CHAPTER 23
Elsa
I was inside of the house looking around the modern kitchen with wide eyes. There were so many things that I didn’t know how to use but luckily, the sink looked relatively straightforward. I took the dishes over to the counter beside it and smiled as I thought about the conversation at dinner.
Once so envious of Melissa, I could now see that she and Aidan were still close without being romantically involved. They had a comfort together that I had never seen before, and she admired it. I also thought back to some of the stories that had been told and felt my skin heat up. As naughty as they should have been to me, they were hot, and they made me want to have sex with Aidan all over again. I blushed as she heard the door open and started to stack the dishes on the right side of the sink. “Elsa? What are you doing?” Melissa’s voice held a hint of her laughter in it as well as surprise.
“I wanted to help you with the dishes. There’s so many,” I told her as she glanced behind her to see the pretty brunette bringing another stack.
“That’s so kind of you. A lot of my friends aren’t like that. They’ll be drinking out back with everyone while I’m cleaning. Thank you so much,” Melissa joined me at the sink and shook her head as she looked down. “There’s a garbage disposal in this left side, hon.”
“A garbage disposal?” I asked as I gave Melissa a curious look.
“I assume you don’t have one of those in your apartment. I thought they were so common.” Apartment? Melissa pulled the dishes out of the sink as I scooted over to watch her. “You can scrape the leftovers into it, and the disposal chops them right up for you. It makes the washing part a lot easier.”
I watched in awe as Melissa turned the water on a bit and started the process. The food went down the sink and once she was done, Melissa flicked a switch on the wall, and a loud grinding noise filled the room. I stepped back against the counter beside her and covered my heart. “That’s so loud.”
“That’s why it’s brief.” Melissa shot me an inquisitive glance before she pulled a slice of lemon from the fridge and dropped it inside for a moment before she shut it off. “This freshens it up.” She invited me to join her again as she laughed about never turning down help with the dishes. The women started a small assembly line where Melissa would wash the bowl and hand it to me to dry with the clean towel she’d given her. “I have a dishwasher as well, but sometimes this is relaxing to me.”
I looked around and saw something under the counter with buttons and wondered if that’s what she was talking about.
“How is Aidan doing? He looks healthy these days, so I guess better?” Melissa asked in a warm tone as I looked at her.
“This thing with us is new. Really new. I didn’t know that he had health issues,” I murmured as she looked at the running water.
“How did you meet him?” Melissa asked as I licked her lips. Should I tell her? Was it a stupid story and would Melissa think that she was crazy? Girls didn’t run off with boys that they only knew for a few days on a regular basis, did they?
“I…I met him at my house.” I cleared my throat and took the next dish to dry. “I’m Amish. Well, I was. I don’t know. I am on my rumspringa right now, and I decided to come with him on this trip.” She looked over at Melissa and gave her a small smile. “Is that a bad idea?”
“I guess if you’re going to do that with anybody, Aidan is a good guy for it. He’ll take care of you.” Melissa looked at her. “I don’t know much about the Amish life. Fill me in.”
“Well, I’ve lived with my family my whole life in the same house. It’s in my community, and I just learned that it’s close to Gettysburg. Aidan took me there almost right away.” I smiled widely. “So, I grew up helping my parents with the house and the land. We didn’t have any of this,” I waved her hand around and smiled again. “I almost didn’t know what to do when I first saw this kitchen. It’s so fancy!”
“Is it?” Melissa looked around. “I keep telling Matt that I want to upgrade it to a chef’s kitchen. He just laughs since I am a pretty basic cook.”
“Tonight, everything was so good. That was basic?” I asked her, and Melissa gave me a grateful smile.
“Yes, very simple. We like that around here with the kids.” Melissa leaned against the counter. “Did you have a boyfriend there?”
I shook my head. “I am to live with my family until I get married. It’s a very strict lifestyle.” I felt my skin heat up as she talked and Melissa gave me a knowing look. “My brother is getting married to a local girl soon.”
“Are you on this trip before that happens?” I nodded. “So I am thinking no contact at all before you choose to marry?”
“In the community, those are the rules,” I confirmed, and Melissa seemed to think for a moment.
“Outside of the community?” Melissa pressed, and I turned pink.
“I don’t have rules during rumspringa. Most of the kids drink, smoke, do drugs and other things like that. They need to decide if they want to live the Amish lifestyle.” I replied with a shrug. “I had something to drink before we came here. Aidan mixed it with orAng juice and it tasted sweet and made me burp.”
Melissa laughed as she covered her mouth. “You are so cute. I want to keep you! He must have made you a mimosa. Those have orAng juice and champagne in it. Was it a big green bottle? They taste bubbly.”
