“I can find the time,” she said, her facing turning red. “And I promise I won’t stay in your bedroom longer than necessary.”
Ben chose the moment to stick his head in the kitchen doorway. “Is supper ready?”
Joseph smiled. “Almost.”
“Oh, good. I’m hungry.” Ben took his usual place at the table.
Arlene turned from the kitchen counter and asked, “Ben, do you get hugs from your dad when you need them?”
Ben snorted. “Yah, I guess so. I faintly remember my mamm giving them to me too.”
“She did?” Arlene said, taking a loaf and slicing it. She brought the food to the supper table and looked down at Ben for a second.
“Oh no. You’re not giving me one.” Ben pulled back. “I’m too old for hugs.”
Joseph stifled a laugh, and Arlene’s mouth worked soundlessly again.
“Just ignore him,” Joseph told her. “He is almost a teenager. It’s not personal.”
She went back to the counter to slice more bread. “I’m confused. I’m going in circles.” Arlene’s knife cut the air a few times for emphasis. “You hug me, you criticize me, and then you praise me. I’ll be passing out soon.”
“Please don’t pass out until after supper,” Joseph teased.
Arlene drew a few rapid breaths and fanned herself with one hand.
Joseph shook his head, and Ben grinned. “You two are the strangest people I have ever seen.”
“That’s why we should wed each other,” Joseph suggested. “See, you’ve hit the nail on the head.”
Arlene paused her fanning. “Should do what?”
“Don’t worry,” Joseph told her. “Let’s just eat. I’m starving.”
The glow returned to Arlene’s face. She transferred the bread to a tray, and with a flourish, she set it on the table. A moment later she was in her chair.
“Let us pray,” Joseph said. “Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom…”
After the prayer, Joseph started heaping his plate with food. Arlene spoke up. “This casserole should have had a layer of cheese on top, but there was only a little in the house. It didn’t go far.”
“It looks goot to me!” Ben declared.
“I agree,” Joseph seconded, helping himself to a large portion. “Everything looks perfect, Arlene, but feel free to shop for the groceries you need from now on.” He turned to his son. “So tell me how you’re coming with the weeds in the back greenhouse.”
Ben shrugged. “I only had a chance to work on them after school, but I got over half of the eggplants hoed.”
“That’s goot.”
Looking over at Arlene, Joseph asked, “So did your daett or brothers ever help with the dishes?”
Arlene gasped. “Don’t tell me you plan to help me with the dishes!”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Of course not! There were plenty of us girls to do that.”
“But surely he helped your mamm when the kinner were younger.”
Arlene didn’t appear convinced. “I doubt it. It’s just not proper.”
“You will have to learn our ways now, Arlene. When I wash dishes with you, it will be very proper.”
Ben looked at his daett and then at Arlene. “If this is getting… um…gooey-gooey, I’m leaving.”
A smile played on Arlene’s face.
“See? We’re making progress,” Joseph told her.
Ben made a face. “I’m still leaving.”
“Do you think this will work?” Joseph asked, winking at Ben.
He winked back. “Maybe?”
NINETEEN
“Be ready at five o’clock next Friday night, and we’ll eat supper afterward,” Isaiah had told Esther when he helped hitch Biscuit to her buggy the evening of the barn raising.
It was now Friday and nearly five o’clock, and Esther was racing around the house in her white apron. What was she supposed to wear for whatever she was getting ready for? She was in her everyday dress, so Isaiah would simply have to wait if he expected her to wear something nicer. And the food? Would supper have to wait on the stove while Isaiah did whatever he was planning? Why didn’t men explain themselves?
Maybe Isaiah had prepared another speech praising her, like the one he had spoken at the barn raising? She gasped at the thought. Or maybe he was bringing her flowers…even roses? Esther laughed. No Amish minister would ever be caught with a bunch of flowers in his hand, let alone standing with them at a woman’s front door. Whatever surprise Isaiah had in store, the mysterious instructions held plenty of promise.
