The Lopsided Christmas Cake (20 page)

Elma swatted at a bothersome fly as she stood stroking Pearl’s mane. Even the fly was fooled by the temperatures, but Elma was glad the gnats and most of the other aggravating bugs were gone.
I wonder how long we should wait. If they don’t get here soon, maybe we should return home, because I sure don’t want to drive my poor horse all over the place in search of the right pond.

She glanced at Thelma, who stood near the water’s edge, looking up at the sky. Elma looked up, too. The sky was as blue as ever, without the hint of a cloud. Even so, it might not be like that later in the day, which was the reason she’d come prepared. Her sister may think she was silly bringing all those other things, as well, but Elma thought it was good to be prepared for any given situation. Besides, they had plenty of room in their buggy, so what did it hurt?

Tired of waiting, she was about to suggest they go home, when a horse and buggy rolled into the clearing. It was Delbert and Joseph. “Sister, they’re here!”

Thelma came running with an eager expression. “Oh, good. Now we can begin fishing!”

Elma gritted her teeth.
Oh, good. I can’t wait.

“So glad you two were able to find this place,” Joseph said, smiling at Thelma. At least he thought it was her. When she spoke, he was sure he would know for certain, but he wished the twins didn’t look so much alike. It was confusing.

“It wasn’t hard at all, was it, Elma?”

Elma shook her head “We had no problem finding the pond, but when we got here and saw no sign of you and Delbert, we wondered if we were at the wrong place.”

“Sorry we’re a bit late,” Delbert spoke up. “We stopped by the store on the way here so we could pick up some bottles of sweet tea.” He gestured to the cooler Joseph was lifting out of the buggy. “I packed water, and Joe brought some bait, but we thought the tea would go good with our lunch.”

Joseph grinned.
The one in the dark blue dress is Thelma all right.
Elma had worn a gray dress this morning. Since they hadn’t dressed alike, it would be easier to tell them apart. “I hope you and your sister don’t mind, but I brought Ginger along. She loves to go fishing with me and shouldn’t be any problem at all.”

“It’s fine with me,” Thelma spoke up.

Elma leaned down to pet the dog’s head. “What a beautiful golden retriever.”

“She’s also very gentle and has been a great companion for me,” Joseph said.

“I hope you’ll enjoy what we brought to eat,” Thelma said. “If not, then maybe the dog will eat it.”

Elma rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure it’ll be good.” Joseph thumped his stomach. “Thinkin’ about food makes me hungerich.”

Delbert bumped Joseph’s arm. “Let’s get to fishin’. That oughta take your mind off your hungry stomach.”

Joseph chuckled when his stomach growled in protest. “Sure hope so.” He glanced over at the twins, who were busy taking things out of their buggy. “Do you need any help?”

“I think maybe we do,” Thelma said. “I have our picnic basket and a small cooler, and Elma brought two hefty tote bags along.”

“That’s right,” Elma agreed. “In addition to blankets for us to sit on, I packed bug spray, sunglasses, umbrellas, a first-aid kit, plus a few other items.”

Delbert frowned while swatting at the back of his neck, where a fly had landed. “How come you brought so much stuff? All we really need is the food, beverages, and fishing gear. Oh, and of course, my favorite fishing chair.”

Elma’s eyebrows shot up. “You brought your own chair?”

“Sure did.” Delbert reached into the buggy and pulled out a canvas folding chair. “I always fish better when I’m sittin’ on this.”

Elma looked at the chair then quickly pulled a blanket out of one of the tote bags. “I’d rather sit on this.”

“You don’t say,” Delbert was quick to reply.

Joseph pulled at his collar, which suddenly seemed too tight. Was he imagining it, or was there a bit of friction going on between his friend and Elma? He hoped that wasn’t the case, because in order to keep seeing Thelma, he needed Delbert to go out with her twin.

A
s Thelma sat on a log beside Joseph, holding her fishing pole, she looked over her shoulder and frowned. Elma sat on the blanket by herself, with a pen and crossword-puzzle magazine in her hand.
My sister will never get to know Delbert that way,
she fretted. He’d been kind enough to bring four poles and had even baited Elma’s hook, but she showed no interest in fishing.
I need to think of something to get them together. Maybe when we eat lunch it’ll go better.

“By the way,” Delbert said, looking at Thelma from where he sat on his chair. “If you and Elma still want me to fix your front porch, I’d be free to start on Monday.”

“I believe we do. Isn’t that right, Elma?” Thelma called to her sister.

“What was that?” Elma leaned slightly forward, putting the magazine down. “I was so engrossed in this puzzle that I didn’t hear what was said.”

“Delbert said he’d be free to start on our porch this coming Monday. We still want him to do the job, right?”

Elma nodded. “Definitely. It needs to be done, and soon.”

“Great then. I’ll be over early that morning.”

“How early?” Elma asked. “We open the store at nine.”

“I’ll be there before then, in case you want to ask me any questions.” Delbert looked at Thelma and smiled. “And if I have any questions, I’ll come up to the store to speak with whichever of you isn’t busy.”

“That should work out fine,” Thelma said.

