The Amish Cowboy's Homecoming

by Ophelia London

  “I am.” Isaac nodded. “That’s my daughter, Sadie, playing with John Zook’s girls.”

  “Ah. I’m Lucas Brenneman. Happy to meet you.” The two men shook hands. “This is my house—Esther’s and mine—she’s probably in the kitchen trying to delegate while watching the kinnahs. We have two.” He stopped to smile. “Our newest came just two months ago.”

  “Wunderbar,” Isaac said. “Such a blessing.”

  “He is. Already got me wrapped around his finger. Named him Ephraim after my father.”

  “Good, strong name.”

  “Aye.” Lucas wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “You’re staying with the Chupps. Good family. Have you been out to their daadi hous? Met old Abram Chupp?”

  “Not yet, though I’ve heard his name often enough.”

  Lucas bowed his head and chuckled. “He’s quite a character. Seemed ancient when even I was a kid. When I came back, I was shocked he was still alive.”

  “Came back?” Isaac asked.

  “Jah. Sorry, I’m used to everyone knowing. I was…away for a while.”

  “Rumspringa?”

  “Well, it started out that way. I suppose it’s no secret, but I left the church, lived on my own for almost ten years.”

  “You don’t say,” Isaac replied, interested. It wasn’t too often a person came back to the faith and way of life after a long absence.

  “I studied medicine to help my brother, who was ill.” He paused and looked up at the sky. “He passed on before I could do any real good. After that, though, the urge to come home wouldn’t leave me, so I came back, even worked at the medical clinic in town for a while.”

  “I’m sorry about your bruder,” Isaac said. Then for some reason, he felt the desire to tell him about Martha—his greatest loss, in many ways.

  “Danke,” Lucas said. “I wasn’t here long before I met Esther—well, remet her. We grew up together. I wanted to marry her almost instantly, but she wouldn’t even consider it until I came back to the church, reconciled with the brethren and my family.” That same smile returned. “My life’s changed so much over the past two years. It’s really incredible.”

  Isaac didn’t know what to say, but it wasn’t hard to be happy for Lucas Brenneman, nor was it difficult to like him straightaway and to be curious about his life away from the Amish world.

  “I can see I’ve shocked you,” Lucas said, putting a hand on Isaac’s shoulder.

  “Not at all,” Isaac said. “Nothing I love better than a story of redemption. It’s good for all of us.”

  “We’ll have to get together sometime, then.” Lucas grinned. “My wife says I’m the biggest talker in the village. She’s Sarah’s sister, you know?”

  “Amos Zook’s fraa?”

  Lucas nodded.

  “Ah.” It was all Isaac could think of to say, not wanting to be rude.

  Lucas burst out laughing, then glanced over his shoulders, lowering his voice. “She’s very…different from Esther. Thank the good Lord.”

  Isaac blew out the breath he was holding. “So it’s not just me?”

  “Nay.” Lucas laughed again. “She’s my family now, so I love her as I must, but let’s just say we don’t visit over at the Zooks’ all that often, not with the kinnahs. It’s a shame, actually. I should do better, be more forgiving.”

  “Nobody’s perfect,” Isaac said. “That’s why we come to church, jah?”

  “I knew I’d like you,” Lucas said. “Esther will, too. We really must have you and your dochder over for supper.”

  “I’d like that,” Isaac said. “Sadie loves bobbeils. Baby humans, baby chicks, baby chipmunks.”

  “Baby goats?” he asked. “We have a friend who raises pigmy goats as pets. It’s Esther’s favorite place to be. Your Sadie will love it.”

  “Danke, I’m sure she would.”

  “It’s getting hot already.” Lucas took off his hat and began fanning his face. “How has it been, working for John Zook?”

  “Good, great,” Isaac said, though he couldn’t forget that glare his boss had shot him when he and Grace were standing together. “I really like him.”

  “Can’t believe Grace agreed to having an outsider come in.”

