Patricia Davids - His Amish Teacher

The Teacher’s Choice

For Lillian Keim, instructing children in her one-room schoolhouse is as close to being a mother as she’ll ever get. Lillian has a calling to be a teacher, and she won’t give it up to marry. But her plans—and her heart—are at risk when she begins to feel more than friendship for lifelong pal Timothy Bowman. When Tim rescues Lillian and her class from a fire, the volunteer firefighter suddenly sees what he’s been blind to all his life: he wants his friend as his wife. But something beyond her professional goals is holding Lillian back. He’s got to unlock her secret before he loses his friend—and his forever love.

“Do you have a mother in mind for your future children?”

She was teasing him, but she had heard a bit of gossip about him and wondered if it was true.

He shook a finger at her. “Lillian Keim, you’re prying.”

“I hear you have a come-calling friend.” She named the woman, but he explained he’d just given her a lift home. She was glad he wasn’t seeing anyone. But why? she asked herself. They were just friends. Right?

A gleam sparkled in the depths of his eyes. “Would you be jealous if I were going out with her, Teacher?”

Trust him to turn the tables on her. “Of course not, but after what you said to my students today, I’ll be answering many questions as to who my new ‘boyfriend’ is.”

He frowned. “Do you really think so? I didn’t mean to make trouble.”

“When people start asking, I’m going to tell everyone it’s you.”

He pressed his hands over his heart. “Teacher, don’t get my hopes up unless you mean it.”

After thirty-five years as a nurse, PATRICIA DAVIDS hung up her stethoscope to become a full-time writer. She enjoys spending her free time visiting her grandchildren, doing some long-overdue yard work and traveling to research her story locations. She resides in Wichita, Kansas. Pat always enjoys hearing from her readers. You can visit her online at patriciadavids.com.

Dear Reader,

I hope you have enjoyed this new story in the Amish Bachelors series. The Bowman brothers have all been fun to write about. I have used my four brothers as inspiration for many of their quirks and conversations.

The story of the arsonist in this book was inspired by true events. In 1993 the grandson of an Amish bishop was arrested and charged with setting fires to multiple Amish farms in one night. As with my story, the damage was too costly for the Amish community to absorb. After a newspaper article detailed their struggles, donations poured in for them to the point that they had to return some money.

People are basically good, be they Amish or English. As Lillian said, every man has good and bad within him.

Blessing to all,

His Amish Teacher

Patricia Davids

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Bear ye one another’s burdens,

and so fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6:2

This book is dedicated to the memory

of Joan Stroda. Heaven gained a dear and

wonderful angel when she left this earth.

Miss you, Mom. Love you still.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Dear Reader

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“We all know Teacher Lillian is a terrible cook, don’t we, children?”

Lillian Keim’s students erupted into giggles and some outright laugher. She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together to hold back a smile.

Timothy Bowman winked at her to take any sting out of his comment, but she wasn’t offended. They had been friends for ages and were members of the same Amish community in Bowmans Crossing, Ohio. She knew he enjoyed a good joke as well as the next fellow, but he was deadly serious about his job today and so was she. The lessons they were presenting might one day prevent a tragedy.

He stood in front of her class on the infield of the softball diamond behind the one-room Amish schoolhouse where she taught all eight grades. Dressed in full fireman’s turnout gear, Timothy made an impressive figure. The coat and pants added bulk to his slender frame, but he carried the additional weight with ease. His curly brown hair was hidden under a yellow helmet instead of his usual straw hat, but his hazel eyes sparkled with mirth. A smile lifted one side of his mouth and deepened the dimples in his tanned cheeks. Timothy smiled a lot. It was one reason she liked him.

His bulky fire coat and pants with bright fluorescent yellow banding weren’t Plain clothing, but their Amish church district approved their use because the church elders and the bishop recognized the need for Amish volunteers to help fill the ranks of the local non-Amish fire company. The county fire marshal understood the necessity of special education in the Amish community where open flames and gas lanterns were used regularly. The Amish didn’t allow electricity in their homes. Biannual fire-safety classes were held at all the local Amish schools. This was Timothy’s first time giving the class. With Lillian’s permission, he was deviating from the normal script with a demonstration outside. Timothy wanted to make an impression on the children. She admired that.

It was another unusually warm day for the last week of September. It had been a dry, hotter than usual summer. Timothy had chosen the bare dirt of the infield with an eye to safety rather than setting up on the brown grass of the lawn that could catch fire. The children were seated on the ground in a semicircle facing him. Only two of her older students, cousins Abe and Gabriel Mast, weren’t paying attention. Abe was elbowing his cousin and the two were snickering and whispering behind their hands.

A red car sped past the school, and the driver laid on the horn. Abe jumped to his feet and waved wildly. The car didn’t slow down.

Lillian did a double take. Was that her brother Jeremiah in the front passenger seat? Surely not. The vehicle rounded the sharp bend in the road and was gone from sight before she could be certain.

Abe grinned from ear to ear and kept jumping. “That’s Davey’s new ride. He’s gonna teach me to drive, too. I want to go fast, fast, fast!”

Davey Mast was Abe’s eldest brother. Davey had chosen to leave the Amish faith after his baptism and had been shunned for his decision. He had taken a job with a local Englisch farmer instead of leaving the area as most young people did when they didn’t remain Amish. Lillian hoped her brother hadn’t been in the car. If he had been, Jeremiah ran the risk of being shunned, too.