Chapter 12
Daisy was fluffing the pillows when she heard Ferman yell at Perry.
“Put some clothes on!”
She froze, mid-fluff. She was already wondering why Perry asked her to stay in the living room. Now Ferman was yelling at
him, and it sounded like he was by the bathroom, not in the bedroom where he was supposed to be waiting for her to help him
to the table.
Wait, Ferman wasn’t supposed to be standing on his own, much less walking. She turned and started for the bedroom, then stopped.
Gulp. Was Perry... naked ? Surely he wouldn’t walk around the house without—
“Daisy!”
She jumped at the sound of Perry’s voice and inched away from the couch. “ Ya ?”
“Ferman’s in the bathroom. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“So, ah, stay put?”
“ Ya .”
All right. She’d stay put right here in the middle of the living room, which was technically the middle of Perry’s house. Daisy hugged her arms. What a strange day.
Less than two minutes passed, and Perry showed up in the kitchen, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and pants, combing his
fingers through his damp hair. His bare feet padded against the hardwood floor.
It took some effort for Daisy to stop thinking about how it would feel to slide her hands through those deep brown locks.
She forced herself to think about Maynard and his hair. What color was it again?
“Did you hear all that?” Perry asked, his expression unreadable.
She nodded. “It’s a small house.”
He walked toward her. “There’s an innocent explanation. I forgot to take clean clothes to the bathroom—”
“I don’t really need to know.” She also didn’t need any visuals that explanation would put in her head. She whirled around
and ferociously fluffed another throw pillow, a white one with a lacy crochet overlay.
“I’m done!” Ferman hollered.
For an old man, he had a strong pair of lungs. “Coming,” Daisy said, tossing the pillow on the couch.
Perry intercepted her. “I’ll get him.”
She nodded again. “I’ll finish putting supper on the table.”
Perry helped Ferman from the bathroom to the table and they all sat down, said a silent blessing, then started eating. Ferman
picked at the yumasetti she’d made instead of eating. “Are you hurting?” she asked.
“A little,” he admitted, not looking at her. “But nee where near as much as this morning.”
“ Gut to hear.” Perry slathered butter on his roll.
Daisy agreed, but she was concerned about Ferman’s lack of appetite. “Would you like me to make you something else?” she asked. “Some soup? I saw a few cans in Perry’s pantry.”
He shook his head. “I’m not all that hungry.”
She met Perry’s uneasy gaze. Tomorrow she would prepare something a little less heavy for supper. When she went back to Grace’s
house for the pillows, Aenti Rosella was home, and Daisy told her that Ferman would be staying at Perry’s and why they needed the couch. She also got
the ingredients for the yumasetti .
“The poor mann ,” her aenti had said, clucking her tongue. “He’s been favoring that hip for a while. I heard he needs to have it replaced, but he refuses to do so. I wouldn’t mind if
he stayed here, except all the bedrooms are upstairs.”
“He’s settled at Perry’s. But I agreed to keep an eye on him so Perry can geh to work.”
“Oh? Then that means you’ll be at his haus ?” At Daisy’s nod, her aunt grinned a little too much.
As she finished her roll, she remembered something—Maynard was supposed to call her back tonight! Okay, he didn’t say tonight.
He only said “later.” But it was still possible that he would call.
She glanced at the clock. Six thirty. He would have been home for almost an hour by now. After she finished supper, cleaned
the kitchen, and made sure Ferman was settled for the night, she would hurry back to her aunt’s house and check the messages.
“Daisy?”
Blinking a few times, she saw Perry’s face come into view. He was seated across from her, with Ferman in between them.
“Everything is appeditlich . Danki .”
His hair was nearly dry now, and several curls covered his forehead. The word luxuriant came to mind. Without warning she was feeling cold, then hot, then cold again. Bother. What was going on?
She jumped up from her seat and began clearing the table. Casserole dish in one hand and the breadbasket in the other, she
hurried to the kitchen and set them on the counter.
