Harvest of Hearts (13 page)

Daed’s green eyes hardened. “And just because he’s Englisch doesn’t mean he’s gut. You won’t take my word for it. You have to find these things out for yourself, ain’t so? Always have. When will you ever learn to listen?” He flung his hands in the air. “Go on, ‘do your own thing.’ But don’t come crying to me.” He turned and stalked off.

Shanna growled in frustration. With tears burning her eyes, she rushed through the weeds behind the barn to her car. She flung herself into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and reached inside the console for her keys.

When her hand came up empty, she realized she’d left them in the apartment. She pressed her forehead against the steering wheel as a couple of tears made tracks down her cheeks. Why couldn’t he leave her alone? Why did he have to ruin everything?

The passenger door opened.

Shanna straightened, hastily wiped her face, and fixed a glare on—Matthew?

***

Matthew slid into the passenger seat of Shanna’s car and closed the door. Levi had told him to go check on her, but that hadn’t been necessary. When he’d stomped into the shop, steam almost visibly rising from his head, Matthew had set down the glider rocker he’d been carrying. What Levi had needed to tell Shanna must not have gone over well. Of course, their talk had been doomed to fail from the start, considering how defensive she’d gotten with Matthew.

He wondered how he could have worded things differently so that she wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.

Matthew hadn’t wanted to be involved in this at all. It wasn’t his place.

Besides, he couldn’t quite grasp Levi’s insistence on telling Shanna the “truth” about Nate. Yes, Matthew had pointed out that the wire had been disconnected, but Levi was the one who had jumped to conclusions about what that meant. He’d called Nate out about it, too, pointing at the wire and accusing him of having ulterior motives.

Nate had stared at Levi, his eyes wide with shock—whether from simply being accused, or being accused of something he was guilty of, or even not having expected an Amish man to know so much about a car, Matthew didn’t know. Still, Nate hadn’t denied the charges. He hadn’t thanked them for reconnecting the alternator. He’d merely jumped into his car, gunned the motor, and roared off.

All this had cemented Levi’s belief that Nate had been up to no good, and he’d confided this to Matthew. To be honest, Nate’s actions had disturbed him, too. Why would anyone go to such lengths?

He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Englischers were confusing creatures.

Matthew turned to face Shanna. He could still read the anger in her eyes, but now it was mixed with hurt.

He didn’t know what to say. How had he gotten himself appointed to the cleanup crew?

“He was trying to dictate my friendships! I knew this wouldn’t work. Daed doesn’t love me, and he wants me to be unhappy.”

“Ach, Shanna. That’s not—” Saying it wasn’t true wouldn’t go over so well. Lord, help me know what to say. Prayer. Always a good place to start. “You want to pray?”

Shanna gave him a blank look. “Pray?”

“Jah. Why not?”

She gave a harsh laugh. “Nein. Prayer won’t help me. God is on Daed’s side. Always has been.”

“God doesn’t choose sides. He loves you. Just like your daed loves you.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.” She folded her arms across her chest. “In fact, I’d rather just make out.”

***

Make out? She couldn’t believe she’d just suggested that to Matthew. Come to think of it, though, that might make her feel better. Especially considering the sparks she felt around this man.

“I think I know what that means.” Matthew stared at her as color crept up his neck. Then, he reached for her, his gaze flitting to her lips.

Anticipation shivered through her. She waited while he shifted a bit closer, and she thought she saw mischief gleaming in those beautiful eyes.

Mischief?

Tenderly, he grasped the back of her head with his hand, and then, to her surprise, he gently pushed her head down. “Let’s pray.”

Prayer. Maybe that was the answer, after all. She closed her eyes, letting the silence sink in before she even attempted to put her thoughts into words. Enjoying the weight of his hand against the back of her head, holding it down. His fingers moved, caressing the strands of hair against her neck.

Ach, Lord, I want this man in my future.
That wasn’t what she was supposed to pray about. She dipped her head further in shame. Her attitude toward her father, and the whole situation with Nate…. He wouldn’t…. Would he?

A memory surfaced. Right after Shanna had left home, Nate had invited her to move in with him, to share expenses. He already lived with another guy, who, like Nate, was into cars. Posters of hot rods with bikini-clad women posing on the hoods lined their living room walls. Shanna had been uncomfortable when she’d been in his house. Oddly, when she’d prepared to leave that night, she hadn’t been able to get her car to start.

Instead of offering to take her back to campus, he’d asked her to spend the night, to experience what it might be like living together. She’d called a friend to pick her up. The next day, she’d found another guy who was willing to look at her car. Strangely enough, it had started fine then. He’d figured she’d flooded it.

If she’d taken Nate home last night, would she have found herself stranded with no way to call for help? It was good she’d asked Matthew to come along. Better yet, that Daed had intervened before they’d left for Springfield.
Ach, Daed,
she thought.
Maybe you weren’t completely off base.

But how could Daed have picked up on Nate’s intentions immediately after meeting him?

Matthew’s fingers moved down to her shoulder. He caressed it briefly, then pulled away. “You’re not so tense now. Gut.” His voice conveyed peace.

How could he always be so calm?

“You’re gut for me, Matthew.”

He settled back in the seat, his smile reaching his eyes. A dimple flashed on the right side of his mouth. “God is gut, ain’t so?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry for my attitude. Didn’t mean to take it out on you. I probably need to apologize to Daed, too.”

