“See that you don’t,” Ezekiel replied. “Mark my words. You will pay for every tear.”
Ezekiel turned and stalked off in the direction of the gardens, and Elias watched him go. This was going to be harder than he thought. But he’d get that young man’s trust yet.
Delia deserved her freedom, even from the devoted love of her own children.
Chapter Four
“You’re going on a buggy ride with Elias Lehman?” Thomas asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Like...like Ezekiel and Beulah?”
Delia stood at the counter, arranging some cut flowers into a bouquet on a square of brown paper. She tucked some baby’s breath in behind the lilies and fragrant, fully open peach-colored rose blooms. They wouldn’t last long in a vase, but they would be beautiful.
“Not entirely like that,” Delia replied. “We’re going to stop by the Speichers’ place. Willa has been sick, and I want to bring her some flowers to cheer her up. She loves our roses.”
“That’s it?” Thomas asked with a frown. “You don’t need Elias to drive you there. If you want company, one of us would go with you.”
“I can go along,” Moses piped up. He rubbed a hand over his freckled nose.
The boys stood in the kitchen, the dishes washed and mostly put away.
“It’s obviously more than just a visit with neighbors,” Ezekiel said. “Elias told me he wanted to take you out for a ride tonight.”
“That’s a date, Mamm,” Aaron said. “Even I know that. When a man asks you to go riding in his buggy, that’s a date.”
As if Delia needed schooling on how people courted! It was mildly annoying how naive her own boys seemed to think she was.
“I’m well aware that it’s a date,” Delia said. “But I can do more than one thing at once, and I want to bring these flowers to Willa.” She wrapped the bottom of the cut flowers with a wet piece of paper towel, and then folded the paper over the bouquet and tied the middle with a piece of twine. “And this is not up for debate. I’m sure you’ll be fine without me for a couple of hours.”
“And if we don’t like him?” Moses asked.
“Then I suggest you learn to like him,” Delia replied. “He’s a very nice man, and you boys need to learn that you aren’t the men in this home.”
“Then what are we?” Thomas demanded.
“You are the children,” she said. “You are the growing, maturing, responsible and wonderful children whom I am very proud of. But you are still the children. I am your mamm, and I make the rules. You don’t get to be rude to my guests.” She looked around at her sons pointedly.
“He isn’t just a guest, though, is he?” Ezekiel asked. “If he’s interested in you, you’d think he’d want to get to know your children, too.”
“Ezekiel,” she said, pinning her eldest son with a no-nonsense look. “When you started taking Beulah out, did you start by getting to know her brothers and sisters and parents first? Or did you start with Beulah? When you decided that Beulah really was a wonderful girl and that she returned your feelings, then you spent more time with her family. Am I right?”
“Fine, you’re right,” he grudgingly agreed.
“And what about me? I need time to get to know Elias, too. What if I decide I’m not interested after all? You act as if I’m a potted plant to be picked up and carried off at will. Well, I’m not. And I have to get to know him better, too. I think you’d better trust my ability to judge character.”
“You might not see what we see,” Thomas said.
“I raised four good boys,” Delia said. “Give me a little bit of credit for knowing what’s decent and what isn’t, would you?”
Delia could hear the sound of hooves and buggy wheels outside, and she went to the window and looked out. Elias reined in his horse and then hopped down from the buggy. He spotted her in the window and waved.
“He’s here,” Delia said brightly. “Now, I expect this kitchen to be clean when I get back. And don’t forget to shine the church shoes, Moses. This weekend is Service Sunday, and we have to be ready.”
Delia didn’t wait for argument, but her heart did squeeze a little at the silence behind her. She looked back once as she opened the door, the paper-wrapped flowers in one arm. Her sons all stared at her, mute and shocked.
“We’ll talk about all of our feelings when I get back,” she said.
“Our feelings?” Thomas asked weakly.
“Yes. Our feelings. Yours and mine.”
They’d hate that, she knew, but it was high time they learned that skill. Some men only figured it out once they were married. Some discovered the skill when they were courting. Girls had a way of getting a boy to talk. But her sons needed to be able to talk in this family—now!
She pulled the door shut firmly behind her, and as she walked toward the buggy, she heard the boys from inside, their voices suddenly erupting as they complained to each other. She smothered a smile.
Elias waited beside the buggy, leaning against it with his arms crossed. He looked over her shoulder toward the house, and she glanced back to see Thomas and Moses in the window. When they saw her looking at them, they disappeared.
“How’d they take you leaving with me?” Elias asked.
“I didn’t give them a chance to argue,” she said. “I’m their mother. I’m going out. They’ll survive.”
Elias grinned. “I agree. Flowers? Should I have brought you some?”
“No, these are for Willa Speicher,” Delia said. “I wanted to stop by and bring her something to cheer her up. She’s been sick for weeks with that terrible flu that got into her lungs.”
Elias held out his hand and she allowed him to boost her up into the buggy. His grip was firm, and she couldn’t help the way her stomach fluttered at his strong, helping hand. She settled into the passenger-side seat, and Elias hoisted himself up next to her, his arm settling next to hers. He was warm, and he smelled like soap.
Elias flicked the reins and he turned the horse around. Delia leaned forward to look toward the house again. The side door was open and Moses stood in the doorway, watching her with wide eyes.
“Oh, that’s some powerful guilt,” Elias said. “They are pulling out all the stops, aren’t they?”
