Harvest of Hearts

by Laura Hilton

  That was almost reality. Spiritually, she was abnormally shaped. God had never intended her to be Amish. It must have been a fluke for her to have been born into an Amish family.

  Shanna pushed the thought away. Why was she even thinking about this stuff? She’d settled it long ago, for pity’s sake, so that she could enroll in college to earn her nursing degree. So that she could live and work in the real world. And wear real clothes. And…well, there were many other benefits of being Englisch.

  Yet those scrubs she had to wear to her clinical rotations could hardly be considered real clothes.

  Her stomach felt as if a whole flock of Canada geese had landed in it, honking, with wings flapping, as they did when they passed through during migration. It had to be the fault of that young man—the one who’d come out to her car and caused her heart to flip-flop like the bottoms of her sandals.

  Matthew Yoder.

  A good Amish name, for someone who appeared to be a good Amish man.

  As if she’d summoned him by thinking his name, the door opened, and Matthew strode into the room, heading straight for the key rack that hung on the wall. Not that there were many keys hanging there. Why would they need them, when they had absolutely nothing worth stealing? Well, Daed’s tools were valuable. But he was out there with them now, so Matthew would have no need to unlock the shop.

  She watched as Matthew took a long skeleton key from the key rack. The barn key. One of the doors there led up to a loft she’d never been allowed to enter. She didn’t know what Daed kept in there, just that he’d built stairs to replace the ladder leading up to it.

  Matthew palmed the key, then turned toward the door, moving with an even stride. Not once did he look in her direction.

  Had Daed said something to dispel the friendliness he’d shown her earlier?

  Mamm turned around. “Ach, Matthew. I didn’t realize that was you. Kum meet Shanna. She’s our oldest. Attends college up in Springfield.”

  Matthew hesitated by the door, then turned, his gaze skimming over her. “Welkum, Shanna.” His tongue didn’t trip over her name so much this time. And he didn’t indicate they had met in the driveway.

  “This is Matthew Yoder from Pennsylvania,” Mamm continued. “He came down in the swap I mentioned in my letter, where we traded buwe with a community in Lancaster. Matthew is looking for farmland hereabouts.”

  “I hope you can find some,” Shanna said. Farmland wasn’t readily available in this part of Missouri, as far as she knew. But then, she didn’t keep track of such things. She wasn’t in the market for land.

  Matthew grinned. “I have my eye on a piece not too far from here. Belongs to an Englischer, so the haus would need some work to be made suitable.”

  She knew that would mean taking out the electrical lines, removing the screens from the windows, and installing a woodstove, among other things. All silly rules. Why no screens? Okay, she knew the answer: to keep God’s view unobstructed. But, really. He could see through screens! And keeping the bugs out would hardly prevent people from going to heaven. Shanna shifted her feet to hide her shrug.

  “The barn isn’t adequate, so we’d need to have a barn raising to replace that, too,” Matthew went on, as if he hadn’t noticed her reaction. “But that’s if I get the property. I’m praying on it.”

  “Might not want to pray too long. Someone might buy it right out from under you,” Shanna quipped.

  “Then, that would be God’s will, ain’t so?” Matthew looked into her eyes and held up the key. “I’d best get this out to Levi.”

  Mamm put the apple she’d just peeled in the bowl beside her. “Tell him that Sha—his daughter is home.”

  So, Daed had forbidden them to mention her name. Nausea roiled within her, and bile rose in her throat. Why was she subjecting herself to this? She shouldn’t have come. Maybe one of those pay-by-the-week establishments in Springfield would have room. If she could afford it.

  Matthew’s gaze stayed locked on her. “Ach, he knows. I’m sure he’ll be up in a bit.”

  His expression told her nothing about Daed’s intentions. The Canada geese resumed their wild flapping in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if it was due more to the compassion in those beautiful gray eyes or the news that she’d be facing Daed long before she was ready.

  Mamm picked up another apple. “Don’t worry yourself. He’ll let you stay.”

  Shanna wasn’t too sure.

  A thump sounded on the front porch. Then another.

  Shanna clutched her stomach, afraid she’d be ill.

  The next second, Daed stood in the doorway.

  Chapter 2

  When Matthew heard a sound, he turned and found Levi standing in the doorway. For a second, he thought Levi had grown impatient and come up to the house to get the key himself. But then, he saw Levi’s eyes, watched him seek out Shanna like a man who’d been too long denied a glass of cold water.

  The look disappeared as fast as it had come. Levi straightened his back, pulled the door shut, and stood there, legs spread, surveying his daughter like he’d stared at Matthew when the bishop had first brought him by the Stoltzfuses’ farm, asking if they could make room for one of the Pennsylvania buwe. Matthew had been certain Levi could see clean to his soul with that gaze.

  And now, that hard look was directed at the beautiful girl not three feet away from Matthew. He frowned, pocketed the key, and slipped past Levi. He reached the door as Levi said, “You think you’ll find a welkum here?”

