by Sarah Price
She tried to focus on her work, but it became increasingly hard. Her thoughts continued to return to Jeremiah. The memory of him gently touching the string of her prayer kapp, an innocent yet intimate gesture, continued to linger in her mind. More than once, she caught herself staring out the window, smiling to herself.
With Rachel courting Jonas, Ella Mae felt even better about the news that she wanted to share with Jeremiah. There would be no conflict now, no reason to feel even a teeny bit guilty over how she felt when she was in his company.
“Ella Mae?”
She looked up, surprised to find Edna staring at her.
“Everything all right?” Edna asked. “You appear a bit distracted today.”
Ella Mae felt her cheeks warm up. “I’m sorry.” She’d been washing the last of the dishes, the guests having finally left after what felt like an eternity. But she must have started staring out the window again, hoping to catch sight of Jeremiah’s horse pulling his buggy down the driveway.
Edna gave her a knowing look, and Ella Mae wondered if she were truly so transparent that Jeremiah’s mother could see through her.
“Rachel and I were talking,” Ella Mae said, hoping that she might distract Edna from the truth. “And we thought it might be nice to have our families together for a supper. Like we did for Christmas.”
“Oh?” She tilted her head, clearly intrigued by Ella Mae’s comment.
“To celebrate the new building,” she added. “Rachel says that Jonas has done quite an amazing job and that it’s almost finished.”
Edna glanced at Rachel, who was watching their exchange. “That would be a fun idea,” Edna admitted. “To break it in, I suppose.”
“Mayhaps on Saturday?” Ella Mae suggested.
Rachel stepped forward. “We could help cook. It would be less work for you that way.”
“I suppose all of us could cook.” Edna smiled at both of them. “But I like that idea. I’ll call and leave messages for Verna and Mary, if you both ask your maem.” She shifted her gaze to the window. “Ah, there’s Jeremiah.” She looked at the clock. “Home early today, I see.”
Ella Mae tried to hide her excitement, but she, too, looked toward the window.
Edna must have noticed. “Ella Mae,” she began cautiously, “mayhaps you’d run out to see if Jeremiah remembered to stop at the store for me today? I’m going to need more flour to make bread for tomorrow and Saturday.”
“Oh, ja, sure.” Ella Mae dried her hands on a towel. “And if he didn’t?”
There was no mistaking the hint of a smile on Edna’s face. “Mayhaps you’d see if he’d take you to town to fetch some.”
Ella Mae practically ran toward the door. Somehow, she managed to contain her enthusiasm. Had Edna just provided her with the perfect opportunity to spend time alone with Jeremiah? Even more importantly, had she done it on purpose? Ella Mae suspected as much, because she knew that there was plenty of flour in the pantry. This made-up errand was just an excuse, and for that, Ella Mae wished she could thank his mother. Maybe one day, she thought as she hurried across the yard toward the stable.
“Jeremiah!” she called out.
He turned and greeted her with a warm smile.
“Your maem asked if you remembered to buy her more flour.”
He gave her an odd look. “Flour?” He reached up and removed his straw hat. Holding it in one hand, he scratched the back of his neck with the other. “Why, I don’t remember her asking me to get her flour at all.”
Ella Mae had suspected as much. “Then mayhaps you’d take me to the store for some?” She glanced over her shoulder at the house. “She suggested you might.”
“I see.” He set the hat back on his head and gestured toward the buggy. “Reckon we best get going, then, ja?”
For the first few minutes of the ride, neither of them spoke. Jeremiah concentrated on driving the horse and Ella Mae concentrated on what she intended to say. She clutched her hands on her lap, staring straight ahead. So when Jeremiah turned left at the intersection instead of right, she noticed right away.
She glanced at him. “Jeremiah?”
“Ja?”
“Town is the other way.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“But there’s no store this way,” she said.
“I know that, too.”
