An Amish Winter (Love Inspired) Read online

He turned toward her suddenly. “What’s wrong with here?”

  “Here?”

  “You sound like a parrot.”

  “And you sound like a busybody.” She stood and walked over to where he’d frozen in the middle of the kitchen. Pulling Hannah into her arms, she tossed him a clean cloth diaper. “You might want to use that on the shoulder of your shirt. It’s fairly drenched.”

  And with that she sailed from the kitchen, back to her little bedroom, back to some desperately needed peace and quiet.

  She told herself it was because she needed to nurse Hannah. In truth she needed to get away from Elijah King’s blue eyes that insisted on searching her own. She wanted to sound confident, but she was far from it. Mio had been the only thing she could find, the only living situation that presented itself. There weren’t a lot of Amish businesses looking for a single mother. She refused to indulge the doubts popping up in her mind.

  Mio didn’t thaw once it froze? How long was that—six months? And what did she know of Lake Superior and Canada and small communities? She knew nothing about any of those things.

  She shook her head, as if she could dislodge the doubts Elijah had planted there.

  The snow would stop eventually.

  She’d board the bus to Mio, and somehow she’d find a way to make a life there for her and Hannah.

  As for Elijah, he could stay in Shipshewana with his solar business and his confident answers.

  * * *

  Installing solar panels during a blizzard was virtually impossible, so Elijah spent the afternoon trying to catch up on paperwork. He was a good businessman. His solar panel company had grown so quickly that he’d had to hire two full-time employees, but he wasn’t particularly good with paperwork. He stared at the box he used for an in-basket.

  Where did all the paper come from?

  And what was he supposed to do with it?

  He thumbed through the top inch of paper, pulling out any invoices and writing checks to suppliers. He stuffed the checks in the return envelopes, finally located the roll of stamps he’d purchased and affixed one to each bill. Then he bundled up in his coat and hat, gloves and scarf. The walk down the lane to the mailbox should have eased his restlessness, but it didn’t. So instead of going home, he walked next door to his bruder’s. No need going in the house; he knew Thomas would be in the barn.

  He found him sitting in the barn’s small office, oiling a horse halter.

  “Thought you’d be here.” Elijah flopped into a chair across from the desk.

  “Can’t be in the fields. Might as well be here doing things I’ve been neglecting.”

  Thomas was ten years older and half a foot shorter, and he was beginning to bald. In other words, they looked nothing alike, and their personalities were—likewise—opposite.

  Maybe that’s what he needed.

  A completely different perspective.

  So he found himself telling Thomas about finding Faith and Hannah at the bus stop, taking her to Old Eli’s, seeing her that morning and learning of her plan to go to Mio.

  By the time he’d finished, Thomas had poured two mugs of coffee from the pot he kept on the potbellied stove.

  “Sounds like you’re quite taken with her.”

  Elijah had just swallowed a big gulp of the coffee, and he proceeded to choke on it. Thomas apparently found this doubly amusing.

  “That’s not what I said. Were you even listening?”

  “Oh, I was listening to every word you said.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I can see right through you, bruder. You’re looking for a wife, for a family. You said as much at dinner the other night.”

  “I said that I was going to start courting again, once I found the right woman. Faith Yoder is not the right woman.”

  “Because she’s a widow?”

  “Because she’s stubborn and doesn’t even like me.”

  “Lots of women are stubborn. I believe Amish women, in particular, are described that way in the encyclopedia. It’s not always a bad thing.”

  Elijah shook his head, pushed away his cup of coffee and rubbed at the headache pulsing at his temples.

  “Faith is... She’s all wrong for me.”

  “Is she difficult to look at?”

  “What is wrong with you? I’d never pick a wife based on her looks.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And for your information she’s a very nice-looking woman—tall, blond hair that looks like it might curl softly when not hidden under her kapp and eyes a lovely brown. I’ve never seen eyes that could express so much without her saying a word. Too thin, but that’s probably from the worry of her situation. She’s a fine-looking woman—but not for me.”

  “That was a lot of detail for a woman you’re not interested in.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Maybe it’s the child you have a problem with.”

  “Hannah is perfect—soft and sweet and a very well-tempered child from what I could tell.” Elijah sat back, his elbows on the arms of the chair and his hands clasped together. “I’ll admit when I first saw her, standing in the middle of the snow and the glow of the Mercantile lighting... I wondered if she was The One.”

  “I knew it!” Thomas dropped the rag he’d been using to rub oil into the halter and played a drumbeat against the table. “She’s available, and you didn’t grow up with her. Aren’t those your two biggest obstacles? Isn’t that what you told me less than a week ago?”

  “Sure, ya. But...”

  “Look, if you want her to stay in Shipshe, then you need to find a way for her to do so.”

  “Find a way?”

  “Find her a home and job. Then again, maybe it’s not your problem. I’ll bet Old Eli is working on it right now.”

  “No, he was off to visit Widow Lapp, then pick up some supplies.”

  “Hmm... Think about it, though. You know as many people in the district as Old Eli. You’ve installed solar panels on nearly all the Amish homes. Surely you know someone who could rent a room to her. As for a job, there’s always somebody in our community looking for help.”

