Falling for the amish ba.., p.1
Falling for the Amish Bad Boy, page 1
“My dat can be a handful...”
“I’m not worried about that.” Jack pulled off his sunglasses to meet Beth’s gaze. “I reckon he’d stay right here with us.”
She eyed him suspiciously, trying to figure out why he was so set on her dat being here. Did he really want him or did he have some ulterior motive? “Why would you want to take responsibility for him? He’s not your dat.”
“Because he wants to be here.” His grin was lazy. “And because I like you, Beth. I like doing something nice for a pretty girl like yourself.”
Beth’s mouth went dry and she stared at him for a moment, his comment taking her completely off guard.
Was he flirting with her?
She quickly looked away. She prided herself in being a person who always knew what to do and say in any situation, but not this time. Men as good-looking and confident as Jack didn’t flirt with women like her. They flirted with girls like her sister. He couldn’t possibly be interested in her.
Could he?
Emma Miller lives quietly in her old farmhouse in rural Delaware. Fortunate enough to have been born into a family of strong faith, she grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by loving parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Emma was educated in local schools and once taught in an Amish schoolhouse. When she’s not caring for her large family, reading and writing are her favorite pastimes.
Books by Emma Miller
Love Inspired
Seven Amish Sisters
Her Surprise Christmas Courtship
Falling for the Amish Bad Boy
The Amish Spinster’s Courtship
The Christmas Courtship
A Summer Amish Courtship
An Amish Holiday Courtship
Courting His Amish Wife
Their Secret Courtship
The Amish Matchmaker
A Match for Addy
A Husband for Mari
A Beau for Katie
A Love for Leah
A Groom for Ruby
A Man for Honor
Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.
FALLING FOR THE AMISH BAD BOY
Emma Miller
With God all things are possible.
—Matthew 19:26
For Candace, a compeer and friend who has become family.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from The Widow’s Hidden Past by Rebecca Kertz
Chapter One
Beth adjusted the reins in her gloved hands and eased out onto the blacktop road in the family wagon. Her father’s mild-mannered driving horse lifted his velvety nose and took a deep breath of the fresh spring air as he fell into an easy trot.
“I’m glad you decided to come with me,” Beth told her sister Willa, seated on the wooden bench beside her. “You needed to get out of the house and it’s such a perfect day for a ride.” She lifted her chin to enjoy the heat of the sun’s rays. It had been raining for days, which was good for the soil but tiresome after a long winter. Spring was finally in the air, and Beth felt more alive than she had in a long time.
“Ya, it was time. I can’t hide from Jack forever.” Willa, the prettiest of her six sisters, chewed on her bottom lip. “I know that.”
Taking the reins in one hand, Beth squeezed Willa’s with the other. “He’s not worth another moment of unhappiness. You know that, ya? It’s time to put Jack Lehman behind you. It’s a beautiful day, and there are as many boys out there waiting to walk out with you as blades of new grass.”
Willa chuckled and glanced at the field across the street from their farm. Elden Yoder, betrothed to her twin sister, Millie, was pulling a plow behind his workhorse in the distance. He was too far away for them to call to him, but both sisters raised their hands in greeting and he waved back.
A gentle breeze ruffled tendrils of hair that had escaped Beth’s black wool scarf she wore tied beneath her chin. She hadn’t bothered to put on a white prayer kapp for their outing because they were only going to Raber’s Seed & Feed store three miles from home. When they returned from fetching the chicken mash, she and Willa would mop every floor in their farmhouse. There was something about spring-cleaning that Beth always loved. Every year when the crocuses began to peek out of the soil in flower beds, around trees and alongside the road, she felt a renewed sense of well-being. “To everything there is a season.” That’s what the Bible said.
The last two years had been a season of sadness. Their mother had fallen ill with kidney disease and passed away. Around the same time, their dat was diagnosed with early-onset dementia, so in many ways, they lost him, too. Or rather they were losing him, one day at a time. As Beth and her sisters had ridden the waves of grief, they had clung together, reminding each other that it wasn’t their place to question God’s will. While they sought firm ground again, they tried to focus on all they had, not what they didn’t have, and God’s goodness was always the first of their thanksgivings. They simply needed time to adjust to the changes in their lives.
