Courting His Amish Wife

by Emma Miller

  He walked up to her, taking her hands in his. “I hope so, Eve.” He looked into her brown eyes that seemed, at this moment, to be the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He studied her round face, taking in the length of her eyelashes, the pink in her cheeks and the bowed shape of her mouth. He had the sudden urge to kiss her on her beautiful mouth.

  But he didn’t because, at this moment, he didn’t feel he had the right to kiss her.

  “Bishop Simon came to talk to me, and he told me what you did.” He squeezed both of her hands in his. “I can’t believe you told him everything. For me,” he added, the words catching in his throat.

  She nodded, her smile still hesitant. “I did.”

  “But why?” he asked.

  Her brows knitted. “Because it was the right thing to do, Levi.”

  “But we agreed no one needed to know.”

  “I know we did, but, thinking back, I realized that decision was made in haste. It was a selfish choice. It didn’t occur to me that you family, your community would question your motive for marrying me.” She shook her head. “We should have told Benjamin and Rosemary as soon as we got here. And then, when your name came up as a candidate for preacher and folks questioned it, I knew I had to do something.”

  He drew his head back. “How did you know about that?”

  “Tara.”

  He frowned.

  “Don’t be angry with her. She loves you and wants the best for you. She only told me because you didn’t.” Eve paused and then said firmly, “You should have told me about the men at church and what they said, Levi. You’re my husband. You’re supposed to tell me those kinds of things.”

  “I know, I know. You’re right.” He glanced up, squinting in the bright sunlight that was beating down on them. “You want to sit down for a minute? There’s something else I want to tell you.”

  “Of course.”

  * * *

  Levi led Eve by her hand out of the vegetable garden and into Rosemary’s fenced-in herb garden. Along one side of the white picket fence was a small, oblong pond with cattails, miniature lily pads and a decorative rock border. A wrought-iron bench sat beside the pond under the shade of several pink flowering crepe myrtle trees. The pond had been there when they bought the farm from Englishers, Rosemary had told her. It was the little pond and the fenced-in herb garden that had sold her on the property as much as the amount of land and rambling white farmhouse.

  “Let’s sit over here,” Levi told her.

  Eve was so relieved that Levi wasn’t angry with her about going to Bishop Simon that, for the first time since she’d spoken with Simon she actually felt as if she could breathe again. In celebration, she inhaled deeply.

  At the bench, Levi waited for her to sit first and then he sat down beside her, and not on the other end, but right beside her. He took her hand again and she shifted, pleased and uncomfortable at the same time. Even if Levi had been angry about her going to the bishop, she knew it had been the right thing to do. But knowing her husband wasn’t angry made her heart sing. But she was also concerned. What did he want to talk to her about?

  Eve waited for what seemed like a long time, waiting for Levi to speak. She could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to say something, he just wasn’t ready. To ease the tension, she asked him, “What did Bishop Simon say about your name coming up for one of the new preachers?”

  “He said that I would be one of the men to choose from the stack of hymnals the next time the congregation meets.”

  She looked up at him, thrilled by the feel of Levi’s hand in hers and his undivided attention. “And what about what the men were saying about you?”

  “Bishop Simon said he would tell anyone who brought the issue up that he had discussed with us why we married as we did and that he deemed me eligible to accept the job of preacher, should I be chosen. He said no one else ever need know.”

  Her palm feeling sweaty, she pulled her hand from his. “I think we need to tell Benjamin. If Rosemary hasn’t already told him.”

  “The bishop told him.” His voice broke with emotion, emotion Eve felt in her chest along with him. “And Dat came into the shop and talked to me after Simon.”

  “And everything is okay between you now?”

  Levi smiled, his relief obvious. “It is.”

  “Oh, Levi,” she sighed. “I’m happy for you. I know how your father’s disappointment was weighing on your heart.”