  Elijah stood, dumped his coffee into the small sink and rinsed out the cup. His bruder was completely misreading his intentions, but perhaps he was right about one thing.

  Perhaps he could do something to help Faith and Hannah.

  “Let me know how the courting goes,” Thomas called out as Elijah walked back through the barn.

  He didn’t bother responding.

  Thomas would tease until he found something else to distract him. It was his way. By the time it reached their mamm, the story would have morphed into something completely crazy...something like Elijah had asked Faith to marry him.

  Ha!

  He knew when a woman didn’t enjoy his company. It had been plain as the snow falling around them that he irritated her in every way. Even when he wasn’t talking she seemed put out with him. It was almost as if his very breathing had grated on her nerves.

  She thought he was a know-it-all. What had she called him? A busybody. He couldn’t help it if he had better ideas than she did. He was a businessman. It was his job to solve problems.

  That was it. He was a problem solver.

  Faith’s problem was she needed a safe place to live and a way to support her daughter.

  They were Amish. Supporting Hannah wouldn’t be a problem. Everyone would pitch in. They might not be well-off, but neither would they lack for the basic necessities. Faith had struck him as a proud person, though—not proud in the sense of crowing about one’s accomplishments, but too proud to do nothing while others helped.

  Elijah understood that a person needed to feel like they were pulling their own weight. Didn’t he have two schweschdern who still worked, even after having children? True, it was i
n their home, but still, it was satisfying to them.

  Deborah had said at Christmas that quilting helped her to keep her sanity, what with the constant work of six children. “You can see the progress of a quilt. It has a beginning and an end to it. You feel like you’ve accomplished something when you cut the last thread, unlike doing the dinner dishes, which are dirty again the next morning.”

  His mamm had admonished Deborah that raising children was certainly accomplishing something—something far more important than sewing a quilt—but Elijah had understood what his schweschder was getting at.

  Lily, his oldest schweschder, had piped up with an old proverb he remembered his mammi saying.

  How did it go?

  Keeping a neat house is like threading beads on a string with no knot in it.

  He sympathized with what his schweschdern had tried to say, and he suspected that Faith felt the same.

  He didn’t know her exact situation. She was quite young to be a widow, and to raise a child on one’s own was no easy thing. What had happened to her parents? Didn’t she have siblings? And what had she meant when she’d said it hadn’t been safe living with her husband’s parents?

  He couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of home her in-laws had provided that would be dangerous to a woman and child. It made him angry to think of such a thing, so instead he turned his thoughts away, headed to his barn and hitched up Boots.

  There was someone he needed to visit, and he needed to do so before the buses to Michigan started running again.

  Chapter Three

  Faith couldn’t believe when a few hours later Elijah returned. She just couldn’t believe it. She’d actually felt guilty after he’d left, worried that she’d been rude and abrupt. Now he was back, and she was thinking that perhaps she hadn’t been rude enough.

  Unfortunately he arrived as Mary Ann was serving dinner to her family. Of course, Mary Ann insisted on setting another plate at the table. The bishop had eight children ranging from seven to nineteen, so dinnertime was a boisterous affair. Moreover, two of the girls had taken a real liking to Hannah, who returned their attentions with exuberant smiles and the occasional chuckle.

  She would have enjoyed the meal if it hadn’t been for Elijah hovering nearby. What was with him? Why did he care about what happened to her? Throughout the meal, Faith would look up to catch him studying her.

  By the time they’d finished eating the chicken and dumplings, fresh bread and carrots, she felt she was sitting on eggshells. Plainly he’d come to say something to her. She wished he’d just get on with it.

  “Why don’t we head to the sitting room while the children clean up the dishes.” Mary Ann’s eyes practically twinkled. The woman apparently hadn’t picked up on Faith’s discomfort.

  And really, why was she uncomfortable around Elijah? He had done nothing but help her, and though he voiced his opinions a bit too bluntly, she was grateful to him for giving her a ride the night before.

  The bishop’s two oldest girls whisked Hannah away for a bath. Faith’s arms felt empty, but she was also grateful for the break. There was no doubt that the girls knew what they were doing with a baby. As Mary Ann had explained, “They’ve had a lot of experience with the younger ones.”

  Once the four adults were settled in the sitting room, Old Eli pulled out an unlit pipe, clamped it between his teeth and motioned for Elijah to share his big news. That’s what he’d called it—big news. Then he’d smelled the chicken and dumplings and the urgency of the thing had gone out of it. Just like that. Poof. Now his stomach was full, and he was obviously quite eager to share his news.

  “I was discussing Faith’s situation with Thomas...”

  “What?” Faith’s voice rose an octave. She pulled it down with some effort. “You discussed my situation with...who?”

  “Thomas is Elijah’s older bruder,” Mary Ann explained. “He’s a gut man. I hope you have the chance to meet him. Six children and a sweet wife. Go ahead, Elijah... You were saying.”

  Faith attempted to skewer him with a glare, but he failed to notice.

  “Thomas suggested that perhaps there was a way for you to stay in Shipshe, that maybe you could find what you were looking for here.”

