A Courtship on Huckleberry Hill by Jennifer Beckstrand

Author:Jennifer Beckstrand [Beckstrand, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-11-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Elsie sat at her desk trying to concentrate on Ida Mae’s essay on gratitude, but she wasn’t getting much out of it. A smile tugged at her lips. Sam Sensenig had curly hair.

Not that she hadn’t known that the first time they’d met, but last night a lock of his hair had been nudged askance by the wind and had dangled over his eyebrow like a bean plant over a trellis. It had taken all her willpower not to reach out, curl her fingers around it, and smooth it back into place. What would it feel like to bury her fingers in that hair? His curls were so tight, she’d probably never get her hands unstuck.

How wunderbarr that she had gone to the gathering with the unpleasant task of meeting the boy Mammi wanted her to marry, only to run into Sam. It had turned into a fine evening after all. Of course, Mammi was none too happy that Elsie had rejected Vernon out of hand like that, but Elsie had held firm.

There is to be no more talk of boys or matches, Mammi. I met your boy and that is that.

Mammi hadn’t been able to grasp why Elsie wouldn’t want to date “that nice young man.” Well, if Mammi thought Vernon was a nice young man, then Elsie would never trust her with a match again—of course, Elsie hadn’t trusted her with a match to begin with, so she couldn’t see how anything had changed.

Elsie didn’t dwell on the Vernon unpleasantness—not when Sam crowded out every other thought. Beneath his arrogance and bluster, Sam was really quite unsure of himself, and Elsie thought it was the most adorable quality she’d ever seen.

And the best part was, he didn’t have a girlfriend.

Rose was jealous. That was plain enough, but Elsie had misunderstood Sam and Rose’s relationship. She’d never been so glad to be wrong. Rose was a very pretty girl, but she had a sour disposition and hadn’t even tried to be nice. Elsie was kind of glad that Sam wasn’t in love with Rose.

Ach, vell. In truth, she was very glad. He deserved better.

She glanced at the small clock on her desk and retrieved the bell from the bottom drawer. Raising it over her head, she waved it back and forth. It clanged loudly, startling at least three of her students from their independent reading. “Time to go, scholars,” she said. “Please clean all books and papers off your desks and make sure you take home your coats and lunchboxes. We will see you tomorrow.”

Wally limped to the back of the room and helped Maizy Mischler on with her coat, sitting on the floor to make sure her zipper got fastened correctly. Elsie smiled to herself. Wally was almost unrecognizable from the boy who had swaggered into her class more than two months ago. He wore his prosthetic leg every day, he was the most eager softball player, and he had a soft spot for Maizy Mischler. He zipped up Maizy’s coat, stood up, and patted her on the head.

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