  “Dat said he was sorry for being angry and disappointed with me. He also said he thinks I would make a good preacher.” He shrugged. “If it’s God’s will.”

  “Of course you would be a good preacher!” she exclaimed. “I told Bishop Simon that.”

  “He told me,” Levi said, sounding almost bashful.

  “I think the faith you could show a congregation, faith in scripture and in God’s word, could do so much good here in Hickory Grove.”

  “I’m young for a preacher, though,” he said.

  “Ya, but I’m not sure that matters. And I bet your father thinks the same,” she told him, happy beyond words for him. No matter what he said, she knew how upset he had been about the riff between him and his father. And that had upset her because she had been responsible for Benjamin’s assumptions, if not directly, then indirectly.

  “Oh, Levi. I’m so happy for you.” Without thinking, she threw her arms around him, then, realizing what she had done, started to pull away.

  But Levi held on to her and hugged her tightly. “I’ve been such a fool, Eve,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so sorry for my behavior toward you. God gave me a gift in you. He gave me a beautiful wife and I was so caught up in myself that it took me too long to see that.” He leaned back so that he was looking into her eyes. “But I see it now. And...and I need to tell you that standing in my shop, listening to Bishop Simon and then to my father, I realized...”

  He swallowed hard and glanced away.

  “You realized what, Levi?” she whispered. “Tell me. You can tell me anything.”

  “I realized...” He met her gaze again and this time it didn’t stray. “I realized that I’ve fallen in love with you, Eve. I don’t know how.” He shook his head. “Or when, but it’s happened. I love you.”

  Eve didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until it escaped in a great sigh. “You do?” Tears welled in her eyes.

  “I do, and I don’t care that you don’t love me.” He kept gazing into her eyes, talking faster than before as if he needed to get it all out at once. “I know that can only come in time, but—”

  “Oh, Levi—”

  “But I hope that someday you can love me,” he went on, not seeming to have heard her. “I hope you can love me someday, if only half as much as I love you right now. I know it’s a lot to ask but—”

  “Levi,” she interrupted and then she laughed when he finally fell silent. “I love you, too,” she told him, her heart pounding in her chest.

  He placed both of his hands on her cheeks and gazed into her eyes. “You do?”

  She nodded, no longer even trying to fight her tears of joy. “I think I’ve loved you since that day in the barn when you saved me from Jemuel and my father.”

  They were both silent for a long time, lost in the moment, and then Levi got up off the bench. “Well, if you love me, and I love you, there’s only one thing I can do.” He reached for her hand.

  “What’s that, husband?” she asked, accepting his hand and coming to her feet. Behind her, she could hear the trickling water of the little waterfall in Rosemary’s pond. The sun was warm on her face and there was a breeze carrying with it the scent of freshly cut grass and roses.

  Levi faced her, taking her hand between his. “Eve, will you marry me?”

  She blinked and then threw back her head in laughter, but also in joy. “Marry you?” she asked. “Le
vi, we’re already married.”

  “We are?” he asked, sounding as if it were news to him.

  Her laughter turned into giggles. “Ya, that’s why I call you husband, and you call me wife.”

  “Is that so?” He moved even closer, wrapping his arms around her until they were so close that their noses were nearly touching.

  “Ya,” she giggled. “It’s so.”

  “Huh.” He looked away as if contemplating the truth of her words, then fixed his gaze on her again. “Then if we’re already married, wife, I have another question for you.”

  The feel of Levi’s arms around her, the scent of him so close, made her giddy. Her heart was singing, He loves me! My Levi loves me!

  Her husband looked into her eyes again. “You want to hear my question?”

  She nodded. “I do.”

  “May I kiss you?”

  Eve’s breath caught in her throat. “Ya, I would like that,” she whispered.

  For a long instant, Levi gazed into her eyes and then, slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. She closed her eyes, recalling the first sweet kiss they had shared. But then, the kiss turned from one of innocence to a kiss meant to be between a man and his wife who were in love. And when Levi at last drew back, she gazed into his gray eyes.

