A Promise for Ellie (23 page)

“Tante Ingeborg helped her. That’s not fair.”

“Well, if we are going to have a fish fry for supper, someone better catch more fish. Come on, Ellie, we’ll show them how.” He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “That way we can be alone for a while.”

“But I told Astrid I don’t like fishing.”
Why can’t we just go for a
walk and talk?

“You don’t have to fish. You can sit on a log and look beautiful. The fish will jump right out of the river just to see you.”

Ellie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Andrew Bjorklund, you say the silliest things.”

“That’s not silly.” He drew back and wrapped his arms around his bent knees. “You are the most beautiful woman around.”

“Shh. You’re embarrassing me.” She could feel the heat all the way to her ears and climbing higher.

Andrew heaved a sigh. “Look, do you want to come fishing or not?”

“Not really.”

“You used to.”

“I know, but”—she gestured to the dress she was wearing—“I’m not dressed to go fishing. And besides, that was a long time ago.”

Andrew stood in one smooth motion, pulled her to her feet, and hung on to her hand. “Come on. We’re going fishing.”

Ellie heard snickers, which she knew were from Astrid and Trygve. “Andrew, stop!” He didn’t even look back at her. Whatever had happened to her easygoing Andrew? Here he was acting like a caveman, hauling her down to the river. She caught her foot under a root and stumbled. “Andrew Bjorklund. Ouch.” She tried jerking her hand out of his, but at least she got him to stop.

“What?” The glare he gave her when he turned around made her clamp her teeth.

She bent over and wriggled her foot. “You were hurrying me so fast, I stumbled on a root.” She put her weight on her foot. “Ow. Now look what you’ve done.”
All I need is something sprained or broken so I
can’t work in the store or my garden
.

“What
I’ve
done! All I wanted was to be alone with you, and I thought you wanted the same.” He was near to shouting, and the harsh words kept on coming. “Here we get the chance, and you don’t even want to come, and—” He raised his hands and let them drop to his sides. “What’s the matter with you?”

Ellie almost apologized, but the look on his face steeled her backbone. “With me?” She raised her chin and narrowed her eyes. “Right now, Mr. Bjorklund, I want to be anywhere rather than with you. My foot hurts, thanks to you, and I am going back to the others.”

“Whatever you want. If you should just happen to change your mind, I’ll be down at the river catching enough fish for supper. All Bjorklund women are good at fishing.” He spun away, stomping the brush as if killing snakes.

“Well, since I am not a Bjorklund . . . yet, I’ll go visit with your grandmother or someone,” she yelled after him. No matter that her foot burned and ached, she turned and flounced up the path, pushing aside branches like they were the enemy. “And if you are going to act like this,” she muttered, “I’m very glad I’m not married to you yet.” She turned to say one more thing to Andrew, but this time she didn’t yell. “And you bought the wrong house too.”

She followed the cheering to the ball field, all the while in her mind calling Andrew every name she could think of. She’d as soon have shouted them to the trees. He’d looked more like that boy of years ago, the one who’d pounded Toby Valders into the dirt, his ragereddened face a mask of fury. What had happened to the gentle man she’d grown into love with?

Sophie and Grace were sitting on a blanket under a tree with the other women, while the men and boys who’d divided into two teams took turns trying to whack the ball into the cow pasture. So far they hadn’t gotten very far, but for all the shouting and cheering anything was possible.

“I thought you were going fishing.” Sophie patted a place beside her.

Ellie sat down and rubbed her foot through her shoe. “He dragged me over a root, and when I said ouch, he got all angry and yelled at me.”

“I do hope you yelled back.”

“Sophie!” Grace sounded shocked.

“Well, Andrew needs to be taken down a peg or two. He’s still angry at Onkel Haakan and is taking it out on all of us. He yelled at me when that crazy cow tried to kick the bucket over this morning.”

“Andrew yelled at you?” Ellie could feel her eyes widen. Andrew never yelled at anyone, except for Toby Valders. And that not for a long time, or at least not that she knew.
But he yelled at me
.

“He’s been grumpy lately.” Sophie shook her head. “Really grumpy.”

