The Amish Midwife's Hope Read online

  “What are we having?”

  “Liver and onions and Brussels sprouts.”

  Her smile faded and she eyed him uncertainly. “Nee.” She bit her lip. “We’re not, are we?”

  Samuel struggled to keep a straight face. But she looked so unhappy he couldn’t keep it up. “Spaghetti and meatballs.”

  “Gut!” Giggling, she ran off to do as he said.

  His mood lighter, he got out the jar of spaghetti sauce Hannah had given him and poured the contents into a pan to warm. He put the pound of hamburger he’d been thawing in a bowl and added the ingredients to make meatballs. As he worked he thought about having supper with Rebecca tomorrow night. Dating again just continued to feel a little weird since he’d grown up with Ruth, gone to schul with her, and been friends for a very long time before they dated. Their relationship was typical of those in many Amish communities.

  Rebecca was an unknown. He supposed this was more like the Englisch relationships. From what he’d seen and heard, most didn’t know the person they dated for as many years. He thought it was going to be interesting to learn more about her, find out what interested her, what she liked to do.

  Tomorrow evening couldn’t come soon enough.

  Chapter Twelve

  Rebecca was running out of time.

  She’d been late coming home from checking on Abigail—another false labor scare—and she just couldn’t decide on what to wear. Her midnight-blue dress was a favorite but the forest green…Was it her imagination or did the color seem to brighten up her face, make her average features a little prettier? She took off the midnight blue and slipped into the forest green.

  That was hochmut, even a little vain, she told herself. Being prideful and vain was wrong.

  She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and her eyes widened. Samuel was going to be here any minute. The forest green would have to do.

  So silly to be obsessing about her dress. Or about dating. She just needed to relax and enjoy herself.

  Samuel. Well, he was a different story. She was starting on chapter one with him and she had no idea where the story was going.

  After a last glance in the mirror over the dresser, she headed downstairs. Samuel pulled up in the driveway just as she slipped on her jacket and grabbed her purse. She went out the door then felt a little niggle and turned around to get her medical bag. It wouldn’t do to get a call and not have what she needed. So many women—Amish and Englisch—carried big handbags so it probably wouldn’t even be noticed if she carried the bag into a restaurant. She put her wallet and the few things she needed from her purse into her bag and strode out with it.

  “Sorry, I ran a few minutes late. Lizzie is having an overnight at Hannah’s and she couldn’t decide what she needed.”

  “No problem,” she said. “I can relate.”

  “A female thing, eh?” he asked as he pulled onto the road.

  “You never had that trouble?”

  “I can’t say that I have.”

  “Picking out your shirt was an easy decision, then?”

  He glanced down at it. “Something wrong with it?”

  Nee, she thought. The midnight blue made his eyes look so deep and dreamy.

  Whoa! Where had that come from?

  “Just teasing.”

  It was a gut thing she hadn’t worn the blue dress, she thought as she stared ahead. The color of his shirt was so similar someone might have thought she was his fraa and she’d made it to match her dress.

  “To tell the truth, it was hard to decide whether to use oak or pine for a furniture piece I’m making.”

  “Did you talk to Mervin about selling your work at his store in town?”

  “I did. Danki for suggesting I contact him. I already have some orders.”

  “That’s very gut. So, where are we going?”

  He named a restaurant in town and she nodded in approval. It was one of her favorites.

  She sighed and leaned back in her seat as they rode. It was nice to relax and talk about their day.

  Samuel parked and they went inside the restaurant. It was busy tonight. Actually, she couldn’t remember a time when it wasn’t. Luckily, it didn’t take long to be seated at a table in a quiet corner.

  “What’s gut here?” he asked as he studied the menu.

  “Liver and onions,” she said, tongue in cheek.

  His head jerked up and he stared at her. “Have you been talking to Lizzie?”

  “Nee, why?”

  “I threatened to make that for Lizzie for supper last night for calling you.”

  She chuckled. “It’s actually gut here, but you might like their pot roast. Or the fried chicken.”

  “Pot roast is one of the few things I do well. I think I’ll get the fried chicken. Mine too often turns out raw in the middle or burned. Hannah’s promised to show me how to make it.”

  Rebecca ordered the pot roast because it was something she didn’t often make. After their server took their orders, she looked at him. “I hope you’re not upset that Lizzie called me yesterday. She was worried about you.”

  “It was a splinter.”

  Her lips quirked in a smile. “But there was some blood.”

  “I think Lizzie was playing matchmaker. She likes you a lot.” He fell silent for a moment. “I’m schur she wants a mudder,” he said, seeming to choose his words carefully. “And a boppli. She wants a boppli.”

  “She’s very loving with them,” she told him. “I remember how carefully she was holding Johnny at church.” She smiled. “She might feel differently if she had to take care of one. I had to help my mudder with my bruders and schweschders. I love every one of them but it wasn’t easy being the eldest.”

  “I helped with mine, too, but not as much since Hannah and my other schweschders were better at it and I helped my dat in the fields.”

  “Lizzie will have a chance to see what it’s like taking care of a boppli when Hannah has hers.”

  “True. But I don’t think that’s going to take Lizzie’s attention away from you.”