“By the way…” Joseph moved a little closer to Thelma. Then Ginger got up and moved a little closer to Joseph, nudging his hand for some attention. “I keep forgetting to tell you that I enjoyed eating the cake you made for the charity event. It was sure tasty.”

Thelma’s face heated. “Danki, Joseph. I’m glad the way it looked didn’t affect the taste.”

“We never got to ask,” Delbert said, “but how did the cake end up looking that way?”

“I had baked it the night before, and when I put the top layer on, one side looked lopsided,” Thelma explained. “So to fix that problem, I added more frosting to one side of the top.” She grimaced. “That may have been okay, but just then, our cat jumped up and got in the bowl of icing, so I couldn’t use what was left. Then on the way to Shipshewana, our horse started acting up, lurching and lunging. I believe that’s what made the cake look even worse.”

“It was an embarrassment.” Elma joined them at the pond’s edge. “What I’d like to know, Delbert, is why you bid on our cake. I mean, lots of the other desserts looked much better than ours.”

Delbert pointed at Joseph. “I did it for my good friend here. He wanted that cake and asked me to bid on it for him.”

More than a little surprised, Thelma turned to face Joseph. “If you really wanted it, then why didn’t you bid on it yourself?”

Joseph’s ears turned pink, and so did his cheeks, making his freckles stand out. “I… uh… the thing is… I—I knew if I tried to call out a bid, I’d trip over my own t–tongue, like I’m doin’ right now.”

“But why did you want a lopsided cake?” Elma asked, lowering herself to the log beside Thelma.

Joseph dropped his gaze to the ground, rocking slightly back and forth. “I—I wanted to m–meet Thelma.”

Thelma’s eyes opened wide. She hardly knew what to say. It made her feel good to know that Joseph had wanted to meet her, but to pay that much for their cake?

“And don’t forget,” Delbert said, “the cooking show was for a good cause.”

“That’s true,” Elma agreed. “And we hope the proceeds from the auction brought in a lot of money.”

“I don’t know how much exactly, but I heard it was a success.” Delbert’s fishing pole jerked. He leaped to his feet. “I’ve got a bite, but I’m thinkin’ it might be a sucker. If so, I’ll throw it back in.”

Thelma sat quietly, watching Delbert reel in his fish, unable to look at Joseph. He hadn’t said a word since he’d announced that he’d asked his friend to bid on the cake so he could meet Thelma. She figured he was embarrassed, and she wished she could say something to make him feel better, but what? She couldn’t blurt out that she was glad he’d wanted to meet her. Or was there something else she could say?

“Ginger is sure a nice dog. How long have you had her?” Thelma decided to ask.

“Six years already—since she was a puppy.” Joseph looked tenderly at the dog. Thelma could tell they were true companions as Ginger laid her head in Joseph’s lap. “After I bought my place two years before that, I missed having a dog around.”

“She certainly is well behaved,” Elma said.

He gave a nod. “Has been from the very beginning.”

“Danki for inviting us to go fishing with you today.” Leaning over, so she was closer to Joseph’s ear, Thelma whispered, “I’m glad you asked Delbert to bid on the cake. If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now, enjoying this lovely day.”

He lifted his head and smiled at her. “Maybe we can do this again sometime. If not before winter sets in, then maybe come spring.”

Thelma nodded. “I’d like that, Joseph.” She knew now that he truly must be interested in her, or why would he have mentioned that?

Elma rose from her seat. “I think I’ll go for a walk.”

By now, Delbert had thrown the fish back in the pond and was about to put more bait on his hook when Joseph stood. “Why don’t you go with her, Dell? It’ll give you two a chance to get better acquainted. And take Ginger along. I think she could use some exercise.”

“I suppose I may as well take a walk, since the good fish aren’t biting anyway.” Delbert turned to face Elma. “Should we go right or left?”

“Since you know the area and I don’t, why don’t you choose?” She smiled up at him.

“Let’s head in this direction.” Delbert pointed to the left.

Elma patted her leg. “Come on, Ginger!” The dog jumped up and came right over, her tail swishing about.

As Elma followed Delbert down a dirt path, she noticed several kinds of wildflowers. “Those are so
schee
.”

Delbert stopped walking and turned to face her. “What’s pretty?”

“Those.” Elma pointed to the flowers.

“Ah, I see.” He motioned to a pile of colored leaves. “I think those are equally schee.”

Elma nodded. Apparently Delbert enjoyed the colors found in nature. It was nice to know they had that in common.

“How come you’re not fishing today?” he asked as they continued walking.

“To be perfectly honest, I’ve never had that much interest in the sport. I enjoy eating some fish, but I don’t have the patience to sit and wait for a fish to bite.”

“It does take patience,” he agreed. “But you know what they say: ‘Good things come to those who wait.’”

Elma smiled in response.

“Don’t know about you, but I’m about ready to eat. Should we head back so we can have lunch?”

“That’s fine with me.”

When they returned to the place where they’d left Joseph and Thelma, Elma was surprised to see how close they were sitting on that log. They both had their lines in the water and were chattering away like a pair of blue jays that had known each other for a long time.

“You’re back so soon?” Thelma asked, looking up at Elma.

Delbert bobbed his head. “We decided it was time for lunch.” He stood close to Joseph, and Ginger came and sat between them. “Have you caught anything yet?”