The Teacher's Bride

by Kathleen Fuller

Patience nodded. “Of course.” The women stood from the couch.

  “Do you mind watching Solomon for a few minutes, Ruby?” Irene asked. “He probably won’t wake up. He didn’t sleep well last night, and he was tired this morning.”

  Ruby nodded, and the women left. She scooted to the edge of her chair. The playpen was in plain sight, and she could see the rise and fall of Solomon’s soft breathing through the white mesh of the pen. A shock of red hair stood straight up on top of his small head, and he was a bit chunky. He was also adorable.

  She couldn’t help but smile. Children were such a blessing. She couldn’t wait to become a mother someday. Hopefully sooner than later.

  A few minutes later, Irene and Patience entered the living room. Just as Irene predicted, Solomon had kept sleeping. But he must have sensed his mother was back, because he let out a small cry. His eyes opened, and he fussed a little more.

  Irene bent over and picked up her son. He laid his head on her shoulder and she patted his back.

  “I’ll be back to check on you next month,” Patience said. “But if you have any questions or problems, you let me know right away.”

  “I will. Danki, Patience.”

  As Ruby and Patience climbed into the buggy, Ruby thought about how impressed she was. Patience was kind and professional with both Sadie and Irene. Ruby didn’t know much about what a midwife did, other than help with the birth of babies, but she could see there was more to it than that. Patience was an encourager, a confidante, and someone her patients depended on. She was a wonderful midwife who knew what she was doing.

  They headed in the opposite direction of Irene’s to pick up Tobias and Luke, who’d been spending the day with Patience’s parents. Timothy had gone to a livestock auction with Jalon Chupp and Adam Chupp, cousins who owned a large farm, a little more than two miles from the Glicks’. Ruby was beginning to learn who was who in the community.

  She glanced at the landscape as Patience drove. Unlike where she lived in Lancaster, which was busy not only with Amish but plenty of English—both residents and tourists—she hadn’t seen too many cars on the roads out here. Birch Creek inhabitants didn’t experience the bustle of traffic, the smell of exhaust, or the blare of a car horn from an impatient driver. In this area were acres of country land, some with houses, gardens, and farms. Others were large, unspoiled fields. Ruby’s last visit here had been a short one, but now she had time to take in the beauty of Birch Creek.

  “I hope you weren’t too bored today,” Patience said, interrupting Ruby’s thoughts.

  “Nee, not at all. Yer job seems fulfilling.”

  “It is. I plan to be a midwife as long as God allows.”

  Ruby nodded. It must be nice to be that fulfilled, that secure in knowing that what you’re doing is part of God’s plan. She had always felt so adrift, working a few different jobs but nothing ever really sticking. She’d been a clerk in a store for a little while, but the job was uninteresting, and her boss wasn’t too happy when she knocked over product displays two days in a row. She wasn’t too upset when she left that position and started cleaning English houses. She cringed as she thought of that job. She’d been fired from it when she was dusting and accidentally broke a client’s expensive crystal vase that had been a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary present. That had taught her not to work around breakables.

  Then she worked on a dairy farm for a little while, which was why she felt confident offering her services to Timothy. But shortly after, the owner retired and sold off his stock. Jobs were a little hard for her to find after that, so she took in sewing and babysat when she could. She didn’t mind sewing too much, and of course she enjoyed babysitting. But neither job brought in much money or the type of fulfillment Patience had in her work.

  “Have you ever thought about being a midwife?” Patience asked.

  Surprised at the idea, she shook her head. “Nee. I wouldn’t be gut at it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I’d be worried that something would geh wrong. It’s too important a job for me to do.”

  Patience smiled. “That’s why you train for it. If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

  Ruby looked at her. “Are you saying you need an assistant?”

  Patience shrugged as she pulled the buggy into her parents’ driveway. “I’ve been thinking about it. A lot of bopplin have been born in Birch Creek lately. Fortunately, the births were spread out over time, but if the community keeps growing at this pace, I won’t be able to keep up.” She pulled the buggy to a stop and turned to Ruby. “You’re still not sure when you’re going home, ya?”

