An Unexpected Amish Courtship

by Rachel J. Good

  Too late, Isaac realized he’d wasted his energy and breath on something she already knew.

  “I think that’s wunderbar.”

  His ear tips burning, he lowered himself to the floor and opened his arms to the puppies. Snickers hunkered down beside him.

  Sovilla sat next to him and, cooing and sweet-talking, let the puppies climb and tumble over her lap. He’d dreamed of a day like this. Now that his dream had come true, his heart hammered a delighted song in his chest. He couldn’t stop smiling.

  “I wish I’d known I was coming to your house. I could have brought them dog biscuits.”

  “You d-didn’t know?”

  “Neh, Mrs. Vandenberg’s driver brought me here instead of to my house. I thought he’d made a mistake.” At Isaac’s frown, she added, “It was a delightful surprise. Your family is so much fun to be around. And you are too.”

  Had that last part been an afterthought to avoid hurting his feelings? Isaac weighed her words and tone to see if she’d said it from politeness or interest. Politeness won.

  Sovilla asked question after question about the dogs and seemed not to mind his halting or stuttering.

  Isaac relaxed enough to practice his techniques, and the conversation flowed even more smoothly. He enjoyed her company, and she even encouraged him to talk about himself.

  He hoped she wanted to know more about him because she’d like to get to know him better. He wanted to do the same with her. Taking a deep breath for courage, he asked her a few questions.

  They got sidetracked on Mrs. Vandenberg. Sovilla had just begun recounting Mrs. Vandenberg’s visit to Wilma’s hospital room this morning when Andrew banged open the door.

  “Why are you keeping Sovilla all to yourself? The rest of us want a turn to spend time with her.”

  “Isaac’s showing me the puppies. They’re so adorable.”

  Andrew rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t you rather be outside playing baseball? My sisters have been waiting for you.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know . . .” Sovilla appeared torn.

  “We can play b-baseball if you want.” Isaac would prefer staying here alone with her, but maybe her hesitation had only been good manners. Or perhaps she preferred to stay with the dogs. She did seem to enjoy his puppies.

  “Come on, Sovilla,” Andrew said. “Let’s see if you’re as good at baseball as you are at volleyball,” he challenged.

  “D-do you—”

  Andrew butted in before Isaac could ask what she’d prefer. Ignoring Isaac’s irritated glare, Andrew beckoned her. “You can be on my team. We’ll beat Isaac and Leanne.”

  Sovilla glanced at Isaac as if asking permission. He shrugged.

  “Do you want to play?” she asked him.

  “Sure he does,” Andrew said. “If he doesn’t, he can sit in here with his dogs for company. Everyone’s waiting for you, Sovilla.”

  Rather than responding to Andrew, she turned to Isaac. “The puppies have to go back, don’t they?”

  “Jah.”

  “I’ll help you.”

  “Isaac’s used to handling the puppies alone.” Impatience edged Andrew’s tone. “We can start warming up.”

  “In a minute. First, I’ll help Isaac.”

  “Hurry.” Andrew banged out the door.

  Sovilla helped Isaac put the puppies back in their pens and refill their water dishes. She didn’t seem to be in any hurry to join Andrew. That eased a little of Isaac’s disappointment at losing his time alone with her.

  “Danke,” he said when they finished. He’d been glad for her help, and he especially appreciated that she’d made Andrew wait.

  “It was fun. When I have time, I’ll bring some dog biscuits over to test them.”

  “The p-pups would l-like that.” And so would he.

  * * *

  Before they could start playing, Mrs. Vandenberg’s car pulled into the driveway. Sovilla had been looking forward to the game. She wanted to watch Isaac bat and pitch. He’d been a standout in volleyball. She expected he’d be the same in baseball.

  Andrew groaned. “I was planning on winning with you on my team. You’ll have to visit us again, Sovilla.” With a sly look at Isaac, he said, “Don’t forget, next time you come, you’re on my team.”

  Isaac’s sad expression as she left stayed with her the whole way back to the hospital. Having had a break for fun and relaxation made it doubly hard to return to her aenti’s room.

