Later that night she took a stroll and ended up at the swing set on the school playground. It wasn’t long before a lone figure stepped out of the shadows and her heart began to hammer in her chest.
Chapter Twelve
Willis walked slowly toward the swings. He had tried to talk himself out of coming tonight. Things were becoming too complicated for him. And it was all because of her. He had no idea what to do about it. He knew what he wanted; he wanted Eva in his life. Not just to give her a ride to church on a rainy morning or to spend a few stolen moments on the schoolyard swings at night. He wanted more, and he was heading for a heartbreak if he thought he could have it.
He saw her waiting for him, and his breath quickened as a surge of happiness slipped through his veins. Even though he knew he should turn around and go home he kept walking until he reached her. “Can I give you a push, Teacher?”
“That would be lovely.”
She was lovely both inside and out. He knew he wasn’t smart but the men in her community must’ve been blockheads not to have snapped her up.
He gave her a few gentle pushes before taking a seat on the swing beside her. She let her momentum slow gradually until she was stopped. “Was your day awkward?”
“I got some razzing from my friends. Jesse and Michael mostly. They are happily settled down and think I should be, too. How about you? Were there any more questions about who you are seeing?”
“Gemma was the only one who made a comment. Why can’t people accept that a man and a woman can be friends without any strings attached?”
“I’m sure it happens but it’s rare. Especially among us Amish. The bishop says it is the duty of men and women to marry and have children. Our people don’t look for careers. God, family and community are what we value.”
“At least you got it half-right. You don’t have a wife but you’ve got three wonderful kids. I don’t have anything to show for my years on this earth. I guess that’s why I hope I make a good teacher.”
“You will. You’ll make a wonderful teacher.”
“Maddie was very subdued today. She must’ve taken our scolding to heart.”
“I noticed she didn’t have much to say. Will you hate me if I say I rather enjoyed it?”
She chuckled, and he wished he could see her face. He loved the way her eyes lit up when she was excited about something. The way she chewed on her thumbnail when she was deep in thought. He was getting to know her better than most other people in his life. And he wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything about her.
“What’s the best book that you read this week?” he asked, knowing she would happily chatter away about some novel or other.
“I’ve been reading about dyslexia and how to help little children overcome their inability to read.”
“And did you learn anything new?”
“I think maybe I did. I’m going to see if I can use any of it to help Otto improve.”
“What if he doesn’t want to get better?”
She sighed. “Then I will consider myself a failure as a teacher.”
“I don’t see that. Overeager maybe but not a failure. Otto is a sensitive kid. He’ll understand that you’re only trying to help.”
“I hope so. I can’t imagine going through life without being able to read. Books aside, if you can read, you can do just about anything. With a cookbook you can create wonderful meals. You can read the weather forecast and the baseball scores in the newspaper. You can see who’s having babies and what land is for sale.” Her voice rose with excitement. “You can even see what’s in the cat food if you’re dying of curiosity and want to read the label.”
“Oh, every fella needs to know what’s in Tabby’s treats. Imagine the horrible life Otto will have without knowing that.”
She slanted him a sharp look. “Now you’re making fun of me.”
“Just a little. You get so passionate. You make it easy for me to get your goat. It’s fun watching the steam coming out of your ears.”
“If by that you mean I get angry, maybe I do a little. I know that advanced education is not necessary to our way of life. But I do believe there are students who should go on to higher learning. Samuel Yoder would have a fit if he heard me say that, wouldn’t he? The bishop might have me shunned.”
“I don’t think so. Did you want to be one of those kids? Ones that went to high school and on to college?”
“Not really. My eighth grade education was enough because I found solace in reading. I discovered I never have to stop learning. What about you, Willis? Is there something you wanted to do but never had the chance?”
“You’re going to laugh.”
“I won’t. I promise”
“I always wanted to learn to fly an airplane.”
“Is that so? I never would’ve guessed that about you. You seem to me to be a man with his feet planted firmly on the ground.”
“It just goes to show how well I can hide my feelings.”
“That’s something I’m not very good at. But I have been getting some practice lately.”
He tipped his head to study her face. “What do you have to hide, Eva Coblentz?”
* * *
That I’m falling in love with you.
If she answered his question honestly, she wouldn’t have anything left to hide and she might lose the friendship she cherished.
She stared at the ground. “I’m trying to hide how afraid I am that my brother and his wife will make me go back to Illinois.”
“They can’t really do that if you don’t let them.”
“When I think how hard it will be to cut myself off from them I’m not sure I can make that choice.”
She could leave New Covenant when Danny went back and take up her old life. Or she could stay and try to make a satisfying life across the road from Willis Gingrich. Neither of her choices appealed to her. She didn’t want to exist on the fringe of Willis’s life. That was all she had done until now. Exist. If only she could discover what he thought about her, not as a neighbor or as a friend, but as a woman.
