by Jessica Loft
“Most English don’t. That’s okay.”
“Well, I, umm, was wondering—and if you’re not allowed because of your faith, or if you just don’t want to, that’s okay—but there’s this wedding coming up. Not mine, a friend’s, and I’m invited, and I’m kinda supposed to bring a date. I didn’t know if maybe you’d want to go with me?” Her words trailed off as she became more and more unsure of what she was doing. Her cheeks burned, and she couldn’t look at him.
“Katherine, I would love to escort you to an event. I’ll be sure to keep you safe the entire night.”
She braved a look at him. Did he think she was asking him as her bodyguard? He winked again, and she was completely confused. Was he flirting with her? “Great. It’s next Saturday.”
“It’s a date.” He smiled at her, gave a small bow, and waited until she got into her car and drove off before walking away.
Chapter 3
Samuel made a habit of coming to walk Katherine to her car every day. It gave them time to chat and get to know each other. It wasn’t like she could text him or Facebook him. Or even call him, for that matter. This Amish thing was a little inconvenient sometimes. Though, if it kept him coming to see her, she could deal with it.
“My parents have this rule,” she said to him on Wednesday. “Before I can go out with anyone, they want to meet him first. So, they’ve invited you to dinner at our house Friday.”
“I’d be happy to join your family for a meal.”
“Really? Great.” The last time she’d told a guy that, he’d given her a sad look and asked if she needed her parents’ approval for everything she did. Then he’d never called her again.
“I’d feel much better myself about escorting you after speaking with your father.”
“So, I can just drive you to my house after work Friday? Is that okay?”
“Sounds lovely.”
“Okay, great. Perfect.” She let out a long breath and got into her car, shocked that it had gone so well.
All day Friday, she was nervous. Her parents knew Samuel was Amish, but none of them really knew what that meant, fully. Would he have dietary restrictions? Or were there other things he couldn’t do?
At 4:55 exactly, Samuel walked in the door. He made his usual pass through the store, checked on Heather, and escorted Katherine to her car. This time, he opened her door for her, then went to the passenger side and got in. She was so nervous, she focused on driving. They barely spoke until she pulled into her driveway.
Her parents were in the living room, waiting for them. The house smelled of roasted chicken and vegetables, and her stomach growled in response. Please, God, let this go well.
“Mom, Dad, this is Samuel.” She gestured toward him awkwardly.
He shook their hands and bowed to her mother. “Thank you for having me for dinner.”
Her mother shot her a sly smile before disappearing into the kitchen. But her dad had on his serious face.
“Have a seat, Samuel.” Her dad gestured to the couch, while he sat in his armchair.
Katherine took a seat on the couch, but made sure to keep several feet between them.
“Tell me about yourself,” her dad said.
She groaned internally. That was the worst question to be asked, and she didn’t like it when her dad put people on the spot like that. But Samuel answered well. He talked about his role at home. How he cared for the animals and fixed things around town to earn money. He built houses, too, and seemed to know a lot about animals. She noticed though, that he left out any jokes about roughing people up in the evenings. That was probably best.
By the end of the evening, Katherine was nearly ecstatic at how well things had gone. Samuel had no trouble talking with her and her parents and brother. He didn’t seem like an outsider, and aside from his different way of dressing, he could be just another farm boy from the country.
When she got home, and her dad was waiting, she expected him to be happy that she’d found such a considerate, well-groomed man. She beamed at him, but his answering hard gaze made her falter.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“Okay.” She sat down where Samuel had earlier in the evening.
“How well do you know this boy?”
“He’s walked me to my car every day after work to make sure I’m safe. We talk for a few minutes, usually.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t know. I’m still getting to know him, I guess. Isn’t that the point of dating?”
“I don’t want you seeing this boy.”
“What?! Why!” What could her father have possibly found in him to be objectionable?
“There are rumors around town—”
“Rumors! Daddy, what—”
“Just hear me out.”
She closed her mouth and waited, her arms crossed.
“People say he’s part of an Amish mafia.”
She burst into laughter. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. There is no Amish mafia, it’s just a dumb TV show.”
“Watch your language.”
“Sorry.”
“I’ve heard that this Samuel and some of his brothers have even been talked to by the police for poor behavior.”
“Poor behavior? Like what? He forgot to milk a cow?”
“Katherine Margaret. I do not appreciate your attitude.”
He was mad now. She’d gone too far. She kept her mouth shut and stared at the carpet.
“He’s gotten into physical altercations. Fights, Katherine.”
She thought of how he’d tackled the thief in the store. His “joke” about roughing up people who weren’t acting right. Maybe it wasn’t a joke after all. But the Amish mafia? Come on. The idea of it alone was ridiculous.
“I know he seems like a nice, upstanding boy on the outside, but I think there’s more to him than you know, and I don’t want to see you get mixed up with someone like that.”
