Her Forbidden Amish Love

by Jocelyn McClay

  Turning at the next corner, he frowned at the sight of a black-cloaked figure walking on the side of the road some distance ahead. As the truck slowed, his heartbeat increased as he knew, without seeing the Amish woman’s face, it was Hannah. He lowered the window as the vehicle rolled along at the quick pace of the woman beside it.

  “Do you need a ride?” When she turned to him, Gabe’s smile immediately disappeared at the sight of her face. Jabbing the brakes, he slammed the truck into Park. A second later, he was out the door and wrapping his arms about her unresisting form. “What’s wrong?”

  Red-faced in spite of the cold, Hannah was obviously striving for composure. Gabe rubbed her back in slow circles as he felt her hiccupping breaths. “Socks is missing,” she got out in a high, tight voice. Like a dam breaking, her face crumpled and she began to sob. Gabe pulled her more tightly into an embrace, gently rocking her back and forth as he felt hot tears against his neck.

  Gabe knew what the Border collie meant to her. “How long?”

  He could barely make out the words that were spoken into his shoulder in between sharp inhalations. “She disappeared when I let her out last night. I heard a few sharp barks, but I didn’t think anything of it as she and Dash sometimes play. When I went looking for her, I found Dash with my folks in the barn for milking, and Socks was gone. I wanted to search last night, but Daed discouraged me from going out in the dark.” Gabe’s arms tightened about her as Hannah’s slender shoulders shook with renewed sobs.

  “Shh. It’ll be okay. We’ll find her.” Gabe rested his chin on the wool of her black bonnet. “Have you seen any sign of her along the road?”

  “N-No. I’ve been looking since daylight. What if she was stuck in a fence and couldn’t get to me? What if she fell through the ice like that boy? What if someone t-took her?” Hannah tipped her head back. Gabe’s heart almost broke at the misery in her blue eyes.

  Unwrapping one arm from around her, Gabe wiped a tear from her cheek. “We’ll keep looking. But you won’t do her any good by freezing before you find her.” He shepherded her to the other side of the truck. “Get in. We can cover more ground this way. We’ll go slow and keep the windows cracked so you can call and listen.”

  Upon assisting Hannah into the vehicle, Gabe quickly returned to the driver’s side, climbed in and turned up the heat. They continued slowly down the country road with Hannah intermittently calling for Socks in an increasingly quavering voice before straining to listen for any responding bark over the quiet rumble of the engine. When they reached the first lane, Gabe stopped and turned to Hannah, who sat forlornly in the passenger seat.

  “You want me to go in and ask? I can check to see if they’ve heard anything.”

  Hannah looked up the lane to the large white house before shifting her gaze to his face. “It’s Amish,” she murmured.

  “I know.” He regarded her solemnly. “Still, much is lost for want of asking. If they know something about Socks, it might be worth it.” Gabe ached for her, though. Being seen with a young man from outside her community was an issue for Hannah. In hindsight, he’d realized the unintentional covertness of their previous meetings had probably contributed to her disappearance years ago. If they had any chance for a relationship now, it had to be held out in the open. Gabe kept himself from trying to persuade her further. Since the risk was hers, the decision had to be hers, as well.

  His heart rate rocketed, and he found it hard to breathe when Hannah reached out a hand to where his rested on the console. “All right.”

  Rotating his hand, they entwined fingers. Gabe turned into the lane. When they parked in front of the house, he gave her hand a squeeze before reluctantly releasing it. “We’ll find her.”

  But they didn’t find her there. The Amish woman who came to the door hadn’t seen a Border collie. She made sure they knew she didn’t like seeing Hannah traveling with an Englisch.

  When Gabe returned to the truck, Hannah had tugged her black cloak more closely about her and kept her hands in her lap. Her eyes glistened with tears and her mouth trembled. “She’s a neighborhood gossip. Everyone will know.”

  “Good, that way everyone knows we’re looking for your dog, so if they see Socks, they’ll contact you.”

  Hannah’s smile was weak, but her eyes were grateful for his support. “Maybe.”

