Amish Widow's Proposal

by Samantha Price

  Immediately Evelyn felt drawn to this man who had spoken so kindly to her daughter.

  “Evelyn King, this is Jebediah Esh.”

  The stranger laughed. “Please—just Jed.”

  “Hello, Jed,” Evelyn said, not being able to stop the smile that pulled at her lips.

  “I heard about the funeral yesterday, and about your…”

  Mark dug Jed in the ribs and nodded at young Martha, letting him know not to say too much in front of her. Mark continued, “Jed’s staying with us for a few weeks looking for work.”

  “That’s partly true. I do like to move around and see different parts of the country.”

  “Where are you from?” Evelyn asked.

  “Ohio.” His eyes fell to her stomach and then he drew his eyes away.

  “Jed is traveling, doing jobs so he can save to buy a house for his new wife.”

  “I can speak for myself, Mark,” Jed said with a laugh.

  “You’re newly married, Jed?” Evelyn asked.

  “Nee, but I will be soon.” He stared at Evelyn so intently she had to wonder what he thought of her.

  Martha stood and tugged Mark’s trouser leg. “We have no money for food, and Mister Hoster is not Dat,” Martha said in a voice too clear for her age.

  “Martha! That’s not so—I mean, the part about no money! The part about Mr. Hostetler not being your vadder is true.” Evelyn said, wondering when she’d uttered words about having no money in front of her daughter. She must’ve, otherwise where would Martha have gotten it from? Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t know where she gets these things from that come out of her mouth.”

  Martha stared at her mother and remained silent.

  Sally laughed to cover up the awkward moment. “Go back and play, Martha. It’s time for adults to talk.” When Martha obeyed, Sally said, “Evelyn was just telling me she needs someone to fix her late vadder-in-law’s haus.”

  Evelyn stared at her sister open-mouthed. What she’d told her wasn’t meant to be repeated.

  “Really? What needs doing?” Jed asked.

  Evelyn shook her head. “Oh nothing. It’s all right.”

  Mark said, “Why don’t we go and have a look together? You need to get the place fixed so you can lease it, don’t you?”

  Evelyn looked over at Sally—she must’ve told him that.

  “Go on,” Sally said. “Why don’t you go there now—the three of you, and I’ll mind Martha.”

  “That sounds like a gut idea,” Mark said. “It’s not far.”

  “I suppose so.” Evelyn figured maybe God had provided someone who could fix the house, and if so, God would also find a way to pay for it. Sure, the community would’ve rallied around and fixed the house, but Evelyn didn’t want them to do that. “We can go in my buggy,” she suggested.

  The three of them walked into the house and Mark went straight to the mold. He pointed to the dark stains high on the walls. “This is black mold and that’s toxic.”

  “You mean it’s poisonous?”

  “Jah; it’s horrendous. It can make people really ill, particularly if they have an allergy to it. Even if they're not allergic, it can cause fatigue, memory problems, and depression. Has anyone been living here?”

  “Not for some time.” She couldn’t say her late husband preferred living in this run-down house rather than to live with his family. “My vadder-in-law died a few months ago.”

  “I’ll have to get up and have a look at the roof. Do you know if there’s a ladder in the barn?” Jed asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “I’ll go and have a look,” Mark said.

  “While he’s gone, I’ll have a look upstairs and have a look in the loft space for signs of water damage.”

  “Mind the stairs. Some of them look dangerous.”

  He put his foot on the first step and avoided it, stepping on the second step. He was gone for several minutes before he joined her again. “Are you certain someone hasn’t been living here? There is paperwork, and men’s clothing and things are out, as though someone’s been staying here.” He gave Evelyn a look and she wondered if he’d found something in the bedroom that spoke of her late husband’s living arrangements.

  “My husband stayed here a couple of times. He was about to start work on the place. He probably left things here.” It was partly true since Amos had said he was working on the house.

  “That explains it, then. I was afraid you might have a trespasser living here.”

  “Nee, I’m certain I don’t.”

