Joshua's Choice: Amish Romance (Seven Amish Bachelors Book 3)

by Samantha Price

  “I wouldn’t call it bad. Like Hazel said, she was helping her friend. That’s admirable.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t listen in all the time. It's very bad manners.” Joshua took a deep breath. He couldn’t bear it if Adeline was helping one of her friends win his heart. He didn’t like to admit Jacob might be right, but it followed that, if Adeline had schemed with Nella, Adeline couldn’t like him.

  Jacob said, “If I were you, I’d give some attention to Mary Lou.”

  “Really?” Joshua could scarcely believe his ears. “Why Mary Lou?”

  “I heard how she surprised you with lunch.”

  “You heard?”

  “Jah. I’d love it if a girl did that for me.”

  Joshua chuckled. “You told me you’re irresistible to women, and now you tell me no girl’s done anything like that for you?”

  Jacob’s lips downturned. “That would only be because they wouldn’t know if I’d like it or not.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “Anyway, I wouldn’t rule out Mary Lou just because she liked Isaac and then Levi.”

  “She’s going down the line, isn’t she? You’ll be next.” Joshua immediately felt bad about joking that way about Mary Lou. If she found out they were talking about her like that she’d be crushed by embarrassment. “Mary Lou’s a nice girl, but she’s not for me.”

  “Hmm. She should’ve skipped you and gone straight to me. That would’ve saved us all some bother. Adeline doesn’t care for you, and who can blame her? She’s way too young.”

  “I’ll wait.”

  Jacob gave Joshua a brotherly slap on his back. “It doesn’t matter how long you wait. You’ll still be that much older, and I don’t think Adeline’s the way you think she is.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Innocent and sweet.”

  “She is.”

  Jacob raised an eyebrow. “We’ll see.”

  “Just forget it. Leave things be.”

  Chapter 9

  Mrs. Miller looked over at Adeline on Saturday morning. “Don’t forget, this afternoon, we’re going to visit Hazel and her mudder. I don’t like to leave Catherine for too long while she’s still sick, so we’ll have to be quick, and did I mention Catherine wants pumpkin bread?”

  “I’ll make her some. Do we have a recipe for it in Mammi’s box?”

  “Nee. Go to the markets for me. Gracie sells pumpkin bread at her stall. I hope she has some today. If she doesn’t, you should be able to find some somewhere else, at one of the other stalls.”

  Adeline knew what was coming next. Her mother was going to ask her to go to the markets by herself. “You want me to go alone?”

  “Good idea, denke. That’ll give me a chance to do some things around here while you’re gone.”

  Adeline walked outside and said goodbye to her father who was finishing off painting a small table by the barn. As well as working every weekday, her father worked every second Saturday.

  He slowly straightened himself up. “Where are you off to?”

  “Mamm wants me to get something for Catherine.”

  “Herbs for that nasty cold?”

  “Nee, pumpkin bread.”

  “Where are you going for that?”

  “The farmers market.”

  His mouth turned down at the corners. “You’re going all the way there for that?”

  “Jah.”

  “Just that one thing?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Does your Mamm know?”

  “She’s the one who’s sending me.”

  He shook his head. “Is Catherine any better?”

  “About the same.”

  Her father grunted and Adeline silently agreed with her father. It was a waste of time and money going to the markets for one thing. “Do you want anything while I’m there?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll hitch the buggy for you.”

  “Nee, Dat. I’ll do it. You carry on with your painting.”

  “All right. I like to finish a painting job once I start. That way the brush stays good. With this heat, it’d dry out if I left it too long.”

  Adeline nodded and headed to the paddock to fetch the black horse. Midnight was their main buggy horse. The other one was Bonnie, and he was old now, nearly ready for retirement.

