Huckleberry Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

wouldn’t scare you when you got here. I had no idea you’d just walk in.”
    Lily huffed her displeasure to cover her distress. “If you taught him some manners, he wouldn’t attack innocent people.”
    Aden had the nerve to grin. “Sorry.”
    She didn’t for one minute believe he felt any remorse at all.
    Once on her feet, Lily smoothed the hair under her kapp and reattached a few pins. Her black bonnet had slipped off her head and hung around her neck like a bib. She quickly untied it.
    The best course of action, instead of lecturing Aden about his dog’s behavior, would be to pretend that nothing had happened. Then she might be able to retain her dignity. She squeezed past the dog, who sat in the doorway behaving himself. “Where are Anna and Felty?”
    “In the back. I helped Dawdi fix the toilet. He was trying to do it with duct tape.”
    Lily stood in the middle of the kitchen, unsure what to do next. Dat had told her to stay away from Aden as best she could, but Aden didn’t seem inclined to go anywhere, and she didn’t know what Anna wanted her to clean first.
    The great room appeared tidy, except for an odd little pile of socks on the floor next to the rocking chair. The table was cleared, but the breakfast dishes sat in the sink. Lily hung her bonnet on a hook and rolled up her sleeves. She’d start on the dishes. If she ignored Aden, maybe he’d get the hint and go somewhere else.
    She went to the sink and started filling it with water. That giant of a dog followed and stood next to her like a sentry. His gaze reached above the level of the counter so he could watch intently as Lily poured the soap, picked up a sponge, and started washing.
    He twitched his ears and cocked his head to one side and then the other as if trying to figure out how she washed dishes. She looked up to see Aden staring at her. “He likes you,” Aden said.
    Lily took a damp towel and wiped the paw-shaped dust prints from the shoulders of her navy blue dress. “I’m not sure I return his affection.”
    “No doubt about that.”
    Anna appeared just as Lily was about to ask Aden to quit staring at her. Anna’s little white dog followed close behind. Sparky padded into the kitchen and stationed herself next to Aden’s dog, which still stood guard faithfully by Lily’s side. Sparky gazed up at Aden’s dog as if looking for her next set of instructions.
    “Lily,” Anna said, “how nice to see you. Don’t worry about the dishes, dear. I want you and Aden to go milk the cow. Together.”
    “I already milked, Mammi,” Aden said.
    “Then go out and stake the raspberries. The raspberries need staking, don’t they, Aden?”
    Aden seemed almost reluctant. “I could always use a second pair of hands.”
    “I think I should . . . my fater . . .” Lily glanced at Aden. She couldn’t very well tell him what her fater had said, but how could she work here and be obedient to Dat’s wishes at the same time? She might have to speak with Anna privately about keeping Aden out of her way.
    Anna came around to Lily’s left side where there were no dogs and plunged her hands into the dishwater. “Go now. Go. Those raspberries aren’t growing any shorter.”
    Lily didn’t have a choice. Anna was her employer, after all. She could still be a faithful employee and avoid Aden. They didn’t have to say a word to each other to stake raspberries. She dried her hands and walked past Aden to retrieve her bonnet. Aden’s dog followed close behind and stared up longingly at her while she tied the bonnet under her chin. Did he want food?
    “Would you like a scarf?” Anna asked. “I knitted one last week.”
    A scarf in the third week of June would be toasty, but Lily could pretend she was cold and wrap it around her face. A perfect excuse not to talk to Aden.
    “Jah, I would love a scarf.”
    Anna burst with delight. After drying her hands, she bustled to her hall closet and pulled out a deep purple scarf and a green one exactly the