Disbelief flitted across Poppy’s face, and Luke nodded to reassure her. I’m sorry, Poppy. Will you give me another chance to be the godly man I should be?
For a brief moment, it looked as if she might let her guard down, but then Dinah opened her mouth and Luke lost hope. “What do you Honeybee Schwesters know about anything? No one believes anything you say. You cheated Paul Glick, you stole my recipe, and you’re mean to Luke.”
Cheated Paul Glick? Who was circulating that rumor?
Luke clenched his teeth so hard, pain shot down his neck. Paul Glick, of course.
Dan and the Honeybee Sisters frowned and glanced at each other. Dinah’s outburst hadn’t surprised them. Poppy had said they’d been expecting something spiteful from Paul Glick.
“Paul Glick spreads rumors like most farmers spread manure,” Poppy said.
An unhealthy shade of purple traveled up Dinah’s cheeks. “You have some nerve showing your faces anywhere in town. We all know what kind of girls you really are.”
In unison, Dan and Josiah stepped forward and stood between the Honeybee Schwesters and Luke, as if protecting Poppy and her sisters from further attack. Luke sort of stumbled backward. Didn’t Dan and Joe know he’d rather be standing shoulder to shoulder with them than standing with Dinah?
“Luke,” Dan said. “Maybe you should take Dinah to get a glass of lemonade.”
“Dan, I’m not trying to . . .”
Dan placed a firm hand on Luke’s shoulder and pinned him with a look of complete understanding. The tightness in Luke’s chest subsided. Dan didn’t blame Luke for Dinah’s bad behavior. “I know.” He glanced at Dinah. “It’s okay.”
“I need to talk to Poppy,” Luke said, trying to catch her eye from behind Dan’s big head.
“Just get Dinah away,” Dan whispered. “She’s embarrassed herself enough already.”
Luke’s desperation mounted. He had to apologize. Now. Poppy shouldn’t have to go one more minute without knowing how bad he felt. “I’ve got to talk to Poppy.”
Dan nodded. “Later.”
Luke nearly growled. Dan had picked a very inconvenient time to be levelheaded. “Come on, Dinah,” he said, turning around and marching away. “Let’s get something to eat.”
He heard Dinah and Mandy behind him, shuffling through the grass in an effort to keep up with his long strides. He tromped past the eats table to a bench on the edge of the park farthest from Poppy. He had to set Dinah straight.
He sat down and propped his arms on his knees. Dinah huffed out an irritated breath and sat next to him. “How could you just walk away like that? You’re supposed to defend me from people like Poppy Christner. She stole my cookies. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Mandy plopped herself on the bench next to Dinah. “They shouldn’t think they can come to a gathering after what they did to Paul Glick.”
Luke thought he might bite through his tongue. Oy, anyhow. How had he gotten himself so tangled up? “The Honeybee Sisters didn’t cheat Paul Glick,” Luke said, trying to keep the anger from seeping into his voice. He should be over there asking Poppy for forgiveness, not sitting on this bench coddling poor, weak Dinah Eicher. “No one has done anything to Paul Glick that he hasn’t done to himself.”
Moisture pooled in Dinah’s eyes. She blinked and a tear ambled down her cheek. “I’m your girlfriend. Don’t you love me enough to believe me?”
Luke flinched at the word girlfriend. He nearly fell off the bench at love.
As sure as he was that he didn’t hate Poppy, he felt even more sure that he didn’t love Dinah Eicher. He harbored no deep emotion for Dinah at all. She was just a girl who was terrible at volleyball and got all bent out of shape over a plate of chocolate chip cookies.
It didn’t matter that she never contradicted him, never scolded him for his arrogance. It didn’t matter that she agreed with him without question, even when he was wrong. He found her annoyingly sweet, gratingly oversensitive, and hopelessly helpless.
A helpless girl was only attractive for about three minutes. She made boys feel strong and clever at first, but then her weakness became an irritation. What boy wanted a girl who wouldn’t even attempt to hit a volleyball? Or couldn’t plunge her own sink or super-glue a knife wound or pluck mice off the welcome mat?
