An Honest Love (35 page)

“I don’t know,” she admitted, just as confused about the situation as she ever was.

“Then think about it. Even better, pray about it. God will let you know what to do.”

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”

Moriah smiled and took Elisabeth’s hand. “It is, Lis. It is.”

For Aaron, the last two weeks had dragged slower than a turtle crossing a river of molasses. He’d missed Elisabeth more than he thought possible. Her image had consumed his thoughts, and he couldn’t get the memory of their short, sweet kiss out of his mind. More than once he’d been tempted to go to her house last night, just to catch a glimpse of her. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wanted to see her, but the strength of his emotions for her scared him.

He’d been at loose ends today, trying to deal with the turmoil inside him. He decided to go for a walk, and now he was here at the shop. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, not bothering to turn on the light. Sunbeams streamed through the window, one illuminating the door of Elisabeth’s office. His feet took on a mind of their own and he went inside and sat down in her chair.

Elisabeth had always kept a neat enough workspace, but since Ruth had filled in for her, the office had never been tidier. The only items on the desk were a blotter with the calendar on it, a pencil, and a small pad of paper. Usually Elisabeth left behind a coffee cup, a few pieces of unopened mail, or a couple of paper clips scattered around. Evidence she’d been there. He hadn’t even realized he’d noticed those things until now.

He picked up the pencil and pad, tapping the eraser on his bottom lip. He thought about her note, which was still in his pocket. He had carried it with him. A corny gesture, but he couldn’t help it. It made missing her a little more bearable.

He tore out one of the small yellow pages and wrote
I could
never forget you
, then set it down on her desk. But as soon as he did, he regretted it. Talk about corny. He reached to take it back and throw it away.

“Who’s in here?”

Startled, Aaron shot up from the seat at the sound of Gabe’s stern voice. He opened the office door and came out. “It’s just me.”

Gabe’s guarded expression relaxed. “Whew, I’m glad it’s you. I thought somebody might have broken in. What are you doing here?” Gabe entered the shop, shutting the door behind him. “Don’t tell me you’re working on a Sunday.”

“
Nee
. I wouldn’t do that.”

A puzzled expression crossed Gabe’s face. “Then why are you here?”

Aaron’s cheeks grew hot. He felt like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Did you forget something?”

“I, um, I thought I did.” Aaron bit his tongue on the lie. “My lunch cooler. But I couldn’t find it here, so I guess I took it home.”

If Gabe wasn’t buying Aaron’s lame excuse, he didn’t let on. “Gotcha.” He looked past Aaron’s shoulders at the office door. “I’m glad Elisabeth’s coming back tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong, Ruth’s a great worker. I’ve never met anyone more organized. But Elisabeth is more—”

“Fun?”

Gabe grinned. “Exactly.” He looked up at the clock on the wall. “Moriah should be back with the
kinner
pretty soon. Do you want to stay for supper?”

Aaron shook his head. “I need to get going.” He headed toward the door of the shop.

“Okay. You know you always have a standing offer with us.”

“I appreciate that.” And he did. For the first time in a long time he didn’t feel like an outsider anymore. Elisabeth had a lot to do with that, but so did Gabe and the rest of the Bylers, along with his own family. They had put his past behind them, and finally, Aaron had too.

He left and headed back for his house, filled with peace and, as usual, thoughts of Elisabeth. After an interminable two weeks, he’d see her tomorrow. It was only when he was nearly home that he remembered he’d forgotten to grab the note.

Elisabeth yawned as she opened the door to the blacksmith shop. She had decided to come in to work early, just in case she had some catching up to do from her absence. Although knowing Ruth, everything would be completed to annoying perfection. But she still came in half an hour before her scheduled time.

It didn’t help that her stomach had been swirling with butterflies since before breakfast. She’d contemplated Moriah’s thoughts all night and had prayed about what to do about Aaron. Her sister had said it was simple, but Elisabeth still didn’t see it that way. She also wasn’t sure what to do. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to see Aaron. She’d worry about what to say to him later.

She flipped on the gas-powered lights. The shop still looked the same. And why wouldn’t it? She’d only been gone two weeks. Never mind that it had seemed like forever. Elisabeth started for the office when she heard the door open behind her. She whirled around to see Aaron standing there, holding his blue lunch cooler, and looking more handsome than ever.

“Hi,” he said, his gaze steady and connected with hers.

Her mouth went dry, and she squeaked out, “Hi.”

They didn’t say anything for a few moments, an unusually awkward silence stretching between them. This is what she had wanted to avoid, them feeling uncomfortable around each other. And clearly he felt uncomfortable, because now he was looking everywhere but at her. Maybe she had finally gotten her answer. If things were this strained between them because of a quick—and more than likely accidental—kiss, imagine how they would be if she told him the truth about her love for him. No, she’d keep that bit of information tucked inside.

Taking a deep breath, she gave him a tight smile. “I better see the disaster Ruth left for me.”

As if her words had lit a fire under his feet, he dropped the cooler and darted in front of her. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh, I know. I was making a joke. Ruth would rather die than leave a mess. I’m sure my office is neater than a pin.” She moved to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her.

“So, how was your trip?” He crossed his muscular arms, looking more like a guard than a blacksmith.

