“That was a gut idea. Denki.” Sadie smiled, relaxing at his explanation and coming around to his side of the table. As she leaned to examine the map, her sleeve brushed against his. She traced a marking with her slender finger. “What does this symbol indicate?”
“That’s the pond.” Acutely aware he hadn’t been in such close proximity to a woman in ages, Levi was suddenly nervous. He didn’t want to intrude on Sadie’s personal space, so he sat as motionless as David had been when he demonstrated how to play Freeze Tag.
“Is this thing in the middle of the pond a duck?”
Levi chuckled. “That’s a caution flag, so the customers know to keep their kinner from wandering off to the other side of the barn. The printer duplicated my original sketch. I guess I should have asked David or Elizabeth to help with the drawing.”
Sadie giggled and stood straight again. Collecting the dirty plates from the table, she asked, “Now that I have the map, does that mean you’re not giving me a personal tour?”
Is she relieved...or disappointed? Levi couldn’t tell from the levity of her tone. Before he could say it was her choice, David spoke up.
“Aw, Daed, you promised we could show Sadie our farm and help you point out hazards she might not have in Pennsylvania.”
“David!” Elizabeth admonished. “You were supposed to be secret about that so Sadie doesn’t think Daed is too bossy.”
Levi cringed, but Sadie calmly replied, “That’s okay, Elizabeth, I won’t think your daed is being too bossy. I’ll think he just wants us to be safe.”
“We can’t be safe if we don’t help point out the hazards,” David reasoned.
Levi caught Sadie’s eye and shrugged. “It’s up to you.”
“Then jah, let’s take a tour of the hazards,” Sadie replied with a wink that caused Levi to grin from ear to ear. “You three go put on your coats while I finish rinsing the dishes.”
When Levi and the children had donned their outerwear and Sadie still didn’t come to the mudroom, Levi brought her jacket to her in the kitchen. Holding it up so she could slip her arms into it, he asked, “Are you going to be cold? This coat seems kind of thin.”
“I’ll be fine. Tomboys are tough,” she said as Elizabeth came into the room.
“Daed, you tied my scarf too tight. My neck is choking,” she complained, so Sadie loosened it for her before they finally set out on their trek.
Sadie was so inquisitive about the farm and so appreciative of the beauty of the landscape it seemed time stood still as the foursome made their way around the property. Since Levi’s break was already half-over, they didn’t get to cover the entire farm, but he showed Sadie a sizable section of the acreage—including the “hazardous” pond, “treacherous” rocks and the “precarious” run-down shack on his neighbor’s property—before she began to shiver. I knew that coat wasn’t warm enough for her. It’s too bad I donated my mamm’s clothing or I could have given Sadie her wool coat.
“Does anyone want a mug of hot chocolate?” she asked when they returned. The children said yes, so she directed them into the living room to warm up by the woodstove while she heated the milk. “Would you like some, too, Levi?”
He’d already taken twice as long as he usually took for a lunch break, but the afternoon had been so pleasant he wanted to draw it out. “Jah, please. While you’re making it, I’ll bring in more wood. I can hear your teeth chattering from here. I’ll get the fire roaring and then we can drink our cocoa in the living room.”
When he returned, there were two mugs and two plates holding thin slices of shoofly pie on the kitchen table. Sadie raised a finger to her lips and pointed to the living room with her other hand. “The twins couldn’t hold out until nap time. I’ll stoke the fire later. I don’t want to wake them—I brought the leftover pie from church and there’s really enough for two people. I was going to give it to the kinner, but...”
“Their loss is our gain,” Levi jested. When he pulled his chair away from the table, it loudly scraped against the floor. He and Sadie simultaneously stopped moving and cocked their ears toward the living room, but they didn’t hear the children stirring, so they took their seats.
With his fork suspended above the plate, Levi whispered, “I feel like we’re doing something we shouldn’t be doing.”
