Carrie Lighte - Courting The Amish Nanny

Sadie didn’t look at all appeased. She blinked twice before freeing her arms from the children’s grasp and standing up. “You mentioned how much work you have to get done today, so you probably want to return to it now. And I need to begin preparing lunch.”

I’m still on thin ice , Levi thought. Not wanting to push her, he figured he could go back to reminding the children about their safety rules tonight. Right now he sensed if he didn’t back off, Sadie would decide to pack her bags that evening. “Don’t worry about tidying the kitchen or making hot meals for lunch. Sandwiches are fine. The most important thing is the kinner are well cared for. And you’re right, a little exercise is gut for them. If the rain lets up, maybe you can take them for a walk to the barn and back.”

Did he imagine it or did Sadie roll her eyes before glancing at David and Elizabeth and asking, “What do you think, kinner ? Can you make it all the way to the barn and back?”

Unsure if she was teasing the children or taking a swipe at him, Levi joked, “If they can’t, I’ll swing by on the clothesline and pick them up.”

The children laughed, but Sadie’s expression remained unreadable. “I’ll see you at lunchtime, then,” he muttered awkwardly, exiting the house as quickly as his feet could carry him.

If Levi thought his comment about sandwiches being acceptable to him or his concession in allowing her to take the children outside was going to win Sadie over, he had another think coming. If the rain lets up? It’s barely drizzling , Sadie fumed as she squared the potatoes for stew. She’d never encountered an Amish father—especially one who lived on a farm—who didn’t fully expect his children to play and do their chores outside in weather far worse than this. Was this one of the differences between the Amish in Maine and the Amish in Pennsylvania, or was it simply one of Levi’s quirks?

And what exactly did he mean about Elizabeth not being a tomboy? Sadie resented the word that had often been used to describe her, too. Which wasn’t to say she didn’t relish being every bit as agile, strong and intrepid as her brothers. But like the word pal , the word tomboy had negative connotations when a man used it to describe a woman. To Sadie it indicated he thought she didn’t also have the feminine interests and qualities that men admired and appreciated in a woman.

She covered the pot and set it on the stove to simmer. “What do I care what Levi thinks of me as a woman anyway?” she muttered. She wasn’t even sure if she was going to stay there.

“Who are you talking to?” David was suddenly at her elbow.

“Oh, sometimes I think out loud,” she admitted. “So, what did you and your schweschder usually do with your groossmammi in the mornings once your chores were done?”

“Groossmammi read to us.”

“Or we played board games or colored,” Elizabeth piped up as she entered the room.

“I see,” Sadie said. She wondered whether their sedentary activities were because their grandmother had been ill and didn’t have a lot of energy, or because of Levi’s restrictions. “The sun is peeking out from the clouds, so let’s take that walk to the barn now.”

The children scurried to the mudroom, where Sadie helped them into their boots, coats, mittens and hats. As soon as they stepped outside, Elizabeth and David simultaneously slid their hands into Sadie’s. Although she was happy to receive the gesture as a sign of affection, she was surprised they didn’t want to run freely, the way most children did after being cooped indoors for any length of time.

“Let’s make a dash for it!” she urged and began sprinting across the yard toward the barn. But the children couldn’t keep up and she didn’t want to tug too hard on their arms, so she slowed to a casual stroll. As they approached the workshop she noticed a lamp burning and asked the children if they thought their father was inside. If I see him again right now, I might not be able to censor myself.

David answered, “ Neh , that’s where Maria Beiler makes wreaths.”

Another woman to talk to; that was just what Sadie needed at the moment to take the edge off her unpleasant interaction with Levi. “Let’s stop in and say hello.” As soon as she opened the door, the scent of balsam filled her nostrils.

“What a wunderbaar surprise— wilkom !” Maria greeted them. “Would you like a demonstration of my one-woman wreath-making workshop in action?”

She proceeded to show them how she collected boughs from the bin the crew had filled outside the door. Then she cut the trimmings into a suitable size and arranged them neatly around a specially designed wire ring. Using a foot-pedaled machine, she clamped the prongs on the ring, securing the boughs into place. Finally, she fastened a bright red or gold ribbon on the wreath and then carefully hung it from a peg on a large portable rack.

“As you can see, I’m running out of bows,” she said. “I like to make them at home ahead of time but since yesterday was the Sabbath, I’m falling behind.”

“I can tie a few bows into shape so you can keep assembling the other parts,” Sadie volunteered.

“ Denki , but this is my job. You’ve got your hands full enough yourself.”

“Please,” Sadie pleaded.

Maria smiled knowingly. “Do you have a case of cabin fever already?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she handed Sadie a spool of ribbon, and to the children’s delight, she announced she needed their help on a special project. She supplied them with precut lengths of red and green cord, as well as a glue stick to share, before leading them to a crate filled with thin slices of tree trunks. She explained how to glue the cord onto the trunk slices, transforming them into ornaments the customers’ children could take for free to decorate their trees at home.

As Maria was setting up their workbench, Sadie deftly fashioned the stiff ribbon into fat loops until she formed a half-dozen bows and then stopped to affix one on each wreath from the pile. When she finished, she repeated the process as quickly as she could in order to keep up with Maria.

Once their work fell into a steady rhythm, Maria asked, “So, are you...getting on all right at the haus ?”

“Jah,” Sadie answered carefully. “Although I’m discovering parents do things a little differently in Maine than in Pennsylvania.”

“Ha!” Maria uttered. When the children looked her way, she lowered her voice to confide, “The parenting differences you’ve noticed have nothing to do with Maine.”

“So were those, uh, differences the reason the other two nannies left?”

“Two? There were four nannies before you, and jah , that’s exactly why they left,” Maria whispered. “To be fair, Levi wasn’t always like this. He used to be fairly easygoing. But after his wife died, he became really controlling.”

Sadie felt guilty for gossiping, but she wanted to know. “How did his wife die?”

“She fell off a chair cleaning a window and hit her head. A neighbor found her and called an ambulance, but she was already gone,” Maria lamented and Sadie’s eyes filled. “I think Levi’s afraid something like that might happen to his kinner , too, and that’s why he’s overly protective. His mamm was the only person he trusted to take care of them. Ever since she died and he’s had to rely on nannies, he’s become even more cautious. I know it must be difficult to tolerate. That’s one of the reasons I’m working in the shop instead of watching the kinner myself. But...”