  He looked around with his hands on his hips. “I suppose no one would want to live here in these conditions.”

  Mark stuck his head in the door. “Okay. I’ve got a ladder ready. I’d go up there myself, but you’d know better what needs fixing.”

  “Convenient for you.” Jed laughed before he headed out the door.

  Evelyn put a hand to her throbbing head. She knew she had to be aware of what needed fixing, but at the same time it was a burden that weighed heavily.

  She followed Mark outside and stood next to him while they watched Jed on the roof.

  “How long have you known Jed?” she asked Mark.

  “I’ve known him for most of my life. We went to schul together.”

  “I suppose you know that I’m not in a good place financially. I’ve got Amos’ buggy horse I can sell, but I don’t know if that’ll be enough money to cover everything.”

  “Don’t concern yourself, Evelyn. I’ll make certain that the men come and fix things for you. And anything else you need, Sally and I will be happy to help.”

  “Nee, I couldn’t even ask that.” She knew that Sally and Mark were only just getting by themselves—helping her out would be an unfair burden on them.

  “Leave it to me.”

  “Nee! I’ll find out how much it costs first and whether I can afford to get it done. I might have to sell it just as it is.”

  “Don’t worry. Jed can do electrical, plumbing, roofs and just about anything.”

  She glanced up at the roof to see Jed was now looking down at them.

  Chapter 5

  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,

  and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

  Deuteronomy 6:5

  * * *

  “Well, how’s it looking?” Mark yelled to Jed still on the roof.

  “Not too bad. I can see where the water’s coming in. It just needs some flashing replaced; everything else looks good. The tiles that meet the chimney are often the weak point on the roof, but these look fine.”

  Evelyn breathed out a sigh of relief. That would save her ten to fifteen thousand dollars, which was what she’d guessed a new roof would’ve cost.

  “The gutters need cleaning out; things are growing in them.” He pulled out a tall weed and threw it down. “I won’t know if they’re going to need replacing until they’re cleaned.” He looked at Evelyn. “They’ll be overflowing when it rains, and water will be getting into the ceiling and seeping down the walls. What I’ll have to do is clean them out and then run water along the gutters to see if there are leaks.”

  “Okay,” Evelyn agreed.

  Mark looked at her. “All gut so far.”

  “It’ll only be gut if they don’t leak.” She guessed that brand-new gutters all the way around the house would cost at least two thousand dollars and maybe more.

  Jed laughed. “I’ll take a closer look on the other side.”

  When Jed was out of view, Evelyn whispered to Mark, “His fiancée must be happy to have a man who’s so handy. He could build his own haus by the sound of things.” Why did Gott give things to some people and not to others? She would’ve been happy with a man like Jed.

  Mark whispered back, “I guess she’s happy. He hasn’t told me much about her.”

  Jed appeared and climbed down the ladder. “It all looks not too bad. I’ll make a list of things that need to be done about the place.”

&nb
sp; “Would you? That would be wunderbaar.”

  “Do you have pen and paper?” He smiled at her as he dusted dirt from his hands against his thighs.

  “I’m certain I have—in the buggy.” She turned, and hurried to find pen and paper. When she climbed into the buggy, she looked back at Jed who was now talking with Mark. Evelyn could picture her now—the blessed woman that was to marry him. She’d be humble, and well mannered with a small polite giggle when someone said something funny. Of course, she’d be fair-haired and blue-eyed as Jed was, she’d have a pale flawless complexion. Her mind went on to picture Jed standing in front of his fiancée—her head would only reach his chin so he’d have to bend down to kiss her. Suddenly, he looked in her direction and she drew her eyes away from him, her gaze landing on a pen and a notebook on the floor of the buggy. She grabbed them both and headed back to him.

  “Denke, Evelyn.” He smiled at her.

  Her body tingled at the sound of her name on his lips. She was certain that he felt something for her too, but why would he? It didn’t make sense for him to feel anything for a woman who’d been recently widowed, a pregnant woman, and especially one with an outspoken three-year-old daughter. But still, it made her feel good to imagine that he had the same thoughts toward her.