  “I found what I’m looking for in Mio.”

  “Ya, right. The land to the north, the land of the frozen tundra...”

  Faith felt her face turning red, Elijah sputtered to a stop and Mary Ann cleared her throat.

  “You were saying...” Old Eli encouraged him onward with a motion of his pipe.

  “Thomas suggested that I ask around. He said I know nearly as many people as you do.”

  “Ya, it’s true.”

  “At first I thought of Daniel and Tabitha Miller...”

  Mary Beth shook her head. “I’m sure Tabitha would be happy to help, but she has her mother to look after.”

  “And Daniel’s had some trouble with his boys, who are suspender deep in their rumspringa at the moment.” Old Eli shrugged. “I’ve no doubt it will work its way out in the end, but in the meantime the road could be a little bumpy.”

  “Right, so I was driving away from there after realizing it wasn’t the ideal situation, and that’s when I thought of Leslie Stolzfus.”

  Faith wanted to melt into the couch. She wanted to find Hannah, run to the room she was borrowing and shut the door. Had Elijah told her situation to every family in the local community? She didn’t consider herself a proud person, but she did value her privacy. What was he thinking?

  “Ah,” Mary Ann said.

  “Hmm...” Old Eli stared down at his pipe, even as he set his rocker to rocking.

  A quiet descended on the room, pulling Faith out of her embarrassment. Mary Ann had closed her eyes, as if in prayer. Old Eli continued to study his pipe. Which left her no one to look at except Elijah, who winked conspiratorially.

  Mary Ann and Old Eli tossed the idea back and forth.

  “It could work,” Mary Ann said.

  “I probably should have thought of it myself.”

  “She has two extra rooms.”

  “And a kind spirit.”

  “She’s even talked about renting out to Englischers wanting to experience the Plain lifestyle.”

  “This would be better than that.”

  “This would be perfect.”

  Both Mary Ann and Old Eli looked to Faith, who had no idea what to say.

  Old Eli stopped rocking, leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. “Elijah has a good grasp of the members of our community. There are many who would be willing to help, like the Kings, but few have an ideal situation for a young mother and child. Leslie, though...”

  He looked to Mary Ann, who nodded, then reached over and covered Faith’s hand with her own. “Leslie is a kindred spirit. If you’d like to stay, I think you should talk to her.”

  “Stay?”

  “I suppose that’s the real question here.” Old Eli’s demeanor became quite somber. His expression turned thoughtful, and he waited until silence had settled upon the room. Finally, he nodded toward her and asked, “What do you want, Faith?”

  “What do I want?”

  “If you’d rather travel on to Mio, the buses should begin running again tomorrow. I checked with the ticket salesman while I was in town today, and he assured me that buses would be leaving from the Mercantile in the early afternoon. However, he didn’t believe you’d be able to reach Mio right away. He thought you’d probably get as far as Lansing. Apparently everything north of there is still closed.”

  “But I need to get to Mio.”

  “Right.”

  Everyone waited and watched her.

  Faith didn’t know what to think, and she certainly didn’t know what to say. She felt like Alice who had fallen down the rabbit hole.

  It was Mary Ann who rescued h
er, who offered her at least a glimmer of light through the fog of confusion.

  “You think and pray about it, dear. Pray about staying here in Shipshe and whether it’s the best thing for you and Hannah. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to go tomorrow morning and speak with Leslie. The bus doesn’t depart until after lunch, which gives you plenty of time to make a decision.”

  Plenty of time to make a decision.

  The clock on the wall ticked toward 7:00 p.m.

  She had sixteen hours to decide where she wanted to raise her daughter.

  Faith glanced up and saw only kindness and compassion in Mary Ann’s eyes. Old Eli was looking at her as her father once had, and the memory brought a lump to her throat. But it was the expression on Elijah’s face that gave her pause. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was eagerly awaiting her answer.

  Why? Why did he care?

  Finally she said, “Sure. Ya. I suppose I could talk to her. It can’t hurt, I guess.”

  The smile that erupted on Elijah’s face reached all the way to his eyes, which she again noticed were a blue as deep as a summer sky. She supposed many women would be flattered to have Elijah’s attention.

  Not her.

  She didn’t need another man.

  And she didn’t need to be rescued.

  But she did need a place to live, and it didn’t look like she’d get to Mio anytime soon. Was Gotte closing that door? Where did that expression even come from? She wasn’t sure it was in the Bible.

  But she did believe that Gotte guided her path. So it was settled. In the morning, she would go to see Leslie.

  Mary Ann stood and straightened her apron. “I best see to the kinner. I’ll check on Hannah, too. Eli, both of the boys were wanting help from you with a school project. They’re waiting at the table. Faith, would you mind seeing Elijah out?”

  Which pretty much meant walking him across the room. Faith was quite sure he could find the way himself. She didn’t want to appear rude, though, so she nodded, stood and walked Elijah to the front door. He snagged his hat, scarf and gloves from the peg on the wall where he’d left them.

  She found herself looking up into those startling blue eyes. She wasn’t used to looking up at anyone. Even her husband had been an inch shorter.