“Jah, this reminds me of when my brieder and I used to sneak cookies from the cookie jar when my mother’s back was turned.”
“I hope the kinner don’t catch us—we’ll get sent to our rooms without any dinner.”
“I could be the lookout while you eat your piece and then we can trade places,” Sadie joked and her muted laugh tickled her throat, which made her face go red and her eyes water.
“You okay?” Levi asked nervously. “Are you choking? Do you need water?”
“I’m fine,” she croaked, waving her hand. It took another moment for her to catch her breath, and when she did, she said, “Oh, neh. Look, my sleeve is all wet. I must have spilled hot chocolate. I hope my manners are better at Grace’s hochzich.”
“Ah, the hochzich. I forgot about that,” Levi flatly remarked. I tried to forget about it anyway. Ever since Leora died, weddings depressed him.
“You’re going, aren’t you? Because I’d like to ride with you if I may.”
“Jah. Unless there’s a blizzard,” Levi said. Without thinking, he muttered, “Sadly, there’s little hope of that.”
Sadie lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t want to go, either?”
“Either? Does that mean you don’t want to go? Why not?” He asked his questions in rapid succession.
“You tell me why you don’t want to go first.”
Levi stalled. He couldn’t express the real reason to Sadie, that weddings reminded him of all the hopes he and Leora once had for their life together. They reminded him of losing her. Of how she died. Of what he’d never have again, what he didn’t deserve to have: a wife. “Oh, er, it’s that they last all day and it’s hard on the kinner to miss their naps. They get cranky and then I worry they’ll misbehave,” he said and he meant it, too, even if that wasn’t the primary reason. “Why don’t you want to go?”
“I—I won’t really know anyone there. I haven’t even met the bride or groom yet.”
Was that really the reason? Sadie didn’t seem particularly shy. Regardless, etiquette required them both to be there, so Levi replied, “Then we should stick together. That way, you can help with the kinner and I’ll introduce you to everyone. How does that sound?”
“Not quite as gut as a blizzard, but I like it,” Sadie said and Levi didn’t know if it was her smile or the hot chocolate warming his insides like that.
* * *
Sadie whistled as she slid a blueberry pie from the oven and placed it on a tray. Viscous, deep purple liquid bubbled within the golden-brown lattice piecrust. It was customary for guests to bring food to Amish weddings, and when Sadie mentioned she didn’t know what to make, Levi had recalled he and the children had picked so many blueberries that summer he’d ended up freezing the surplus. When Sadie asked if that was a hint, he’d admitted blueberry pie was his favorite and told her that once she tasted Maine blueberries it would be her favorite, too. And he was right; the blueberries were especially plump and sweet. Content her pie appeared to have turned out beautifully, Sadie busied herself wrapping her gift—the two sets of bath and hand towels she’d bought when Levi took her to the nearest department store on Saturday evening. She’d helped Maria make so many bows her fingers flew into action and within a minute she topped the box with a large silver bow. After that, all she had left to do was straighten her prayer kapp and put on her coat.
She positioned the rocking chair in front of the window so she could catch sight of the buggy starting down the driveway. While she was waiting, she reflected on how smoothly the week had gone. She had established a balanced routine for the c
hildren. After breakfast and chores, she usually read them a Bible story. Then they’d examine the map and choose where they wanted to play or explore for the rest of the morning. Levi came home at lunchtime and afterward the children napped while Sadie took care of the dishes and spent quiet time in prayer or reading Scripture. When the twins woke, they’d all head outside to play again, and following that, they’d help Maria in the workshop until it was time for Sadie to prepare supper.
Maria said their visits were the best part of her day and insisted she wanted them all to spend Thanksgiving at her house, too. At first Sadie hesitated, knowing Maria lived alone with her mother, who was recovering from a broken hip, and that Maria’s aunt was visiting to help. The women probably had enough work on their hands. But Maria insisted the children’s presence would cheer her mother, and when Elizabeth and David overheard the conversation they pleaded with Sadie until she agreed to consult Levi about it.
