The Amish Millers Get Married BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: The Way Home, The Way Forward, The Narrow Way) (Boxed Set: Amish Millers Get Married)

by Ruth Hartzler

  Mrs. Hostler placed a cup of steaming garden tea in front of Esther. "You're not worried are you?"

  Esther was puzzled. "About Jessie's ankle?"

  Mrs. Hostetler smiled. "Nee. You're not worried about Jacob? He only has eyes for you, you know."

  Esther felt a slow, hot flush travel up her cheeks. She sipped the tea to avoid having to look at Mrs. Hostetler, letting the mint refresh her.

  "Now don't you worry about Jessie," Mrs. Hostetler continued, apparently concerned about Esther's silence. "Jessie Yoder has been after my son for a long time now, but he's never given her any encouragement at all. He's always been in love with you, you know."

  Esther's hand flew to her mouth. In love? she thought. The room spun, and dizziness swept over her. Could it be true? And would Mrs. Hostetler really know what was going on in her son's mind? If it is true, she thought, then I can't lead Jacob on; I'll have to stop pretending that I'm dating him. At the same time, Esther could not deny that she was anxious about Jacob being away so long with Jessie. Could she, in fact, actually be jealous? And if she was jealous, did that mean that she was in fact in love with Jacob?

  Esther fought the urge to run out the door to escape from her thoughts. I will wait a little longer, she thought. Two cups of garden tea later, and there was still no sign of Jacob. Esther's earlier thoughts of worrying that Jacob might be in love with her had well and truly gone and had been replaced with more pressing feelings of anxiety. What if Jacob was in fact in love with Jessie Yoder after all? Oh please, Gott, help me to sort out my feelings for Jacob, was her silent prayer, as she sat at the table, anxiously awaiting the sound of hoof beats.

  When Jacob had not returned after some time, Esther said her goodbyes to the Hostetlers, with anxiety gnawing away in her stomach. She drove home under the light of the full moon, which was no longer obscured by clouds. As she turned off onto a dirt road that had no streetlights, a rolling mist came in. The moonlight playing through the rising mist caused all sorts of shapes to form, some of which looked like goblins to Esther. If only Jacob was here, she thought. I always feel safe with Jacob.

  Yet would Jacob ever drive her anywhere again? Perhaps he was in fact in love with Jessie Yoder. And if he hadn't been before, perhaps Jacob would realize his true feelings for Jessie now that she had been hurt. She can't have been pretending to be hurt after all, Esther thought, given how long she was at the doktor's. A thought occurred to her. Of course, they weren't at the doktor's at all; it was all a ruse to have time together.

  A tear trickled down Esther's cheek, and she clicked her horse on, encouraging him to trot faster, away from the phantoms of the mist and her own imaginings.

  * * *

  The doktor came out of his room and spoke to Jacob. "I can't find anything wrong with her ankle at all."

  No surprise to me, Jacob thought. He stood up. "So, I'll drive her home now."

  "Nee, Jacob," the doktor said. "She insists that she's in terrible pain with the ankle. There's no swelling or any signs of injury in fact, but it would be remiss of me if I didn't send her onto the hospital to have it examined there. I'll call a taxi for you to take her."

  Jacob sighed long and hard. It was bad enough that Jessie had ruined his dinner with Esther - and goodness knows what Esther was thinking - but now he had to go with Jessie to the hospital.

  Jacob sat in the hospital waiting room, looking at the bleak, pale green walls, and the tired nurses hurrying to and fro. Jacob had been waiting in the room for over two hours now. As Jessie's ankle wasn't swollen at all, and as the doktor hadn't found anything wrong with it, Jessie was at the bottom of a long list of patients in the emergency room.

  Jacob wished he could go home and leave Jessie here, but her familye had not come to see how she was. I bet her mudder is in on it too, he thought bitterly. And I will be lucky to get even an hour's sleep before I have to get up and start a hard day's work.

  Jacob was furious that Jessie had pretended to hurt her ankle, and he had absolutely no doubt that she had pretended. When would this ever end? The way she had clutched at him and insisted he drive her to the doktor just wasn't acceptable. He had been so looking forward to the dinner with Esther, and Jessie had ruined it, in more ways than one.