For Beth, however, it hadn’t been until her sister Millie’s romance with their handsome neighbor that she began to feel a lightness in her heart. And now, with the sun shining brightly on her face and the scent of freshly turned soil on the breeze, she was beginning to feel like herself again. For two years, she’d been going through the motions of being Beth Koffman, but she’d felt like a shadow of the girl she had been. It was as if she were watching herself go through the motions of life, but not living them. Now, at last, it seemed as if she was coming into a season of happiness. She didn’t know what had given her this morning’s sense of hope and joy in the simple things in life, but she didn’t care.
“Jack isn’t worth a tear, schweschter,” Willa mused firmly. “I know he wasn’t the man I thought he was. He isn’t worth all this fuss.” She picked at a piece of fuzz on her pristine white apron. Like Beth, she wore a homemade dress, a denim-cloth jacket and a scarf tied beneath her chin. Willa lifted her pert nose and sniffed. “I don’t know what made me think he was a man I would want to marry. He’ll be blessed if he ever finds a wife. Certainly not anyone in Honeycomb would have him. Not a cheater like him.”
Beth slowed Joe, turned off their street onto Clover Road and passed an Amish schoolhouse.
“Not a cheater like him,” she agreed.
When Willa broke up with Jack, no one in their family was surprised. They hadn’t seemed to have much in common, and Jack had a reputation as a lady’s man. In many of their elders’ eyes, he’d dated far more young women than was appropriate. It wasn’t the Amish way, at least not the way it had been for hundreds of years. Their Old Order community encouraged young men and women of marrying age to meet and spend time together in groups, but with the intent of looking for a spouse. Couples were not supposed to date in the English way, but rather with the specific intention of marrying. When a single man and a single woman were seen together at multiple public events in Honeycomb, they were supposed to be either betrothed or about to announce their betrothal. And if a couple was dating, spending time with someone else was greatly frowned upon.
“Looks like Raber’s is busy today,” Willa observed.
Ahead, Beth spotted Raber’s store, located on Jessop and Sissy Raber’s farm. Like many Amish families in Kent County, as income from crops had dwindled, the Rabers sought other ways to care for their family financially. For them, opening their own feed business to sell to their Amish and English neighbors was even more successful than they’d thought possible. Three years ago, they’d been selling bags of grain out of an old chicken coop with a roof that leaked. But last year they’d been able to put up a building that was as nice as any feedstore in Dover.
Beth eased the wagon off the road and into the gravel parking lot with a skilled, gentle hand. Knowing it was a necessary skill for a female, her dat had taught all his daughters how to drive a horse and wagon from a young age. And while he respected the Amish way of traditional male and female roles, he’d always made it clear that, like their mother, they could do anything they put their mind to. With no sons to till his fields or run to the feedstore on an errand, his daughters had always done chores at his side, and he had always taken pride in their abilities.
There were several horse-drawn buggies and wagons in the parking lot along with three pickup trucks and a minivan. Careful not to disturb the other horses, Beth eased into a spot at the end of a long hitching post. “What do you think about running over to say hi to Rosie after we finish up here?” she asked her sister. She wanted to make Willa’s first outing in weeks, except to go to church, an enjoyable one, but she didn’t want to push her.
Rosie was Beth’s Mennonite friend who lived near the Rabers. She had welcomed the idea of a neighborhood general store an d had asked if they’d like to try selling her homemade ice cream there.
“When I saw Rosie at Byler’s yesterday, she said she was working on new recipes. She wanted me to stop by and try some.” Beth laughed. “She said she needs someone to eat the ice cream because she’s running out of room for meat and vegetables in her freezer.” When she looked at her sister, she could tell that Willa was contemplating the additional stop. “Rosie made waffle cones...” she said, trying to make the treat sound as tempting as possible. Willa loved ice cream cones. “I want to try the pistachio chocolate chunk.”
Willa turned to Beth, her hands folded on her lap. “I suppose it’s time I get back out of the house. I can’t let Jack ruin my life.” Her lower lip quivered and her brow furrowed as if she were about to cry. “Even if I did think he was going to marry me.”