He had thought Dinah was everything he wanted in a girl—sweet, demure, feminine—but here he was, sitting next to the girl of his dreams, wishing she would just go away and leave him be.
He stood to put some distance between himself and Dinah. He had to get to Poppy. The breakup with Dinah would have to be fast. He opened his mouth and clapped it shut again. No matter how big a hurry he was in, he should be as kind and considerate as possible. He’d been mean and hasty with Poppy, and he regretted it with every breath he took.
“Dinah,” he said, sitting back down and trying to shape his face into something soft and sympathetic. He wasn’t very good at it. He’d only ever been plainspoken. “Remember how I hurt your feelings at your house last week?”
Her bottom lip quivered. “I said sorry.”
He held up his hand in hopes of preventing a flood of tears. “Nae. Nae, you didn’t need to apologize. That was my fault. All my fault.” He narrowed his eyes and pinned her with a serious look. “I’m like that. I am insensitive and conceited, and I make girls miserable. You do not want to date me.”
Her lips curled upward. “Oh, Luke. You’re so humble. That’s one of the things I like about you.”
Luke expelled all the air from his lungs. He was terrible at beating around the bush. “I’m not being humble. I’m trying to tell you that you and I don’t suit, and I’m eventually going to end up getting on your nerves.”
Dinah opened her mouth in disbelief. “That could never happen. I’m more loyal than that. I would have defended you against the Honeybee Sisters.”
Luke lifted his hat and scoured his fingers through his hair. Ach. He’d have to break the news to her straight and with a hard heart.
Even if she cried about it.
“Dinah,” he said, pinning her with a serious gaze and swallowing hard. “Poppy Christner’s chocolate chip cookies are better than yours.”
Chapter Fifteen
Was it time to go yet?
Poppy’s cheeks ached from forcing a smile—a big, cheesy, I’m-not-crying-inside smile—all evening. She wanted to go home, get in her nightgown, eat a whole bowl of Rose’s honey lavender ice cream, and daydream about what her life would have been like if Luke Bontrager hadn’t saved her hand from that car window.
If Luke had minded his own business, her heart wouldn’t feel like a tiny, black pebble.
She hadn’t wanted to go to the park at all. Going to a gathering when Luke Bontrager might be there had sounded as fun as getting a tetanus shot. But there was nothing else she could do. If she wanted to show him that his words hadn’t felt like shards of broken glass against her skin, she had no choice but to go.
A strong girl would smile and laugh and pretend Luke’s dark look didn’t pierce her right through the heart.
Which it didn’t. Luke Bontrager could go jump in the ditch for all she cared.
She was glad she had joined the others at the park, if for no other reason than to show Luke that she wouldn’t be bullied. Not every girl swooned at his very presence. Her only regret was that he and Dinah Eicher had gotten their hands on two of her precious cookies.
Poppy thought she might be able to breathe after Dan told Luke to take Dinah and go, but her eyes involuntarily followed him and Dinah as they walked away and sat on a bench at the opposite end of the park.
“Don’t worry, Poppy,” Wallace said. “I don’t believe a word of what Paul Glick says about your honey.”
Owen shook his head. “Neither do I. It was just a misunderstanding—that’s what Dat says.”
Poppy wanted to reassure Owen that it wasn’t just a misunderstanding, but she kept her mouth shut. The Glicks gossiped freely about the Chr
istners, but the Christners didn’t feel right gossiping about the Glicks, no matter how badly Paul had cheated them.
“We hope the gossip will die down,” Lily said. “No good can come of it.”
Owen and Wallace and Ohio John were all real nice boys. Wallace had eaten four of her cookies. Owen smiled at her the way Dinah Eicher smiled at Luke. Neither of them sparked any interest. Wallace made her feel like yawning.
“What are the Bontragers going to do with the kittens now that you’ve saved them?” Owen asked.