While Perry helped Ferman to the bathroom again—he’d consumed a lot of tea today—she prepared the nighttime herbal blend Margaret
had left and set out the salve for Perry to help Ferman apply to his bursa. She was grateful Ferman wasn’t hurting as much,
and the medicine in combination with lots of rest seemed to be the cure, for now at least. She said a prayer for God to heal
him, cleared the rest of the dishes, and started washing them.
She was scrubbing the last plate by the time Perry entered the kitchen. Without a word, he took a fresh towel out of the drawer
next to the sink and picked up the casserole dish sitting in the drainer.
“I can finish this,” she said, glancing at him.
He dried the dish, still silent.
If he wanted to help, she couldn’t stop him. She also appreciated the assistance. The faster she finished cleaning up, the
sooner she could find out if Maynard had called. She pulled the plug out of the sink and the sudsy water gurgled down the
drain. “I put the leftovers in the cooler. There’s enough for two more servings. Hopefully Ferman will eat more tomorrow.”
“I hope so too.”
“Do you need anything else?” she asked.
“ Nee . We’re all set for tonight.”
“What time should I be here in the morning?”
“I’d like to leave before dawn. I can reschedule, though. I don’t want to take you away from your familye . I’m sure Ferman wouldn’t want that either.”
“Ferman wants to geh home.” She rinsed out the soapy dishrag. “I’d like to help him get better. My aenti and onkel know about the situation, and Grace wouldn’t mind spending more time with Kyle.”
“Does that bother you?”
“ Nee .” She wrung out the rag and laid it over the side of the sink to dry. “They’re in love. Of course they would want to spend
all their time together.”
Perry ran the damp towel over the counter. “Are you missing Maynard?”
“ Ya. ” Although she’d been so busy today, he hadn’t been on the forefront of her mind. In fact, she hadn’t thought about him at
all until a few minutes ago. Huh.
He stared at the sink for a moment. “I’ve been thinking about our pact. It’s not sitting well with me.” He turned to her.
“I never should have given Mamm the wrong impression about us and I don’t like the idea of compounding one lie with another. Pretending to geh on a date, even for a gut reason, isn’t the right thing to do.”
“ Ya . I see your point.” And she questioned why she didn’t see it before. Maybe because she had lied so easily to Grace about
Maynard. A sick feeling swirled in her stomach. Forgive me, Lord. “I’m sorry,” she said, stepping away from the sink. “I know it was a lot to ask. Forget I mentioned it. I’ll figure out another
way to convince Mamm about me and Maynard.” Although that seemed impossible, at least the part about being willing to give another man a chance.
That wouldn’t work—she would be lying no matter what. “See you in the morning.” She hurried to the front door, filled with
remorse and grateful that Perry had stopped them from being deceitful.
“Wait,” he said, catching up to her as she touched the doorknob that had been working fine all day. “I think I have a solution
to our mutual problem.”
She spun around, surprised. “You do?”
He leveled his gaze at her. “We go out on a real date.”
***
Perry shut his mouth so hard his teeth hurt. It was official, he’d lost his marbles. Because he couldn’t have told Daisy from
Dover that they should go on an actual date. Nope. He never would have said that.
But he did, and he knew why. Earlier when he was outside doing the chores, he’d made the decision to end their pact, and he’d
fully intended to do that tonight. Even as he was telling Daisy that he didn’t want to lie to their mothers, he felt relief.
He’d extricated himself from the predicament, and that was going to be that.
Until he saw her crestfallen expression, coupled with the note of remorse in her apology. It took less than a second for him
to change his mind. But the only way they could avoid lying was to tell the truth. And that involved going out on a bona fide
date.
Her eyes were filled with astonishment, and he could actually see her gulp. He had to explain himself. “It wouldn’t be romantic,”
he said, wanting to make that exceptionally clear so there were no misunderstandings. “And we would only go out one time.
But if anyone asked us if we went out together, we could tell them the truth.”
“Perry... I...”
Then it hit him. How could he have forgotten about Maynard? He wanted to face-palm himself. A real date was out of the question—even
an unromantic one—not when she wanted someone else. He held out his palms. “Sorry, that’s a terrible idea.”