  Isaac tried not to smile. It shouldn’t have surprised him, though. In a village as small as Honey Brook, everybody knew everyone else’s business. How else would Lucas Brenneman already know so much about him?

  “I don’t think she agreed to anything,” Isaac admitted, his attention automatically turning toward the house, wondering where Grace was, wishing for a quick glance at her. “I was a big surprise to her—and not a welcome one. She’s talented with horses, though, very talented. We work well together. At least…” He paused and tipped his hat back. “I suppose we will in time.”

  Lucas’s eyebrows shot up. “She’s working with you? You’re both training the one horse? Together?”

  “Jah,” Isaac said, not wondering in the least about why Lucas looked so surprised.

  “John has no problem with it?” Lucas scratched the side of his short beard. “You two working together. You and his daughter alone. His single twenty-three-year-old daughter.”

  “Grace is twenty-three?” He wasn’t sure why that information shocked him. He hadn’t really considered her age. Despite her wisdom and experience with horses, he’d assumed she was younger. She was short and…thin…and…

  When he did take a moment to think about it, obviously she was older. After all, hadn’t Collin Chupp been asking to court her for years and years? And that warning look from John… Things were getting clearer.

  “Unusual for two single people of marrying age to be alone together like that.”

  Unmarried? Two single people?

  Isaac didn’t know what to say. Impropriety had never once crossed his mind when he’d been alone with Grace. Perhaps because it had been all business, he hadn’t thought of her as a single, available woman.

  “I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Lucas said, probably because Isaac hadn’t managed to speak one word. “As long as John Zook doesn’t have a problem, no one else should. I certainly don’t.”

  “Danke,” Isaac said, still a bit rattled. He vowed then and there that his boss would have zero problems with him. Innocent flirtation was not worth losing this important job. “Should we help carry out the food?” he asked, enjoying Lucas’s company but wanting to change the subject.

  “Jah.” Lucas put a hand on Isaac’s shoulder. “I truly am sorry. It wasn’t my business to pry.”

  Isaac smiled. “It’s okay. To be perfectly honest, it hadn’t crossed my mind—hadn’t thought about her that way.”

  “That’s surprising,” Lucas said as they both paused their work to look at Grace coming out of the house. Her black bonnet off, strands of red-brown hair escaping from her kapp, slim waist, long neck, unexpectedly elegant in her movements, now that he noticed.

  “Suppose it is,” Isaac heard himself say as he watched her.

  “Hallo, Grace Zook,” Lucas called out when she neared the table they’d set up.

  Grace stood in place and stared back at the two men. Isaac felt a strange pressure in his chest as they gazed at one another. Then Lucas waved his fingers at her, sending Grace back into the house.

  The second Isaac had promised himself that Grace was off-limits was the same second he knew he was interested.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Grace wanted to be up extra early on Monday morning, so she managed to bow out of most of the Sunday evening activities. She still couldn’t look at Isaac without wanting to crawl into a hole and die, Sarah had been cranky as a mule, and Collin Chupp kept trying to initiate conversations when she’d been talking to Hannah and Mary.

  “Sun’s not even up.”

  As Grace pulled on her boot, she turned to see Sarah
coming down the dark stairs. “I want to get out there before he… Uh, before the other animals wake.”

  “Ah,” Sarah said, then covered a yawn. “I hope Amos brought in the milk from last night. I need it for the oatmeal and he always forgets.”

  He doesn’t always forget, Grace wanted to say, but then remembered her goal of killing Sarah with kindness. “It’s in the fridge,” she said, then waited to see if Sarah would complain about it anyway.

  “That’s a miracle.”

  “You know,” Grace said as she pulled on her second boot, “don’t tell anyone, but I always loathed dealing with the cows. The bigger dairy farms have those electric-type milkers, but we’ve always had to do it by hand.” She shivered. “Grosses me out.”

  “Same with me,” Sarah said. “Such dirty work.”

  “I suppose it’s quite a blessing, then, that Amos takes care of the milking, so we don’t have to.”