  They stopped at three more houses, two Amish and one Englisch, before turning onto the highway. The woman at one Amish home was neutral, but curious. The man’s gaze at the other had shifted repeatedly between Gabe and where Hannah remained in the truck during the brief conversation. No one had seen Socks.

  Hannah sat in the passenger seat, head bowed, silently weeping. “I don’t think she would have come this far.”

  Gabe handed her some napkins from his stash in the console. “Well, there’s one way to find out.” He pulled into the first lane off the highway. They heard a dog barking before they were halfway up it. Jerking up her head, Hannah shot Gabe a wide-eyed look.

  “Could be any,” he cautioned her.

  “I know that bark.” Hannah’s hand was on the door latch before he braked to a halt. Her door bounced on its hinges as she jumped out to rush for a fenced-in backyard, the source of the barking. Before she could reach it, a black-and-white dog scrambled over the fence and raced toward her. With a sob, Hannah crumpled to the ground, the dog leaping into her arms. Exiting the truck, Gabe watched as Socks licked Hannah’s face exuberantly.

  As he walked up the concrete steps, a gray-haired Englisch woman opened the door, dish towel in her hand. “I’m so glad someone came for her. She’s too sweet of a dog not to have come from a loving home. Wondered if she was from the Amish community. Anyway, glad you found her.”

  Frowning, Gabe turned his head to look at the joyous reunion. “She’s usually wearing a collar.”

  The woman shook her head. “There wasn’t a collar on her when we found her early this morning. Only a rope with a short tail. Looked like it might’ve been gnawed through. I took it off her. You want it?”

  “Thanks. I’d like to see it if you don’t mind.”

  The woman disappeared to return a moment later, a rope with a knotted loop on one end and a frayed braid on the other in her hand. Examining it, Gabe agreed with her assessment. Socks had been tied up somewhere and chewed her way free. But where? And by whom?

  Returning his attention to the woman, Gabe opened his mouth to thank her, only to be forestalled when she fixed her attention on his name tag and trailed it down over his shirt and the blue pants common to his profession.

  “Are you that new paramedic guy that came with the grant? Sure glad that came through. Saw in the local paper that there were some issues with it, though. Hopefully they can get those resolved. Never know what’s going to happen when county administrations change.”

  Gabe just nodded. He’d heard the rumors, as well. Maybe that’s why the old guard had been so quick to hire him in. His stomach clenched at the thought of what he’d do if the grant fell through. With another polite nod for the loquacious woman, he looked over to see Hannah’s smile as she rested her cheek on Socks’s head. Any concern for himself evaporated in relief at having her reunited with her dog.

  “So you’d be the one that saved the Winston boy? He lives just down the road. That would’ve been such a tragedy. Can’t imagine the heartache in this neighborhood if you weren’t there.”

  Gabe shook his head, wanting to be sure she knew who deserved the credit. “Some Amish men on the volunteer fire department got him out first. The boy owes his life more to them than me.”

  The woman nodded. “Some folks around here aren’t sure about the Amish. Don’t like to see them buying up the land. I imagine the feelings might be mutual. Human nature, I guess. I think the Amish have been good neighbors to us. Polite. Hardworking. Now who’s this, so I know who to contact if that lovely dog shows up again?
”

  “This is Hannah Lapp. She lives around the corner, down the road. The dog is Socks.”

  “I’m Cindy Borders.” She firmly shook Gabe’s hand. “You ever need anything, just let me know.”

  Hannah was coming up the steps, Socks following closely at her heels. “Denki.”

  The woman smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  Gabe turned to Hannah. “You ready to go?”

  Waving to Mrs. Borders, they returned to the truck. When Hannah motioned Socks to get into the cab, the collie backed away.

  Gabe raised his eyebrows at the dog’s behavior. “You ever have that issue with her before?”

  Hannah shook her head. “Nee. Not that I’m aware of. She doesn’t ride in many trucks, but she jumps right into the buggy.”

  “Hmm.” Gabe wondered if it had something to do with the dog’s disappearance. “Get in. I’ll hand her to you.”

