Her Amish Holiday Suitor (Amish Country Courtships Book 5)

by Carrie Lighte

  “I was hardly sick,” Lucy scoffed. “I barely even had a cold. I just needed rest.”

  “Still, I thought maybe you’d gotten ill from playing around in the snow like we did.”

  “Neh. It wasn’t your fault, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Nick pulled his spine up straight. “I wasn’t concerned because I felt guilty. I mean I did feel guilty, but my primary concern was for you, Lucy.”

  Lucy wouldn’t give an inch. “Well, you can see I’m fine now,” she snapped.

  Nick slowed the horse and turned to look at her. “I can see you’re not sick, but you’re definitely not fine. You’re upset about something. What is it?”

  Beneath the streetlamp Lucy noticed Nick’s bushy eyebrows furrowed with puzzlement. It took all of her willpower to resist telling him to never mind, it didn’t matter. But it did. “I think you know what it is.”

  Nick tipped his head to the side, completely baffled. “Was it because I didn’t kumme to see you yesterday?” he asked. “I wanted to. But Mildred warned me your daed said you needed rest. I didn’t want to upset anyone.”

  Lucy hadn’t realized he’d wanted to see her on Sunday. That was sweet of him, but it didn’t change the fact he’d left the singing with an Englischer on Saturday evening, the same Englischer he’d been pretending was a male friend. Sure Nick wanted to see Lucy on Sunday; he probably needed to secure their arrangement. He needed to make sure her illness wouldn’t interfere with his Monday night plans to restore Jenny’s cabin.

  “You don’t have an obligation to check on me when I’m sick,” she said. “You’re not my doctor.”

  “I know that, Lucy!” Nick barked, his eyes flashing. “But I do care about you. I thought you understood that.”

  “And I thought you were being honest with me,” she shot back.

  “Honest with you? I am being honest with you. I honestly don’t know what I’ve done to offend you.”

  Lucy perceived he was genuinely perplexed, and suddenly she wondered if she’d made a mistaken assumption about his relationship with Jenny. After all, even if he didn’t correct Lucy when she referred to his Nelson family friend as a male, he had never explicitly told her his friend was a male. And maybe Katura had misinterpreted the situation with him leaving the party. It wouldn’t have been the first time her stepsister had spread a false rumor.

  Still uncertain she should let him off the hook, Lucy pressed, “Are you sure there’s nothing about our arrangement you haven’t told me that you want to?”

  Nick slouched and covered his face with his hands before letting them drop to his lap. “Okay. There is something I haven’t been honest about. Something I didn’t tell you because I was afraid of how you’d react,” he said, and as he turned to face her, Lucy inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the truth.

  * * *

  Nick hesitated, knowing what he was about to say would change the course of their relationship. It might even put an immediate end to their arrangement. But in this moment, he didn’t care about finishing the cabin repairs or even about his father’s reaction to the situation. All he cared about was that Lucy knew how he felt about her. The urgency to share his innermost feelings with Lucy threatened to consume him if he didn’t tell her now.

  “I... Over the course of this arrangement...of getting to know you...” Nick’s throat was scorching. He had to stop stammering and just say the words. “I’ve developed feelings for you, Lucy. Romantic feelings.”

  Lucy’s eyes widened noticeably behind her lenses, but she remained silent. With his heart pummeling his ribs, Nick bumbled onward. “I haven’t known what to make of them. Haven’t known whether they were authentic or whether I got caught up in pretending to walk out with you. But the more I’ve gotten to know you, the more I’ve realized my feelings are real and I’d like our courtship to be real, too. If you feel the same way, that is.”

  He scrutinized Lucy’s face, but her expression was impassive. Penny snorted and flicked her tail. Lucy was clearly dumbfounded, but whether that was because his admission pleased her or disturbed her he couldn’t tell. Was she trying to think of a way to let him down gently? When she remained silent, Nick’s hope wilted.

  Just when he thought he couldn’t endure her lack of response another instant, she cleared her throat. “So you’re not romantically interested in someone else?”