  Luke 8:17.

  For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.

  Chapter 13 .

  Esther woke up with a nasty, throbbing headache. She hurried down the stairs to make herself a cup of hot, sage tea. Even the scent of the sage as she prepared the tea seemed to bring relief to the throbbing.

  Her mudder was not around this morning as she was visiting a sick neighbor and helping with her chores for the day, so Esther was spared remarks and questions about her dinner at the Hostetlers' the night before.

  With Martha and Rebecca busy doing the laundry, Esther set herself to baking. The headache had all but gone, and Esther had followed the sage tea with a mug of strong kaffi. She decided to make pumpkin pies as there were plenty of pumpkins. She didn't want to sew, as peering closely at the stitches could cause the headache to come back. The pile of mending would have to wait 'til later.

  Esther was so busy cutting up pumpkins that she didn't hear a buggy arrive, but she heard a voice calling her from the front door. Esther hastily went to the door, the knife still in her hand.

  Jacob poked his head around the door. "Can I come in?"

  "Of course." Esther beckoned him in with the knife, her heart beating at a million miles an hour to see Jacob.

  "Hey, steady on," Jacob said, with laughter in his voice. "It's not as if we're married already. No need to take a knife to me for driving another maidel to the doktor's."

  Esther had to laugh, in spite of herself. "See that you never take another girl to the doktor's again, Jacob, or else." She laughed again. "Come on in, I'm making pumpkin pies."

  Jacob rubbed his hands together.

  "None ready for you, though; I'm still cutting up the pumpkins. I'll make you a mug of kaffi."

  Esther poured them both a mug of coffee and sat down with Jacob at the kitchen table, after setting a plate of Shoo-fly pies between them. It was then she realized that she hadn't asked after Jessie. Her overriding relief to see Jacob had driven all thoughts of good manners from her mind.

  "So, how is Jessie's ankle?"

  "Nothing wrong with it, as I suspected," Jacob said.

  "You were a long while at the doktor's then, when there was nothing wrong with her ankle." Esther bit her lip. She hadn't meant the words to come out sounding like an accusation. Still, she had been up half the night worried that Jacob was in fact dating Jessie and not wanting to tell her due to his desire to help save her from her mudder's matchmaking.

  Jacob just looked at Esther strangely. He appeared to be choosing his words carefully, as he took a while before he spoke. "The doktor said that there was nothing wrong with her ankle, no swelling, no bruising, nothing at all, but Jessie kept clutching it, insisting that there was, so in the end the doktor said I should take her to the hospital to have it checked out. Anyway, long story short, a nurse assessed her and didn't think there was anything wrong either, so there was an awfully long wait before her ankle was X-rayed. I didn't get home until early this morning. Speaking of which, may I have another mug of kaffi?"

  "Sure." As Esther poured him another mug of kaffi, she asked, "So the X-rays showed nothing was wrong?"

  "Jah, nothing at all."

  Esther nodded. "So Jessie was pretending to hurt her ankle so she could be alone with you." She said it as a statement, not a question. It was what she been convinced of all along.

  Jacob fixed her with his crooked smile. "Well, I didn't want to say so myself, or you'd call me prideful again." He winked at her. "You'd better marry me soon with all those girls after me. That's the only sure way to keep them all at bay."

  Esther forced a laugh. She didn't want Jacob to see what she really thought and Jacob usua
lly knew what she was thinking. Somewhere in the previous night, as she tossed and turned, she realized that she had fallen deeply in love with Jacob - or perhaps she had always loved him. One thing she was certain of, she could not bear the thought of Jacob being married to anyone else.

  There was just one problem: Jacob only thought of her as a good friend.

  "Anyway, why don't you come home with me for lunch?" Jacob continued. "My mudder put some on Dutch Cabbage Rolls before she went to the quilt store this morning. They'll be ready by the time we get home. I'll drive you and bring you back later."

  Esther hesitated. It was so kind of Jacob to keep up appearances for her sake, but it was hard to be around him now that she knew her true feelings for him, given that he only thought of her as a friend. Still, she could not resist the opportunity to spend time with Jacob. "Sure," she said.

