The Amish Suitor

But Eli now did have one answer. He wasn’t going to come to regret his decision to let her teach him lipreading.

He already did.

Chapter Four (#ucc0a5fe9-4d2d-5b55-a3dc-66a2bf29eb85)

Drying her hands, Miriam crossed the barn toward the open door at one end. The beep-beep-beep announced the delivery truck from the lumberyard backing toward where a dozen men and boys waited in eager anticipation. The school’s concrete foundation had been poured and given time to cure. Now they would work together to build walls and rafters. Once they had the skeleton in place, Eli would install shingles, clapboard, windows and doors before he finished the interior.

Spending time with Eli while he finished the school wasn’t going to be easy. Having his nephew hanging around was going to add to the stress, but she needed to get used to it because other kinder would be coming to the barn for school on Monday.

And, in the fall, though she wouldn’t be the teacher, the kinder would arrive every day to the school right across the road from her house.

Her heart contracted with the pain that never went away. Ach, how she’d longed for the family she thought she and Yost and Ralph would be! Even if the Lord hadn’t blessed her and Yost with more bopplin, they would have had the three of them.

Then it was all gone.

Tears welled into her eyes, but she dashed them away. Crying for what was impossible was absurd.

She’d been blessed when Caleb invited her to come with him to help build a new settlement. Their parents and four older siblings, who were well established in their lives, had remained behind in Lancaster County. God had brought her to this point. He must have a reason for it. She must have faith that someday she would understand, and she would be able to accept why her joy had been torn away.

“Gut mariye,” called the irrepressible Annie as she peeked past the front door. “Anyone home?”

“Komm in!” Miriam was glad to push aside her uncomfortable thoughts.

Dwelling on the past was useless. Dreaming of the future was more fun, but just as useless. She needed to concentrate on the present where she’d found three wunderbaar friends.

It was time to put sorrow behind her. She had to believe God had something better for her, something she couldn’t even imagine yet. Wasn’t that what faith was all about? Believing God would get her through the rough times?

Annie bounced into the barn followed by her twin. “Are you ready for a Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club meeting?”

“I’m ready to enjoy a visit from you anytime. Are you here for a meeting?”

“Of course not.” Leanna rolled her eyes as she untied her bonnet. “Sarah had to work today. But the men are having a work frolic, so we decided we should, too.” She put a basket on the table. “It was Annie’s idea.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know I have gut ideas?” Annie asked.

“No, that would be a surprise,” her twin teased with affection. Motioning after she set two more bags on the table, she added, “Komm here, Miriam, and see what we’ve been able to dig up.”

Miriam wasn’t surprised when the twins began to unload schoolbooks and stack them on the table. Each grade level was printed with a different color cover, and she saw they had several for most grade levels. She already had the teacher’s editions. Caleb had packed them, figuring someone would use them along Harmony Creek. She wondered if he’d assumed he could persuade her to teach again...at least temporarily.

She tapped her cheek in thought. “We’ll need workbooks. I wonder where we can order them.”

“Is there a bookstore in the village?” Leanna asked.

“Not that I’ve seen, but Caleb may know where one is.”

“Or go to the library and order the books from a computer there.” Annie’s eyes twinkled.

“I’m not sure the bishop would approve.” Miriam sat at the table and began to sort the books out by grade. “Maybe Sarah could ask Mrs. Summerhays if she knows where we can place an order without using the internet.”

Since her arrival from northern Indiana, Sarah had been working as a nanny for the Summerhays family, who lived almost two miles east along the road toward Rupert, Vermont. There were four kinder, two preteens and two much younger kinder. Sarah told them it was what Englischers called a blended family. The parents had been married before. Miriam didn’t know if death or divorce had led to the daed and mamm remarrying, and she didn’t ask. She assumed Sarah knew, but her friend wouldn’t carry tales about the family’s private business.

Leanna opened a textbook and turned the pages. “Here’s the address for the publisher. If Mrs. Summerhays doesn’t have a suggestion, I can write to the publisher and ask how to order more books. In the meantime, the scholars may have to share.”

“A gut lesson for them,” Annie said. “And the lesson for us is that the men working on the schoolhouse are going to be grouchy if there isn’t food waiting for them for dinner.”

They laughed and got to work unpacking food from the baskets. Squeezing cold casseroles into the small refrigerator along with the dishes Miriam had prepared, they set the hot selections on the table atop towels so the wood wasn’t scorched. More food would be arriving soon.

“Mercy promised to make nachos,” Miriam said as she handed several more glasses to Annie.

“Your neighbor is Hispanic, ain’t so?” Annie asked.

“Ja, but she told me she learned to make nachos from her adoptive mamm. Her adoptive Mennonitemamm.”

That brought more laughter as they worked together.

“Before the others get here,” Annie said, “we need to plan another event for the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club.” She giggled. “I love getting to spend time with you. What does your brother think of it, Miriam?”

“I haven’t said anything to him about our club.” Her embarrassment faded when she saw the uneasy expressions on the twins’ faces. “I guess you haven’t, either.”

“It sounds as if we’re desperate to be married,” Annie murmured.

“Or have given up.” Leanna clasped her hands in front of her. “I believe there’s a man out there who will fall in love with me.”

“All you have to do is not be looking for him, ain’t so?” teased her twin. “Isn’t that what you say the heroines in your romance novels do?”

Color burnished Leanna’s cheeks. “I know those are just stories, Annie. I like reading them.”

“I do, too.” Annie’s face became almost the same shade as Leanna’s. “But if the right man comes along...” She sighed. “I don’t want to lose this friendship.”

“Once a member of the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club, always a member, ain’t so?” Miriam laughed, so glad she could let her worries slide away at least for a short while. Between the kinder coming for lessons and having Eli across the road day after day, in addition to teaching him to read lips, not thinking about those hurdles was a blessing. “We could rename it—”

“No! Don’t change its name.” Annie leaned forward with clasped hands. “Please!”

“But if none of us has told anyone—”

“The next one we come up with could be worse.” Annie shuddered.

Again, they shared a big chuckle.

“If you’d let me finish...” Miriam waited until they were listening again. “I suggest we rename our older girls’ group the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ and Newlyweds’ Club.”

Leanna brightened. “That’s perfect.”

“Do you have something to share, little sister?” asked Annie as she winked at Miriam. “Big plans for the fall?”

Taking pity on the younger woman, Miriam put her arm around Leanna’s shoulder. “I thought brothers were awful about picking on their sisters, but I think Annie takes the cake.”