If he gave her any kind of encouragement she was liable to throw caution to the wind and tell him exactly how much she thought of him. She was falling head over heels for the blacksmith. He had forged a band around her heart that might never be broken.
He was amazing with the children. He had a craft that he had honed to near perfection. If he could cook he would be the perfect husband. For a second she thought she had said it out loud but his expression had changed.
“So what are we going to do?” she asked.
“About what?”
“About the stories that Maddie spread about you and me?”
He shrugged. “Ride it out, I guess and hope our reputations can take the heat and make sure she understands she can’t tell people we’re planning to wed. I can’t understand why that is important to her.”
“Do you think she is afraid of being left alone again?” Eva asked.
“Maybe so. It would make sense. I’m not sure there’s anything we can do to change that. When she’s old enough she will have her faith to sustain her. I reckon I can reassure her that the boys and I will always take care of her and she doesn’t need to be afraid.”
Eva reached across the space between them and laid her hand on his shoulder. “You’re a goot brother, and she is blessed to have you.”
He covered her hand with his. “I’m glad you think so.”
She pulled her hand away from his tender touch. “It’s getting late. I should go in.”
She stood up and so did he. They walked side by side toward her porch. She kept her fingers clasped tightly in front of her because she wanted him to take her hand more than anything. A simple stroll while holding hands wouldn’t hurt anything, but it would change everything and she couldn’t risk it. The last thing she wanted t
o do was to drive him away with her unwanted attention.
“Good night,” she said then rushed inside without waiting for his reply.
* * *
The workers clattered into the schoolyard before dawn. Eva watched from her kitchen window as wagonloads of lumber were parked where there would be easy access to their cargo. Otto and Harley took the horses over to Willis’s place. It was the closest corral.
Bishop Schultz was the one in charge as events unfolded. Eva kept a big pot of coffee hot and served anyone who asked for a cup. When a busload of Amish men arrived from a settlement in Pennsylvania to help she quickly put on another pot.
The bishop never appeared hurried or at a loss. To her it looked as if everybody knew exactly what to do. Danny and Harley were among those getting the walls in place. Willis was putting the new window in the school. Otto stood by with a caulk gun, ready to seal it when Willis got off the ladder. It made her smile to see the two of them working together.
By ten o’clock the framing for the four outer walls was going up. A long line of men hefted the first wall off the ground at a sign from Bishop Schultz. Some men used long poles to hoist it upright while an equal number of them quickly fastened it to the foundation. The ring of hammers filled the air.
A few minutes after ten the first buggy full of women arrived, followed by the bench wagon driven by Constance Schultz. The women quickly set out tables on the schoolhouse lawn and covered them with bright checkered cloths. Baskets of food were unloaded next.
Becca Beachy arrived with her daughter and her father-in-law. He walked with a pronounced limp and used a cane, but he soon had the young boys applying paint to the first finished wall. Annabeth and Maddie took their places on the swings until Dinah called them over to babysit the infants while their mothers began serving food.
Danny collided with Becca coming out of the house. She blushed and murmured an apology as she hurried away. Danny stood staring after her. Eva took note of the bemused expression on his face when he turned to her. “Who was that?”
“That is Becca Beachy. She and her father-in-law recently moved here.”
“Oh, she’s married, then.”
“She’s a widow. She has a little girl Maddie’s age. Dinah said she is one of Samuel Yoder’s grandchildren.”
“Is that so? Well, I hope they like it here.” He walked back out to the barn.
Eva glanced at him and then at Becca, who was watching him, too. Should she drop a hint that Danny wasn’t a resident of New Covenant and that he would be leaving soon? She decided against it and went back inside to make more iced tea for those who wanted it instead of coffee.
Everyone was sitting down to eat when Dale Kaufman pulled up in his yellow pickup. Jesse and Willis went down to the street to see what he needed. Willis came back to Eva a few minutes later. “Dale says he has a delivery for you. Four large crates. Where would you like them?”
Eva clasped her hands together in excitement. “They’re here. My books are here. Take them inside the school, please.” She wrapped her hands around Willis’s arm and pulled him into the school. “I’m so excited to be able to share them with my students. I may even start a lending library so that the adults in this community can borrow them.”
Dale brought in a crate and pried the top off. “Are these what you’re waiting for?”
“Ja.”
“I’ll get the rest.”
He went out and Eva grinned at Willis. “You may have the first pick and don’t tell me you don’t have time to read. You will this winter.”
He slipped her hands off his arm. “Okay. I’ll do that. Um, I know Harley likes to read. The kid always has his nose in a horse magazine. Maybe you could pick one out for him about horses.”
“We’ll each pick one for him.” She drew her hand along the spines of the books. “Let’s see I have The Black Stallion, Black Beauty and several Westerns featuring horses.” She picked out one.
“Okay.” Willis rubbed his hands on his pant legs.
