Her Forgiving Amish Heart

She glared at him as she lifted her chin. “Nothing I can’t handle.” Annabelle bumped up against her, nearly sending her sprawling. Henry’s quick response to steady her made her grit her teeth.

“Need help?” he asked.

“Nay!” She was too aware of his strength as he released her.

He laughed. “Afraid I’ll do it better and faster?”

“Go away,” she said as she found fresh hay, which she tossed before Annabelle. The animal bent her head, content to eat. “Why are you here? I thought you were with my vadder.” She pulled up the stool and started to milk Annabelle before she looked up at him.

He had taken off his hat and she could see the twinkle in his blue eyes. “I am,” he said patiently. “He went into the house to fetch his drawings.”

Leah frowned. “What drawings?” The sound of milk hitting the inside of the bucket wasn’t as loud as her rapidly beating heart.

“Of the cabinet he wants me to build for him.”

She paused in the act of milking. “Why would he want you to make him a cabinet?” Her voice sounded unnecessarily sharp. Contrite, she closed her eyes and drew a calming breath. Annabelle shifted uneasily, and Leah continued to milk her until the pail was nearly full.

“Because I like making them.” He regarded her without warmth.

Leah studied him. She could see that her questioning his cabinetmaking abilities had upset him. “Have you made one before?” she said, softening her tone.

Henry nodded. “Ja, several.”

She stifled a rude retort.

“I don’t spend every minute in my parents’ store,” he added drily.

He’d aroused her curiosity. “Where does Dat want this cabinet?”

“Come with me,” he invited.

Leah puckered her brow. Believing that she had little choice but to accompany him, she placed the filled milk pails into cold storage before she followed. She studied the back of his head and neck as he led the way through the barn and stopped at a familiar stall. She stared. It was the area that had housed Nell’s dog, Jonas, and her cat, Maxie, then later the dog Peter Zook had given her sister Meg. Now the space was empty. Why does Dat want a cabinet in here?

She must have spoken the thought out loud. “Because he plans to get a dog,” Henry said, shocking her. “With your sisters married and gone, he finds he’s missing their animals. He thinks a cabinet will be a better place for dog food than on the shelf.”

“Dat wants a dog?” she asked disbelievingly. Why hadn’t her father told her?

Henry tilted his head as he regarded her. “You don’t like dogs?”

She shook her head. “Nay—I’m mean—ja, I like dogs fine. I just didn’t realize that my vadder did.” Most Amish men wouldn’t be willing to own a pet. Her sister Nell, who was married to a veterinarian, must have influenced her father more than she’d realized.

Before Henry could respond, her father returned, carrying a notepad. “Here you go. You can take this with you,” he said as he tore off a page and handed it to Henry. He glanced at Leah briefly before turning back to the younger man.

Leah vaguely heard their discussion. She heard mention of wood and hinges and other stuff she couldn’t comprehend. When the men’s conversation ended, the barn became overwhelmingly quiet.

“Dat? You’re going to get a dog?”

“I am.” Arlin gazed at her with a silent look that warned her to mind her own business.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She fought back the hurt. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt a little left out, set off from her family. She managed to smile. “What kind?”

Dat smiled and his demeanor changed from stern to little-boy excitement. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

“I have no idea.” She paused. “We could ask Nell. She’ll recommend a good breed.”

“I already asked her.”

Nell knew. Who else? That feeling of being excluded rushed in again. She could feel Henry’s gaze. Refusing to look at him, she addressed her father. “May I go with you when you pick one out?”

Her father beamed at her. “Ja, but I’d like to fix up the stall before I bring one home.” He turned his attention to the space where the dog would be kept. “Jonas was happy here.”

Leah nodded. Nell’s rescue dog had been happy in these surroundings. “Ja, he was.” She swung her gaze grudgingly toward Henry. He studied her with a thoughtful expression, and she feared that he could read the pain she’d tried to conceal while talking with her father.

“Leah!” Ellie’s loud voice called from out in the yard.

“I’ve got to go,” she said and spun around. She ran a few yards before she stopped. “See you later, Dat. Henry, you do a gut job with the cabinet, ja?” She softened the request with a slight curve of her lips.

Pleasure transformed Henry’s features. “I will,” he promised.

Leah trusted that he would. The warmth in his penetrating gaze had her scrambling to escape. She didn’t want to feel anything for Henry Yoder—even the littlest, tiniest bit of warmth that settled within her chest and reached out in an unsuccessful attempt to capture her heart.

* * *

Henry watched Leah leave before turning back to Arlin. “She seems surprised that you want a dog.”

Arlin had been studying his daughter as she left. He turned his focus on Henry. “She doesn’t mind, though. All my dechter are animal lovers.”

After a nod, Henry quietly studied the paper in his hands. “This looks simple enough. You want me to take down the shelf and put up a plain cabinet.”

“I thought we could leave the shelf and install the cabinet to the left of it,” the man said.

Henry eyed the wall space. “That would work. The dimensions for the cabinet are small.”

The older man inclined his head. “Big enough, though. I’m getting a dog, not a herd of goats.” He chuckled. “The two goats we have cause enough damage.”

Henry didn’t join in. He kept remembering the look of pain on Leah’s face as she’d learned that her father hadn’t bothered to include her in his plans. “When do you need this?”

“When can you get it done?”

He thought for a moment. His father was being discharged from the hospital that afternoon. He’d work in the store but figured his mother would want to spend time there. “I can have it done before Thursday.”

Arlin looked surprised. “Gut, gut.” The man headed toward the door and Henry fell into step beside him. “I was glad to see you back on Sunday.” He hesitated. “I would have liked to see your mam and dat.”

“Dat’s been in the hospital. Mam has been spending all of her time there.” Henry became quiet. “I’ve been running the store. My vadder will be released today. Maybe in a couple of weeks, they’ll be able to come.”

The older man regarded him with concern. “I didn’t know about your dat.” Arlin was too polite to ask, but Henry could see his curiosity.

“He had a heart attack, but his doctor says that there’s no permanent damage.”