“Yes, that must be it. I felt so silly after drinking it but it was fun,” I told her with a giggle before she remembered what had happened in the car with him. “I bought a cell phone and some clothes.”
Melissa smiled and gave me a one-armed hug. “You are too sweet. I’d love to see the world through your eyes. You don’t know too much about Aidan then?”
“Just what he’s told me. I can tell that something bothers him sometimes. I know when he’s sad. He won’t talk to me too much.” I admitted, and Melissa ran a damp hand through her hair and shook her head.
“Come here,” Melissa told me after she peeked through the window. “I can’t believe that he hasn’t said anything. Aidan is a hero.” She led me through the hallway downstairs and into a little room before she sat down in front of a computer. “Have you ever used one of these?”
“My phone does that,” I told her and she laughed and nodded. Melissa clicked the screen on and went through a few other screens before she pushed the little computer towards me. “Here you go.”
I looked at the page that featured a photo of Aidan with cropped dark hair and a serious look on his face. I could see that he was focused here, but I liked the Aidan that I knew. He was funny and sweet even through the pain that he was apparently suffering from.
“He has his own Wiped page and everything.” Melissa looked as I gave her a strAng look. “That’s a personal page with information about the person. They aren’t always spot on since anyone can add to them, but it seems like a lot of this stuff is right to me.” I read all about Aidan as my eyes widened. He’d had a great career in the army, and I could see why he was going back in. He’d saved so many men from harm and sometimes death and had several mentions of his heroic acts. He even had several Medals of Honor, which Melissa explained were hard to get in the military. I kept reading about all of the praises that were said about him and I saw the man that had taken care of me since I started my rumspringa.
I found mention of an accident that only stated that it was an explosion that hurt him with no further details. “I haven’t seen him since he got hurt, not like that,” Melissa told me as she gave me a long look. “I haven’t really spoken to him since after our engagement ended. I was surprised but happy that he wanted to come here.”
“Were you angry with him?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“I was hurt at first. I’d seen the signs that he wasn’t with me anymore and that he was going through so much. He ended things abruptly and went off on his own, and I worried so much.” She turned her head as her brows furrowed and smiled. “I hear them. I guess we should get downstairs.” Melissa looked at me. “I can tell that you’re good for him, Elsa. I didn’t think he’d ever be comfortable with anyone else again, and he just seems happy with you.”
“You’re not jealous?” I asked, and Melissa laughed.
“Aidan was my first love, but Matt is my world. He and the kids are everything to me, but I just want to see Aidan happy,” Melissa assured me as she stood to go into the kitchen. “One thing that I can do is bake, and I made Aidan’s favorite. He loves chocolate cake!! Let’s go surprise him.” I couldn’t help but follow here out of the room wanting to breathe in her enthusiasm for life. I could see why he loved her once.
We entered the kitchen, and the guys were getting another beer out of the fridge before Aidan smiled at me. “What were you doing?”
“I was showing her your amazing career in the office. You should be proud of yourself, Aidan!” Melissa told him as she brushed by Matt for a kiss. Aidan raised an eyebrow at me as Melissa went into the fridge and pulled out something covered in glass. He looked at it, and I saw something cross his face as he looked at the red lid and shook his head.
“Is that what I think it is?” His voice sounded emotional, and Melissa set the plate on the counter before she lifted the lid to show off a beautiful chocolate cake. “I haven’t had this in years.”
“I know. You always said that your mom could never replicate this, so I wanted to do something nice for you.” Melissa smiled at him.
“I don’t think anyone can make a cake like this,” Matt agreed as he slipped an arm around Melissa’s waist. “You’re in for a treat, Elsa.”
I noticed that Aidan set the unopened beer down as he walked forward and slipped his hands over my hips as he watched her slice into the huge pastry. Melissa gave him ad Matt a slice before she dished some up for the girls as her face dropped forward.
The sounds of the kids could be heard in the living room, and I looked back as I wondered if they were sleeping in there. “The kids. I swear they can smell this from their room. What should we do?”
“Do you mind young kids hopped up on sugar?” Matt asked Aidan and me as we looked at each other.
“Bring them down. We’ll enjoy this and play with them for a while.”
Matt went up to bring them down as Melissa cut small slices of cake and grumbled about the bath that she’d given them. I could see that she did it with love, and her eyes showed that she couldn’t wait to see her babies again.
They set the kids up inside to eat, and we chatted about pop culture as Matt filled me in with the latest stuff going on in the media. He thought it was refreshing that I didn’t know too much of anything and even showed me some apps on my phone. The kids showed us their favorite movie on television before they fell asleep in their pajamas on the couch and Matt and Melissa told us to sleep well in the guest room before they carried them upstairs with soft laughter.