by Mary Davis
“Oh, wait, Eli.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I have a room to finish for you. Ne, two rooms.”
“Ja. But that’s not what I wanted to say. It’s about that website I made you.”
“I told you to undo it.”
She paused a moment, biting her bottom lip. “I didn’t quite get to that.”
He should be irked at her but found he wasn’t, which irritated him even more. “Well, do it now.”
“Here’s the problem.” She held up a hand with her fingers splayed. “You already have five orders.”
He stared hard at her, trying to process what she’d said. “I what?”
“Five customers have asked to purchase some of your items.”
“They have?” He couldn’t believe it. “That fast?”
“Ja.” She sat at the table and tapped on her computer, then she swiveled it to face him. “An herb chopper—I think that’s going to be a gut seller for you—an ax head, a weather vane and two animals.”
He leaned in toward the screen. “That’s too much money. I sell them for less.”
“Not anymore. I checked competitors’ prices, and these are right in the middle. The English will pay these prices and more for Amish-made items. I need to create your online payment account, so you can receive their payments and ship them their orders.”
“I don’t know how to do that.” One of the many things he needed to learn how to do this summer.
“That’s what you have me for. I’ve already told each of them that we are currently having a little problem with our payment system and will notify them as soon as we have the issue resolved.”
“We?”
“Unless you’ll be doing it, I’ll be fixing the issue, so it’s kind of a we thing at this point.”
Incredible. She’d been home for only a week and a half and already she had orders for him. It had taken him all spring to sell that many pieces by consigning them to various shops around the community and in town. She’d gotten his business going quickly. Gratitude edged out his ire.
“You’ll need a checking account to get an online payment system set up. You also need to name your business and purchase the domain name.”
This was too much. He didn’t understand this computer and website stuff. He didn’t want to. He just wanted to make things in his forge. He’d dreaded spending the summer learning how to do all this, but now, he thought, maybe he wouldn’t have to. “Would you help me with everything?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll pay you.”
“Let’s call it a fair trade for building me half of a haus.”
He straightened. “Speaking of building a haus, I need to get to work.”
“We should get all this sorted out soon. You don’t want to lose these customers and get any negative feedback.”
“I could return after supper.”
“You don’t need to leave and return. You can eat with us. It’ll save a lot of time.”
“Ja.” He hurried outside, thinking about working alongside Rainbow Girl later. He’d like that. He’d like that a lot.
During the remainder of the afternoon, his mind spent more time on Rainbow Girl and his website than construction.
“Eli, lift your end,” Daniel called out.
Eli refocused on the job at hand, but she was never far from his thoughts.
* * *
Since no progress could be made on construction earlier that week until after the inspector had come a second time, Dori had taken Grossvater into town on Monday to purchase a laptop and get internet service installed. So by Wednesday evening, she had everything in place to help Eli get his payment system set up. This new computer was so much faster than Craig’s old castoff.
Grossvater sat in his brown recliner, napping, while Eli sat in a chair nestled close to hers at the table so he could watch the computer screen while she worked. So close his arm touched hers, sending jolts through her every now and then. She’d imagined what this would be like, but reality turned out to be so much better. She should adjust her position to create a couple of inches between them but enjoyed the innocent contact too much.
Eli fingered the side of the screen. “I can’t believe you talked the bishop into purchasing a computer.”
“It’s so he can keep watch over his flock.”
He furrowed his eyebrows at her. “And he believed that?”
“Fine. I wanted better internet, but it’s still a gut idea for him to keep tabs on what his people are up to.”
“Sort of like teaching a cat to swim?”
She shrugged. “Now, watch what I’m doing.” Struggling to concentrate on the task at hand and not on the handsome man next to her, she explained her way through the process. “Does all that make sense?”
“Not a word.”
“Aren’t you learning anything?”
He shrugged this time.
“Then why are you sitting with me?”
“A pretty girl told me I had to. Told me I should learn about computers, but I have no interest when she’ll do it for me.”
Pretty? He thought she was pretty? “You would rather be in your forge, wouldn’t you?”
“Not necessarily.”
That answer surprised her. So he sat here because he wanted to be near her and not because he had to. He had a strong enough stubborn streak to have refused her request if he had a mind to. She liked working beside him. “Let’s set up your payment system now. Do you have your checking account information?”
Like most Amish, he had a bank account. It was hard to do business with Englishers without one. Unless Amish wanted to walk around with bags of cash, they needed safe ways to transfer money to pay for the items they needed—and wanted.
He pulled his checkbook from his back pocket. He’d ended the construction day a little early so he could run home to retrieve it after dropping off Daniel and Benjamin at their homes.
She swiveled the laptop to face him. “Now, do as I tell you.”
“I don’t think I want to.” He pushed the laptop toward her. “Why don’t you just do it? It’ll be faster. I don’t want to click on the wrong thing.”