  “Jah,” Sarah said slowly, maybe not wanting to admit that her husband was good for anything.

  “Compared to some,” Grace added, “we really are spoiled. Think of the Old Order Amish near Lancaster. They’re still using oil lamps and candles.” Grace smiled as she turned on the battery-operated lamp, flooding the kitchen with light.

  “Guess so,” Sarah said, looking thoughtful. “Want coffee before you go out? I’ll start brewing it right away.”

  Grace pressed her lips together, hiding a smile. Sarah had never offered her morning coffee before. “Danke, sister, but I need to get out there.”

  “Ew-key.” Sarah’s voice was singsong as she turned on the propane stove, the blue flame coming to life.

  Grace allowed that repressed smile to spread across her face as she went out the side door, feeling pleased as punch that she was able to diffuse a bitter thought from Sarah’s mind. Maybe she wouldn’t be so hard on Amos this morning. Maybe today was going to be a precious gift from Gott for everyone.

  “Guder daag. How are you this morning?” Grace said to Honey Pot, scratching him behind the ears. “We’re going to pull a plow today. Are you ready for that, good boy?” She continued down the line, greeting each horse along the way.

  Cincinnati was far back in his pen. When Grace stopped to reach her hands out to him, he backed up even farther. “Hey there, boy. It’s okay, it’s me, Grace. You know me, remember?” When the Morgan still wouldn’t come out of the corner, Grace opened the gate and went in. The horse shook his big head and snorted.

  “Oh, I know it’s early and you were in the middle of a lovely dream about green pastures for miles, but we sometimes do our best work first thing in the morning when our minds are clear and fresh.”

  Grace kept speaking in a soft, calm voice as she neared the horse. He wasn’t moving now, and Grace slowly reached up a hand, holding it under his nose. She knew it would take only a few seconds until he recognized her and wasn’t so nervous.

  Trust is everything, Grace thought as Cincinnati bowed his head, allowing her to pet him. That goes for horses and people. Cincinnati needs to trust me, just like Sarah needs to trust me. She paused and pushed out a breath. And like Isaac King and I need to trust each other if the training is going to go smoothly, giving me at least a chance at some of the money. But how in the world will that happen if I don’t even want him here?

  She spent the next twenty minutes contently brushing out the beautiful horse. He even let her slip on a harness.

  “Such a brave boy,” she cooed. “Should we go out to the front ring? Nice and easy? Should we? Oh, good boy.” Though slowly at first, Cincinnati followed behind, right at her shoulder, as Grace walked past the other horses and toward the pasture.

  “Maybe another few rounds of heeding practice, you’ll be as serene and obedient as any of my horses.” She led him straight to the gate and into the pasture. Normally, she might let him run free for a while, wake up his muscles after a long night’s sleep. But Grace decided it might be best to walk him with a lead first to keep him comfortable with her.

  “He’s looking real good.”

  Hearing the voice made Grace jump and her breath catch. Irrationally irritated that he’d decided to show up, she turned to see Isaac leaning against a fence post, his tall Arabian tied up near the water. How had she not noticed him riding in? And how long had he been watching her? She felt a tingling at the back of her neck, embarrassment returning.

  “Ears are up and alert, too,” Isaac added, walking toward them. “Not back in agitation like the other day.”

  “Jah,” Grace replied, patting the side of Cincinnati’s neck. She’d noticed that, too.

  “He’s progressing.” Isaac stood on the other side of the horse, now, running a hand down the side of his face. The morning sun was behind him, silhouetting his face, body, hat.

  “Jah,” Grace repeated, then made herself look away from his striking profile.

  “Mind if I take over for a while?”

  “Uh, nay,” Grace said, handing him the lead rope, still keeping her eyes turned away from him. “We, uh, walked the perimeter three times. He was distracted by a flock of ducks landing on the pond, but, uh, I got him focused again.”

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Sure.” She was forced to look at him now. “Wh-why?”

