Patricia Davids - Their Pretend Amish Courtship

“All right. I forgive you.”

“Danki. Now it’s your turn.”

She thrust out her chin. “For what?”

“For calling me a dummkopf.”

“Lots of Amish folks have nicknames. That’s mine for you.”

He threw his hands in the air. “What am I even doing here?”

She reached out and caught hold of his arm. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me for calling you names. Will you help me?”

“I think a courtship—a pretend courtship—could be in my best interest as well as yours.”

She squealed. “Noah, I could hug you right now.”

He held out both hands. “Drop the pitchfork first.”

She laughed softly, a bright, happy sound he discovered he liked. Leaning the implement against the wall, she turned back to him. “What made you change your mind?”

“You were right about Mamm’s plans for my summer. How did you know?”

“Rebecca, Mary and Lillian were talking about it at the quilting bee last week.”

That the three of his sisters-in-law were in on it didn’t surprise him. Wedded bliss was catching in his family. He started picking the loose straw from his socks. “What were you doing at the quilting bee?”

“Quilting. We were making a wedding gift for my cousin. Caring for horses isn’t all I know how to do.” She offered him a handkerchief from her pocket.

He used it to wipe his hands. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I can cook, clean, sew and manage a house. I just prefer taking care of horses.”

“I don’t blame you. Mamm made all her sons learn to cook, in case we had to take care of ourselves again. I learned, but I never liked it. Actually, Timothy is a good cook. Samuel, Joshua and I can get by, but Luke can’t boil water.”

He was stalling, trying to decide if he was making the right decision. Going out with Fannie wouldn’t be that bad, would it? He liked horses almost as much as she did. That would give them something to talk about. How would she feel about his playing ball all summer? She said she wasn’t ready to settle down, and he believed her, but what if she changed her mind after going out with him? He didn’t mind teasing her, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings if she fell for him.

She tipped her head to the side. “When did you and your brothers have to take care of yourselves?”

He realized she didn’t know the story. He launched into it with relief. Anything to delay the moment.

“When I was two, my mother became very ill. So ill that my father feared for her life. The way she tells it, there was a terrible blizzard. Rather than risk taking all of us out in the storm, Daed left Samuel in charge, bundled my mother in all the quilts we could spare and set out for the doctor’s office in town. The doctor was able to get mother to the hospital, but the storm was so bad that Daed couldn’t get back. Samuel took care of us and all the farm animals for three days until the blizzard let up. All we had to eat for those three days was bread soaked in milk with honey, because Samuel didn’t know how to cook anything.”

“How old was he?”

“If I was two, he would have been ten.”

“By the time I was ten I could cook almost anything—fried chicken, baked ham.”

“How is your bread?”

She folded her arms over her chest. “I make goot bread.”

“And your cakes?”

“Light as a feather angel food, or do you prefer dense, gooey shoofly pie?”

“Shoofly, hands down. What about your egg noodles?”

“They could be better but they won’t choke you. Why all the questions about my cooking?”

He took a deep breath. “My daed always said a man should never date a woman he wouldn’t marry. I’ll never marry a bad cook, so I won’t date one.”

She clasped her hands together. “So you are going to walk out with me?”

He rubbed his damp palms on his pants. “I want you to know that I’ll be playing ball a lot this summer. You might miss some parties and such because I won’t be able to take you.”

“That’s okay. I’m not much of a party person. Besides, I’ll be busy with my equestrian team. But we will have to see each other often enough to convince my parents we are dating.”

“Okay. I guess I’m in.”

She jumped at him and gave him a quick hug before he could stop her. Then she flew out of the stall calling back, “I have to tell Connie.”

What had he gotten himself into? Would a summer of being paraded before unknown and hopeful women be worse than a summer of Fannie?

It would, because his parents would make sure he stopped playing ball. He couldn’t let that happen. His friends were depending on him and he needed to know if he was good enough to become a professional player. God would decide, but Noah knew he’d have to do the work.

Fannie rushed back into the stall a few seconds later. “Danki, Noah. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“We are helping each other. I think.”

Moving to stand in front of him, she gazed into his eyes. “If you truly feel this is wrong, Noah, you shouldn’t do it. I’ll find another way.”

“It isn’t exactly honest, but we aren’t hurting anyone. I’ve walked out with a few girls and it never led to marriage. There’s no reason I can’t take you home from church a few times or to a party to see if we would suit.”

She drew back. “We won’t. I’m sure of it. You are not the man I want to marry.”

“Goot to know. I was worried.”

“Don’t be. By the end of August, I’ll be ready to take Betsy’s place in Florida if she wants to come home. You’re right, we aren’t hurting anyone. Betsy wants to go in my place. She is much better at caring for the elderly than I am, and our grandparents deserve the best.”

“I see your point there.”

“Do you? Connie does need my help, too. You can see that for yourself. This place will soon be on its last legs.”

“That’s no lie,” George Milton said from the doorway. A handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes, George was an English fellow a couple of years younger than Noah. Noah knew him only slightly.

“This is a private conversation, George.” Fannie leveled a sour look at him.

“Excuse me!” He rolled his eyes and walked on.

“You don’t care for him?” Noah asked. He didn’t, either.

“He is sloppy in his work. As I was saying, I’ll enjoy riding on the drill team enormously, I won’t lie about that, but I can and will be as much help to my mother as Betsy would be. Plus, I can still help my father with his horses. I’m willing to work hard and see that no one suffers because of this decision.”

Noah’s conscience pricked him. Fannie’s reasons for this pretend courtship were more selfless than his. He simply wanted to keep playing ball.

Her face brightened. “I won’t make demands on your time, Noah. If you happen to like one of the women coming to visit, I’ll step aside and give you free rein.”

He managed a half smile. “A fella isn’t likely to get such a generous offer from a normal girlfriend.”

She slapped his shoulder. “Well, you are a fortunate fellow, Noah Bowman. I’m not an ordinary girlfriend.”

With a toss of her pretty head that reminded him of her spirited mare, Fannie walked out of the stall with a sassy stride that drew his attention to her trim figure. Among the earthy and familiar smells of the stable, he caught a whiff of something flowery.

Nope, there was nothing ordinary about Fannie.

Realizing he’d forgotten to give her the kapp she had dropped, he pulled it from his pocket and lifted it to his nose. A scent that reminded him of his mother’s flower garden in summer clung to the fabric. Since Amish women didn’t use perfume, he knew the smell must be from the shampoo Fannie used.