“He’s been worried about the barn and the house,” Ellie muttered into her bent knees.

“There now, you go sticking up for him. You’ve always thought he was Mr. Perfect, but if you’d been here the last month, you’d have seen what I’m talking about.”

Ellie looked at Grace, who was studying the buckles on her shoes. She tapped Grace on the shoulder. “Is that true?”

“What?” She failed to meet Ellie’s gaze.

“Oh, you know what we’re talking about.” Sophie poked her sister. “You just don’t want to hear anything bad about anybody, let alone your beloved Andrew.”

Grace’s eyes darkened. “You are talking too fast. Please sign.” Her fingers flashed faster than her words.

Sophie sighed. “I’m sorry.” She signed as well. “I get frustrated with Andrew being so grumpy.”

Grace tipped her head to the side and gave Ellie a gentle smile. “He’ll be all right again after you two are married.”

“If we ever get married.”

“Ah, but you will. You know Andrew loves no one but you. Always has.”

“I know.” She thought back to the look on his face. “But right now . . .”
Like Sophie said, he was really mad. But then so was I
. “I think we just had our first fight.”

“We could always sneak up on him and push him into the river.”

Ellie laughed outright at the triumphant look Sophie gave her. “We could do that, and he’d pull us in like he did those years ago, and we’d all be muddy and wet.”

A cheer rose from Trygve’s team as he shouted, “A home run. Go, Pa, go before they get it.”

Kaaren stood clapping and laughing with the others. “Come on, Lars, come on home.”

“Pa hit a home run?” Sophie leaped to her feet and joined in the cheering.

Ellie wished Andrew were here playing ball rather than fishing down at the river.
I should go down there and apologize,
she thought.
It
wasn’t his fault I caught my foot on that root. All he wanted was for us to
be together, alone for a change
. But while the thoughts sounded good, her foot still ached, and her feelings felt mashed into teeny-tiny bits.

“Where are you going?” Sophie asked when Ellie stood and started to leave.

“To find Andrew.”

“Oh, let him stew awhile. It’ll be good for him.”

Ellie stopped, thought a moment, then started out again. “I’ll be right back.”

“Of course you will, and I’m a whistling duck.”

“Sophie.” Grace shook her head. “What has come over you?”

“Ellie, could you please come here for a bit?” Bridget waved as she called.

“Of course.” Ellie made her way to Bridget’s side. “Can I get you something?”

“In a minute, but right now please sit down so we can talk.”

Ellie did as she was asked, but her mind wanted to head for the river.

Andrew’s cork bobbed in the languid current. Nothing. No fish biting. He heard Astrid laugh just downriver from him. It sounded like she and his mother were bringing in fish hand over fist. He and Ellie could finally have had a long talk if she hadn’t been so stubborn. Since when didn’t she like to fish? He jerked his pole, the cork and grasshopper he’d caught flew past, and he grabbed the string.
Go back
and see if Ellie is all right
. The voice had said the same thing three times now.

He ignored it and trudged up the path to the next place he’d always caught fish and tossed the cork and line out again. Perhaps she really didn’t want to be with him after all.
What could I have done that
made her so mad? Sure she stumbled, but that wasn’t enough to make her
mad. Or was it? I just wanted her all to myself for a change
.

His cork dove, he jerked the line, and a fish flew back over his head. He might as well have been a little kid again, fish flopping around like that. He grabbed the line and overhanded it until he held the flopping fish. Even the grasshopper was still good, although more than a little waterlogged. He wriggled the hook free of the fish’s lower lip, tossed the baited hook back in the water, and broke off a stick to hold the fish.

At least he wasn’t wasting all of his time. He could have been home working on the house. Not that that seemed to matter to Ellie. Why, when he’d shown her the hay coming into the barn, how beautifully everything was working, she’d hardly said a word. He jerked the line again—another nice fish. If Ellie were here, they would be catching twice as many. Maybe he should make a pole for her. Perhaps she’d be coming down the trail any minute to say she was sorry for disappointing him, that she wanted to be with him no matter what.

Four fish later, no Ellie.

Ten fish later, no Ellie.