“I don’t know,” Poppy said, trying hard not to glance in the direction of a certain young man and his demure girlfriend. “They require a lot of care yet. They aren’t weaned. Maybe they’ll keep them.”
Rose nodded. “Or try to find gute homes for them.”
Poppy studied Rose’s face. Rose wanted one of those kittens. Aunt B would never agree to that. She already had two cats too many.
Luke and Dinah, with Mandy looking on, didn’t seem to be having a pleasant conversation. Dinah puckered her face, and Luke took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. He put his hat back on his head and dropped his hands to his side. Dinah looked as if she were crying, though from this distance Poppy couldn’t be sure. She didn’t see any tears.
Luke turned his back on Dinah and marched in the direction of Poppy and her sisters. Didn’t he want to avoid her as much as she wanted to avoid him? She watched for a few tense seconds, hoping he might turn suddenly and go to the eats table. Nae. He made a beeline for Poppy.
She held her breath as he approached. She couldn’t force one more smile. Couldn’t hide the pain in her eyes for one more second. It was cowardly, but she had to get away. “Lily, I’m going to the bathroom.”
She turned and strolled toward the small building at the edge of the park so that Luke would never suspect she was running away. He’d gloat if he knew he’d scared her off.
“Poppy, wait.”
Her heart sank. She shouldn’t have strolled, but it was hard to do much more with this sling on her arm. Was he purposefully trying to torment her?
Of course. He enjoyed making her miserable.
Her pride was already as low as it could go. She quickened her pace in hopes of escaping into the bathroom before he caught up with her. She had beaten him in a race once.
Not this time.
“Poppy, please stop. I need to talk to you.” He blocked the path to the bathroom with his broad shoulders and thick arms.
She stepped off the path and made a wide circle around him. “There is nothing you have to say that I want to hear.”
“Come on, Poppy,” he said, with a tinge of desperation in his voice. He was probably dying to chastise her for putting poor, innocent Dinah in her place. He wouldn’t get the chance.
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
“What are you afraid of?”
That stopped her in her tracks. “I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you’re hoping.”
“I don’t want you to be afraid of me.” He grunted in frustration. “Poppy, get off your high horse and talk to me.”
“My high horse? You’ve got a very long list of my faults, Luke. I already know what you think of me. But I’m not going to change just because my very existence offends you.”
He winced. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
Poppy swung open the metal bathroom door. It hit Luke in the foot before slamming shut behind her. She heard him groan on the other side of the door. He wouldn’t dare come in.
She leaned against the far wall next to the sink and tried to calm her racing heart. It was a typical park bathroom with metal toilet seats and cinder-block walls that magnified every sound. If she stood still enough, she could probably hear her own pulse. Let Luke call her a chicken or a horse or whatever farm animal he thought she resembled. She wouldn’t talk to him. One more nasty look from him and she would disintegrate into a puddle of tears. Better to hide than to bawl like a baby in front of Luke. Wouldn’t he love to see her break down.
She stood in the bathroom for a good fifteen minutes listening to the sound of her breathing echo off the walls, straining her ears for any clue that Luke still lurked outside. Lord willing, he’d given up and found some other girl to pester, some other girl to yell at and humiliate.
She poked her head out of the door. No sign of him. She would find her sisters and tell them she needed to go home. They’d agree without question. She and her sisters stuck together, no matter what.
Glancing around, she walked about ten feet from the bathroom door when Luke sneaked up behind her and stationed himself between her and the bathroom. She couldn’t escape that way. She scowled at Luke and marched in the opposite direction.
He jogged to catch up to her. “Poppy, you know how persistent I am.”
“I’m more persistent.”
He frowned with his whole face. “But I’m more desperate, and I don’t mind playing dirty to get you to listen to me.”
She kept on walking. “I already told you, you don’t scare me.”
Luke ran a few feet ahead of her, cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled, “I’ve touched Poppy Christner’s knee, and I don’t care who knows it.”
