Mary Davis - Courting Her Secret Heart

“See you soon.” Jacob walked off in the opposite direction of the waiting room.

Amos peeked around the corner. None of his Amish brethren remained, only a handful of Englishers . He straightened before heading down the hall and out to the buggy parking area.

The only buggy that remained was the one he’d driven into town. Deborah sat on the buggy seat, rubbing her mitten-clad hands briskly together. She turned in his direction, and his heart sped up.

He stopped beside the vehicle. Though she wore a kapp , the sun once again ignited the hints of red in her hair around her face. “What are you still doing here? Why didn’t you go with the others?”

The quilt lay across her lap. “All the other buggies were full.”

That was a little sad. She’d been left behind. Now he felt bad for making her wait.

She picked up the reins and tilted her head. “Are you getting in? Or would you rather walk?”

Throwing his words back at him? Little scamp. But she’d lightened his mood. He climbed in and extended his hands for the reins.

She moved them from his reach and snapped the horse into motion.

He couldn’t believe she’d just done that. It was audacious. “I should drive.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the man and you’re a woman.”

She set her jaw and kept control of the reins. “I’m quite capable, danki .”

She certainly seemed so, as well as a little bit feisty. He wanted to drive, but unless he wrestled the reins away from her, it didn’t seem likely. “Did I do something to upset you?”

“Ne.” Her answer was short and clipped.

“It certainly seems like I did. No one else around for you to be angry at.”

She tossed the reins into his lap. “Take them if you want to drive so badly.”

Now he had vexed her. He didn’t want the reins this way and was tempted to leave them where they were, but that wouldn’t do for the horse to have no guidance. With the reins in hand, he pulled to the side of the street in front of an antique store and stopped. “If I haven’t upset you, then what has?”

She took a slow breath, and for a moment, he doubted she would answer him, but then she let out a huff of white air. “It doesn’t matter.”

“ Ja , it does. Tell me.” Why did it bother him so much that she was upset? He should just let it go and get back to her family’s farm.

“My family went off to the hospital and didn’t notice I wasn’t with them.”

That could be quite upsetting, but he’d thought that hadn’t bothered her. He’d been wrong. “They were probably all worried about your vater . Focused on getting him the care he needed.”

She sat quietly for a moment, and he could almost feel her mood shift. “You’re right. I was being selfish. Only thinking of myself. I have a habit of doing that. Danki. ”

He smiled. “Bitte.” He liked that he could help her and appreciated her honesty. Something he’d found lacking in others.

She waved her mittened hand in the air. “Shall we go?”

He lifted the reins but then paused and handed them over to her. “You can drive.”

The smile she gifted him with and the spark in her green eyes as she took the reins warmed him all over.

Chapter Two

Amos sat forward on the buggy seat as the Miller farm came into view. What would people think of him not driving? He was the man, after all. He should be driving. Instinct told him to take the reins, but something held him back. He gritted his teeth, hoping no one would be out in the yard.

Deborah pulled on one rein and slackened the other to turn into the driveway.

Though several buggies, the chickens and two cats were scattered about the yard, fortunately no people were in sight.

She stopped the buggy in front of the house. “Do you mind putting this away by yourself? I want to see how my vater’s doing.”

He gladly took the offered reins. “I’d be happy to.” He breathed easier having the strips of leather in his hands. How foolish of him, but he couldn’t help feeling that way. “Tell your vater not to worry about the animals. I’ll take care of everything.”

“ Danki. But I think he probably still has enough pain medication in him to not worry about much of anything right now.” She jogged up the porch steps and into the house.

He stared at the door for a moment, feeling a sense of loss. But that couldn’t be. He hadn’t lost anything. At least not anything new. With a shake of his head, he drove the buggy to the barn. After unhitching the horse, he put the animal in a stall, then parked the buggy in its space inside the barn. Being an open buggy, it needed to be protected from the elements. With the harness put away, he brushed down the horse and fed him.

His encounter with his cousin Jacob played in his head. He needed to get off his vater’s farm and experience the outside world more than he had on Rumspringa , with a different purpose this time. If he wasn’t going to have land to farm and would have to work in the Englisher world anyway, he might as well live there, too, and be a part of it.

Amos would have left the first time when Jacob suggested it if there had been some place for him to go, but today was a different matter. The image of Deborah standing on the edge of her family at the hospital tugged at his heart. She needed him. This family needed him. Bartholomew needed him. And he needed them so he wouldn’t have to be on his family’s farm until he left for gut . This would make the wait more bearable.

He heard the humming of a female enter the barn. Deborah? He peeked out of the stall he was in as someone disappeared into the stall with the milking cow, but he couldn’t tell who. He brushed down the front of his coat and trousers to remove hay particles, then stepped into the stall doorway.

Miriam glanced up at him with a smile from where she sat on a three-legged stool. “ Hallo , Amos Burkholder.”

His smile sagged a bit. “Hallo.” This was gut that it wasn’t Deborah. He shouldn’t be thinking of her. “Your job to milk the cow?”

She leaned her head against the animal’s side and began the task with a swish-swish-swish . “Ja.”

“Do you and your sisters trade off with this duty?”

“ Ne , I like milking. There is something soothing about it. It’s just me and Sybil.”

“I’m sorry. Would you like me to go away?”

“Ne.”

He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or not at having to stay. “Tell me about your sisters.”

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. I figure if I’m going to be working on your farm, I should know a little about everyone.”

She nodded. “Hannah and Lydia are twins—identical. Hannah is the ultraresponsible one. Lydia is the peacemaker. They are both being courted and will likely get married this fall. Then comes me. A lot of people say I’m the positive one. I do try to see the gut in situations.”

That was not how Deborah had described her. What was it she had said? That Miriam liked a lot of boys. Likely, there wasn’t one young man in particular who had caught her attention yet.

“Then Deborah. After her comes Joanna. She’s the gut one. Not that the rest of us aren’t gut , but she was an easy baby and has always been easy to please. She’s also quite shy. Naomi’s thirteen and can be moody. She likes to be the center of attention. And lastly is carefree baby Sarah at eight. She is easily everyone’s favorite, and the sweetest of us all.”

Everyone got a description except Deborah. “What about Deborah?”