Still Life in Shadows by Alice J. Wisler Read Free Book Online

warm all over.
     

7
     
    A mos arrived at the shop at eight o’clock, sleep still in his eyes. Gideon tossed him an old shirt and a wrinkled pair of work pants he’d found on one of the shelves in the storage room. A kid who had left Goshen, Indiana, had worn them—for all of two days. That boy hadn’t seen any beauty in changing oil or looking at engines. After a short stay in Twin Branches, he’d gone to High Point, where a relative got him a job as a salesclerk in a furniture store.
     
    As Amos changed in the restroom, Gideon dismissed the memory of the young Goshenite. He sat at his desk, staring at paperwork that needed to get done yesterday, then he took a walk to the bays, opening the garage doors since Luke hadn’t done that yet. He breathed in the clean, crisp, autumn air and, by habit, looked to the right. The lilac-colored morning glories that had flourished in August were now only memories, except for one single bloom that had yet to fade. In his last spring in Carlisle, his mother had planted morning glories. His brother, Moriah, had picked one for her when it flowered in July, then wondered why the bloom wilted and didn’t open again the next morning, eventhough Mother obliged and placed the flower in a vase of water.
     
    The delicate heart-shaped flower made him think of Mari. Like the vine that threaded through the chain-link fence between the auto shop and Benson’s Laundromat, she seemed to have found a way to creep into his heart. Back inside his office, he sat at his desk, picturing her face, the way she smiled, the tilt of her face when he ordered his lunch.
     
    “How do I look?” Amos was in the doorway, changed and hopefully ready to learn. The stained beige shirt swam around his narrow shoulders, and the black pants dragged on the ground. Gideon nodded his approval. If the boy stayed on and proved to be a good worker, he’d order work clothes to fit him. “Go find Luke,” Gideon said. “I’ll be with you in just a minute.”
     
    As Amos trailed off, Gideon knew that if he was going to focus on training the new kid today, he needed to concentrate on engines and oil changes. That should keep him from spending so much time thinking of Mari.
     
    U sing the 2007 Jeep Limited that had been dropped off the night before, Gideon explained to Amos the parts of the car under the hood. Then, since the Jeep was in for its annual inspection, Gideon explained how to test the headlights, parking lights, and taillights. He hooked up the car to the diagnostic machine to show Amos how to test emissions.
     
    As Amos stared at him blankly, Luke nudged Gideon. “I think he doesn’t know what fuel injectors are. You need to start slow, like you did with me.”
     
    Slow? He
was
instructing things in his slow voice.
How much more elementary can I get?
Then an idea came to him. “Luke, why don’t you take over?”
     
    Luke and Amos had gotten along well last night when Gideon invited them over for dinner. The two talked like old friends as they ate curried pork chops, scalloped potatoes with a cheddar cheese sauce, and baked apples. Luke asked about several relatives he had in Lancaster tosee if Amos knew them. And when Luke took out his banjo, Amos hollered as though a pig had bitten him. “A banjo! I’ve read about those. Teach me how to play.”
     
    While Gideon cleared the dishes and made a pot of green tea, Luke strummed. Then he handed the instrument to Amos, who held it lovingly, as though it might break, and ran his fingers across the strings. Luke leaned over and showed him how to play three chords. Neither was interested in a cup of hot tea, so Gideon poured one for himself and drank it as he loaded the dishwasher.
     
    He could see the two young men were having fun. They connected. He wondered why he had trouble connecting to people. He scraped a dish with a fork and ran some water over it; the remains of parsley from the potatoes swirled down the drain. He thought about friendships.