The sound of Isaiah’s buggy wheels pulling in her driveway broke into her thoughts.
Esther placed the lid on the bowl of mashed potatoes and pushed them to the back of the oven. She peeked out the kitchen window, but there was no sign of him. She heard voices outside, though, so Diana must have raced to greet Isaiah. At least the little girl was caught up in the evening’s unknown plans. For once Diana hadn’t invited Joseph for supper when they had been around him during the week. Esther hadn’t told Joseph about Isaiah’s mysterious instructions tonight, but Diana had no such inhibitions.
“Isaiah has a surprise for us on Friday night,” Diana had sung out.
“Another speech?”
Esther had turned all sorts of colors. Blushing was another downside of being praised in public by the man you planned to wed.
Joseph had seemed pleased, though. She was too, if she faced the truth. Her heart had warmed under Isaiah’s public words, along with her bright red face. But had the embarrassment been worth it? That was the question, and she was to blame for whatever the answer was. Isaiah would never have gone to such lengths if she hadn’t talked about wanting to fall in love with him.
Esther tiptoed to the front window and sneaked a look around the drapes. Isaiah had Diana up on his buggy seat and was in an animated conversation with her. He gave Diana the reins to Echo and turned to head toward the house. Esther ducked out of sight and stilled the sharp intake of her breath.
A few moments later, when Isaiah knocked on the front door, Esther jumped. What was wrong with her? She had turned into a nervous teenager. She pasted a smile on her face and opened the front door.
“Goot evening, Isaiah.”
He grinned. “Ready to go, I see.”
“If only I knew where I was going. I’m in my apron. Will that do? And what about supper on the stove?”
“We’re just going for a little drive in my buggy,” he said with a warm smile. “If you don’t object, that is. Diana seems all for it.”
“I’d love to.” Esther wiped her hands on her apron. “But how long will this take?”
“As long as you wish,” he said with a mischievous grin. “But we won’t go far. Maybe a ride along the ridge on Highway 5 back toward Little Falls.”
“Don’t blame me if supper gets cold.”
“Esther, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“Will this be as nice as your speech at the barn raising?” she asked. His face reddened above his beard.
“I think so. I hope so.”
“Goot. Then let me check on the food, and I’ll be right out.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he said, turning back toward his buggy.
Esther hurried into the kitchen and slid several of the bowls into the oven. The others she left on the stove top where the heat could reach them. She then raced out to the buggy and joined Isaiah on the seat with Diana between them.
Isaiah winked at her.
“Giddyap!” Diana shouted, still holding the reins.
Isaiah had his hands over Diana’s, allowing her to help direct Echo as they went down the driveway and pulled to a stop at Highway 5.
“Now we want to look either way,” Isaiah told Diana, “to see if there’s any traffic coming. Can you do that?”
Diana peered around Isaiah’s arms on each side and sang out, “There’s nothing coming.”
“
Then let out the reins,” Isaiah instructed, and Diana complied with a look of rapture on her face.
Echo trotted easily along the ridge, and Diana rocked from side to side in rhythm to his hoofbeats. “Where are we going?” she eventually asked.
“Maybe we’ll go until the road begins to slope down to the valley,” Isaiah said. “We have to get back soon to your mamm’s delicious supper.”
“I want to ride all the way into town,” Diana said, pouting a little.
Isaiah laughed. “I’m afraid we can’t tonight, but maybe I can take you the next time I drive into Little Falls on errands.”
“Oh, would you?” Diana beamed.
“I certainly can.” He glanced at Esther. “If it’s okay with your mamm.”
Esther nodded, while Diana peered up at him. “Do you grow things like Joseph does?”
“No, I keep cattle, and they eat grass and grow big. That’s not quite the same thing as what Joseph does.”
“Do you do anything else?” Diana asked.
Isaiah chuckled. “Well, there’s the farm to keep up, hay to make, and plowing for the acres I have in crops. And then there’s a chicken coop out back of the barn—and we could get some rabbits for you, if you liked that.”