  Moments later, Gabe settled into his seat to find Hannah with her arms around her dog, regarding him from across the console. “Gabe. I can’t thank you enough for helping me find her.”

  He gripped the steering wheel with both hands to keep himself from reaching for her. Didn’t Hannah know how he felt about her? That he was still hoping they could marry and have a lifetime together? If not, should he tell her? Hadn’t he acknowledged that if there was a chance for their relationship, they had to bring things out into the open? Hoping he wasn’t making a mistake, he drew in a deep breath and turned to meet her appreciative gaze. “It was my pleasure. Truly. You know I’d do anything to make you happy, Hannah. Except leave. I can’t do that. Not when I think there’s a chance for us.”

  Hannah’s mouth dropped open, and she blinked rapidly. For a moment, as he’d recently witnessed it when they’d found Socks, Gabe recognized pure joy on her face. His breathing stilled. He leaned closer, reaching his hand toward her when the clip-clop of hooves on the pavement cut through the crisp weather. Hannah looked toward the highway, her profile blocked by the brim of her black bonnet.

  When she looked back, her beautiful face was as frozen as the ice in some of the farmyard’s winter puddles. Ignoring his outstretched hand, she shifted in her seat to be as close to the passenger door as possible. The Border collie immediately put her front paws in Hannah’s lap and stuck her head out the window as Gabe drove down the lane. A horse and buggy passed when they reached the end of it, the driver and his passenger peering at the truck through the windshield.

  As they pulled out and the hoof beats faded away, the ensuing silence in the truck cab was uncomfortable. Striving not to feel dejected, Gabe knew something needed to be said to break it. “Might want to pull her back in, I’m rolling up the window.” He nodded toward Socks. “She has the makings of a good truck dog.”

  Hannah didn’t reply, but her tepid smile disagreed.

  * * *

  Gabe packed up the practice mannequins used in the evening’s training. Even with his head bent, his attention was on the group of Amish men not far from the table where he was working. One of them was the man who’d been with Hannah at the restaurant. Gabe concentrated on ignoring the impulse to scrutinize the man, or eavesdrop on the conversation. He’d say this for the guy, he didn’t say much, he’d been quick to be recertified and he had the obvious respect of the men in the community.

  Two of the group broke off and approached the table. One of them Gabe recognized as the blond man who’d been at the pond. The other’s similarity in looks suggested he was a relative.

  His fellow rescuer greeted him with a nod. “I’d have felt a lot more confident if I’d have had this refresher before I had to use CPR the other day.”

  Gabe grinned at the young Amish man. “You did great, Gideon. I should’ve had you teaching the course.”

  “Ja, well, it helped that you were right there beside me at the pond. Helps also that you’re able to teach these classes locally. Otherwise we’d have had to hire drivers and travel some distance to take the training.”

  “All part of my job now. I aim to do whatever I can. Who knows when it might save a life, right?”

  “Ach, as long as Ben’s the one who goes into the freezing water, I’m game. Now, if it was Samuel with me the other day, we’d still be debating about who went out on the ice.”

  The other blond man shook his head. “No, we wouldn’t have. It would’ve been you. Being the older bruder has to count for something.”

  Gabe grinned at the siblings’ interaction. Closing the lid on the mannequin case, he snapped it shut and looked up to see Samuel studying him.

  “I’m also now older bruder, at least by a few months, to Hannah Lapp. I understand you were seen with her today. Is there anything that an older bruder needs to know about that?”

  Gabe met his gaze. “The Amish grapevine works very quickly.”

  The man shrugged good-naturedly. “Almost as fast as the Englisch’s information highway.”

  “You probably already know that she found her dog then. That’s all there was to it.” For now. Call him foolish, but he hadn’t given up yet. “I wish Hannah nothing but the best.” Which hopefully includes me in her life.

  Hannah’s brother-in-law scrutinized him further before smiling slightly. “It was horses that got me. See you around.”

  Gabe shook his head as he watched the brothers leave. He didn’t have long to ponder the curious remark when another Amish man approached the table.

