Jan Drexler - The Amish Nanny's Sweetheart

“Ach, the peaches. I forgot to get them from the cellar.”

“It’s all right,” Matthew said, pointing to her chair. “I’m too hungry to wait for them.”

After the prayer, and when Judith had gotten the peaches and put them on the table, she sat down next to Eli. Annie had cut up some potatoes and a few green beans and put them on his plate, but they were already nearly gone, so Judith cut some ham into bites for him.

“What were you girls talking about when I came in?” Matthew asked, taking a second helping of the casserole.

“Judith’s first Singing. I was asking if she had made any new friends.”

Matthew grinned across the table at her. “I thought I saw a couple boys buzzing around her when I picked her up.”

Judith felt her face heat. “I had a great time, and I hope I can go to the next one. Waneta Zook is such a nice girl.”

“Guy Hoover seemed to think you were pretty nice, yourself.” Matthew teased her as much as he did his wife.

“Guy is nice,” Judith said. “He was easy to talk to.” Not like Luke Kaufman. She spooned a few peach halves into her sauce dish.

“What did you think of our young people?” Annie asked. Matthew had finished eating, and Annie handed the baby to him.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know more of them. Reuben Stoltzfus kept everything going, and we sang some hymns, and some new songs I had never heard before.” Judith buttered a slice of bread and cut it into pieces for Eli. “I didn’t know it would be so much fun.”

When they had all finished eating, Matthew read from the Christenflicht, the book of prayers that sat with his Bible on the edge of the table, then went back out to work. By that time, Rose was fussing in the other room and Annie went to care for both babies. Judith washed the dishes while Eli played with a spoon and pot on the floor. After a few minutes, Annie came back to sit at the table while she ate another dish of peaches.

“The girls are both asleep,” she said, licking her spoon. “I put them in their cots in the front room.”

“That will be fine.” Judith finished the dishes and sat with her sister for a bit of a rest. “I’ll put Eli down in a few minutes, and you’ll all have a nice long nap.”

Annie scraped the last of the peach juice from the bottom of her dish and Judith put it in the dishwater she had saved.

“I don’t suppose we have any cookies?”

Judith cringed as she got them from the top of the icebox. “I should have remembered to get them out earlier so Matthew could have some.” Eli climbed on her lap to eat his, leaning against her and watching his mother.

“He can have his when he comes in before the afternoon chores,” Annie said, brushing a crumb off her skirt. “And now that it’s just us, tell me about the boys.”

“Boys?”

“I’m sure you met more boys than Guy Hoover. Which did you like best?”

Judith thought about Luke’s blazing blue eyes, squirming a little as she remembered how small she had felt as he had loomed over her. “What do you think about Luke Kaufman?”

Annie leaned her chin in her hand. “He’s very popular with both the fellows and the girls, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve seen young men like that put too much store in what others think of them. Pride can be a real danger.”

Judith nodded, taking the remains of Eli’s cookie out of his hands before he dropped it. He was sound asleep.

Humility was a sign of a true Amish person, but falling into the sin of pride was too easy.

“What about Guy?” Annie said, munching on the last half of her son’s cookie. “He seems like a nice young man.”

“He asked if I would teach him Deitsch. Do you know why he doesn’t know the language already?”

“He didn’t grow up Amish. He’s been working for the Masts since before I married Matthew and moved here. It wasn’t until last year that he moved onto the farm, though.”

“Why? Did he live with his parents before?”

Annie shook her head. “He’s from the Orphan’s Home. He doesn’t have any parents, except for the father who took him to the home when he was a little boy.”

“He’s part of the community, though, isn’t he?” Judith pushed away the memory of Hannah’s face when she claimed that Guy would never be more than an outsider.

“Verna hopes he will choose to be baptized and join the church. If they had been able to adopt him, it would have been much easier for him, and them, too. They have no children of their own, but they love Guy and treat him as a son.”

“Does he want to join church?”

“I don’t know. It isn’t something that happens often, you know, an outsider joining the church. That’s why it would have been easier if David and Verna had been able to adopt him when he first started spending his summers with them as a young boy.”

“Why didn’t they adopt him then?”

Annie stifled a yawn. “I think Verna said his father never signed the papers to release him. But if you teach him Deitsch, it will make it easier for him to fit in. When do you think you’ll start the lessons?”

“I was thinking about some evening this week.”

“That sounds fine. After supper, the twins go down for the night, and so do I. Once Eli is in bed, your time is your own.” Annie pushed back from the table. “I’m going to lie down. Are you sure about taking care of all three children this afternoon?”

Judith tipped her chin toward the sleeping Eli in her lap. “Of course I am. I’ll wake you if I have any problems.”

Annie made her way to her room as Judith carried Eli upstairs to his bedroom across the hall from her own. She laid him on the bed and removed his shoes before she covered him with a warm quilt. She looked out the window as Eli shifted in his sleep, settling into what she hoped would be a long nap. This window faced the road and the Mast farm on the other side.

She wasn’t lonely, but Annie was busy with the babies, and Judith missed the hours she and Esther, her other sister, had spent talking when she was still at home. She needed a friend, and Guy promised to be a good one. At least, she thought he would be from the little time they had spent together.

Guy was right. He needed to learn Deitsch and she could teach him. She had a picture book she had brought to read to Eli, and she could use that to teach him a few words. A warm feeling spread when she thought of the hours they would need to spend together as he learned her language. Their friendship would deepen, and perhaps turn to... Judith felt her cheeks heat in the chilly room.

She frowned, keeping her thoughts stern. There would be no romance during her lessons with Guy. He wanted to learn, that was all. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Besides, he wasn’t Amish. It didn’t matter how attractive or friendly he was, she could never let him get any ideas about wooing her.

Unless he was planning to join the church.

Judith gave her upper arms a brisk rub to chase the chill away, then checked to make sure Eli was covered and warm in his bed. As soon as she found a moment, she would walk over to the Mast farm and see when Guy wanted to start his lessons.

* * *

Guy had just finished the afternoon milking and was carrying the warm pails to the dairy in the corner of the barn when Judith opened the door.

“Verna told me you were here, but she thought you’d still be milking.”

“I just finished, even though the ladies aren’t done eating yet.” Guy pointed an elbow toward the two cows still munching on their supper of timothy hay. “It’s a surprise to see you here.”

“I came over to ask you something.”

Judith followed him into the dairy and watched in silence as he set the milk on the bench, then shrugged off his barn coat and hung it from the hook on the wall. He watched Judith from under the shock of hair that always fell over his eyebrows as he started assembling the cream separator. He tried to catch her eye, but she seemed distracted. She stepped forward to help him sort the dozens of rings and filters, chewing on her bottom lip.