  Ruby nodded.

  “Don’t you miss Lancaster? Yer friends, yer familye . . . maybe even someone special is waiting for you?”

  She couldn’t think of a single person who would miss her. All her childhood friends were married and starting their own families. Over the past two years they had all become more distant. They seemed to want to talk about only one topic— their husbands and children. The ones who didn’t have any children yet wanted to talk about their future children. She had nothing to add to those conversations, so she stopped engaging in them.

  Then there were her parents. They were probably glad to be rid of her for a while. She knew they loved her, but they were often frustrated with her, and she felt guilty about that. And she was keenly aware of having zero marriage prospects back home. What was the point in going back there? She threaded her fingers together in her lap. “I need a change of scenery,” she said.

  “Or a new start?”

  Her gaze shot up at her sister-in-law. Did Patience suspect something? She wouldn’t be surprised. She’d caught Ruby staring at Chris Ropp in church Sunday—not that she was interested in him. Patience was smart, but could she draw the correct conclusion from that? Ruby decided she couldn’t, but she vowed to be more careful with her words and actions.

  Patience didn’t seem bothered that Ruby hadn’t answered her question. “Why don’t you pray about it?” she said.

  “Staying in Birch Creek?”

  “About being mei assistant.” She tilted her head, her expression pensive. Then she smiled. “I would love for you to help me.”

  Ruby could hardly believe Patience was serious. “You’re not afraid I’ll ruin something?”

  She chuckled. “Of course not. You worry too much about making mistakes, Ruby. That might be part of the reason you make so many.” Before Ruby could respond, Patience got out of the buggy and looped the reins around the hitching post.

  Well, no one had put it to her that way before. Was that why she was so clumsy and awkward? Because she was tense all the time? She realized some truth was in those words, but she didn’t believe that was the only reason. As much as she could remember, she hadn’t been tense as a child, yet she’d caused plenty of problems then. The bathed cat and the burned barns were prime examples. With her track record, it was hard not to be stressed—which meant she had to think carefully about Patience’s offer.

  Patience’s parents, Josiah and Mary Anne, were a kind couple. They were also weary looking after spending the morning and part of the afternoon with a baby and a toddler. Ruby eagerly gathered Luke in her arms and snuggled him against her while Patience picked up Tobias and spoke with her mother. Her father plopped down in a chair.

  “This is why you have kinner when you’re young,” he said.

  “Those buwe are full of energy.”

  “They take after their father,” Patience said.

  “More like their mamm,” Mary Anne corrected. “You were a handful when you were young.”

  “Really?” Ruby was surprised to hear this.

  “Absolutely. When she was little we had to lock the doors so she wouldn’t escape.”

  “She liked to explore.” Her daed scratched his gray beard.

  “Usually in the middle of the night.”

  Patience laughed. “I grew out of that phase, though.”

  “You did. But until
then you kept us both busy.”

  Luke tugged on the ribbon of Ruby’s kapp. So she hadn’t been the only rambunctious child in the world, although her parents seemed to believe she had. Then again, Timothy had always been the perfect child. Always followed the rules, never got in trouble, made straight As in school, kept the same job from age fourteen to when he moved away. Until he married Patience. When he left for Birch Creek, her parents, especially her mother, were heartbroken. Since they didn’t like to travel, they had visited Timothy and Patience only two times in the past five years. But her mother wrote to him often, and, dutiful son that he was, he wrote back. He and Patience had also visited Lancaster several times, making sure the grandparents got to see their grandsons. Which was the perfect thing to do.

  Ruby had yet to hear from her parents, and she’d been in Birch Creek a week. She frowned as she gently took the string of her kapp out of Luke’s hand. How hard was it to send them a letter? Or even a postcard? Then again, she hadn’t written or called them either, so she had no right to complain.

