Nathan stood in the hallway, surrounded by Ada’s siblings, and Josiah and Ada joined the circle. Nathan looked up at Ada with adoring eyes and signed, I love you. Josiah wished he were brave enough to do the same.
Then, one by one, Nathan went around the circle signing I love you to each of the children. He stopped when he reached Josiah. Ada laid a comforting hand on Josiah’s sleeve, filling his heart with happiness, but nothing could touch the empty hole created by his son’s rejection.
Then each of Ada’s siblings took turns going around the circle signing I love you to each person, including him. That, too, helped to ease some of the pain. They all loved him, even if his own son didn’t.
Ada signed to each of her siblings and Nathan, then turned to him, and her eyes said what her fingers didn’t. Josiah swallowed hard and could barely tear his gaze away to do his own signing.
He went around the circle of children and ended with Nathan, but after he signed I love you, he spread his hands apart for very much. Then he turned to Ada, but before he could decide what to do, Nathan stepped between them. His back to Josiah, he signed to Ada. Gazing down at Nathan’s hands, Josiah tried to decipher the signs. He recognized you and Daed, but the sign in the middle was unfamiliar. Nathan added a question mark at the end.
Ada appeared flustered.
“What did he ask?” Josiah asked.
Her cheeks grew even pinker. “Um, he asked if I’d”—she ducked her head—“marry you.” She mumbled the last two words.
Josiah set a hand on Nathan’s shoulder, and for once, his son didn’t flinch away. “That should have been my job, buddy, but thanks,” he muttered, although Nathan couldn’t hear him. Then he looked at Ada. “You didn’t answer him.”
Ada gazed at him, her eyes wide and starry, and then her lips curled into a mischievous grin. “Fine, I’ll answer him.”
Josiah sucked in a breath and waited for her answer. An answer he hoped would be yes.
Instead she signed, Ask your daed, and flashed Josiah a sideways glance that set his blood zinging.
Nathan’s face scrunched up the way he did when Mamm gave him a spoonful of cod liver oil. He faced Josiah but didn’t meet his eyes. You marry Ada?
This was not how Josiah had imagined proposing to Ada. He’d pictured the two of them alone together in a buggy with stars overhead, not in Ada’s front hall surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
Josiah took Ada’s hands in his and, encouraged by the love sparkling in her eyes, he asked, “Will you marry me?”
She gave that small breathless oh that always set his pulse thrumming, and then her yes, oh yes filled his heart to bursting.
Her siblings’ cheers reminded him he wasn’t only marrying Ada, he was marrying a family. His hand entwined in hers, he faced the circle of children to find Nathan signing to each one, You my brother? You my sister? Although they wouldn’t technically be brothers and sisters, it touched his heart that Nathan wanted to make them part of his family.
* * *
Ada’s eyes brimmed with tears as Josiah and Nathan questioned her brothers and sisters. She wanted to pinch herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. Josiah had asked her to marry him! She’d always thought she’d never have a husband or a family, but now she’d be blessed with both. And the handsome man standing before her not only loved her, he loved her siblings too. God had answered her prayers in the most thrilling way possible. Giddy with joy, Ada whispered a prayer of thanksgiving for this wonderful blessing. This dream come true.
Her siblings then signed the question to Nathan, who broke into a wide grin. When he had answered yes to everyone, Nathan whirled around and launched himself at Ada’s knees.
He hugged her hard and then pulled back to ask, You my mamm?
Ada thought her heart couldn’t get any fuller. She nodded and let go of Josiah’s hand to kneel and sign, I love you very much. Then she wrapped her arms around Nathan and held him close.
When she stood, Josiah, grinning and misty-eyed, slid an arm around her and drew her to his side. Ada leaned her head against his chest, reveling in the rapid beating of his heart. She laid a hand on Nathan’s shoulder to bring him closer, and her siblings smiled.
“It’s bedtime,” Sadie said, and she herded everyone to the stairs.
Nathan dashed over to David and pointed to himself and then David before signing, Brothers. David’s grin revealed how thrilled he was. The two of them started up the stairs together, but Nathan looked back over his shoulder at Ada and his daed.
