Raymond looked around the table, and fidgeted nervously before answering. "My familye had to sell the farm, so I've come here to start an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker."
"Gut, gut," Mr. Glick said. "That is a gut trade to get into."
"Jah," Aenti Sylvia agreed, shooting Melissa a pointed look. "It won’t be too long before he will be able to provide for a fraa."
Melissa at once was embarrassed, and noted that Raymond was too, as their eyes met and then they both looked away. Nevertheless, Melissa did not blame her aenti for wanting to matchmake, as uncomfortable as it made her feel. It was difficult for a young woman who wished to marry, as there was a short supply of young menner and young women in the community. Suitable matches were made early, and it was rare that someone new came into the community. Her aenti only had her best interests at heart.
Melissa and her mudder rose to clear the plates away, and soon returned to the table with shoo-fly pies. "Melissa made these the way she likes them," Mrs. Glick said, "wet bottom: without much crust."
Aenti Sylvia nodded her approval. "Jah, why dilute all that molasses and brown sugar with a thick layer of crumbs on the bottom; the layer of crumbs on top is enough." She patted her ample stomach and everyone laughed.
Mr. Glick turned once again to Raymond. "So, Raymond, are you working for Martins' Joinery, the Mennonite business downtown?"
Raymond once again appeared to be nervous to be in the spotlight, and wrung his hands. "Nee, I'm working for Classic Custom Cabinetry."
Mr. Glick nodded. "Jah, I've heard of them; very good workmanship, everyone says. They have a fine reputation."
Onkel Amos agreed. "Raymond was blessed to be offered an apprenticeship. The bishop knows the owner and told Raymond's bishop."
Mr. Glick scratched his head and addressed Raymond once again. "The bishop knows the owner of Classic Custom Cabinetry? But it’s not an Amish-run business."
Raymond had just taken a big mouthful of shoo-fly pie and pointed to his mouth to excuse himself for not answering at once. He swallowed rapidly which made him cough. Aenti Irene patted him hard on the back, which made his eyes stream. Melissa felt quite sorry for him.
"I believe the owner's familye was Amish, and he was once Amish, something like that," Raymond managed to say between coughs. "Perhaps he went on rumspringa and became Englisch; I'm not really sure."
"But he has clearly kept in touch with the bishop," Mr. Glick said.
Raymond simply nodded as he reached for his glass of water.
"And they say women are the gossips and want to know everything," Mrs. Glick said to Aenti Irene, and everyone laughed.
"I didn’t know that the owner of Classic Custom Cabinetry had any Amish connections either," Onkel Amos said, "not until Raymond told me. What's his name again, Raymond?"
"Victor Byler."
Melissa nearly choked on her shoo-fly pie and went into a fit of coughing when some crumbs went down the wrong way. Thank goodness she was sitting opposite Aenti Irene, as she did not wish to be slapped hard on the back.
Victor Byler? The difficult client? The one with the golden-flecked eyes and the polite manner?
Victor Byler had once been Amish?
Psalms 119: 116 - 177.
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!
Chapter 5.
Melissa was happily driving Blessing to work. No difficult clients were scheduled for face-to-face appointments that day, and she was relieved that she would be able to spend the day filing, as well as going over the difficult clients' files.
She was also happy as her bruder, Daniel, had delivered the palomino buggy horse, Blessing, to her that morning, complete with Daniel's wife's buggy. Blessing proved to be easy to drive, and very responsive, unlike her familye's buggy horse, Tom, who was reliable but a bit of a plodder.
Melissa was enjoying the crisp morning, and was looking at the various shrubs and trees of laurels, hemlock, black birch, and white pine along the roadside. Soon she left the winding roads behind her, and came out onto the road which headed downtown. To her relief, Blessing was good in traffic and did not react when cars skimmed too close to him.
Her thoughts turned to Victor Byler. Had he once been Amish, but had left his community after his rumspringa? That would explain his initial reaction to her. Or did he simply have Amish relatives? She could hardly ask him. After all, he had not volunteered the information and she had to be discreet. What would her boss, Irene, do in that situation? Melissa chuckled to herself. Irene would no doubt come straight out and ask him, but Melissa felt as if she could not.
As she approached the agency, a silver-gray car overtook her slowly. A more considerate driver than most, she thought, but then saw that the driver was leaning over, staring at Blessing. The driver looked like Victor Byler.
What's wrong with me? she asked herself. I'm starting to imagine him now. Melissa shook her head hard as if to erase all thoughts of the mysterious and attractive Mr. Byler.
When Melissa drove Blessing into the agency's parking place reserved for her buggy, there was a man leaning against the silver-gray car parked nearby, the same car that had overtaken her just down the road. She jumped out at once and tied Blessing to the rail.
"I thought it was you driving," Victor Byler said by way of greeting.
Melissa groaned inwardly. I hope he's not here to complain, she thought. Couldn’t he have come to the office? And I thought I'd have a day free of difficult clients. She got down from the buggy and turned to face him, but to her surprise, Victor Byler walked straight past her and over to Blessing.
"I'm shocked; I'm shocked," she overheard him mutter to himself.
