Vannetta Chapman - The Amish Christmas Matchmaker

“Of course not.”

“And in return, I won’t try and stop you from talking to my family about your plans.”

“As if you could.”

“My point is that you won’t have to deal with my objections.”

He studied her a minute and then said, “Seriously?”

“Ya.”

“What’s in it for you?”

“Me?”

“Why are you doing this? I know you’re dead set against the idea of moving.”

“Oh, I am not moving. I’ll find a way to stay here even if you convince the whole community to move south.”

Levi laughed. “That’s the Annie I know.”

“You don’t know me.”

“Uh-huh. But seriously, why are you doing this?”

“I like weddings is all. I enjoy seeing two people who are meant to be together find each other.”

“I’m not getting married.”

“I know, but maybe Gotte has different plans.”

“What does Gotte have to do with it?”

“Maybe He brought you to Goshen for a reason...a different reason.”

“So now you’re a matchmaker?”

“Think of me as a concerned bystander.”

Levi shook his head. “I don’t know...”

“Is it a deal or not? If you’d rather, I can keep pointing out all the terrible things about your Lone Star State.”

“All right. It’s a deal.” He held out his hand. “But you have to shake on it.”

She rolled her eyes, but put her hand in his. He closed his fingers around hers, held her hand long enough that she didn’t like the goose bumps running down her arm or the jumble of nerves in her stomach. She jerked her hand away.

“Great. Then it’s settled. I’ll give you the name of your first date when you come over on Wednesday to work.”

“I look forward to it.”

Of course he did. The man was conceited in addition to being stubborn. But, just possibly, she’d found a way to keep her life firmly rooted in Goshen, because she had the perfect woman in mind for Levi Lapp and this person would never consider moving away. All Annie had to do was see to it that the two of them fell in love. She was envisioning a wedding announcement before the holidays if she handled this right. No need for a long courtship at their age. It would mean she’d have to live around Levi the rest of her life, but at least she wouldn’t have to do so in Texas.

Annie woke the next morning determined to start right away on her new plan. Levi Lapp had invaded her dreams throughout the night—she’d found herself surrounded by wildflowers, nose to nose with a longhorn, even looking across a vast plain toward rain clouds in the distance. As if those images of Texas weren’t bad enough, Levi himself had put in several appearances, always wearing his Stetson hat and that cocky grin.

It was past time to do something proactive and push Levi and his Texas trivia out of her dreams. She picked her newest Sunday dress, brushed her hair vigorously and wove it into a braid tight enough to pucker the skin along her forehead. Pulling the covers up snug on her bed, she prayed for wisdom and patience. She was bound to need both.

Her mamm found her downstairs making coffee before the sun was up.

“Problem sleeping, dear?” Her mamm stared at the coffee maker on the stove as if she could make it percolate faster.

“Go sit down. I’ll bring it to you.”

“All right.”

Five minutes later, they were both clutching steaming mugs of coffee and sitting at the kitchen table.

“Want to talk about it?” Her mamm kept blinking her eyes, as if she wasn’t quite awake yet.

“About what?”

“Whatever’s bothering you.”

“Nothing’s bothering me.”

Instead of arguing, her mother took another sip of the dark brew—the entire Kauffmann family enjoyed their coffee strong—and waited.

“Oh, all right. I’ll admit it. This thing with Levi has worked its way under my kapp .”

“Has it now?”

“I don’t want to move to Texas, Mamm.”

“Which is understandable.”

“It is?”

“I want to be where your father is, and if he decides—”

Annie groaned. “Tell me you’re not on their side.”

“This isn’t about us and them. This is about seeking out and following Gotte’s wille for our lives. I’m not afraid of doing that even if it means living in a different place.”

“I’m not afraid. It’s just that if Levi had never shown up on our doorstep, Dat would never be considering a move to Texas.”

“Perhaps, but Gotte brings people into our lives for a reason.”

Annie jumped up to refill their mugs. As she turned toward the stove, she muttered, “I’m pretty sure it was a Greyhound bus that brought Levi to us.”

“And yet Gotte put this dream in Levi’s heart.”

“Oops. I didn’t mean for you to hear that.”

“Levi’s relationship with Old Simon also brought him here.”

Annie refilled her mamm ’s mug and then plopped down in the chair across from her. She needed her mother with her on this. Perhaps she should try a different tack.

“Okay. Let’s assume what you’re saying is true...”

Her mamm ’s eyebrows arched, but she didn’t interrupt.

“But what if Levi is confusing some unresolved business from his childhood as Gotte ’s leading? Maybe Gotte brought him here for a reason—a reason other than ripping twelve of our families away to start a new community. Maybe Goshen needs Levi here, but he doesn’t realize it yet.” For some reason, that idea didn’t sit well with her, either. In her daydreams, Levi had always ridden off toward the West, tilting his hat against the setting sun, searching for another community where he could disrupt people’s lives.

“What I mean is that perhaps Gotte has other plans for him. We can’t know.”

“Indeed.”

They were silent for a moment. Finally her mamm said, “Do you have some ideas about why Levi might be here?”

Annie picked at a fingernail. “Maybe he’s supposed to meet someone here.”

“Someone?”

“A woman, Mamm. Maybe he’s supposed to meet a woman, fall in lieb , settle down and start a family.” Once she said it out loud, the plan took on a new dimension. What she was suggesting was possible. It was almost as if she were doing a charitable thing for him. “I spoke with Levi yesterday after the wedding, and he’s agreed to allow me to set him up on a few dates.”

“That’s kind of you.”

“I guess, but just think, Mamm...if he falls in lieb , then he might forget this ridiculous obsession with Texas.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“He might decide he wants to stay here in Goshen.”

“I suppose that’s possible.”

“And if he stays, well, we both know that Dat’s enthusiasm for moving will melt away.”

Instead of arguing with her, which was what Annie had suspected, her mamm smiled over the rim of her mug. “Who did you have in mind to set him up with?”

“Martha Weaver.”

“Have you spoken to Martha about this?”

“ Nein . I was hoping to do so after church service.”

Her mamm drained her coffee cup, stood and pushed her chair back in under the table. Walking around behind Annie, she kissed her on top of the head, causing Annie to feel four years old again.

She thought that her mother would reprimand her, tell her to mind her own business, caution her about intervening in other people’s lives. She didn’t. Instead, she simply walked to the refrigerator, pulled out what she planned to cook for breakfast and began cracking eggs into a bowl—leaving Annie to wonder what she wasn’t saying. If she were honest with herself, some doubts remained in her mind about this new plan. Perhaps she was foolish to think that playing matchmaker could solve her problem.