  “Samuel, you didn’t ask me out to make Lizzie stop pestering you about a mudder, did you?”

  He stared at her for the longest time without answering. She could almost hear her heartbeat as she waited.

  “What do you think?” His voice was low, husky.

  The room felt too warm, too close.

  “I…I don’t know.” She took a sip of water to soothe a suddenly dry throat.

  He reached for her hand. “I thought we cleared that up. I love my dochder but I’m not letting her choose who I date. Please tell me you don’t think I’d do that to you.”

  “Nee,” she said softly.

  “Gut.”

  The server brought their salads. Samuel withdrew his hand, and they began eating. The fresh vegetables on the plate before her gave her an idea.

  “Lizzie’s not too young to start a kitchen garden. She might like watching the seeds she plants grow.”

  “You’re right. She used to toddle after Ruth in the one back in Indiana.”

  Rebecca decided she needed to ask the question. “Tell me about Ruth,” she invited quietly. “I don’t know anything about her except how she died. What was she like as a person?”

  She waited, holding her breath, and wondered if she should have brought her up.

  “You really want to know?”

  She nodded. “Our relationship with the person we married is the most important one we have with someone after God. What you tell me about her says a lot about you.”

  “I’ve never had to tell someone about her,” he said slowly.

  “We went to schul together. Everyone back in our town knew her. And everyone who met her liked her. Ruth loved her family and wanted a big family of her own. I’ll always remember how excited she was when she found out she was going to have Lizzie. She had a long labor, but she didn’t complain. And when she saw Lizzie for the first time, well, there was such a look of joy on her face. She lov
ed us so much. Lizzie was three when we found out another boppli was on the way. Ruth just seemed to dance through the day she was so happy.”

  He stopped and smiled at her. “Lizzie looks more like her every day. And has the same energy, the same boundless curiosity about life.” He tilted his head and studied her. “Tell me about Amos.”

  “We went to schul together, too.” She pushed her empty plate aside and sipped her iced tea. “I decided I wanted to marry him when we were in seventh grade. I flirted with him a lot. Some of the other girls noticed and teased me but I didn’t care. He was handsome and sweet. He used to pick me a bunch of wildflowers.”

  She laughed, remembering. “Sometimes there was a weed or two mixed in. He didn’t always know the difference. But I always loved all of them. Amos loved the farm and died doing what he loved—working on his land.” She shook her head. “We wanted kinner but I lost the boppli I was carrying a week after Amos died. I was just three months along so no one knew I was carrying.”

  He stiffened. “I had no idea. How did you go on doing what you do? Being a midwife, I mean.”

  She shrugged. “It’s the work I love. The work I feel I’m meant to do. And the women here needed me. I had to go on.”

  Samuel sighed. “I guess we all find a way to go on. I think the fact that you’ve gone on with your work is courageous.”

  “You went on, too.”

  “Having Lizzie meant I had to find a way to go on.”

  They were served their entrees. She noted that Samuel enjoyed his and cleared his plate. The server came, brought coffee, and recited the dessert selections.

  “If you love pie, you’ll want to try their apple or pumpkin,” Rebecca said. “I know it’s gut because my schweschder Katie Ann bakes for the restaurant. I’m having the apple. A la mode, of course.”

  “Apple it is.” He liked the way her eyes twinkled when she said “a la mode.”

  The server nodded and took their empty plates.

  Rebecca had started the conversation with her question about Ruth and he felt he should do his part to carry the conversational ball. But he wasn’t a man of many words. What man was?

  So he asked her if she’d read the latest issue of The Budget, and when she said she hadn’t, he related a funny story he’d read in it about an Indiana Amish man who’d tried using a couple of mules to plow his fields.

  Their desserts came and he had to admit that the pie was very gut.

  As he ate, he realized it was an easy thing, this being out on a date with Rebecca. She didn’t chatter endlessly about herself the way Sarah or some maedels back home did. Or flirt in a way that grew tiresome. Maybe it was because she was more mature as a widow. She wasn’t in any rush to get married again and that certainly put less pressure on things.

  There was a mixture of families and couples seated around them. Englisch and some Amish. Everyone seemed to be having a gut time and although he saw some occasional glances of curiosity directed toward them by the Englisch tourists, they weren’t approached by any of them. He’d had tourists become too nosy on more than one occasion back in Indiana.

  When he mentioned that, Rebecca nodded. “It happens here sometimes as well. But I think people are getting better about respecting our privacy. Maybe they’ve learned more about our ways.”

  They lingered over coffee. Rebecca seemed relaxed and not in a hurry. Samuel knew Lizzie was happy spending the night at Hannah’s and so he didn’t feel the need to be home by a certain time. He’d noticed Rebecca had brought her medical bag with her, but so far she hadn’t received a call.

  He hoped it stayed that way.

  The server brought their check and said there was no rush but Samuel noticed others were leaving. He tucked bills into the leather check holder and looked at Rebecca.

  “I’m glad you said yes to supper tonight.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I’m grateful Lizzie made me see what was in front of me,” he said quietly. “I’m lucky you have a forgiving heart. I wasn’t the friendliest to you after our first outing.”