Andrew deliberately unclenched his jaw. Fishing was supposed to be relaxing. From the sounds of it, Astrid and Mor were having a wonderful time. Amazing they caught anything at all with all that laughter and giggling. Maybe Ellie had joined them, but when he listened, he didn’t hear her voice. He could hear the cheering from the ball game, though.

Everyone in Blessing was having a good time—except him.

And Ellie.

Wearing the baby in a sling across her chest, Dr. Elizabeth had joined Ellie and Bestemor.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll bump her or something?”

“She’s perfectly content this way. I learned of the sling like this from an old woman in Chicago. She brought her grandson in to see me when I worked at the hospital. She said in Ireland all the women carried their babies this way, so I decided that when I had children, I would do the same. It makes sense. The baby can still hear the mother’s heart and feel her warmth, although on the outside now rather than safe inside.”

“The things you young people do these days—so different.” Bridget held out her arms. “Let me hold her, please. It’s been too long since I’ve held a baby.”

“We came to visit only a few days ago.”

“Did you?”

Elizabeth handed over the baby. “This is your great-grandmother. Be nice to her, little Inga.”

Ellie watched as the baby stretched and wriggled a bit, then settled back to sleep. “She seems a very contented baby.”

“She is—most of the time. But when she decides it is time to eat, her mother better not be long about getting ready.”

“She and I have a lot in common.”

“Oh, really?”

“Sure. I graduated from high school, and she graduated into the outside world almost on the same day.”

“True. I hadn’t thought of it that way.When she decided to come, she wasn’t waiting around long.”

What will my baby be like?
The thought made Ellie swallow.
Not
a blue one, please Lord
. A baby. Why think about a baby right now when she was still upset with Andrew? She’d overheard snippets when women were talking about having babies, but they always hushed when they realized she was listening. After all, things like that were not for a young lady’s ears. But oh, did she have questions. And who better to ask than Dr. Elizabeth? But not right now. Bestemor would be shocked. And appalled. And there were too many other ears close by.

“That’s it! That’s the ball game.” The shout went up, and the victors pounded each other on the back.

The losers promised that the next game would be theirs.

“Do they always play the same teams?” Ellie asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. It all depends on who shows up. I’m sure Andrew was missed. He’s always good for a hit or two.”

Thorliff dropped down on the blanket beside them. “I never got one hit.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.” He leaned toward Bestemor. “How’s the best baby in the world?”

“Go on with you. You’d think this was the first baby ever born.”

“She isn’t?” He sat up in mock surprise, only to earn a thump on the shoulder from his grandmother.

“Oh, you.”

Inga stretched and turned her head from side to side.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Bridget rocked the struggling baby, but the motion failed to bring the desired results. Another stretch, a frown, a twisted face, a sucking motion, a whimper, and then came a full-blown howl.

“See? What did I tell you?” Elizabeth reached for her daughter.

Ellie watched as two wet spots appeared on the front of Elizabeth’s gown.

“As your father says, uff da.” Elizabeth tucked child and blanket over her shoulder and glanced over to Ellie. “You want to come visit with me while I feed her?”

Ellie got to her feet. “Yes, I’d love to.”

“What? Did someone pinch that baby?” Haakan joined them, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and shirtsleeve.

Inga screwed up her little face and screamed louder.

“Sorry,” Elizabeth said. “Please excuse us.”

“You want a ride up to the house?” Haakan asked. “We’re heading up to the barn soon for milking anyway.”

“I thought we’d just sit in the buggy.”

“Whatever you want. Let me take her, and you climb up, then I can hand her to you.” Haakan took the angry child. “Hush now, your grandpa has you. Ma will be ready in a minute.”

The crying stopped.

“What did you do?” Elizabeth reached from the buggy seat for her daughter.

“Just explained things. That’s all.” Haakan handed Inga up, then gave Ellie a hand. He tipped his hat and headed back to the gathering, whistling as he went.

Elizabeth settled the baby under a blanket on her shoulder and leaned against the seatback with a sigh.

“So now. I take it you and Andrew had a bit of a spat.”

“How did you know?” Ellie shook her head at the knowing look Elizabeth gave her. “I s’pose everyone figured that one out. It was our first fight.”