  Matthew stepped outside, shutting the door firmly behind him. He should go finish staining the table he’d been working on instead of eavesdropping on a conversation that didn’t involve him, didn’t concern him, and didn’t affect him.

  Well, maybe it concerned and affected him—a little. That depended on Levi’s decision.

  Shanna. He let the name play over in his mind as he walked the length of the porch to the steps. He’d never heard that name before. It certainly wasn’t common in his Amish district. But it was pretty. And it seemed to fit the woman, somehow.

  Nein, he wouldn’t stand there on the porch, listening as if he had a vested interest in the conversation going on inside that door. He went down the three wooden steps to the right side of the unfinished porch and headed across the circular gravel drive that separated the haus from the barn and the shed, where the carpentry shop was located.

  That was another thing wrong with the Englisch farm he’d looked at. The barn was too far away from the haus. Yes, the problem could be fixed with a barn raising. But Shanna was right. If he dawdled too long with the decision, someone else would snatch up the property. And it was the only piece of land for sale in the same district where his best friend, Jacob, resided. He’d like to stay in the area. Maybe he’d contact the realtor and take another look at the farm.

  Inside the shop, Matthew breathed in the combined scents of sawdust, lumber, and stain. He loved those smells. Good thing he’d landed in an Amish family that made their living by crafting quality furniture. He’d always enjoyed working with wood, but it’d been more of a hobby. His life had been centered around the land. And he had dreams for his own property. Dreams that included—

  A car door slammed, followed by an engine revving.

  Levi must have said nein.

  A mix of emotions flooded through Matthew. He moved to the doorway of the shop to watch Shanna drive out of his life.

  To his surprise, she stopped the car outside the door and rolled down the window. “Get in.”

  ***

  Shanna let the car idle as the Amish man stood there staring at her like she’d spoken in some foreign language. Okay, so she’d used Pennsylvania Deutsch, but she hadn’t been away from home long enough to forget her native tongue. Matthew Yoder should have understood her just fine.

  “Why would I want to get in?” Matthew moved out of the doorway and approached the car.

  Shanna smiled. “I have need of your brute strength.”

  “Is that so.�
�� Matthew’s lips curved in a crooked grin.

  “Jah. Daed said I could stay in the apartment.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “The apartment?”

  “It’s my onkel’s. He’s Englisch, and he wanted Daed to remodel an unused loft in the barn into an apartment, with electric and everything. The one above the cows.”

  Matthew looked at the barn, not twenty feet from where he stood. “You want to drive me to the barn?”

  His tone said, “What, are you out of your mind?” Now that she thought about it, maybe she was. Certainly, he had no reason to want to help her. She was capable of unloading her suitcases and boxes. After all, she’d loaded them by herself, carrying them down three flights of stairs from her dorm room, before she’d left campus that morning. She’d waited until the last minute before leaving, hoping for another option. Something other than going home.

  “I’ll meet you there,” he said.

  She forced her attention back to the topic at hand. His incredulity must have had nothing to do with her insinuated request for help but with her offer to drive him the short distance.

  Well, there was that. But he had no idea how many stairs she’d already climbed that day. Her legs threatened to cramp just thinking about facing more. At least this loft wasn’t high. And it was finished, so she’d have privacy. She’d dreaded the thought of sharing a room and a bed with her little sisters.

  Shanna backed the car up to the barn by the double doors, which were open, and then pushed the button to unlatch the trunk. When she stepped out of the car, Matthew appeared at her side.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the skeleton key. “Is this the key to the apartment?”

  Shanna shook her head. “Nein. That’s to Daed’s area. The apartment is right here.” She nodded to a door on the near left while pulling a key out of her pocket. She handed it to him and grabbed a box.

  “I’ll do the lifting.” Matthew took the box from her. “You get the door.” He handed the key back. “Unless you needed my brute strength to hold that big, heavy door open.”

  She laughed at his dry wit and unlocked the lightweight door. Matthew walked past her and climbed the short flight of stairs. There were only twelve steps, yet her legs ached at the sight of them.

  He stopped at the landing. “Wow, I had no idea this was in here. It’s a small haus, ain’t so? Bedroom, living room…no kitchen, though.” He put the box down on the living room floor and came back for another load. “You’ll be eating with the family?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t give Daed the chance to say much—except that I had to find a job for the summer and pay Onkel Micah for the electric I’ll be using. He’s the one who pays the bills for this apartment, since it’s against the Ordnung to have power. Daed had to get special permission from the bishop before he was allowed to remodel this loft. But Onkel Micah travels a lot; he and his wife drive all over North America in their little travel trailer, and they wanted this apartment for a home base. They won’t be back until the fall.” She looked around for something heavy with which to prop the door open.

  “I’ll get the boxes. You stay here.” Matthew loaded two more boxes into his arms and walked past her again. “So, this Onkel Micah used to be Amish? He wasn’t shunned?”

