Her Amish Christmas Gift

He laughed. “I think you’ll get sick of sandwiches, but we’ll see.”

After he finished eating, Nate rose to throw away his paper plate. He turned and caught a glimpse of Charlie standing at her cousin’s paddock, watching the horses at play. Her glorious red hair was like a beacon that called to him. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?

He headed in her direction.

* * *

Charlie gazed at the horses and felt a rush of pleasure. What she wouldn’t give to race like the wind on the back of a horse! She smiled. The chestnut mare pranced and chased her companions into a playful gallop. She’d give anything to feel the freedom of riding through the fields with the warmth of the sun against her skin and her hair unpinned without a head covering. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze tempered by the afternoon sunshine.

This week she wouldn’t be babysitting for the youngest Peachy children. The family was going out of town, which made her sigh. She loved spending time with them and missed them when she wasn’t needed. She loved children. It was her biggest wish to take over the teaching position at the Happiness School when the current schoolteacher left. That would be in a month or so, when current schoolteacher Elizabeth Troyer and her family moved to Ohio.

I’d make a gut teacher. She had done well in school, and she knew how to break down problems and find fun ways to make children remember what they’d learned. And she was ready. Her birthday was next month and she’d be nineteen. Her opportunity for teaching would be gone if it didn’t happen soon. She planned to approach the church elders this week about her filling the upcoming vacancy.

The sun slipped beneath a cloud, and she felt a sudden chill. She hugged herself with her arms. The sky was only partially cloudy. In a few moments the sun would resurface and warm her again.

“Charlie.”

She stiffened, recognizing his voice. She faced him. “Nate.” The shock of his appearance made her heart flutter. Ironically, she’d come here alone to seek refuge from the feelings he’d churned up inside her.

He leaned against the fence rail with only a few inches separating them. She became instantly aware of the heat his nearness generated. Something within her urged to flee from him; yet, she didn’t move.

She straightened her spine and stared. “What do you want, Nate? What are you doing here?”

“How’s your knee?” he asked, his eyes soft with concern.

She swallowed hard. “Fine. Your first aid helped.” She bit her lip. “Danki.”

He nodded with satisfaction. “You like to play ball.”

Charlie drew away, putting several more inches between them. “Ja, so?”

A tiny smile hovered on his lips. “You play well.”

“Then why were you trying to distract me?”

“My bruder was on the other team.”

She gaped at him for several seconds then laughed. She watched as his mouth curved into a grin before he joined in her laughter.

It felt good to laugh, yet strange to laugh with him. The fact that she liked the feeling made her stop laughing. Suddenly tense, she quieted and leaned against the fence and returned to her study of the horses.

They stood silently for a few moments. “What do you hope for, Charlie?” he asked. “In your life.”

She hesitated. “I like children. I’d like to teach.”

Clearly surprised, Nate raised his eyebrows. “You want to teach at our Happiness School?”

“Ja,” she whispered. “I know there are some members within our community who won’t think I’m good enough—”

“I believe you’d be an excellent teacher.”

“You do?”

“Ja, I do.” His gaze seemed intense as he studied her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“You surprise me.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “I can help you.”

“Help me what?”

“Become a teacher. My father is deacon. I could speak with him.”

“Nay!” she gasped. “You mustn’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want or deserve the job if I can’t earn it on my own.”

He shook his head as he watched her, as if he’d learned something new about her that stunned him.

“Charlie!”

She glanced back to see Ellie waving at her. “Time to head home. I’ve got to go,” she told Nate. “I—ah—danki again for helping me today.”

“You’re willkomm.”

“I’ll see you next Sunday,” she said.

Nate nodded without saying a word, and Charlie turned and hurried toward their buggy, where her family had gathered to leave.

Her heart hammered within her chest. Nate Peachy was a complex man, and she didn’t understand him. With one breath, he’d told her she’d be a good teacher, but then in the next, he’d proven that he didn’t believe it unless he stepped in to help. She sighed with sadness. If Nate felt this way, then there was every chance that no one would consider her seriously for the soon-to-be vacated teaching position. Maybe I’m being foolish to try.

When she was younger, her tendency to be impulsive frequently got her into trouble, but she was older and wiser now and she’d learned from her mistakes. She’d meant what she’d told Nate. If she couldn’t get the job on her own, then she didn’t want—or deserve—it.

Chapter Two (#u3d475f2b-a2e5-5383-ab72-1e17b06859f9)

As his family left for Indiana, Nate watched the hired car that carried them until the vehicle disappeared from sight. He turned toward the house and saw his brother on the front porch, gazing after the car as if he, too, was affected by their departure.

Nate strode toward the house and climbed the porch steps. “Ready to make hay?”

“How about some breakfast first?” Jacob suggested.

“Didn’t you eat earlier?”

“Nay, busy helping our sisters with their luggage.”

He smiled with amusement. “You, too? I helped Mam, Dat and Harley with theirs.”