Annie felt a sense of purpose. She hurriedly filled a thermos with coffee and placed two warm cinnamon rolls on a plate. With peace offerings in hand, she headed out to the shop to talk with Jacob, a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach as she approached. She heard the ring of steel against steel as she neared the shop door. Annie paused at the threshold to observe Jacob work.
With royal blue shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms and a leather blacksmith’s apron tied about his neck and his waist, Jacob held the piece of metal within the tongs, examining it from every direction. Annie didn’t think he noticed her as he fired up a propane blowtorch, held it against the piece of iron, before turning off the torch and then transferring the glowing metal back onto the anvil. He raised his hammer and banged the iron into shape. Suddenly, as if he sensed her presence, he looked up and without a smile set down the metal, tongs and hammer. He stepped away from the anvil and gave a polite nod.
“Annie.” He had taken off his hat and hung it on a wall peg, and his dark hair looked a bit mussed as if he’d run his fingers through it.
She offered him a tentative smile, raised the thermos and plate. “I brought you coffee and cinnamon rolls.” She held her breath, expecting him to refuse her offering.
A gleam entered his golden eyes. “Homemade?”
She gave him a genuine smile. “Is there any other kind?” She approached and handed him the plate. “May I pour your coffee?”
Watching her carefully, he inclined his head. “I didn’t expect this.”
“I know I haven’t been in to talk with you,” she began as she unscrewed the cap and filled his cup. She kept her eyes on the steam wafting from the hot brew as she extended it toward him.
“You came to talk?” he asked as he accepted the drink. “About what?” He appeared interested as he sipped the coffee.
Annie looked away in a sudden rush of uncertainty. Then she forced herself to look straight into his eyes. “I owe you an apology,” she began confidently. “You were nothing but kind to me after Dat had his accident, and I was rude and ungrateful—” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks but met his glance head-on. “I’m sorry. I am very grateful for what you did for Dat. We all are. The Lord can’t be happy with me.”
He didn’t laugh, didn’t smile. He considered her as if he were searching the depths of her soul, and she shifted uneasily. “No apology needed,” he finally said. He drank from his cup again.
“Ja, there is,” she said. She wanted them to be friends like they were when they were children.
Jacob picked up a frosted cinnamon roll and viewed it from every angle. “This would be a gut apology if I needed one,” he said before he took a bite. She watched him chew and swallow with great enjoyment. “Fortunately, I don’t need one.”
Annie watched him with confusion. She was surprised that he had brushed off her rudeness. She felt the tension within her ease, wondered why she was relieved and why making friends with Jacob should matter to her so much.
He took another drink. “How did you know how I like my coffee?”
She felt the focus of his golden eyes on her. “I saw you make it for yourself one day.”
He looked surprised but pleased. “Do you want a cinnamon roll?”
She shook her head. “Nay, I brought them for you.”
“I’m happy to share,” he said with a smile, and Annie felt her heart beat rapidly. He extended the bun but she shook her head. “Will your vadder be coming in today?”
“Ja,” she said. “He slept late this morning. He will be over later. It was nice of you to ask him to come. But it won’t be easy having him here when you’re trying to get work done.”
“Has he been underfoot in the house?” Jacob jumped up to sit on the top of the worktable.
His easy movements drew Annie’s attention to his muscled arms and long legs. “Nay. Dat has no wish to interfere with our housework. But the shop—that is his place. He is bound to give advice—some of it unwanted.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Annie. I learned a lot from your vadder. I spent hours taking his advice. It will be a pleasure to have him here.”
“And he will love being here again. His heart has always been with forging metal, more so than with farmwork.”
Jacob nodded. “He has your brothers to handle the farm for him. It is a gut arrangement.”
Silence reigned for several seconds, and Annie began to feel self-conscious.
“You know Jed and Sarah are happy together,” he said suddenly, the non sequitur startling her.
“Ja.” She blinked, felt her face burn. “Their marriage is God ordained.”