  When they arrived back at Timothy and Patience’s house, Patience settled Luke down for an afternoon nap in his crib. Ruby figured the baby should nap well since he’d been fighting sleep on the buggy ride home. While Patience was upstairs with Luke, Ruby helped Tobias select a children’s book off the bottom shelf of the short bookcase against the wall in the living room. He wanted to hear nursery rhymes, so Ruby pulled out a book whose cover had a picture of a goose wearing a frilly bonnet. She handed the book to Tobias, and he drifted to the couch and climbed up on it. Ruby sat down next to him and started to read.

  Hickory, dickory, dock.

  The mouse ran up the clock.

  The clock struck one,

  The mouse ran down,

  Hickory, dickory, dock.

  “Mamm” Tobias said, pointing to the book. “Goose. Goose.” Patience, who had entered the room while Ruby read, nodded. “That’s yer favorite, isn’t it?”

  Tobias took the book from Ruby’s hands and held it out to

  Patience. “Read. Read.”

  “Ruby’s reading to you, Tobias.”

  With a shake of his head, he said, “I want you.”

  “It’s okay,” Ruby said, getting up from the couch. “He hasn’t seen you all day.”

  “All right.” Patience sat down and took the book from Tobias. As she started reading about going around a mulberry bush, Ruby slipped into kitchen.

  She thought about her parents again. She really should call them. Maybe they did miss her. She had to admit she was missing them, along with the pot roast and potatoes Mamm always made on Saturday nights. About now the rich scent of the roast would be wafting around the house, and her mother would be putting finishing touches on a peach pie or banana pudding, two of her father’s favorite desserts. Thinking about that made her hungry and also a little homesick. She hadn’t expected to be.

  Ruby went through the mudroom, out the back door, and around the house. The phone shanty was at the end of the driveway. She shut its door behind her, but then cracked it open. It had been a warm day, and the shanty was stuffy.

  She dialed her home phone number. After five rings, she almost hung up, thinking her mother was probably too busy making supper to answer the phone. She was putting the receiver back in the cradle when she heard her mother say, “Hello?”

  Ruby brought the phone to her ear and smiled. “Hello, Mamm.” It was so nice to hear her voice.

  “It’s about time you called, Ruby. How is Timothy doing?”

  “He’s fine.” She leaned against the wall of the shanty, anticipating her mother’s next questions. “The buwe are doing well and so is Patience. Timothy has a terrific familye”

  “Is he getting enough rest? I worry about him working too hard. He always gives one hundred percent in everything he does.”

  She’d heard that a time or two before. She also decided not to tell her mother that Timothy might be overworked. “He’s getting plenty of sleep, Mamm”

  “What about eating? When he came to visit last year, he looked a little thin.”

  Ruby sighed. Apparently Mamm would never stop fretting over Timothy, even though he was a grown man. “He’s fine, Mudder. Patience takes gut care of him.”

  “Humph. I’m not so sure about that.”

  “How are you and Daed doing?” Ruby asked, deciding to change the subject.

  “We’re fine.” Ruby listened as her mother detailed what she and her father had been doing for the past week, which mostly consisted of Daed working at his job as a bricklayer and Mamm visiting various friends in the community, followed up with delicious suppers and tranquil evenings. “It’s been quiet and peaceful,” she said. “Just the way we like it.”

  Ruby swallowed. “I’m glad.”

  “I need to finish up supper now. Tell Timothy how much we miss him. And make sure you stay out of trouble. Don’t be a bother to yer bruder”

  “I won’t—” But Mamm had already hung up.

  Ruby set the receiver in its cradle and stepped out of the shanty, her throat tight. She didn’t ask how I was doing. Didn’t say she missed me. Maybe that was because she didn’t. Peaceful and quiet. The way we like it. Clearly, they were happier when she wasn’t around.

  Fine. They could feel that way for now. And for now, she didn’t even need them. She had her own goal to reach, one she hadn’t thought much about this past week. She was changing that right now. She was going to get married, and when she did she would move to Birch Creek permanently. Then her parents would miss her. Respect her. Want her around.

