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  Reuben tucked his injured hand tightly under his arm. “I don’t need your help with a sliver. It will work itself out.”

  Fern pitched her voice into a high whine. “Mamm, Ruby won’t let me take out his sliver.”

  He may have smirked, but the whine always worked. In resignation, he held out his hand and let her take a look. “It’s right at the surface of the palm,” she said, grinning at him. “It would be nothing to pull it out with my fingernail.”

  He drew his hand away as if she’d offered to cut it off. “Nae, don’t touch my sliver.”

  “Come on, now,” Fern said, trying to capture his hand while he waved it above his head. “Be a big boy, and let me get it.”

  “Uh-uh. It will hurt.”

  Fern giggled. “You are a buplie, a baby.” She stepped close enough to wrap her arms around him if she had to. If he wanted to wrestle, she’d oblige him.

  Looking down at her upturned face, he hardened to stone, and his arresting blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her skull. And what was that enticing smell? She expected him to smell like sweat, but he smelled more like tea tree oil and a clear spring day. Fern drew in a long breath. She really should move away and quit sniffing.

  “That scarf makes your eyes look so brown,” he said.

  Fern’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Anna’s scarves might be as powerful as she said they were.

  Taking advantage of Reuben’s momentary stillness, Fern grabbed his wrist and pulled it toward her. He briefly pulled back and then gave up. “Don’t hurt me.”

  “It’s going to hurt worse if you leave it in.”

  “You can’t know that for sure.” He squeaked like a mouse when she probed around the sliver and tried to work it closer to the surface.

  “Hold still and try not to cry. I’ve about got it.”

  “I want my gloves back.” He flinched as she scratched back a layer of skin. “Ouch. You promised to be gentle.”

  She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and curled her lips. “I never said that.”

  By digging her fingernails lightly into his palm, she was able to grab the small sliver and pull it out. A little blood filled the space where the sliver had been.

  She gave him back his hand, and he examined it with a pout on his lips. “It’s bleeding.”

  Fern couldn’t help teasing him with a grin. “You really are a baby.”

  She turned to retrieve his gloves, and he grabbed her wrist and tugged her close to him. “Wait, Fern,” he said, his face within inches of hers. Her lungs stopped working and she felt so light-headed, she thought she might faint right there in the middle of the orchard. In Felty’s boots. Slowly, almost with a caress, Reuben took his thumb and swiped it lightly across her cheek. “You have a little mud right there.”

  She pressed her fingers to her cheek where he had touched her. Her hand came away with a gooey dab of mud on it. Reuben grinned so wide she could see his molars. “Vell,” he said, “you have a little mud now.”

  “Ach!” Fern squealed in righteous indignation.

  Reuben folded his arms across his chest and chuckled. “It looks pretty good on you.”

  Fern’s growls mixed with her laughter as she tromped to the shrinking mud puddle, picked up a fistful of mud, and flung it in Reuben’s direction. Reuben didn’t even have to duck. The mud sailed over his head like a bird. His smirk enticed her to try again. She waded to the muddiest patch of the orchard and picked up another handful of mud, but her galoshes were no match for the thick goo at her feet. She threw the mud in Reuben’s direction and stepped right out of one of her galoshes. Reuben easily dodged her throw and laughed all the harder.

  Fern gasped as her bare foot sank into the cold mud and squished between her toes. She always seemed to be getting herself into scrapes. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was stuck forever. Putting all her weight on the one foot still inside her galosh, she tugged her other foot out of the mud. Thrown off balance, she kicked her foot up into the air, sending a shower of mud ahead of her. Reuben wasn’t expecting that. He jumped back too late and got pelted by a thousand drops of muddy rain.

  “Ach,” he grunted.

  Despite her ice-cold foot, Fern laughed as she watched him try to brush the mud from his shirt, his arms, his hair. “You look like you have chicken pox.”

  He glowered at her in mock displeasure. “You can’t throw, but I underestimated the power of your foot. You’d probably be gute at soccer.”

