He looked away. She was trouble, and he had to stop thinking about her.
“Charlie played a gut game today,” his brother Jacob commented.
“She’s got a lot of energy, that girl,” his sister Mary Elizabeth said.
“She didn’t help you with the food,” Nate murmured and immediately regretted his comment.
Mam raised her eyebrows. “We had more than enough help. Take a look. Do you see a lack of women here? Charlie enjoys the game, but she would have come if we’d asked.” Her speculative look made Nate squirm.
“I’ve never seen anyone hit the ball like she does,” he said softly, sincerely, brushing the awkward moment aside. “She brought everyone on base home then slid into home plate, giving the team the win.”
“Ja, I wish I could play like that,” Ruth Ann said.
He blinked, but he didn’t say a word. He waited for his father to comment, but the man only chuckled.
“You’re much better off spending your time gardening,” Dat said.
Nate breathed a sigh of relief. “Ja, gardening is a fine way to spend your time. Did you pick the last of the vegetables?”
“Plan to do it tomorrow,” his sister said. “If there are any left. I haven’t checked recently.”
Ruth loved to garden so bringing up the subject was brilliant. He had to give his father credit. The man knew how to deal with his children in a way that was natural and loving without being overbearing.
Nate hoped that someday he could be the kind of father his dat was. And a leader like him. Some folks within his community thought that one day Nate would be asked to serve as deacon, preacher, or even bishop.
Nate closed his eyes. He hoped not. Being asked to serve as deacon would mean that his father had passed, for the position was lifelong. He didn’t want to think of the day Dat was no longer with them. And he couldn’t see himself as preacher or bishop. He could never live up to the title. Nate didn’t feel good enough to be a church elder.
But he enjoyed farming. His father’s farm wouldn’t be his to inherit. The farm would go to his youngest brother, not the oldest son, as was the Amish way. Not that Nate minded. He would work for what he wanted. He had nearly enough money to bid on that other farm.
Charlie stood, immediately catching his attention.
He watched as she returned to the food table with her sisters Leah and Nell. They were chatting. Charlie laughed at something Nell said, and the change in her features was so startling that Nate was unable to look away. She was even more beautiful when she was happy. She’d always been a pretty little thing, but the way laughter changed her face stole his breath.
She was oblivious to his regard as she filled her dessert plate. He heard Leah chuckle and watched Charlie as she talked animatedly while gesturing with one hand, her movements nearly unseating the chocolate cake on her plate. The women kept up a steady conversation as they headed back to their table. Charlie giggled at something Leah said, but her good humor died quickly when she encountered his glance. Nell spoke and Charlie looked away, her smile restored. Awareness surged inside him. He recalled how he’d felt when he saw the blood on her leg. Anxiety. Anger. The strongest urge to protect her. He scowled. I can’t do this again.
His chest tightened but he managed to eat his lunch before heading to the dessert table with Ruth Ann. He didn’t know why, but he was ready for the day to end.
“Soohns, we’ll be leaving for Indiana first thing in the morning,” his father said as Nate returned to the table. “I’d hoped the two of you would stay home and take care of things here.”
Nate nodded. He’d known about his father’s plans to take the family to see his grandparents. “We’ll take care of the animals and make hay.”
Jacob smiled. “Won’t take us long.”
“We’ll take turns cooking,” he warned his brother.
His brother shrugged. “I can survive on sandwiches.”
He laughed. “I think you’ll get sick of sandwiches, but we’ll see.”
After he finished eating, Nate rose to throw away his paper plate. He turned and caught a glimpse of Charlie standing at her cousin’s paddock, watching the horses at play. Her glorious red hair was like a beacon that called to him. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?
He headed in her direction.
* * *
Charlie gazed at the horses and felt a rush of pleasure. What she wouldn’t give to race like the wind on the back of a horse! She smiled. The chestnut mare pranced and chased her companions into a playful gallop. She’d give anything to feel the freedom of riding through the fields with the warmth of the sun against her skin and her hair unpinned without a head covering. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze tempered by the afternoon sunshine.