Blessing nuzzled him happily and he stroked Blessing's face.
"Why, he's the image of my old horse, Dan. I can’t believe the likeness. I almost thought I saw a flicker of recognition on his face when he saw me. It can’t be; it can’t be."
"Perhaps he is your horse," Melissa said. "My bruder found him and could never find the owner."
Victor Byler finally turned to Melissa. "It can’t be the same horse; Dan was my horse when I was just a boy. Your horse does look just like my Dan. Anyway, what's his name?"
"Blessing."
"Blessing," he repeated, looking thoughtful. "Would you mind if I bring Blessing carrots from time to time? I really miss my horse; I've missed horses since I moved here. I work only a couple blocks away."
"In the kitchen construction business?"
Victor Byler narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. "Yes?" It came out as a question.
Melissa simply said, "Certainly you may give Blessing carrots. I'm sure he'd love that, and he loves attention too."
Victor Byler beamed at her. "Denki, Miss Glick." With that, he patted Blessing once more and then strode away.
Melissa stood watching him walk away, her mouth open. Did he say 'Denki' because he knows that I'm Amish, or because he was once Amish and let the word slip? Melissa stood there a while pondering the question, but finally rallied, telling herself that she would have no way of finding out, unless she asked him, and she certainly had no plans to do that.
* * *
Victor Byler made his way back to his cabinetry store, but all thoughts of cabinetry were far from his mind. He called into the café he usually frequented, and absently ordered an espresso.
"You're late today, Mr. Byler," the cheerful barista greeted him.
Victor eyed the young man warily. "Err, yes," he said.
"Obviously overdue for your caffeine hit, are you?"
"Err, yes," he repeated, and then walked slowly out of the café.
Victor Byler was shaken by his encounter with the Amish woman and her horse. Was this God's doing? Victor shrugged as he walked along. Who would know? He had put the Amish behind him, but now it was as if he had no way of avoiding them. Why, even the ho
rse was the image of his old horse, Dan. The girl made his heart flutter, but that was a dangerous path, and one he had no intention of taking. How had this happened to him? He would have to avoid the girl from now on.
Yet, despite his best intentions, Victor Byler found himself giving carrots to the palomino buggy horse, Blessing, right on five that afternoon, the very time that he figured that the girl would leave her office.
However, there was no sign of her, and by ten past five, he was down to his last carrot. And so it was with a mixture of relief and misgivings that he heard the sound of Amish boots behind him. He turned around.
"Hello, Miss Glick."
"Hello, Mr. Byler."
Was she already betrothed to an Amish man? He could not ask, of course, and he rebuked himself for even wanting to know. She made his stomach churn and affected him in a way which no other woman ever had.
Jeremiah 29: 11.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Chapter 6.
Melissa raced into Milly's office. "Milly, I've just had a call from Barcelona from Irene. She said that she's reviewed our client files, but then the phone crackled and cut out. I'm sure she said for me to go to dinner with Victor Byler. That wouldn't be right, would it?"
Milly laughed. “With all our difficult clients, one of us goes to dinner with them to see what their issues are."
“And that helps?” Melissa asked.
Milly raised her eyebrows. “Of course it does; otherwise we wouldn’t do it. They're more relaxed out of the office and tend to open up more. Since you’ve already had some contact with Victor Byler, it’s best if you do it.”
“Do what exactly?” Melissa had a feeling she wouldn’t like the answer.
“Take him to dinner. The agency will pay; don’t worry. All you have to do is get him talking about himself - well his expectations mainly. When you get back from the dinner, then you type out a report for our file. From the file, we'll see if we can make any better matches for him."
Melissa immediately felt sick to the stomach. Going out to dinner with a man would be like a date. She’d never been on a date with a man and did not want her first dinner alone with a man in a nice restaurant to be with an Englischer. She hoped that Victor Byler would not think that she was attracted to him in any way. There was only one thing for it; she would have to stay in control of the conversation from start to finish.
“Melissa, Melissa.”
Melissa suddenly realized that Milly was been trying to gain her attention. “I’m sorry; I was lost in thought.”
Milly shook her head and laughed. “Focus, Melissa, focus. This could be good training for you – if you want to move up in the company.” Milly winked.
Melissa smiled. "Stop teasing me, Milly; you know I don’t want to move up in the company." She was not sure if she was cut out for this type of business. Maybe she would be better off doing something where there was a little less contact with Englischers, particularly handsome ones like Victor Byler.
“It’s all arranged for tomorrow night.”
“The date?” Melissa’s hands flew to her throat. "I mean, the dinner with Victor Byler?"
“Yes, the dinner with Victor Byler.” Milly handed her the details on a slip of paper. “Be ten minutes early and have your notes ready. Read up on him beforehand.”
“I'm a little nervous; I've never taken a client to dinner before." Melissa wanted to add that she hadn't been alone with a man at a restaurant before, but that would sound as if she had lived too sheltered a life. She decided to keep quiet about her lack of experience with menner. Sure, Milly knew she was Amish, but Milly did not have to know that she had never been interested in any mann.