  Evelyn was pleased. For the first time, finally, she was attracted to a man. Her feelings meant that it might be possible for her to find love in the future. The butterflies in her tummy were what she’d been missing with Amos, proving that the old ladies had been wrong—she shouldn’t have married Amos. Even though love was more than butterflies, surely it had to start with that feeling in one’s tummy? She should’ve waited for love to come her way rather than accepting Amos’ marriage proposal. If she’d waited, she might have met Jed before he proposed to his fiancée and who knows what would’ve happened?

  “Let’s go back inside, Evelyn.”

  Evelyn walked back into the house with Jed beside her.

  He looked up at the mold. “Nee, on second thought, you shouldn’t be in here until that’s gone. You wait outside, and I’ll make the list on my own. It’s too dangerous for you to be here with the mold.”

  Evelyn walked outside and waited with Mark who’d just put the ladder back in the barn. “It seems there are many things that need fixing.” At once, Evelyn grew annoyed at her late husband. He’d led her to believe he was staying at the house to fix it, but what had been done?

  “We’ll see that it gets fixed. Don’t look so worried,” Mark said.

  “I am worried.” She nibbled on a fingernail. “I can’t sell or lease this haus in the state it’s in.”

  “Which will you do?”

  “I want to have someone live here, leasing it.” She didn’t want to tell Mark that she needed the money to live on. He wouldn’t have any idea that Amos had died a poor man. Even though they had two houses, the money from his job only lasted from week to week.

  “The gut thing is, it doesn’t need a new roof.”

  “Jah, that was a piece of gut news.” Evelyn knew she had to be grateful for that.

  Half an hour later, Jed came out of the haus with the list in his hand. “Shall we go back to your place, Mark, so I can run though the list with Evelyn?”

  “Perhaps we should. It looks like you’ve listed quite a few things.”

  “Some are urgent, others aren’t so pressing,” Jed said. “It is imperative to get to the mold and find the cause of it, which will be the flashing on the roof and the gutters, I’d say. We need to fix that first and kill the mold.”

  “Denke, Jed, when I know exactly what’s wrong I’ll work on my budget and figure out what to do first.”

  “Why don’t Mark and I organize some men to come here and fix everything? If we have enough people we could get it all done in a matter of days.”

  Evelyn put her fingertips to her forehead. “Nee. I must think things through. Denke for what you’ve done so far.” She licked her lips. “How long are you staying on here, Jed?”

  “I’m not certain of that. If you want me to help with the haus, I’ll stay until it’s finished.” He smiled. “You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t be running off anywhere.”

  She managed to smile back. Running off was what she was used to Amos doing.

  Once they were back at Mark and Sally’s house, Jed ran through the list of repairs. He ended up talking about the kitchen cabinets. “They don’t need to be done immediately, but they were only made out of plywood and they’ve been water damaged. That’s why there are some doors missing. They most likely disintegrated.”

  “Sounds like they need doing right away. I can’t have someone come in to lease the haus with no cupboard doors in the kitchen.”

  “What I mean by not being urgent is that it’s not a structural problem, whereas most of the other items on the list are.”

  Evelyn ran her eyes down the long list. “I see what you mean.”

  Sally came into the kitchen holding Martha’s hand.

  “Play with me now?” Martha asked Jed.

  Jed laughed and then looked at Evelyn. “I did say I’d play with her.”

  Evelyn nodded.

  Jed turned back to Martha. “Shall we find Onkel Mark and see if he wants to play hide and seek with us?”

  Martha squealed with excitement and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

  Jed took hold of her hand and while they walked out of the kitchen, Sally sat down at the table. “Handsome and gut with children.”

  “Sh, Sally.”

  “He can’t hear me. He’s out of the haus by now.”

  “Well, it won’t do me any good. He’s already getting married to someone else.”

  “Jah, it’s a shame you didn’t meet him sooner.”

