A Simple Faith: A Lancaster Crossroads Novel (32 page)

But the solid wall of man before her told her that she had definitely crossed the threshold into womanhood. And there was no denying the yearning to blossom in the arms of the man before her.

“One kiss,” she whispered.

Gently, tenderly, he cupped her face with his big hands. When he leaned forward and brushed his lips gently over hers, she felt as if a spark had jumped between them, setting her senses on fire. He deepened the kiss, and suddenly she was alive with wonder at the feel of his body against hers, the smell of him, the taste of him.

The rest of the world blurred into the night as she melted against him.

One kiss.

One kiss to last a lifetime.

35

O
ne kiss.

One kiss, and now Ruben knew for sure that Elsie Lapp was the love of his life. They were meant to be together. It was one of those things you didn’t question, like the sun rising in the east and the leaves turning red and gold each October.

That kiss had let him know that his heart was in the right place, though with Elsie determined never to marry, winning her wasn’t going to be easy.

He wondered about that the next day at church, as he turned to look across the open room to the benches on the other side where the women sat.

There she was, holding Beth in her lap. She held the plate of gmay cookies for the little girl to take one, then passed them down the row. Beth smiled as Elsie whispered something and tucked a stray lock of hair behind the little girl’s ear.

Ruben didn’t want to stare, but for a moment he studied her,
recalling the way his hands had cupped her smooth cheeks. The way he’d kissed the plump lips that were whispering now. He’d tried to memorize every sensation, the taste of her, the lavender scent of her hair. He remembered it all so well, and yet, he wanted more.

One kiss would never be enough.

Elsie wasn’t baptized yet, so she hadn’t promised to follow all the rules of the Ordnung. But she’d told him she would always live among the Plain folk.

And Plain folk married and started a family. It was the Amish way of life … though not in Elsie’s thinking. Her worries about having a baby that looked like her must have been keeping her from thinking straight.

Ruben hadn’t realized that it bothered her, being a little person. Her sweet smile, the sparkle in her eyes, the way she saw the good in people … Elsie seemed to be happy with life. Looking at her, you’d never know that she felt bad about the way she was.

Ruben understood how it felt to be trapped inside a body that wasn’t right. He had learned that lesson very painfully as a child. But he’d come around. His body still wasn’t right, but he’d had help accepting it as it was. He prayed that Elsie would meet her own angels to help her find the way.

Monday morning, the Country Store was bursting with women, Amish and Englisher alike. With the auction coming up on Saturday, Mary and her younger sister Susie had come by to pick up donations from the store, and as luck would have it they had arrived at the same time as a minibus full of white-haired Englisher ladies. Ruben and Elsie did their best to juggle customers and the collection of items that were to go into the auction.

“Yesterday after church I got a chance to talk to every Amish person who sells crafts in the store, and everyone wants to donate.” Because the Country Store sold things on consignment, Elsie could not donate anything without permission from the person who made it. She gathered up items in a small basket as she walked up one aisle. “We decided that some of the smaller items, like lavender, soaps, honey, and jam, can go together in a gift basket. More expensive things, like one of Rachel’s paintings, can be auctioned off on their own.”

“That makes good sense,” Mary said. “Do you want us to put the baskets together at home?”

“You can do it here.” Elsie pointed to the bolts of cloth. “We’ve got baskets and fabric and ribbon.”

“Can I do a basket?” Susie King clasped her hands together under her chin. “That sounds like fun.”

“The baskets are in the storeroom,” Elsie said, sending Susie skipping toward the back of the store.

For the first time, Ruben realized that he was surrounded by women in this shop, and while he could hold his own in conversation, he didn’t favor the giggles and skipping. He came to the register to make the sale for an older woman with bold black eyeglasses. He’d seen her here before.

She sniffed a bar of soap and sighed. “Ah, lavender. Did you know it eases stress?”

“Then maybe I need a sniff this morning.” Ruben picked up a satchel of lavender and brought it to his nose. “Ya. That’s better.”

“Oh, you’re a fresh one.” The woman waved at him. “What’s this auction about? I was here last month and didn’t hear a peep about it.”

