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Excitement stirred in Gil’s chest. He still wasn’t sure how he’d pay for the repairs, but he would have to trust God would make the funds available. Because he was sure God had given him this idea. “If I bring Roald Willems’s tuba to you, couldyou deliver it to the silversmith in McPherson? Mr. Plett said he’d be able to repair it.”
Joseph’s dark brows rose. “Can he play it while he’s bedbound?”
Gil swallowed a chortle. Roald refused to be bedbound. “He needs something to do, and if he has his tuba, then…” Suddenly doubt niggled. Was he doing the right thing? Timmy’s comment about having to play his tuba in the barn stung him anew. “Timmy Dirks could visit him each day and they could play their tubas together. I think it would be good for both of them.”
Joseph shook his head slowly, his eyes wide. “Where do you come up with these ideas?”
Gil couldn’t determine whether Joseph was impressed or annoyed. “I don’t really know where this one came from. But I think maybe God gave it to me.”
Joseph faced the group again. “People have been saying for the past two years, someone needs to take an interest in Timmy Dirks or he’ll end up being a troublemaker. But nobody has done anything. Then you come back, you’re not even here a full month, and you’re already trying to fix things.”
Gil tapped Joseph’s arm and waited until his cousin looked at him. “It was your idea first, remember? You told me to let him be the mascot for the men’s band because he needed attention. So you started it.”
Joseph stared in silence at Gil for several seconds. Then he gave a little jolt. “Jo, well, whoever is responsible, I think it’s a good idea. Timmy needs somebody looking after him, and Mr. Willems needs someone to look after.”
“Especially now, since he can’t get out of the house the way he wants to,” Gil added. Guilt tried to take hold of him. If only he hadn’t bumped Roald’s tuba, the man’s life wouldn’t havesuffered such an interruption. But Onkel Bernard once told him that all things worked for good in the life of the believer. Having a broken leg wasn’t good, but a friendship between Timmy and Roald would be good for both of them. If it worked out.
Joseph hadn’t said if he would take Roald’s instrument to McPherson. “Will you take the tuba with you tomorrow?”
“I’ll take it to the silversmith,” Joseph said, “but do you know how you’ll get it back?”
Gil hadn’t thought that far ahead. But once again, he decided to trust. “Not yet, but I’ll figure it out. I’ll bring it to you this evening.”
The boys were returning to their seats, and Ava was gathering up the napkins. Joseph started to edge away. “Never mind about bringing it. I’ll go pick it up from Mr. Willems’s place now, while you finish the practice.”
An even better plan. “Thank you, Joseph.”
Joseph didn’t answer. He skirted the band and went to Ava, then helped her clean up the snack mess. There were lots of crumbs to sweep up but no cookies left on the tray. Gil had missed out on having one himself, but he didn’t mind. He’d been given a good idea, and his cousin hadn’t voiced a single word of opposition to it. He’d be completely happy if Ava didn’t seem so at ease with Joseph’s assistance.
Gil picked up his baton, trying not to watch Ava and Joseph. “All right, boys, let’s work on the third section now, starting with the trumpets. Watch for staccatos. And, one…”
Chapter Fifteen
Ava
Joseph offered to carry theempty tray and pile of napkins for Ava, and she gratefully accepted. They descended the stairs side by side, the sounds of the boys’ instruments following them. She’d never heard the song they were playing before, but she liked it. Its tempo and cheerful melody invited one to step in time with it, perhaps even dance.
They moved from the enclosed stairway to the boardwalk, and Ava reached for the tray. “Thank you, Joseph. I appreciate your help.”
Joseph held it away from her, his grin impish. “Let me give you a ride home.”
Temptation teased. Ava was capable of walking the quarter-mile distance from the bank to her house. But sometimes her arms grew tired from the weight of whatever she carried with her for the snack. The tray was much lighter now that the boys had emptied it, but it was still cumbersome with the napkins piled on its top. A ride would be pleasant.
If only anyone but Joseph had offered it to her. She liked Joseph. They’d been friends a long time. But ever since Gil went away, he’d seemed to expect more from her than she wanted to give. She’d been very up-front about her feelings.But he still sought her out at church, cornered her for conversation if he saw her in a store, or—like tonight—seized opportunities to be of service.
She’d appreciated him hopping down from the wagon where he’d sat reading and carrying the tray up the stairs for her. But accepting a ride could be interpreted differently than simple courtesy, both by Joseph and any townspeople who happened to see them sharing the wagon seat. She had no desire to stir speculation about the two of them.
“Thank you, but—”
He shook his head. “Don’t refuse me, Ava. This tray is heavy to carry, I need to go by Mr. Willems’s place anyway, and there is nothing wrong with a friend doing a friend a favor.”
She searched his face for hidden motives. “Only a friend doing a friend a favor?”
“What else?” He offered an engaging smile. “Come on. Let me take you home. Aren’t you tired of being on your feet?”
Ava refused to answer, because the reply might sound like a complaint. She’d done the family’s laundry, including the sheets and towels, weeded the garden while the ground was moist, toted six loaves of home-baked bread to Miss Dirks for her customers—and listened to yet another cajoling sales pitch about purchasing the café—before baking several dozen cookies in addition to cooking dinner. Her day wasn’t finished yet, either, because when she got home, she still needed to wash the supper dishes. She longed to sit and relax a bit. The sooner she got home and finished her chores, the sooner she could rest. If Joseph understood her agreement meant nothing more than her desire to get off her feet, she could accept.
“Very well. Thank you, Joseph.”
