Courting The Amish Nanny

Chapter Two (#ud5561fbc-93ae-5418-a2ef-5b767fb3ed3f)

Although there were fewer families present and church was held in a building instead of a house—and although half of the men wearing beards also wore mustaches—the worship service in Serenity Ridge was very similar to the services Sadie was accustomed to in Little Springs and she felt right at home. Especially because afterward the women greeted her warmly as she helped them prepare the standard after-church lunch of peanut butter, bread, cold cuts, cheese, pickled beets and chowchow in the little kitchen in the basement.

A svelte, energetic blonde woman about five or six years older than Sadie introduced herself as Maria Beiler, one of Levi’s seasonal employees. She said she’d be making wreaths and working the cash register at the farm. “It’s so gut of you to kumme all the way from Pennsylvania. I don’t know what Levi would have done if you hadn’t arrived to watch the kinner.”

“I suppose it’s difficult to find a nanny in such a small district,” Sadie replied modestly.

“Not nearly as difficult as keeping one,” Maria mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Sadie asked, but Maria had whisked a basket of bread from the counter and was already on her way to the gathering room. Her curiosity piqued, Sadie wondered what could be so difficult about retaining a nanny to mind these children. From what she could tell so far, David and Elizabeth were exceptionally well behaved and sweet, if a little timid.

Then it occurred to her Levi might be the one who presented a challenge. He did seem a bit uptight, lacking the sense of humor to laugh at her corny moose joke. But that hardly qualified as a personality flaw and it didn’t overshadow his thoughtfulness in warming up the daadi haus for her or bringing her milk and eggs. Since Sadie knew she wasn’t the best judge of men’s characters, she decided to let Maria’s remark slide. After all, this was a short-term position, and as far as Sadie was concerned, it didn’t matter if the children were incorrigible or Levi was a two-headed monster; she could tolerate anything if it meant avoiding wedding season in Little Springs.

After lunch the women sent Sadie home carrying a canvas bag bulging with plastic containers of leftovers, since she hadn’t been to the supermarket yet and didn’t have anything in her cupboards to snack on. She offered to share the food with Levi and the children at supper, but Levi insisted she enjoy it at leisure by herself. “The Sabbath is a day of rest and you’ve had a long trip. You’ll be preparing meals for us soon enough.”

Although Sadie appreciated his consideration, she wasn’t used to spending Sunday afternoon and evening all alone, and by Monday morning she was so antsy to hear the sound of another person’s voice, she showed up at Levi’s house half an hour early.

“Who is it?” Elizabeth squeaked from the other side of the door.

“It’s me, Sadie,” she answered, wondering who else the child thought could be arriving at that hour. She heard a bolt sliding from its place—in Little Springs, the Amish never locked their houses when they were at home—before the door swung open.

“Guder mariye,” the twins said in unison.

“Guder mariye,” Sadie replied as she made her way into the mudroom. After taking off her coat and shoes and continuing through to the kitchen, she remarked, “Look at you, both dressed already. Have you eaten breakfast, too?”

“Neh, Daed said if we waited maybe you’d make us oatmeal ’cause when he makes it it’s as thick as cement.”

Sadie laughed. “I’m happy to make oatmeal. But where is your daed? Out milking the cow?”

“Neh,” Levi answered as he entered the room. His face was rosy as if it had been freshly scrubbed, and Sadie noticed droplets of water sparkling from the corners of his mustache. She quickly refocused to meet his eyes. He added, “I wouldn’t leave the kinner here alone. I hope you wouldn’t, either.”

Sadie was puzzled. Most Amish children Elizabeth and David’s age could be trusted to behave if their parents momentarily stepped outside to milk the cow or hang the laundry. What was it about the twins that gave Levi pause about leaving them unsupervised? If Sadie didn’t figure it out by herself soon, she’d ask him later in private. “Of course I wouldn’t. We’ll stick together like glue.” Then she jested, “Or like cement.”

