James possessed a typical Amish face, more long than round; light brown feathery hair, very clean; a well-defined nose; and a wide, expressive mouth. He was handsome, though not overly so, with a friendly smile and the intelligent brown eyes she’d noticed on first meeting him. He moved easily, almost boyishly, with a bounce in his step. She didn’t know James and she didn’t give her trust easily, but she was inclined to like him. He seemed trustworthy, which wasn’t a trait she saw often in her world.
Not that she was interested in him in any romantic sort of way. Her life was complicated enough without that. She’d proven with Ivan, Zachary’s father, that she didn’t have good judgment when it came to choosing a partner. And she had quite enough on her plate without more complications. A man was the last thing she needed.
She found her voice. “My day was good,” she said. “Everyone was really nice. There’s a lot to learn. I don’t know anything about the business, but I want to know everything.”
“I’d think Gideon would be an easy boss to work for. And Addy is fair. She speaks her mind and some might fault her for that, but there’s not a mean bone in her body.” He removed his heavy leather work gloves and shoved them into his coat pockets. “This can’t be easy for you, losing your job, your home. Making the move with Zachary and starting over in a new town.”
She looked up at him. How did he know about her being evicted from her trailer?
He smiled. “Sorry,” he said, seeming to know what she as thinking. “Zachary told me all about it. I hope that’s okay. He’s a good kid, Mari,” he added thoughtfully. “I don’t think there’s any need to worry about him.”
She hesitated. “I wanted to thank you for letting Zachary help you today.” She looked down at her sneakers and them up at him again. “And...I don’t know what you said to him, but it must have been the right thing. I was afraid he’d be in a funk when I got home, but he’s not. In fact, he’s great. He seems so...happy. And he apologized to me for his behavior this morning.”
The easy smile reached his eyes, lighting them from within and revealing hints of green and gray that she hadn’t noticed before. If he’d been a woman, people would have said that they were her best feature. In a man, they were remarkable.
“Ya. We kept him pretty busy,” James went on. “He carried a lot of coffee, fetched some nails and did some sweeping. We worked on how to drive a nail properly.”
“He told me you were going to bring a hammer for him to use. He was really excited about it,” she said.
“Good.” James nodded his head slowly. “I like your Zachary. You must be very proud of him.”
“I am.” She smiled. “It wasn’t necessary to pay him.”
“But it was.” He settled his gaze on her. “He earned it. I try to give fair wages for good work.”
She pushed her cold hands into the pockets of the coat, trying to warm them. “It was still good of you to take the trouble to make things easier for him. Kids don’t like change, and he’s had more than enough of it.”
“He was no bother. He really wasn’t. In fact, it was fun having him with us today. I’m looking forward to spending time with him tomorrow.”
James squatted in front of a wooden toolbox on the ground just outside the addition and began to unload his tool belt and fit everything inside. It was an orderly box, his tools clean and well cared for. Mari admired that. She liked order herself, when she could find it in her life.
“Zachary has a quick mind,” James continued. “And he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. It’s plain to see that you’ve done a good job with him.”
“I try.” She stood there for a minute watching him, then realized it was silly for her to just be standing there. She’d passed on Sara’s message. There was no reason for her to linger. She put her hands together. “Well, I hope you like ham,” she said. “I saw one in the oven. I think Sara and Ellie made enough food for half the county.”
“Sometimes it seems like half the county’s eating with them. Sara has an endless string of pretty young women and their beaus as dinner guests. She hasn’t been in Seven Poplars that long, but she’s made a lot of friends here, and there’s no doubt she provides a much-needed service.”
“Not for me,” Mari blurted out, then felt her face flush. “I mean, I’m not here to find a husband. That’s not why I came here. We’re old friends. From Wisconsin. She’s just giving me a hand until I can get settled here in Delaware. I came for the job.”
He glanced up from his toolbox. “That’s what Zachary told me.”
“I’m not married. I’m not even Amish.” She felt as if she was babbling. “Not anymore. I was, but—” She pushed her hands deeper into the coat pockets. “Not anymore,” she repeated.
He nodded, holding her gaze. There was no judgment in his eyes.
“But you were born to Amish parents.”
“Sara told you?”
James shook his head. “A name like Mari Troyer?” He smiled that easy smile of his again. “It’s not hard to guess what your background is.”
“I left that life a decade ago.”
“It’s hard, leaving. Hard coming back, too.”
“Oh, I’m not... I didn’t come to be Amish again. It’s not who I am anymore,” she added softly, wondering what it was about James that made her feel as if she could stand there in the bitter cold and discuss things she hadn’t talked about in years.
“I think the people who raised us, our parents and grandparents and their kin, they’re always a part of us, whether we want them to be or not.”
“I don’t know about that. I guess I’m part of the English world now.”
He thought for a moment before speaking. “Has it been kind to you, that world?”
She glanced away. The way he was looking at her made her feel nervous about herself. About things she believed to be true. “Not particularly, but it suits me.” She shrugged. “And I can’t come back. It’s too late.” She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling oddly wistful. “Zachary and I are just here for a little while. I’ve done fine out there. It was just that the plant where I worked closed down. Jobs were hard to come by.”
James hefted the heavy toolbox. “I’ll be pleased to join you for supper. Mattie, she’s my sister, and the kids went to have supper with their grossmama. Mattie and her mother-in-law get on like peas in a pod. And Agnes can’t get enough of the new twins.” He took a few steps and then stopped, obviously waiting for her.
“Your sister has twins?” She caught up with him. “How old?”
“Six weeks last Sunday. William, he’s the oldest, and Timothy. They’re good babies. It’s their big brothers who cause all the fuss in our house.”
“How old are they?”
“Roman is three, and Emanuel is twenty-two months.”
She couldn’t help chuckling. “Bet they’re a handful.”
“Emanuel takes close watching. Turn your back on that one and he’ll be up the chimney or have the cow in the kitchen.” They reached the back porch and James carried his toolbox up the steps and set it against the wall of the house. “It will be fine here until morning. Saves Jericho, he’s my horse, from hauling it home and back tomorrow.” He opened the back door and held it for her.
Mari walked through the doorway into the utility room. Instantly, she was wrapped in the homey smells of food and the sounds of easy conversation and laughter. She slipped out of the coat, hung it on a peg. James did the same and began to wash his hands in a big utility sink.
Mari