This week she wouldn’t be babysitting for the youngest Peachy children. The family was going out of town, which made her sigh. She loved spending time with them and missed them when she wasn’t needed. She loved children. It was her biggest wish to take over the teaching position at the Happiness School when the current schoolteacher left. That would be in a month or so, when current schoolteacher Elizabeth Troyer and her family moved to Ohio.
I’d make a gut teacher. She had done well in school, and she knew how to break down problems and find fun ways to make children remember what they’d learned. And she was ready. Her birthday was next month and she’d be nineteen. Her opportunity for teaching would be gone if it didn’t happen soon. She planned to approach the church elders this week about her filling the upcoming vacancy.
The sun slipped beneath a cloud, and she felt a sudden chill. She hugged herself with her arms. The sky was only partially cloudy. In a few moments the sun would resurface and warm her again.
“Charlie.”
She stiffened, recognizing his voice. She faced him. “Nate.” The shock of his appearance made her heart flutter. Ironically, she’d come here alone to seek refuge from the feelings he’d churned up inside her.
He leaned against the fence rail with only a few inches separating them. She became instantly aware of the heat his nearness generated. Something within her urged to flee from him; yet, she didn’t move.
She straightened her spine and stared. “What do you want, Nate? What are you doing here?”
“How’s your knee?” he asked, his eyes soft with concern.
She swallowed hard. “Fine. Your first aid helped.” She bit her lip. “Danki.”
He nodded with satisfaction. “You like to play ball.”
Charlie drew away, putting several more inches between them. “Ja, so?”
A tiny smile hovered on his lips. “You play well.”
“Then why were you trying to distract me?”
“My bruder was on the other team.”
She gaped at him for several seconds then laughed. She watched as his mouth curved into a grin before he joined in her laughter.
It felt good to laugh, yet strange to laugh with him. The fact that she liked the feeling made her stop laughing. Suddenly tense, she quieted and leaned against the fence and returned to her study of the horses.
They stood silently for a few moments. “What do you hope for, Charlie?” he asked. “In your life.”
She hesitated. “I like children. I’d like to teach.”
Clearly surprised, Nate raised his eyebrows. “You want to teach at our Happiness School?”
“Ja,” she whispered. “I know there are some members within our community who won’t think I’m good enough—”
“I believe you’d be an excellent teacher.”
“You do?”
“Ja, I do.” His gaze seemed intense as he studied her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You surprise me.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “I can help you.”
“Help me what?”
“Become a teacher. My father is deacon. I could speak with him.”
“Nay!” she gasped. “You mustn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want or deserve the job if I can’t earn it on my own.”
He shook his head as he watched her, as if he’d learned something new about her that stunned him.
“Charlie!”
She glanced back to see Ellie waving at her. “Time to head home. I’ve got to go,” she told Nate. “I—ah—danki again for helping me today.”
“You’re willkomm.”
“I’ll see you next Sunday,” she said.
Nate nodded without saying a word, and Charlie turned and hurried toward their buggy, where her family had gathered to leave.
Her heart hammered within her chest. Nate Peachy was a complex man, and she didn’t understand him. With one breath, he’d told her she’d be a good teacher, but then in the next, he’d proven that he didn’t believe it unless he stepped in to help. She sighed with sadness. If Nate felt this way, then there was every chance that no one would consider her seriously for the soon-to-be vacated teaching position. Maybe I’m being foolish to try.
When she was younger, her tendency to be impulsive frequently got her into trouble, but she was older and wiser now and she’d learned from her mistakes. She’d meant what she’d told Nate. If she couldn’t get the job on her own, then she didn’t want—or deserve—it.
Copyright © 2018 by Rebecca Kertz
ISBN-13: 9781488090899
Amish Christmas Memories
Copyright © 2018 by Vannetta Chapman
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