Levi cocked his head when the children giggled. Then he got it. “Aha, my kinner must have told you about my cooking.” Laughing at his own expense, he proved he wasn’t humorless after all.

“Cooking is my responsibility now,” Sadie said, since she’d agreed to make meals for the Swarey family. She was invited to eat with them as a perk, in addition to her salary. “I’ll have breakfast ready by the time you return from the barn. Maybe Elizabeth wants to help me make it.”

Elizabeth’s eyes glistened. “Jah—” she said before Levi cut her off.

“Neh, she’s too young to operate the stove. She can kumme with David and me to the barn.”

Seeing Elizabeth’s shoulders sag, Sadie opened her mouth to inform Levi she had no intention of allowing Elizabeth turn on the gas, but that didn’t mean the girl couldn’t assist in the kitchen. Then she figured Levi knew more about his daughter’s abilities than Sadie, so she helped Elizabeth into her coat, hat and mittens while Levi did the same for David.

By the time the trio returned from milking the cow and collecting eggs, breakfast was on the table. In between swallowing spoonfuls of oatmeal, Levi explained, “Even though it’s only the sixteenth of November, we’re harvesting the first trees this week so we can ship them to our Englisch vendors who open their lots the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve also got a few dozen customers who ordered early deliveries of oversize trees for their places of business. You know, local restaurants and shops. A dentist’s office. A couple of churches, too.”

Sadie appreciated hearing about his job. She’d grown up on a farm, but they primarily grew corn and wheat; she had no idea what was involved in harvesting Christmas trees. “How many people do you have on your crew besides Maria Beiler?”

“This week it’s me and four young men from our district. Plus two Englisch truck drivers, who will help bale and load, too. After Thanksgiving we’ll have fewer deliveries. For the most part customers will cut and carry the trees themselves, or else we’ll bag and burlap the live ones, so I’ll reassign staff to manage all of that,” Levi said. He stopped to guzzle down the rest of his juice. “Which reminds me, my brother-in-law, Otto, will be arriving the Saturday after Thanksgiving to help. I hope you don’t mind cooking for him, too?”

“That’s fine. I’m used to preparing meals for a group of hungerich men—I have seven brieder,” Sadie said before asking what made him decide to grow Christmas trees. It seemed an odd choice of crops, considering most Amish people didn’t allow Christmas trees in their own houses.

“The Englischer who sold us the acreage had already planted the seedlings about three years before we arrived. Then his parents had some health issues, so he relocated to Portland to care for them. My wife and I originally planned to clear the land and grow potatoes, but the previous owner had already invested so much into the trees we ended up changing our minds. All told, it’s taken over ten years for the trees to be ready to sell. In the meantime, I’ve also been working for Colin—the man I told you about—who owns a roofing company, so I’d have a steady income until we could turn a profit.”

“Did you live on a farm in Indiana, too?”

“Neh. I worked construction. In fact, that’s why Leora—my wife... That’s why she wanted to move to Maine in the first place. We couldn’t afford to buy farmland in Indiana and it was her dream to raise our kinner in the countryside...” Levi’s voice wavered and he dragged a napkin across his mouth.

Sadie regretted that she’d stirred a painful memory and tried to console him. “I’m sure your wife would be pleased you’re fulfilling her dream for the kinner.” But her comment seemed to upset Levi even more.

He pushed his chair from the table and scowled. “I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, so I don’t have time for any more chitchat.”

Embarrassed by his brusque dismissal, Sadie rose to her feet, too. “Then I won’t keep you. I’m sure the kinner know what their chores are and can help me find whatever I need in the house, although we’ll probably spend time outdoors, too.”

“Neh, I don’t want you taking Elizabeth and David outside.”

Sadie was baffled as to why Levi expected them to stay inside; the weather was cloudy and cold, but she’d take care to dress them warmly. Were they recovering from a recent illness and in need of rest? Or perhaps a wild animal had been roaming the property and Levi didn’t want to frighten the children by mentioning it in front of them. While their father was donning his outerwear, Sadie directed David and Elizabeth to go upstairs and make their beds so she could ask Levi in private why they weren’t allowed outside.