  With a grin, Gabe nodded at the newcomer. “Aaron. It’s good to see you. How’ve you been?” He’d met Aaron Raber at a party when Gabe was taking classes at the nearby junior college years ago. In his rumspringa, the Amish man had been one of the young men in their run-around years that seemed to find anything within horse-and-buggy—or for a few, even car—range that remotely resembled a party. Aaron was the one who’d invited Gabe to the gathering where he’d met Hannah. He nodded to the short cast the man was wearing on his arm. They’d worked around it in order to complete his training. “You doing all right?”

  “I’m gut. I see you found a way back into the area.”

  “Well, God opens doors. Although maybe sometimes it’s windows.”

  “This isn’t what I remember you doing when you left. You were in some kind of...mechanics, ja?”

  “Yeah, well. I had a change of heart. Went home to Madison. Finished up there. Still mechanics of some kind, I guess. Human body mechanics. Speaking of which, is your brother the one that went in after the boy?”

  “That’d be Ben. Never hesitates to step up when needed. Gut man to have in a pinch.” The man quickly moved on from his younger brother’s heroics. “Were there any classes for mechanics down in Madison?”

  Obviously, the man wanted to draw the conversation back to his topic. Gabe didn’t have a problem with that. He nodded. “There are some good tech schools in Madison. I hear it has one of the best diesel programs in the country.”

  The dark-haired Amish man leaned in from the opposite side of the table. “Any way of getting gut training without taking the classes?”

  Gabe frowned as he considered the question. “In what way?”

  “We don’t use electricity from the grid, so the community gets its power from motors, both gasoline and diesel. From refrigerators in the home to huge machinery at the sawmill and Schrock Brothers’ Furniture. Things are changing. Land’s tight. Not as many opportunities to farm. Have to come up with other ways to make a living and support a family. Someone in the Plain community needs to be able to repair and sell all these motors, big and small. Why not me?”

  The man had a point. And had found a potential niche into the community business environment. “I met a guy at school,” Gabe said. “His dad has a repair shop in Madison where some of the students interned. He’d know more than I do. I can get you his number if you think it’ll help.”

  At the man’s enthusiastic nod, Gabe
pulled out his phone and shuffled through his contacts. He looked over at Aaron. “You got a phone?”

  Aaron pulled out a device and rattled off the number. “For the moment. Until I get baptized.” He half smiled. “Followed shortly after by marriage.”

  Gabe wanted to be happy for the man, but the emotion that initially surfaced was envy instead. Keeping his expression neutral, he bent his head over his phone as he sent the contact information. “Congratulations.”

  “You might’ve met her. She was in the fabric shop the day Ruth Schrock became ill.”

  There might’ve been another woman in the shop that day. There also might’ve been a marching band in there. Gabe didn’t remember anything about that day except his patient and seeing Hannah again. “Sweet girl. Again, congratulations.”

  “Denki.” Aaron lifted up his phone and tipped it toward Gabe. “And denki for this. I appreciate it. I hope things work out for you, as well.”

  Gabe eyed him sharply, remembering the news that he and Hannah had been together had already raced around the community.

  Aaron’s eyebrows peaked at his pointed interest. “On your new job.” Pocketing his phone, he waved and exited the fire department’s meeting room. Although other men nearby, Englisch and Amish, nodded as they broke up their conversations and left, no one else approached Gabe as he finished packing up the abbreviated training mannequins and other supplies and loaded them in his truck.

  So, Hannah and he were news around the community. As Gabe headed back to his apartment, he wondered what being the new hot topic on the Amish grapevine meant for his chances with the woman he loved.

  Chapter Six

  Hannah looked up from her needlework at Dash’s sharp bark. Socks, curled up beside Hannah’s chair, jumped to her feet. Emitting a soft whine, she trotted to the door. Across the room, Hannah’s daed tipped down the corner of the newspaper he was reading to meet Hannah’s frown. Paul, the only one of her four younger brothers currently at home, looked up from where he was whittling at the kitchen table.