The Amish Christmas Cowboy

by Jo Ann Brown

  He made no secret of how eager he was to be gone from Harmony Creek Hollow and how he was straddling the fence between a plain life and an Englisch one; yet he hadn’t made a decision where his future was. She was the same, though she’d miss her family and friends in the new settlement if she jumped the fence.

  She guessed there was one major difference. More and more, she envisioned her future with Toby in it. Did he see her in his?

  Chapter Nine

  “Ready to go?” called Natalie as she bustled across the yard the next morning, herding her younger siblings toward the red truck.

  Sarah stood by the passenger door while Cecil, a groom, sat behind the wheel.

  “Can we stop for ice cream at the soda shop?” asked Alexander.

  “Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!” The youngest two grabbed each other’s hands and began to dance about in a circle.

  “Whoa!” At Toby’s shout, the kinder froze and stared in astonishment. “Why do you expect Sarah to answer you when you aren’t listening?”

  His question startled the foursome into silence. Turning so the kinder couldn’t see his playful wink, he walked to where she stood.

  “Welcome to the chaos,” she said with a chuckle.

  “Looks as if you’re going somewhere.”

  “To get haircuts for the kinder.” She arched a brow. “I’m sure they can fit you in, if you’d like.”

  He touched his hair that now reached the bottom of his collar. “It looks bad?”

  She was glad Ethan let out a shout at that moment. It kept her from having to devise a way to avoid answering Toby’s question. The truth was he looked handsome with his hair curling along his nape. Going to separate the boys who were arguing whether chocolate or chocolate-chip ice cream was better gave her time to compose herself.

  “Komm with us,” she said as she motioned for the kids to climb into the back seat of the large pickup. “It’ll give you a chance to see something other than this farm.”

  When he nodded, her heart did jumping jacks. She shouldn’t be reacting so to a man who would be leaving soon, but today she wasn’t going to worry. She was going to be grateful to have another adult along with her to deal with the kinder. She tried to convince herself that was the only reason she was happy he was joining them.

  But she—and her eager heart—knew it wasn’t the truth.

  * * *

  Veronica’s Shearly Beloved Salon was one of two beauty shops along Main Street in Salem. The name came, Sarah informed Toby as they got out of the truck, from the fact that Veronica’s husband was the pastor at the community church around the corner on West Broadway, and Veronica did the hair of many brides he married. The beauty salon was located in half of what had once been a grocery store, so it had high metal ceilings and, along one wall, the original shelves now held beauty products instead of canned vegetables and mayonnaise. Four chairs were set in front of a long mirror on the opposite wall, and sinks and dryers were arranged farther back.

  Toby followed the Summerhays kids into the shop. It was, he was relieved to discover, only a pair of steps up from the sidewalk. His nose wrinkled. The odors of hair spray and permanent-wave solution filled each breath.

  Every head turned as they entered. Two beauticians were talking by the front desk, three more were cleaning and a manicurist sat with an elderly female client at a small table half hidden by an artificial palm. At first, he thought the women were focused on the kinder; then he realized they were staring at him. Maybe, despite Sarah’s offer, they didn’t usually cut men’s hair in the shop.

  One beautician by the desk came to greet them. It was Veronica, and she wore her pure white hair in a bun resembling the one visible through Sarah’s kapp. She bade the other women to come and collect the kinder. As they went to have their hair washed and Sarah followed, Veronica smiled at him.

  “Are you here for a haircut, too?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Don’t worry...”

  “Toby,” he supplied.

  “Don’t worry, Toby. You aren’t a stranger in a strange land here. We do everyone’s hair.” She walked to the nearest chair. “Sit here. Do you need help getting into the chair?”

  Shaking his head, he sat. He handed Veronica his crutches and leaned forward while she hooked a cape around his neck. When she asked where he was from, he told her.

  “Texas?” she asked with a smile he saw reflected in the mirror. “You go for big hair down there.”

