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

It made him wonder if something was wrong back home. He didn’t want to come out and ask. He was used to minding his own business. Until Eva had arrived in New Covenant, he’d seldom given his neighbors a second thought.

Now he found it impossible to stop thinking about her. She had somehow wormed her way past the defenses he kept around his heart. He cared for Eva a great deal.

Maddie took back one slice of pepperoni and ate it. “Why do people get married?”

“Because they love each other, I reckon.”

“What if someone matchmakes them together? Will they love each other then?”

He was sorry she’d ever heard the term. “A matchmaker is just a person who introduces two people in the hopes that they will fall in love. I don’t think it works out all that often.”

Maddie sighed. “I hope it works out for you.”

Otto nudged Maddie. “You talk too much.”

“I don’t. I talk just enough.”

Willis realized something was going on between the two of them. “What do you want to work out for me?”

“Nothing,” Otto said quickly. He scowled at his sister.

Willis glanced between them. “I don’t think nothing is the right word. What’s going on?”

“We gave Eva a list of things we want your wife to have,” Maddie said proudly.

Harley rolled his eyes. “Girls can’t keep a secret.”

Maddie stuck out her lower lip. “Nobody said it was a secret.”

“It’s not anymore.” Otto got up and left the table, carrying a piece of pizza outside.

Willis shook his head. “I’m not going to find a wife, so it doesn’t matter what you and Otto told Eva I needed.”

“Okay.” Maddie gave Sadie her last piece of pepperoni. “I’m done. Can I go out and play now?”

“It will be time for bed soon. Don’t forget. Harley is going to read us a story tonight. Send Sadie home.”

“Okay.”

Harley cleared the table without being asked. Willis washed what few dishes there were. When the kitchen was clean, Willis sat down in his chair by the window. Maddie climbed onto his lap while Otto and Harley sprawled on the floor. Harley turned the pages of a book and stopped when he found what he was looking for. “This is the story Mamm liked to read to us. It’s about Joseph and his brothers.”

Willis knew the tale, but he listened to Harley read it with a new appreciation. No matter what he made in his forge it couldn’t convey the message of God’s love and the power of forgiveness as clearly as the words in Harley’s book did. Eva understood that.

After the children were in bed Willis finished a set of horseshoes for his draft horses at his forge. When he was done, he stepped out into the cool night air, relieved to leave his hot workplace. The moon wasn’t up yet, but the sky was littered with millions of brilliant stars. His gaze was drawn to Eva’s house. The light in her sitting room was on. She was still up. He was tempted to walk over and visit for a while but stopped himself before he made such a foolish mistake.

Eva’s light went out as he watched. Maybe it was her brother who was restless. And what business did he have spying on her even from a distance? He was about to turn away when he saw her front door open. She came out onto the porch, drew a shawl around her shoulders and started across the lawn to the school. She didn’t go inside the building; instead, she passed behind it.

Curiosity got the better of him. Where was the new teacher going this time of night? Although there hadn’t been any reports of bears in the area since Maddie’s adventure, it wasn’t particularly safe to be wandering alone in the dark. It was still wild country. Potato farms and towns covered the floor of the valley, but the hills on either side were timber. He started walking in that direction just to make sure she got safely to wherever she was going.

When he came around the corner of the school building, he saw her sitting on the playground swings. She pushed off and began to move back and forth.

She was safe enough where she was. He should go home, but he didn’t move. Why was she out here? Was something troubling her? Drawn to her almost against his will, he crossed the lawn and approached the swings.

“Good evening, Willis. Isn’t it a beautiful night?” She had seen him coming. She must have eyes like a cat.

“I reckon you’re right. It’s a downright pretty night.”

The thick trees kept the lights from the nearby town blocked. Overhead the Milky Way stretched like a glittering gauze scarf thrown down on the floor of heaven. Across the night sky the constellations looked so close a man could almost reach out and touch them. A soft breeze brought the ever-present scent of pine to him, and underneath that the odor of the potato plants that covered much of the valley.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

“I’m practicing how to swing.” She leaned back and pumped her legs to gain height.

He chuckled as he leaned against the A-frame metal crossbar. “I didn’t know swinging required practice. I thought it was like riding a bicycle. Once you learned you never forgot.”

“That might be true for you, but I need to practice. I may want to impress the children with my skills.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s the whole truth. I suspect you are out here because you have something on your mind.”

She gave a big sigh and leaned back as far as she could. “Mr. Gingrich, you are every bit as perceptive as Bubble.”

“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not.” He moved to sit in the swing beside her.

“That was meant as a compliment. I do have something on my mind.”

“Does it have to do with a list?”

She frowned. “A list? Nee. Oh, you mean the list the children gave me. I almost forgot about