Chapter 22
H ENRY
This evening is going even better than I imagined.
Hearing that Ellie used to have a crush on me— me —has me floored. Why did I have to go and ruin it? We could have been courting already. We could have been married at sixteen. Okay, maybe not that young. But most definitely by now.
I shake my head. “I still can’t believe it. The prettiest girl alive had a crush on me .”
Ellie snorts. “If you’re trying to charm me, it’s working.”
“No charms. I’m just speaking the truth.” I polish off my first sandwich, then dig into a bag of chips.
“I’m afraid I’m not all that hungry. May I get a take home box, sir?”
I laugh. “Sure. We’ll have to go to the house, though.”
A chilly breeze wafts through the barn and I shiver. “Wow. There’s a bite in the air tonight.”
She holds up the lap quilt. “Do you…? We can share.”
I wasn’t fishing for an invitation to be close to Ellie, but since she suggested, I’m not about to decline her offer. “ Denki .”
I move around Mamm’s roasting pan and plop down next to her on the quilt. When she lifts the blanket, I slide close to her and am immediately enveloped in warmth. “This is nice.”
“ Jah .”
She turns her head, and I realize how close we are. Being this close to Ellie spikes my pulse like nothing else, and I can think of little else besides kissing her. Truly, I hadn’t planned on giving her a kiss until I dropped her off at home at the end of our evening.
I was going to exercise patience. Longsuffering.
When our eyes meet, she tugs her bottom lip between her teeth, and I can’t help but be drawn to her mouth. Well, there goes the patience and longsuffering. I had good intentions.
But before I kiss her, I need to make sure I’m not misinterpreting the desire in her eyes.
I inch back and catch what I think might be disappointment on her face. “To avoid your brother clobbering me with his hockey stick or harnessing me with a rope and dragging me behind his buggy, I figured it might be safer to ask first, although I feel like I’m kind of killing the mo?—”
“Henry Yoder, would you please stop talking and just kiss me?” Her eyes are sparkling with amusement.
“Yes, m—” And her lips are on mine.
I’m not sure what it is about kissing Ellie Petersheim, but my senses seem to take leave, and I could swear I’m transported to some type of fantasy world. Because having Ellie’s lips on mine pretty much fulfills every fantasy I’ve ever had. Her kisses are perfection at its best.
Not that I’d actually swear. Okay, I might but I probably shouldn’t admit it.
Ellie makes the faintest feminine sound and it drives me wild. One of my hands is cradling the back of her head and the other one is resting on her warm neck, and the only thing I can think of at the moment is how beautiful she must look with her hair down. I’ve only ever gotten a glimpse of her hair, confined by her prayer kapp .
Without even asking, I feel for the pins holding her kapp and remove them. Ellie doesn’t protest, and I take her silence as permission to continue. I place her covering to the side, then pull out the hair pins holding her bun in place. When her hair tumbles over her shoulders and down her back, I can’t help but slide my fingers through her silky unbound tresses.
My lips leave hers, trailing a warm path to her neck, where I bury my nose in her irresistibly soft hair. With the fire running through my veins, I no longer require the lap robe. We lean back, causing one of the bales of hay to plummet to the ground.
“Hey! You trying to kill me?” A familiar male voice from below the loft sounds.
Ellie squeaks as she pries her lips off mine and begins frantically gathering her hair. She leans down to hide, and as soon as I gather my wits about me I stand up to see my neighbor Jude with the bale of hay at his feet. Jah , that could have been bad. I’m glad he appears to be in one piece, and I didn’t take him out for the season. Or ruin his hockey career altogether.
“I’m sorry, we were just…I mean I was just…” I must resemble a tomato. It’s a good thing the barn is mostly dark.
“Moving hay in the dark?” There’s amusement in Jude’s tone, but the knowing look in his eyes makes me squirm.
“What are you doing here anyway?”
“Hey, I tried the house, but no one answered. Sorry to interrupt you and Ellie.” He winks. “But I wanted to stop by before I head out tonight. I’ve got a home game next Thursday, and I’m wondering if you and Ivy and Eli and Ellie would like to come. I brought you tickets.” He holds up what is probably the aforementioned tickets, but I can’t see them in the dark.
“Uh, jah . That would be great. I’ll see if we all can go.”
“Okay, then. And, if Ivy would like a jersey, I can get her one.” Jude offers.
I want to growl. Ivy doesn’t need to be wearing Jude’s jersey. She’s Amish, and as far as I know, she plans to stay that way. “ Nee , she doesn’t need one. She’ll wear her Amish dress.”
“Okay, then. I’ll just leave the tickets right here on the saddle.” Jude’s footfalls sound as though he’s leaving the barn, but then his voice echoes. “You two have fun. And stay out of trouble.” I hear his laugh as he finally exits the barn.
“ Ach du liebe .” I turn back to Ellie, who has now managed to gather her hair back into a bun and is pinning her kapp back into place. I reach over and remove a piece of straw from her hair, my smile apologetic.
“Should we box up the rest of the food?” Ellie asks. How she manages to stay calm, I’m unsure.
I sigh, realizing our previous fire has been doused. But maybe that’s a good thing? “ Jah . Let’s go.”
Thanks for ruining the moment, Jude.