by Sarah Price
Sighing, she walked over to a bench and sat down. It wasn’t that she was in a hurry, but her patience was beginning to wear thin. Maybe this was a bad idea after all, she thought, chastising herself. Chasing after one of the Esh brothers. What on earth was she thinking? And all because he was handsome? A fine face didn’t mean he was fine on the inside, did it now?
“Rachel? Is that you?”
She looked up and flushed as she saw him walking toward her.
“Jeremiah! What are you doing here?” She sure hoped she sounded genuinely surprised, although truth be told, she was! She hadn’t expected him to sneak up behind her like that.
He gestured with his thumb toward the auction house behind him. “I work there.”
“Oh?”
He narrowed his eyes and gave her a quick study. “We talked about that this morning.”
For a moment, she panicked. Did he suspect that she had purposely tried to run into him? “I . . . uh . . . I forgot.” She forced a smile. “Slipped my mind, I suppose.”
Jeremiah raised an eyebrow, still studying her as if trying to figure something out.
“You—you like it?” she asked, tripping over her words.
“Like what?”
“You know. This.” She waved her hand in the air. “Working in town and all?”
Jeremiah lifted his shoulders in a quick shrug. From his expression, it was clear that working in town was something that neither excited nor exasperated him. “It’s all right, I reckon. Could do without the traffic.” A moment of awkward silence fell between them. A loud truck roared down the main street, the muffler making so much noise that Rachel covered her ears until it was gone. “That’s the only bad side of working in town,” Jeremiah said, tilting his head in the direction of the truck. “I never was keen on automobiles. Especially loud ones.” He thrust his hands into his pockets and leveled his gaze at her. “So what are you doing in town, then?”
“Oh, well, we don’t live that far from here, you know.” She gave a nervous laugh. “And I know my maem’s at your place baking cookies this afternoon, so I thought I’d walk up to check on their display at Yoders’ Store.”
When he nodded his head, Rachel knew that he had bought her explanation. She almost sighed with relief.
As if to further prove that this was a chance encounter, she held up a small brown paper bag. “And I picked up some cheese for supper.”
Another long, awkward pause. Suddenly, Rachel felt foolish. What ailed her? Chasing after Jeremiah Esh! She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and averted her eyes. Slowly, she took a step backward.
“Well, reckon I best get going.” She took another step, only this time she placed her foot on a small rock and stumbled.
He sprang forward and grabbed her arm, steadying her. “Careful, now!”
If her cheeks had felt hot before, now they were flaming with embarrassment. “Oh help,” she muttered. “I’m not normally such a klutz.”
“Mayhaps you ought to let me give you a ride home.” His hand was still holding her arm. “You’re a right danger to yourself.”
Rachel’s eyes flashed and her mouth opened in surprise. “A danger to myself?”
“Ja, falling yesterday, stumbling today.” He narrowed his eyes as he surveyed her from head to toe. “Why, you should be wrapped in a protective quilt before roaming free in public, I think.”
“A quilt!” Stunned, Rachel put her hands on her hips and stared him down. Was he calling her clumsy? “Why, I’ll have you know that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, Jeremiah Esh! And, for your information, I am not dappich!”
Slowly, he removed his straw hat and ran the back of his arm across his forehead. For a moment, his gaze wandered toward the horizon, and he pursed his lips. His chest expanded as he took a deep breath and exhaled before he looked at her, an exasperated expression on his face.
“Get in the buggy, Rachel. Let me take you home.”
“After what you just said?” No one had ever bossed her around like that. Well, no one but Ella Mae. She wasn’t sure what she thought about him telling her what to do. “I’d rather not, I daresay.”
He leveled his gaze at her. “Surely you have a sense of humor, Rachel, under all that sass?” Plopping his hat back on his head, he gestured over his shoulder toward the buggy. “Now, I’m tired and want to get going. So get in before I leave you standing here. Then you’ll be stuck walking home. And both your maem and mine will give me an earful if that happens.”