He hurried back downstairs to Ada and signed, I love you very much.
After she smiled, Nathan stepped in front of Josiah and stared at him for a long minute. Then his hands swished into motion. I love you, Daed. He stood still for a second before widening his arms to add, Very much.
As Nathan scampered back up the stairs, Josiah, his eyes wet with tears, stared after his son until he disappeared. Then he swept Ada into his arms. “Thank you,” he said in a choked voice before pressing his lips to hers.
Above them a snicker was accompanied by muffled giggles and shuffling feet. They stepped apart to find all eight children on the steps, staring down at them.
Josiah sighed. “I suspect we’ll always have an audience.”
Ada hid a smile. “That should keep us circumspect.”
“To bed, everyone,” Josiah said, and pointed to the second story.
After all the children scrambled upstairs, he turned back to Ada. “Now where were we?”
“Right here,” she murmured as she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his head down for a kiss.
Leah Stoltzfus is dedicated to both her Amish faith and being a good midwife. It certainly keeps her thoughts from straying to the handsome Englisch doctor—until a blizzard shows them both that feelings can run as strong and deep as faith. But can they have one…without sacrificing the other?
A preview of
The Amish Midwife’s Secret
follows.
The phone rang as Kyle was rushing out the door. He didn’t recognize the number. Probably a telemarketer, but just in case it was work-related, he hit the Answer button, tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder, and shoved one arm into his coat before saying, “Hello.”
Slamming the door shut behind him by hooking it with one foot, he repeated his hello. Definitely an automated call. He should hang up now, but he was busy shrugging his other arm into the sleeve. If traffic was heavy, he was going to be late. He sighed loudly.
A voice on the other end quavered. “Kyle?”
It sounded like a human, but some of those telemarketing outfits managed to make their robocalls sound real. “Yes?” he answered cautiously. He wasn’t interested in a time-share or a free cruise or…
“Kyle, it’s Dr. Hess. I have a question for you.”
Dr. Hess? Name doesn’t sound familiar. Not one of the doctors I work with at the hospital.
“Yes?” he said again as he clicked open his car door and slid into the seat.
“I’m not sure if you remember me, but you and your brother used to visit my office. And I took care of your parents when…”
The words hit Kyle like a fast, hard gut punch. He froze with his hand on the door handle, but couldn’t move to close it. Old memories came flooding back. Memories he’d pushed down under the surface. Memories he’d hoped never to dredge up ever again.
His “I remember” came out shakily. Why would the doctor be calling him? Had something happened to his brother? They hadn’t spoken in years. A flood of guilt hit him. If Caleb had been hurt or was dying, could he go back and face him? And what about the twins and— No, he never wanted to see Emma again.
“Is everything all right? Has something happened to Caleb or—?”
“No, no, I didn’t mean to alarm you. This isn’t a medical emergency. Well, it is in a way. But it’s my own emergency.”
It dawned on Kyle he’d been sitting there unmoving. He’d forgotten all about being late for his
shift. He yanked the car door shut and started the engine.
“I have some friends at the hospital who’ve been keeping tabs on you,” Dr. Hess continued. “They’ve been telling me you’ll go far in the medical field.”
“Thanks.” Although if he were honest, the thought of someone checking up on him gave him an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. Had Caleb asked their old family doctor to do this spying?
Kyle whipped his car into traffic and pressed his foot on the accelerator to shoot around a slow-moving truck. The minute he did, the old demons haunted him. That was one memory he wished he could erase. Speeding had destroyed his life and cost him everything he’d always wanted. He lifted his foot and let the car glide to a safer speed while Dr. Hess prattled on about his retirement dreams.
Biting back a sigh, Kyle tuned out the old man’s words as he maneuvered through heavy rush hour traffic. He regretted not grabbing a cup of coffee to wake him up, because the drone of Dr. Hess’s words was lulling him to sleep. Surely the doctor hadn’t called a relative stranger to discuss his future plans. Kyle wished Dr. Hess would get to the point.
