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

did he. They walked side by side toward her porch. She kept her fingers clasped tightly in front of her because she wanted him to take her hand more than anything. A simple stroll while holding hands wouldn’t hurt anything, but it would change everything and she couldn’t risk it. The last thing she wanted to do was to drive him away with her unwanted attention.

“Good night,” she said then rushed inside without waiting for his reply.

The workers clattered into the schoolyard before dawn. Eva watched from her kitchen window as wagonloads of lumber were parked where there would be easy access to their cargo. Otto and Harley took the horses over to Willis’s place. It was the closest corral.

Bishop Schultz was the one in charge as events unfolded. Eva kept a big pot of coffee hot and served anyone who asked for a cup. When a busload of Amish men arrived from a settlement in Pennsylvania to help she quickly put on another pot.

The bishop never appeared hurried or at a loss. To her it looked as if everybody knew exactly what to do. Danny and Harley were among those getting the walls in place. Willis was putting the new window in the school. Otto stood by with a caulk gun, ready to seal it when Willis got off the ladder. It made her smile to see the two of them working together.

By ten o’clock the framing for the four outer walls was going up. A long line of men hefted the first wall off the ground at a sign from Bishop Schultz. Some men used long poles to hoist it upright while an equal number of them quickly fastened it to the foundation. The ring of hammers filled the air.

A few minutes after ten the first buggy full of women arrived, followed by the bench wagon driven by Constance Schultz. The women quickly set out tables on the schoolhouse lawn and covered them with bright checkered cloths. Baskets of food were unloaded next.

Becca Beachy arrived with her daughter and her father-in-law. He walked with a pronounced limp and used a cane, but he soon had the young boys applying paint to the first finished wall. Annabeth and Maddie took their places on the swings until Dinah called them over to babysit the infants while their mothers began serving food.

Danny collided with Becca coming out of the house. She blushed and murmured an apology as she hurried away. Danny stood staring after her. Eva took note of the bemused expression on his face when he turned to her. “Who was that?”

“That is Becca Beachy. She and her father-in-law recently moved here.”

“Oh, she’s married, then.”

“She’s a widow. She has a little girl Maddie’s age. Dinah said she is one of Samuel Yoder’s grandchildren.”

“Is that so? Well, I hope they like it here.” He walked back out to the barn.

Eva glanced at him and then at Becca, who was watching him, too. Should she drop a hint that Danny wasn’t a resident of New Covenant and that he would be leaving soon? She decided against it and went back inside to make more iced tea for those who wanted it instead of coffee.

Everyone was sitting down to eat when Dale Kaufman pulled up in his yellow pickup. Jesse and Willis went down to the street to see what he needed. Willis came back to Eva a few minutes later. “Dale says he has a delivery for you. Four large crates. Where would you like them?”

Eva clasped her hands together in excitement. “They’re here. My books are here. Take them inside the school, please.” She wrapped her hands around Willis’s arm and pulled him into the school. “I’m so excited to be able to share them with my students. I may even start a lending library so that the adults in this community can borrow them.”

Dale brought in a crate and pried the top off. “Are these what you’re waiting for?”

“Ja.”

“I’ll get the rest.”

He went out and Eva grinned at Willis. “You may have the first pick and don’t tell me you don’t have time to read. You will this winter.”

He slipped her hands off his arm. “Okay. I’ll do that. Um, I know Harley likes to read. The kid always has his nose in a horse magazine. Maybe you could pick one out for him about horses.”

“We’ll each pick one for him.” She drew her hand along the spines of the books. “Let’s see I have The Black Stallion, Black Beauty and several Westerns featuring horses.” She picked out one.

“Okay.” Willis rubbed his hands on his pant legs.

She waited for him to look through her collection. What was wrong? He took a step back. It was almost as if he was afraid of them.

“I’m sure Harley will like whatever you choose. He can bring it back if he doesn’t and pick another.”

Willis swallowed hard and shook his head at Eva’s excitement. All for a couple of crates of books. The joy on her face was unbelievable. There was no doubt about it. Eva didn’t just like books. She loved them. Any man who wanted to woo her would do well to come visiting with a new book under his arm each time he stopped in.

And that man wouldn’t be him. He could carry a crate of them, but he couldn’t choose one. He wouldn’t know if it was one Harley would like. If he picked the wrong book, would she guess he didn’t know what he was looking at?

She was waiting for him to look them over. Watching him to see what he would do. He read the confusion in her eyes. She didn’t know why he was hesitating. He rubbed a hand across his dry lips and leaned down.

He ran his fingers along them as he had seen her do. “I’ll surprise him with this one.” He pulled a book out and tucked it under his arm. “Now I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Are you sure that’s