  She shrugged and he watched a faint blush bloom over her cheeks. She glanced around. “I guess we should go. They’ll be closing soon.”

  They walked out to the buggy. There was a hint of wood smoke in the air. He glanced up. “Full moon tonight.”

  “I love this time of year. The almanac says we’ll have an early winter this year.”

  “There’s a buggy blanket in the back seat if you’re cold.”

  “I’m fine.”

  He took the long way home, and if she noticed, she didn’t say anything. Moonlight silvered the trees almost bare of leaves. He spotted a car parked beside the road, almost hidden by some shrubs.

  “Do you think we should stop and see if they need help?”

  “Hmm? Oh, that car?” She chuckled. “Nee, I don’t think they need our help.”

  As they drew closer, Samuel realized the couple inside was engaged in a rather close embrace.

  Talk about embarrassing.

  “Some of the Englisch teens park here for privacy. Sort of a lovers’ lane.”

  “I’m learning more about my new community,” he said, trying to sound casual.

  “We Amish here sneak kisses as we go through a covered bridge.”

  He glanced at her. “Is that so?”

  “Ya.”

  He decided to remember that.

  Too soon they were approaching Rebecca’s house. He pulled into the drive and turned to look at her. “Danki for going out with me tonight.”

  “Danki for asking me.”

  “I’d like to do it again.” He found himself holding his breath and then let it go. He wasn’t a youth.

  “Me, too. Come for supper one night this week and bring Lizzie.”

  “Sounds gut.”

  They got out of the buggy, and he walked her to the door.

  “Gut nacht, Rebecca. Sleep well.”

  “You, too.”

  He walked back to the buggy and wished he didn’t remember seeing that couple embracing. It made him think of how he’d like to kiss Rebecca. He waited until she went inside, then watched the lights go off in the kitchen and a light come on in the master bedroom window before he climbed back into the buggy.

  His house was so quiet when he walked inside after he unhitched the buggy and put Tom up in the barn. He took off his jacket and then filled a glass from the tap and stood by the sink to drink it. The stairs creaked as he climbed them, the noise loud in the silent house. He paused by Lizzie’s door to stare at the empty bed for a long moment before going on into his own room. Funny how the house felt lonely tonight. It hadn’t felt so lonely somehow the last time Lizzie had spent the night at Hannah’s house.

  He wondered if it was because he’d spent hours being the man he hadn’t been since Ruth died…talking with a woman who interested him and was interested in him. He hadn’t been a dat or a bruder or a farmer or a man of his community tonight. He’d been a man with a woman in a world of their own.

  It had felt gut, he realized as he sat on the side of his bed. It had felt really gut.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rebecca found herself humming as she got ready for bed after her date.

  What a surprising evening it had been to be out with Samuel. It was difficult not to compare this first date with the only other first date she’d ever gone on. She’d been so young last time. It was hard to think of herself as being that young. Amos, too. But they’d known each other all their lives.

  Samuel. Now, Samuel was a different story. She knew so little about him really, other than the fact that they were older and had experienced so much. Lived in different places.

  Yet they were undeniably attracted to each other and had talked for hours tonight.

  It had felt so right to be together.

  She took off her kapp and dropped the hairpins from the bun at the nape of her neck into the ceramic box on her dresser. After she took off her dress and hung it up, she chang
ed into a flannel nightgown that felt toasty warm on a cold night like this, then sat on her bed to brush her hair. The bedtime task always soothed her, but many nights she was too tired to take the time to give it a good brushing.

  She ran the brush through her hair as she thought about the evening. The meal had been lovely, the conversation stimulating. And for schur, the attention from a handsome man had been an unexpected pleasure. She caught herself staring in the mirror and was surprised to see how dreamy she looked.

  It was a date, she told herself. One date. She wasn’t a silly young maedel. They’d gone out on one date, and ya, he’d said he wanted to see her again. But it didn’t mean anything more than that. She was older now. Wiser. There was only One who knew where this was going.

  She rose, set her brush down on the dresser, and slid into bed. The night before she’d dreamed of Amos. As she closed her eyes and snuggled under her quilt, she wondered who she’d dream of tonight. She fell asleep instantly.

  * * *

  A weight landed on her bed, startling her. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” a female voice cried.

  Rebecca blinked at sunshine pouring in the window. “Katie Ann! What are you doing here?” She rubbed her eyes and groaned. Katie Ann was the youngest in the familye and Rebecca’s favorite sibling.

  Katie Ann bounced on the bed. “Heard you went out with Samuel yesterday. Tell me all about it.”

  She yawned and pushed Katie Ann off the bed. She landed with a thud and laughed. “You think that’s going to stop me?” She climbed back on the bed and dug her fingers into Rebecca’s ribs, tickling her unmercifully. “I can make you talk! I’ve always been able to make you talk!”

  Rebecca laughed and struggled to get away as tears ran down her cheeks. “Stop it or I’ll call Mamm!” Not that that would do any gut. They weren’t kinner anymore, and her mudder wouldn’t be rushing in to stop their silliness.

  “Coffee!” Rebecca gasped. “I need coffee!”