He answered, “There will be trucks on-site today and I don’t want them running along the driveway or even playing in the yard until I’ve had a chance to show you around the property. I need to point out places to avoid. There’s a shallow little pond at the bottom of the hill on the opposite side of the barn, for example.”

Puzzled, Sadie quipped, “I wasn’t planning to take them swimming. Not in this weather anyway.” But when Levi glowered and pushed his hat onto his head, she cleared her throat and added, “We’ll stay on this side of the driveway and keep far away from the trucks, I promise.”

“I said I didn’t want them going outside yet!” he snapped. “Those are my rules for my kinner and if you have a problem following them, perhaps you made a mistake by coming here.”

Sadie saw red. I’m not the one who has a problem, she thought, but she didn’t say it. She had already quit one job impetuously; she wasn’t going to quit this one, too. At least, not without considering it carefully. The thought of sitting through Harrison’s wedding made her wince, but she wasn’t sure she could work for someone as unreasonable as Levi, either.

“You’re right. Perhaps I did make a mistake by coming here,” she replied evenly. “I’ll have to give it more thought.”

Levi pulled his chin back as if surprised. “You do that, then,” he said. “But before I go, I’d like you to look this over. It lists what’s expected of David and Elizabeth, as well as what they’re not allowed to do.”

He went and retrieved a sheet of paper from on top of the fridge and handed it to Sadie and then looked over her shoulder as she read it. The children are not allowed to get too close to the woodstove. The children cannot handle knives. They mustn’t climb on furniture. The list continued on and on. Scanning it, Sadie doubted even the least experienced nanny would need such detailed guidelines to care for Elizabeth and David. Nor did she consider all the rules to be necessary, but she held her tongue.

“Any questions?” he asked when she glanced up.

“Neh, no questions.”

“Gut. I’ll stop by in an hour or two.”

If he’s so pressed for time, why would he bother coming back in an hour? “Oh, there’s no need to disrupt your work,” Sadie suggested. “We’ll be fine until you return for lunch. When would you like to eat?”

“One o’clock,” he replied so gruffly it confirmed Sadie’s suspicion he was the reason the other nannies had quit.

Before leaving the house, Levi called David and Elizabeth back downstairs. He placed a hand on each of his children’s heads, the way he always did before he left them for a length of time. After silently praying for their safety, he removed his hands and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. “Ich leibe dich,” he said and the twins told him they loved him, too.

On the porch he pushed his fingers into his gloves. Although the worst of his grief had subsided over the years, talking about Leora’s dream to live on a farm had brought up sorrowful emotions. Levi regretted she didn’t live to see the tree harvest finally coming to fruition. His wife believed farming was doing God’s work and she envisioned the two of them as pioneers, setting out for Maine on their own. Even though she missed Indiana and her family and experienced terrible morning sickness with the twins, Leora had never complained because she said their move was going to be worth it.

Levi knew she would have been devastated he and the children were leaving Maine. But what else could he do? He’d already lost two nannies from his district, one from nearby Unity and one from Smyrna, in the northern part of the state, who had been visiting her cousins in Serenity Ridge. He doubted there were any other Amish nannies he’d find remotely suitable left in Maine, and if Sadie was any indication, Pennsylvania wasn’t that promising, either.

Judging from the conversation he’d just had with her, she wasn’t going to work out. Which was disappointing—Elizabeth and David had taken an instant liking to her; in contrast with the other nannies, Sadie had shown a genuine interest in them, too. Levi had prayed for guidance. If Sadie refused to honor his instructions or chose to quit, that was as much clarity as he could ask for in regard to whether he’d made a mistake by hiring her. And when it came to his children’s well-being, it was better to know sooner rather than later if she was a suitable match.