The vagueness with which he answered clearly indicated that he had his own plan for how the afternoon would work out. Her curiosity was piqued, but she suspected she would just have to wait to see where he was taking her.
Twenty minutes later, Jeremiah directed the horse through the entrance to a park, the sign stating that they’d arrived at Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. She’d never been there before and she looked around with great curiosity. She could see the hiking trailheads, the paths leading through tall trees that were covered in young, bright green leaves that had just popped open within the last week. The sun filtered through the branches, shadows dancing on the paths.
“Care to take a walk?”
He stepped out of the buggy and walked around to the other side, reaching up his hand to help her get out. She hesitated before she slipped her hand into his. His eyes met hers, and he held her gaze as he waited for her to place her foot onto the step and pull herself out of the buggy. Once she stood in front of him, he released her hand.
“Let’s go,” he said, gesturing toward the trailhead.
The park wasn’t too busy for a Thursday afternoon. For this, Ella Mae was grateful. She walked beside Jeremiah as he strolled down the path. Once they entered the tree-lined trail, Jeremiah cleared his throat.
“So, you wanted to say something to me.”
“I did.” She looked up at him. “I do.”
“Well, I’m listening.”
Ella Mae swallowed. Her mouth felt dry, and she realized that she was nervous. What if he’d changed his mind? What if he thought her response to him on Saturday, the coldness with which she hadn’t responded to him but had asked to be taken home, had made him regret having asked her to spend more time with him?
There was only one way to find out, she told herself.
“I was hoping that your offer still stands,” she said.
“My offer?”
She fluttered her eyes. Was he teasing her? Or was he serious? “What you said on Saturday,” she said. “About spending more time together.”
“Ah! That.”
He continued walking and then gestured toward the right. There was a clearing through the trees. The sun shone down upon what looked like a meadow covered in small yellow flowers.
She followed him to the meadow and watched as he bent down, plucking a few flowers. He held them in his hand, moving to a new location and picking some more.
Standing up, Jeremiah took a moment to rearrange the flowers before he held them out for her to take.
“I haven’t come here in a long time,” he said in a soft voice. “I never told Jonas that I came here.” He smirked. “He’d have teased me for sure and certain.”
Ella Mae took the flowers. It wasn’t hard to imagine Jonas giving him a hard time for learning that he enjoyed an occasional brisk nature walk. She, however, thought it was a charming way to spend some free time. “Nature always makes me think about God.” She lifted the flowers to her nose and inhaled. The scent was faint but definitely sweet. “It’s amazing, all of God’s creations.” She lifted her gaze to meet his. “Like these flowers.”
“God does make the most beautiful things,” he replied, not tearing his eyes from hers.
She blushed.
“You should know,” he said, his tone soft and gentle, “that I respect your apprehension, Ella Mae. Your respect for your schwester is admirable indeed. And, while I was disappointed at first, I did a lot of praying about it, especially on Sunday. I realized that I would have been even more disappointed if you hadn’t shown such concern.” He leaned over and plucked one more flower from the ground. Holding it between his fingers, he studi
ed it. “The irony is that your reaction gave me exactly what I had wanted all along: to get to know you better.”
She waited, breathless, for him to continue.
But instead of talking, he looked up and held out the single flower.
She took it and added it to the others. “So I take that to mean it does?”
He gave her a quizzical look. “What does?”
“Your offer. It still stands?”
He laughed and gently tapped the tip of her nose. “Ja, Ella Mae. My ‘offer’ still stands.”
She pulled the flowers close to her chest, the tops brushing her chin. She felt light-headed, dizzy with joy.
“Come on,” he said, gesturing with a tilt of his head back toward the path. “Let’s keep walking a spell, ja?”
“But what about your maem and the flour? We can’t forget to buy her some.”
Jeremiah nodded. “Ja, we cannot forget the flour.” But he winked at her. “Because she doesn’t already have a fifty-pound bag in the pantry.”
This time, it was Ella Mae who laughed. “You knew about that?”
