Marta Perry - The Promised Amish Bride

Oh, no. He sure wasn’t going there. A few quick strides took him into the kitchen and to the counter, where he deposited the bowl. “I’ll help Caleb with the tables,” he muttered, and scooted out without meeting Sally’s glance again.

Caleb and Onkel Zeb were setting up tables on the grass, and he hurried to grab one end before his uncle could reach it. “I’ll get it.” He glanced across the field. “Looks like some more company on their way.”

“Yah, the Fisher family are eager to see you, that’s certain sure.” Onkel Zeb grinned. “And Daniel is twice as eager to see Rebecca. He’s that excited about getting married you’d think no one had ever done it before.”

“So Daniel is becoming a daadi. That’s still hard to imagine.” Aaron was still having trouble just picturing his brother married, let alone being an instant father.

“Like I said, he’s gut with little Lige, Rebecca’s boy. The child loves him already, and Rebecca... Well, you’ll see the way they look at each other.” Onkel Zeb gave him a sly glance. “Seems to me it’s become a tradition, the King boys getting married.”

“Count me out,” he said quickly. “It’s not for me.” Sally’s lively face appeared in his mind’s eye, and he chased it away.

“More work, less talk,” Caleb said. “There’s still the benches to set up.”

“Right.” Aaron picked up one of the benches and carried it to its proper place. He’d be just as happy to have enough jobs to keep him from needless conversation with the neighbors, but he didn’t guess that was possible.

In any event, meeting and greeting wasn’t as difficult as Aaron had expected, even though he felt foolishly awkward at times. Mostly people hadn’t changed much—just gotten older. There was Sam Fisher from next door, who was Caleb’s age and had a flock of kids already. He and his Leah must have married early, since their oldest boy was a gangly youth entering his teens and looking much as Sam had at that age.

Daniel’s Rebecca had grown up into a beauty, that was for sure. Not lively, like Sally, but with a serene calm that turned into joy each time her eyes met Daniel’s. It was oddly disturbing to see that flare of love returned by his easygoing brother. Lige, the little boy, seemed attached to Daniel’s pant leg most of the time, chattering away a mile a minute.

Onkel Zeb caught him watching Daniel and Rebecca. “They’re gut together, yah? It’s a wonder to see Daniel so happy, and Rebecca, too.”

“I’m still trying to get used to Caleb being married and having a family. Now Daniel.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what kind of an uncle I’m going to be, but I’m certain sure I won’t do as gut a job as you did with us.”

“It’ll come to you,” his uncle said. “Most things are natural when it’s family.”

He wasn’t so convinced of that, but he could hardly argue with his uncle after all Zeb had done for them. His gaze strayed to Sally’s brother, Ben, and his wife.

“Ben hasn’t changed,” he said. “His wife...”

Onkel Zeb grinned. “Tried to get your whole life story out of you, did she? Ach, Elizabeth’s a gut woman, but she has an opinion on everything. I expect she and Sally are butting heads plenty these days. Elizabeth and Ben are staying in the farmhouse with Sally while her and Ben’s folks are away.”

“Sally said something about it.” And based on his brief encounter with Elizabeth, he could understand if she got on Sally’s nerves.

“Speaking of Sally, here she is,” Zeb said. “Are you looking for me or for my handsome nephew, Teacher Sally?”

Sally smiled, squeezing his arm. “You’re my sweetheart, Zeb. But it’s Aaron I need to see at the moment.”

Still trying to get used to the grown-up Sally, he couldn’t find a response for a second or two—long enough for Onkel Zeb to move off. “I’ll leave you to talk about it, then.”

“I’m not sure what...” he began, but Sally plunged right in.

“Komm, now, Aaron. I thought you might be ready to keep your promise to me.”

“Promise?” He looked at her blankly.

“You can’t have forgotten. You promised you’d wait until I grew up and then you’d marry me.”

He stared at her, appalled for what seemed forever until he saw the laughter in her eyes. “Sally Stoltzfus, you’ve turned into a threat to my sanity. What are you trying to do, scare me to death?”

She gave a gurgle of laughter. “You looked a little bored with the picnic. I thought I’d wake you up.”

“Not bored,” he said quickly. “Just...trying to find my way. So you don’t expect me to marry you. Anything else I can do that’s not so permanent?”

“As a matter of fact, there is. I want you to help me train Star.”

So that was it. He frowned, trying to think of a way to refuse that wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

“You saw what Star is like,” she went on without waiting for an answer. “I’ve got to get him trained, and soon. And everyone knows that you’re the best there is with horses.”

“I don’t think everyone believes any such thing,” he retorted. “They don’t know me well enough anymore.”

She waved that away. “You’ve been working with horses while you were gone. And Zeb always says you were born with the gift.”

“Onkel Zeb might be a little bit prejudiced,” he said, trying to organize his thoughts. There was no real reason he couldn’t help her out, except that it seemed like a commitment, and he didn’t intend to tie himself anywhere, not now.

“You can’t deny that Star needs help, can you?” Her laughing gaze invited him to share her memory of the previous day.

“He needs help all right, but I don’t quite see the point. Can’t you use the family buggy when you need it?” He suspected that if he didn’t come up with a good reason, he’d find himself working with that flighty gelding.

Her face grew serious suddenly. “As long as I do that, I’m depending on someone else. I want to make my own decisions about when and where I’m going. I’d like to be a bit independent, at least in that. I thought you were the one person who might understand.”

That hit him right where he lived. He did understand—that was the trouble. He understood too well, and it made him vulnerable where Sally was concerned. He fumbled for words. “I’d like to help. But I don’t know how long I’ll be here and—”

“That doesn’t matter.” Seeing her face change was like watching the sun come out. “I’ll take whatever time you can spare. Denke, Aaron. I’m wonderful glad.”

He started to say that his words hadn’t been a yes, but before he could, Sally had grabbed his hand and every thought flew right out of his head.

It was just like her catching hold of Onkel Zeb’s arm, he tried to tell himself. But it didn’t work. When she touched him, something seemed to light between them like a spark arcing from one terminal to another. He felt it right down to his toes, and he knew in that instant that he was in trouble.

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