“Dad, listen to yourself. You’re telling me an Amish boy is too wild for me? Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
He nodded slowly. “I’ll admit it’s not something I’d ever expect to encounter. But, Katherine, this relationship couldn’t go very far, anyway, you know that. You’d have to become Amish, or he’d have to leave. I don’t see either of those things happening. Now, you’ve had a nice time talking with him. It’s time to move on and find someone else to date.”
She gaped at him. “You’re really serious? You’re really forbidding me to see an Amish boy because he’s too wild.” She laughed hysterically for a minute, trying to portray the absurdity of his words. “Dad. I love you, and I respect you. But I am twenty-four now. I have to make my own choices, and that includes deciding who I will or will not date.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I expect you to make wise choices. And in this case, I expect you to listen to what I’m telling you, and to choose not to date him.”
“What if I choose to keep seeing him?”
“You will not have our blessing. He will not attend events with this family. We will not acknowledge him as your potential mate.”
Anger licked up her neck. Maybe it was time to move out and get her own place. She’d had enough of living under her parent’s rule. She stomped upstairs without another word and threw herself onto her bed.
Chapter 4
Katherine had thought long and hard about what her dad said. Despite her anger at their attempts to control her, her parents did always have her best interests at heart. And listening to them had saved her on several occasions. But in the end, she decided that this was one time she just couldn’t get on board with what they were saying.
She dressed for the wedding as planned. Her lavender dress and silver shoes, her hair up in a curled ponytail. She put on makeup and looked at herself in the mirror. This dress had been a smart choice, with its loose skirt and short sleeves. It was light and comfortable, modest, and she’d be able to dance in it without worrying about
it moving around too much.
She went downstairs and passed her mother in the living room.
“Oh, you look lovely,” she said. “Were you able to find another date?”
“No,” she said. Not that she’d even tried.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Katherine tried to keep her words kind, but her anger edged them sharply. “I’ll just go alone like I always do.”
She walked out before her mother could say anything else. Katherine drove off, the heat of the lie burning her chest. But it also felt surprisingly freeing. She was going to keep dating Samuel, starting tonight. If it didn’t work out, then fine. She’d know she was wrong and her dad had been right and she could go back to listening to them. But right now, she felt almost giddy for having lied and for the fact that she was going to pick up Samuel and her parents wouldn’t like it at all if they knew.
When he got into the car, Samuel said, “You look very nice tonight, Katherine.”
“Thank you.” She turned out of his farm and onto the road. “Did you enjoy dinner last night?”
“It was very nice to meet your family.”
“My dad can be kind of intense.”
He chuckled. “I expect no less from a father. I imagine someday I’ll be just as cautious with a man who wants to spend time with my daughter. It’s a father’s job to protect and guide.”
What would he say if he knew that her father didn’t want her with him? “I wanted to ask you something. It’s kind of silly, really. I hope you’re not offended.” She hesitated.
“Go on. It’s okay. I won’t be.”
“Well, my dad said something to me… about there being an Amish mafia.” She chuckled, picturing the TV show and how the whole idea was just nuts.
But he wasn’t laughing. “It’s not what most people think,” he said.
“So, you are part of the Amish mafia?” She stopped at a stop light and looked at him. His face was straight and serious.
He nodded. “We have a simple way of life, and it’s built on honesty and goodness. But we’re human and people make mistakes. We’re just there to reinforce justice and make sure people repent. That way, they stay right before God.”
So the roughing up thing had certainly not been a joke. “Well, when you put it that way, it makes sense.”
So, he was Amish, but he was something of an Amish bad boy? She almost guffawed at the thought. But, he was, though. He’d tackled a man with a gun, hadn’t he? He’d put himself in danger for her sake. He was quickly destroying her view of the Amish as quiet and demure people who stood by and let things happen as they would. Samuel took action. And he did it with the most godly intentions.
During the ceremony, he sat beside her, keeping a foot of space between them. She wanted to hold his hand, but wouldn’t be so forward as to make the move. Bad boy or not, he probably adhered to Amish dating practices. And she had no idea what those were, but guessed it involved little physical touching.
At the reception, they sat together, talking with the others at the table. He seemed to be something of a commodity to them. They asked him questions about his lifestyle and admired his blue shirt and black pants. It bothered Katherine. She wanted them to just leave him alone. He never seemed bothered by it, though, even when their questions felt almost like they were making fun of him.
Sometime into the night, he turned to her and asked, “Would you care for a dance or two?”
“Oh, you can do that? I wasn’t sure…”
He stood and held out his hand to take hers. He led her to the dance floor during a slow song. The faced each other, his hands on her waist. She put hers on his shoulders. They didn’t let their bodies touch, and the dance felt like she was dancing with a brother or cousin more than a date. Other couples pressed together, clinging to each other.
“Are you having a good time?” he asked.
“I am. Are you?”
He nodded.
“Weddings always make me feel old, though. Like I should be farther along in the dating process. How does it work for you? There aren’t arranged marriages or anything?”