“Of course I did! I just bought it for her on Tuesday.” He winked. “Seems she’s still matchmaking, isn’t she?”
Ella Mae fell into step beside him. “And doing a fine job of it, don’t you think?”
He reached down and clasped her hand in his, squeezing gently before he released it. “I do, Ella Mae. I truly do.”
EPILOGUE
Edna stood in the doorway of the new gathering room. Earlier that morning, Jonas and Jeremiah had set up two long, rectangular tables. She couldn’t believe how much room was still available. Unlike her own large kitchen and gathering room in the house, what Jonas had built was twice as large and capable of comfortably accommodating three times as many guests as she usually had without any overcrowding and without removing the wall. And what was even more wonderful was that she didn’t have to dismantle it after her guests left only to have the boys put it back together again the following morning.
“What do you think?”
Edna turned around at the sound of Elmer’s voice. “I’m simply amazed,” she admitted. “It’s perfect.”
Elmer looked over her shoulder and scanned the room. He, too, looked impressed. “Jonas really did a great job. Good craftsmanship.” He ran his hand down the frame of the door. “Good work indeed.” He tapped the molding and stepped into the room. “Did he make those tables, too?”
She nodded. “Just like the ones we use after worship,” she said, unable to hide the pride in her voice. “My guests will certainly like that, don’t you think? And when we host worship here, we’ll already have benches.”
Following Elmer into the room, Edna stood near the head of one table. She gazed up at the ceiling and let her eyes float down the beams toward the walls. He’d finished the molding just the day before. He hadn’t stained it yet, however. Edna hoped he’d get to that the next week before he had to return to his job. But, even if he didn’t, she was looking forward to using the room for the upcoming weekend.
Elmer walked over to the kitchen. He peeked around the corner and whistled. “I see you’ve already gotten familiar with the layout.” He took a deep breath and shut his eyes as he exhaled. “And is that baked chicken I smell?”
She smiled. “Ja, that’s baked chicken you smell.”
He opened his eyes. “I thought you said that Rachel and Ella Mae wanted to cook.”
Immediately, she held up her hands as if warding off an attack. “Oh help! Did you truly think I’d let my new kitchen be broken in by either of those two women?”
Elmer laughed. “That bad?”
She shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never let them cook,” she admitted. “But I wasn’t about to chance it.”
He tapped the side of his head and then pointed at her. “Smart thinking.”
Edna stepped forward, and when she stood before her husband, she reached up and tapped her head in the same spot. “I know.”
“Something else you know?” he asked, a mischievous expression on his face. “Something, mayhaps, you’d like to share with me?”
Trying to feign ignorance, Edna adopted an innocent look. “Me? Nee, Elmer. Why would you think such a thing?”
“Oh, mayhaps it’s because I noticed Jonas and Rachel talking several times over the past few days,” he said. “And Jeremiah sure does seem to run an awful lot of errands to Shipshe when he returns home from work. Come to think of it, I seem to recall that he brought Ella Mae home, too. Not just Thursday, but Friday as well.”
“Really?” Edna tried to hide her smile. “I hadn’t noticed.”
He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “You hadn’t? Then I guess you also didn’t notice that the four of them aren’t here right now.”
She gasped. “No!”
Elmer gave her a sideways look. “You’ve never been any good at keeping secrets from me, Edna Esh.” He wagged his finger at her. “I warned you about meddling. About playing matchmaker.”
“You did,” she agreed.
“And you promised.”
“I did.”
“And you still found a way to get involved.” He frowned, but she thought she saw something else masked by his furrowed brows. “I’d scold you,” he said, “but it would most likely go in one ear and out the other.”
“Most likely.”
“Besides”—he reached out and placed his hands on her arms, and gently, he rubbed them up and down—“I can’t say that I’m too upset about how everything has turned out.” He pulled her into his arms, embracing her for a long moment before he kissed the side of her head. “Edna Esh, you are one of a kind.”