  She looked up into Jacob's blue eyes and saw relief there. Why would he be relieved that I'm coming to his haus for lunch? she wondered.

  Esther was quieter than usual on the buggy ride to the Hostetlers' farm. Jacob appeared to notice as he kept looking her way.

  When they arrived, Jacob drove straight to the barn and proceeded to unhitch his horse, Barney. Esther idly looked at the fresh cut hay overflowing the storage mow. She loved the smell of hay, and even the pigeons which kept up their relentless cooing did not disturb her mood. She loved being so close to Jacob as he worked. A companionable silence settled between them.

  "Jacob, denki so much for pretending that we're dating."

  Jacob turned to her, a serious look on his face. "You're wilkom. I don't know if it's doing much good, though. Your mudder still seems to have her heart set on you dating Amos."

  "Ach, she'll get over it," Esther said, with more conviction than she felt.

  Suddenly Jacob took Esther by the arm and led her out of the barn. "Come on, Esther; let's have lunch."

  As they walked out of the barn, Moses waved to them. "Hiya, Esther."

  "Hiya, Moses."

  Moses walked over. "Did you know that Jessie Yoder's here?" he asked.

  "Do you know where she is?" Jacob looked over his shoulder.

  "Somewhere around." Moses pointed to his left. "Her horse is tied up behind the barn. He's still hitched up. She said her mudder sent her with pies. I said I'd take them, but she said she'd wait for you and have lunch with you."

  Jacob groaned. "More pies? Another meal? Did you tell her where I was?'

  Moses nodded. "Jah, sorry, Jacob. I said you were bringing Esther back for lunch. I thought that would encourage her to leave, but it only made her want to stay. Anyway, I've got to run and help daed."

  After Moses left, Jacob said, "I don't know what to do."

  "Take me back home, please, Jacob." Esther didn't want to have another meal with Jacob with Jessie looking daggers at her.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Jah, it wouldn't be much fun."

  Jacob stroked his chin. "I'll make it up to you, Esther."

  Esther did not enjoy the ride back to her haus despite the fact she was alone with Jacob, and despite the fact that tingles ran through her at his close proximity. She was, in fact, plagued by too many questions. If Jacob had been really dating her, he wouldn't have driven her home; he would have firmly told Jessie that he was dating Esther and wanted to have lunch alone with her. The fact that they weren't really dating was irrelevant, as Jacob had been careful to keep up appearances previously. And what if Jacob was secretly seeing Jessie? That would explain Jessie's over-the-top behavior. Surely no girl would throw herself at a mann like that with absolutely no encouragement.

  * * *

  Jacob drove back from Esther's haus, upset that Jessie Yoder had ruined yet another time with Esther. I'll have to put a stop to this somehow, he thought. He also suspected he had seen Jessie in the barn, peering over the hay at him and Esther. He tried to remember what they'd been saying, as surely Jessie would have overheard.

  When he got back to his familye's farm, he drove around to the back of the barn where Moses had said that Jessie's buggy was. It was nowhere to be seen. Jacob unhitched Barney, rubbed him down, and turned him out to graze, then went in search of Moses. He found him repairing a fence.

  "Hey Moses, is Jessie still here?"

  Moses stood up and shook his head. "Nee, she left right after you did."

  Jacob shook his head in exasperation. "Well why did she ruin my lunch with Esther?" He knew the answer, but was just speaking out of frustration.

  Moses looked at Jacob for a minute before speaking. "This might sound unkind, but I think that Jessie will go to any lengths to keep you and Esther apart. She's a bit mean too - she was quite happy to tell me that Martha likes Amos Troyer."

  Jacob was taken aback. "She did? Well don't worry, Moses." He patted him on the shoulder. "I don't think Martha does, and besides, if her mudder thought she did, she wouldn't be trying to matchmake Amos with Esther - she'd be happy enough to matchmake him with Martha instead."

  Moses looked downcast. "I hope you're right."

