Following Your Heart
Page 27
Now the trick was to pick out James’s buggy when it drove up. He had slipped out of the hymn singing only moments ago, not even looking at her before he rose to his feet. But that was okay. He didn’t need to draw attention to her. She would be sitting beside him in his buggy soon enough.
What was it Susan had said this morning on the way to church? His buggy had two extra strips of reflector tape on the top, but the most important thing to look for was his horse.
“By the front buggy lights, you can see it plainly,” Susan had said. “Because no one else has a horse like James’s; its head is held high in the air.”
Teresa stepped off the walks, straining her eyes toward the line of approaching buggies. None of the horses held his head up high, and how did one see extra strips of reflector tape in this light? Perhaps her heart would feel his approach.
Teresa smiled at the thought, waiting as the other girls moved past her to climb into the buggies. More buggies were getting in line, and there at last was James. It was true—his horse was holding his head higher than any of the others. Joy was rising in Teresa’s heart again. Yes, she could feel his approach.
Going around two waiting girls, Teresa pushed open the buggy door, hesitating only a moment.
“Teresa!” James said quietly from inside the buggy.
“Yes,” she said, relieved by the reassurance. “I doubted myself there for a moment. I’m not used to picking out just the right black buggy by the light of the moon.”
His laugh filled the buggy as she climbed in and pushed the door shut. He pulled around the other buggies, and they dashed off into the night. Teresa hung on, her heart racing.
“It’s such nice weather tonight,” James said when they had cleared the crowd and he’d slowed his horse down some.
“Yes,” Teresa managed. “And still so warm.”
“Is Susan all right about getting home on her own?” James asked. “I’m guessing the two of you drove to the hymn singing together.”
“Yes, she’s driving herself,” Teresa answered as she smiled in the darkness.
“Maybe I should have helped get her horse out,” James said. “I’m still hoping Thomas will take her home someday.”
“Thomas can help Susan with her horse,” Teresa said, nestling up against him. “At least they’re talking to each other. That’s a start.”
James said nothing, satisfied with her answer.
She looked at the outline of his face in the moonlight.
He glanced down and smiled.
“What do you think Yost is doing tonight?” she finally asked.
“Let’s not talk about Yost,” he said with a wry smile.
“He was the man I deserved,” she said. “I know that.”
“Well, I don’t know that,” James said. “I’ve never known that.”
“Are we going to argue on our first time out alone together?” she asked. “Because I’d rather not. I want to soak this in. And please drive me home really slow. I want it to take a long time.”
“But Samuel’s waiting at home,” he said. “Don’t you want to see him again?”
She looked at his face.
As if he read her thoughts, he squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. I like the little fellow. And we can freely make plans now.”
“I’m tired of plans,” she said, moving to sit tightly against him. “So many plans made in the last year. So many thoughts. So much searching for the right thing to do. I just want to enjoy this feeling tonight of being alive with you by my side.”
He laughed. “I do feel quite alive tonight,” he agreed. “I’m taking you home for the first time—just you and me.”
“And we have cherry pie waiting,” she said. “Susan and I baked it yesterday. Is that good enough for you?”
“I could use some homemade ice cream, I guess,” he said. “Vanilla, perhaps. It goes good with cherry pie.”
“Next time I’ll make sure we have ice cream too.”
“So there will be a next time?” he said with a grin.
“James, I don’t think I can take too much teasing right now. It’s up to you whether or not there’s a next time. Will there be?”
He pulled her even closer. “Of course there’s going to be a next time. And then a next time after that. As long as you’ll have me.”
“What about your dad? Did you really argue about bringing me home tonight?”
“Not really,” he said. “Daett didn’t object when I brought it up in just the right way.”
“You persuaded him just like that?” she asked.
“I don’t think I needed to,” he said. “I think he likes you deep down. How can anyone help but like you? Even old Yost liked you.”
Teresa sighed and leaned against him. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore! It’s enough to be here with you.” His hand found her face, and she didn’t pull away. She knew he was going to kiss her, and it was hard to keep breathing. And he did kiss her. Gently. Tenderly. Not the way Yost had kissed her.
Had they just broken the Ordnung? No, she decided. This was what two people in love do.
James took her hand and held it, only pulling away when he needed to guide his horse into a turn.
Slowing down, he turned into the Hostetler driveway and stopped by the barn.
Teresa stepped out of the buggy and waited while James tied the horse. Then he took her hand, and they walked to the house.