“And aren’t you glad for that?” she teased as he pulled back, releasing her from his hold.
The sound of a horse and buggy interrupted the moment. Most likely Wilma and her husband, she thought. Verna hadn’t been able to make it, and Mary had said they’d arrive a bit late, as Abram had a previous commitment that wouldn’t bring him home until four o’clock. By the time they could arrive, they’d just make it for supper, but not for visiting beforehand.
“Well, best go and greet our guests,” Edna said. “Mayhaps Jonas and Jeremiah will show up at some point with Wilma’s dochders.”
“Or mayhaps they won’t,” Elmer offered. “And would that truly be such a horrible end to the day? With our sohns enjoying time with their special friends at last?”
Edna couldn’t hide her smile. Even though it had been Rachel and Ella Mae’s idea to host this supper, Edna knew that Elmer spoke the truth. It wasn’t so long ago when she’d hoped and prayed that Jonas and Jeremiah would settle down, their eyes focused on the future and not just running around causing mischief. “Nee, Elmer, that wouldn’t be such a bad end to the day at all.”
Still, when she walked beside Elmer to leave the building and welcome the Schwartzes, she felt a sense of delight to notice that Jonas and Jeremiah walked beside Rachel and Ella Mae from around the side of the barn. The four of them were laughing at something Jonas had said. It was clear that they’d been walking across the pasture, most likely to visit the small pond on the other side of the woods.
She lifted her hand and waved to them, her heart swelling with happiness. “But this, Elmer,” she whispered, leaning over so that he could hear her, “is a much better ending.”
Have you read all the Amish Cookie Club books by
SARAH PRICE?
THE AMISH COOKIE CLUB
Giving is sweet . . .
Every other Friday, Edna Esh and three of her childhood friends meet to bake sugar cookies for their respective church districts on worship Sunday. It’s a time to give to the Plain community—and to give support to one another as they share their joys and fears . . .
Edna’s friend Verna Bontrager has a problem. Her outspoken twenty-year-old daughter, Myrna, has been fired from her job. Again. Myrna’s family really needs her to chip in, but she’s clearly unsuited to customer ser
vice—not to mention that her sharp tongue scares away any boy who might come courting. But Edna has an idea—and his name is Ezekiel Riehl.
A widower with four young children, Ezekiel needs help. His house and his brood are a mess; his demeanor is gruff. It’s no surprise Myrna takes an immediate dislike to him. Yet she has no choice but to take on the challenge—and soon she starts to create order out of chaos. In fact, the kids begin to depend on Myrna—and so does Ezekiel. The truth is, she’s fallen in love with him. But if he’s to prove he’s not looking for a marriage of convenience, he’ll have to convince her of what’s in his heart . . .
AN AMISH COOKIE CLUB CHRISTMAS
Sugar and spice make love extra nice . . .
Baking cookies every other Friday for their respective church districts gives Edna Esh and three of her closest friends a chance to give to the Plain community and strengthen their bond with one another. Now, with the blessings of Christmas in the air, they may even whip up a recipe for love . . .
With the holidays around the corner, Edna is busier than ever, juggling baking with her business serving meals to Englische tourists. Thank goodness for Mary Ropp’s help—until she breaks her leg. Mary’s daughter, Bethany, is available to fill in, but Edna isn’t so certain. She knows Bethany is so painfully shy that she’s never even courted, never mind interacting with Englische tourists! But the remedy may be closer than they think . . .
When Bethany gets into a scrape with her bicycle, a personable, talkative young man comes to her rescue, and even accompanies her home. And he’s none other than John Esh—Edna’s oldest son. When he stops by again the next day, Mary gets an idea. Soon, with the encouragement of the Cookie Club, Bethany is indeed helping Edna, and spending more time around the Esh household—and John. As Bethany slowly comes out of her shell, it seems she and John have much in common—maybe enough to inspire a winter wedding—and the club’s sweetest creation yet . . .