Donovan smiled and plucked a leaf from the tree branch near him.
“Linda said you own the restaurant. It’s lunchtime. Aren’t you busy?” Jessie saw a lot of cars in the car park that she knew didn’t belong to guests.
Donovan waved a hand in the air. “I own it, I don’t work in it; I oversee it.”
“You don’t cook?”
“I can cook, but I’ve never cooked in the restaurant. My talents lie in other areas.” He gestured toward the seat. “Mind if I sit?”
“Please do.” Jessie moved over for him.
“We had another Amish girl here once.”
“Yes, Linda told me that.”
“Can’t remember her name now. She was a lot older. I don’t know why we call her a girl. More of a woman was what she was.” Jessie followed Donovan’s gaze and saw a man in a white chef’s outfit waving at him. “Looks like I have to go and do some overseeing.” He stood. “It was nice talking with you, Jessie.”
She watched Donovan walk away. There was no one like him amongst anyone she knew. He was handsome, and his confidence made him even more attractive. His hair was dark brown, longish at the top and cut short at the back. He was well dressed in a light colored long-sleeved shirt, dark pants and black soft-leather shoes.
Was Donovan Gott’s answer for her? She’d prayed for a husband and he came across her path. It wasn’t unknown that an Englischer would leave their world behind them to join the community. Everything was possible with Gott. Her best friend, Olive, had met an Englischer who had just joined the community. Once Jessie would’ve ruled out Englischers as potential husbands, but Olive found a soon-to-be husband in Blake, so Jessie was now open to all possibilities. Even though Blake and Olive weren’t married yet, it was only a matter of time.
How could she find out more about Donovan? Linda seemed nice, but she was a no-nonsense person who would not take kindly to speaking about Mrs. Billings’ son while they worked. Jessie did not have much experience with men although she knew enough to know that Donovan liked her; she could tell that in his eyes.
* * *
The afternoon passed swiftly, and Linda kept Jessie too busy to talk. It wasn’t until the next day when Michelle was working that Jessie learned more about Donovan. Michelle had worked for Mrs. Billings for two years and had recently reduced her hours because she was expecting a baby.
As they stripped the sheets off the beds, Michelle told Jessie, “He was getting married late last year, but all of a sudden he called it off. No one found out why. Vanessa was the name of his fiancée—she was heartbroken. She even got a hammer and broke every window in his car.” She leaned over as best she could and tucked the clean sheets precisely in at the corners.
Jessie’s mouth dropped open that someone would do such a thing. “She must have been upset.”
“He’s always got a new girlfriend.” She stood up straight. “I’ve just realized. I haven’t seen him with a girl in some months. Hmm.” She went back to making the bed. “Mrs. Billings said that you learn from me and Linda and then next week you’re on your own. I reckon you should concentrate on what we’re doing here and not think about the heartbreaker.”
“I’m not.” Jessie tried to concentrate, but could only think of Donovan and the fact that two women had warned her about him. Somehow, that only made him intriguing and she wanted to know more.
It was on the second day of her new job and Jessie saw Donovan again. She sat under the same tree for lunch and Donovan approached her.
“Two days, that’s a record. I’m glad to see you’re still here,” he said.
She giggled. “Don’t frighten me. I know Linda’s been here for years, and Michelle’s been here for two years.”
“Yes, but they’re two exceptional people: there have been many more who haven’t made it.”
“I hope I’m exceptional as well.”
He looked at her carefully. “I think you might be.”
Jessie giggled again, covering her mouth as she looked away. He sat down without waiting to be asked. She looked back at him and held his gaze while she experienced tingles rippling through her body. “I must go.” She wrapped the remains of her sandwich.
“Why? You haven’t even finished your lunch.”
She stood up. “I’m not hungry now.” There was something dangerous about him and that was exciting, but she knew she should stay away from him. She did just that and hurried away. A little voice nagged at her. If Olive had found her perfect man amongst the Englisch, might she too find her husband in the same manner?