  He smiled, appreciating how she hadn’t mentioned how he’d hobbled across the salon like a bird with a broken wing. “They say everything is bigger in Texas.”

  “Do you want something new or a trim?”

  “A trim.”

  Sarah, who had come to stand between his chair and the one next to it where Mia now perched on a booster seat, bit her lower lip. Was she trying to keep from asking why he no longer wore the bowl cut he must have had as a kind? He didn’t mind telling her he’d started having his hair cut in the Englisch style once he began working on J.J.’s ranch. It had helped make the other ranch hands forget he’d been raised Amish. He wasn’t ashamed of his background. He just didn’t want to have to answer the same awkward questions each time someone new was hired.

  That was why he’d changed his look, ain’t so?

  He was shocked by an uncertainty he hadn’t expected. Was he embarrassed that his past was different from the other ranch hands? No, he was grateful to have been raised plain. So why did he work hard to be like the rest of the world instead of separate from it?

  Veronica said, saving him from more of the tough questions he didn’t want to answer, “I’ve seen other Amish guys around the village, so I know how you wear your hair. I can cut it that way if you prefer.”

  “I’m not part of the Harmony Creek community.”

  “Oh, I assumed... That is, you’re with Sarah, so I... Never mind.” She kept her face averted as she reached for a pair of scissors on the narrow counter beneath the mirror.

  Veronica thought he and Sarah were together? He couldn’t ignore how his pulse quickened whenever he saw Sarah, but linking their names unsettled him. It was as if a thick vine wrapped around him, slowly tightening.

  Natalie rushed over. “Can I have a blue streak in my hair?” She held up a magazine with a picture of a woman in her twenties who had blond hair except for a coil pinned behind her ear. It was as bright a blue as a roofing tarp.

  “Why would you want to do that?” Sarah asked.

  He was curious, too, why the little girl would want to do such a thing. Natalie’s black hair would have to be bleached before the dye was applied.

  “All the girls at school said they were going to do that this summer, and...”

  She smiled. “Your mamm will be home before school starts. If she says it’s okay, then I’ll bring you back to have it done.”

  Natalie nodded. Maybe the girl had learned whining wasn’t the way to persuade Sarah to change her mind. Or perhaps she really didn’t want to dye her hair and was glad for an excuse not to.

  Mia tugged on Sarah’s apron. “If Natalie gets a blue streak, can I?”

  “That’s up to your mamm,” Sarah replied in the same serene voice.

  Alexander jammed his hands into his jean pockets as he walked to a chair on the other side of Toby. “She doesn’t care what we do as long as we stay off the furniture.” Bitterness tainted the boy’s words.

  Toby put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Mamms and furniture.” He captured the boy’s gaze so Alexander couldn’t miss how Toby rolled his eyes. “They don’t understand a guy needs to put up his feet and chill now and then, ain’t so?”

  The boy cracked a smile, then chuckled. “You get yelled at about furniture, too?”

  “Every guy has been told the same thing since Eve warned Cain and Abel to keep their feet
off the sheepskin. Always the same things.” Seeing how the kinder were listening with unusual intensity, he knew he couldn’t stop now. He hoped the other adults understood he wanted to ease the boy’s unhappiness. “We’re always being told not to put our feet on the furniture. Wipe them off before we come in. Wash your hands and your neck. Don’t forget to clean behind your ears. Do you think they go to school to learn how to nag at a guy?”

  Alexander giggled along with the other kinder.

  Behind Toby, Veronica laughed. “I like that one about Eve scolding her boys. I’ll have to share it with my hubby. I can just hear him using it in a sermon some Sunday.”

  Her words seemed to be an invitation for each person in the salon to try to be silly. Even the old woman having her nails done pitched in with an absurd comment.

  Toby let Veronica clip his hair while he listened. When he looked at the mirror, he saw Sarah regarding him with a smile. He gave her a wink, and color blossomed on her face. She turned away, and his smile broadened. He hadn’t expected to have so much fun getting his hair cut.