  “Wow,” she whispered, knowing she was blushing.

  “Ya, wow,” he agreed.

  She took in a ragged breath. “I should get back to the house with the squash before Tara comes looking for me.”

  “And before I kiss you again, wife,” he said huskily. “And again, and again.”

  She looked up at him through her lashes. “Maybe tonight?” she dared to suggest in a whisper.

  “Ya, that I can promise,” he answered, his voice still husky.

  And then Levi took Eve’s hand and together they walked toward the garden, knowing they were on the right path, at last, to a life of happiness and love.

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  Enjoying the feel of the warm grass beneath her bare feet, Eve pulled a wet towel from a laundry basket and tossed it over the clothesline. Next, she grabbed two clothespins from a blue gingham bag hanging in front of her. As she attached the towel to the line with the wooden pins and reached for another towel, she glanced at Rosemary, who was hanging little boys’ denim britches and blue and green shirts.

  “Ach, I’m sorry for all of this complaining,” the woman who had become a second mother to Eve said. “At my age, it’s hard to do things differently sometimes. You know that Benjamin and I have given our blessing for this marriage. It’s not that I think it’s wrong, only that it’s not the path I saw a daughter of mine taking.”

  Eve smiled at her across the clotheslines as she scooped up a handful of washcloths and hung each one from a corner. The sun was shining and, while it was already in the eighties, there was a nice breeze coming out of the orchard, carrying the scent of apples from the trees. “You’re not complaining, Mam, just telling me your concerns. Sometimes we need to say things out loud to settle them in our minds.”

  “Ya,” Rosemary said with a sigh. “And to settle them in our hearts, as well.” She looked up, past Eve, and lifted her chin. “Hmm, I think you have a visitor.”

  “A visitor?” Eve knitted her brows. “Now? Chloe said she wasn’t coming for Tara and me until after dinner.” The three women had a trip to Fifer’s Orchard planned to get a couple baskets of the last of the sweet corn for the season. Their own sweet corn hadn’t been as plentiful as it should have been because of a fungus early in the season, and they wanted to can at least another dozen quart jars for winter.

  Rosemary’s mouth twitched into a smile. “It’s not Chloe.”

  Eve glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to see Levi walking toward her, grinning. He was wearing the blue shirt she had recently made him, a shade of blue that matched her favorite dress. He was smiling so broadly that she couldn’t help but smile back and giggle with happiness. Seeing him between breakfast and supper had become a welcome surprise. He had been so busy all summer with new buggy orders that sometimes he packed a cold lunch, so he didn’t have to stop working to trek up to the house for dinner. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Benjamin had business in Dover and then you were going to work on your sermon for Sunday.”

  As it turned out, it had been God’s choice for Levi to be elected preacher of the new church district, and a fine one he was becoming. Her husband was still finding his way, speaking the words of God to the congregation, but every time he stood before them, her heart swelled with pride.

  “The sermon can wait. And, ya, we did go to Dover.” His grin seemed to get even bigger. “We had an appointment with a lawyer.”

  “A lawyer?” Eve drew back her head, glancing at Rosemary. She could tell, at once, that Rosemary knew what their men had been up to. But her mother-in-law wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.

  Eve returned her gaze to her handsome husband. “Why did you have to see a lawyer?” She felt comfortable asking because in the last year, she and Levi had worked hard to always be honest with each other and to tell each other everything.

  “It’s a surprise,” he told her. “Rosemary, okay if I borrow my wife for a little while?”

  “Of course. Go.” She waved Eve away with her free hand. “This is the last of my basket.” She clipped a wooden pin, attaching a little boy’s peach-colored shirt to the clothesline. “I’ll finish up the towels and see you later.”

  “Are you sure?” Eve asked, even as Levi was taking her hand to lead her away.

  “Go,” Rosemary assured her. “Enjoy a few minutes alone with your husband.”