To her surprise, he enthusiastically accepted the invitation, saying, “Otherwise, we’ll end up having buttered noodles for dinner. That’s one of the few things I know how to make.”
“I could make Thanksgiving dinner,” Sadie suggested before it occurred to her she was being presumptuous; perhaps Levi didn’t want to spend Thanksgiving with her.
“Neh. You cook for us every day. You deserve a day off and I think Maria truly wants to host us. Years ago she told Leora how quiet her house was at the holidays ever since her daed died and her bruder got married. He goes to his in-laws’ house in Unity for Thanksgiving and that’s too far of a trip for Maria’s mother to make while her hip is mending.”
As she rocked back and forth, Sadie reflected on how sensitive Levi was to Maria’s needs, as well as to her own. She was glad she could reciprocate by helping him mind the children at the wedding—and doubly glad because she figured taking care of David and Elizabeth would keep her mind off the fact that last year at this time, she’d prayed she’d be hosting her own wedding instead of attending someone else’s during this year’s wedding season.
A knock startled Sadie to her feet. She hadn’t seen or heard the buggy in the driveway yet and when she opened the door, she found out why: Elizabeth stood there, red-faced and sniffling, her hair hanging down to her shoulders and her face wet with tears. Levi stood behind her, one hand resting on her shoulder, the other holding a hairbrush, and David was behind him, hopping from one foot to the other.
Recognizing the problem at once, Sadie exclaimed, “Oh, gut, I was hoping you’d let me fix your hair instead of letting your daed do it for you today, Elizabeth. A hochzich is a special occasion and a maedel wants to look her best, even if she’s not the one getting married, right?”
Elizabeth wiped her palm across her pudgy cheek and gave a forlorn nod, so Sadie told her to go have a seat in the rocking chair.
“Sorry about this. She usually doesn’t mind that I can’t do her hair as neat as some of the other meed’s,” Levi whispered. “But today she—wow, that blohbier pie smells appenditlich.”
Sadie laughed at how easily distracted he was by the dessert. “I’d ask you to carry it to the buggy for me, but I don’t think I trust you with it.”
“That’s probably a smart move. How about if I carry this instead?” Levi picked up the gift and said he and David would have the buggy ready and waiting.
When Sadie and Elizabeth approached a few moments later, Levi jumped down to assist them into the carriage. “Your hair looks very pretty,” he told his daughter, even though her church bonnet was covering her head.
“Sadie braided it just like hers.”
“Hers looks pretty, too,” he replied, and even though Sadie knew he was forced to say it, she felt a flush of shyness.
“You both look your best and you’re going to act your best, too, right, kinner?” Levi prompted his children.
As it turned out, the reminder was unnecessary; David and Elizabeth didn’t so much as fidget throughout the long wedding service. The same couldn’t be said for Sadie. As much as she tried not to think about how much she wished she were the one taking her wedding vows, the longing gnawed at her like a hunger pang and she squirmed in her seat.
When the service ended, she was torn between helping the women prepare the food and supervising the twins and the other children in the designated playroom in the basement of the church. But Levi helped make the decision for her.
“Would you mind keeping an eye on David and Elizabeth while I help set up tables?” During Amish weddings in Serenity Ridge, as in Little Springs, after the service the men arranged tables and chairs around the periphery of the gathering room and the guests sat facing the center so they could see each other as they partook of the wedding meal.
Within an hour, Levi returned to where Sadie was encouraging two six-year-old girls to share a box of blocks with their brother while David and Elizabeth quietly pieced together a puzzle in the corner. Levi told Sadie dinner was being served and since the district was so small, they wouldn’t have to take turns to eat, the way guests usually did at the large Amish weddings in Little Springs. But he said the seats were filling fast. “If we scuttle upstairs before the rest of the eldre and kinner do, we can sit together as a familye, otherwise we might get split up.”