  Felty’s galosh made a satisfying squishing sound as Fern tugged it from the mud with her two hands. She’d have to go wash her foot and come back. She couldn’t put a mud-caked foot into Felty’s boots. It would be gritty forever after. “I’m going to wash my foot,” she said, as she limped away with one shoe off and one shoe on. “You can use my gloves while I’m gone.”

  “They’re my gloves,” he said.

  Fern swatted an imaginary fly. “You should have been wearing them. You wouldn’t have gotten a sliver.”

  “Will you be coming back?” Reuben said, wiping the grime from his face.

  Fern’s heart did a little skip. Did she detect eagerness in his voice? “Oh, I’ll be back. I haven’t been nearly annoying enough today.”

  He seemed to remember that he didn’t like her all that much. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  Chapter Seven

  Reuben slid out of the buggy with Fern close behind him. Even though the afternoon was a little chilly, the gathering at the minister’s house had spilled out onto the front lawn. Some of the boys were playing volleyball in short sleeves, oblivious to the cool temperature. Girls sat on the front porch with their arms wrapped around their knees or stood in little clumps watching the volleyball game and trying to stay warm. Why did girls always stand in clumps? A team of Percheron horses would be useless to pull them apart.

  Fern squeezed his elbow. “This is going to be fun.”

  Reuben frowned so hard, he was in danger of pushing his lips right off his face. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.”

  “Because you’ve been living like a hermit at Anna and Felty’s house for three months. You need to get out and meet people, make some friends if that’s even possible.”

  “Thanks for the encouragement.”

  Fern nudged him forward. “Look. Nobody knows about your little difficulty. You’ll be fine.”

  “My little difficulty? Your brother ruined my life.”

  Fern was all smiles as she looked over the crowd of young people milling about the front yard. “I wasn’t talking about that. I meant the little difficulty you have with pride. Try not to let it show.”

  Reuben scowled, but Fern didn’t even flinch. He wouldn’t have been able to wipe that aggravating smile from her face with an eraser. “I’m starting to regret letting you tag along.”

  “I invited you. Remember?”

  He trudged slowly up the sidewalk. “I wish that you and your self-righteousness would have stayed home.”

  Her eyes flashed. “And miss out on my chance to embarrass you in front of all die youngie? Not a chance. Besides, you had to pick me up. I didn’t have a ride, and we both would have been embarrassed if I’d had to bring my bike.” She nudged him with her shoulder and knocked him off the sidewalk. “Don’t you worry. I’ll watch out for you, big brother, and make sure you don’t make a fool of yourself.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to be seen with you.”

  “Well, I don’t want to be seen with you, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice for your sake. You need friends. You need butterflies and daisies and happiness in your life. I’m here to help.”

  Reuben shook his head. “I need your help like I need another set of wisdom teeth.”

  “Exactly.”

  Even though he was grumpy about being at the mercy of John’s little sister, Reuben followed her into the yard like a puppy. Fern had been in Bonduel for an even shorter time than Reuben, but apparently she had made an effort to get to know som
e people. At least she was friends with the members of the knitting group.

  He trailed a step or two behind her as she headed straight for one of those formidable clumps of girls standing in the yard. Oh, sis yuscht. His throat swelled up and he thought he might choke, but what could he do but follow? He didn’t have any male friends in Bonduel. He had been so wrapped up in his own shame and embarrassment, he hadn’t made an effort to be friends with anybody. He realized now that was probably a mistake. He was likable, and he should try to get to know some people. Nobody ever had to find out about Linda Sue.

  Reuben relaxed slightly when Sadie Yoder turned around and smiled like a sunrise when she saw him. “Fern,” she said, “you convinced Reuben to come.”

  Fern grabbed Reuben’s sleeve and tugged him forward, irritating him to no end. He didn’t need Fern’s help to talk to girls. “Reuben is a wonderful-gute volleyball player,” Fern said. “But he hasn’t played for months. I insisted he come so he doesn’t get rusty.”

  An attractive blush painted Sadie’s cheeks. “He doesn’t look rusty to me.” All six girls in Sadie’s little clump gazed at Reuben and giggled softly. It was just like it had been before he’d started dating Linda Sue. Girls thought he was good-looking and tended to disintegrate into giggles whenever he came near. John had teased him about it constantly.