  “It wouldn’t have done any good because I was married to Amos.”

  Sally nodded. “That’s true. I’m sorry.”

  Evelyn grunted. “You don’t have to be sorry. You know what my marriage to Amos was like.”

  “That’s what I’m sorry about.”

  “Oh. I forgot to tell you. Hezekiah Hostetler asked me to marry him.”

  “Nee!” As Sally giggled, someone cleared his throat in the doorway of the kitchen. Evelyn turned to see Jed standing there.

  “Excuse me for interrupting, but Martha is asking if she’ll still be here when the boys get home from schul.”

  Evelyn’s heart froze. He’d overheard! Now he’d think of her as a gossiping woman to reveal a thing as private as a marriage proposal. She smiled brightly to cover her embarrassment. “Jah. We’ll stay so she can play with them for a little while.”

  “I’ll let her know. She’ll be pleased about that. And—congratulations on that proposal.” He gave her a wink before he disappeared.

  Chapter 6

  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,

  but that which is good to the use of edifying,

  that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

  Ephesians 4:29

  * * *

  Evelyn covered her mouth and looked at Sally.

  “Don’t worry. He won’t repeat it.”

  “Ach nee. I didn’t mean for him to hear it.” She wasn’t worried about him telling someone so much—it was what he would think of her that mattered. What if he thought that she liked Hezekiah and was going to accept the proposal? That would seem quite reasonable to Jed because he didn’t even know who Hezekiah was.

  “What did you say to Hezekiah? You were just about to tell me.”

  Evelyn sighed and looked at Sally. “I’m not going to marry him, of course. Why would I? He’s years older than I am.”

  “I know that, silly, but what did you say to let him down gently? I know he’s far too old for you and totally unsuited.”

  “I said it was too soon after Amos died.”

  “That was clever thinking.” Sally leaned over and patted her on the hand. “Jah, good thinking, that was the best thing to say.”
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br />   “Then he asked if I had anything that needed doing around the house.”

  “That was nice of him. You’d have things for him to do, wouldn’t you?”

  “Sally! I couldn’t have him do anything. I’d feel obligated and it wouldn’t be right.”

  “I know, I was just joking—trying to be funny, but he did ask.”

  Evelyn stared at her sister. She seemed blissfully unaware of the complexities of Evelyn’s life as it was. If only Jed hadn’t heard that someone had asked her to marry him. But then again, he was getting married himself so what did it matter? “So, your new houseguest is getting married soon?”

  “He is, and I don’t know why it’s taken so long for him. He’s very handsome, don’t you think?”

  “Of course, he is. I’d have to agree. He’s one of the nicest looking men I’ve seen. And it’d be handy to marry a builder—someone who could fix things.” That’s what Evelyn needed more than anything right now; a man who could fix things, repair houses and chop wood. If she’d had a man right now he could’ve started with the gas stove.

  Sally leaned over. “Too late! He’s already getting married; he’s found a fraa.”

  Evelyn laughed. “Keep reminding me and I’ll hit you with something.”

  Sally laughed.

  “It is nice to know there are men like that around.” Evelyn stood up and looked out the kitchen window. “Sally, come and see how he’s playing with Martha. He’s completely won her over in such a short time.”

  Sally stood beside her and peered out the window. A giggle escaped her lips as she watched Jed spinning Martha around in a circle.

  “Amos never ever played with her like that. I often wondered whether it was because he wanted a boy.”

  “Did he want a boy?”

  Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. “He never said so.”

  “Don’t be so hard on Amos. He was probably too busy working hard to provide for both of you.”

  Evelyn couldn’t help feeling a little betrayed by Sally’s comment. She'd shared with Sally how her marriage had been, and now Sally was defending Amos. “I didn’t mean to speak badly of him, it’s just that—I was saying how it was. I would’ve wanted a husband to take more interest in his kinner than Amos did. It was as though he was going through everything in life that he was supposed to do rather than enjoying the moments.”