  While Adeline walked Midnight along the roads, she missed having one of her sisters by her side. Normally, Catherine or Lucy went everywhere with her. Now that Lucy was married, that left only Catherine to keep her company. It wasn’t long before her thoughts turned to Joshua. Images of Nella and Joshua at Nella’s uncle’s place buzzed around in her mind. She didn’t exactly know what Nella had planned for yesterday. One part of her wanted things to work out for her friend, but another part of her wanted Joshua to reject Nella’s advances. She wanted Joshua for herself.

  If she gave Joshua one little bit of encouragement, however, or even if she smiled at him, she felt she’d be betraying her friend. Sighing, Adeline looked out over the patchwork of green fields as she went by them. Joshua was even further away from her and seemed to get further away yet with every passing day. Even if Joshua liked her, it wouldn’t be right because if she and Joshua became a couple it would upset Nella too much. Then she realized she should’ve been more upfront with Nella and told her that she liked Joshua too. That would’ve been the sensible thing to do.

  Just as she pulled the buggy into the parking lot of the markets, she saw another buggy and a tall bay horse. At first, she thought it was Joshua standing by the horse talking to an Englisch girl and her heart nearly stopped. Looking closer, she saw it was his brother, Jacob. Jacob turned around and looked at her, as did the girl he was talking with. Then Jacob said something to the girl, she said something to him, and then the girl walked away.

  Jacob waited until Adeline got out of the buggy before he made his way over to her. “Hello, Adeline.”

  “Hi, Jacob.”

  “What brings you here?”

  “My schweschder is sick and she’s got a hankering for pumpkin bread.”

  He chuckled. “Wait, Lucy’s sick?”

  “Nee, it's Catherine. I don’t think Lucy’s back until tomorrow or maybe the next day.”

  “Jah, that’s right. What’s wrong with Catherine?”

  Adeline got down from the buggy. “Just a cold, or the flu. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but I sure hope Lucy didn't catch it before their travels.”

  “You came all the way here for bread?”

  “I know it’s a bit weird.” While they talked, she wondered who the Englisch girl was. Had he been flirting with her? From the beaming look on the girl’s face, it seemed so. He was handsome, that was for certain. Lots of the girls in the community liked him, but more liked Joshua.

  “What kind of bread did you say?”

  “Pumpkin bread.”

  “It must be some pumpkin bread to make you travel all this way.”

  “Mamm thinks so. It’s not too far to come here. Anyway, sometimes when you’re sick your body calls out for a certain type of food and Catherine’s is calling out for pumpkin bread.”

  “I have never been sick enough to know about anything like that.”

  She finished securing her horse and wondered why he was still sticking around. After an awkward silence, he said, “I’m glad we ran into each other, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Jah?”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think it’s nice to use Hazel in the way that you did.”

  “What do you mean?” She could tell by his face he was very upset.

  “She’s fairly new here and she wants to make friends and I think you used her to do your bidding.”

  “What bidding? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t done anything.”

  “You forced Hazel to arrange it so Joshua would be alone with Nella at her onkel’s haus.”

  Embarrassed, Adeline looked down on the grou
nd. “Oh.”

  “It’s true?”

  Adeline nodded. "It's true that I asked her if she could. I didn't force her."

  “Hazel should not be taken advantage of like that. She has been through so much in her life. My family feels protective of her, you need to understand that.”

  “Jah, I’ve heard what she’s been through. I didn’t mean to do anything wrong.”

  “Well you did. You took advantage of her and I don’t want it to happen again.”

  “It won’t. I’ll never do anything like that again.” Adeline was very upset with Nella for asking her do it. But as Adeline’s father often said, she couldn’t blame anyone else; she had to take responsibility for her own actions. “I feel dreadful. Did I upset Hazel?”

  “Jah, you did.”

  “That’s the last thing I wanted to do.”

  “Maybe you should apologize.”

  “I definitely will.” She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t also suggest to apologize to Joshua. That would be too embarrassing. “Mamm and I are visiting her this afternoon, so I’ll definitely apologize then. Denke for bringing it to my attention.”