  Reuben smiled but not too wide. He didn’t want to appear overconfident, and he certainly didn’t want a lecture from Fern about humility. It wasn’t his fault he was handsome.

  The girl next to Sadie divided her gaze between Sadie and Reuben as if she very much wanted to meet Reuben but very much craved Sadie’s approval. She was short and plump with black hair and a petulant gleam in her eyes. She sort of turned up her nose at Reuben, but he sensed it wasn’t personal, as if everyone and everything offended her to one degree or another. She hooked her elbow around Sadie’s and tugged. Sadie took the hint, even if she was a little snippy about it. She nudged the other girl’s arm away and drew her brows together in annoyance. “Don’t get impatient, Esther. Reuben just got here.” She rolled her eyes at Reuben, as if he were in on the secret that friends were such a bother sometimes. “Reuben, this is Esther Shirk. She’s in the knitting group too.”

  “Sadie’s the only one in the group who’s really met you.” Esther frowned at him as if it were his fault.

  Sadie lifted her chin. “Well, one of us had to meet him, and we wouldn’t have picked you. You’re the worst knitter of us all.”

  Esther stuck out her bottom lip. “I am not. Didn’t you see how far I got last time?”

  “How far you got?” Sadie said, the sarcasm dripping from her lips like honey from a hive.

  Fern stepped directly in front of Sadie and pulled another girl forward. Reuben wiped his hand across his mouth to hide a grin. Fern had cut Sadie off without saying a word or making a scene. No wonder everyone back home loved her. She didn’t pussyfoot around problems but handled them with grace and sensitivity so no one got their feelings hurt. “Reuben, this is Lorene Zook,” Fern said.

  Lorene was plain with an unusually large mole on her chin. Her expression flashed with good humor, as if she were someone who liked to laugh. “Be nice, Sadie,” Lorene said. “Esther’s supposed to be your best friend.” She turned a bright shade of red. “Nice to meet you, Reuben. I was getting impatient having to wait my turn.”

  Reuben smiled. Lorene was the eager type he expected when he met new girls.

  “But you are definitely worth waiting my turn for,” Lorene said before erupting into a fit of laughter that no doubt could have summoned every dog in the county. Reuben was so startled he flinched and took a step back. He’d never heard anything quite like Lorene’s cackle before.

  Fern watched Reuben out of the corner of her eye. He could just see her mouth forming into a frown, no doubt getting ready to chastise him if he showed any sort of reaction to Lorene’s ducklike, ear-splitting laughter. He was almost insulted that Fern would worry. Reuben may have been shocked to his core, but he was smart enough to hold his tongue.

  Fern was shuffling people back and forth faster than money was exchanged at a horse auction. From the clump, she pulled two identical girls forward. “This is Clara, and this is Carolyn Yutzy.”

  The twin sisters were tall brunettes. The twin in the blue dress wrapped an arm around Fern’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you got it right. People usually can’t tell us apart until they’ve known us for a while. Even our dat can’t tell us apart from a distance.”

  Esther smirked. “I still can’t tell you apart.”

  “It’s easy,” Sadie said. “Carolyn has a little freckle on her right earlobe.”

  All the girls leaned in to get a better look at Carolyn’s ear.

  “I’ve never noticed that before,” Esther said, pouting as if they’d kept a big secret from her.

  Fern curled her lips into that cute grin that had attracted more than one boy’s attention in Sugarcreek. “They just look different to me. Clara’s eyes are rounder and their mouths are different shapes.”

  “I am impressed you noticed,” Clara said. She turned and eyed Reuben. “I’m Clara, in case you’re mixed up already.”

  Both sisters peered at him with interest, but they didn’t act desperate or overeager—not that Reuben minded overeager. Sadie and Lorene were enthusiastic, but at least they didn’t treat him like a leper. They thought he was attractive because they had no idea he’d been humiliated in Sugarcreek. He intended to keep it that way.

  “How long are you staying with your grandparents?” Carolyn said.