She waited for him to look through her collection. What was wrong? He took a step back. It was almost as if he was afraid of them.
“I’m sure Harley will like whatever you choose. He can bring it back if he doesn’t and pick another.”
* * *
Willis swallowed hard and shook his head at Eva’s excitement. All for a couple of crates of books. The joy on her face was unbelievable. There was no doubt about it. Eva didn’t just like books. She loved them. Any man who wanted to woo her would do well to come visiting with a new book under his arm each time he stopped in.
And that man wouldn’t be him. He could carry a crate of them, but he couldn’t choose one. He wouldn’t know if it was one Harley would like. If he picked the wrong book, would she guess he didn’t know what he was looking at?
She was waiting for him to look them over. Watching him to see what he would do. He read the confusion in her eyes. She didn’t know why he was hesitating. He rubbed a hand across his dry lips and leaned down.
He ran his fingers along them as he had seen her do. “I’ll surprise him with this one.” He pulled a book out and tucked it under his arm. “Now I’ve got to get back to work.”
“Are you sure that’s the one you want him to have?”
“Yup. See you later.” He stumbled a little as he turned to go. His legs were stiff with fright.
Harley came through the door. “I heard the books came in.”
“They did. I picked one out for you already. I hope you enjoy it.” He pressed the book into Harley’s hands, praying it was something that might interest him.
Harley took the book, looked around Willis to Eva and back to the book in his hands. He frowned slightly. “Danki, bruder. You must have heard me say I wanted to learn more about the history of Scotland.”
Willis didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his brother finished speaking. He drew in a ragged gasp of air. “I did. Make sure you get it back to Eva when you are done with it.”
He left the school thanking God that he had survived such a close call but his time was running out.
The exterior of the barn was finished by four o’clock. It was the traditional barn in shape but not in size, being only about one-third as big as the usual structures. When the interior was finished, it would hold ten horses or ponies in roomy stalls. The parents of the schoolchildren would be responsible for keeping hay and grain available. The older children in Eva’s class would keep the stable clean and make sure there was water available for the animals during the day.
People were starting to leave when Willis went in search of Eva again. He found her sitting on the floor beside her bookcases with stacks of books surrounding her. “I came to tell you that I’m going home. Most of the workers have already left. What are you doing?”
She gestured to the stacks around her. “At first I put them out in alphabetical order but then I realized it would be better if I separated them into age-appropriate categories. Upon sorting, I realized that some of them are very hard to decide which age group would enjoy them the most.”
She held up one of the books with a deep blue cover edged in gold. “Take Anne of Green Gables. Any age would enjoy this story.”
“Decisions, decisions. All in a day’s work for the schoolteacher. If you ask me, which you haven’t, but I’m going to give you my opinion anyway, put the books that might fit any age on their own shelf. That way someone younger who reads it will feel quite an accomplishment and someone older who reads it won’t feel like he or she is taking a book from the baby section.”
“I don’t have a baby section. Should I get one?”
“You should finish up and go take a look at your new barn.”
“I believe it is actually the school’s barn. Are you going to bring Dodger over tonight?”
“The corral isn’t finished. He can stay with me
a few more days.”
“I appreciate all you have done for me, Willis.”
He stood and hooked his thumbs under his suspenders. “Save your appreciation until after you get my bill.” He held out his hand. She grasped it and he helped her to her feet.
It was a mistake on his part. Once her hand was nestled inside his, he didn’t want to let go. The urge to draw her closer and kiss her sweet lips was overpowering.
How had he fallen so hard for this woman? He knew it couldn’t work. Eva might not view him as a laughingstock the way the last woman he cared for had done, but she would be repulsed by his ignorance, and he couldn’t stand seeing that in her eyes.
He made himself release her hand and he turned away from her. “The barn has plenty of room. You will be able to store your buggy inside when you get one. I’ll keep an eye out for a used one if you don’t have the funds for a new one.”
“You must be joking. I don’t have the funds for a new book let alone a new buggy. Does your Ordnung allow baptized members to ride a bicycle or a scooter?”
“Bicycles. But nobody rides them in the winter.” They stepped outside of the school and the last of the building crew were out on the road walking home. A line of six men dressed in dark blue pants, matching jackets and straw hats.
“Hopefully, I will have a buggy before the first snow.”
“That could be next week.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Are you serious? You can have snow here in September?”
His gaze was drawn to her lips parted in surprise. And he wasn’t going to think about kissing her. He wasn’t. “It’s happened. Late September, but we almost always have snow before Thanksgiving. Do you have snowshoes?”
“Nee, but I have big feet. Will that help?”
He checked out the small sneakers she was wearing. He wouldn’t say she had big feet by any stretch of the imagination. “Buy snowshoes. I’ll see you later.” He started toward his house.
The Amish Teacher's Dilemma and Healing Their Amish Hearts Page 14