They were too far away for any of die youngie to actually hear what he said, but she grabbed his sleeve and yanked him to a halt. “What are you doing?” she hissed.
“I’m trying to get you to listen to me.”
It wasn’t the threat of everyone knowing about her knee that finally made her stop. His eyes spoke of desperation, as if he was at the end of his rope and she was the only person who could keep him from falling. Her heart flip-flopped. She was seeing something that couldn’t possibly be there.
She propped her good hand on her hip and stared him down. “I’m listening.”
He closed his eyes for a second, as if saying a prayer of thanks, and breathed a deep sigh. “Denki.”
“What do you want, Luke?”
He pinned her with a serious gaze. “I made sure Dinah knows the truth about Paul Glick.”
“Who cares if a gossip like Dinah Eicher talks about us?”
“Paul’s rumors aren’t harmless.”
“It wonders me why it matters to you.”
He frowned as if frustrated that she didn’t know. “I hate him too, remember?”
Jah. Well. Luke also hated her. It didn’t make her feel any less rotten.
Luke reached out as if to take her hand, but she was not about to let him touch her. She slid her good arm behind her back. An apology flashed in his eyes. “I’m not very good at this,” he said.
“At what?”
He stumbled over his words and pressed his fingers into his brow. Poppy had never seen him so uncertain before. What game was he playing? “The other day, that day in town when that Englischer slapped you . . .”
Anger flared to life inside her. Luke had waited outside the bathroom for fifteen minutes to scold her about the Englischer? “I don’t care if you think I’m foolish. That little boy needed my help.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You were right.” Were his hands shaking? “I’m sorry about everything.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
He looked as if his heart were broken and he couldn’t find any of the pieces. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m sorry I gave you back your bread and took your drill. I’m sorry I called you weak.”
Every word he said poked her like a straight pin. Jah, it still hurt.
“I’m sorry. . . .” His breath caught in his throat. “I’m sorry I said I hated you.”
“I said it first.”
“Only because I provoked you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Jesus said not to get angry. But I got mad anyway, because you make me so mad, Poppy.”
Another poke with a pin. “I already know what you think of me, Luke. You can’t hurt me with it.”
He growled and looked up at the sky. “What I’m tr
ying to say is that I said things because I was angry, but I didn’t mean what I said.”
“You did mean it. I got the message when you kept the drill. Poppy is a weak, stupid girl. She doesn’t deserve a man’s drill.”
Irritation traveled across his face. “Poppy, stop picking a fight and listen.”
Poppy pressed her lips together. Let him blame everything on her. He wanted to ease his guilty conscience by pretending his rudeness was her fault. After all, she was proud and stubborn and full of error. She could withstand his attack, and then Lord willing, he’d go away and leave her alone.
“I shouldn’t have kept the drill. I admit it. I wanted to make you suffer like I suffered. You put me through five minutes of sheer terror.”
Go ahead, Luke. Make it out to be my fault yet. “I was thinking of your sisters and the kittens.” Why did she try to defend herself? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if he’d ever listen to a girl.
“My sisters could have been seriously hurt.”
The heaviness in her chest became unbearable. She laughed bitterly. “Ach. I might have killed them.”
“Nae, Poppy. You saved them. They would have gone in.” He stepped close enough that she could feel his breath on her face and see that his kaffee brown eyes sparkled with flecks of caramel and chocolate. Her heart was not supposed to be doing somersaults. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m sorry for treating you like I did, for the yelling and stomping. I wish I could take it back.”
For a brief moment, she softened. He seemed so remorseful.
He gave her a half smile. “You’re just too pigheaded to believe me.”
He was still playing a game with her heart. She swallowed a sob and took a shuddering breath. “I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that you think I look like a pig.”
He practically bared his teeth. “Are you misunderstanding me on purpose?”
“Jah, because it’s all my fault.”
“It isn’t. I’m just as stubborn. Dan is always telling me so.”
It suddenly became as clear as the air after a rainstorm. “Dan put you up to this, didn’t he?”