On Her Own (11 page)

He shook his head. “Just thought an extra pair of hands would be nice.”

Barbara turned to face Aaron. “Would you like to help Paul this afternoon?”

He gave a slight shrug.

“I think you should give it a try. But you must do everything Paul says. Is that clear?”

“Jah.”

Paul gripped his spoon.
I may regret asking the boy to help as much as I wish I hadn’t accepted Barbara’s invitation to lunch
. He knew it was silly, but being this close to her made him long for something he’d probably never have. He decided to forgo talking about the harness business over lunch.
As soon as I finish this bowl of soup, I’m going to hightail it right back to work
.

B
arbara curled up on her bed, glad that the baby, Zachary, and Joseph were taking naps. Since Aaron was out at the harness shop with Paul, she could rest. She’d felt exhausted by the time they’d finished eating lunch. Paul had offered to help her with the dishes, but since she knew he needed to get back to the shop, she’d declined, saying she could manage. She had left the dishes soaking in the sink, deciding she could do them later, when she hopefully would have a little more energy.

As Barbara burrowed into the pillow, a vision of Paul popped into her head. She had been avoiding him lately because he made her feel so uncomfortable. Today at lunch, however, she’d actually enjoyed his company.

Joseph sure seemed taken with him
, she mused. The boy hung on Paul’s every word.

“It’s not fair, Mama,”
Joseph had wailed when Barbara said he needed a nap.
“If Aaron gets to help in the harness shop, I should, too.”

Barbara grinned. Joseph was nearly six but not old enough to help in the shop. She didn’t think Aaron was all that thrilled about helping Paul, but it might be good for the boy to spend time alone with a man other than his grandpa.

Aaron misses his daed, but he can learn from Paul the way he did David
. She rolled onto her other side.
If I’m feeling up to it after my nap, maybe I’ll bundle up the baby and take a walk out there so I can see how things are going
.

David had enjoyed running the harness shop so much. He’d said many times that their firstborn would take over the business someday. Even when Aaron was a toddler, David had invited the boy out there just to let him hold the leather straps and “get the feel of things.”

Tears welled in Barbara’s eyes. How she missed working in the shop with her beloved husband. She missed their long talks after the children were put to bed, and she pined for the physical touch of the man she had loved since she was a teenager. Would she ever know love like that again? Probably not. Her focus needed to be on running the harness shop and raising her boys.

“I don’t think I could ever feel for any man what I felt for David,” she whispered against the Wedding Ring quilt covering her bed. It had been a gift from her mother when she and David married, and it always brought her comfort.

Heavy with the need for sleep, Barbara’s eyelids closed. As she started to drift off, David’s image was replaced with that of Paul Hilty. The way he’d smiled at her during lunch made her heart feel lighter than it had in weeks, and that confused her. A chunk
of blond hair kept falling onto Paul’s forehead, and she had to resist the temptation to push it back in place the way she often did with one of her boys. The last thing Barbara saw as she succumbed to sleep was the vision of Aaron and Paul walking side by side toward the harness shop.

Paul peered over Aaron’s shoulder as the boy reached for a buckle. “Not that one, Aaron. It’s too big for the strap you’re working on.”

The boy grabbed another buckle. As he fumbled with the clasp and tried to fasten it to the leather strap, it slipped and fell on the floor.

“Be careful now.” Paul stooped to retrieve the buckle.

“It was slippery,” Aaron complained.

“Maybe you’ve got neat’s-foot oil on your hands from when you were oiling that saddle earlier.”

“Nope. I washed ’em.”

“Could be you didn’t wash them well enough. Might be a good idea to do it again, son.”

Aaron spun around, his dark eyes smoldering. “You ain’t my daed.”

The tips of Paul’s ears warmed. “ ’Course not. Never said I was.”

“But you called me ‘son.’ ”

Paul shrugged. “It was just a figure of speech.”

“And you’ve been tellin’ me what to do ever since we came out to my daed’s shop.”

“If you’re going to be my helper, then I have the right to tell you what to do.”

Aaron frowned. Then he headed for the sink at the back of the shop.

Paul shook his head.
Maybe asking the boy to help out wasn’t such a good idea. Might be best if I sent him back to the house
. Paul opened his mouth to say so, but the front door swung open. Noah Hertzler stepped into the shop.

“I got off work early today and was passing by on my way home,” Noah said. “Thought I’d stop and see how you’re coming along with those bridles I ordered.”

“They should be ready by next week,” Paul answered.

Noah motioned to the back of the building. “I see you’ve got yourself a helper today.”

Paul grimaced. “I believe he likes being in the shop, but I don’t think he cottons to me so well.”

“Give him time. He’ll come around.”

“Did he help his daed much?”

Noah nodded. “He followed David around like he was his shadow, though I’m not sure how much help he was in the shop. Never seen a father and son so close as those two seemed to be.”

“Wish I could say the same for me and my daed.”

“Still having problems?”

“Jah. Just last night we got into a disagreement over my returning to Pennsylvania.”

Noah’s eyebrows furrowed. “Will you be leaving soon?”

Paul shook his head. “Not until Barbara’s back working again.”

“You think it’ll be much longer?”

“Don’t rightly know. She invited me to eat lunch with her and the boys today, and she seemed to be doing okay.” He frowned. “Come to think of it, she did look kind of tired by the time we were done.”

“She’s been through a lot.”

Paul nodded.