“So I considered shutting down the practice, but I’m one of the few doctors in the Lancaster area who still makes house calls. People have come to expect it. I’ve been in a quandary. That’s where you come in.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Seems to me you’ll soon be needing a place to work after your residency. I’d be happy to turn my practice over to you if you’d help me out for the next year or two. I’d like to cut back to part-time hours.”
Kyle slammed on the brakes before he ran a red light. “Take over your practice?”
“Yes, I thought Esther and I could move to the retirement village she’s been talking about. You could live in the house so you’d have the office right there.”
Kyle pictured the huge old farmhouse set on a country road with the office attached to one side. It was a far cry from his future aspirations, which included working at a major medical center in a large city. Country life wasn’t for him.
“It’s a great offer,” he said, planning to let down his old family doctor gently. “I’ll, umm…”
“Esther and I prayed about it, and we both felt led to give the practice to you.”
“Give?” Kyle said faintly.
“Yes, give. We have plenty of money to buy a home in the retirement village and to live comfortably. With no children of our own, we thought it would be nice to help another young doctor starting out. The mortgage is paid off, and you’d be responsible only for the bills once I leave the practice.”
Kyle pulled into a parking space at the hospital. The man was giving away his practice and his home? “That’s a mighty generous offer. I, um, need to get in to work now. If I don’t, I’ll be late. But I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t just think. Pray about it.”
Kyle choked back the negative retort that sprang to his lips. You wouldn’t catch him praying. Not for any reason at all. “Um, yes. I have to go, but I’ll let you know my decision.” He said a hasty good-bye and ran for the staff entrance door.
For a resident drowning in med school debt, that was a tempting offer. But it would mean returning to a place he’d left years ago and vowed never to return. A place where he’d have to face all the demons of the past.
* * *
Leah waited for Dr. Hess to get off the phone. Usually his wife, Esther, acted as receptionist, but he was sitting in the outer office, which meant she couldn’t help but overhear his conversation.
“You’re finally getting some help?” she asked when he hung up.
Dr. Hess laughed. “Esther convinced me it’s time to retire, but I can’t go until I’m sure I have a good replacement who will do everything I do.”
“Someone like that may be hard to find.”
“True, but I’m hoping to convince a young medical student to move back to the area. He grew up around here, and his mother was—” Dr. Hess ran a hand through his silver hair. “Esther tells me I ramble too much, and she’s right.” He leaned forward, all attention on her. “What do you need today, Leah?”
“I have an expectant mother I’m worried about, but she refuses to come to the office. She says she can’t leave the children. I suspect it’s money.” Leah pulled out some ten-dollar bills and held them out.
Dr. Hess waved them away. “I have more than enough money. I can certainly afford to do some free visits.”
“Yes, but—”
The doctor interrupted her. “What’s her name and address?”
Leah gave him the information and tried once again to give him the money, but the doctor refused to take it.
He rose and picked up his medical bag. “I’ll head over there now.”
“Thank you so much. I’m praying for a healthy delivery for her.” Leah followed him to the door. “I must admit I’m curious about this medical student. You said he was from the area?” As a midwife, she’d have to work closely with him.
Dr. Hess stopped beside his car. “His name’s Kyle Miller.”
Leah gasped. “Caleb Miller’s brother?”
With a quick nod, Dr. Hess slipped into the driver’s seat. “I’m hoping everyone can let bygones be bygones.”
The Amish community had forgiven Kyle, but having him back in their midst as a doctor might dredge up old hurts. And for Leah it meant confronting a secret she thought would stay hidden. A secret she’d concealed for years.
About the Author
Rachel J. Good grew up near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the setting for her Amish romances. Striving to be as authentic as possible, she spends time with her Amish friends, doing chores on their farms and attending family events. Rachel loves to travel and visit many different Amish communities. She also speaks at conferences and book events across the country and abroad.
When she’s not traveling, she spends time with her family and writing. In addition to her Amish novels, she’s written more than forty books for children and adults under several pen names.
Learn more about Rachel at:
www.racheljgood.com
Twitter @RachelJGood1
Facebook.com
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The Amish Teacher's Gift Page 29