His mouth pulled into an amused smile. “No. It’s much the same as English dating. Just with less sex involved.”
Her face grew warm and she chuckled. “Right. So, what exactly does the Amish mafia do? You don’t carry a gun or weapons, do you?”
“Goodness, no. We’re just there in case a dispute should arise that doesn’t seem to be able to be handled amicably by those involved.”
“Like…?”
“Well, for example, last week Obadiah’s dog had puppies. She’s a pure bred Brittany and he bred her with a Brittany male from across town, owned by Levi. They’d planned to split the litter as payment. Problem was, the puppies didn’t come out Brittany, they came out mixed. Looked like the neighbor’s dog had been involved. Obadiah claimed he knew nothing about it, that he would never breed her with a non-Brittany. Levi still wanted his half of the litter, but the neighbor thought he ought to get a pup or two since his dog was the one who did the actual breeding.”
Katherine listened carefully, absorbed in the way he described the situation in such detail, giving weight to every aspect of it. “So, what did you do?”
“We sat them all down and had them write an agreement. Since the neighbor did the breeding, he’d get his half of the current litter. Then the Brittany’s would mate and make two litters, instead of one. Levi would get the entire first litter and Obadiah would get the entire second litter.”
“That sounds simple enough.”
“It was, and it would have stayed simple, except Levi wasn’t too happy. Turns out his daughter was promised a puppy for her birthday. So, he tried to talk Obadiah into giving him one anyway and was angry to find out they’d all been promised. He grew angry and raised his voice, and that’s when we had to step in.”
“Because he raised his voice?”
“That’s always the first step to things going wrong. Think about it. A man never threw a punch that didn’t first raise his voice.”
She nodded. He had a point. “So what did you do?”
“We just held him back physically and had a stern talking with him. Made him pay the neighbor a more than fair price for one of his pups.”
“So, the girl got her puppy after all?”
He smiled. “She did.”
“Glad to hear there was a happy ending.”
“Smile!” Katherine turned to a bridesmaid with a camera and barely had time to react before she took a photo of them and hurried off to the next couple.
“Are there many dog disputes in your community?”
“We have a lot of animals, so most disputes are animal related, yes. But there’s also equipment and on rare occasion, relationships.”
“Really?”
“We had a young man who was spending a bit too much time with a widow. We found out he’d been milking her cows and keeping more than his share of milk.”
She laughed, but realized he’d actually meant he was milking her cows, and it wasn’t a sexual innuendo.
Later that night, Katherine browsed Facebook and thought of Samuel. She still didn’t know if it could work long-term, but she liked him. She liked his steady, quiet manner. How he never got mad or ruffled by anything. How he reverenced God in all he did.
She scrolled and looked at the wedding pictures posted by the guests. She was in one or two. Then she froze. Her and Samuel. Together. Dancing. She’d been tagged in the photos and went to her profile quickly to hide it. As she clicked, there was a knock on her door.
Her parents walked in. Her mother held her phone in her hand. Katherine closed the browser tab and turned to face them.
“Katherine, we know you lied to us,” her father said. “We know you went to the wedding with Samuel after saying you were going alone. Your mother saw a picture on Facebook.”
She hadn’t been quick enough. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I told you last night I’m ol
d enough to make my own decisions, and I like Samuel. I’m going to keep dating him.”
Her father nodded. “I think we need to have a long talk about the types of men you should be dating, and what important qualities you need in a mate.”
The “long talk” went on for two hours. She sat and listened as her father pulled out the Bible and read her verses, talked about couples in the church, the problems he’d seen as a pastor. She was told again and again that a man with a bad reputation, who might have the attention of the police, was not the type of husband she wanted for her children.
It was after 2 a.m. when they finally left her room and let her sleep.
Chapter 5
Katherine was miserable over the whole situation. Her feelings for Samuel grew every time she saw him, but this thing with her parents was painful. She didn’t want them to disapprove of the person she dated. But she also didn’t want to be controlled and wanted to keep seeing Samuel.
When he showed up at the store at 4:55, she broke into a huge grin, and relief at seeing him rushed over her. She stood by her car and bit her lip before deciding to tell him.
“Samuel, I have to tell you something.”
He looked concerned and gave her his full attention.
“The night you came for dinner, well after, my dad said he’d heard you were in the Amish mafia and that the police were watching you, and he didn’t want me to see you. I lied to them and said I was going to the wedding alone. But then, someone posted a picture of us online, and they saw it, and they’re not very happy with me.”
He nodded slowly, taking in all she said.
“But the problem is, well first of all, I’m twenty-four and can make my own decisions, especially about who to date. But the thing is, I like you, and every time I’m with you, I like you more and more. You’re the sweetest, politest, godliest man I ever met, but you’re also a protector and stand up for what’s right at a personal cost, and that means a lot to me. I don’t know how it would work with you being Amish and me being English, and maybe it wouldn’t work at all, but I don’t want to stop seeing you. I want to see you more, in fact.”