Jo Brown - The Amish Suitor

That wouldn’t have been what his brother would have wanted. Milan and his wife, Shirley, had expected their son to play with friends and go to school and learn to assume responsibility for the family’s farm. The farm had been sold so he and Kyle could start over by Harmony Creek, but he could ensure his nephew had the chance to be a kid. Was Miriam the way God was answering his prayer for help? If so, he needed to agree.

“All right,” he said. “You can try to teach me to read lips.”

She gave him a nod and a gentle smile, not the superior one he’d worried she’d flash at him. “...next Monday. You and Kyle—” she pointed at his nephew and at him, matching Kyle’s motions “—supper. After we eat...”

“All right.”

“Tell me.”

For a second he was baffled, and then he realized she wanted him to repeat what she’d said so she could be certain he’d grasped the meaning of her words. His confusion became surprise. Why hadn’t he considered such repetition was an easy way to avoid mistakes?

“You invited Kyle and me to supper,” he said. “After the meal, you’ll start teaching me to read lips.”

“Gut,” she said as his nephew held his fingers in an okay sign. Satisfaction sparkled in her cat-green eyes as if she’d enjoyed a bowl of cream. “Be prepare...work.”

He hoped he wasn’t going to prove to be an utter failure as he’d been with helping his brother make sure the wall was safe. Miriam seemed so confident she could teach him. He didn’t want to disappoint her when she was going out of her way to help him.

Kyle threw his arms around Miriam and gave her a big hug. He grinned, and Eli realized how eager the kind was to let someone else help Eli fill in the blanks.

“You’ll have a gut time at school, ain’t so, buddy?” Eli asked, trying to cover his trepidation at losing Kyle’s help.

Kyle tensed. No go. Go later.

Eli knelt in front of his nephew. “You’ll be fine. You’re going to enjoy school.”

When Miriam nodded and said something, Kyle looked dubious.

The little boy shook his head. Stay together. Eli and Kyle. No go now.

“You’ll be fine,” he repeated. “The day will go so quickly you won’t realize it because you’re having fun with learning and your new friends.”

Kyle touched one ear, then the other.

It took every sinew of strength Eli had not to flinch. That was a signal he hadn’t seen the little boy make often, but he knew what it meant. Kyle was scared something bad would happen, as it had to Eli and his parents.

“It’ll be okay. Miriam will be watching over you so you don’t have to worry about getting hurt, ain’t so?”

He raised his eyes toward her, expecting her to confirm his words. Instead, Miriam eased out of the little boy’s embrace, her smile gone. She said something, but Eli didn’t get a single word. She rushed away, vanishing into the barn where she lived with her brother.

What had he said wrong? One minute she’d been working to convince Kyle that going to school was something he wanted to do. The next she was fleeing as if a rabid fox nipped at her heels. Was it the thought of being with the scholars? Again, Eli found himself wondering why anyone who was so uneasy around kinder was going to be the settlement’s teacher.

He didn’t have time to figure it out. He needed to calm his nephew. “Looks like we’re both going to start school next week,” Eli said, patting him on the back.

Kyle gave him a distracted nod and kept staring at the door Miriam had used. Why was he acting as oddly as she had?

Had what Miriam said upset the little boy?

“What did she say as she was leaving?” he asked as he tucked the page with the school drawing into his pocket. “Did you hear what she said?”

He nodded.

“What was it?”

The little boy started to open his mouth, then clamped it closed. Shaking his head, he ran to the buggy and climbed in.

Eli sighed. Kyle had heard something he didn’t want to repeat. It’d happened a few times before, and Eli had discovered how useless it was to badger the little boy again to help him understand. Kyle always found a way to avoid answering him.

But Eli now did have one answer. He wasn’t going to come to regret his decision to let her teach him lipreading.

He already did.

Chapter Four

Drying her hands, Miriam crossed the barn toward the open door at one end. The beep-beep-beep announced the delivery truck from the lumberyard backing toward where a dozen men and boys waited in eager anticipation. The school’s concrete foundation had been poured and given time to cure. Now they would work together to build walls and rafters. Once they had the skeleton in place, Eli would install shingles, clapboard, windows and doors before he finished the interior.

Spending time with Eli while he finished the school wasn’t going to be easy. Having his nephew hanging around was going to add to the stress, but she needed to get used to it because other kinder would be coming to the barn for school on Monday.

And, in the fall, though she wouldn’t be the teacher, the kinder would arrive every day to the school right across the road from her house.

Her heart contracted with the pain that never went away. Ach , how she’d longed for the family she thought she and Yost and Ralph would be! Even if the Lord hadn’t blessed her and Yost with more bopplin , they would have had the three of them.

Then it was all gone.

Tears welled into her eyes, but she dashed them away. Crying for what was impossible was absurd.

She’d been blessed when Caleb invited her to come with him to help build a new settlement. Their parents and four older siblings, who were well established in their lives, had remained behind in Lancaster County. God had brought her to this point. He must have a reason for it. She must have faith that someday she would understand, and she would be able to accept why her joy had been torn away.

“Gut mariye,” called the irrepressible Annie as she peeked past the front door. “Anyone home?”

“ Komm in!” Miriam was glad to push aside her uncomfortable thoughts.

Dwelling on the past was useless. Dreaming of the future was more fun, but just as useless. She needed to concentrate on the present where she’d found three wunderbaar friends.

It was time to put sorrow behind her. She had to believe God had something better for her, something she couldn’t even imagine yet. Wasn’t that what faith was all about? Believing God would get her through the rough times?

Annie bounced into the barn followed by her twin. “Are you ready for a Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club meeting?”

“I’m ready to enjoy a visit from you anytime. Are you here for a meeting?”

“Of course not.” Leanna rolled her eyes as she untied her bonnet. “Sarah had to work today. But the men are having a work frolic, so we decided we should, too.” She put a basket on the table. “It was Annie’s idea.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know I have gut ideas?” Annie asked.

“No, that would be a surprise,” her twin teased with affection. Motioning after she set two more bags on the table, she added, “ Komm here, Miriam, and see what we’ve been able to dig up.”

Miriam wasn’t surprised when the twins began to unload schoolbooks and stack them on the table. Each grade level was printed with a different color cover, and she saw they had several for most grade levels. She already had the teacher’s editions. Caleb had packed them, figuring someone would use them along Harmony Creek. She wondered if he’d assumed he could persuade her to teach again...at least temporarily.