She didn’t want to leave. She knew exactly the kind of life that would be waiting for her at home. She would return to working in the background, caring for someone who could no longer care for themselves, reading about adventures rather than having them. If she went back to Illinois she wouldn’t hear what Bubbles was up to each day. She wouldn’t have a chance to help Otto or to see Willis again. The thought dragged her spirits lower. What should she do?
Danny came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, Eva. I am here simply to visit my sister and have her show me around the wild woods of Maine. Are there really bears?”
He dismissed her decision so easily. If only she could do the same. “There are and also moose. I haven’t seen a moose yet, but I understand they are plentiful and can be as dangerous as a bear. If you go hiking in the woods, take bear repellent and give moose a wide berth.”
“Listen to you with your backwoods lore. I will tell you one thing, Eva, I have missed your cooking. Corinne’s cooking is passable. That’s the kindest thing I can say about it.”
“If you can’t say something nice it’s best not to say anything.”
He chuckled. “Words of advice that Corinne never took to heart. She thinks you moved away simply to make things more difficult for her.”
Eva stared at him, aghast. “Did she say that?”
“She has. More than once.”
“Well, perhaps I did hope that she would take on more responsibility around the house if I wasn’t there.”
“Gene spoiled her at your expense. You deserve a life of your own. How many times have I told you that?”
“Often enough.” She glanced across the street at the Gingrich home. “Now that I have had a taste of it, I’m not sure I can give it up.”
* * *
“I like Eva a lot, don’t you, Willis?” Maddie was pulling the pepperoni slices from her pizza and stacking them on the edge of her plate for Bubble. One by one, she slipped them over the edge of the table to Sadie who was lying under her chair.
“Sure, I like her.”
“Bubble says if you ask her to marry you she’ll say yes. I wish she could eat with us. Can I go invite her?”
“Not today. She wants to visit with her brother. What did she say his name was?” He ignored the suggestion that he should marry Eva. She wouldn’t have him even if he asked. She would want a smart husband. One who used fine words and read books.
“Her brother’s name is Danny. He’s nice, too. I think Sadie would like more pizza.”
“Sadie has had enough. Did Eva’s brother say why he was here?” It seemed odd that a family member would visit when she had been here less than two weeks. It made him wonder if something was wrong back home. He didn’t want to come out and ask. He was used to minding his own business. Until Eva had arrived in New Covenant, he’d seldom given his neighbors a second thought.
Now he found it impossible to stop thinking about her. She had somehow wormed her way past the defenses he kept around his heart. He cared for Eva a great deal.
Maddie took back one slice of pepperoni and ate it. “Why do people get married?”
“Because they love each other, I reckon.”
“What if someone matchmakes them together? Will they love each other then?”
He was sorry she’d ever heard the term. “A matchmaker is just a person who introduces two people in the hopes that they will fall in love. I don’t think it works out all that often.”
Maddie sighed. “I hope it works out for you.”
Otto nudged Maddie. “You talk too much.”
“I don’t. I talk just enough.”
Willis realized something was going on between the two of them. “What do you want to work out for me?”
“Nothing,” Otto said quickly. He scowled at his sister.
Willis glanced between them. “I don’t think nothing is the right word. What’s going on?”
“We gave Eva a list of things we want your wife to have,” Maddie said proudly.
Harley rolled his eyes. “Girls can’t keep a secret.”
Maddie stuck out her lower lip. “Nobody said it was a secret.”
“It’s not anymore.” Otto got up and left the table, carrying a piece of pizza outside.
Willis shook his head. “I’m not going to find a wife, so it doesn’t matter what you and Otto told Eva I needed.”
“Okay.” Maddie gave Sadie her last piece of pepperoni. “I’m done. Can I go out and play now?”
“It will be time for bed soon. Don’t forget. Harley is going to read us a story tonight. Send Sadie home.”
“Okay.”
Harley cleared the table without being asked. Willis washed what few dishes there were. When the kitchen was clean, Willis sat down in his chair by the window. Maddie climbed onto his lap while Otto and Harley sprawled on the floor. Harley turned the pages of a book and stopped when he found what he was looking for. “This is the story Mamm liked to read to us. It’s about Joseph and his brothers.”
Willis knew the tale, but he listened to Harley read it with a new appreciation. No matter what he made in his forge it couldn’t convey the message of God’s love and the power of forgiveness as clearly as the words in Harley’s book did. Eva understood that.
After the children were in bed Willis finished a set of horseshoes for his draft horses at his forge. When he was done, he stepped out into the cool night air, relieved to leave his hot workplace. The moon wasn’t up yet, but the sky was littered with millions of brilliant stars. His gaze was drawn to Eva’s house. The light in her sitting room was on. She was still up. He was tempted to walk over and visit for a while but stopped himself before he made such a foolish mistake.
