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

home that afternoon. Even the slightest delay could force her to be caught in the coming snowstorm.

Looking down at the front of his coat, he saw beads of water from where her snowball had struck him. He brushed them away, feeling confused by her actions. The last girl who had flirted with him had been his wife. And yet, he didn’t think that was what Becca was doing. She was just having fun. She was so full of life. He’d noticed the bounce in her step and happy lilt in her voice whenever she came over to his house. She’d confided that she’d been engaged to be married and he would have been a fool not to notice the pain in her voice. She’d been deeply hurt. All her hopes and dreams for a familye of her own had been dashed to pieces. It was easy to think that she’d find someone else to marry one day. That she’d go on and be just fine. But once you were really and truly in love with someone, it wasn’t always that easy to move on. He knew that firsthand. Besides, she’d said she had chosen a teaching career instead of a familye.

When he’d been inside the school, he’d noticed how tidy everything was. Becca had made the same difference in his own home, washing the dishes when she came to tutor Sam. It had spurred him to be a better housekeeper, so he didn’t appear to be taking advantage of her generosity.

Most days, she brought them something for supper too. She always claimed her aunt Naomi had made the food but he suspected she had helped. And her generosity had touched his heart. He’d heard his son’s whispered words as she worked with the boy in the living room. He’d noticed how Sam’s countenance lit up when he knew Becca was coming over. And honestly, Jesse had to admit he liked her frequent visits. She was working hard and making a real difference in his son’s life.

As he reached the turnoff to his farm, he glanced over and saw the log house that belonged to Becca’s cousin, Jakob Fisher. So different from the sprawling, white frame houses he had lived in back in Pennsylvania.

Turning toward home, he thought maybe he should speak to Bishop Yoder about Becca. He should tell him and the other board members what a good job she was doing as their schoolteacher. Then, the board would give her a good reference when it came time for her to leave and find another teaching assignment at the end of the school year. He wanted Becca to find a permanent job that would make her happy. One that would provide her with a firm and stable income all her life.

As he pulled into his main yard and directed the horse toward the barn, he felt suddenly quite sad. While he knew that Becca had to leave in the spring, he didn’t want her to go. And yet, there was nothing he could do to help her stay. Nothing at all.

Chapter Nine

Jesse stepped out of the barn and glanced over at the house. After two weeks of cold, the weather had shifted. The warmth of the sun had finally melted all the snow, though the ground was quite damp. Patches romped around close by his feet, which was odd. The dog usually followed Sam everywhere. Speaking of which, where was Sam? It was Saturday morning and the boy should be outside doing his morning tasks.

Jesse had just finished his chores and was ready to head out to the fields. When he saw the two buckets of pig slop still sitting where he’d left them on the back porch almost an hour earlier, he shook his head. Why hadn’t Sam fed the pigs yet?

Heaving a sigh of exasperation, he walked over to the porch and retrieved the buckets before carrying them to the pigpen. The three swine saw him coming and rushed toward him. Patches gave several shrill barks as Jesse dumped the contents of the buckets into the trough. The pigs snorted and grunted, scarfing down the food like they were starving. They were definitely overdue for their breakfast.

While the pigs were occupied, Jesse stepped inside their pen and checked their water cistern. Patches whined and scratched at the gate, trying to follow him. But no way would Jesse let the little dog in with the ornery pigs.

The temperatures were still mighty cold. Although the sky was filled with leaden clouds, he didn’t think it would snow again. But it sure might rain.

Hurrying so he could get some work done in the fields before the weather turned, he used a metal bar to break the thin layer of ice that had formed over top of the water trough so the animals could drink. As he set the bar aside, he glanced toward the chicken coop, wondering if Sam had fed the hens and finished gathering the eggs yet. Stepping outside of the pigpen, he pulled the gate closed until he heard it latch, then walked toward the house with Patches at his heels. It was Saturday and they weren’t in a rush to get Sam to school but Jesse needed to get out to that field if he hoped to make any progress in clearing the overgrown brush before it rained. The previous owner of this farm had gotten old and had neglected the fields, which were now overgrown by weeds, shrubs and saplings. Spring was just around the corner and Jesse wanted to make the best use of his land.

“Sam! Waar ben jij?” he called to his son.

He gazed at the chicken coop, expecting the boy to come from there. When he heard the screen door clap closed behind him, he whirled around and found his son standing just in front of the back door to the house. Patches scampered toward the boy, jumping at his legs. Though Sam was fully dressed for the day, his feet were