Amish Harvest, COMPLETE SERIES: Amish Novella Read online

  Luke studied his daed as the older mann tugged on his long beard. The last thing he wanted to talk about with his daed was the Englischer he was already smitten with after only a few minutes in her company. Between his mamm’s death and their move to a new community, Luke had not taken the baptism into the church, and his daed had not pressed the issue with him. Luke knew that meant he was free to pursue Bailey, but he wasn’t sure his daed would approve, regardless of his lack of commitment to the church.

  “I have no idea,” Luke finally said. “She kicked me out of the orchard—after I helped her with Murphy. She’s determined to pick the entire orchard on her own. I tried to reason with her that she won’t finish before the first frost, but she seems to believe otherwise. I admire her determination, but only a fool would refuse help.”

  Abraham adjusted his straw hat and grabbed a pitchfork to spread fresh hay in the cleaned horse stall. “When Hannah came back from lunch with the young woman, she mentioned how exhausted she seemed. I imagine it won’t be long before the girl asks for our help.”

  Luke grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow and began to push it out to the manure pile.

  “I hope you’re right. We need our share of the orchard to put up for the winter.”

  Abraham stopped him. “She’s already promised us our regular percentage whether we pick or not. Perhaps you could offer to pick our portion. She let Hannah take some for fritters. I’m looking forward to that at our evening meal.”

  Despite the manure smell, Luke’s mouth watered a little at the thought of having fresh apple fritters after their meal. He quickened his steps, thinking he might pay Bailey a visit to ask her about picking their lot after he finished his chores.

  Moving at too fast of a pace, Luke didn’t notice the good-sized rock in the path of the wheel until it struck hard and tipped the contents of the wheelbarrow onto the ground. Frustrated by having to shovel the manure a second time, Luke decided he’d better keep his mind on his work and off a certain Englischer.

  

  Sometime later, Luke stood outside of the orchard looking in on Bailey’s progress. He stayed a few trees back to watch without her knowing. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t make his presence known to her, but he suspected if he did, she would shoo him away the same way she had earlier. Luke was fascinated by her reddish hair and long legs. Her hair was pulled back with a ribbon, but it hung down her back almost to her waist. Since Amish girls never wore their hair down, it wasn’t something he was used to seeing, and he liked it. He felt a sudden urge to run his fingers through it. Her form-fitting jeans showed off what a cute shape she had, and Luke found himself blushing at his improper thoughts. He would have to ask Hannah if she would talk to Bailey about possibly wearing plain dresses while she was here. If she wouldn’t, she was going to be a big distraction for him.

  Luke watched as Bailey reached a little too far and the ladder began to teeter. He sprinted toward her, but it was too late. She lost her balance and tumbled to the ground. She let out a yelp, but Luke was by her side, scooping her up in his strong arms before she realized what was happening.

  Luke set Bailey on the edge of the flatbed cart that boasted several crates full of the apples she’d already picked. She’d made gut progress from what he could see.

  Bailey winced as Luke examined her swollen ankle. “Where did you come from? Were you standing by waiting for me to mess this up?”

  “Nee—no. I was coming out here to see if you’d changed your mind about letting me help you. At the very least, I’d like to pick our share of the harvest your father allows for us every year. I can see by the amount of branches you’ve cleared and the overflowing crates that you’ve done better than I expected you would.”

  Bailey pulled her ankle away despite the fact that his gentle touch had sent shivers through her.

  “What do you mean, I’ve done better than you expected? So you did expect me to fail!”

  Luke coaxed her ankle back within his reach.

  “Of course not. But you’re only one person, and this is not a one-person job.”

  She pulled back when he pressed against the top of her foot. “That hurts. Is it broken?”

  Luke looked her in the eye. “It looks like just a sprain, but either way, you won’t be climbing any ladders for a few days.”

