
rumspringa
. He's a grown man at twenty-four years of age! Why, many men his age are already married and have
kinner
of their own by now. How can we expect Aden to go courting when he's got a houseful of all of us watching his every move?”

Treva, ever the most level-headed of them all, nodded. “You know, that makes a lot of sense to me. I've certainly felt like I've been watched a bit overzealously from time to time.”

“You needed watching, Treva,” their mother declared. “Especially when you were seeing that awful Simon Beachy.”

“Simon wasn't that bad.”

“He wasn't that good,” Daed said with a scowl.

“He kept trying to hold your hand,” Leanna pointed out.

“And he was fat,” Henry pointed out. “And had soft hands.”

Obviously embarrassed, Treva tossed back her head. “See what I mean? I don't blame you one bit, Aden.”

“
Danke
, Treva,” Aden said with a dry smile.

Nate and Henry looked at each other and then sighed. “I understand, too, Aden,” Henry said. “When I'm as old as you, I sure wouldn't want to be living at home and doing chores.”

Their father grunted. “Because I'm sure when you're living on your own you'll have no chores to do.”

“Not the same ones, though,” Henry said.

Aden chuckled at all the bickering. “Oh, I'll have chores, I'm sure of that.” Looking at Nate and Henry, he added, “I just won't have to do anyone else's too. Or have to take care to make sure everyone else is doing theirs correctly.”

“I'll look forward to that day, too, son,” Daed said with a dry expression. “Now, Aden, what do you need from us?”

“Nothing. Just your understanding.”

Her parents looked at each other. “We understand, but that doesn't mean that we're happy about you leaving.”

“Even if you live by yourself, I will still think of you as my eldest boy, Aden,” her mother said. “No matter where you go, you always will be.”

“I want to always be one of your boys, Martha. It would be my honor.”

After that, there didn't seem to be anything more to say. Nate and Henry darted off, Treva hugged Aden before escaping to her room, and her parents patted his head before wandering into the kitchen.

All too quickly, only she and Aden remained. Christina felt so many conflicting emotions, she yearned to escape to her room so she could cry in peace. But when she noticed that he seemed just as stressed, she knew she couldn't leave him alone. “It looks as if it's just the two of us now.”

His gaze warmed. “How do you think it went?”

“About as well as could be expected, I suppose,” she said diplomatically. “You gave us a bit of a shock.”

“All I'm doing is moving out.”

“I know.”

“I mean, it's not like we won't still see each other.”

“That is true. But things will change. It's going to be different.”

“It is time.”

“Perhaps.” She yearned to say more, to tell him how confused and conflicted she felt. But she decided to keep her thoughts to herself for a little bit longer.

“Christina, please don't be upset with me.”

His tone was so sweet, so pleading, she found herself looking into his eyes yet again. “I'm not upset.”

“You sure?”

“I know you'll be fine. I mean, everything changes, right?”

“I think so.” He swallowed. “It's like the seasons, I suppose. We can't stop winter from coming or spring from arriving. Change is inevitable.”

She knew that. And she agreed. But it didn't make what was happening any easier. She was disappointed that she wouldn't be sharing most of her meals with him. Sad that their relationship was going to change. Worried about their futures.

“I'll be fine living on my own, you know.”

“I imagine you will.” Though it hurt to say it, she knew it was true. Aden Reese was the type of man who would be fine wherever he was. “Do you, ah, have enough money to rent an apartment?”

“I think so. I've been saving for a while.”

Which meant that he'd been planning this move for some time. For some reason, that made everything seem worse.

Which, unfortunately, made her blurt her innermost thoughts before thinking better of it.

“Aden, why, exactly, do you want to be on your own? And I'm talking about the
real
reason. Not the one you just told us all.”

“I just told you the real reason. Honestly, Christina. Don't make this into anything more than it is.”

She hated when he adopted that smart, know-it-all tone! She was about to throw up her hands in frustration and leave the room when she took a better look at him. He'd looked bemused, but now there was the barest hint of wariness in his gaze.

She realized her instincts had been right. He was hiding something. “I still get the sense that there's another reason you are suddenly so eager to leave. A secret one.”

He leaned back and his expression turned guarded. “You sound mighty sure of yourself.”

“I am. What is it? Have you met someone while working at the hospital that you want to be courting?”

His eyebrows rose. “You think I've met someone?”

He looked so horrified, she felt embarrassed. But not enough to take her words back. “It's the only thing that makes sense. And as I said, you are the right age to be courting someone seriously. And as I said, a lot of men your age are married.”

“That is true.” He reached up and rubbed a knot out of his shoulder. “Um, actually, I have been interested in someone.”

“You have?” Oh, but this conversation was getting worse and worse. It was a struggle to keep a calm, peaceful expression.

“Oh,
jah
.” He glanced at her briefly, then looked away, suddenly interested in a small cut on one of his knuckles. “It's not serious or anything. But I definitely have had my eye on this lady.”

Lady?
“So, um, did you meet her at the hospital?”

“I did.” He paused before looking at her directly in the eye. “I met her a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact.”

“You never said anything.”

“Christina, you know why I didn't. Your parents would have asked me a thousand questions. Plus, with her being English and all . . .”

She felt devastated. Completely devastated. “What is her name?”

“Name? Ah, why is that important?”

Because she wanted to know everything about the woman who was taking Aden from her! But of course she couldn't say that. Instead, she tried her best to act calm, cool, and collected. “Oh, no reason. I was just curious. I mean, I might have met her at the inn or something.” A sick feeling settled in her stomach. Gosh, had he gone and fallen in love with someone she knew? She didn't know too many English girls, but she did know a couple.

She gulped. “Have I met her? Do I know her?”

“
Nee!
I mean, I'm fairly sure you wouldn't have.”

“Aden, are you going to tell me her name?”

“I am definitely not.”

“I promise I won't say anything to anyone.”

“Which is all the more reason that you don't need to know anything more about my private life.” Standing up, he treated her to a look that was definitely a little bit full of himself. Definitely a little bit too smug. “I simply don't need my sister poking her nose into my business.”

As she watched him leave, Christina had to forcefully remind herself to close her mouth and not stare after him like a fool.

But it was difficult to do.

After all, today was the first day she could ever remember hearing him call her his sister.

And now that she had heard it? She didn't care for the sound of it. Not one bit.

I
hope everyone won't be too shocked when we tell them our news, Ben,” Judith said as they walked toward the front door of her parents' house.

“Oh, they're going to be shocked,” Ben replied in that confident way of his. “And they're going to have lots to say, too.”

“You think so?” They really didn't have time for a long, involved discussion. There were too many things to do!