Once again, her mouth opened. He hadn’t asked her to ride home with him for any reason other than duty.
“Best close your mouth before you catch flies,” he said as he turned toward his buggy. He slid open the door, climbed in, and moved to the right, leaving just enough room for Rachel.
“Hmph!” For a moment, she thought about spinning around on her heel and storming off in the direction of her parents’ house. Instead, her feet guided her to the buggy, and she climbed in, settling next to Jeremiah.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
“Danke!” she snapped, folding her arms across her chest and pressing herself as close to the side of the buggy as she could. She wasn’t liking this one bit, especially when she saw the hint of a smile on his lips. How dare he find humor in treating her like a child! Clearly, she’d misread the way he had looked at her on the porch the previous day. After all, he’d barely paid any attention to her this morning, and now this? She crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead as Jeremiah slapped the reins on the horse’s back, urging it forward.
“Now, point me in the right direction, Rachel,” he said in a softer, kinder tone. “Unless you’d like to ride around the back roads for a while and get to know each other.”
“Do you really think I’d want to do that? With you?”
A sly expression covered his face, and he winked at her. “That is why you came to town, isn’t it?”
A gasp escaped her lips.
Jeremiah gave a soft laugh. “The long road it is.” Without waiting for her to respond, he turned the horse down a road that they both knew was taking them in the opposite direction of the Schwartz house.
ELLA MAE
CHAPTER 12
“You going to that volleyball game tonight?”
It was Saturday, and Ella Mae hadn’t seen Jonas slip into the kitchen. She’d been too busy at the kitchen sink washing the dishes from the noon meal. As soon as he spoke, she fought the urge to jump. She knew better than to show him any reaction that would encourage his attention. Instead, Ella Mae took her time setting the last plate onto the drying rack before she turned off the faucet. Little droplets of water hit the sides of the porcelain basin when she shook her hands. Finally, she reached for a towel to finish drying them.
They’d just finished serving the last of the desserts to the Englischers, and Edna was now saying goodbye to her guests. Rachel had left already—she had to pick something up for their mother in town, and Edna had asked her to stop by Yoders’ Store to fetch any unsold cookies. They always collected them on Saturday afternoon because they wouldn’t keep over the weekend.
When their mother had asked her to run that errand after work, Rachel had made quite a fuss. She’d almost outright refused, which only irritated Wilma that much more. A quarrel had ensued, and Rachel did not come out of it as the winner.
Ella Mae didn’t understand Rachel’s reluctance. After all, Rachel was the one who was usually so eager to see all the hustle and bustle among the shops and townsfolk. But today, she’d hemmed and hawed about it as if she didn’t want to go at all. Ella Mae wasn’t about to volunteer to go on her behalf. Unlike her sister, she hated going into town, where there was so much car traffic and noise. No thank you.
In fact, now that Ella Mae thought about it, Rachel had been acting rather strange for the past few days. She’d disappeared for a while the previous afternoon, and when she returned home, she tiptoed upstairs to her bedroom to lie down. That was not like Rachel at all.
Then she had barely finished her dinner and hadn’t even eaten dessert, excusing herself to return to her bedroom.
“Hello? Anybody in there?”
Turning toward Jonas, Ella Mae gave a little shake of her head. She’d forgotten he was there. “I’m sorry. I was thinking.”
“Ja, I noticed. There’s smoke coming from your ears.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Well? Are you?”
“Am I what?” she asked.
“Going to the volleyball game?”
Ella Mae contemplated her answer as she studied him for a long second. Something about him seemed to have changed since the previous day when he’d brought her to work. He’d softened a bit—or, rather, he appeared to have softened. Of course, he had spent most of the day outside, hammering away at the framing for the new outbuilding. He’d only come into the house once, just in time to sneak the last piece of peach pie.
Clearly, he’d had a hankering for sweets.
“What volleyball game?” she said at last.
Jonas slid closer to her, leaning against the counter. So close that the top of his boot almost touched her shoe. “Over at Martin’s haus.”