  Bailey tried to push past him, keeping her weight off her sprained ankle. “I have to get this finished or my father will never release the deed for the farm to me. He will sell it to a stranger, and I will never see this beautiful land that I love so much.”

  Luke lifted her back onto the end of the flatbed.

  “The sun is beginning to go down, and mosquitoes will drive you out of the orchard soon. There will be no more picking tonight. I’ll take you back to the house where we can wrap your ankle and you can rest. We’ll see how it looks and feels in the morning.”

  Bailey gave him a reluctant nod and remained seated at the end of the flatbed cart while Luke guided Murphy to pull her and the day’s spoils back to the barn.

  Chapter 4

  Bailey stirred when a light knock sounded at the door to the cottage. She opened her eyes, noting that the sun was barely up. Who would be disturbing her at this hour? She knew the King family rose early to do the chores around the farm, but it was a little early for a social call in her opinion.

  Testing her ankle, she tried to put her full weight on her foot. It was still pretty sore, but she was able to limp successfully to the door.

  “Gudemariye,” Hannah greeted her cheerfully. “I brought you some breakfast in case you were still having trouble getting around with your ankle.”

  Bailey didn’t know whether to be irritated that the girl forced her to come to the door, or grateful for the food that smelled so heavenly. Gratefulness won as she stepped back to allow Hannah access to the small kitchen that occupied a fair portion of the cottage.

  “You don’t have to take care of me,” Bailey said sleepily. “But I appreciate the breakfast.” She took in a deep breath. “Smells like eggs and bacon, but I’m not sure about the rest.”

  Hannah made herself at home as she placed the food onto the counter. “I was awake a little earlier than normal this morning, so I made some sweet bread. It has a cinnamon-sugar glaze on top. I hope you like it.”

  Bailey sat at the table and watched as Hannah pulled two sets of dishes from the cupboard and set them down in front of her.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I join you. Mei daed and Luke eat so quickly every day that I’m usually left to eat alone.”

  Bailey smiled acceptance to Hannah’s self-invitation, but wondered if the young girl intended to take all her meals with her from now on. She could hardly complain since Hannah was an excellent cook and her generosity was beginning to grow on Bailey.

  “You are going to make me dependent on you if you’re not careful, Hannah. Don’t feel as if you have to feed me just to be my friend or whatever it is you’re trying to do.” Bailey looked at the young girl, who’d suddenly stopped what she was doing and was staring at her.

  “That didn’t come out right. I’m sorry, Hannah. What I meant to say is that I think you are a very sweet person, and I don’t want you to feel you have to bring me food just to get me to befriend you. Although I don’t think I would turn down that sweet bread for any reason. It looks delicious.”

  Hannah smiled. “Danki. It was mei mamm’s recipe. I miss having her around. Luke and daed don’t seem to spend as much time at the table for meals anymore, and mealtime can be pretty lonely for me. It used to be a time when we would all talk about our days, and daed would talk about the future and plans he had for all of us. But when our farm burned, mei mamm died in the fire, and things haven’t been the same for mei familye since then.”

  Bailey swallowed a lump in her throat. She felt suddenly selfish for almost turning the girl away when all she wanted was a friend. She needed Bailey to fill a void that her mother used to fill. Surely Bailey could do that much
for her.

  “There is something you can help me with,” Bailey said cautiously. “It seems I’m going to be off my ankle for a day or so, and I really need to bring in the apple harvest. I thought I could do it by myself, but it seems I can’t. I hate to admit it, and I’ll deny it if you tell him…but your brother was right. I need help with the apple orchard.”

  Hannah smiled brightly. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but he was trying to get me to convince you to let him help.”

  “Maybe we should keep him out of the orchard another day just to teach him a lesson.”

  They both giggled.

  It felt gut to laugh with her new friend. Hannah would gladly keep a secret from her bruder if it meant she had someone to share it with. As Hannah looked at Bailey, she felt light at heart for the first time in a long time. It was going to be fun to have the Englischer around.