  Isaac shrugged. “I don’t know, you seemed out of sorts yesterday.” He adjusted his hat. “The evening before, too, actually. Just wondered if something was wrong.”

  You mean, something besides you riding up and trying to take away my future?

  Grace heard her own noisy breaths, felt her muscles tensing up again, making her both physically and mentally tired. She’d been frustrated at the mere thought of him for too long now. It had never been in her nature to hold grudges and be unkind on purpose. She didn’t want to be that type of person, but how was she supposed to like Isaac King, let alone trust him enough to be her training partner?

  She forced herself to look him in the eyes and hold a steady smile. “I’m fine.” But then, remembering how overly familiar she’d behaved with him when she thought he was married made her embarrassed on a whole other level. A small part of her wondered if she should just be honest and apologize for her improper behavior the other day.

  “Um, maybe we should walk him through the stables? Work on his concentration.”

  Isaac pursed his lips and pushed them to the side, thinking. “Sounds like a good plan.” He didn’t move, though, and his gaze held heavily on hers, making her palms tingle. He wasn’t convinced that she was okay, and suddenly Grace would rather die naked in the middle of town than bring up their…situation.

  When she couldn’t find the words to speak, Isaac moved toward the stables, Cincinnati right at his shoulder.

  Having to concentrate on work allowed Grace’s spinning mind to relax. Cincinnati had trouble with only one horse, but when Isaac had them stand nose to nose, his aggression dissolved.

  Despite herself, Grace couldn’t help being impressed; she’d never used that tactic before. And she had to admit that his methods might’ve been different from hers, but he never treated the horse badly or stunted their progress.

  The two hours of training flew by, and the horse was improving by the minute. It wouldn’t be much longer before they could begin breaking him. How had that happened so quickly?

  “How about another glass of that delicious lemonade?” After closing the stall gate, Grace looked up at Isaac, trying hard to fight back a snicker. And losing.

  “There it is.” Isaac tipped his hat to the side. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile in two days.”

  Grace pressed her lips together, wanting to turn away from him again, to hide her oncoming blush, not quite ready to stop disliking him yet or to admit that she was still in shock that he wasn’t married, and therefore mortified by what she’d done—or tried to do to him.

  “Grace.”
When she tried to walk around him, to ignore his comment about her smile, Isaac stood in her way, blocking her path out of the stables. “I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s happened.” He crossed his arms at his chest. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Nay,” she replied, honestly—the way her mother, the bishop, and Gott would expect—while looking down at the dirt.

  “Say something offensive to you?”

  She shook her head.

  After a pause, he added, “Is it Sadie?”

  “Nay!” Grace lifted her chin to look at him. “I mean, I thought that…” She had no idea how to continue without making a brand-new fool of herself.

  “You thought what?”

  Oh heavens, just get if off your chest, Grace!

  “To be honest…” Heat was building under her hair again, and she was sure her face was as red as a freshly picked beet. She slammed her eyes shut and blew out a long breath. “I thought she was your wife,” she said, keeping her eyes closed.

  “You thought I was married to a six-year-old?”

  “Nay.” Grace almost laughed. “I thought…I mean, when Papa said you moved here…you and Sadie…I just assumed. He didn’t mention you were—or weren’t, I mean.”

  “Why should it matter if I’m not married?”

  Grace finally opened her eyes, then had to blink a few times to prevent tears from falling. “Why?” she asked, amazed by his question—was it only women who thought about this kind of thing? She peeled her lips apart, ready to tell him a hundred reasons why it mattered that she’d thought he’d been married this whole time—married and off-limits to her, and not a single man with soft hazel eyes and strong hands who loved horses.

  “Why?” she couldn’t help repeating. But then all she could do was stare at the handsome, eligible man staring back at her—the man who stood in the way of her dreams.

  Chapter Sixteen

  He didn’t comprehend it at first—for he hadn’t seen it directed at him in many years. But as a pink blush swept up the woman’s face, Isaac would’ve had to be blind to not recognize the look.