“You believe that?” He eyed her skeptically over his cinnamon roll.
“Ja, I do.” She examined him without embarrassment. “Why do you doubt it?”
“You were Jed’s sweetheart.”
“For a short time,” she said, feeling a little pang at the memory, “but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Jacob sipped from his coffee and set the cup down on the table beside him. “Last Monday, during the harvest, I saw you watching him. It brought you tears.”
Annie reached up to finger the string on her prayer kapp. “I know I shouldn’t, but I was wishing I had someone, too, that I could be as happy as Jed and Sarah, and Noah and Rachel.” She bit her lip. “I hope to marry...” she trailed off. She had no business telling him about her plan to marry an older church member, to have a happy marriage like Charlotte had with Abram Peachy.
“You hope to marry whom?” he prompted softly.
Embarrassed, she looked down at her shoes. “I’ve decided it would be best for me to marry someone older within our church district. Someone like Abram Peachy.”
“Abram is married to Charlotte.”
She gave him a look. “I know. I merely want to have a family like Charlotte does.” To have someone accept me for who I am, to look at me with quiet love and contentment.
“And you believe that you will find happiness by wedding an older man?” His voice was soft.
Annie nodded. She would care for her husband, enjoy a safe kind of peaceful affection. She would know that with him, she’d never have to worry about a broken heart. And as time went on, her fondness for him would grow into a deep, abiding love. She was silent as her mind raced with images of her future.
“Annie.” Jacob’s deep voice drew her from her thoughts. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head, feeling foolish. “Nay. I am fine.” She felt suddenly uncomfortable for all she’d revealed to him. “I should go back to the haus. I have work to do.” She gave him a slight smile. “Dat will be out after breakfast.” She turned to leave.
“Annie—”
She stopped and spun around.
“Your dat, he is all right?”
She was pleased by his concern. Her discomfort eased. “He is worried about his medical expenses.”
“We will raise the money.” Jacob set down the plate and pushed off the worktable.
“I know, but it worries him still. He feels that he made a grave error in trying to fix the roof.”
“We all make mistakes. He was doing a gut thing—that is never a mistake.”
“Danki, Jacob,” she said. He raised an eyebrow in question. “For helping Dat,” she added. She turned to leave.
“Annie,” he called. She paused and faced him. “I sincerely doubt the Lord is angry or upset with you.”
She blushed. She didn’t know what to say. So she remained silent as she hurried to escape his intense regard and startling words.
* * *
The women of the community met on Wednesday to plan a fund-raiser dinner for Horseshoe Joe. Annie, her sister Barbara, and Mam sat in Katie Lapp’s gathering room, listening to the others talk.
“We can do a breakfast or supper,” Alta Hershberger said. Alta was Annie’s aunt, whose late husband had been Mam’s brother. The woman was kind but a bit of a busybody. She had two daughters, Mary and Sally, and it was Alta’s deepest wish to see each of her girls settled with a husband and family.
“Supper would be best, I think.” Mae King jotted down some notes on a small pad. “Fried chicken? What else?”
“The English love chicken and dumplings. We could make that.” Josie Mast sat in the chair next to Annie’s. She raised her cup of tea to her lips, took a sip.
“We should keep it simple, but we do need to consider who will come and what the English like to eat,” Katie said as she entered the room with two plates of cookies. “Rachel made these,” she murmured as she extended the plate to Annie and her mother.
Annie and Rachel exchanged looks across the room. Rachel winked and gifted her with a smile.
“Do you think dinner is the best way to go? We can serve breakfast with muffins and pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast.” It was Charlotte Peachy who spoke up.
“It would be easier, I suppose,” Mam said.
“I think we should do a supper first, then later do a breakfast,” Nancy King said as she rose to grab a small plate on which she put three of Rachel’s homemade cookies.