  After breakfast, the two of them hurried through the dishes so they could get a head start on the orchard for the day.

  Hannah helped Bailey wrap her ankle tightly so she could walk a little easier, and the two of them headed out to the barn to hitch up Murphy to the flatbed cart. When they got out there, Luke had already finished the chore and was intending to work in the orchard.

  “I can handle it, Luke,” Bailey insisted. “I appreciate your help with the mule, but I can take it from here.”

  Luke fumed.

  Why was this Englischer so opposed to accepting his help? He watched her limp toward the orchard, Hannah walking beside her. Was she letting his schweschder help her, and excluding him? He knew he should be happy that she was accepting any help at all with the small orchard, but it irritated him that she’d smirked at him just before walking away. He understood that she needed to be in control of the situation in order to get her father to release the deed to her, but that look had put Luke in his place with barely any effort.

  Was he going to stand there and accept her decision as final, or did he dare challenge her? Perhaps he would start at the opposite end of the orchard and show her his capabilities. He could pick more apples than a bossy girl any day of the week, and he aimed to prove it to her. He reasoned with himself that he had to do it to save the apple harvest, but he knew deep down that he would do it to impress her. He prayed his efforts wouldn’t backfire on him, but Bailey proved to be more spirited than Murphy. Luke was eager to see her get the deed, but he could see his attraction to her was going to cause him to slip up.

  If only he could get her to let her guard down—but how? The fire in her eyes when she’d looked at him just now had been like a door slammed shut in his face. If he hadn’t caught her looking at him too many times when she thought he hadn’t noticed, he might just buy into her tough act.

  At the present time, his biggest obstacle would be Bailey herself. If not for the jealousy over Hannah’s closeness with Bailey that presently nagged him, he might have been able to think clearly enough to insist he take Hannah’s place in the orchard. Now, he would have to betray Bailey’s trust to get the orchard picked in time, and he prayed it wouldn’t break her heart.

  VOLUME TWO

  Chapter 5

  Luke wheeled several crates out to the opposite end of the orchard, a wooden ladder tucked under his other arm. He would have to make several return trips with the filled crates at the end of the day with the wagon he’d found in the barn. Unless he waited until Bailey and Hannah finished with the flatbed cart after dark to transport his picked portion. Perhaps the Englischer wouldn’t notice if he took the cart at the lunch hour. Either way he looked at it, he would have a harder time bringing in his pickings for the day since he planned on doing so behind her back. But it would be worth it when Bailey saw he was an asset rather than a hindrance to her plan—at least he hoped she would.

  Luke understood Bailey’s desire for acquiring the deed to the property. He’d have liked to have had the inheritance of his own familye’s farm, but after the fire that took his mamm’s life without any consideration, he knew what it felt like to have no control over the things of this life.

  Luke didn’t understand Mr. Parker’s reasons for instructing Bailey to do the work on her own, but surely the mann knew by this time that it was more than a one-person job.

  Had he set her up to fail?

  Luke’s childhood memories were gone, but he could help Bailey preserve hers by getting her that deed. Her father didn’t have to know she had help with the orchard. It was only a small orchard, but the revenue was enough to maintain the property’s expenses throughout the year. He would help her despite her stubborn refusal, and he would keep it to himself for Bailey’s sake.

  Luke suddenly questioned why he cared so much about her getting the property when it would mean he and his familye would likely be uprooted again, but maybe he needed to see something work out for her since it hadn’t for him. Maybe if he was helpful enough, she would consider keeping them on as caretakers—even if they had to live in the small cottage while she moved into the main haus.

  He could not change what had happened to his home or his mother, but if he could help Bailey get what she wanted, it would make him feel his time at the farm had been part of Gott’s plan for him.

  

  Bailey stepped down from the ladder to move it around the back side of the tree when she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She squinted against the sun, yanking down the straw hat over her face to see the end of the orchard better.