She slowly nodded. “I can’t.”
“Because of Maynard.”
“ Ya .”
He leaned against the doorjamb. There had to be another way. Then he snapped his fingers. “Church.”
“Pardon?”
“Birch Creek has church service this Sunday. You can come with me, and we’ll be seen together by most of my familye . That should be enough to keep Mamm and anyone else from meddling for a while.”
Daisy nodded, apparently mulling over the idea. “You think so? Or will she start up again when I geh back to Dover?”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t. She needs to accept the fact that I’m happy being a single mann .”
“Or maybe...” She folded her hands in front of her.
“Maybe what?”
“You could read the letters from those single women. Your future wife could be in that stack, and you don’t even know it.”
He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “Not interested.” He smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re going to start matchmaking
now.”
“Not interested.” She grinned. “Attending church sounds like a great idea. Much better than being dishonest. It will be nice
to meet the rest of your familye .”
He laughed, relieved that they had come to an agreement that wouldn’t compromise their principles. “Prepare yourself. They’re
a lively bunch.”
***
Daisy felt like a balloon tied to a cloud—light and free—as she left Perry’s house and returned to Grace’s. The sun had set over two hours ago, and she paused to gaze at the millions of twinkling dots scattered across the velvety sky. She was elated that Perry had come up with the solution to their dilemma—going to church together. Before she left, they shook on their new pact. Once again, she noticed how warm his hand was, and how wholly it enveloped hers. Sigh.
She caught herself and hastened her steps, pausing at the phone shanty and wondering if Maynard had called. Even if he did,
it was past eight. Too late to call him back.
Daisy peeked at Perry’s house in time to see the light in the window disappear. She was still reeling from his “real” date
idea. For a split second, she thought he’d meant the typical kind of date, one where they liked each other... and not as
friends. When he quickly confirmed that it would be a date in name only so they wouldn’t lie about going out, a weird, not-so-pleasant
feeling came over her. Disappointment? No, it couldn’t be. Maynard Miller was the man for her, not Perry Bontrager. Besides,
Perry couldn’t have made it any clearer that he wasn’t interested in dating anyone, especially her.
There the feeling was again. Like a pinch, right in her heart.
Ignoring the peculiar sensation, Daisy went inside. She thought about stopping in the kitchen where her relatives left notes
and messages. She paused, then continued toward the staircase and yawned as she climbed the stairs. If Maynard had called,
she’d find out in the morning. For once, he could wait.
***
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.”
Ferman shielded his eyes from Perry’s portable lamp. “Morning already?
“ Ya .” Perry set the lamp on top of his bureau, lighting up the bedroom. “How are you feeling?”
He almost snapped at the young man. He’d just been unceremoniously awakened from a wonderful dream. Lovina had been there, young and fresh as a spring flower, while he’d been his old, crusty self. She offered encouragement for his pain and predicament, along with a few kisses. Some were quite passionate. He leaned against the pillow and smiled.
“Glad to see you’re doing better.” Perry pulled out a navy blue pullover, white T-shirt, and a pair of pants out of the bureau
and turned around. “These should somewhat fit you. After work, I can stop by your place and pick up some of your own clothes.”
That dose of reality brought him out of his half-dream state. “Don’t plan on being here after today,” he grumbled. But when
he sat up, he winced. The pain wasn’t as intense, but it was there.
To his credit, Perry didn’t say anything. He walked to the bed and waited for Ferman to slowly shift to a seated position.
Well, look at that—he wasn’t moving as slowly as he had yesterday. He’d take whatever progress he could.
Like he had yesterday, Perry assisted him with the salve and stood by as Ferman dressed, assisting only when necessary. He
supposed if he had to get this personal with someone, he could do worse than Perry Bontrager. The young man managed to be
helpful without hovering, and by the time Ferman was on his feet and ready to use the facilities—again—he really was feeling
a little better.
Later, after he ate most of the oatmeal Perry fixed for breakfast, he was settled in the chair, another concoction of medicine
and a glass of water on the side table.
