“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll take care of the roof. It’s no problem.”
“I said I’d help you,” she said. “I’ll be back.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “You’ll be busy with your family.”
Besides, when this roofing patch was done, the effectiveness of the work was going to speak for him long after he was gone. It would be nice to have one thing in Redemption that spoke well of him.
Sarai went back down the ladder, and he watched as she jogged across the grass toward her father’s buggy. He reined in the horse and hopped down. Their voices didn’t carry, but Job hugged his daughter and then looked around the yard. Then his gaze moved up to the stable roof. The older man gave Arden a hard stare, and Arden raised one hand in a wave.
Should he go down and say hello? It was the polite thing to do, and he was working on Job’s mother’s stable roof. He had intended to visit Job before he left, but Arden wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. It was one he’d have to work up the courage for and then be able to think it over while he was traveling back to Ohio.
Job headed over in his direction and stopped a few yards away. The older man shaded his eyes past the brim of his straw hat to look up at him. Sarai followed her father, and when they stood side by side, Arden could see the family resemblance between the two in their blue eyes and the way they stood.
“Hello, Arden,” Job said.
“Hello,” Arden said. “The shingles came off the roof here, and I’m fixing it.”
“Danke,” Job said. “It’s kind of you to do that.”
“It’s not a problem. I’m just here for a week or so with my grandfather.”
“How’s he holding up?” Job asked.
“Good.” Arden nodded.
“He and my mother are good friends,” Job said. “If I can help your dawdie out in any way, let me know.”
“Danke,” Arden said. He’d noticed that Job was talking to him like a man now, and he liked that feeling. Perhaps things had changed around here a little bit, too.
“And your parents?” Job asked. “How is Ohio doing for your family?”
“We’re in Gott’s hands,” Arden said.
Job smiled and nodded. “Amen. A gut place to be. Well, I’d best check in with my mother and see what she needs. That was some storm. Thank you again for your help with that roof. I hope the supplies didn’t cost you anything.”
“No, Daet, I wouldn’t do that. We covered some of it with the egg money, and I put the rest on your tab,” Sarai said.
There was a pause, and Job shot his daughter a thoughtful look. “Good. Good. Well... I’ll just head inside.”
Job turned toward the house, and Arden felt a surge of frustration. They’d put the rest of the supplies for Job’s mother’s repairs on Job’s tab, and Arden couldn’t help but feel he’d missed an opportunity to prove himself a better man. Ironically, it would only come out of the money Arden would be handing over to Job anyway. Still...he never seemed to get it right in Redemption, somehow.
“I think I made a mistake there,” Arden said.
Sarai moved closer to the stable and looked up at him. “I don’t think so. Why?”
But that had been a subtle communication between men, and she seemed not to have noticed. He couldn’t blame her—he was lost on most of the subtleties when women talked to each other, too. But her father had expected something a little more from him, and he hadn’t delivered.
“Never mind,” Arden said. “I’d better get this done.”
Sarai eyed him for a moment thoughtfully—a whole lot like her father had—then turned back toward the house. He watched her pink cape dress swish as she walked, and she looked so fresh and bright out there in the summer sunlight.
Then he picked up the hammer and turned back to prying out the old nails. Job would know the worst before Arden headed back home again, so if he was sensing that Arden wasn’t measuring up, then he was right.
Gott had given Arden a second chance in Ohio, and once he could convince his grandfather to go back with him, he wasn’t going to squander it.
Chapter Six
Sarai headed into the house behind her father, and before the screen door bounced shut, she looked back again toward the stable. Arden crouched on the roof, and she could see him pull up a nail and then lean forward again. How much was Arden hiding? It wasn’t like she’d ever known him very well. She’d been aware of the swath of heartbreak he left behind him. He looked up from his work and gazed in her direction.
Sarai’s heartbeat sped up, and she wondered if her suspicion showed on her face. She turned into the house and followed her father into the kitchen.
“It looks like your place took a walloping, Mamm,” Job said. “Our farm got a bit of a wind, but nothing like out here.”
“Yah, it blew pretty hard,” Mammi replied. “The chicken coop roof went flying clear across the backyard.”
Moe pushed himself to his feet, and he gave Job a friendly smile and nod.
“Good to see you, Job.”
“You, too, Moe.”
“I’d best get back to my own place. I have chores waiting,” Moe said, and he headed toward the door, then looked past Sarai and Job. “I’ll see you later on, Ellen!”
“Yah, come for dinner tonight,” Mammi replied. “I’m planning chili—the way you like it. I figure you and Arden will have worked up a mighty appetite, and I want to pay you back for all this work.”
“There is no payment needed,” Moe said. “You know that, Ellen. But I’ll gratefully eat your cooking.”
Moe shot Sarai and Job a smile. “I’ll leave you to your family visit, then.”