  Now Nick was nonplussed. “What? No, of course not. Who would I be—? No, there’s no one else I’m interested in. Only you, Luce.”

  There was no mistaking the flush of pleasure blossoming across Lucy’s face. “I feel the same way about you, Nick.”

  He all but shouted “Wunderbaar!” and enveloped her in a tight bear hug before giving her a big kiss on the cheek. She instantly pulled back and exclaimed, “Oh!” But then she nodded and leaned toward him again, so this time he kissed her slowly and sweetly, warming her lips with his.

  “Does that mean you’ll have me as your suitor?” he asked. “For real?”

  “For real,” she replied. Their third kiss was long and firm, unequivocally sealing their new arrangement.

  After they sat back against their seats again, Nick asked, “So, uh, may I take you to supper now?”

  “Please.”

  “Please may I take you to supper now?”

  “Neh, I mean, please do,” Lucy said with a giggle.

  “Oh, right.” Nick blushed. He’d never felt so fazed by a woman’s kisses before. “Where would you like to go?”

  “It doesn’t matter as long as it’s warm,” Lucy replied, rubbing her palms together.

  Nick slid closer to her and embraced her shoulders. She fit so snugly beneath his arm it felt as if they’d always traveled this way. “Hang on, we’ll be there in no time,” he said, and Penny took off as quickly as Nick allowed.

  They went to Hank’s Hideout, a popular pizza place for Amish and Englisch young people alike. Nick was disappointed when they didn’t see anyone there they knew. He’d never really made a public spectacle of his courtships before, but with Lucy, he wanted people to know about it now that it was real.

  “Everyone will probably stop here after caroling tonight,” she said. Then she asked him about his progress on the cabin.

  “I’m almost done,” he said. “I’ve got to make a few finishing touches, clean up my supplies and air out the place so it looks as gut as new. How much do you have to finish on your project?”

  “I’m almost done, too. I didn’t even bring my supplies with me tonight. After we eat I can help you clean up at the cabin if you want.”

  Nick shook his head vehemently. He’d gotten enough done on Saturday evening after dropping Jenny off that he was confident he could tie up the loose ends in no time. “I can do that tomorrow night. Tonight, how about if we just enjoy being together since it’s our first official night of walking out?”

  “I’d like that. Besides, I told Betty I wouldn’t be out for more than a couple hours. She’s worried I’ll get run-down again,” Lucy admitted. “I just hope you don’t catch whatever I had.”

  It was worth it, he thought. Fortunately, the server brought them their food right then, which Nick hoped kept Lucy from noticing his ears were burning.

  “I see your illness didn’t affect your appetite,” he teased when she reached for her fourth piece of pizza.

  “Hey! I didn’t eat anything all day on Saturday and hardly anything yesterday, either. I’m making up for lost time.”

  That’s what Nick felt like he was doing: making up for lost time. All those years of courting weren’t a waste, but they didn’t compare to being Lucy’s suitor. Usually he felt pressured to spend more time than he wanted to with the women he was courting, but with Lucy, he felt he couldn’t spend enough time with her. He was already looking forward to seeing Lucy again on Wednesday, when he would accompany her to the soup kitchen.


  “Are you sure you don’t want to go somewhere else this evening?” he pleaded after paying the bill.

  “I do, but I’d better keep my word to Betty,” she said. “Let’s take the long way, though, so we can see the lights in town.”

  Lucy’s countenance was as luminous as the landscape as they traveled toward her home. The Englisch residents of Willow Creek decorated their homes and yards with bright lights, and the Amish placed candles in their windows and simple wreaths on their doors. The effect was mesmerizing, and the only thing that could have made it more festive was if it had been snowing again.

  Nick noticed a lamp on at Lucy’s home and he saw a shadow pass by the window, but he didn’t care who might be peeking out; after helping Lucy down from the buggy, he held her gloved fingers in his hands. “One more kiss?” he asked.

  “Please,” she said. This time he knew it was meant as an agreement, not a scolding, and he drew her to him. She stood on her tiptoes and he bent his head toward hers.