“There’s nothing to it," Milly continued, waving her hands in the air to emphasize her point. "Just have a polite conversation at first to get him in a relaxed mood, and then find out what he wants in a woman. You can also see if he's doing things that would put a woman off, such as bad table manners, belching, and the like." Milly looked at Melissa, who was laughing at her words. "Don't you worry; that does happen!"
After she had finished speaking to Milly, Melissa rushed back to her desk, grateful that it was near the end of the day.
That night and the whole next day was a blur of nervousness as Melissa could think of nothing other than her date with Victor Byler. No, it wasn't a date, she had to remind herself constantly. It was just a dinner and it was purely for work. A business dinner, she said to herself yet again. If she was this nervous, she wondered how nervous she would be on her first real date with a mann whom she liked and who liked her back. She pressed both hands to her nervous stomach. Surely she could do this. It’s part of the job, she told herself.
The taxi dropped her at the restaurant door ten minutes early, as her boss had suggested. She was glad she would be able to have a few quiet moments to get her head together. As she walked through the door of the restaurant, a woman with a folder under her arm greeted her.
“Um, I’m Melissa Glick. I have a reservation booked for seven.” To her dismay, her voice trailed upwards at the end. Melissa realized that she sounded absolutely childish and not confident in the slightest. She cleared her throat and straightened her back. The woman simply smiled and showed her to the table.
To Melissa’s surprise, Victor was already at the table. He smiled widely and stood to his feet as she approached.
Psalms 33: 20 - 22.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Chapter 7.
Melissa could not take her eyes off him. She felt as if she were in a dream. Everything seemed to be going slowly - it was as if they were the only two in the room. His dark, good looks were accentuated by his crisp, white shirt - the same bright white as his straight, white teeth. He wore black pants, and Melissa wondered whether the mann she married would make her feel the way Victor was making her feel right now.
Breathe, Melissa, breathe, she told herself after she realized she had been holding her breath. She let out her breath all at once, and it turned into a little gasp as she held out her hand for him to shake. “Mr. Byler, you’re early.”
They sat down.
“Please call me Victor," he said, and then continued before Melissa had a chance to respond. "I always like to be early, an annoying habit I picked up from my family.”
Melissa nodded and wondered whether Victor Byler was aware just how nervous she was. It was all right for him; he’d been out to dinner with women many times, and besides, this wasn't even a proper date. Melissa’s heart pounded and her face flushed. She saw that there were already two glasses of water on the table. She reached for the glass. Maybe a large mouthful of water would soothe her nerves. Just as her hand was about to touch the glass, Victor said something which caused her to look at him, and then she knocked the glass over.
They both stood to their feet quickly as the water spilled over the table in all directions. Victor laughed.
“Oh, no. Look what I've done,” Melissa said, as she looked down to see if water had spilled on her over-apron.
A waiter at once rushed toward them with a large, white cloth.
Another waiter came up to their table and said, “We’ll put you at this table.” The waiter pulled out the chairs at the table next to them.
After they sat at the other table, Melissa said, "I’m so sorry, Mr. Byler - oh sorry, Victor.”
Victor could scarcely keep the smile from his face. “Well, so far this has been the most eventful dinner I’ve been on, and it's barely begun.”
Melissa laughed and immediately relaxed. “Don’t tell on me, will you. To the agency I mean.”
Victor laughed some more. “I won’t tell them t
hat you’re a bit of a klutz.”
Melissa laughed. “I’m not a klutz. Well, not usually.” Yes, not usually, unless she was sitting in front of a stunningly handsome man who made her heart race out of control.
After they had perused the menus and ordered their meals, Victor spoke. “So tell me, Melissa, what do you do in your free time?”
“I don’t seem to have much free time. When I’m not working, I do a lot of chores for Mamm and Daed.” Melissa realized she was again reverting to Pennsylvania Dutch. “I mean my mother and father.” She was not going to be the one doing all the talking; she had to get him to speak about himself. “Tell me what you like to do in your spare time.”
“I started a business a while ago and that keeps me busy. I try to lead a balanced life and not work all the time. I could very easily work seven days a week, but I learned a long time ago to prioritize things.”
“How so?” Melissa asked, remembering the instructions she had given herself before she came - she had to keep control of the conversation.
“I know what I want out of life, and if I work from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep, every day of the week, then that would just be no good at all. I’d grow my business a lot faster and make a lot more money, but I want more for my life than just money.”
Melissa looked at his golden-flecked eyes. She could lose herself in them very quickly. When she realized she was staring into them a little too long, she came to her senses and asked, “What other things do you want?”
“I want a family. I want a happy household, the same as the household I was brought up in.”
Melissa found herself glowing from within. I like this mann. Maybe all Englischers aren’t the same, she thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by their meals arriving.
When Victor finished his first mouthful, he said, “Don’t think you are leaving here tonight without telling me something of yourself. I don’t care that this is a dinner to find out how you can better find a match for me. If I'm honest, I find you intriguing." Victor leaned toward her and said, "I’d like to know how an Amish girl finds herself working at a dating agency.”
The Amish Buggy Horse BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: Faith, Hope, Charity) (Boxed Set: The Amish Buggy Horse) Page 10
