The Amish Teacher's Dilemma and Healing Their Amish Hearts by Patricia Davids (all ebook reader .txt) 📕

The children were quiet for a change on the way home. He glanced toward Eva a few times, but she seemed more interested in the scenery than having a conversation. It was just as well. He had no idea what to say to her. He dropped her off at her house and guided the horses to the back of his smithy. Harley stayed to help him unload while Otto and Maddie headed to the house.

Otto came back a few moments later with a piece of paper in his hand. He held it out to Willis. “Someone left this on our door.”

Willis pulled another length of iron from the wagon bed to hide his shaking hands as his heart began racing. “Read it.”

“It’s for you.” Otto waved it as if Willis couldn’t see he held it.

“I’ve got to get this unloaded. Is it important?”

“I don’t want to read your stuff. You take it.”

Harley tossed his length of pipe on the pile, snatched the message from Otto and scanned it. “It’s from Bishop Schultz. He says he’ll be back to talk to you tomorrow at noon.”

Willis let out the breath he’d been holding. “Does he say what about?”

“Nope.”

“Danki.” He began unloading his iron with renewed vigor. His secret was safe for now. He glanced up and found Harley watching him with an odd expression on his face. Willis swallowed hard. How much longer would it be before one of his brothers learned the truth? He cringed at the thought. What would they think of him then? What would Eva think of him?

The following morning Otto and Maddie tried to hurry out of the house before breakfast, but Willis stopped them at the door. He glanced at the empty wire egg basket on the counter. “Maddie, did you do your chores this morning?”

She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Not yet.”

He frowned at Otto. “Have you fed the chickens and geese?”

“I thought I’d do it after breakfast.”

“No one is going to Eva’s house until their chores are finished. I will have breakfast ready for you by then.”

Maddie frowned. “But Eva might have something better than you make.”

“What’s wrong with my oatmeal?”

“Nothing,” Otto said. “If you like oatmeal.”

Willis stifled a grin. He was getting tired of oatmeal, too, but it was a good, hot meal that would last a fella until noon or later. Eva was willing to make their lunches. He wasn’t going to test her patience by sending the kids over for breakfast, too. He sent them on their way a short time later. Harley was the only one who finished his bowl of cereal.

Willis managed to catch up on some of his backlogged orders for potato-digging parts and cultivator shovels before the bishop showed up in his buggy. He wiped his hands on a rag. “Welcome, Bishop. What can I do for you today?”

Bishop Schultz glanced around. “Where are your brothers and sister?”

“Eva is keeping an eye on them today. Why?”

“The children are why I’m here. After Maddie went missing, several of the women in the church have expressed concerns about your ability to care for them.”

Harley was reading in Eva’s sitting room while Maddie and Otto were decorating sugar cookies in the kitchen when she heard someone at her door. She opened it and saw Willis with both arms braced on either side of the door and a fierce scowl on his face. “Were you in on this?”

She leaned back. “In on what?”

“On the bishop’s visit to my home today.”

She could see he was angry. She stepped out on the porch, forcing him to let her pass, and closed the door. “Willis, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“The bishop wanted me to know that some of the women in the community are worried that I’m not raising my siblings right.”

She slapped a hand to her chest. “I never said anything of the sort to the bishop or anyone else. I think you’re trying hard to replace their mother and father. It can’t be easy for you, but you’re doing okay.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “You’re wrong there. I know I’m doing a lousy job. I never expected to have the children living with me.”

“What exactly did the bishop say?”

Willis shot a sour glance her way. “He suggested I find a wife.”

“Oh. I’m well aware of your aversion to matrimony.”

“My what?”

She waved one hand. “Aversion. It means you can’t stand the idea.”

“Why didn’t you just say that? Why do you have to use big words?”

She folded her arms across her middle. “Because I like the sound of them. Words are the decorations of life. Good words are like frosting on a cake. Exemplify. Emancipate. Enlighten. They sound magnificent because they are magnificent.”

“Do you even know what they mean?”

“Of course I do, but I digress, which means I got off the subject.”

“I’m not completely ignorant.”

She took a step closer and gazed intently into his eyes. “I never thought that for a minute. This will blow over when school starts and the children are occupied all day. The good ladies of the church will find a new mission.”

“Maybe they are right. Maybe the kids would be better off with someone else.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“Maybe I do.” He turned and walked away. Eva longed to call him back, but she knew he had to decide what was best for his family by himself.

She went back into the kitchen and saw Harley had joined the younger children there. He was writing on a piece of paper while the other two looked on. “Is this all?” he asked them.

Maddie and Otto nodded. Harley handed them the paper. “I think it’s a dumb idea but here it is.”

Maddie grinned as Eva walked in. “Teacher, we have a list for you.”

Eva put aside her concern for Willis. “A list for what?”

“To help you matchmake a nice wife for Willis.”

Eva narrowed her eyes and hooked her thumb toward the door. “Did you hear us talking outside?”

They all shook their heads.