“When do you want your cherry pie?” she asked when they got inside. “Now or later?” She motioned for him to be seated on the couch.
“I think I’ll take it now,” he said. “I’m starving!”
“You didn’t sing that hard,” she teased.
“I think it’s my nerves,” he said, making a funny face.
She laughed. “I’ll be right back.”
In the kitchen, she cut a piece of pie and put it on a plate. She filled a glass with milk.
“Aren’t you having a piece?” he asked when she entered the living room and handed him the plate and glass.
“Of course!” she said, heading back into the kitchen.
After she returned and sat next to him, they relaxed and ate their pie.
Susan came in. “Well, well,” she said. “If it isn’t Teresa and James. Bless my heart. This is so gut to finally see.”
Teresa blushed. “Did Thomas help you with your horse?”
“Yah, he helped me hitch up,” Susan admitted.
“That’s gut to hear,” James said. “There’s hope for you two.”
“You can mind your own business,” Susan responded with a chuckle. “I think I’ll pass on the pie tonight and go straight to bed.”
“Did I make her mad?” James asked when Susan was gone.
“With Susan, who knows,” Teresa replied. “She might be irritated because she still likes him. Then again, she might not be upset at all.”
“This pie is good. Did you say you baked it?”
“Yes. I mean, yah, but Susan helped and we used Mamm’s recipe.”
“Well, memorize it…for future use.”
Teresa considered the word “future.” It was wonderful to imagine. A future with James…Did she dare hope for such a thing? A future with James by her side forever? And James would be the perfect father to Samuel?
James glanced up at the clock, and Teresa followed his gaze.
What time do you have to leave?” she asked.
“Whenever I want to, I suppose,” he said.
“I know that’s not true,” she said. “You’re teasing again.”
“Yes, I am,” he admitted, getting to his feet. “The truth is, I have a full day of field work tomorrow, so I’d better get going.”
“You don’t have to go until midnight,” she said.
He laughed. “I see someone has been studying the Ordnungs brief.”
“I had to.” She grinned.
“I’ve got too much to do tomorrow to stay that late,” he said. “But I would like to come back next S
unday night. Do you think you can handle that? And perhaps you can have some vanilla ice cream stirred up?”
“You’re an awful rascal,” she teased. “So demanding already. Yes, I’ll have your ice cream ready.”
He moved closer, taking her hands in his. “Teresa, I don’t want to embarrass you, but there is something I’d like to make clear.”
She didn’t move and realized she was holding her breath. She exhaled, trying to do it quietly.
“I know this is a little early in our relationship, but it feels like we’ve known each other for a long time. Still, you don’t have to answer right now if you don’t want to. In fact, you can wait as long as you want. But I want to make sure you know that I plan to marry you. Do you realize that?”
She gasped before stealing a quick look at his face.
“I’m serious, Teresa. That is, if you will have me.”
“Oh, James!” she whispered. “You know my answer!”
“Tell me,” he teased.
She looked up at him.
He stepped closer, his hands reaching out to touch her face. When she didn’t pull away, he drew her close to kiss her.
When he let her go, she whispered, “Is that answer enough?”
“I didn’t quite make out the answer. Let’s try again,” he said, kissing her again.
“And now?” she asked.
“I think I got it that time,” James said. He let out a long breath. “And now I had better go.”
“Is that what Amish boys do after they’ve kissed their girlfriends?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know,” he said. “I’ve never kissed a girl before.”
“James!” she said in disbelief as she followed him to the door.
He laughed and placed his fingers on her lips. “I’ll be seeing you next Sunday night, okay? And I may have to ask for your answer again. I may forget what it was between now and then.”
“You can ask every night,” she assured. “And the answer will always be the same.”
“Wunderbar! I’ll see you then!” He ran down the front steps while she stood in the doorway. Soon his buggy drove by, and its lights faded into the darkness.
She closed the door and leaned against it, the thoughts rushing through her mind. So it was better to follow your heart, even when everything seemed so impossible. James was coming back, and he would keep coming back again and again, until the day they would say their marriage vows. Then she would be a real Amish wife and Samuel would have a real Amish father.
“Thank you, dear God,” she whispered. “I truly don’t deserve any of this.”
Then she thought of her mother back in Asbury Park and how she doubted there was a God. Teresa wanted to shout from the rooftops, Oh yes, there is a God. There is a God indeed. A God who delights in giving those He loves the desires of their heart.