“Daisy should be here soon.” Perry folded the quilt he’d used last night and laid it haphazardly over the back of the borrowed
sofa.
Ferman frowned, wanting to insist on sleeping on the couch tonight. He wasn’t foolish enough to think Perry and Daisy would take him home this evening. But he didn’t bother. Arguing with those two was almost as bad as quarreling with Junior and Polly Ann. He’d sleep in Perry’s bed tonight, take all the medicine they gave him, and rest as much as possible. That was the only way he could return home. Margaret’s advice was doing the trick, praise the Lord.
A soft knock sounded on the door and Daisy walked inside. A wicker basket hung over her elbow, and she was holding a piece
of smooth wood that looked suspiciously like a cane. Fiddlesticks.
“Sorry I’m a little late.” With a fetching smile, she set the basket and cane on one of the couch cushions.
He glanced at Perry, curious if Mr. Oblivious had finally started to notice what a pretty maedel Daisy was.
But he had his back to her as he took his straw hat off the rack near the door. “He’s fed,” Perry said, putting on a dark
blue jacket.
“And dressed, I see.”
“Humph,” Ferman said. “I wish folks would stop conversating about me like I’m not here.”
Ignoring him, she turned to Perry. “Anything you need me to do?”
He finally looked at her, although he made no indication that he noticed her looks—or heard Ferman’s bellyaching. “Just make
sure he doesn’t leave the premises.”
“Leave the premises?” What a laughable notion. He couldn’t walk more than a few steps without assistance. Although if he could,
he would have hightailed it home already. Perry had him pegged.
“Got it.” She opened the basket lid and held out a small paper bag. “I brought a few treats to geh along with your lunch.”
He paused, then took the bag with a small smile. “ Danki .”
Ferman rubbed his stubbly chin with one finger. Hmm, maybe the bu wasn’t as oblivious as he thought.
“See you later.” He walked out the door.
Daisy picked up the quilt and started refolding it, her smile sunny. “How’s our patient doing this morning?” she asked Ferman.
Our patient? Interesting way to put that. “I’m—”
The door opened again, and Perry poked his head into the house. “Daisy?” He gestured for her to come to him.
She laid the now neatly folded quilt on the back of the couch and went to him. When he leaned over and whispered in her ear,
she nodded. “Of course.”
Then he disappeared.
What were those two up to? “What was that about?” Ferman asked.
Daisy picked up the cane. “This is for you.” She presented the rod to him as if it were a cherished treasure.
Confound it, disregarded again. “Figures,” he mumbled.
“ Onkel Howard said you could borrow it as long as you need to. He used it after he broke his ankle standing on the back of a horse
last year.”
“What?”
Daisy placed the cane in between the side table and his chair. “Talk about harebrained. Grace said he used to stand on the
horses all the time when she was little. He would balance on their backs and ride around the pasture.” She dropped her voice
to sound manly. “‘ Several years and more than several pounds ago ,’ he said.”
Not a bad imitation of Howard Hershberger. But yeah, that was foolish. It also wasn’t the story he’d heard when Howard showed
up to church limping and using the wooden cane. Ferman had forgotten all about that. Word was he tripped over his front porch
steps. Ferman didn’t blame him for the cover story, though. No middle-aged man would want everyone to know that he injured
himself literally horsing around.
Ferman glanced at the cane. “What if I told you I’m not gonna use that?”
Daisy’s smile faded a little, but the stubbornness he was becoming used to seeing appeared in her eyes. “Then I would call
you harebrained.”
Point taken. If he used the cane, he wouldn’t have to lean on Daisy and Perry. He took it from her and ran his fingers across
the smooth wood. “It’ll do.”
“ Gut .” Her smile back in place, she dug inside the basket again. This time she pulled out a crossword book and a sudoku magazine
and handed them to him. “You can sleep all you want. I brought these so you won’t get bored while you’re awake.”
He glanced through the books, noticing some of the puzzles were completed in both. “Are these Howard’s too?”
“ Nee . Aenti Rosella’s. Onkel Howard doesn’t do puzzles.” She held out two objects. “Pen or pencil?”
