“I’m inlaying mahogany into this piece of oak.” He leaned over the bench and brushed a piece of curled wood away. “The hardest part was figuring out which tools to use to make the groove. I remember watching Dat do it, but that was years ago.”
Matthias picked up a narrow piece of darker wood and pressed it into the groove.
“That’s going to be beautiful,” Ada said. She leaned closer. The dark band was striking in contrast to the lighter oak.
“I hope the customers think so.” He looked at her, his dark brown eyes glowing. “I’m just glad I was able to get it to work.”
She noticed a finished table leg lying on the workbench. “Will it look like that when it’s done?”
Matthias nodded, picking it up. “Dat made this one, and Leroy wanted me to see if I could replicate it.”
“I remember when we used to sell these tables in the store. The customers have been asking if we have more.” Ada ran her finger along the mahogany inlay Matthias had just inserted until a sharp prick stopped her.
“Ouch.” A splinter had embedded itself deep under her skin.
“That’s what you get for fooling around with my work.” Matthias grinned at her as he grabbed her hand and pulled it under his work light. He flicked the light on and examined her finger, holding her arm under his elbow, pinning her against him. Ada tugged at her arm, feeling a bit foolish, but Matthias gripped it tightly.
“Hold still. This won’t take a minute.” He took a pair of tweezers from his bench and bent his head over her hand.
Gritting her teeth, Ada waited for the sharp pain she knew would come when he drew out the splinter, but before she felt anything, he released her.
“You got it out already?” she asked, looking at her finger.
“It isn’t difficult if you get to the splinter right away. But if you let it sit in there for a day, or even a few hours, then it’s painful to get out.”
“Jah, for sure. I’ve had my share of splinters.”
Matthias took a small tool and eased the inlay out of the groove.
“Why are you taking it out? It was perfect.”
“Now that I know it fits, I need to glue it in.”
He picked up a bottle of wood glue and started dropping beads of the white liquid in the narrow groove with a steady hand. Ada leaned her elbow on the workbench, watching until he reached the end of the groove. Then he picked up the inlay again and set it in place. Once he pressed it into its spot, he wiped away the excess glue with a cloth.
“I don’t know how you do it,” Ada said. “My hands would have been shaking so much that I’d never get that in there on the first try.”
He grinned at her. “And I don’t know how you bake such delicious things. If I tried baking, it would come out burned or lopsided.”
She shrugged, feeling her cheeks warm. “I just pay attention to the details.”
“That’s the same thing I do.”
The clock by the lunch table struck one.
Ada glanced at Matthias’s project one more time and sighed. “I had better get back to the store. It’s Rose’s turn to take her lunch break.”
“Be sure to wash your finger and put a bandage on it. You don’t want it to get infected.”
He turned back to his work, rubbing away another bead of glue as Ada walked to the door that separated the workshop from the store. She sent Rose to lunch and was taking her place behind the counter before she remembered that today’s Great Cookie Campaign had been a failure. Amos wasn’t at work. How could she have forgotten about that?
After Ada left, Matthias gave his project one last wipe with a damp cloth, then picked up the small scraping plane. He had sharpened the blade and cleaned the tool, and now applied it to the wood using short, light strokes. He worked quickly, only smoothing the seam between the inlay and the wood, not shaping the leg. As the curls of wood fell from the plane in fine lacy spirals, his mind wandered to Ada.
He liked her. He had liked her when they had been in school together, even though she had ignored him. But that had been all right. He had never been one of those boys who did crazy stunts during recess to get the girls’ attention. That kind of fooling around was more for guys like Amos. Matthias had never been that bold.
Blowing the wood spirals away, Matthias stooped to look across the inlay, then applied the scraper to a section that still looked uneven.
The workshop was quieter today with Amos gone. Vernon was using the band saw on the other side of the big room, but without the shouting banter he and Amos usually exchanged during the day. The frown on Leroy’s face earlier made it clear that the boss wasn’t happy that Amos had called in. Matthias had heard of workers who would call in sick on Friday so they could have a long weekend, but only the Englisch would resort to lying to their bosses that way, wouldn’t they?
Matthias moved the plane to another rough place and continued the short strokes.
Amos was a puzzle. He looked Amish in his dress and the way he lived, but he acted like an unbroken colt fighting the harness. Matthias’s mind went back to the hurtful comments he had heard Amos and Vernon make about Ada last week. Leroy would never allow talk like that in the workshop when he was around, and Matthias didn’t like it, either. Talking about someone like that was uncalled for. He just hoped Ada never heard comments like those.
He ran his finger along the inlaid wood. No splinters remained.
“How is it coming?”
Leroy had walked up to the workbench while Matthias had been engrossed in