  Shanna nodded. “He left to marry my aenti Billie. She’s Englisch. And nein, he wasn’t shunned, because he hadn’t joined the church when he left.” Daed certainly showed more kindness to him than to his own daughter. He’d welcomed Onkel Micah home but then had virtually shunned her. Not fair. She ignored the pain by focusing on the man walking up the loft stairs. He was a heartthrob, for sure. Too bad he was Amish. She watched as Matthew disappeared into the living room, then reappeared a moment later.

  “I expected to hear something that would explain your name.” He trotted past her again.

  “Shanna? I was named after both my grossmammi. One was named Hannah, the other Sara. My parents kind of shoved the names together.”

  The knowledge made Shanna glad, even though her name was another reason she didn’t fit in the family. She was the only S. All her brothers’ and sisters’ names started with J.

  “Hmm. I never would have guessed.” He bumped the car door shut with his hip. “That’s everything in the backseat. You got much more in the trunk?”

  “A few more boxes.”

  Matthew grunted as he hefted one of them. “What’s in here? Books?” He headed up the stairs.

  “Textbooks, jah.”

  “Am I going to be hauling this all back down when school starts again?”

  Shanna grinned. “Are you offering to?”

  His long glance told her nothing, but he went out to the car and hoisted another box from the trunk.

  “I’ll take you to McDonald’s for a Caramel Frappé to say danki.”

  “Hmm. I’ve heard that term before. Caramel Frappé. Don’t tell me that you’re hooked on that stuff, too.”

  Too? Who else was hooked on it? Shanna tilted her head. “Well, it’s not a Starbucks Frappuccino, but it’s the closest thing to it in Seymour. I wonder if McDonald’s will let me have my old job back for the summer. Guess I should ask.”

  “Sounds like a foreign language.” Matthew shook his head but didn’t say anything else as he went back to the car for the last box.

  “I’ll unpack later,” Shanna said when he came back down. She shut the door behind him. “Can you go for a koffee now? I need to stop at the store for a few things.”

  “Do you need my brute strength for the shopping, too?” He adjusted the straw hat on his head.

  “Will my response determine your answer?”

  Matthew frowned. “I’ll need to give Levi the key he asked for and check with him before I go. He is my boss, after all.”

  Shanna closed the trunk and headed for the front seat. “Hurry back.”

  Matthew gave her another look she couldn’t decipher before he turned away.

  ***

  When Matthew entered the shop, Levi was putting the finishing touches on a chair. Matthew placed the key on the counter nearby, then hesitated. “I moved Shanna’s things into the apartment. She wants me to go into Seymour with her. Said something about going shopping and seeing about getting her old job back.”

  Levi grunted. “Never should have allowed her to take that job in the Englisch world. Gave her too many ideas.”

  “It happens.” Matthew shrugged. “Maybe she’ll come back to the faith.”

  “I pray so.” Levi picked up the key and pocketed it. “Danki for helping her. I guess you can go with her to town, if you’d like. At least I’ll know she’ll get home safely.”

  “She’ll be the one driving. Maybe you shouldn’t be so confident…?”

  “Hmm. Maybe so.” Levi looked up and grinned at Matthew. “Have fun. You can finish when you get back.”

  “Okay. If you’re sure.” Matthew went out, headed toward that little blue car where Shanna waited.

  “He said jah?” Surprise was evident in Shanna’s voice and her raised eyebrows. However, she didn’t elaborate. Instead, she waited as he climbed into the car next to her and then reached for the gray seatbelt. After eyeing it for a moment, he snapped it in place. He hated the tightness of these harnesses across his chest, but Englisch law required them.

  “He said go if I wanted to.” No need for her to know the part about seeing her safely home. He wanted to ask about the situation between her and Levi but decided it would be way too nosy. Some Amish fathers did cut off their children in rumschpringe if they ventured too far away from home base. And Shanna clearly had.

  His gaze skimmed over her lacy pink shirt and low-cut jeans. Her flip-flops looked like they must hurt her feet, the way they wedged a hard-looking plastic thing between each of her big toes and the toe next to it. But what did he know?

  Well, he knew that if he’d met her on the street, he never would have guessed her to be Amish.

  Most Amish girls didn’t stop wearing plain c
lothes during their rumschpringe.

  “Your mamm said you’re going to school in Springfield. What for?”

  “Nursing. I’m working on my degree. It’ll lead to a good job when I finish. At least, I’m hoping so. I still have another semester of school and then a semester of clinical rotations before I graduate.”

  He looked down and studied his stained fingers. “Why did you come home, then, if you’re in school?”

  “School lets out for the summer. All my friends were going on a medical mission trip to Mexico, but it cost a lot of money, and, well, I couldn’t exactly ask my family for donations. I earned some money toward the trip, but nowhere near enough to cover it, so I gave it to a friend who needed some.” There was a pause as she maneuvered her car around a washout in the dirt road, then picked up speed again. “I found a job for the summer in Springfield, but, you know, apartment leases require the first and last month’s rent, plus a yearlong agreement, plus a security deposit, and I couldn’t come up with all that, either. I have grants and scholarships to fund my education. Not that much extra money, you know? I had no choice.”