“Pencil.” He took it, dabbed the graphite tip on his tongue, and started filling out several of the sudoku squares.
“Wow, you’re fast.” She closed the basket and slipped off her shoes.
“Been doing these for ages.” He peered at more of the number clues and made himself comfy in the chair. When he was sitting,
the ache in his hip was almost nonexistent. He took a sip of tea and continued solving the puzzle. Not a bad way to spend
the morning, and he realized he hadn’t felt this comfortable and relaxed in a long time. Thanks to Daisy and Perry.
***
Daisy stared at the overflowing laundry basket in the cramped mudroom. Perry’s house didn’t have a basement, something she thought was unusual for an Amish home, and this was the smallest house she’d ever been in. Even the bedrooms were tiny.
Her brow furrowed as she wondered if she should wash Perry’s dirty clothes. He didn’t ask her to, and that put her in a quandary.
With Ferman feeling better and occupied with the puzzle books, he wouldn’t need as much care as he did yesterday. This morning
when she woke up, she put the books and her cross-stitch into one of Rosella’s wicker baskets, and her aunt gave her Howard’s
cane. At the last minute she decided to make a snack for Perry, so she put two poppy seed muffins from breakfast, some sliced
cheddar cheese, and several crackers in a bag and added it to the basket.
But gathering supplies for the day wasn’t what made her late.
When she went to the kitchen this morning, she asked Rosella if there were any messages. “ Nee ,” her aunt said, scooping fluffy scrambled eggs with bits of sausage into a large bowl. “ Nee calls yesterday.”
“Oh.” She was disappointed Maynard hadn’t called. She wasn’t surprised either. Work must have gotten in the way again. But
that excuse was wearing thin, and she only picked at the muffins, sausage-scrambled eggs, and fruit slush Aenti Rosella had prepared for breakfast. Grace had left early for work, and Onkel Howard’s head was buried in the paper while Rosella was upstairs stripping the bedsheets. Now that Daisy knew the real reason
she was here, there was no point in discussing wedding plans anytime soon.
She leaned her cheek on her hand and stared at the golden muffin on her plate. Were Mamm and her aunt right? Was she mistaken about Maynard? Back in Dover when he was swamped with work, she would stop by the furniture shop, bring him a sweet or two that he always accepted and ate on the spot, and they could talk for a few minutes before he had to go back to his job. Even if they didn’t get together very often, they at least interacted with each other. But there had been so little contact since she left Delaware. When he did say he missed her, she’d had to ask him first.
Mamm ’s words entered her mind. “You shouldn’t have to beg someone to love you.”
Was that what she’d been doing? Granted, she did a lot of things for Maynard and was the one who made sure they spent time
together. He was always appreciative. Or she’d thought so. For the first time since she fell in love with him, genuine doubt
started to creep in.
What she couldn’t do was sit at the table and dwell on it. She had Ferman to attend to, and despite his surly attitude, she
enjoyed taking care of him. It wasn’t his fault he was crabby. If she were in that much pain, she would be just as irritable.
She quickly finished eating, got ready, told Aenti Rosella and Onkel Howard goodbye, and headed out the door. If she rushed, she would be on time. As she scurried to Perry’s, she heard the phone
ring in the shanty and almost ignored it, but she was only a few feet away and she assumed it was for one of her relatives.
She dashed inside and grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hi, Daisy.”
Stunned, she pulled the receiver away and stared at it for a second before pressing it against her ear again. “Maynard?”
“I have a few minutes before work if you want to talk.”
He called her! She could barely believe it. Her smile was so wide, it hurt her cheeks.
“ Mamm said she was tired of you calling.”
Her smile vanished, and an ache appeared in her chest. “I told you she doesn’t like me.”
He didn’t respond, and she thought he’d hung up when he finally said, “She doesn’t like anybody, Daisy. It’s not personal.”
That tidbit of information surprised her, even though she had suspected that Neva was an unhappy woman. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Daed and I are used to it.”