The Fields of Home series, Book 1
Missing Your Smile
Betrayed by her boyfriend Thomas, Susan Hostetler leaves her community and moves to the city. Keeping to Amish ways proves difficult as she struggles with adapting to Englisha ways. Should she learn to drive? Get her GED? And what to do about the handsome Duane Moran…
When Susan meets Teresa, the pregnant young woman asks her to find an Amish couple to adopt her baby. Should Susan write to her parents to see if that’s possible? Will the community believe the baby is hers? Faced with returning home for the baby’s sake, Susan must decide if she’s willing to give up her newfound freedom and confront the man who broke her heart.
COMING SOON!
Where Love Grows
Book 3 in The Fields of Home Series
In Jerry Eicher’s conclusion to his popular Fields of Home trilogy, readers will be delighted to attend the wedding of Teresa, the young Englisha girl who has come home with Susan Hostetler to learn the ways of the Amish—and in fact to become Amish herself.
But Teresa is not the only young woman to find romance in these pages. Susan, long estranged from Thomas Stoll, the young man she had intended to marry from her childhood, reunites with him.…just as another man appears on the scene with designs on her heart. Which man is the one Da Hah has chosen for her?
Amidst the happiness, there is also turmoil as Menno Hostetler, Susan’s father, must face church discipline for a past sinful transgression he’s hidden for many years. At his age, can he endure the humiliation and the path to restitution?
With more than 400,000 books sold, Jerry Eicher’s many fans eagerly anticipate each new novel that offers a peek into the simple and interesting world of the Amish—a world Jerry knows firsthand.
From Jerry and Tina Eicher,
My Dearest Naomi…
Jerry Eicher’s many devoted fans will be enthralled by this endearing novel in letters based on Jerry’s letters to and from his future wife, Tina, and their discovery that, indeed, absence does make the heart grow fonder.
When Eugene Mast leaves his Amish community in Worthington, Indiana, to teach in faraway Trenton, Iowa, he also must leave the love of his life, Naomi Miller.
For the next nine months of the school term, Eugene and Naomi keep their romance alive through love letters from his heart to hers, and from hers back to his.
Eugene writes of his concern that in his absence Naomi may find the attractions of another suitor to her liking. Naomi worries that Eugene may fall prey to the “liberal” Mennonite beliefs in the community where he now lives. Both can hardly wait until the school year is up and they’re finally reunited.
A poignant and tender love story that will warm the hearts of readers everywhere.
About Jerry Eicher…
JERRY EICHER’S bestselling Amish fiction (more than 400,000 in combined sales) includes The Adams County Trilogy, the Hannah’s Heart books, and the Little Valley Series. After a traditional Amish childhood, Jerry taught for two terms in Amish and Mennonite schools in Ohio and Illinois. Since then he’s been involved in church renewal, preaching, and teaching Bible studies. Jerry lives with his wife, Tina, and their four children in Virginia.
Visit Jerry’s website!
www.eicherjerry.com
More Great Books by Jerry Eicher
The Adams County Trilogy
Rebecca’s Promise
Rebecca’s Return
Rebecca’s Choice
Hannah’s Heart
A Dream for Hannah
A Hope for Hannah
A Baby for Hannah
Little Valley Series
A Wedding Quilt for Ella
Ella’s Wish
Ella Finds Love Again
Fields of Home Series
Missing Your Smile
Following Your Heart
Where Love Grows
(coming soon!)
Novels
My Dearest Naomi
(coming soon!)
Longing for a taste of Amish cooking?
THE HOMESTYLE AMISH KITCHEN COOKBOOK:
Plainly Delicious Recipes from the Simple Life
by Georgia Varozza
Let a Little Plain Cooking Warm Up Your Life
Who doesn’t want simplicity in the easy-to-make dishes are simplicity itself. The Amish are a productive and busy people. They work hard in the home and on their farms, and they need good, filling food that doesn’t require a lot of preparation and time. A few basic ingredients, some savory and sweet spices, and a little love make many of these meals a cook’s delight. And if you want something a bit more complex and impressive, those recipes are here for you too.
Along with fascinating tidbits about the Amish way of life, you will find directions for lovely, old-fashioned food such as
Scrapple
Honey Oatmeal Bread
Coffee Beef Stew
Potato Rivvel Soup
Snitz and Knepp
Shoo-Fly Pie
Everything from breakfast to dessert is covered in this celebration of comfort food and family. Hundreds of irresistible options will help you bring the simple life to
your own home and kitchen.