  She wiped her burning eyes and headed down the road. She would need to put her plan in motion, and fast. Except she realized her plan wasn’t much of a plan beyond “find a husband.” Then she remembered the singing Martha mentioned. That was happening tomorrow evening. Wonderful. At the singing she would take a first step to becoming someone’s bride. As far as she knew, she’d have her pick of candidates. Seth Yoder immediately came to mind, but she mentally set him to the side. She needed to keep her options open. Although he is very schee . . .

  Ruby wasn’t sure how long she’d been walking down the road when a massive tree caught her attention. She stopped, amazed by its size and splendor. The tree was situated in a large pasture, which surprisingly, since it was perfect for grazing cows, had tall grass and no fencing.

  She turned her attention back to the tree. An oak that huge must have been growing in this field for years, and the trunk was thicker than any she’d ever seen. Curious, she walked toward it, feeling a slight change of temperature as she walked under the cooling shade of its immense canopy. She touched the bark of the tree as she began to circle it. She imagined the stories a tree like this could tell.

  Suddenly she stubbed her toe on something. Assuming it was one of the tree roots that had made its way above ground, she looked down, determined to watch her step. Wait, it wasn’t a tree root. She’d hit her toe against a book. Someone must have left it here. The area did seem like a quiet place to read. Maybe a name was written inside the cover. If so, she would try to return the book to its owner.

  But when she bent to pick it up, she was startled by a loud snore. She lifted her gaze to see Chris Ropp leaning against the tree’s trunk, fast asleep.

  What was he doing out here? Quietly, she crouched, picked up the book, and rested her elbows on her knees as she looked at the title. A Man’s Guide to Understanding Women. She let out a chuckle and then slapped her hand over her mouth.

  Chris opened one eye and then the other. They both grew wide and he sat up straight. He blinked once before snatching the book from her hands. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  She hurried to stand, lost her balance, and landed on her behind.

  He was on his feet by now. His blue-eyed gaze bore into her. “Were you spying on me?”

  “Nee.” She clambered to her feet and brushed the grass off the back of her dress. “I don’t spy on people.” She couldn’t
help but glance at the book in his hand.

  He put both hands behind him. “If you’re not sneaking around, then why are you here?”

  That was a nosy question. “I could ask you the same thing.” Unless he owned this pasture, which meant he owned this tree. Which meant he had every right to be here and she . . . didn’t.

  He lifted his chin. “I’m always here on Saturday afternoons, weather permitting. I enjoy the peaceful setting. It allows me to read, to contemplate, and to pray.”

  “And to understand women, apparently,” she mumbled.

  Chris’s cheeks turned slightly red. “My reading material is none of your business.”

  “Do you really think you’ll figure out women by reading a book?”

  He averted his gaze while somehow still managing to come across as haughty. “I have learned a great many things from books.” He turned to her. “You should try reading one.”

  Did he think she was dumb? Of all the nerve. “I read plenty of books,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Oh? What genres do you enjoy?”

  “I like, um . . .” Oh dear. When was the last time she’d read a book? Not lately, she had to admit. But she would admit that to herself, not to him. “I like fiction,” she said. There. That should satisfy him.

  “Any particular kind?”

  She grimaced. “There’s more than one kind?”

  He shook his head. “Never mind.” He picked up his hat from the ground and started to move past her.

  “You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

  He waved his hand at her in a dismissive gesture. “I don’t know you well enough to make that assessment.”

  “But you just insulted me.” She dropped her arms and put her hands to her sides. “More than once . . . I think.”

  He paused and then he turned and faced her. “I apologize, then. But I’m not the only one at fault here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I find it incredibly rude that you would not only sneak up on me while I was napping, but then be meddlesome enough to peruse my reading material.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She had never heard anyone speak so formally in her life. “Why aren’t you speaking Dietsch?”