Eva’s light went out as he watched. Maybe it was her brother who was restless. And what business did he have spying on her even from a distance? He was about to turn away when he saw her front door open. She came out onto the porch, drew a shawl around her shoulders and started across the lawn to the school. She didn’t go inside the building; instead, she passed behind it.
Curiosity got the better of him. Where was the new teacher going this time of night? Although there hadn’t been any reports of bears in the area since Maddie’s adventure, it wasn’t particularly safe to be wandering alone in the dark. It was still wild country. Potato farms and towns covered the floor of the valley, but the hills on either side were timber. He started walking in that direction just to make sure she got safely to wherever she was going.
When he came around the corner of the school building, he saw her sitting on the playground swings. She pushed off and began to move back and forth.
She was safe enough where she was. He should go home, but he didn’t move. Why was she out here? Was something troubling her? Drawn to her almost against his will, he crossed the lawn and approached the swings.
“Good evening, Willis. Isn’t it a beautiful night?” She had seen him coming. She must have eyes like a cat.
“I reckon you’re right. It’s a downright pretty night.”
The thick trees kept the lights from the nearby town blocked. Overhead the Milky Way stretched like a glittering gauze scarf thrown down on the floor of heaven. Across the night sky the constellations looked so close a man could almost reach out and touch them. A soft breeze brought the ever-present scent of pine to him, and underneath that the odor of the potato plants that covered much of the valley.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“I’m practicing how to swing.” She leaned back and pumped her legs to gain height.
He chuckled as he leaned against the A-frame metal crossbar. “I didn’t know swinging required practice. I thought it was like riding a bicycle. Once you learned you never forgot.”
“That might be true for you, but I need to practice. I may want to impress th
e children with my skills.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s the whole truth. I suspect you are out here because you have something on your mind.”
She gave a big sigh and leaned back as far as she could. “Mr. Gingrich, you are every bit as perceptive as Bubble.”
“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not.” He moved to sit in the swing beside her.
“That was meant as a compliment. I do have something on my mind.”
“Does it have to do with a list?”
She frowned. “A list? Nee. Oh, you mean the list the children gave me. I almost forgot about it. I’m surprised they told you.”
“Maddie isn’t good at keeping secrets. What is contained in this list?”
“I have kept it in my pocket to share with you if you’d care to read it?” she offered.
“It’s too dark. Tell me what they said.”
“It’s a well-thought-out list of requirements for your wife-to-be.”
“From Otto and Maddie? I can’t wait to hear it.”
“Oh, Harley added one requirement. She should be pretty.”
“At least Harley has my best interest at heart. What else?”
“She has to smell nice, be a good cook and not make them take a lot of baths.”
He chuckled. “That last requirement came from Otto, didn’t it?”
“It did. Oh, and she shouldn’t be old but fifty like me is acceptable.”
“Ouch, that had to hurt.”
“They are such amazing children. I haven’t been bored for a minute since I met them.” She sighed deeply and fell silent.
“You said you had something on your mind. Would it help to talk about it? I can listen and swing at the same time.”
She giggled. “I knew you were a man of many talents when I first laid eyes on you. Next, you will tell me you can walk and chew gum.”
“I’ve been able to do it for years. What’s troubling you, Teacher? Tell ole Onkel Willis.”
She stopped swinging and sat still. “I have a decision to make.”
He waited but she didn’t say anything else. He began turning himself around until the chains were tightened. When he picked his feet up he whirled rapidly as the chains unwound.
“Don’t you want to know what decision I have to make?” she asked.
“Only if you want to tell me.”
“Do you know what I did before I came here?”
“I know you didn’t teach school. You told me this was your first teaching job. If you want me to guess, I’ll start with the A’s. Were you an arrow maker?”
He heard her soft chuckle. “I lived with my brother and his wife and I took care of my grandparents. Grandmother was very frail. She was bedridden for most of the last five years.”
“She was blessed to have a granddaughter willing to care for her.”
“That’s what everyone said. ‘Isn’t it wonderful that Gene and Corrine have Eva to take care of the old folks? She is such a blessing to them. What would they do without her?’ When my grandparents passed away I suddenly found myself without a purpose. Do you know what that feels like?”
“I never gave it much thought. I believed my purpose was to beat hot iron into useful things.”
“And a fine purpose that is.”
“Is that what’s troubling you? That you don’t have a purpose now? What about teaching?”
“My sister-in-law’s mother has had a stroke and she is going to need someone to take care of her. My brother and his wife want me to return to Illinois and be that someone.”
“I see. Will you go?”
“I want to stay and teach school. Is that being selfish?”
“What if I said that I want you to stay?”
