She stared at him, her face paling.
“Yah!” He nodded for emphasis. “Did you really think you could keep Ethan and your troubles with him secret from me?”
“So you are the one they’ve chosen to throw me out of the schoolhouse?” she said bitterly.
“Ruth, no! I’m just saying this so we can understand each other and move forward on solid ground. We don’t want this subject to come up later.”
“You’re not making a bit of sense. There is no later between you and me.”
He studied her for a moment.
She quickly turned back to unharnessing her horse. He put out a hand to stop her.
“Ruth, please. It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?”
“You want me to speak when you have that kind of an attitude?”
“I am a Fisher. What else do you expect?”
“Maybe this very behavior,” he allowed. “And I understand.”
She sighed. “Can I go now? Nothing you are saying makes any sense.”
“I want to…I wish…I…how many ways can I say it, Ruth? I want to become better acquainted with you. Like maybe on a Sunday evening. I would take you home from the hymn singing if you could calm yourself enough to give me a chance.” Herman’s hand twirled in circles. “I like your fire. I like a lot about you, and believe me—I’ve been around. You are the first woman to interest me in this way—romantically. Maybe that doesn’t mean much to you, but I’m a determined man. I won’t give up easily. I’m here this weekend, so why don’t I take you home after the hymn singing? We can chat, and you might even bake me a few brownies.” Herman laughed. “The way to a man’s heart, and all that.”
“You’re not serious.”
“What do you mean? The brownies or the date?”
“Both.”
He shrugged. “The brownies are negotiable, but the date is not. Please?”
“You are asking me?”
“Yah. You are a woman. I do not command you, but I am interested in you.”
Ruth clutched the bridle until her fingers hurt.
“So what will it be, Miss Fisher?”
She jumped. “Don’t say Fisher.”
“That’s what you are.”
She glared at him. “And that’s not a problem?”
“No one’s perfect. So, no. It’s not a problem.”
“You would come to my house?”
He took a deep breath. “I’m trying to be patient, Ruth, but you are trying me. Yah, I would come to your house. Now do you want me down on my knees or what? Usually that’s the marriage proposal, not the first date.”
“So what if—”
“There are no what-ifs with me. I hope you can learn to like me, and maybe…” His hand was in the air again. “Learn to like me enough that you would…well, that comes later, of course. We still need to leap over this first date hurdle.”
“Okay! I’ll do it, and if you decide you don’t like my company after a few moments, you can leave. No hard feelings.”
He clucked his tongue. “Thank you. That wasn’t too difficult with a nice fellow like me, now, was it?”
She managed to smile.
“Can I take care of the horse now?”
She released the bridle and fled toward the house.
Phoebe met her at the door with a startled look on her face. “Is something wrong?”
“Herman Yoder asked me for a date!” she gasped.
“Cousin Herman? That’s wunderbah!”
“Oh, it isn’t,” Ruth wailed. “What am I to do? Young John must have told him about Ethan stopping by the other morning, and he can imagine the rest, Herman said, and…and…and…oh, it’s horrible. He’ll hate me when this is all over, and I’ll be in worse shape than I am.” Ruth cut off the flow of words as the two Guatemalan girls peered at her with puzzled looks. “I’m sorry.” She choked back her sobs. “I’m making a terrible fuss.”
“Come.” Phoebe helped her to the couch. “I’m sure the girls have seen tears before.”
“But I’m supposed to help today, not—”
Phoebe shook her head. “First things first.”
“But that’s just the problem. I’ve agreed to a date with Herman Yoder.” Ruth’s voice rose to a shriek. “Your Cousin Herman!”
Phoebe hid her smile. “I’d say most girls would jump at the chance.”
“But I’m not most girls. I’m Ruth Fisher, who was planning to jump the fence not a few months ago.”
“Things change.” Phoebe walked over to the living room window to glance out. “Cousin Herman’s leaving now, so I don’t think he regrets his decision in the least.”
“The man’s crazy!” Ruth proclaimed. “What other explanation can there be?”
Phoebe laughed. “You do care for Cousin Herman, don’t you? Or you could learn to?”
“I don’t know. I’m just confused right now. I’m having a breakdown, I think. A shock, and to think I said, yah.”
“Do you want me to flag him down so you can change your mind?”
“No!”
“See there?” Phoebe smiled and seated herself beside Ruth. “You do like him. I do, and I don’t see why anyone else wouldn’t. Cousin Herman’s adventurous and well traveled. You’d never have a boring life with him.”
“It’s his life with me that I’m thinking about.” Ruth wrung her hands. “Oh, I can’t bear it.”
“I hadn’t expected you to react this way to such goot news.”
“I know, I know.” Ruth tried to calm herself. “It’s not like me at all. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. A man like Herman Yoder asking to see me home on a Sunday evening date?” She managed to end in a whimper instead of a wail.
“That’s better,” Phoebe said, obviously trying to hide her amusement. “I think you care a lot more for Cousin Herman than even you imagined you would.”
“I didn’t imagine anything,” Ruth protested. “I didn’t think about it, or dream, or plan anything with the man. I prepared myself to walk alone through life.”
Phoebe raised her eyebrows. “All in defense against something. Would that something have been Cousin Herman?”
“Oh, I don’t want to think about it. I just want my heart to stop pounding and my hands to stop shaking, and this horrible fear that I’m going to mess everything up to go away. What if I kill the man on Sunday night? He wants brownies.”
“Cousin Herman told you what to bake for the date?”
“Something like that. He hinted.”
“You couldn’t kill a man with brownies even if you tried, Ruth.”
“I know, I know.” Ruth fanned herself with one hand. “It’s all irrational, and I’m hyperventilating.”
