My hair. He must be put off by my hair.
A sensation of creepy-crawlies, just beneath the skin, scurried down her arms.
Joseph cleared his throat. “Well, I’d better get home.” Still turning his hat in his hands, he shuffled to the door. He spoke again without turning to face her. “I’ll come for you before dinner, if that’s all right with you.”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll see you then.”
Without a goodbye, he hesitated only a moment before he pulled the door shut behind him.
Chapter Eight
Puzzled, Rebekah stared at the closed door.
He’s never acted so strange before.
Cold knots of uncertainty formed in her stomach. She started toward the kitchen with her hands wrung at her waist.
“Pa? Are you in here, Pa?”
Samuel’s voice came from outside. “Go on. Get out of here!”
Rebekah lifted her skirt and hurried to see what brought on the commotion.
Sure enough, there was Pa outside the back door. He had put the apples to soak in the wooden barrel as she recalled. However, in all the excitement, he had neglected to put the lid on. There were the twins, bobbing away amid the apples.
“Look Pa, we got to swim and snack.” Each boy grasped a thoroughly-gnawed core in their chubby hands.
The boys, though, weren’t where Samuel’s squawking was aimed. His new draft horses, bought just the day before from Mr. Yoder, had helped themselves to the apples as well.
“Ma’s not going to be happy about this,” Rebekah muttered as she stepped out to join her family.
Samuel stood with his hands on his head as his horses trotted back toward his new barn. She could hear them crunching their stolen apples.
She drew a hand to her mouth in a poor attempt to stifle a giggle as Jeremiah plucked the boys from the apple barrel. Her attempt to hold back the laughter didn’t work.
“Oh, Pa!” she managed between giggles. “I’ll start the pies with the apples we have left.”
Her father’s brown hair stuck out from his head in angry wisps. “That Mr. Yoder. He didn’t tell me dem horses had a taste for da apples.”
His German accent thickened with his mood.
The twins dashed by in a sea of giggles, just shy of Jeremiah’s reach.
“Thank you for putting them in to soak, Pa. What with all the commotion lately. . .”
Joseph.
Rebekah twisted her fingers together. “It’s a wonder any of us can think at all.”
Samuel looped his arm around her shoulder. “Jeremiah can get the boys cleaned up and ready. Who knew the apple barrel was the best place to take a swim?” He gave her a quick squeeze. “It does my heart glad to know you’re going to the festival tonight on the arm of Joseph Graber. He’s a fine young man, he is.”
She studied the ground. The strings of her covering dangled in her vision and drew her attention to any menial thing that wasn’t talking about Joseph Graber with her Pa. “It’s good you’re pleased.”
Samuel patted her shoulder. “Go get to baking, daughter. We can get a handful of pies made if we start now.”
“We?”
Samuel ran his thumbs along the inside of his black braces. “I was a mighty fine pie maker back in Germany. I baked a pie for your ma when we were courting.”
Rebekah cocked an eyebrow. “Ma never mentioned that.”
“Oh ja, I’ll never forget the look on her face when she tried that first bite. Her eyes might near popped right out of her head.”
Forgetting her anxiety over Joseph, she stared at her father in disbelief. “It was that good?”
Samuel rubbed his chin. “Her exact words were, ‘You mixed up the salt and the sugar. Good thing I know the difference, otherwise we could never host any families in our home.’” Samuel’s glance cut to his daughter. “I asked her to marry me that night, and thankfully, she said yes.”
“Oh, Pa, that is the sweetest story.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know about sweetest. I figured it to be the saltiest.”
***
The sun crept from the east to the west with all the sluggishness of a snail. By the time the pies cooled on the front porch, all the boys were dressed in their Sunday best and ready to go.
Elnora fussed over Beanie’s outfit while Rebekah and Samuel tidied the kitchen.
“Thanks for letting me help, daughter.”
She stowed the white sugar back in the safety of the highest cabinet, far away from grabby boy fingers. “Thank you for letting me measure out the salt and sugar.”
They shared an easy laugh as the evening birds began their nightly song.
Samuel twirled a rag around his hand. “Young Joseph should be here soon.”
Rebekah froze.
Her father’s words were as soft as the spring rain. “No matter what happens tonight, Rebekah, follow your heart. Your mother and I want nothing more than your happiness.”
He gave the rag a fling. It landed expertly in the dry sink.
Before she could contemplate her father’s heartfelt words, Jeremiah stuck his head in the kitchen. “Joseph’s here.”
With his lips pulled into his most mischievous grin, he stared directly at his sister. “Joseph’s here. And boy, does he look pretty.”
Rebekah tugged at her cape. Satisfied that it was situated, she straightened her covering. Then, she smoothed her dress.
“Are you going to leave him waiting for you all night?” Jeremiah pressed.
