“You’ll need display racks. Nick and I can knock some up.” Jim turned away when the phone began to ring, waving his hand at Nick as if inviting him to take over.
Nick nodded. “We can do that easily. We don’t have any big jobs on hand at the moment. Aaron, would you have time to help us?”
“Sure thing. My mamm and sister will do anything they can as far as the quilts are concerned.”
“That would be sehr kind of them,” Sarah said. “Everyone knows Esther is one of the best quilters in the community, and Becky is wonderful gut, as well.”
Allison jotted down notes. “I’ll take care of the publicity, of course, and check into any permits we need. Sarah, if you’ll have a look at the different venues I have listed, you can sort out the ones that are possible. All right?”
He noticed that Allison had already jotted down Sarah’s name, taking her acceptance for granted. But reluctance was written in Sarah’s eyes, at least for him to see. And he knew why. She was always hesitant about taking on something outside her experience, especially if it might bring her into negotiating with the Englisch.
“I’ll give you a hand with that, Sarah,” he said on impulse. “I can check out how easy or hard it would be to set up the display racks at each place, ja? We’ll do it together.”
He shouldn’t volunteer for too much, busy as he already was, but if it would make things easier for Sarah, he couldn’t resist.
“There, you see, Sarah?” Allison exclaimed. “You don’t have any excuse not to do it, right?”
“Of course I’ll do it.” Sarah said the words quickly enough, but he saw a faint flush in her cheeks and wondered how much she regretted being pushed into this project. Maybe he’d have done better to stay out of it.
“I can tell by the way Dad’s looking at me that it’s time we got to work,” Nick said. He dropped a light kiss on Allison’s cheek. “We can brainstorm some more at lunchtime, okay?”
“All right, I hear the message.” Allison stuffed the notebook in her bag. “I get carried away—I admit it. I have things to do, too. See you later.”
They went out of the workshop together, and with a quick wave, Allison headed for the rear entrance to Blackburn House. When Sarah moved to follow her, Aaron caught her wrist, holding her back. It felt small with his fingers encircling the fine bones, momentarily distracting him from what he intended to say.
“I’m sorry. I know you didn’t want to be the one to go looking for a place to hold the festival. If I made it harder for you—”
“No, no,” she said quickly. “It’s fine. I don’t mind doing it. Anything to help the firefighters, you know that.”
“You looked as if you had some reservations about the whole thing.”
She shook her head, and he suspected that if she did have qualms, she wouldn’t share them with anyone.
A smile tugged at her lips. “I just thought maybe you were being railroaded into helping. If you don’t have time to go with me, I can do it on my own. You’re busy with the farm and with helping Ben Stoltzfus, as well.”
“I’ll make time,” Aaron said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find the right place the first time.” That would probably cheer her up.
Sarah’s lips curved, but he suspected she was still worried. “I hope it won’t be difficult. Allison has her heart set on putting on this festival, and she definitely has a knack for getting other people excited, too.”
“That’s what we need, ain’t so? Everyone pitching in to help.”
She nodded, her smile becoming more natural. “I was glad to see Jonah taking his turn with the patrolling last night. Did he tell you we both had the same idea?”
“Jonah? No.” Aaron’s throat tightened. “When was this?” He tried to keep his voice casual.
“It must have been around nine-thirty, I think. It was already dark, anyway. Mamm and Grossmammi had gotten involved in plotting this festival, and we talked longer than we meant to.” Sarah started walking, and he fell into step with her. “I was checking the outbuildings after Allison left, and when Jonah came out of the shadows by the barn, it scared me for a second. He’s lucky I didn’t scream.”
“Ja, lucky.” Jonah must have been on his way to whatever he’d been doing last night, then. It had been nearly two when Aaron caught him creeping into the house. “I didn’t know he was going to check your place.”
Aaron could feel Sarah’s gaze on his face. She’d probably heard an intonation in his voice that he hadn’t intended to let slip.
“He mentioned something that made me think he was trying to prove to your daad that he could take on the responsibility.” She hesitated a moment. “Are there troubles between the two of them?” Sympathy warmed her voice.
Aaron shrugged, trying to loosen tight shoulder muscles. “Daad gets frustrated with him, that’s certain sure.”
“I always think rumspringa is hardest on the parents. And Jonah being the youngest—well, I’d guess my daad will worry more about Noah than Jonny and Thomas when the time comes.”
“You’re probably right.” Aaron managed a smile. “It’s hard to let go of the youngest one.”
“Especially for Mamm and Daadi. They waited so long for another boppli after me that the boys are extra precious to them.”
“Not more than you,” he corrected.
Silence lay between them for a moment. He tilted the angle of his straw hat to keep the glare of the summer sun from his eyes, and wondered how Sarah managed to look so cool in her green dress and matching apron.
“Your daad fretting over Jonah’s rumspringa behavior doesn’t explain why you’re worried, though.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I can see that you are.”
“Ja.” He frowned, staring for a moment at the row of maples that lined the quiet street. “I haven’t said anything to Daad, but I don’t think much of some of the boys he’s running with. I hope he’s not headed for trouble.”
“Drinking?” Sarah knew as well as Aaron did how much grief could come from the beer parties the wilder teens managed to have.
“That, ja.” The longing to unburden himself was overwhelming. He let out a long breath. “Last night I heard him sneaking in—not that he managed to be very quiet about it. He was stumbling around, more than half-drunk. I quieted him down so he wouldn’t rouse the whole house, and got him to bed.”
“And now you don’t know if you did the right thing.” She said the words he’d been thinking.
“Ja. Maybe it would have been better for him to face Daad. But...the thing was, his clothes smelled of smoke.” There, it was out.
Sarah didn’t speak for a moment, absorbing it, weighing the significance of what he’d said. Then she brushed his arm lightly. “You’re worried. I guess I would be, too. But think about it, Aaron. There was no barn fire last night. Isn’t it more likely that the kids were partying someplace and built a bonfire? That’s just what they’d do, ain’t so?”
The common sense of her words seemed to make some of his burden slip away. “Ja, that’s true.”
“Besides, I can’t believe Jonah would think of setting a fire. He’s been a volunteer firefighter for over a year. He knows what a barn fire would do. He’d never endanger the animals. Or the other firefighters.”
Aaron let out a long breath, remembering his brother’s face when he’d realized they hadn’t been able to get all the animals out of Ben’s barn. “You’re right. I don’t