“Shall I give you a hug?” Phoebe offered. “Sometimes those help.”
“I’m desperate enough to try anything,” Ruth replied. She opened her arms. She shook while they embraced.
Phoebe’s face was concerned when she let go. “Let me get something to read,” she told her. “Grandma left me something that has helped a lot through this whole journey. Remember, how you told me about the mysterious prayer journal?”
Ruth stilled her breathing while Phoebe was gone. A few moments later she returned with the tablet in her hand. “This is Grandma’s prayer journal, but I think you already know that. I read portions at times to the children. Maybe she said something that will speak to you, because you know that all of this wouldn’t have happened without Grandma’s vision.”
Ruth’s hand trembled as she transferred the tablet to her lap and opened the pages. Phoebe hurried into the kitchen with the girls in tow to give Ruth a moment alone. Ruth’s eyes scanned the pages of words and settled on a paragraph.
Dear Lord in heaven, You know how blind we are sometimes, and how little we can see of what lies closest to us. I pray You would strengthen my heart to see better the needs of those around me. We say we love, but do we see clearly enough to love as You love? Open my he
art to the possibilities of life as You see them. Let me feel as You must feel. Let me walk where You would walk. Let me not decline because I am too small, or reject what my heart would accept because of the pain I imagine might come. Let me not see the road that lies ahead, but the day given in which I am to walk onward. Let me take the step and leave the mile to You. Let me awaken tomorrow and leave yesterday behind. Let me always believe in what is good, even when I have done what I shouldn’t have. Let me make the right choice when the wrong one is still fresh in my memory. Let me hope that tomorrow will be better when I know so well what the storm has done. Let me be what You see, and not what I do, and let me always dare to love again.
Ruth laid the journal down. She couldn’t see at the moment, but that didn’t matter.
“You were the one who gave Grandma the idea for this farm,” Phoebe said from the kitchen opening.
Ruth nodded. The words simply wouldn’t come even if she tried. She stood and flew toward Phoebe with open arms. They embraced, with her sobs buried in Phoebe’s shoulder.
“You already like him, don’t you?” Phoebe said.
Ruth’s voice caught. “A little perhaps.”
Phoebe smiled. “Everything is going to work out beautifully. Shall we pray and give thanks for what has been given us already?”
Ruth bowed her head and waited.
“Thank You, dear Lord, for precious Grandma,” Phoebe prayed. “Thank You for her love, for her kindness, for the grace which has been brought to our hearts. What a gift she was to us. Amen.”
“Amen,” Ruth echoed.
When she opened her eyes, the two Guatemalan girls stood at their feet, smiling up at her.
QUESTIONS
1. What was your impression of Phoebe Lapp and David Fisher when they were introduced? What future did you see for their relationship?
2. Describe your thoughts when the extended Lapp family meets to discuss the proposed pony farm. What would your contributions have been?
3. If you had been able to meet Grandma Lapp, what questions would you have asked her?
4. How much sympathy did you have for David’s quest to win Phoebe’s heart? What advice would you have given him?
5. Would you have liked to read more of Grandma Lapp’s prayer book? Do you have a family member who has left a similar spiritual legacy?
6. In what ways could the community have dealt differently with Leroy Fisher and his surly attitude? Do you think there are limits to community life and their control of unacceptable behavior?
7. Was Phoebe wise to cover for her friend as Ruth Fisher struggled to find her way?
8. As you watched Phoebe work with the different sets of children, was there any advice or encouragement you would have given her?
9. What caused Phoebe’s heart to turn toward David? What struggles did David have accepting Phoebe’s love?
10. Do you think Ruth will find the love she is looking for in Herman Yoder? Will she eventually make peace with the community?
A Beautiful Rose, Like True Love, Never Fades
Esther Stoltzfus considers herself to be down-to-earth, the way most Amish women do. Her marriage to her deceased husband was one borne out of practicality, and Esther sees no reason why God won’t replace what He was taken away.
When Esther moves to a new community with her daughter, Diana, she meets the handsome minister Isaiah Mast, who has experienced his own loss and appears to be a logical fit to complete their family. But everything changes when Esther is introduced to Joseph Zook, her widowed neighbor down the road.
While tending to his treasured roses, Joseph tells stories of his passionate love for his late wife, Silvia—stories that stir a place in Esther’s heart she never knew existed. What if she and Isaiah could have the kind of love Joseph and Silvia shared?
In the meantime, Joseph gets his own second chance at love with the eccentric Arlene King, even as he knows he will never find another frau like his beloved Silvia.
Silvia’s Rose is a beautiful story filled with redemption, romance, and risking it all for the reward of true love.
How to Heal a Broken Heart
Mary Yoder’s life couldn’t get much better. Engaged to be married, spring is in the air and love is in her heart as she looks forward to the fall wedding she’s always dreamed of.
Six months later on a crisp November morning, Mary awakens in a lovely little valley near the Adirondack Mountains on what was to be her wedding day, heartbroken and alone.
Her sister, Betsy, tries to protect Mary from the romantic overtures of Stephen Overholt, a longtime Amish bachelor. Betsy is considering jumping the fence for the Englisha world and encourages Mary to follow.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Gabert, an elderly Englisha grandmother, launches her own matchmaking effort on behalf of her grandson Willard, who is a missionary to Kenya and nursing his own broken heart. She hopes that Willard and Mary can find comfort in one another despite the fact they come from two different worlds.
As Mary struggles to accept the Lord’s will, she must determine whether or not one of her potential suitors can give her the future that was denied her.
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ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
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To learn more about Harvest House books and to read sample chapters, visit our website:
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
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Phoebe's Gift Page 31