  "Sure I am. Now I'll help you with this fence, and then I'll have to figure out what I'm going to say to Jessie Yoder. I need to have a talk with her."

  Romans 13:10.

  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

  Chapter 14 .

  Jacob stood in the store, looking at the vast array of clocks, wall clocks, table clocks, mantle clocks, and grandfather clocks. They all looked manly, though, and he was sure there was not one in sight that Esther would like. He had decided to buy an engagement gift for Esther, and typically engagement gifts were either clocks or china. The fact that Esther had shown no interest in him as a mann as yet of course concerned him, but he had loved Esther all his life and was determined to move forward until Esther was his fraa.

  One little clock caught Jacob's eye. He knew how much Esther loved wood, and this was a pretty mahogany. The store owner hurried over to point out the clock's attributes, which Jacob soon heard featured movingue overlays and rare mahogany coupled with bronze feet. What's more, he was told, it had triple chime action.

  Jacob rubbed his chin. "It's a gift, and she doesn't like noisy bells, so I doubt she'd like a chiming clock."

  The store owner was unperturbed. "It's perfect then, as it has a chime silence option."

  Jacob tuned out as the store owner went on at some length about the attributes of the various clocks. Jacob did not find clocks at all interesting, but he did think Esther would like that one clock. Still, he should go and look at china. Jacob was undecided, but then he thought he should buy Esther the little clock and perhaps china as well, if he could find a piece that she'd like.

  He was leaving the store when he happened across John Graber, one of the menner who had been sitting with him for lunch at the barn-raising.

  "Hullo, Jacob." John winked at him. "In the market for a clock?"

  Jacob laughed, although he was a little uneasy that he had been seen looking at clocks, and by John Graber of all people. John could talk the leg off an iron pot, and wasn't known for his discretion. At any rate, being seen looking at clocks was the same as an Englisch man being seen looking at engagement rings. Jacob edged the box with the clock under his coat, although he was sure that John had already seen it, and that could mean it would soon be all over town. "And you?"

  "Could be." John, a pleasant young mann, turned bright red and couldn't look Jacob in the eye.

  Jacob wondered who the object of John's affections could be, and remembered that he had seen John driving Sarah Hilty home after the most recent Singing. Jacob smiled. They would make a lovely couple. The two said their goodbyes, and John went into the store while Jacob walked down the street to an antique store.

  The china gift was supposed to be practical, and Jacob could not see any practical china in the antique store. He saw delicate teapots as well as cup and saucer sets in fine china, all of which looked as if they would break at the very fir
st opportunity. Jacob wondered, if they truly were antiques, how they had survived so long. Jacob spent longer than he thought in the musty antique store, for he was distracted by a variety of fascinating antique tools.

  Jacob gave up and decided to return home, but as he was on his way back, he passed a little specialty coffee store which featured exotic teas and coffees in the window. But what caught his eye, was a teapot adorned by cats. Esther had always wanted a kitten, and she loved her meadow tea; this gift would be ideal for her.

  Jacob stood and looked. The teapot was sturdy enough. Some in the community would consider it too ornamental, but Esther would love it. Besides, Esther's daed's familye, like his own familye, was not as strict as most of the other familyes in the community. Esther's mudder's familye, however, was from one of the strictest, and he figured she would not approve. Yet what mattered most to him, was that Esther herself would love the little teapot.

  Who I am fooling anyway? Jacob asked himself. I'm ab im kopp, crazy. Esther's never going to marry me. And so, with indecision, Jacob stood, looking in the window at the little teapot, with the clock under his arm. I expect I'll get married one day, he thought sadly, and whoever she is, I'll give her this clock, so it won't be wasted.

  Then his mind changed again. He remembered his daed's favorite saying, "Guut gewetzt iss halwer gemaeht." Well begun is half done.

  I'll buy the teapot, he thought. What can it hurt? I won't give up Esther without a good fight.

  Jacob went into the store and asked to see the cat teapot. The label said that it held four cups of tea. That meant one for him, one for Esther, and one each for two of their kinner when they were old enough to drink tea. Jacob blushed furiously at the thought. I'm getting way ahead of myself here, he silently scolded himself.