“Because, as a businessman, you need to learn.” And she wasn’t going to be here forever. He needed to be self-sufficient.
“I never wanted to be a businessman, only a blacksmith.”
“If you want to make a living smithing, you need to have some business skills, then you can continue to be a blacksmith.”
He gave a playful groan. “Fine. What do I do?”
She moved the laptop in front of him and walked him through, step-by-step, setting up the online system. “You did great. Now, let’s get it connected to your temporary site, inform your customers you’re ready to receive payments, get you a domain name, transfer your website content to it and market your work on social media.”
He stood abruptly and stepped away. “I have to do all that? I thought I only had to set up the payment thing. I’ve had enough for one day. I’ll do it tomorrow or the next day.”
“You could lose these sales and get negative feedback, which could damage your chances for future sales.” She held her hand out to him. “Sit down. I’ll do it for you, and you can watch.” The poor man had to be overwhelmed with all there was to take in. She understood. She’d felt the same way when Craig had first tried to teach her about computers. With her newfound knowledge over the past four years, she didn’t know how the Amish managed without computers in the modern age.
“I don’t care about feedback and all that other stuff.”
He did, but he didn’t know it yet. All that stuff would allow him to do what he loved. “Sit. I’ll talk through it as I do all the stuff. You watch.”
He took a deep breath and sat. “I thought the computer stuff would be...”
/> “Simpler?”
He nodded. “And less of it. How does anyone know how to do it all?”
“They learn a little at a time, and you can learn it too. I’m sorry for overwhelming you with so much at once.”
“I feel as though I’ll never have time to work with the iron.”
“I’ll get you started, then it won’t take as much time to keep it up. While I set things up, you be thinking of a name for your business. I chose Eli’s Amish Ironworks, but you need to choose something you like, and we’ll see if we can get you that domain name.”
“What about just Ironworks? Simple. No extraneous words.”
Plain and simple, the Amish way. “It’s a little too simple. Englishers go out of their way to buy Amish-made products, so I think you should consider having Amish in the name. It will help you sell more products with no extra effort.”
“All right.”
“And your first name?”
“Wouldn’t that be prideful?”
“Well, you’ll want something to distinguish your ironwork from other Amish’s. Think about it while we get the rest of it set up.”
In the end, he chose Rainbow Amish Ironworks.
It gave her a swirl of pleasure inside that he put part of the name he’d given her in the title even if he didn’t realize it. She wasn’t about to connect those dots for him. He might change his mind.
“I feel as though meine head’s been run over by a plow.”
She laughed out loud. “I imagine it does.” She walked him outside.
“Thank you for doing all that computer stuff for me.”
“Thank you for building me half of a haus.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We’re only half-finished.” He hitched up his buggy and drove away.
She leaned against one of the porch’s support posts and watched him leave. Why did Eli have to be Amish? Why couldn’t he have decided to leave like she did? Why did he have to be so nice? All her questions were answered in her first question. He was Amish through and through. The qualities he maintained by being Amish were the same ones that made him so attractive—kind, generous, hardworking—but also made him unattainable.
Chapter Ten
Early Thursday morning, Dori strolled along the shoulder of the road. Grossvater had set up an appointment with Dr. Kathleen. She didn’t know what to expect from the doctor. Having been healthy as a child, she’d seen an English doctor only a few times when very young and a couple of times while she lived in the Englisher world. Though she liked the idea of an Amish doctor, she also found it a little unnerving. What would Kathleen Yoder be like now? Would she too be more English than Amish? When Kathleen had left, it was for a gut cause. Dori had left because she didn’t want to stay. Didn’t want to follow the rules. Would the doctor judge her for her choices? Chastise her for being pregnant and not married?
About a half of a mile into her trek, Eli approached in a two-wheeled trap from the direction she was headed. He pulled to the shoulder. “Where are you off to?”
The baby kicked at the sound of his voice.
“Dr. Kathleen’s. Meine grossvater thinks I should have the baby checked to see how it’s doing.”
“And you’re going on foot all that way?”
Dori hadn’t wanted to, but there wasn’t a horse and buggy available to her today. “Ja. I don’t mind the walk.”
“It’s too far. I’ll give you a ride.” He jumped down and looked both ways. “It’s safe to cross.” He waved her over.
Like she couldn’t figure that out for herself. She wouldn’t say anything though. She appreciated his thoughtfulness and the ride. As well as the time she would get to spend with him.
He met her in the middle of the two-lane road.
How nice of him to be protective—something Craig had never been—but she could check for traffic and cross a street by herself.
He helped her up and climbed in himself.
The baby squirmed to one side of her belly, as though trying to get closer to Eli.
Once they were at the clinic, he tethered the horse.
“You don’t have to come in or stay. I’ll have enough energy to walk home since I didn’t have to walk here. I don’t want to keep you from your work.”
“You’ll need a ride home. I’ll stay.” He opened the door and went inside with her.