  “I shouldn’t have had to.”

  Adeline looked down at the ground again not knowing what to say. She felt like she was being reprimanded by her father which was odd because Jacob was not that much older than herself. “I didn’t think it would upset Hazel at all. It really wasn’t that big of a deal.”

  “Manipulating people is a big deal.”

  She raised her eyebrows. Manipulating? She wondered what Hazel had said to him and what Hazel said to Joshua, for that matter. Hopefully, she would find out that afternoon when she saw Hazel. “I’ll talk to Hazel and make amends. Don’t worry.”

  He nodded. “See that you do, or I’ll have to take things further. Bishop John and Ruth are very protective of Hazel also.”

  Now he’d made her mad. There was no need to threaten to tell the bishop. Besides, she’d done nothing wrong. It had seemed harmless to ask Hazel if she could send Joshua to Nella’s uncle’s place alone. Many women, and men for that matter, played matchmaker, there was nothing wrong with it.

  “Did you know that Englischer you were talking to just now?” Adeline couldn’t resist having a little dig at him.

  He moved uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Why do you ask?”

  “Her skirt was very short and she didn’t look like the kind of girl your parents would be happy with you talking to, or for that matter, neither would the bishop.”

  “I see what you’re trying to do.”

  “I’m just asking a question. Anyway, I’ve just gotta get this pumpkin bread back to my schweschder.” She flounced past him, no longer worried by what he thought. He sure was handsome, but he wasn’t nice like Joshua. The nerve of him, threatening to go to the bishop over something so trivial. If she truly had upset Hazel, she’d apologize to her and that would be the end of the matter.

  Chapter 10

  When Adeline got inside the farmers market, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Jacob climb into his buggy, and then she watched him leave. She'd never been good at confrontations. Sure, she’d had lots of squabbles with her two sisters, but that was different. She’d never before been made to feel like she was feeling right now, and it made her sick to her stomach.

  Doing her best to put the whole incident out of her mind, she headed to find the stall her mother had told her about—Gracie Stofzuz’s.

  She finally found the stall and Gracie had two loaves of pumpkin bread left. Adeline bought both of them, and told Gracie, “Catherine’s sick and all she wants to eat is pumpkin bread. I'm so glad you still have some.”

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Just a cold, we think.”

  “I hope these make her feel better.” She beamed a smile at Adeline. “I’ll slip a couple of cookies in for her, too, and one for you.” Gracie gave Adeline a wink.

  “Ach, denke.” Gracie’s kind gesture made up for the altercation she’d had with Jacob Fuller just moments before.

  Gracie handed over the brown paper bag, a sturdy one with string handles.

  “Denke, Gracie, and for the cookies also.”

  Gracie giggled. “Tell your schweschder I hope she gets better soon.”

  “I will. Bye.”

  “Bye now, Adeline.”

  Now Adeline was faced with the long drive home, pleased she had a cookie to munch on. She walked along the stalls looking straight ahead. The last thing she needed was to see something she wanted to buy because she had very little money left. Just as she reached the exit, a whiff of freshly ground coffee grabbed her attention. She stepped away from the bustling crowd, stopped, and inhaled deeply. Coffee was one of her favorite smells. She followed the aroma into the café and treated herself to a take-out coffee for the way home. The change from the bread exactly covered the money for the coffee. And a coffee would go so nicely with her cookie.

  When she reached the buggy, she climbed in and then arranged her coffee where it was safe from spilling but she could access it easily. Then Adeline made her way out of the parking lot. As she munched her cookie, listening to the rhythmic clip-clopping of her horse’s hooves, she understood why many people found peace in solitude. The silence soothed her. If she ended up living alone one day, it wouldn’t be so bad.

  Glancing down at her coffee, she figured it would’ve cooled enough to take a sip. When she saw a smooth patch of road ahead, she carefully drank a little. If she got coffee down her dress she’d have to change it before they went to visit Hazel and her mother. Monday was washing day and since it was Saturday, she only had one clean dress—her best dress—and she was saving that for Sunday.