Sadie dropped her head to hide her blush, but Levi was so focused on signaling the twins to follow him upstairs he didn’t seem to realize he’d referred to Sadie as family. And in fact, eating together felt familiar, if not familial, since the foursome dined together every day at Levi’s house. By the time dessert was served, it was no longer an effort for Sadie to keep from dwelling on her status as a single woman or to push thoughts of courtship and marriage from her mind. Those disappointments were replaced by a sense of belonging, and she enjoyed the festivities more than she expected she would. It helped that several people stopped by their table to compliment Sadie on the blueberry pie she’d made.
“If you’ll excuse me for not waiting until the kinner are done eating, I’d better go get a piece,” Levi said. But he returned from the dessert table empty-handed, yammering, “I was too late. It was all gone.”
“All the dessert is gone?” Elizabeth fussed. She was finishing her second helping of filling—also known as stuffing—mixed with chicken, a wedding meal staple.
“Neh, just all of Sadie’s pie,” he replied. “There are plenty of other goodies, but my mouth was watering for a taste of that blohbier pie.”
“Maybe Sadie will make another one just for us,” David suggested, licking gravy from his spoon.
“Jah, we’ll pick more blohbieren,” Elizabeth volunteered.
“It’s not blohbier season until summer,” Levi reminded them. “Sadie is only here until Grischtdaag.”
Whispering audibly, David advised, “If you’re really nice and say please she might stay until blohbier season, Daed.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, suh,” Levi whispered back, also loudly enough for Sadie to hear. Although she knew he was only placating his child, Levi’s response tickled her heart. And just like that, she was thinking about romance again.
* * *
Levi didn’t anticipate staying at the wedding until the second meal, but it had been so long since he’d spent any time socializing that nearly everyone wanted to chat with him. He was glad to catch up on their lives, too. Recalling Sadie said she felt self-conscious as a newcomer, he made a point to introduce her to additional church members. Some of them tried to persuade her to join the young adults playing board games, but she declined. Figuring she felt obligated to help keep tabs on David and Elizabeth, Levi realized he ought to insist he could watch the children himself, but he didn’t. There was something about having Sadie at his side that kept at bay the dejection he usually experienced during weddings. Whether it was the zip in her eyes or the pertness of her smile, her cheerfulness was contagious and he reveled in it.
He’d hardly had time to ge
t hungry again before the smell of supper drifted downstairs to where he was standing with Sadie in the far corner of the playroom, chatting as they kept their eyes on the twins and the other children whose parents were upstairs.
“There you are!” the bride called as she approached them with Maria at her side. “I’ve been looking for you, Sadie. There’s someone I want to seat you with at supper.”
Levi was well aware of this matchmaking custom, but he’d taken it for granted Sadie would eat with his family again, even though he’d noticed a couple of Grace’s bachelor cousins trying to catch Sadie’s eye. Although Sadie had never specifically said she didn’t have a suitor, Levi figured if she was being courted she wouldn’t have left Pennsylvania, nor would Grace have been trying to pair her up—women had a way of knowing these things about each other.
“Denki, but I—I think Levi needs my help with the kinner, don’t you, Levi?” She nudged him with her elbow and looked sideways at him.
What did her expression mean? Was she asking his permission to eat with the others? That was ridiculous. He had the day off work; she should have it off, too. It occurred to him he was being selfish. He wanted to say that of course she should go eat with the others, but the words stuck in his throat.
“I’ll sit at Levi’s table and help him with the kinner,” Maria volunteered.
Aware he would offend both Sadie and Maria by indicating he’d hoped Sadie would eat with him, Levi did his best to sound convincing as he replied, “Denki, Maria. I’d really like your company. Sadie, you absolutely ought to go meet the young man Grace has paired you with.”
Maria beamed. “I’ll round up the twins. Have schpass, Sadie.”
Courting the Amish Nanny Page 5