“Fine.” She gave him an odd look. “Deborah’s doing well, she has a crazy Aunt Sadie, and the
boppli’s
healthy.”

“
Gut, gut
.”

Elisabeth looked up at him, bewildered by the strained expression on his face. Any awkwardness she’d experienced a moment before disappeared, replaced by confusion. “Aaron, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” He smiled, but instead of looking pleased, he looked like his grandmother had stepped on his toe and he was trying to be polite about it.

“I need to get to my office. Do you mind?” She stepped to the side, but he followed her.

“You came in kind of early this morning. Have you had breakfast? I thought Gabe mentioned Moriah was making cinnamon rolls this morning.”

Now he was really spouting nonsense. Elisabeth highly doubted Gabe knew what Moriah was planning to make for breakfast, much less that he would mention it to Aaron. “Just let me by, Aaron.” As he opened his mouth again she dashed past him and went inside the office.
Finally!
She set down her purse on top of her desk and turned around to see Aaron inches away from her.

Was he blushing? “I can explain,” he said.

Her brows lifted. “Explain what?”

He peered around her shoulder at her desk, then frowned. She turned around to see what he was looking at. All she could see was her purse, a pencil and a pad of paper, and the calendar. She turned and faced the desk completely. “I should have known Ruth would do this.”

“Do what?”

“She can’t stand to have anything out. She has nothing on top of her dresser, and when it’s her turn to clean the kitchen, there’s not a crumb left on the counters. Now she’s done something with my pencil and pen can.” Elisabeth picked up her purse and set it to the side. Where would her sister have put it? She had about twenty pens and pencils in an old pork ‘n’ beans can, which she had washed out and torn off the label. Elisabeth was always leaving pencils and pens everywhere, and having a stash on her desk prevented her from losing time searching for them.

She had started to turn away when she noticed a slip of paper on the desk. How could Ruth have left this behind? Shocking. Elisabeth picked it up.

“Elisabeth,” Aaron said from behind her.

“I could never forget you,” she read out loud. What a weird little note. She turned around and looked up at Aaron. “Who wrote this?”

But as soon as she saw the look in his eyes, she knew.

“Like I said, I can explain.”

“You wrote this?” She glanced at the note again. She should have recognized the small, compact handwriting. She’d seen his writing on enough order forms before.

He nodded.

She read the words.
I could never forget you
. Then she remembered the note she’d left for him.
Don’t forget me while I’m gone
. A warm fuzzy feeling traveled from her head to her toes. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“Sweet?” His blond brow lifted. “I thought you’d think it was corny.”

“Hardly.” She brought the note to her chest. “You missed me?”

“
Ya
,” he said in a low voice. His eyes turned a smoky blue color, reminding her of the way he had looked at her that day on the porch, just before Kacey had arrived. “I missed you. A lot.”

“I missed you too.” At that point her confusion cleared. She had asked God for an answer regarding Aaron, and he had just given it to her. Now she knew exactly what to do. “Aaron, I—”

“Wait.” He put his finger to her lips. “I need to tell you something first. And if you don’t want to talk to me after I say it, I’ll understand.” She opened her mouth to speak again, but he stopped her with his words. “I like you, Elisabeth.”

“I like you, too, Aaron.”

He shook his head, hard. “I don’t think you know what I mean. I don’t just like you, I
like
you. A lot. I’ve liked you for a long time. Even before I kissed you at the pond.”

“I thought that was an accident.”

The tension suddenly drained from his face and he smiled. “Believe me, Elisabeth. I definitely kissed you on purpose.”

“You did?”

“
Ya
. And I’d like to do it again.” His smile faded. “But our friendship means a lot to me, and I don’t want to screw that up. But I can’t keep pretending that I don’t have feelings for you.” He leaned closer to her. “I can’t lie anymore, Elisabeth. Not to you.”

A hard knot lodged in her throat. “Oh, Aaron.” Suddenly everything she wanted to say to him flew out of her head. She couldn’t confess her love with words. Actions would have to do. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly around the neck, placing a kiss close to his ear. She closed her eyes as his arms went around her waist, drawing her close.

“Does this mean what I think it does?” He whispered in her ear, sending tingles down her spine.

She released him and stepped away, nodding.

He waited for a moment, then grinned when she didn’t say anything. “I can’t believe it. Elisabeth Byler is
speechless
.”

“Stop!” she said, her voice sounding thick. She playfully tapped him on the arm.

The sound of the front door closing wedged them apart. Aaron peered out the office door. “Gabe’s here. We better get to work.”

Elisabeth nodded, still unable to say anything, the emotions flowing through her blocking her voice.

He moved closer to her and whispered, “I think you’re overdue for another rock-skipping lesson, don’t you?”

“Are you asking me out, Aaron Detweiler?”

“Now she finds her voice.” He smiled. “
Ya
, I’m asking you out.”

“And does this mean you want to court me?”

He laughed. “I should have known you wouldn’t make this easy for me.”

She lifted her chin and smiled. “Nope. I’m going to savor the moment.” Aaron liked her. Cared for her. Was looking at her like he couldn’t get his fill. Never had she been so happy.

“Then savor this, Elisabeth.
Ya
, I want to court you. I want to teach you how to skip rocks and ice skate. And I want you to keep teaching me how to love life.” His gaze softened. “So what do you say? Will you go out with me?”