There were fifteen women in the room. They had a brief discussion on the merits of hosting a supper versus a breakfast. Annie watched the women with a small smile. Nancy King caught her eye, and her lips curved up in shared amusement.
The women’s conversation stopped abruptly when Samuel and his twin sons entered the room. The silence seemed deafening to Annie.
Samuel looked at his wife. “A meeting?”
Katie nodded. “To discuss the fund-raiser for Horseshoe Joe.”
Samuel appeared pleased. “A supper?”
Annie was conscious of Jacob and Eli, standing behind their father. To her dismay, Annie found her interest taken up mostly with the dark-haired twin with the stunning golden eyes. “Supper or breakfast—we’re trying to decide.”
“Why not do a supper first?” Samuel suggested. “Hold it on a Friday evening? The English enjoy eating out on Friday nights.”
Jacob stepped forward, and Annie got a good view of his handsome face. He towered over his father by five inches. Eli was as tall as Jacob, but there the similarity in their appearances ended. “Jacob. Eli,” Annie dared to speak up. “What do you think we should do—a supper or a breakfast?” She felt a flush of warmth as Jacob studied her as he mulled it over. When he didn’t answer immediately, she turned quickly to focus on his fraternal twin, but Eli was busy discussing the merits of whether or not to host a supper with her sister Barbara.
After much discussion, the community women decided to hold a chicken supper the following week on a Friday night. Samuel and his sons left, and Annie was able to relax and plan the dishes her family would contribute.
Soon, Mam and Barbara were ready to leave. Annie stood and finished a conversation with Rachel and her sister-in-law Sarah. “We’ll bring the desserts,” Sarah said and Rachel agreed. “Sarah loves to bake, and she’s good at it.”
Annie nodded. “So are you,” she said. She smiled at Sarah. “I’ve had a piece of your chocolate cream pie,” she admitted. She no longer felt awkward in Sarah’s company. She had told Jacob the truth; she had come to accept Jed and Sarah’s marriage. Seeing them together no longer upset her.
As she left the house, Annie saw Abram Peachy helping his wife into their family buggy. “They are happy together—Charlotte and Abram.”
“Ja,” Rachel said from beside her. “I’ve never seen Charlotte happier, and she loves the children. Little Ruthie took to her from the start. It’s hard to believe how much Ruthie has grown. She’s nearly six.”
“There she is with her brother Nate,” Annie observed.
They stood silently for a moment, then Noah came out of the barn with Jacob.
“Time for home.” Rachel smiled at her husband as he approached.
Annie saw the way Noah looked at Rachel and the warmth in his wife’s expression as she regarded him with affection. They were fortunate to have found each other.
She watched as families departed, enjoying the view, feeling a bit wistful that she had no husband or children to share her life. Suddenly, she realized that she was no longer alone. Jacob stood behind and within a few feet of her. She glanced over her shoulder, then turned to face him. “Jacob.”
“Annie.” His lips curved upward. “Why are you standing out here all alone?
Because I have no one to call my own, she thought. “I’m enjoying the view.”
He shook his head as if he were disappointed. “Come into the haus. Your mudder and sister are still inside.”
Silently, she followed him in. “Mam, are we staying for a while?” Annie asked, conscious of Jacob next to her.
“Nay, ’tis time to leave.” Mam stood. “We have much to do for this fund-raiser. Katie, danki for everything.”
Jacob’s mother nodded. “’Tis my pleasure, Miriam. I will talk with you later to finalize the fund-raiser menu.”
Her mother glanced in Jacob’s direction as she, Annie and Jacob exited the house. “Jacob. It’s gut to see you again as always. How are things going in the shop?”
“Gut. Horseshoe Joe is an excellent teacher. I feel as if I’d never left.”
“Has he been behaving?” Mam paused on the front porch.
“Ja. It’s gut to have his company,” Jacob said. “I feel like a young boy again, learning how to tackle various jobs.”
“What kind of jobs?” Annie wanted to know. She was curious and in no hurry to leave.