  Eve looked up at Levi, still hesitating.

  “If Rosemary says go, you go,” he warned her.

  Eve nodded and looked back to Rosemary. “I won’t be long. I’ll pick the rest of the grape tomatoes and bring them in when I get back. Tara wants to have cucumber tomato salad for supper.”

  “Take your time,” Rosemary insisted with another wave as she picked up Eve’s laundry basket.

  Taking Eve by the hand, Levi led her across the backyard.

  “Where are we going?” Eve asked, tickled to have him to herself in the middle of the day.

  “I told you. It’s a surprise.” He squeezed her hand. “How’s Rosemary today?”

  “Oh, she’s fine. You know how she is. She just wants everything to be perfect for Bay’s wedding. She wants it to be the same.” She shrugged. “And it’s not going to be like Lovey’s and Ginger’s. It can’t be.”

  Levi sighed. “I understand.” He smiled down at her. “You’re good to be so patient with her.” He cut his eyes at her. “And I’m sure that Bay will be forever grateful for your assistance in easing the tension.”

  She smiled up at him, her heart so full. In the last year, her whole world had changed so much. Not only had she gained a husband to love and be loved by, but she had gained an extended family that had welcomed her with open arms and a glad heart. “I’m thankful I can help.”

  Levi leaned down and kissed her cheek.

  “Levi!” she murmured, pressing her fingertips to the place where he’d kissed her as she looked around to be sure no one had seen them. “Really. You’re so naughty. Kissing me in broad daylight where anyone can see.”

  He shrugged. “There’s no one around, but if there was, what would they say? ‘Oh my, how terrible that Levi loves his wife so much that he kisses her in broad daylight?’”

  Eve giggled. “Tell me where we’re going.”

  “The pond.”

  “The pond?” She made a face. “I don’t have time to go fishing and I know you certainly don’t.”

  He clasped her hand in his warm one. “We’re not going fishing.” Releasing her hand, he looked down at her, pretending to be irritated. “What makes you think I
have time to fish in the middle of the day, Wife?” He waved both arms, speaking in a fake gruff voice. “I have work to do. Important work. Man’s work.”

  She laughed, catching his hand and pulling it down. “Tell me why we’re going to the pond,” she begged.

  “If I told you,” he said, taking her hand in his again, “it won’t be a surprise, will it?”

  So, hand in hand, they took the path through the orchard and down the old dirt road that led to the pond. As they walked, they talked, though not about anything vastly important. Eve told him about the mouse she found in the pantry and the cheese and potato casserole recipe she was tweaking. Levi told her about a new order for a buggy and his concern that he was going to have to start a waiting list because he was worried about overcommitting himself and ultimately disappointing his customers.

  They passed through a field of milkweed and wild black-eyed Susans, and the pond came into view. Eve stopped and glanced around. Nothing looked any different from how it had the previous week when they’d gone fishing on a Saturday afternoon. “Okay, we’re here,” she said, resting her hands on her hips. “Where’s my surprise?”

  “Just a little farther,” Levi told her and together they walked past the pond and up a little bluff where weeds, saplings and grass grew.

  “Here it is!” Levi declared, facing the pond, opening his arms wide.

  She turned in a full circle looking for something, anything that looked different. But it all looked the same and she was beginning to think he was pulling her leg. “This is my surprise? A bunch of weeds?”

  “Ya, well, no.” His hand shot out and he grabbed her hand. “Careful, you don’t want to walk into the wall.”

  Smiling, she looked at him suspiciously. “What wall?”

  He moved to stand beside her and together they gazed at the pond in the distance. “This is the front wall of our house,” he whispered in her ear.

  Eve’s jaw dropped and she looked up at her husband. “Our house,” she breathed. “Here?” She looked out at the pond again. Dragonflies flew lazy circles around the cattails on one end, and there was a cacophony of frog and insect song.