Chapter 15
Throughout that week, each day had been much like the first for Jessie, except she hadn’t seen Donovan again. She regretted rushing away from him at lunch when she had. It would’ve been good to get to know him a little better.
On Saturday, she met Olive at the Coffee House.
“Jessie, there’s a reason I asked you to come here early before the other girls get here.” Olive Hesh lifted up her chin and tried to gain her best friend’s attention.
Jessie sucked chocolate milkshake up through the straw and looked at Olive’s concerned face. “I’m listening.” Olive shook her head. “What? I am listening, but not if you’re going to talk about Elijah again.” Jessie knew that now Olive had a firm marriage prospect in Blake, she wanted the same security for her. But, Jessie wasn’t so sure about Olive’s brother. He always seemed so distant and aloof.
Olive giggled. “What do you think about him?”
Jessie rolled her eyes and pinched her straw between two fingers. There was no way she could tell Olive that Donovan had been occupying her thoughts. “I told you before I think he’s very nice.” She didn’t want to tell Olive she’d once had a mad crush on Elijah, but he'd paid her no mind. If he hadn’t been interested in her back then, he wouldn’t be now.
“Nice? Nice in the way that you might be interested or nice in the way that he’s a nice person, but you’d never like him?” Olive studied her friend carefully.
After a brief exhalation, Jessie pushed her milkshake away and looked up. “I don’t know him that well.”
“You do so know him. We’ve all grown up together.”
“What I mean is he’s quiet and doesn’t say much.” Jessie hoped she hadn’t said too much. She’d known for a while that Olive wanted her to marry her bruder. Jessie had never told Olive she’d had to block him from her mind. That was a long time ago and those feelings had died.
“I know he’s quiet, but he’s a good person and would make a great husband. You two would be a perfect pair.”
Jessie looked out the window of the coffee shop to see their three friends walking up the street to meet them. “Here they are.”
Olive leaned back and looked out the window as well and waved to the three girls, Claire and Lucy and Amy.
“If he liked me, he’d do something about it.” Jessie shrugged her shoulders. “It’s clear he doesn’t like me or he would’ve done something about it a long time ago. I don’t know what you expect me to do.”
Olive grabbed hold of her hand. “Ach, Jessie, is that all that’s stopping you?”
Jessie frowned and shrugged. Their conversation came to an end when their three friends sat down. It was Saturday morning, and the five girls were all excited about their new jobs.
“I can’t stay long today; I’m working at two.” Lucy Fuller pushed some loose strands of dark hair back beneath her prayer kapp.
“How do you like your job, Lucy?” Olive asked.
“I love it, I’m working with the best people, and they have the most darling children.”
“So, you’re a nanny too, like Olive; I thought you got a job as a maid?” Jessie tapped her straw.
Lucy shook her head. “Nee, I only clean the house. They said they might give me a trial for the job when their nanny leaves in three months.”
“What about your job, Jessie?” Claire asked.
Jessie could not contain the smile that broke out across her
face. “I am working for a lady, Ramona Billings, who owns a B&B and her son has the large restaurant attached to it.”
“I’d guess that the son is single and handsome going by that look on your face,” Amy Yoder said.
“He is.” Jessie giggled while out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Olive wasn’t happy about her comment. “If Gott found Olive an Englischer who wanted to become Amish it could happen for me.” She’d said it as a joke, but none of her friends laughed. In particular, Olive wasn’t amused.
“All things are possible.” Lucy’s gaze traveled to Dan, the manager of the coffee shop, when he came to take their orders.
Jessie chose a coffee and a cupcake with chocolate frosting. After the other girls had ordered, they caught up on their latest news.
“How’s Blake doing now that he’s living in the community?” Amy asked Olive.
“He’s slowly getting used to it. He’s staying with the Hiltys for six months before he takes the instructions.” Olive giggled. “He said he thought he knew hard work until he’d done a day on the dairy farm.”