“That’s because we hadn’t thought it up yet,” he said as he punched keys on the old mechanical register. “The auction is for James Lapp, a friend of ours who was injured in an accident. His family needs money to pay his medical bills.”

The woman squinted. “Is this the young man who was paralyzed when that van got hit?”

Ruben didn’t like hearing the word “paralyzed.” It sounded too final. “It is.”

“And is this auction open to the public?” The woman nodded toward the back of the store. “I’m sure our group would love to attend.”

“It’s open to everyone, and we’re hoping for a good turnout to help the Lapps. There’ll be everything from quilts and paintings to pincushions and seedlings.”

“That sounds marvelous. Make sure you put one of those flyers in when you wrap my purchases.”

Ruben stayed at the register and handled four more transactions. When he held the door open for a customer, a growing mound of items sat on the counter, waiting to be loaded into Mary’s buggy.

“I’ll get going with these.” He carried out Rachel King’s water-color of a Diamond quilt on a fence by a garden. Rachel’s painting looked so real, Ruben could almost smell the honeysuckle meandering up over the fence. On his second trip, there was a birdhouse, and then a heavy pine chest made by Adam King. He loaded it all into the back of the buggy, making sure nothing got scraped or cracked. When he returned to the shop, Mary held the wooden box that was always on display in the window—the one that had been in Elsie’s family for so many years.

“Would you mind taking this out?” Mary smoothed her palm over the top of the box. “And mind, it’s very delicate.”

Ruben took it from her, wariness prickling the back of his neck. “But, Mary, this is not for sale. Elsie wants to keep it in her family.”

Mary touched her chin and turned to Elsie. “Did I take the wrong box?”

Elsie peeked out from behind the display of birdhouses. “That’s the right one.” She smiled up at Ruben, but he sensed the undercurrent
of uneasiness. “You know, I’ve been thinking and praying about it. I checked with Emma and Caleb, and they thought it was a good idea. We’re donating the box.”

“Elsie … no.” Ruben shook his head.

“All these wonderful good things in the store, and none of them are ours to give. But the box, that’s something we can donate. And it would ease my heart to see something good come of that old box.”

That old box had been cherished by her father … and by Elsie, too. Not for the wood chest itself, but for the long line of family members who had kept it in their homes and lovingly passed it on.

“Are you sure, Elsie?” Ruben stood tall, holding the painted box as if it were made of glass. “Do you think it’s right to give it up? This is something that’s always been in your family. Something you could pass down to your kids.”

Elsie closed the distance between them and took the small wood chest from Ruben. “I want to help James, and this box is the only thing I can give that will make money for him.”

“You’re helping in other ways,” he said softly. “By rounding up all these donations from your store. I didn’t have anything to donate, but I got Dat to let us use the barn for the auction.”

“And that’s a huge contribution.” Elsie smoothed her fingertips over the cherries painted on the outside. “I know this was made by my great-great-grandmother, but it’s only wood and paint and some glue. It’s so very pretty, but now it can be useful, too.”

A knot was growing in Ruben’s throat. He didn’t want Elsie to make this mistake, but he couldn’t stop her.

“Take it, Ruben. Load it along with the other things.”

He opened his hands to take the box, wishing that instead he could take her into his arms and kiss her over and over again until she changed her mind.

Verhuddelt. He was a crazy man now. A crazy man in love. “I’ll put it in the buggy, then.”

He was halfway to the door when he remembered. “What about that customer who wanted to buy the box? Gwen something.”

“Gwen Slavin,” Elsie called from behind the bolts of fabric. “She was in yesterday while you were running errands and I told her about it. She’s coming to the auction.”

Ruben frowned as he plodded out to the buggy with the box. This was not right. Gott loved a generous heart, but a person did not have to sacrifice the small possessions that traced a family’s history.

It reminded him of Elsie’s decision not to have children.

Selling the box was a strike at her family’s past. Not having children would end her own future, cutting the family tree short.

Gott willing, he was going to turn Elsie Lapp around. Stubborn as she was, he would melt her resolve with the strongest measure the Ordnung allowed.

He would wear her down with love.

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