“There is a certain skill in reworking an old horseshoe to extend its use,” he said as he peered out into the yard, before refocusing his attention on Annie. “He’s been teaching me how to create more traction on the bottom of an older worn horseshoe.” He smiled. “For your vadder, it’s an easy thing. I’ve become accustomed to the work now, though.”
Jacob seemed to enjoy his surroundings. It was clear that he loved his family. Earlier, his eyes had been soft as he’d looked about the gathering room, apparently studying all the ladies who had come to meet in his parents’ house. For a long minute, Annie hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him. As was the custom, he had hung up his hat when he’d come inside. He had retrieved his hat and held it by the brim. His dark hair was shiny and looked newly combed. He wore a maroon shirt and navy triblend denim pants, held up by dark suspenders. His shirtsleeves were rolled up slightly, revealing strong, muscled forearms.
“We’d better get home,” Mam said as she continued down the steps. “Peter is waiting for us. He has chores to do, and I know he’s eager to get started. He won’t leave your vadder alone.”
“Take care, Jacob,” Annie said softly as she followed her mother.
“I’ll be at the shop tomorrow,” he said. “Maybe I will see you then.”
Pleased by his parting words, Annie joined her mother and sister near the buggy. She climbed into the front seat and picked up the leathers. Mam sat up front on the other side, while Barbara took a seat in the back.
As if unable to help herself, Annie glanced toward the Lapps’ front porch. There Jacob stood, watching her. With a funny feeling in her chest, she waved and felt glad when he lifted a hand in response. Although she somehow managed to carry on an easy conversation with her sister and mother during the buggy ride home, she couldn’t get him out of her mind.
* * *
A week later, Jacob stood in the doorway of Abram Peachy’s barn, wondering how they were going to set up the tables for the dinner fund-raiser. He heard the rumble of an engine and stepped outside as a large flatbed truck was backing up to the barn. His father directed the vehicle into position, until with a call
of “ho!” he instructed the truck to halt.
Jacob was surprised by what the truck carried: long banquet tables and plastic chairs.
When the vehicle came to a complete halt, the passenger door opened and his brother Jed hopped out. He came to where they stood at the back of the truck. “Matt is on the volunteer fire department. The men wanted to help, so they offered us the use of these—no charge.”
Samuel looked pleased. “That is kind of them.”
The driver shut off the engine and climbed out of the vehicle. Matt was Jed’s construction-job foreman.
“What do you think?” he asked with a grin.
“We can certainly use these. Thanks,” Jacob said to the Englisher. He reached onto the truck and pulled off two chairs, which he leaned against the barn. Other available workers followed suit, hauling out the furniture and setting them with the rest.
As he worked to prepare the area inside the large fairly new space that was Abram’s barn and church-gathering place, Jacob thought of the women who would be arriving soon to ready the tables. He imagined Annie carefully spreading linens over every available banquet surface and then arranging each place setting with care. That was something he’d noticed about her whenever he visited the Zook farmhouse. Whether it was serving cookies and iced tea or cake and coffee, she took care in whatever she did, making a plate of goodies look nice or remembering what he liked in his coffee.
Annie. The way she was always in his thoughts, he was in dangerous territory. He mustn’t make the same mistake twice. He had loved her once, only to get his heart trounced. He couldn’t afford to fall for Annie a second time.
A buggy pulled into the barnyard and Annie stepped out. Jacob drew a sharp breath. Dear Lord, keep me strong. Keep me safe from loving Annie.
He watched her approach and felt a hard jolt. It was too late. He had fallen in love with Annie, and he didn’t know how he was going to get over her a second time.
Chapter Seven
Annie climbed out of her family’s buggy and then reached in for the box of tablecloths, plates, eating utensils and napkins. She turned toward the barn. “It looks like they’re just setting up the tables now,” she said to her sister.
Love Inspired March 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Wife for JacobThe Forest Ranger's RescueAlaskan Homecoming Page 7