“Jah, working on a dairy’s the hardest work of all,” Claire agreed.
“That worked out well for you, Olive,” Amy said. “And, might he work in your parents’ dairy when you marry?”
“Nee, definitely not. There’s not even enough work there for all my brothers. Three can take care of it—Dat and two of my brothers—so there’s not even work for my other three brothers.” Olive giggled again. “Blake’s counting down the days when he can finish up with the Hiltys and their farm.”
“Were you in love with him as soon as you saw him?” Claire asked.
Everyone fell silent, looked at Olive and waited for her answer.
“I thought he was handsome, but he was an Englischer, so I never thought too much about him. He was also my boss. Anyway, there’s a long way to go before we get married.”
“Jah, but you know you will get married; you’ve found your mann,” Jessie said.
“I hope so, but I have fearful thoughts he might change his mind and leave. His decision to join was quick. He might be a man who jumps into things without thinking them through and then regrets it. What if he changes his mind just as quick and leaves?”
“Don’t look for things to go wrong, Olive. Enjoy the way Gott’s blessed you.” Claire said.
“I am, but—”
Dan, along with a waitress, brought their drinks and cakes to the table.
Jessie studied Olive’s face; somehow, she’d changed. She’d gone from a shy girl to someone who was mature and self-assured. Even though she’d expressed some doubt about her fledgling relationship with Blake there was a quiet confidence about her, as someone would have who knew their life would be perfect. Within the year, Olive would marry Blake and be mother to his young son, Leo.
After lengthy conversations and two rounds of coffee and cake, they went their separate ways. Jessie had lingered outside the coffee shop and Olive walked back to her.
“You’re not walking home, are you, Jessie?”
“I’ll catch a taxi. My vadder brought me into town, but he said he couldn’t wait for us to finish talking.” Jessie giggled. “We’ve been three hours already. I guess he was right.”
Olive linked arms with Jessie. “I’ll drive you; I’ve got my buggy.”
“Denke.”
“Ach, we’re going the wrong way. This way.” Olive swung them both around on the sidewalk and they walked the other way.
Jessie knew she would have to put up with hearing more about Olive’s bruder all the way home and she wasn’t wrong.
As soon as the horse began walking, Olive began by saying, “You know he took someone else on a couple of buggy rides but that didn’t last either. Someone besides Becca. She’s married now anyway.”
“By ‘he’ you mean Elijah?”
Olive giggled. “Jah.”
“Jah, I heard that.” Jessie looked out across the green fields as the horse clip-clopped rhythmically down the road. She wondered where she would be five years from now. Would she have her own house and be married, or would she be working at the B&B or working somewhere else?
“Jessie, you’re not listening.”
She turned to look into Olive’s blue eyes. “What did you say?” Jessie was certain Olive hadn’t said anything.
“I just want you to be happy, Jessie.”
“I’m happy just as I am.” Jessie looked at the road ahead, then asked, “Are you looking for another job now that Blake has joined the community?”
“I wanted to work and save some money to help us buy a home, but Blake won’t hear of me working and said he’s got plenty of money.”
“Why ever not? Your vadder doesn’t even mind you working.”
“Blake said that he has more than enough money to buy us the best of everything.”
Jessie stifled a giggle.
“Why are you laughing?”
“He still sounds very Englisch saying ‘the best of everything.’”
Olive smiled. “I’m teaching him. I told him I don’t want fancy things. He had a hard time understanding, but he’s learning quickly. From what he’s told me, the Englischers strive to have nice things and be better than everyone else.”
“That might be because a lot of them think that this life is all there is. They don’t realize life is over like a snap of the fingers, and that eternity with Gott is forever. What use is storing up riches here?”
“Jah, that’s right, we should store up riches in heaven. That’s why I was worried about being too close to Blake in case he pulled me away from Gott. The bishop said going off the narrow way comes in subtle ways at first. We give in with the little things and before we know it we’re off the path.”
