Page 17 of A Joyful Ring
As it was, a scent, like spicy shaving soap, wafted on the breeze. Risa breathed in deeply, savoring the odor until she realized what she was doing and rubbed her finger beneath her nose to dispel the pleasant fragrance.
After the congregation sang a rousing rendition of “Shall We Gather at the River,” which seemed oddly appropriate considering the service had been held near the riverbank, Pastor Thomas offered a closing prayer.
“Everyone is invited to join us for our community picnic. It will take a few moments to set out the food, then we’ll ask a blessing on the meal,” Pastor Thomas announced in a commanding voice that carried to all those in attendance.
Risa rose and felt her father’s arm on her shoulder. “I’ll retrieve our food if you need to help Mrs. Baldwin,” he said.
“Thank you, Papa. I left everything on the table. There’s a basket with plates and napkins.You’ll need to fill jars with water for drinking. There’s the sauerkraut, potato salad, and lebkuchen, as well as the custard pie. Leave the cherry pie for us to enjoy after supper.”
“I’ll be back shortly,” her father said, then headed off toward the street with the handsome man at his side.
Twenty minutes later, the tables nearly groaned from the food that had been piled on the surfaces. One table held nothing but huge platters of the roasted meat. Another was covered in desserts. Mrs. Baldwin had baked two cakes and fried doughnuts. Pearl had brought three dried apple pies. Mrs. Goodwin had contributed a large pan of rhubarb cobbler. Risa wished they had ice to make ice cream, but perhaps they would next year. She noticed the blond man had left a box full of fresh apricots on the table, and she could hardly wait to taste one. It had been ages since she’d had an apricot.
Two other tables held bread and rolls, salads, pans of potatoes cooked with cheese, and an assortment of vegetables.
Someone whistled shrilly, and Risa looked up to see the pastor standing on one of the church pews.
“Let’s give thanks for this bounty of food, then we can eat!” Pastor Thomas declared before bowing his head and offering a brief, heartfelt prayer.
Risa thought a few of the miners might resort to fisticuffs to be the first in line, but the pastor took charge and insisted the ladies and children go first. Mrs. Baldwin latched onto Risa’s hand, and theywent through the line together. Risa took a seat on the grass near the pew where Mrs. Baldwin decided to sit, and the two of them enjoyed the fine meal.
“Mrs. Goodwin’s beans are so tasty,” Mrs. Baldwin declared.
“They are very good,” Risa said, then glanced up when she felt a presence nearby. She smiled as she looked up, expecting her father, but found herself looking into the face of the blond man, who was even better looking up close than he was at a distance.
With her tongue suddenly tied in knots, Risa couldn’t remember her own name, let alone anything pertinent to the moment.
“Lars sent me over to sit with you ladies. Will that be acceptable?” the man asked in a rich, deep voice that made a chill glide over Risa’s spine despite the heat beating down on them.
“Of course, dear boy. Now, tell me your name. Are you the new freighter?” Mrs. Baldwin asked, taking charge of the conversation since Risa felt as witless as one of the river rocks.
“I am the new freighter, ma’am. Gunder Birke is my name. It’s a pleasure to meet you …”
“I’m Mrs. Baldwin, and this is Risa Hoffman.”
“Risa,” Gunder repeated, looking at her with humor dancing in his incredible blue eyes.
Chapter Four
Gunder had to work to hide his amusement at the look on Risa Hoffman’s face when he approached her. Of course, Lars had told him to sit with his daughter and the older woman who ran the boardinghouse, but still, he found a bit of mirth in the way Risa gaped at him as though he had two heads.
Last he checked, he still only had one.
“Hello, Miss Hoffman,” he said, thinking he’d learned a good lesson about assumptions. From the way Lars had spoken about his daughter, Gunder had expected her to be a little girl, maybe eleven or twelve at most. But the beautiful woman staring at him with eyes the color of ripe blueberries and hair that put him in mind of warm honey was certainly not a child. Far from it.
His eyes drifted from her hair, past a nose thatwas a little too wide for complete perfection but cute nonetheless, to a pair of rosy lips he had a nearly uncontrollable urge to bend down and kiss, imagining they would taste every bit as sweet as they looked.
“You’re the new freighter?” Risa asked as though she couldn’t quite force her brain to accept the knowledge.
“Sure am. Your father is a fine, fine man. I enjoyed spending the day with him yesterday and look forward to working with him and learning from him.”
“Have you been a freighter for long, Mr. Birke?” Mrs. Baldwin asked, patting the bench beside her, indicating he should take a seat next to her.
“No, ma’am. Tomorrow will be my first official day as a paid freighter.” He smiled and sank onto the grass next to Risa, mostly because he expected it would upend her apple cart. When she dropped her fork and nearly tipped over her jar of water, he had to swallow down a laugh.
Gunder had no idea what about him put her on edge, but something certainly did. He could have done the polite thing and gone to sit with a group of miners, but since Lars had sent him over to sit with Risa, he certainly wasn’t going to argue. Not when she’d fascinated him from the moment he’d set eyes on her earlier that morning.
When he’d walked into town for the church service, he’d seen her outside one of the shacks. In fact, before he noticed her, he’d been admiring the place. Although the shack had the same roughappearance as the others, it did seem to be sturdier than most. What impressed him, though, were the green plants growing around it. If he weren’t mistaken, there were half a dozen fruit trees planted around the house, and he could see a large garden behind the house, along with a barn, chicken coop, and pig pen. Horses grazed on grass that he assumed was green because of the proximity to the river.
