“I surely will,” Rebekah said, looking over at Lena, tearing up.
A few moments later, there was a knock at the back door, and Melvin went to see who was there.
Lena could hear a snowplow rumbling past the house, then what sounded like Arden’s voice. When he walked into the kitchen with Manny Beiler, she could hardly believe it.
“You’ve come to measure for the new kitchen cabinets, ain’t so?” Cora Ruth asked right quick, and Lena thought she really ought to get going. “Stay an’ have some cake after you’re done,” Cora Ruth added. “There’s plenty left.”
“Whose birthday?” Arden asked, his glance catching Lena’s.
“No birthday. It’s just the start of somethin’ new,” Cora Ruth said, looking now at her mother.
Blushing, Rebekah smiled. “Thanks to Lena Rose.”
Looking from one woman to the other, Arden appeared downright baffled while Manny stood over near the counter, pulling out his measuring tape.
Lena had no intention of explaining the reason for the celebration to Arden, considering that Rebekah hadn’t told her grandchildren, and was relieved when Manny called for Arden to help him measure the space for the new cabinets.
With some assistance from freckle-faced Abe, who leaned his little blond head against Lena’s arm, Rebekah and Emily urged Lena Rose to stay for seconds of dessert once the fellows finished.
As it turned out, Arden took a seat directly across from her, so it was impossible not to interact with him or to see the wink he gave her. Surely he only meant to be friendly, although each time he fixed his stunning blue-green eyes on her, she felt a fluttery sensation.
Later, when Lena thanked Rebekah for the delicious supper and the very special evening, little Abe came over and shook her hand; then his younger brother, Bennie, mimicked him, grinning up at her. Even Emily stood on tippytoes to give Lena a peck on the cheek and ask if she’d come visit again. For a moment, it was a flashback to Lena’s school days, when Liz and Verena were small and showed their gratitude with kisses.
Making her way through the snow out to the horse and buggy, Lena was surprised when Arden hurried out the door behind her. “By the way, I missed seein’ ya at the last Singing. Eli said you were busy with Mimi.” Arden fell into step with her.
“Mimi seemed glad for some time to put a puzzle together . . . to break up the monotony,” she said.
“Well, I hope you’re not bored here.”
She looked at him. “Well, nee . . . but my heart’s in Centreville.”
Arden suddenly went quiet, and she remembered what Eli had told her about his ties to this area. “I’m sure you understand, jah?”
“Definitely,” Arden replied. “I can’t imagine leaving here. I’m putting down strong roots for certain . . . my partnership, ya know, with Manny Beiler.”
She wondered if he might be disappointed that she didn’t appreciate Leacock Township the way he did. I do, she thought. It’s just not home.
Arden gave her a smile in the dim light of the moon’s waxing crescent. “I’d like to see you again, Lena Rose. I’d still like to take you out for coffee sometime.”
“As friends?” she asked.
“Whatever you’d like to call it,” he said as he helped her inside Harley’s enclosed buggy before untying the horse from the hitching post. “Sure wish I could drive ya home tonight, what with this weather an’ all.” He paused near the driver’s side, then brought around the driving lines and handed them up to her.
The wind gusted, and Lena thought how good it would be to get back to Harley and Mimi’s and sit by the fire in either the kitchen or the front room. There were no hot bricks to warm her on the floor of the carriage, but she was thankful for the buggy blanket she pulled up around herself.
“You be careful, won’t ya?” Arden said.
“I promise.”
He broke into a grin. “Don’t forget to think ’bout going for coffee with me, okay? Whenever you’re ready.”
With any other fellow, Lena might have felt pressured, but Arden had an endearing way about him that made her feel comfortable, and she liked talking to him. “I’ll see,” she said. “Gut Nacht, Arden,” and she signaled the horse to move forward.
CHAPTER
25
Lena received two long letters that Wednesday afternoon—one from Wilbur, and the other from Emma, both asking how she was doing. Oh, with all of her heart, Lena hoped there might be news about a job or a place to stay in Centreville. But scanning the letter, she saw that nothing had turned up even though Emma said Uncle Noah and the deacon had been talking to quite a few folk, including some relatives who lived in Sturgis, fourteen miles southeast of Centreville.
Instead, Emma turned her focus to Lena’s recent breakup:
Considering what’s happened with Hans, I’m really hoping for a new beau for you out here. Is it too early to say this? If so, please forgive me, dearest sister. With all of my heart, I want you to be happy.
Now, I hope ya won’t think I’ve lost my mind, but there is a nice young widower with three children who’s looking for a wife. He’s a man Dat knew and always seemed to have good fellowship with. Let me know if you would be okay with him contacting you. If not, please ignore this and try not to be upset with me. I just want you home again!
“A widower? Emma’s thinkin’ much too hard on this—tryin’ to be a matchmaker now, too,” Lena murmured. “I wouldn’t have time for my family if I married someone with children of his own. And I can’t marry someone just to find a way home.”
What am I willing to do to get home?
Sighing, she opened Wilbur’s letter next. After the jolt of Emma’s desperate suggestion, Lena welcomed her brother’s laid-back words. He thanked her for being so faithful about