Olive was not being subtle; she was talking about her bruder again. Jessie knew Olive’s bruder would not pull her away from Gott, but the handsome Englischer, Donovan, might. “You took a big risk with Blake and it worked for you. I don’t see why something like that can’t happen for me.”
“Sounds like you want to get married.” Olive looked over at Jessie waiting for an answer.
“Every girl wants to be married; I never said I didn’t.” Jessie frowned at Olive. “There’s no point saying things to me about Elijah. If he’d ever liked me he would’ve done something about it by now. He’s known me long enough.”
“And like I said before, he’s shy. I don’t know why he’s so quiet. He’s handsome don’t you think?” Olive sighed and looked at the road in front of her. “It’s hard for me to tell since I’m his schweschder; I’m used to seeing him every day, and I don’t look at him in that way anyhow.” Olive glanced over again at Jessie and then gave her a sharp dig in the ribs.
“Ow. What did you do that for?”
“What’s gotten into you lately, Jessie? You’ve gone all daydreamy, and you don’t listen to me anymore.”
Jessie scowled at Olive. “I’m thinking about things, that’s all.”
“About the boy who owns the restaurant; your boss’ son?”
“He’s not a boy he’s a man. He’s most likely in his late twenties, I’d guess.”
“So that’s a yes? You are thinking about him?”
Jessie lightly gnawed on a fingernail. “I guess.”
Olive shook her head. “I see I’m getting nowhere. I’ll talk about something else.”
The rest of the drive home, Jessie was grateful that Olive spoke about subjects other than men.
When they got to Jessie’s house, Jessie asked Olive to stay for a while, but Olive had chores to do for her mudder. Once Olive had driven away, Jessie decided she just had to speak to someone about Donovan. The perfect person was her bruder, Mark. Conversations with him had become a lot easier with him in bed with a broken leg. Since it was Saturday afternoon, her parents were visiting friends.
“I’m home, Mark,” she called out after she took her boots off in the laundry room.
“So am I, as always,” came M
ark’s bored response from upstairs.
“Can I bring you something?”
“Jah, food; I’m starving.”
“What do you want?”
“Anything. I could eat the leg off a chair about now.”
“I’ll fix you something.” She heated up leftover pork and vegetables, and then took it upstairs. His face lighted up when she walked in the room with a tray of food.
“Wunderbaar, denke.”
“Did Mamm and Dat leave you here with no food?”
Mark broke off a piece of meat. “They left me food, but I ate it.”
Jessie sat on the end of his bed. “Can I ask you something?”
Mark stopped chewing his food. “Is this about a boy again? You know I can’t help you with those kinds of things. You should talk to one of your friends.”
Jessie sighed. “I tried to talk to Olive, but she thinks Elijah is good for me, and she won’t hear of anything else. I as good as told her I wasn’t interested.”
Mark finished his mouthful. “She could be right. I can see you two together. Although, he’s quiet and you’re not quiet; in fact, you’re anything but quiet. I agree with her, you’d be perfect for each other. There, I’ve solved your problem already.”
“Stop teasing. He’s not interested either. I told Olive that. Why can’t she see that for herself? And I told you about Blake, didn’t I?”
“Several times, jah, so did Mamm. I’ll meet him if this leg ever heals. No need to tell me about him again.”
Despite his protests, Jessie continued, “Blake was an Englischer and if Gott made it happen for Olive, why can’t He make it happen for me?”
Mark shrugged his shoulders with his eyes fixed on his food. “I don’t know. Maybe you should speak to the bishop about something like that. Sounds like you might be heading toward dangerous ground with that thinking.”
“How so?”
“You’re determined to get me involved, aren’t you?”
She untied the strings of her prayer kapp. “I’m interested in what you think because you are so smart. When you were working all the time I hardly got to speak to you except at night, and then everyone else was there.”
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