Free Sweet as Honey by Jennifer Beckstrand Page A

happy.
    Aunt B fingered the post attached to her earlobe. “I wore these to my first Van Halen concert, 1986.”
    Even though earrings would in no way meet with the bishop’s approval, Aunt B pulled them out occasionally and wore them around the house. They brought her so much pleasure, and neither Lily nor her sisters would ever dream of tattling.
    On bad days, she wore three earrings in each ear and sang strange Englisch songs that Lily had become familiar with.
    â€œI’m starving. Is there anything to eat?”
    â€œDinner’s not for two hours yet,” Poppy said.
    Lily was so desperate, she considered pinching off a glob of Poppy’s bread dough and stuffing it into her mouth. Instead, she went to the fridge, examined the shelves of sparse leftovers, and pulled out a dish of peas from last night’s supper. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. After grabbing a spoon from the drawer, she sat at the table with her snack and shoveled cold peas into her mouth.
    Rose giggled and handed Lily a scoop of cookie dough. “You can have as much as you want.”
    Aunt B pressed her lips together as if she were ready to scold someone but didn’t have anyone to scold. “Did he take you to the restaurant again?”
    Lily nodded and trained her eyes on her glob of cookie dough. She wouldn’t be so ungrateful as to roll her eyes behind Paul’s back. “He shared half his roll.”
    Aunt B turned back to her steaming pot. “That boy,” she muttered.
    Lily didn’t want Aunt B to think badly of Paul. He was her future husband, probably, and she wanted her aendi to be wildly enthusiastic about the boy she married. Even though it was hard to come by, Aunt B’s approval meant everything to Lily. “It’s not really his fault. His family can’t afford to feed me every time we go to the restaurant, and I didn’t bring enough money to pay for my own meal.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Lily,” Rose said, placing the last of her cookies on the pan. “Aunt Bitsy wouldn’t approve of Paul even if he were one of the blessed apostles.”
    â€œThat’s right,” said Aunt Bitsy without turning around. “Nobody is good enough for my girls.”
    Lily’s mouth curved upward. That thought made her feel strangely better. Aunt B was cranky about boys in general; the three boys who had hung around Poppy last winter, the delivery boy who’d tried to flirt with Rose, and the bishop’s son who acted interested in all three of them. Paul was no exception.
    â€œYour meeting with Paul went wonderful-long,” Poppy said with an air of nonchalance. “Did he want to do some kissing afterward?”
    Aunt B puckered her lips into what passed for a stern look. “Nobody is allowed to do any kissing in this house.”
    Poppy’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “That’s okay, B. They weren’t in our house.”
    With her earrings tinkling merrily, Aunt B half growled, half laughed and swatted Poppy on the bottom with a spatula. “I’m watching you closest of all, Priscilla. Absolutely no kissing.”
    Poppy squeaked, giggled, and went back to her bread dough. “No need to watch me. Boys are stupid. I’d have to scrub my lips off.”
    â€œI wouldn’t dare kiss a boy,” Rose said, glancing doubtfully at her sisters. “I’d have to have a conversation with him first, and the thought of talking to a boy scares me to death.”
    â€œWho says you’d have to have a conversation first?” Poppy replied, pumping her eyebrows up and down.
    Rose drew in a breath in amused shock. Lily laughed at the look on Aunt B’s face.
    Aunt B smothered a smile and jabbed her spatula in the air toward Poppy. “I’m watching you the closest.”
    Poppy ignored Aunt B and leaned toward Lily with her hands pressed against the countertop. “So, were you kissing?”
    Lily