“Martin?” She shifted her foot away from his. The invasion of her personal space made her feel uncomfortable. If only Rachel had been there, Jonas would surely have been pestering her and not Ella Mae. He seemed to enjoy teasing Rachel, most likely because she was quicker to react and fight back.
“Otz,” he replied. “Martin Otz.”
She made a face. “Otz? I don’t know anyone named Otz.”
Jonas frowned and his eyebrows knitted together. “Sure you do. Big, tall fella.” He held his hand up high over his head. “Floppy hair—”
She couldn’t help but laugh at his description. “Floppy? That’s a rather interesting way to describe someone’s hair.”
Lifting his hands to the sides of his head, he made circular gestures near his temples. “You know. Big, bouncy curls?”
“Now I’m sure I don’t know him. In fact, I don’t know anyone with ‘floppy’ or ‘bouncy’ hair.”
Jonas thought for a second, and then, with a snap of his fingers, he beamed as if he’d just had the greatest idea. “I know just the thing. We’ll go and I’ll introduce you tonight, then.”
Ella Mae narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
He pressed his hand against his chest and lowered his eyelids in a melodramatic way. “I mean I’ll take you to the volleyball game!”
“At this Martin Otz’s haus?”
He nodded. “Ja, that’s right.”
“You mean—” She paused. “—alone?” Why did her heart skip a beat and her palms suddenly feel sweaty? Was he asking her out on a date? And why did she feel just the tiniest bit hopeful that, mayhaps, he was?
“Alone?” He appeared confused as he repeated the word. Reaching up, he scratched his head. His eyes narrowed, and he glanced up at the sky as if seeking an answer from above. “Well, now, I reckon not. After all, it takes more than two people to play volleyball, if you know what I mean.”
And then, just like that, Ella Mae returned to her senses. What on earth had she been thinking? Jonas Esh was nothing more than an irredeemable, hopeless cause of a child in a man’s body. Scowling, she crumpled up the hand towel and tossed it at him. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it, Jonas Esh.”
He laughed, further proof that he’d been teasing her again. Just when she’d begun to trust him, she thought. Now he was back to his old self. Incorrigible. That was exactly what she had been afraid of. Why, she couldn’t trust one thing that popped out of his mouth! “Nee, Jonas, I won’t go riding with you. Not before a volleyball game and most certainly not afterward, either!”
“Why not?” This time, the expression he wore was genuinely perplexed.
“Because you’re never serious!” She snapped the kitchen towel at him. She should’ve known better than to trust his kind behavior the previous day. After all, a tiger’s stripes might fade, but they never truly disappear. “Why, I can’t even have a simple conversation with you. Always making jokes or talking backward.”
“Aw, come on, Ella Mae.” He leaned forward and touched her arm. There was something about his sparkling eyes that softened her resolve, but not enough to change her mind. “Let me pick you up and take you to the gathering.”
She shook her head. She’d already given him an answer, and she knew better than to change her mind. “’Sides,” she said, putting her fist on her hip, “who says I don’t already have plans for tonight?”
He snorted. “You’d have said that right straightaway, wouldn’t you?” He narrowed his eyes, and a grin spread across his lips. He looked like a mischievous little boy, not a grown man. “Now I know the truth, and I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Seems to me you’re going to have to.” She crossed her arms over her chest. There was no way she would go anywhere with him. No, Ella Mae was not about to be bullied by the likes of Jonas Esh. “Because ‘no’ is my answer. I already said as much.”
“Hmph.” Clearly, he wasn’t impressed with her resolve.
Something about his cocky attitude and mocking expression angered her. Dropping her hands, she made fists and placed them on her hips. “Why! I wouldn’t go to that volleyball game or a singing or anywhere else with you for that matter, Jonas Esh.”
He shut his eyes and clutched at his chest, staggering backward in an overly dramatic way. “Oh, Ella Mae! You sure do know how to hurt a fellow.”