She doubted any amount of arguing would change his mind, and she would not only appreciate another ride but his company, as well.
Jessica Yoder checked Dori’s name off a short list on a pad of paper. Was that the extent of the clinic’s check-in procedure? “I’ll tell the doctor you’re here.” She went to the back.
With no one else in the waiting area, Dori sat on the love seat and Eli in a padded armchair.
Dr. Kathleen came out quickly. “Dorcas Bontrager?”
Dori stood. “Call me Dori.”
The doctor nodded. “Come on back.” She motioned toward an open door, then she spoke to Eli. “Will you be waiting for her?”
“Ja.”
“Noah’s in his workshop in the barn. You’ll probably be happier out there.”
“Danki, I would like that.” Eli left.
Dori stared at the exam table. No paper covered it. Instead, an actual cloth sheet lay over the flat surface.
When she hesitated, the doctor spoke. “Don’t worry. We put on a fresh sheet for each patient.”
Dori hopped up and let her legs dangle over the edge.
Dr. Kathleen asked a series of questions about her medical history. The doctor wasn’t what Dori had expected. She seemed very Amish, yet she had a medical degree.
As Dori gave her answers, she noted that the doctor wrote everything on paper. “Wouldn’t it be faster to put your notes directly into a computer?”
“I wish.” The doctor pointed her pen around the room. “All meine records here are paper files.”
“That must be a pain. You haven’t been approved to have a computer.” That was wrong. Of anyone, the doctor should have a computer. She would talk to Grossvater.
“I have a computer I use for research and communicating with other doctors, but that’s it.”
“What about your own website?”
“I don’t need a website.”
“I disagree. Englisher doctors can find you and recommend you to their Amish patients.”
“I don’t want to take anyone’s patients.”
Sometimes the Amish were too nice for their own gut. “You should at least have a patient database. It would make your life as a doctor easier.”
“I know. We used them in medical school and hospitals. I’m not as gut with a computer as I am with people.”
“I can build one for you.”
“Really?”
Dori had learned quite a bit from Craig, classes at the public library and various places online. In the English world, she felt as though she knew next to nothing about computers, but here, in the Amish community, her knowledge vastly exceeded anyone’s.
* * *
Eli bade Noah Lambright farewell. He couldn’t imagine what was taking Rainbow Girl so long. Had the doctor found something wrong? He hurried inside the clinic.
No one sat in the waiting area. Jessica wasn’t at her reception desk. Female voices came from one of the back rooms.
“Hallo?” He leaned to the side to peer toward the voices.
“Come on back,” one of them called.
He stepped to the doorway of the doctor’s office.
Four women sat in chairs huddled around a laptop: the doctor, Rainbow Girl, Jessica and Deborah Miller.
Jessica glanced up with a smile. “Dori’s teaching us how to use the computer. She’s going to create a patient database for us. And she’s showing Deborah how to search for natural remedies. It’s amazing how much
information is in one small machine.”
Rainbow Girl raised her gaze. “The information isn’t in the computer. It’s out there—” she waved her hand carelessly “—in cyberspace. The computer merely finds it for you.”
Deborah shook her head. “I still don’t understand how information can be out there but not really be anywhere. It helps me to think of it in a building like a library. Dori has saved us a lot of time.”
Saved Eli a lot of time, as well. Because of Rainbow Girl, his business would get a running start far sooner than he could have imagined. She already had the knowledge he had hoped to gain this summer. And she wouldn’t be making all the mistakes he inevitably would. Trial and error. Trial and error. That was how he’d honed his smithing skills.
He wished she would decide to stay. If she could see how much he needed her, maybe she would.
* * *
Late Saturday afternoon, Dori stood in the middle of her new bedroom. It smelled fresh and clean.
Having spent Thursday afternoon and all day Friday with Daniel and Benjamin covering the inside with drywall and the exterior with siding, Eli worked alone today to put the finishing touches on the addition. He knelt to attach the final electric outlet cover and stood. “All done.”
How could one man have so much kindness in him? He never criticized her for her poor choices and worked without complaint for a person he had to feel was undeserving. “Danki.”
“Bitte. I have a couple of things outside. I’ll be right back.” He trotted out.
She turned to Grossvater, who stood with her. “And danki to you too.” No one had done anything this nice for her since before she left the Amish community. “I don’t know what I would have done without your help.”
“‘One should not abandon one’s own; Gott does not abandon His own.’” Grossvater liked the German proverbs. There seemed to always be one to fit most any situation.
She walked around the bigger of the two bedrooms, never having had her own before. She’d shared with her sister growing up, then with Craig, then the homeless shelter and lastly Grossvater’s living room. Technically, these rooms belonged to Grossvater, but they were hers to freely use. She blinked away the excessive water in her eyes. This was nothing to cry over. “Now all I need are a few pieces of furniture, but I’m happy to sleep on the floor to have meine own space.”