  When she arrived home, she was pleased that she didn’t need to unhitch the buggy. They’d use it again when they went to Hazel’s. Adeline drained the rest of the coffee and placed the cardboard cup in the trashcan by the barn, and then she carried the bag with the pumpkin bread and Catherine's cookies into the house.

  She opened the door and saw Catherine lying on the couch wrapped in a blanket. “How do you feel?”

  “Okay. A little better today. Did you get my bread?”

  “Jah.” She held up the bag. “And Gracie put two cookies in for you.”

  “That was kind of her. Did you tell her I’m sick?”

  “Jah. Where are Mamm and Dat?”

  “In the kitchen getting something to eat, I think.”

  “How do you want your bread? Warmed up?”

  “Jah, with loads of butter, please. And could you make me a hot tea? I’ll have the cookies now, denke.”

  Adeline gave her the bag with the cookies and then headed to the kitchen forgoing the lecture to her sister about eating so much butter. She was sure it wasn’t good, but whatever she said to her sister went in one ear and out the other.

  “There you are,” her mother said when she walked into the kitchen. Her father and mother were both sitting at the kitchen table eating soup. “I thought we’d have lunch, and then we’d leave.”

  “Okay. I’ll heat up some of the bread for Catherine.”

  “While it’s heating you can eat your soup.”

  Adeline cut some pumpkin bread and placed it under the griller and then ladled herself some soup. She ate it quickly, so she could tell Catherine about what had happened with Jacob Fuller and what he’d said to her. She had to tell someone and she couldn’t tell her parents because they’d find out about Nella and her and Mary Lou all liking Joshua. That would be a mess!

  She sat there listening to her parents talk about what her father needed to do around the house—odd jobs and repairs and such. When Adeline had finished the small bowl of soup she’d served herself, she jumped up to take Catherine her warmed bread. Firstly, she spread it with lashings of butter and then she remembered the hot tea Catherine had requested. Hoping her sister wouldn’t remember about the tea, she took the bread to her.

  “Here you are.”

&n
bsp; “Denke. This looks good.”

  She sat down beside Catherine, looked back to make sure her parents were still in the kitchen, and then whispered, “You’ll never guess what happened today.”

  “What?” Catherine munched into her hot buttered bread.

  “I ran into Jacob Fuller at the markets and he told me off for involving Hazel in getting Joshua to Nella’s onkel’s.”

  “What’s it got to do with him?”

  “He said Hazel was upset or something.”

  “About?”

  Adeline sighed. “I suppose it was wrong to get someone else involved and I didn’t want to. I only did it because I wanted to keep Nella happy. I’ll talk to Hazel today and find out why it upset her so much.”

  Catherine swallowed what was in her mouth. “Good idea.”

  “And, Jacob was a bit mean and kind of threatened that he’d tell the bishop what I did.”

  Catherine’s eyes opened wide. “Nee!”

  “Jah, and it wasn’t even that big of a deal, so I said something about him speaking to an Englisch girl. I saw him talking to her when I pulled up at the markets.”

  Catherine giggled. “He wouldn’t have liked that.”

  “He didn’t.”

  “He should keep out of things.”

  “I guess he was only being protective of his schweschder-in-law. She has been through a hard time.”

  “With her mother being in a mental home?”

  “They don’t call it that these days, but jah. She was only there for a short while, but she’s not a well woman and she and Hazel have been through a lot because of Hazel’s vadder. Her mother still doesn’t mix very well with people. That’s why Mamm’s trying to befriend her.”

  Catherine sighed. “Mamm’s so good. I wonder if I can be like that someday.”

  Adeline giggled. “You will be. Just eat your bread.”

  “Well, if you stop talking to me I will.”

  Adeline leaned over and kissed Catherine on the forehead and Catherine pulled away. “Stop.”