  After they separated, he squeezed her hands before releasing them, too dazed to say anything as he watched her disappear into the house.

  * * *

  Four. Nick had kissed her four times tonight! And every one of those kisses was as real as...as the lips on my face! As she sprawled across her bed that evening remembering the sensation, Lucy lightly traced her mouth with her finger, nearly dizzy with giddiness. When she had set out with him that evening, she never could have envisioned the evening ending the way it did. Although she didn’t know how to account for Nick not telling her his Nelson friend was a female, it no longer mattered. Lucy was relieved she hadn’t accused him of being romantically involved with Jenny Nelson—not only would she have made a fool of herself, but Nick never would have wanted to court her.

  Nick Burkholder is my suitor, she mused, nearly bursting with the desire to confide this development in another person. But who could she tell that didn’t already think they were a couple? Lucy was hesitant to write to Bridget, knowing how Nick had acted toward her cousin in the past. But he’s changed, she thought. Surely, Bridget would understand that? Lucy wasn’t positive. She decided it would be better to tell her cousin in person, so instead of writing a letter, Lucy used a piece of stationery to doodle Nick’s name beside hers as she daydreamed about their next kiss. It can’t kumme quickly enough, she thought just before sleep overtook her.

  The next evening, Lucy hummed Christmas carols as she slid a cookie sheet from the oven. This was her third batch, some she’d take to the soup kitchen and the rest would be for their family’s celebration.

  “Am I allowed to have one of these?” her father asked, reaching for one.

  “Neh!” Lucy yipped. “They’re hot. You’ll burn your tongue. I’ve set aside a plate of them for you here, Daed.”

  Her father accepted the dish as Betty came into the room. “You shouldn’t be eating those,” she said. “You know what the doctor said about your blood sugar.”

  Marvin hung his head like a scolded puppy. “You worry too much about my health.”

  “Now you know how I feel when you and Betty worry about me, Daed,” Lucy teased.

  “I don’t worry,” Betty protested. “But I am vigilant. There’s a difference.”

  “It’s all the same to me if it means I can’t have a cookie,” Marvin grumbled, wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist and kissing her on the cheek. Maybe it was because she was in love herself, but Lucy enjoyed witnessing this display of their affection.

  “Oh, all right, you big bobbel,” Betty relented. “You can have a cookie. But just remember, I comment about your health because I care. And that goes for you, too, Lucy.”

  “I know it does—and I know Daed only comments because he cares, too,” Lucy admitted, suddenly seeing their concern in a new light. “Daed, when you’re finished eating those, will you please bring in the pine boughs?”

  Her father had cut down evergreen branches from the trees near the back of their property so Lucy could make two wreaths—one for their door and one for the door in the church hallway leading to the soup kitchen. She savored the natural pine scent—one of the few fragrances that didn’t cause her to cough or catch her breath—as she and her father twisted the branches into a circle and then tied them around a wire. Then Lucy affixed pine cones around the periphery of the wreath and fastened a crimson bow at the top. Her father declared their creation perfect, which was the same way Lucy felt about the evening itself.

  She was cleaning up the materials when Mildred returned from caroling, her cheeks rosy.

  “Where’s Katura?” Lucy asked.

  “She’s riding home with...someone else,” Mildred answered evasively, probably embarrassed to mention it in front of Lucy’s father.

  Lucy raised her eyebrows and mouthed, Frederick? to which Mildred nodded vigorously. A smile broke out over Lucy’s face. It was easy to be happy for someone else when she was this happy herself, and she offered to serve everyone eggnog.

  “That would be lovely,” Betty agreed, looking pleased. Lucy always thought her stepmother placed too much emphasis on courtship, as if having a suitor was an accomplishment instead of a relationship. But now she realized Betty was as delighted that Katura had a suitor as she’d been that Lucy had one. And it wasn’t necessarily because Betty was afraid the young women might never be courted, nor was it because Betty herself valued courtship so highly. It was because Betty was happy that her daughters—including Lucy—were happy.