Chapter Ten
Eva turned to stare at Willis with her heart thudding rapidly. What was he implying? That he cared for her? Or was she reading something into his statement that he didn’t mean? They had only known each other a little more than a week although it felt as if she had known him longer. She wished she had gone out on more dates. Nothing she had read in her books prepared her for a moonlight conversation with a man she was beginning to care for.
“What I mean is that my brothers and sister like you and they would be upset if you left.” Willis ran his words together so quickly she almost laughed. “Particularly Maddie,” he added.
It was foolish to think he might have meant something else. He’d made it plain from the start that he wasn’t interested in dating or marriage.
“I would miss all of you terribly if I went back to Illinois.”
“Then don’t go.”
“Isn’t it my duty to return and do as my older brother wishes? He has taken the place of my father who died when I was fifteen. I lived in his household until I came here.”
“Then go back and be miserable.”
“What a terrible thing to say. What makes you think I’ll be miserable?”
He stood up and let the swing undulate on its own. “Because you sound like it will make you miserable to return. If your brother has truly replaced your father in your life, then he will understand that at some point you need to leave the nest. I see that you have two choices. Sit on your brother’s roost and squawk about your difficulties like a chicken or take off like a dove and look for your own nesting ground. Good night, Eva.”
She watched him walk away. “Good night, Willis. You’ve been extremely unhelpful.”
“That’s what friends are for,” he shot back.
She smiled as she watched him cross the road and enter his home. A man she could talk to without even mentioning books. Willis was a rare fellow indeed. He was turning out to be the best friend she had never had.
She would cherish that friendship and keep her girlish emotions in check. He didn’t want a romantic relationship. Nor did she. Letting him suspect she felt otherwise might destroy their wonderful camaraderie.
* * *
Maddie appeared at Eva’s door the next morning just before six o’clock. She cupped her hands around her eyes and pressed her face to the screen door. “Hello? Is anybody home?”
Eva walked out of the kitchen. “My, you are here early.”
“Willis is fixing oatmeal for breakfast. Bubble doesn’t like oatmeal so we came to see what you’re having.”
“I was about to fix some French toast. How does that sound?”
“Yummy.”
Danny strolled to the entryway and held open the door. “I have got to get me one of those.”
Maddie tipped her head to the side. “You want a bowl of oatmeal?”
“I want an imaginary friend who will check out what everyone is having for breakfast and take me to the best house.”
Maddie shook her head. “Bubble didn’t check with everybody. Just Willis and Eva.”
Eva chuckled. “I love to cook for my friends. Real and imaginary. Go wash your hands, Maddie, and breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”
“I have to do something first.” Maddie raced out the door toward her home.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone quite like that child.” Danny poured himself a cup of coffee from the percolator on the stove and sat at the table.
“I don’t believe there is anyone quite like Maddie anywhere,” Eva said as she began cracking eggs.
“You were out late last night.” Danny cast a glance at her over the top of his mug.
“Was I? I guess I didn’t notice what time it was.”
“If it was me coming in that late you would be right in thinking I was out with a girl.”
“What are you suggesting, brother dear?”
“I’m not suggesting anything because I have known you to burn the pancakes of someone who’s getting on your nerves. I assume the same applies to French toast.”
“He ate a lot of blackened pancakes over the years. I take it that you’ve made up your mind.”
She smiled at him. “I wish I could say that I have. I’m praying about it.”
“Wunderbar. Now I can enjoy a few carefree days with my sister. Will you show me around your school this morning?”
“I’d be delighted to do that. We can go over after breakfast.” She began whipping her eggs. “I wonder what’s keeping Maddie?”
“I’ll take a look.” He stood and stepped out onto the porch. “You might want to put a few more eggs in that bowl. I hope you have enough bread.”
“What are you talking about?”
He stepped aside and held open the door as Maddie came in followed by Willis, Otto and Harley.
“What did you need to see me about?” Willis asked, worry creasing his brow.
Eva fisted her hands on her hips and leaned down to address Maddie. “What do you think you are doing, young lady?”
“No one in my family likes oatmeal, so Bubble invited them over here to have breakfast with you.”
Willis looked confused. Eva didn’t blame him. He scowled at his sister. “You said Eva needed to see me right away.”
Eva straightened. “Well now that you’re all here you might as well stay. Please have a seat. Boys, there are extra chairs in my sitting room. Go ahead and bring them in here.”
Maddie climbed into the chair she liked best. It was the one next to where Eva normally sat. Otto sniffed the air near the stove. “That sure smells a lot better than oatmeal.”
Willis glared at Eva as he pulled his hat from his head. “You shouldn’t let her get away with this. One of these days her tall tales are going to get her in more trouble than she can handle.”
“You’re right of course, but I find her too charming to scold.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re going to make me be the stern one, aren’t you?”
The Amish Teacher's Dilemma and Healing Their Amish Hearts Page 11