  * * *

  By the time the buggy pulled into the farm lane and parked by the house she shared with her two brothers, Sarah’s ears had been battered by dozens of questions from the kinder. They were beside themselves with curiosity about the trip she’d told them would include visits to two farms. If Toby, who sat beside her in the buggy’s front seat, wondered where they were going, he didn’t ask.

  Maybe because he couldn’t have gotten a word in edgewise. His repeated attempts to remind the kinder they needed to give Sarah a chance to answer one question before they asked another had been ignored.

  She knew the big white farmhouse looked shabby next to the elegant house where the Summerhays family lived, but it now felt like home. The flowers she’d planted beside the front porch steps were flourishing, and the vegetable garden was lush with vegetables. She spent every Saturday and most evenings canning them so she and her brothers would have delicious vegetables in the depths of winter.

  “Here we are.” She shouted to be heard above the roar of the sawmill on the hill beyond the barn.

  “What’s that noise?” Natalie asked as she helped Mia and Ethan out of the buggy. All four kinder wore denim shorts and T-shirts along with sneakers.

  “My brothers are sawing lumber.”

  “Why?” Mia put her hands over her ears. “It’s loud.”

  “They’re cutting lumber so people can use the wood to build things. Like buildings or furniture.”

  “Like wood?” asked the little girl.

  “Lumber is wood.” She smiled, astonished how much these kinder who’d been raised in the city needed to learn about country life, though they’d lived on the fancy estate for two years.

  She had to wait until she could speak with Mr. Summerhays, but she hoped the kinder’s daed would agree to letting them play with Amish kinder. It was important the kids get to know each other as individuals, not as plain or Englisch.

  “So you grow wood here?” Mia was having a difficult time figuring it out.

  “We have a wood lot.” She smiled. “And, of course, a Christmas tree farm.”

  “Christmas tree farm?” Now it was Ethan’s turn to look puzzled. “Don’t Christmas trees come from the store?”

  “Real trees are grown just like all the other plants God created for our world.” She took the little boy’s hand and held her other one out to Mia. “These aren’t the artificial ones made out of plastic.”

  “We have a pink tree and a white one.” Natalie grimaced. “Neither of them grew on a farm.”

  “We have plain old green ones. Would you like to see them?”

  The four kinder nodded, even Alexander, who sometimes liked to pretend he wasn’t interested in what his siblings were.

  Sarah kept the pace slow enough so Toby could keep up with them. With the trees set into a hillside, the path rose steadily. Years of dragging cut trees had worn a gentle path between the rows.

  The shriek of the saw ruined the quiet among the trees. Each time it halted, there was a moment of silence, and then the birds seemed to find their voices again. As the kinder looked around in awe at the trimmed Scotch pine and fir trees, their eyes seemed to get bigger and bigger.

  Toby came to stand beside Sarah as she urged the youngsters to wander among the trees. When he added a warning to be careful and not damage them, she chuckled.

  “I don’t know what they could do to damage a Christmas tree,” she said.

  “Mrs. Hancock mentioned yesterday how, while you were helping me with my physical therapy, she found the boys fishing in their daed’s tropical fish tank by tying strings onto chopsticks. After hearing that, I’m assuming they can always find something to create havoc.”

  Again, she laughed. “You’re right.”

  Mia ran to them. “Why are there branches on the ground? Are the trees broken?”

  Hearing the dismay in the kind’s voice, Sarah knelt so she could look the little one in the eyes. “No, they aren’t broken. We call those boughs.”

  “Like ‘deck the halls with boughs of holly,’” said Ethan.

  Mia bristled at her brother’s superior tone. “These aren’t holly! They’re Christmas trees! What do we do with these?”

  “Alexander, will you get the bags I put on the rear platform of the buggy? Let’s gather the boughs, and I’ll take you to visit someone who will know what to do with them.”

  Though the kinder tried to get her to explain further—and Toby asked a couple of times what she planned—Sarah would only say that they’d be happy they’d collected the boughs. She went to help the smaller two carry the boughs to where Toby held large plastic bags open.

