Mary Davis - Courting Her Amish Heart

Her panicked blue eyes turned to him and slowly focused. “I could diagnose pneumonia. I could set a broken bone. I could take out your appendix. All that, I can do. This I cannot.” She meant facing her family.

He squeezed her hands. “Don’t be silly.”

“I’m not silly.” She tried to pull her hands free.

He held fast. He didn’t want to let her go. “I didn’t say you were silly. I said you were being silly. You left the community and went against the wishes of the church leaders. You studied for so many years. You have done what no other Amish have dared. Where is that girl? The one who did all those things?”

Her voice came out small. “I think I left her back in the city.”

“Ne. You didn’t. She brought you back here.” He’d presumed she would be a stout woman who took charge. Not this slip of a thing who appeared scared and unsure of herself. Not this beautiful woman standing before him. “Your parents will be happy to see you.”

“How do you know?”

“They’ve never stopped talking about you.”

“You know my parents?”

He gave a nod. “I’ve spent quite a bit of time with them the past three years. My farm borders theirs. They’re proud of all you’ve accomplished.”

“Now I know they’ve never said that. Pride goes against the church.”

“It’s the way they talk about you.”

“So they talk about my being a doctor? Do they think the community will accept me?”

“They don’t talk about that.”

“You mean my being a doctor?”

He nodded.

“Then how do you know they’re proud of my accomplishments, if they don’t talk about my being a doctor?”

“Like I said, it’s the way they talk about you. About their daughter who is in the English world. I can’t explain it.”

Kathleen pulled free and resumed pacing. “Why did I ever leave? What was I thinking?”

Noah stared at his empty hands, then tucked them into his pockets to keep them from reaching out for her again. “Honestly, I’ve never been able to figure that out. Did you think the leaders would pat you on the back for your efforts? You know they disapprove of your actions? But your parents don’t.”

She stopped and stared at him with wide blue eyes. “I don’t know what to do. In a hospital or surgery I do, but not here. Give me a patient, and I’d know what to do.”

How could someone be so confident in one area and not in another? “Climb back in the buggy and go see your family. Both you and they have been waiting fourteen years for this. Your reception isn’t going to change five minutes from now. Or five hours. Or five days.”

“You’re right. Gut or bad, I must go.” She clasped her hands together and bowed her head.

He prayed silently as well. Prayed for a warm welcome. Prayed for Kathleen to be strong. Prayed for Kathleen to become the woman Gott meant her to be. Prayed to get to know her better.

After another pickup truck passed, Kathleen marched around the buggy, climbed in and stared straight ahead with her hands folded primly in her lap.

Definitely not how he’d pictured the indomitable Kathleen Yoder. This Kathleen Yoder was never going to make it as a doctor in their Amish district. She would fall back into the traditional Amish role for women or leave the community for gut this time. That thought settled uneasily inside him.

Either way, it would be a loss, and he would be disappointed. The community could use her skills and knowledge as a doctor—even if they weren’t willing to admit it.

Yet.

No, she wasn’t the woman he’d imagined her to be. Hoped her to be.

She was so much better in so many ways.

Chapter Two

Kathleen shifted on the buggy seat as Noah settled next to her. When he flicked the reins and the horse stepped forward, her stomach lurched in tandem with the buggy.

What was wrong with her? She had countered doctors senior to her when a patient was at risk, even grouchy Dr. Wilson. She had taught an undergraduate class. She had stood shoulder to shoulder with other doctors in an operating room.

Or was it this handsome Amish man sitting next to her? Couldn’t be. It had to be returning home.

This was her family. Who loved her. And that was the problem. It was one thing to have an arrogant doctor think ill of her, but quite different to have her family view her poorly. That would hurt too much.

Kathleen sat up a little straighter. Regardless of her family’s reaction, Gott had called her to this path. She had done nothing wrong in His eyes. And wasn’t He the one who mattered most?

Noah turned off the road and into her driveway. “Everything will be well. You’ll see.”

She hoped so. And strangely his words comforted her.

Like the other homes, solar panels sat on the roof.

A tricolor Australian shepherd loped from the barn, barking, announcing their arrival. A dozen or so chickens squawked and scattered.

Noah pulled to a stop and set the brake. When he got out, the dog pranced and leapt around him. “Sit.”

The dog raced a few feet away and tore back just as fast.

Making his voice more ominous, he repeated his command. “Sit!” When the dog finally obeyed, it settled at Noah’s feet, still wiggling as though it might burst. Noah tousled the shepherd around the neck. “What are you doing here? You should be at home guarding my sheep.”

Kathleen stepped down. “This is your dog?”

“Ja. She’s still young. My other two are supposed to be keeping an eye on her and training her. She does well while I’m on the farm but strays when I’m not there.”

She bent toward the dog. “What’s her name?”

“Kaleidoscope, on account of her eye.”

She looked at the dog’s eyes more closely. One brown and the other a patchwork of blues. “Are all your dogs this same breed?”

“I have a black Belgian sheepdog and a black-and-tan Cardigan Welsh corgi.”

The Australian shepherd rolled onto her back.

Kathleen obliged by rubbing her tummy. “How old is she?”

“Almost eleven months. She has a lot of growing up to do.”

“Noah!” a man called from the barn.

Kathleen froze. Was that her dat’s voice? She remained crouched with the dog and stole a glance out of the corner of her eye. The man walking toward them was too young to be her dat. Benjamin? He’d grown into a man.

The screen door of the house creaked, and her mutter spoke. “Noah, so glad you have come. Who have you brought?”

Air lodged in Kathleen’s lungs. She could breathe neither in nor out.

Kaleidoscope flipped from her back to her feet and ran for Benjamin. Fool dog. She was Kathleen’s excuse for not looking directly at anyone.

“Someone you’re eager to see,” Noah said in a light tone. His deep voice brushed over her, calming some of her nerves.

Still looking at the ground, Kathleen saw three pairs of smallish women’s shoes come into view. Her mum and sisters?

The time had come. Taking a deep breath, Kathleen stood and gazed directly into her mum’s face.

Her mum’s smile dropped, and her mouth slipped open. “Kathleen? My Kathleen?”

Kathleen nodded. “Ja, Mum.”

Mum cupped her face in both hands. “You’re home.” Her eyes glistened.

“I’m home.” Kathleen’s eyes filled with tears as well.

“I cannot believe this.” Mum pulled her into her arms. “Finally, my child has returned.”

After a moment, Ruby’s arms wrapped around her and Mum.

“Is that my girl?” Her dat’s voice came from beside her.

Both women released her, and her mum spoke. “Noah has brought our Kathleen home.”

Strangely, she liked the sound of that. Noah had brought her.

Beside Dat stood Benjamin, who had grown into a strapping young man, as well as Joshua and a gangly Samuel.