  To her surprise, Wilma’s red, sweaty face revealed she’d done her exercises—or at least tried.

  “You did your therapy?” Sovilla directed her question more to Mrs. Vandenberg than to her aenti.

  “You mean the torture sessions?” Wilma’s words dripped with sarcasm.

  “You survived. That’s what counts.” Mrs. Vandenberg studied Sovilla. “You look rested. We need to be sure to send you home for a break like that every day.” With her back to Wilma, Mrs. Vandenberg winked at Sovilla.

  “We?” Wilma’s voice rose to a screech. “Who put you in charge of ordering my niece around?”

  “Calm down. No need for a heart attack.” Mrs. Vandenberg spoke in the calm, superior tone of a mother to a two-year-old having a tantrum. “Although if you choose to have a heart attack, this is the best place to do it.”

  Wilma sat there sputtering.

  “Now that you’re back, dear,” Mrs. Vandenberg said to Sovilla, “I’ll head home. I haven’t had this much exercise in years.”

  Sovilla walked her to the door. In a low voice, so her aenti wouldn’t hear, she confided, “I had a lot of fun. Dank—thank you for doing that. And I appreciate you getting my aenti to do her exercises.”

  “You deserve it. Plan for another break tomorrow.” Raising her voice, Mrs. Vandenberg said, “I’ll see you both tomorrow at ten.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I believe God has called me to do this.” She leaned close so she could whisper, “I’ll make arrangements for Isaac to take you to—” She motioned in Wilma’s direction with a slight head tilt.

  Sovilla couldn’t leave Wilma two days in row. Before she could protest, Mrs. Vandenberg hurried away.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  As she’d promised, Mrs. Vandenberg showed up at ten. “Time for you to go, Sovilla.” Mrs. Vandenberg waved toward the door so vigorously, she almost lost her balance. Grabbing the doorjamb, she righted herself and leaned heavily on her cane.

  “What gives you the right to tell my niece what to do?” Wilma demanded. “You’re bossy.”

  Mrs. Vandenberg nodded as if unperturbed. “Some people have called me that, including you at least three times yesterday. On the bright side, I get things done.”

  Wilma’s low growl didn’t bode well for the exercise session.

  Sovilla was torn between staying to keep the peace or leaving Isaac waiting. She decided both women could stand up for themselves, although Mrs. Vandenberg seemed to have the advantage. Sovilla hurried to the elevator.

  Instead of Isaac’s buggy, Mrs. Vandenberg’s driver waited. Sovilla couldn’t help being disappointed. She’d looked forward to spending time with Isaac. But when the door opened, she saw that Isaac and Snickers were sitting in the back seat.

  The driver smiled. “Mrs. Vandenberg asked me to pick up your young man. She thought you might want company.”

  Her young man? Sovilla didn’t dare to look at Isaac. She hoped he didn’t think she’d told Mrs. Vandenberg that. Riding home in a man’s buggy after a singing usually signaled you were dating, but Isaac had been forced to take her home last night. That didn’t count.

  “I—I hope you d-don’t mind.” Isaac’s red face must match hers.

  “Neh, I’m glad you’re along.”

  He exhaled a breath. Had he been expecting her to be upset? For some reason, that made her heart rejoice.

  During the ride, she described the confrontation between her aenti and Mrs. Vandenberg. Isaac and she laughed so much that her stomach ached
. Having fun together took her mind off the errand she’d soon face.

  When they arrived at New Beginnings, Sovilla sobered. She stood on the sidewalk outside the building and whispered a prayer.

  Please help me to find out the truth for Wilma.

  “Nervous?” Isaac asked.

  “A little. I’m glad I didn’t tell Wilma about this, in case we can’t find out information.”

  “I’ve b-been praying.”

  “Me too.” Sovilla tried to calm her nerves, although being so close to Isaac made her pulse unsteady. “All right. Let’s go in.”

  He accompanied her to the front desk, but then he and Snickers stepped back. He remained near enough to be supportive, but in a way that let her take the lead.