With a cluck of her tongue, she frowned at him. What was she to make of this? Had she truly upset him? Or was this, too, one of his tricks? For the briefest of moments, she felt guilt. Hurting someone’s feelings was not something she ever wanted to do. It was just that Jonas Esh sure did bring the worst out in her. His constant teasing was tiresome. What woman would want to court a man who was never serious at all?
“Well,” he said, his grief vaporizing as he shoved his hands into his pockets, “best get back to work then.”
Clearly his “pain” was short-lived, for he whistled as he waltzed out of the kitchen, a shameless spring to his step that made her even madder than before. What is it about that Jonas Esh? she thought. Just when she had begun to feel sorry for him, he’d reverted to his mischievous old self.
If her mother had secretly hoped that her daughters might make matches with the Esh boys, she would be sorely disappointed, at least as far as she and Jonas were concerned. Not even the promise of tiny little kittens or freshly baked pecan pie would sway her to go riding with him again.
EDNA
CHAPTER 13
Edna had been surprised to see Jonas hanging around the kitchen earlier. After all, Rachel had already left, and Edna had thought Jonas might have offered her a ride in his buggy. He seemed to enjoy antagonizing the young woman, and whatever he dished out, she gave right back.
Clearly, he hadn’t noticed that Rachel had left earlier on her bicycle.
Still, as Edna cleared the tables, Jonas lingered, talking with Ella Mae. That, too, surprised her, for he hadn’t so much as looked twice in Ella Mae’s direction before. At least not that Edna had seen. But, as she gathered the last of the plates, she heard him whistling as he sauntered toward the door, leaving Ella Mae with a scowl on her face.
Edna couldn’t help but smile. Oh, she knew how Jonas could get under anyone’s skin.
As she set the dirty plates by the sink, Edna took notice of the time on the little clock that sat on her windowsill. Was it truly already two thirty? She glanced out the window. There was no sign of Jeremiah’s buggy next to the barn. Where on earth was Jeremiah?
Usually Jeremiah had returned home by now. On Saturdays, the auction house closed at one o’clock. For many people in Shipshewana, Saturday was an evening spent preparing for worship the following day. That meant the women cooked meals and prepared food to take to church for fellowship after the service. And, even if it was an off Sunday, the women still
needed to prepare food. After all, no one could cook on the Lord’s day.
And, of course, the Amish youth often met up with friends to attend youth gatherings or have dinner in town at the diner.
Why, Edna couldn’t remember the last time Jonas and Jeremiah didn’t go out on a Saturday evening. They were always disappearing after supper—and sometimes before!—to do things with their friends. That made Jeremiah’s absence even more noticeable.
The sun still shone; there was not one cloud in the sky to threaten bad weather. At least she didn’t have to worry about him getting caught in a spring storm. With a sigh, she turned from the window and made her way to the table. “It’s a wonder that Jeremiah’s not back yet.”
Ella Mae’s eyes traveled to the clock and widened. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”
A tired smile crossed Edna’s lips as she slipped into a chair at the main kitchen table. With a heavy sigh, she felt the true weight of her hectic schedule.
“I’m ever so glad that this week is over,” Edna said softly. Leaning her head back, she shut her eyes. She wondered if she looked as tired as she felt.
It had been a long, busy few days. Besides the stress of preparing for her guests, she’d had to train Rachel and Ella Mae. Despite her previous apprehensions, she was pleasantly surprised with their work ethic—once they were separated from each other so that they could focus on the task at hand.
“Is it like this every week, then?” Ella Mae asked. “So chaotic?”
Opening her eyes, Edna shifted her gaze in Ella Mae’s direction. She was drying her hands on a towel and leaning against the counter. “Ja, it is. Gets busier and busier, it seems. With that new play opening at the Amish Round Theater—”
“The fairy tale?”
Edna nodded. “Ja, that Belle story. Seems the Englischers can’t get enough of it.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “And now MayFest is next week. Land’s sake!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. She’d forgotten about that commitment. “We’ll be baking cookies every afternoon, I bet.”