  Was Luke spying on her again?

  Marching toward the end of the long row of trees thick with apples, Bailey was determined to find out what Luke was up to. When she spotted him on a ladder and picking apples from a tree on the end of the row, anger rose up in her.

  “Why are you out here picking apples when I told you my father’s instructions were for me to do the work on my own? Are you trying to sabotage me?”

  Luke didn’t appreciate her accusatory tone.

  “You have Hannah helping you at the other end. I was only trying to help. If we work together, we can get the orchard picked in record time. I won’t tell your daed I helped.”

  Bailey looked up at the tree he’d been picking from. The top portion was nearly picked clean, and he couldn’t have been out there more than an hour. When she’d come out earlier, he’d still been in the barn doing chores.

  Bailey turned her attention to the blue eyes that stared back at her, a hopeful glint in them. How could she turn down such an unconditional offer of help?

  “How did you get this tree picked so quickly? You have five crates picked to my three, and I’ve been out here longer than you! Not to mention the fact that Hannah has been helping me.”

  Luke smiled; exposing dimples that made Bailey swoon. “That’s my secret! I’ve perfected my picking skill over the past five years, and if I shared it with you, well…then I’m afraid you wouldn’t think you needed my help anymore.”

  Bailey kicked at the grass with her faux snakeskin boots. “If my father shows up, he will see that I had help, and I will lose everything. I appreciate your help, but I have to do this myself. It would be easy to explain Hannah’s presence in the orchard since she uses some apples for a cobbler or other deserts, but you don’t bake!”

  Luke puffed his chest out a little and smirked at her. “Actually I do bake. I can make a hearty chicken-pot-pie just like mei mamm used to make.”

  “Hannah said she would teach me to make applesauce and apple jelly.”

  Luke nodded. “She also makes the best apple cider I’ve ever tasted. Get her to share her recipe with you.”

  Smiling, Bailey realized that she could get used to talking to Luke. She knew a measure of cold-heartedness was needed to keep herself from falling for the handsome gentleman. If she didn’t guard her heart, she would lose sight of what she was on the farm to do.

  No distractions.

  No compromises.

  It’s the only way to get the deed.

  “Pick your family’s portion, and
no more,” Bailey said sternly.

  Luke sighed. “If that’s what you want, then I will abide by your wishes.”

  Bailey walked away from Luke, but not before she served him with one last warning to steer clear of her father. She didn’t want Luke to feel she was using him, but she didn’t want to let him get too close either. Bailey told herself it was better this way, but she wasn’t altogether convinced. She was there to do a job, but there wasn’t any reason she had to keep to herself completely. She already felt like sisters with Hannah, but Luke was a different story. Her feelings for him were anything but brotherly, and that terrified her more than she was willing to admit—even to herself.

  Chapter 6

  Bailey could see the dust cloud from her father’s car as it travelled on the dirt road toward her Aunt Helena’s farm.

  “Hannah, my father is coming. Go to the end of the orchard and warn Luke to go back to the barn. Please hurry! If he sees the two of you in the orchard with me, he’ll revoke the deal he made with me.”

  Hannah ran toward her brother to do Bailey’s bidding. She was happy that the teenager had remained by her side for the past week, helping her pick the apples at twice the speed. But no matter how fast they worked, they had not brought in more apples than Luke at the end of each day.

  Bailey had been tempted to spy on him to learn his secret, but she also knew that if she picked too many trees clean that her father would suspect she’d had help. She hoped her dad would be pleased with her progress so far, but as she looked out at the vast amount of trees remaining to be harvested, she suddenly felt overwhelmed.

  As the car entered the long drive that led to the farm house, Bailey decided it would be better for her if her father saw her working. She climbed back up the ladder that rested against the tree she’d been picking from most of the afternoon so she could finish the other side. She knew it would only be a matter of minutes before her father approached her, and she wanted to look as busy as she felt.