  All around them, pregnant girls—Amish, Mennonite, and Englisch—sat in a living room to the left, chatting with one another or texting on their phones. A Mennonite girl had curled up on the window seat to read a book, and an Amish girl sat in a rocker cradling a newborn.

  Sovilla tried to picture a young Wilma among these girls. Had she been tense and anxious like the brunette on the couch or downcast like the blonde staring at the baby across from her? Had she been fearful? Nervous? Uncertain?

  Her heart went out to these girls, separated from their families. Poor Wilma. She’d gone through all this alone.

  “Hello.” A cheerful Mennonite woman entered and slid behind the desk. “I’m Elvira Hess.” She looked from Sovilla to Isaac and back again. “How can I help you?”

  Ach, did she think Sovilla and Isaac were in trouble? Sovilla wished she’d come alone. For a moment, embarrassment kept her silent.

  Elvira Hess waited with a kind and patient welcoming expression. Sovilla hoped Elvira’s mother and grandmother had appeared this nice and caring.

  “I, um, I’m hoping you can help me.”

  “We’d be happy to.” She picked up a pen and bent to unlock a file drawer.

  “Neh.” Sovilla had to stop Elvira before she tried to register them. “I’m here about my aenti.”

  Elvira blinked. “Your aunt?” She appeared thoroughly confused.

  “My aenti had a baby at New Beginnings. She’s in the hospital now, and I wanted her son to get her inheritance.” The words had come out in a jumble.

  Elvira looked troubled. “She gave her baby up for adoption and would like to find him before she dies?”

  “Jah, but—”

  Before Sovilla could explain her aenti wasn’t dying, Elvira started into a long explanation of the legal rights of children and their adoptive parents. Too concerned about her mistake, Sovilla barely took it all in.

  When Elvira finished her long speech, she asked, “Do you understand?”

  The only thing Sovilla had gotten was that it sounded almost impossible to find a child’s identity once he’d been adopted. “Is there any way we can find out about her little boy?”

  “We guarantee confidentiality to adoptive parents and their children. Some have been told they’re adopted. Others have not. We don’t want to disrupt the child’s life.”

  “He’s an adult.” Sovilla gave her the birth date.

  “So he’d be thirty. In Pennsylvania, adoptees over eighteen are allowed to access their birth records. Perhaps he’s done so.”

  “Wouldn’t he have found my aenti by now?”

  “Some children never contact their birth parents. They just want to solve the mystery of their heritage.”

  “Is there a way to find out if he got his records?”

  “There are many online forums now where people can search for and meet their birth families.” Elvira glanced at Sovilla’s kapp and dress. “I guess you wouldn’t be doing a computer search.”

  “Neh.”

  Isaac spoke up. “Mrs. V.”

  Of course. What a brilliant idea!

  * * *

  Sovilla turned to him with shining eyes. “Gut idea.”

  He didn’t want to interrupt her conversation, but he wished she’d keep looking at him like that.

  Elvira Hess attracted Sovilla’s attention again. “Now that I think about it, an Internet search might not work. My mother ran the home then. She always tried to place Amish children with Amish adoptive parents and Mennonite babies with Mennonite families.”

  “He’d be Amish?”

  Isaac suspected that might upset Wilma. She’d left the Amish herself.

  “Unless my mom couldn’t find an Amish family to take him.”

  “If he went to an Amish family, I doubt we’ll find him online,” Sovilla pointed out. “Is there a way we can get his name?”

  “You might try a search angel.”

  “What?”

  “They’re people who help adoptees find their birth families. They might be able to locate an adopted child.”

  This was sounding more and more complicated. Isaac wanted to simplify it for Sovilla. He’d remained silent most of the time, but he had to speak up. “C-could we ask your m-mother?”

  “Like I said, we abide by strict rules so as not to interfere in an adoptee’s life.”

  “My aenti wouldn’t interfere in his life,” Sovilla said. “I only want to make sure he inherits her property.”

  “Tell you what,” Elvira said. “Why don’t you give me your aunt’s name and the child’s birth date? My mother only took in a few teens at a time and often placed them in the community. If she knows who adopted this baby, she might be able to tell you if he and his parents would want any contact with his birth mother.”