  The foursome chatted and ate and laughed until almost ten o’clock. Everyone was so jovial Lucy would have been reluctant to turn in for the night if it wasn’t that she couldn’t wait for Wednesday to arrive. Not only would she see Nick again, but the soup kitchen was hosting one big, final festive supper before Christmas. Lucy lay awake in bed anticipating the celebration long after Mildred’s breathing vibrated in the steady rhythm of a snore. A few minutes before midnight, Katura crept into the room.

  Lucy was quiet as her stepsister prepared to go to sleep, and when she heard Katura’s bed creak as she positioned herself beneath her quilt, Lucy whispered, “Did you have a gut evening, Katura?”

  She could see the faint outline of Katura’s head pop up from her pillow, and then she tiptoed over to Lucy’s bedside and knelt down so their faces were even. “Jah. Frederick gave me a ride home. He asked if he could court me and I said jah!”

  “Oh, Katura, that’s wunderbaar!” Lucy sat up and squeezed Katura’s hand. “I’m really happy for you.”

  “Denki, but I don’t know how you can be, Lucy. I’ve been wretched to you and I’m so sorry for the mean things I said.” There was a pause before Katura continued, “I’m afraid I was jealous because you’re younger than I am and you had a suitor first.”

  Recalling how she’d begrudged Bridget a suitor when Lucy didn’t have one herself, she said, “I understand. I’ve experienced my share of jealousy, too. Though I have to say, I had no idea you were interested in Frederick.”

  “At first I wasn’t. Or actually, I was but I didn’t think he’d ever want to court me because I’m half a head taller than he is. I think that’s why I was so envious of you. You’re fortunate you’re so short—you never have to consider whether you’re too tall for a man to be confident enough to walk out with you.”

  “Ha!” Lucy sputtered. “I’ve never considered myself fortunate to be this short, but I accept that this is how Gott created me. Besides, I don’t think height really matters to a man of character. Obviously, it doesn’t matter to Frederick.”

  “Neh, it doesn’t. Although I think he had to stand on tiptoes to kiss me,” Katura said, giggling. In true fashion, she divulged more intimate details about her romantic relationship than Lucy would have shared. She added, “There’s only one thing I’m worried about...”

  “What’s that?”

  “His mamm. She’s kind of, well
, pushy. I’m pretty sure she’s going to announce it to everyone that Frederick is courting me.”

  Lucy intended no offense when she said, “I’m surprised you mind if everyone knows.”

  “I don’t,” Katura said. “I just want the pleasure of announcing it myself.”

  Lucy laughed and Katura joined her until Mildred complained, “Would the two of you kindly stop discussing your courtships in front of me? My dreams are probably the only place I’ll ever have a suitor, so I’d like to go back to sleep now, if that’s okay with you.”

  “I doubt that’s true, Mildred,” Lucy replied. “But we’ll be quiet now.” She wanted to get to sleep as much as Mildred did so she’d be that much closer to seeing Nick.

  But the next afternoon when she returned from work, Mildred presented Lucy a note Nick had brought to her at the mercantile. This time it wasn’t a napkin; it was a folded piece of paper he had taped shut.

  Dear Luce, (funny how that nickname had grown on her)

  I am so sorry—Lucy held her breath in trepidation; she knew yesterday was too good to be true—but I can’t bring you to the soup kitchen tonight. I’ll explain everything later. I still want to come and help serve, but I know you need to arrive early to set up, so it’s better if your father takes you.

  But I’d like to take you home. Let’s go back the long way, okay?

  Nick

  Lucy remembered to exhale again. For a terrible moment, she thought Nick was going to call off their courtship. While she was disappointed he couldn’t bring her to the soup kitchen, his reference to taking the long way home made her skin tingle. It was proof he wanted to be with her alone after their work at the soup kitchen was finished. What had she been so worried about?

  Lucy’s father said he was glad for the opportunity to spend time alone with her, but he asked if she’d mind if they stopped at the Englisch pottery shop on the way. “I’m picking up a gift I special ordered for Betty,” he whispered. “The shop closes at five so I won’t have time after I drop you off. I’ll dash in and kumme right back out.”