“Rabbits don’t let you catch them,” Diana said. “Joseph said they’re wild by nature, and that the Lord made them so. He said we should just watch them and not try to pick them up. Joseph keeps his rabbits inside a fence. No rabbit can get through a wire fence. Did you know that?”
“I suppose I did,” Isaiah allowed. “That’s why you keep tame rabbits in wire cages. Did Joseph tell you about tame rabbits?”
Diana shook her head.
“Tame rabbits aren’t just brown like the wild rabbits Joseph has. Tame ones come in all kinds of colors. You can get white ones or black ones, or black-and-white ones, or brown-and-white, or gray-and-black, or—”
“Are any of them orange like Joseph’s roses?” Diana interrupted.
Isaiah laughed again. “I’m afraid not. Unless there are rabbits I haven’t seen, which is possible.”
Diana regarded him for a moment.
“Do you know what those mountains are over there across the valley?” Isaiah motioned with his hand.
Diana shook her head.
“They are called the Adirondack Mountains, though they aren’t really big mountains. Out west the mountains are so high you have to tilt your head to see the tops.” Isaiah demonstrated with his beard lifted high off his chest.
“Have you seen them?” Diana asked.
“Yep. With my own eyes. I worked out in Oregon one summer with a wheat harvest, back when I was young, spry, and adventurous.”
“I didn’t know that,” Esther said with interest.
“That’s because you don’t know everything about me.”
A smile flickered on Esther’s face. “That sounds interesting. I’ve never been out west. How is it?”
“Wunderbah. I’ll have to take you sometime.”
“Can I go too?” Diana piped up.
“Certainly.” Isaiah patted Diana on the head.
They continued on for several more minutes before Isaiah spoke up. “Well, I suppose we should turn back. Your mamm’s supper is getting cold, I’m sure.”
“I want to go on,” Diana protested.
Isaiah frowned. “Sorry. We can’t tonight, but we should do this more often. Don’t you think?”
Diana’s head bobbed up and down.
After a quick glance over his shoulder, Isaiah took the reins into his own hands and expertly spun Echo around on the road.
“That was fun,” Diana chirped. “Do it again.”
“Then we’d be going the wrong way!” he said, pretending to be shocked.
“Well, you could turn around again.”
“You are too smart for you own goot,” Isaiah chided, and the two laughed together.
Esther glanced away to hide her tears. This was Lonnie’s child, and Isaiah handled Diana tonight as if she were his own—with the same deftness and confidence that a real daett would display. She hadn’t known how badly she wanted this to happen.
Isaiah smiled down at Diana and asked, “Did you know that Indians once lived on this land? Big, tall Indians who could run like the wind and hunt with bows and arrows?”
“What are Indians?” Diana asked.
Isaiah hesitated for a second. “They were the people who lived here long before the settlers from Europe came over in their ships. They lived off the land and moved about with the seasons. They didn’t build homes and businesses the same way we do.”
“Did they have tame rabbits?” Diana asked.
Isaiah laughed. “I think not. They shot the wild ones with their bows and arrows and made them into stew for supper.”
“Why does Mamm never make rabbit stew?” Diana glanced over at Esther.
“Maybe she should,” Isaiah suggested. “I could shoot one with my gun, and we could have rabbit stew like the Indians did.”
Diana bounced up and down on the buggy seat. “Let’s do that for supper next Friday night.”
“Sounds like fun to me,” Isaiah agreed. “But I’m afraid rabbits aren’t in season just now.”
“What is in season?” Diana asked.
“That’s when you can legally hunt,” Isaiah told her.
“I can buy one from Deacon Daniel’s son. They raise them,” Esther suggested.
“That would be great!” Isaiah proclaimed. “In the meantime, in preparation for the next open season on rabbits, we should get into form and practice with a bow and arrow like the real Indians did. Do you think you could hit one?”
Diana looked up at him. “Can I really shoot a rabbit with a bow and arrow?”
Isaiah wrinkled up his face. “Well, you could learn to do it.”