“Guess your brother’s widow must still be grieving, too.”

“Jah. Margaret’s taking Dan’s death pretty hard, although she’s trying to keep busy so she doesn’t miss him so much.”

“We’ve had several deaths in our community lately.” Noah stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “John Frey lost his wife six months ago.”

“I heard that.”

Noah’s voice lowered a notch. “Word has it that he’s looking for another wife already.”

Paul leaned against the workbench and crossed his arms. “Is that so?”

“Jah. He’s got four daughters who need a woman’s guiding hand.”

“I suppose they would.”

“Faith thinks the bishop has set his cap for Barbara.”

Paul’s mouth dropped. That would explain John Frey’s visit earlier in the day. Apparently, the man had more on his mind than seeing how Barbara was doing.

“You look surprised,” Noah said. “It’s pretty common for a widower with kinner to remarry soon after his wife’s passing. Truth be told, I’m surprised Barbara hasn’t remarried by now, what with her having three young’uns and a boppli to raise.”

Paul gave a slight shrug. The thought of Barbara marrying
Bishop Frey made his stomach churn. She was too young and full of life to be married to a man whose hair and beard had more gray than brown. As he opened his mouth to say something, Aaron sauntered up, holding his hands out for inspection. “See, no oil.”

“That’s good. Why don’t you get back to work on those buckles, then.”

Aaron glanced up at Noah. “Did you bring any cookies today?”

“Not this time.” Noah motioned toward the workbench. “Want to show me what you’ve been working on?”

“It’s nothin’ much, but if you wanna see, it’s all right by me.”

Noah winked at Paul. Aaron led Noah over to the bench while Paul went to work at the riveting machine. He was thankful Noah had dropped by. Aaron seemed much more comfortable with him.

When Barbara awoke from her nap, Joseph and Zachary were playing in their room. Aaron was nowhere to be found, so she assumed he was still at the shop with Paul. David was awake but not fussy. She would change his diaper and see if he wanted to nurse; then the four of them would go check on Aaron.

Half an hour later, Barbara headed to the harness shop. She held the baby in her arms while Zachary and Joseph traipsed alongside her.

“Do I get to help in the harness shop like Aaron’s doin’?” Joseph asked.

She shook her head. “You’re not old enough for that yet, son.”

Joseph halted and dragged his bare foot through the dirt, making little circles with his big toe. “How come Aaron gets to have all the fun?”

“Working in the harness shop isn’t like playing a game,” Barbara said patiently. “You’ll find that out in a few years when you’re able to start helping there.”

Joseph shrugged and started walking again.

Barbara smiled. Joseph was her most easygoing child. He would get over his disappointment quickly.

When they entered the harness shop a few minutes later, the sight that greeted Barbara sent a shock through her middle. Aaron’s hands were completely black, and he had dark smudges on his face and shirt. He held on to a strap, which he’d obviously been staining, but the child had more dye on himself than anyplace else. She looked around for Paul and spotted him in front of the riveting machine, humming and working away as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Didn’t the man realize what a mess Aaron had made? He’d obviously not been watching the boy closely enough. Maybe Barbara had made a mistake agreeing to let Aaron help Paul. Maybe she shouldn’t have hired Paul to work for her in the first place.

“What’s wrong, Mama?” Aaron asked. “You look kind of grank.”

Barbara moved swiftly to his side. “I’m not sick, Aaron, just a bit put out.”

“How come?”

“Look at your hands.”

“Jah, they’re black as coal,” Joseph put in.

“Black as coal,” Zachary parroted.

Aaron wrinkled his nose. “Stay out of this, you two.”

“There’s no reason for you to be talking to your brothers like that.” Barbara shifted the baby to her other arm and nodded at Aaron. “I want you to march on back to the sink and scrub your hands and face.”

“But, Mama, I’m not done yet. Paul said if I finished this job by four o’clock, he’d pay me a dollar.”

Barbara didn’t want to say anything that might cause Aaron to dislike working in the harness shop. “All right, then. But try to be more careful. You’re supposed to be staining the leather ends, not your hands and clothes.”

“I’ll do my best.”

She moved toward Paul, but the two younger boys stayed near Aaron. That was just as well. She didn’t think they should hear what she had to say.

“Did you come to see how Aaron’s doing?” Paul asked when she stood beside him at the riveting machine.

Barbara nodded. “I’m not too pleased to see the mess he’s making with that dye you’re letting him use.”

“Dying leather’s a messy job.”

“True, but his hands are all black, and he ended up getting dye on his shirt and face, too.”

Paul kept working.

“Did you show him the right way to hold the brush and cover the edges of the leather with stain?”

“Of course.”

When the baby hiccuped, Barbara put him over her shoulder and patted his back. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to hold
the paintbrush,” she said. “The right way keeps the stain on the leather and not so much on the hands.”

Paul’s pale eyebrows drew together. “Are you questioning my ability to teach your son?”

She clamped her lips together, afraid she might spew some unkind words. Who did Paul Hilty think he was? He acted as if this were
his
shop.

“Well, are you questioning my ability?” he persisted.

Barbara drew in a deep breath and blew it out quickly. “I’m not questioning your ability. But I think you need to remember that this is
my
shop and Aaron is
my
son.” She paused long enough to grab another quick breath. “Not only that, but I’m the one who will have to spend time trying to get the dye off his hands and face before Sunday. I sure wouldn’t want him going to preaching like that.”