  He proved to be an excellent manager. He kept the four kinder running to collect the boughs that Benjamin had clipped off the trees before they arrived. The bags at the back of the buggy quickly filled.

  As he teased the youngsters, making them laugh, Sarah felt her heart melt in the warmth of his smile. He was so gut with them, bringing out a silliness she’d never realized was there. He was luring her to be as zany, and it was wunderbaar to toss aside her worries about the future and revel in the day they were sharing.

  Natalie held boughs to her face. “This smells cool.”

  “Hmm...” Toby bent to take a sniff. “To me, it smells warm. Like a fire in a fireplace. Like the scent of gingerbread.”

  “I meant cool as in...as in really...” She looked at Sarah for help.

  “As in fabulous?” Sarah asked.

  “That’s what I meant.”

  Toby dropped the boughs into a bag. “I agree. The scent is cool and warm at the same time.” He glanced down when Mia tugged on his shirt. “Do you have something to add, munchkin?”

  “You’re goofy,” she announced with the certainty of a four-year-old.

  “Me?”

  At his feigned shock, Sarah couldn’t keep from laughing. The kinder joined in, but not Toby. He smiled.

  She told herself she should be satisfied with seeing an honest smile on his face instead of the strained, false one he’d worn when he first arrived. She couldn’t help wondering what his laugh sounded like. Would it resonate as his voice did?

  Lord, You know the state of Toby’s heart. He has allowed a bit of joy to enter it. Please help him keep it open for more happiness to sweep in.

  What could she do to help? Getting an idea, she smiled and gathered the kinder near.

  “Shall we pick out a tree now for you at Christmas?” she asked.

  The excited youngsters cheered. Before they could scatter, she reminded them it was a decision they needed to make together.

  For the next fifteen minutes, they wandered among the rows of trees. Once or twice, she thought the kinder might agree on one, but then another caught their eyes. She had to veto some because even the
high ceilings in their house wouldn’t accommodate such a towering tree.

  “I like this tree.” Ethan pointed to one not much taller than he was.

  “Don’t you think we should let it have a chance to grow a couple more years?” Sarah asked.

  “If we get a bigger tree, then what if Daddy isn’t home to put the star on top? I can put a star on top of this one.”

  Pretending she hadn’t heard Toby’s sharp intake of breath, Sarah knelt in front of the little boy. She blinked away her tears before they could escape and upset the kind more. Not just Ethan, but his siblings, who also looked ready to cry.

  “Don’t you like having a bigger tree better, Ethan?” she asked as she cupped his elbows to make a connection between them.

  He nodded, his lips beginning to quiver. “It needs a star on top.”

  “I’ll talk to your daed about the star.”

  “Daddy is busy.”

  “Ja, I know. We’re months away from Christmas. We can figure something out between now and when the tree arrives at your house.”

  He wiped his nose against his sleeve. “Okay.”

  When she urged Ethan to join his siblings, who were discussing the merits of a nearby tree as if it were the most important decision ever made, she waited until he was out of earshot before she released the sigh that weighed on her heart.

  Behind her, Toby said, “You surprised me, Sarah.”

  “How so?” She faced him.

  “You’re always working for those kids to challenge themselves. I thought you’d offer to help him put the star on the tree himself.”

  “I would have if he was worried about the star.” She lowered her voice as she stepped closer to him. “What he really wants is time with his daed.” Looking at the youngsters encircling a pretty Scotch pine, she added, “Just as Alexander was when he complained about his mamm being more worried about the furniture. Danki for drawing him out of his bad mood then.”

  “He was feeling sorry for himself.”

  “No, he wasn’t. He isn’t wrong, you know.” She sighed. “His mamm spends a lot of time worrying about the furniture. I’m not sure why she changes it all the time. Whatever the reason, it keeps her away so often, and the kinder miss her. Those four kinder want someone—anyone—to pay attention to them.”