An Honest Love Read Free Page B

goods like quilts, small pieces of Amish furniture, and perhaps some decorative ironwork and homemade pastries, jams, and jellies for sale. She wished to sell only authentic Amish goods to patronize and support the Amish cottage industries. But her mother had a soft heart and Anna could see her ordering a bunch of high-priced, useless items so she could avoid saying no.
    When Anna saw Lukas heading toward the shop with a huge cardboard box, she hurried to open the door for him. “I have one more in the buggy. Geh ahead and take a look at what’s in here while I fetch it.”
    She peeked inside the box, her mouth opening in surprise. Kneeling down, she pulled out a doll-sized rocker, made in the Amish style out of hickory wood. As she inspected the piece, she took in its sturdy construction. Each small, flat spindle was hand-carved then tightly fitted with a mortise-and-tenon joint. The curved rocker runners had been sanded perfectly smooth, then varnished to prevent splintering. She set it gingerly next to the box and then pulled out two more small chairs before noticing a couple of rectangular wooden train whistles that had been coated with clear lacquer. She picked one up and felt the smooth, shiny surface. Turning the whistle over, she saw a small stamp imprinted on the bottom: Byler and Sons Carpentry Company.
    At the creaking sound of the door, she jumped up to help Lukas with the other box. “These are just some miscellaneous things,” he said, setting the box on the floor as the glass door fell shut. “A few garden plaques, a couple of knickknack shelves. I also made two clocks in the shape of Ohio. Yankee visitors seem to love those.”
    Lukas grinned.
    Anna’s eyes widened. “You made all these?”
    “Most of them. My brothers and daed helped with a few, but they don’t really care for working on the small stuff. I usually make them on my own.”
    “I’m impressed.” She picked up one of the garden plaques with the word thyme burned into the smooth, light colored wood. A thin, straight wooden stake was attached so that a gardener could put it in the ground next the herb. “You’re quite gifted.”
    He cast his gaze to the ground, but said nothing. He showed demut , the humility expected of all Amish. She’d always appreciated that trait.
    She tried to focus on the matter at hand. “What price did you and my mami settle on?” When he told her, she froze. “Are you sure?”
    “ Ya .”
    She looked at the toys in the boxes again. “That’s way too low.”
    He shrugged. “I don’t make them for the money. I enjoy doing it and the Yankees and other folks like buying them.”
    “ Ya , but you could get so much more for these if you wanted to. Are you sure that’s the price you want me to pay?”
    “Anna, if you don’t stop questioning me, I’ll lower the price.” His mouth formed a small half smile.
    She frowned. “How did you know my name?”
    “Your mudder mentioned it the day I came in here. She also said she was sorry I’d missed you.” He gazed at her, the intensity of his hazel eyes deepening. “I’m glad I didn’t miss you this time.”

    Lukas noticed the blush that bloomed on Anna’s cheeks after he paid her the compliment. Goodness, she was a pretty maedel , with blonde hair around her heart-shaped face and faint brown freckles across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks. But the thing he’d noticed right off was her height. She was only about an inch shorter than him, and he liked that he could look her directly in the eyes when they spoke.
    He also appreciated her eye for quality. He wasn’t into bragging about his own work, but he always put in his best, even when he was working on his hobby of making toys and other small items out of wood. He’d been selling those items at Mary Yoder’s Amish Kitchen for a couple of years, and when he’d seen that Trinkets and Treasures was reopening, he decided to try to sell them here. As he made the toys, he imagined the