“She would love a bow and some arrows.” Esther jumped into the conversation again.
Diana joined the chorus. “I want to shoot a bow and arrow! And I want to shoot a rabbit!”
Isaiah gave Esther a quick glance. “Sounds like you have a tomboy.”
“What’s a tomboy?” Diana chirped.
“Now I have gotten myself into deep waters,” Isaiah said with a sigh.
“You have been wunderbah tonight,” Esther whispered in his ear. She gave his arm a quick squeeze and smiled down at Diana. “A tomboy is a girl who does things other than cooking in the kitchen and washing clothing, which is what most girls do. So a tomboy is a very nice thing to say about a girl.”
Isaiah nodded his agreement. “So Diana, how about if I bring you a bow and some arrows next Friday night? We can practice in the backyard. I’ll also bring over a rabbit on Thursday when I go to town to save your mamm a trip over to Daniel’s place.”
“That would be so wunderbah of you,” Esther told him.
“Goody, goody.” Diana bounced up and down on the seat. “I will get to shoot a bow and arrows in our backyard.”
Isaiah’s beard jerked up and down a few times, even though he attempted to hide his laughter. Arriving at Esther’s house, he turned in the driveway and parked by the hitching post.
“Thank you,” Esther whispered to him before she climbed down.
Isaiah said nothing, but Esther was sure his eyes were moist as he helped Diana down.
She gave him a sweet smile and waited until he had tied Echo to the hitching post before she took his hand. With Diana’s in her other one, they headed toward the house.
Was this what falling in love felt like? She didn’t know, but her heart pounded with joy tonight.
TWENTY
On Wednesday morning of the following week, Esther drove her buggy into Willis and Beth’s driveway and parked beside the barn. She climbed down, then helped Diana down.
“Can I run and play?” Diana asked.
“Yep, off you go.” Esther gave the girl a quick hug before Diana raced off toward the house.
Biscuit whinnied, his ears perking up when other horse
s trotted into the driveway and pulled up alongside him. She had timed her arrival at the sewing gathering in hopes of avoiding any undue teasing from the women—all of whom surely remembered the attention Isaiah had drawn to her at his barn raising some two weeks ago and with his Sunday sermon on the godly Proverbs 31 woman.
“Was Isaiah singing your praises again this morning?” One of women had asked during the meal on Sunday.
She had flushed, even though Isaiah hadn’t looked at her the whole time he spoke that morning. He had fixed his gaze instead on the congregation. She had been married to a minister before, but she had never dated a minister—which was apparently something else entirely. Or was dating a minister while falling in love with him the problem? She hadn’t expected any of this.
Esther hurried to the other side of the buggy and undid the tugs. Before she threw them over Biscuit’s back, Dorrine’s buggy drove past her. Dorrine’s three sons were at the open door, ready to jump down when their mamm came to a stop.
“Howdy, Jason,” Esther called to the oldest one.
Jason waved back with a smile on his face as he leaped to the ground.
Wouldn’t it be wunderbah if Jason chose Diana as his beloved someday? The thought raced through Esther’s mind as she whipped the tug over Biscuit’s rump so hard the horse flinched.
“Sorry,” Esther told him, patting his back. “I’m a bit distracted at the moment.”
“What are you muttering to yourself?” Dorrine asked from a few feet away.
Esther gave her friend a wry look. “Just chewing myself out for being distracted.”
“And what is distracting you?” Dorrine took a sly glance around. “I don’t see Isaiah.”
Esther tried to smile. “He isn’t here,” she said as she led Biscuit forward.
Dorrine giggled. “I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing a minister in love in…well, I don’t know for how long. Maybe never, but it’s a wunderbah sight. Even John had to chuckle over Isaiah’s sermon on Sunday. All about the virtues of a godly woman, while you were sitting right in the room. Every one of his words fit you exactly. And right after having sung your praises at the barn raising!” Dorrine stifled her giggles as another woman passed and waved to them.
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