Daisy’s heart squeezed. This was the most intimate detail he’d shared with her since... well, since ever, now that she
thought about it.
“When are you coming home?”
She grinned and twirled the phone cord around her fingers. He really did miss her. “In about a month.”
“ Gut . I can’t wait for one of your peach pies.”
Was that all he could think about? Pie? He’d had one just a few days ago. Her smile slipped a little. “Of... of course.”
“I wanted to clear things up with you about Mamm . I don’t want you to be upset.”
With his mother, or in general?
“I’ve got to geh , Daisy.”
“But we just started talking.” She sounded petulant, but she couldn’t help it.
“I, uh, guess we could talk a little more.”
Gut . She tried to think of something to say, but her mind automatically went to the thing they talked about most. “How’s work
going?”
“Busy. We’ve got a commercial order for custom-made chairs. One of the inns in Holmes County wants them for their new restaurant.”
“That’s nice.” She waited for him to ask her a question.
Silence. Unwieldy, excruciating silence.
Then she realized she was late to Perry’s. Oops. “I’ve got to geh , Maynard,” she exclaimed. She couldn’t keep Perry and Ferman waiting.
“You do?”
There was no time to ponder his surprised reaction. “Talk to you later. Bye.” She hung up and ran next door. Fortunately, she was only a few minutes late.
Daisy put her mind back on Perry’s laundry and decided to risk overstepping her bounds. When he left for work, he’d only asked
two things of her—to make sure Ferman didn’t escape, and...
A shiver went down her back, clear to her bare feet. He’d whispered his second request in her ear: “Stay out of the butterfly room.” Which she would have done anyway. He didn’t have to ask, and she shouldn’t be thinking about his low and, dare she say, captivating
voice.
“Laundry, laundry, laundry,” she muttered. Onkel Howard had mentioned it would be windy and sunny all day. Perfect weather for drying clothes. Daisy figured she had a fifty-fifty
chance of Perry being annoyed, or even mad at her for taking care of his clothes, and she decided to worry about that later.
She also decided not to launder his unmentionables. He could take care of those himself.
She quickly sorted the clothing and got to work. But soon her thoughts turned to the forbidden butterfly room and all the
beauty she’d seen in there, and she was tempted to go inside again. Not that she would. She’d given Perry her word, and it
was locked now anyway. But given the chance, she could spend hours looking at his precisely perfect drawings.
While she worked on the laundry, she checked on Ferman twice. The second time he was asleep in the chair, the sudoku puzzle
and pencil at the edge of his lap. Carefully she removed them and put them on the side table, then picked up the empty glass
of tonic he’d dutifully drunk. She’d been prepared to argue with him today. Thankfully he was being more cooperative.
Daisy piled the clean, damp clothes back into the laundry basket and carried it outside to the aluminum clothesline pole in the backyard. As soon as she hung up the first shirt, a pretty painted lady butterfly landed on the line, right at eye level. When she lifted her hand toward it, the butterfly fluttered to her finger.
Gazing at the insect, she inspected it more than she ever would have before she met Perry. She knew this wasn’t the same butterfly—it
couldn’t be, considering how many butterflies like this she’d seen before. And butterflies weren’t like dogs, cats, and other
animals that returned to the same place over and over. Or were they? She’d have to ask Perry about that.
“Sorry to disturb you,” she said, wiggling her fingers, “but I have to hang up Perry’s pants.”
The butterfly flew to her shoulder, just like the other one had to Perry. How cute. After a few seconds the butterfly took off, and Daisy finished hanging up the clothes.
Carrying the empty basket back to the house, she stopped at the patio. Four plastic chairs were randomly placed on the concrete
pad. Maybe she would help Ferman come outside after lunch and get some sunshine if he was up to it. She could do her cross-stitch,
he his puzzles, and they would have a nice, quiet afternoon before she started supper—a simple one this time. Baked chicken
breasts, lightly seasoned rice, and cooked carrots. Hopefully Ferman would have a stronger appetite this evening.
A stray thought entered her mind as she went inside. I wonder if Perry likes peach pie.