  She removed a tablet from a drawer and slid it over to Sovilla. After Sovilla printed the information on it, she started to slide it back.

  “Phone n-number,” Isaac suggested.

  That earned him another bright smile before she turned back around and jotted down her name. Then she faced him again and whispered, “I wish I knew Mrs. Vandenberg’s number. If the answer’s no, I don’t want Wilma to get the call.”

  He took the pen from her and wrote his number. “That’s my k-kennel.”

  Her grateful look provided more than enough reward.

  Elvira Hess took the paper. “Either my mother or I will call to let you know whether or not the boy—or I suppose I should say man—should be contacted.”

  “Danke.” Sovilla turned to go, but stopped and faced Elvira again. “I don’t know if it’ll help, but my aenti came from Ohio.”

  “It might. I’ll make a note of it.”

  Sovilla waited until Elvira had added that to the note.

  As they walked to the car, she added, “I’m so glad you were there. Danke. The kennel number was a great idea.”

  “I’m happy it h-helped.”

  “I should have asked for Elvira’s mother’s name. Maybe we could have contacted her ourselves. Do you think she’ll be able to help?”

  “I h-hope so.” If her mother only took in a few girls, maybe she’d remember Wilma. “We c-could pray.”

  “Another gut idea.”

  Making Sovilla happy filled him with joy. He hoped she’d like their next destination.

  When they pulled in front of his house, the driver said to Sovilla, “I’ll be back in two hours to take you to the hospital.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “I planned to go back now.”

  “I have my instructions.”

  Noticing Isaac’s grin, she asked the driver, “Who asked you to do this?”

  He inclined his head in Isaac’s direction before he drove off. Snickers stood patiently waiting as they talked.

  “We n-never played b-baseball.”

  “You got me over here to play baseball when I should be visiting my aenti?”

  “Mrs. V and I w-want you to have f-fun.”

  “I feel guilty enjoying myself when Wilma’s in the hospital.”

  “Mrs. V n-needs more t-time.”

  “And she asked you to keep me busy?”

  He nodded. “I v-volunteered. And Mamm w-wants to f-feed you.”

  Sovilla planted her hand
s on her hips. “I can’t eat at your house again”—a mischievous smile crossed her lips at his disappointment—“unless you do something for me.”

  He’d do anything, anything at all. “What?”

  “Help me find my way back home. I don’t want to get lost in the trees again.”

  “You’re g-going home?” He’d been counting on enjoying the next two hours together. And she wanted to leave.

  * * *

  Sovilla had only planned to tease Isaac, but he seemed so upset, she gave him a hint. “I need to get something from the house.”

  He perked up a little, but he still seemed a bit glum.

  Maybe when he saw what she was getting, he’d be a little happier. And she wanted to thank him for coming with her this morning.

  As they headed into the backyard and past the kennel, his dogs started barking. “I’ll be b-back,” he called to them.

  With Isaac and Snickers to guide her, the trip through the woods only took a short while.

  “Maybe I should mark this path,” she said when they emerged on the other side.

  He looked pleased. “Gut idea. I’ll d-do it on the way b-back.”

  Sovilla stared at the steep incline. Coming down this slope was a lot easier than going up. Snickers started up the hill with Isaac, but she searched for an easier path.

  Isaac turned around. He took a deep breath. “Are you coming?”

  He’d said a whole sentence. Did he even realize it? Maybe she shouldn’t call attention to it.

  “I’m worried I might fall.”

  “Look for r-rocks.” He pointed to the narrow outcroppings he’d used. When she still hesitated, he climbed back down and took her hand.

  The warmth of his fingers wrapped around hers sent tingles through her. This had been a mistake. In addition to struggling for breath, she might not be able to keep her balance with her senses whirling. Only the thought of tumbling down the hill kept her upright.

  I can’t fall. I won’t fall, she chanted to herself the whole way up.

  As soon as they were on level ground, she drew in a breath and disengaged her hand. But she missed the gentle pressure of his hand and the protection it provided.

  His breathing was as ragged as hers. Pulling her up behind him must have winded him.