Sweet as Honey by Jennifer Beckstrand Page B

send him packing with one scowl. But she couldn’t be that rude when Dan was being so nice. “I think I’m busy,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She showed him a polite smile to temper her words.
    The lines around his frown relaxed slightly. “Maybe we’ll see you some other time.”
    â€œ Jah . Maybe.”
    He turned and marched back the way he had come, and she said a little prayer of gratitude that he hadn’t mentioned that they had an arrangement to discuss Where the Red Fern Grows . Paul would have erupted again.
    Guilt lodged in her throat like a dry doughnut hole. She shouldn’t keep such a secret from her boyfriend. But why should she unduly upset the boyfriend when there was nothing for him to be upset about?
    She didn’t notice the silence between them until she turned to see Paul looking at her as if he had a sour stomach. “He likes you,” he said, as if everything Dan Kanagy had done were her fault.
    â€œI read to his mammi before she died. He’s grateful, that’s all. Maybe he’s sorry for how he used to treat me.”
    â€œ Used to treat you? He called you ‘Coke Bottle.’”
    Lily shrugged. It hadn’t hurt so bad. “I know, but he was nice after that.”
    Paul looked at her as if she’d said something completely idiotic. “Nice? Lily, Dan Kanagy isn’t nice. He’s called you all sorts of bad names. He’s a cheat and a liar. You can’t defend that.”
    She should have just let it die. It was never a good idea to correct Paul. Dan may have teased her mercilessly, but he couldn’t have been kinder to his mamm i. He’d weeded Poppy’s flowers. He’d braved the bees to bring Lily a book. She deeply doubted he was a liar or a cheat even if his dat was. “Dan didn’t cheat your dat .”
    â€œHis whole family was in on it. You don’t know anything, Lily.”
    Paul had told her the story so many times, she had it memorized. Instead of seeking to forgive, Paul wore the Kanagys’ insult like a badge of honor.
    She fingered the strings of her kapp and tried to be more sympathetic. Paul’s family had been wounded deeply. “I’m sorry. I’m not questioning that it happened.”
    â€œJohn Kanagy bought thirty acres from us with the strict agreement that we would buy it back in two years. He needed it for two years, he said. We agreed that he was only renting it from us. But when the time came to get the land back, John demanded five times what we had sold it for. We couldn’t afford to buy it back. We nearly lost everything because of that land.”
    Jah , she’d heard the story. Dan figured nowhere in it. But she wasn’t going to argue with him anymore.
    â€œI was only twelve,” Paul said. “But Dat trusted my judgment. Every time I saw Dan at school he’d tell me, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll help you out. We’ll make it right.’ I believed him. My dat believed him. If we had known how dishonest the Kanagys were, we never would have sold that property.” He slid an arm around her shoulder and nudged her in the direction of the restaurant. He rarely touched her, so she knew he was serious. “Don’t be deceived because he’s handsome, Lily. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Don’t forget all those names he called you.” Paul looked away and chewed on his thumbnail. “He called you even worse names behind your back.”
    Lily’s throat suddenly felt raw. “He did?”
    Paul kept his eyes turned away. “He said you were ugly as a dog and that you belonged with the pigs instead of with the other girls at school.”
    Lily felt as if she’d been slapped as the pain of school came rushing back, making her head spin and her stomach lurch. The surrounding air became moist and oppressively hot, and she couldn’t catch a breath.
    Paul nodded smugly.