“Might be a gut idea, but he’s kind of sidetracked now, if that truck was on time. Should probably wait until it’s gone.”

“If the truck’s here now, shouldn’t you be there helping?” Shanna straightened.

Matthew shrugged. “He wanted you cared for first. Not much is more important to him than his daughters.”

Since Shanna seemed to be doing better, Matthew left her in her car and walked to the shop to help. On his way, he noticed the white furniture truck parked outside. Its back door was wide open, and the ramp had been pulled out. Levi stood beside the truck, studying a sheet of white paper. When Matthew came closer, he lifted his head and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Matthew nodded in reply.

Levi exhaled, a smile flickering briefly across his lips, then shifted his gaze back to the page.

Matthew walked into the shop and stood there for a moment, wanting to bask in Levi’s approval. Soon, he turned his attention to the order. He glanced around the room and saw Joseph balancing on the second highest rung of a tall ladder on the other side of the room and lowering a wooden chair from a hook on the ceiling. When he stepped down to the next rung, still carrying the chair, Matthew hurried over. “Let me help. Is this for the shipment?”

“Jah. Daed said this shop ordered twenty chairs, five tables, a couple of rolltop desks…don’t remember what else. Figured I’d get started on these.”

Matthew took the chair from Joseph and set it off to the side, then waited for the next one to be handed down. He breathed in the familiar smells of sawdust, wood stain, and furniture polish.

“Shanna and Daed have another go-around?” Joseph glanced at him.

Matthew grimaced. “Jah, but I think they’re both learning how to relate to the other. They might get it right before she goes back to Springfield.”

“Maybe she won’t go back.” Joseph handed Matthew another chair and gave him a measured look.

With a lift of one shoulder, Matthew set the chair beside the other one. “Guess we’ll see.”

“Or maybe you could give her a gut reason to stay. Propose, if necessary.”

Matthew’s heart leaped at the thought, but he laughed, trying to downplay his interest. Yet he didn’t find that suggestion even remotely funny. “That’d be putting the buggy before the horse. Whoever marries her needs to do some courting first, ain’t so?”

“You might want to get busy, then.”

For a second, Matthew froze. The words
Me? Why me?
hovered on the end of his tongue. He tried to think of what he might have done to make Joseph think he was interested in Shanna in
that way
. Joseph had caught him spying on her from the bedroom window last night. And then, there was that talk he and Shanna had had. The one that had stretched into the wee hours of the morning. That had been nice. Talking. Getting to know each other better.

Matthew sighed and shook his head. “Not me. We’re new friends.
Friends
, Joseph. And I’m not going to marry an outsider.”

Marrying outside the faith was not an option. No matter how much he was attracted to her.

God have mercy, he was drawn to her. Beautiful. Friendly. Kind. And somehow she spoke to his heart. Had, from the first moment he’d seen her.

No other woman had ever affected him that way. Not even Katie. And he’d almost asked her to marry him.

Jah, truth be told, he wanted Shanna to be his frau. Wanted to watch her grow big with his children. Wanted to live to an old age with her by his side.

Matthew took the last chair and set it with the others as Joseph clambered down the ladder. “That should be twenty. Want to help me get them out to the truck? Then, we’ll carry the tables out.”

An hour later, the loaded truck left, headed for a store in Branson that specialized in handcrafted wood furniture. Levi pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it. “It’s after one. I’m hungry. Kum, let’s go see if they have lunch waiting for us. It should be ready.”

Matthew’s stomach rumbled in reply.

He hurried with Levi and Joseph across the yard and followed them into the quiet house. The four younger children were in school. The scent of fresh-baked bread filled the air, and a kettle of soup simmered on the stove. Deborah and Shanna stood at the far end of the table, Deborah filling a pie crust with sliced apples, Shanna mixing up some sort of dough in a big silver bowl.

Several strands of hair had escaped from her kapp, and one of her cheeks was dusted with flour. Matthew ached to brush it away. And as much as he wanted to keep his distance, he was drawn to her like a magnet.

When Levi and Joseph had finished at the sink, Matthew washed up, then wandered over to Shanna, his attention still on the loose hair brushing her neck and the streak of white on her lovely face. He was too close, really, since his chest brushed her arm. Yet he stepped nearer still. His heart rate increased when he heard her inhale sharply. Fighting the grin that threatened to appear, he glanced down into the bowl. Chocolate chip cookie dough. His favorite.

He couldn’t resist reaching down for a scoop with his finger. He’d already licked it off when Shanna slapped his arm.

Matthew swallowed. “You’re a bit slow. My mamm would have slapped my hand when I was reaching for it.” He winked at her.

“
My
mamm raised me better. I wasn’t prepared for a stunt like that,” Shanna retorted.

“Well, then, consider yourself forewarned. And ‘Forewarned is forearmed.’” He winked again and poked his finger into the dough once more, then pretended to study his prize. “It could use some chopped walnuts.”

“Matthew Yoder.” Shanna planted a fist on her hips and backed away from the table, away from him, the wooden spoon still clasped in her other hand.

“You look so domesticated that way,” he teased. “Like some frau correcting an errant child.” He turned away and plopped the second scoop of cookie dough into his mouth. Then, he met the amused stares of Levi, Deborah, and Joseph. He’d forgotten they were in the room. He couldn’t help but grin, even as he felt the warmth of a blush on his neck. He hadn’t meant to make his attentions so public. He wouldn’t have crowded her space so much if he’d remembered his audience.