  Reuben flashed a charming grin, and the clump of girls seemed to collectively lean closer to hear his answer. “I might find a place of my own and stay forever. Everyone has been very kind, and the girls here are wonderful pretty.”

  That comment drew an appreciative murmur from the clump, and he noticed more than one girl blushing profusely.

  Carolyn smoothed her hand down the front of her dress. “Fern has been a gute influence. This is the first time you’ve come to a gathering in the three months you’ve been here.”

  Reuben glanced at Fern, who gave him a smug smile, as if she were responsible for his very existence. “Fern knows how to pester people.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Esther said, as if she were complaining about the weather. “She got both Sadie and Eva Raber to join the knitting group, and Eva would rather die than talk to anybody yet.”

  “I was happy to join,” Sadie said, as if it was very important for Reuben to know how excited she was to be in the group.

  “Tell us about your family, Reuben,” Carolyn said. “Do you have brothers and sisters?”

  Except for Fern, all the girls gazed at him as if he had an answer to every question in the Bible. “I have six brothers and two sisters. I’m the oldest but one.”

  “His dat is a minister,” Fern said, as if she were taking credit for it.

  Reuben could have hugged her for saying that. Girls were always more welcoming if your dat was rich or was one of the elders in the church. Reuben’s dat was both. It was how he’d been able to catch Linda Sue’s attention in the first place.

  Sadie’s smile grew wider. “My dat is the bishop.”

  Sadie was pretty and interesting and her dat was the bishop. This gathering was getting better and better.

  “So your dat’s the bishop,” Esther said. “That doesn’t make you any more important than the rest of us.”

  Sadie pursed her lips. “I never said it did. I only mentioned it because me and Reuben have something in common.”

  “Do you want to farm when you move to Bonduel?” Clara asked.

  Reuben casually brushed some imaginary dust from his shoulder. “If I move to Bonduel, I don’t know what I want to do.”

  “My dat has a dairy,” Sadie said.

  For someone who seemed to want Sadie’s approval, Esther seemed more like an adversary than a friend. She practically scowled at Sadie.

  Sa
die eyed Esther with irritation. “What’s wrong with that?”

  Did Esther ever have a pleasant word for anybody? “You want Reuben to know you’re rich, that’s what.”

  “Just because we have a dairy doesn’t mean we’re rich.”

  “You have four employees and three new solar panels on your roof,” Esther said. “You’re rich.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being rich,” Fern said. “You can help the poor with your money.” She smiled at Reuben as if she didn’t mind so much that he was rich, even though she chastised him all the time for it. “Reuben’s dat is very generous. He gave the church a lot of money when one of the children had a heart transplant. Reuben is just as unselfish. Once he paid for fabric so a girl could have a new dress for her sister’s wedding.”

  Reuben’s eyes met Fern’s, and his insides felt all jumbled together. How did she know about that, and why was she so eager to praise him?

  Esther, who frowned on Sadie’s riches, seemed excessively pleased that Reuben had money. She lifted her eyebrows and studied him as if he were up for auction. Lorene and Sadie had similar reactions while Clara and Carolyn nodded to each other with matching expressions on their matching faces.

  What was Fern up to? “Reuben is a wunderbarr volleyball player, and he sometimes trains horses for Englischers. He’s very gute with the animals, and he knows how to swim. He saved me from drowning when I was ten.”

  “Ach, du lieva,” Clara said. “What happened?”

  “It was nothing,” Reuben said, starting to feel sheepish about Fern’s admiration.

  “Nothing?” Sadie said. “You can’t say saving Fern’s life was nothing.”

  “I’d gone in too deep,” Fern said, her smile sending a pulse of warmth through his veins. “My brother didn’t even notice when I sank under the water. Reuben swam out and pulled me in to shallower waters. I coughed and sputtered and spit water all over his face. He didn’t even complain.”

  Sadie and the rest of the girls gazed at Reuben as if he’d done something truly heroic. He’d only been fourteen, just a kid, and Fern had floated too far from the shore. She’d never been a gute swimmer, and always tried to do all the things Reuben and his friends did, even when Reuben knew she couldn’t. She could have killed herself several times over the years if he hadn’t watched out for her. Somebody had to do it.