Beth squeezed her sister’s hand again. “He’s not worth another tear. You’re far too good for him. Too pretty,” she added, knowing that while vanity was not encouraged in their faith, Willa liked to be reminded of how attractive she was.
Willa flashed a smile. “Oll recht.”
“All right?” Beth asked as she wrapped the leather reins around the hand brake and swung her legs over to get down and tie up the horse.
“All right,” Willa repeated with a firm nod. “Let’s go see Rosie after we’re done here and have some ice cream. And maybe we can take some home for Dat.” She lowered herself from the wagon. “You know how much he loves chocolate ice cream. You think she has chocolate?”
Beth smiled at her sister as she walked beside her on the concrete sidewalk and headed for the steps that led to a loading platform that ran along the front of the newly constructed block building. “I know she does!”
As they made their way toward the door, Beth nodded to two elderly Amish brothers from their church district. They were seated on opposite sides of an old wooden barrel on the loading platform, a checkerboard on top. According to one of their granddaughters, the Zook brothers spent hours playing checkers there each day, which kept them out of trouble. “Amos. Bert.” She nodded. In their eighties, both men were widowers and lived together in a dawdi haus on Amos’s grandson’s farm.
“Beth,” Amos said. “Willa. How’s your dat doing?” He spoke in Pennsylvania Deitsch, even though he could speak English like all the Amish in Honeycomb over the age of six. “You should bring him over to play checkers sometime.”
Beth nodded. “Ya, maybe I will,” she agreed, even though she doubted it would ever happen. Her father knew how to play checkers, but how long would it be before he couldn’t? When he’d first been diagnosed, the family had thought he was just forgetful, but he suffered more bouts of confusion as time passed. His doctor said there was no way to predict how quickly his dementia would progress. They only knew that it would become worse.
Beth walked through the double doors left open to invite in the fragrant spring breeze. Not only did Jessop sell grain and hay but also a bit of everything one might need to run a farm and care for barnyard animals. He sold items like fencing, animal dewormer and even seeds for planting. There were rows and rows of neatly stocked shelves with various assorted items, and Beth always enjoyed coming in to see what was new in stock.
“I’ll order the feed. You want to see if they’ve got any fly spray for the horses? Dat is worried about flies with the warmer weather coming and he doesn’t want to see them suffer,” Beth told Willa as she pointed down a row of shelves. “Halfway down, I think. Near the flea powder.”
Beth and Willa split up, and Beth headed for the front counter. Besides the handful of customers walking around, there were three people in line ahead of her: two Amish men and an Englisher. She knew both Amish men and nodded to them. Both men returned with greetings.
“Guder mariye.”
“Guder dawg.”
She smiled at them and glanced at the checkout counter. Jessop Raber, who was about her father’s age, was ringing up the Englisher’s purchases and chatting as he dropped items into a plain brown paper bag. Beth was taking her place at the end of the line when, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a young Amish man coming around the endcap of an aisle at the far side of the store. He looked enough like Jack Lehman that she did a double take.
Then she realized it was Jack Lehman.
“Willa!” Beth called, hurrying toward her sister. “Don’t worry about the spray.” She thought maybe she could get Willa back to the wagon before Jack and her sister saw each other. This was the first day Willa had left their farm of her own free will. Beth knew she wasn’t ready to see him. “We can get it—”
“Willa,” Jack called out.
Beth squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief. What were the chances Willa would have come to the feedstore at the exact moment as Jack?
Willa, who had a can of fly spray in her hand, looked up, wondering who had called her name. Not seeing Jack, she met Beth’s gaze in apparent confusion.
“Come on.” Beth waved to her. “Let’s go.”
“Go? But you didn’t pay for the grain yet. I thought—” Then Willa saw him and let out a sound of surprise.
Willa clamped her hand on her mouth and turned and ran toward Beth. Beth took the spray can from her sister, set it on a shelf, threw her arm around her waist and hurried her out the door.
“What’s he doing here?” Willa sobbed when they stepped out onto the loading dock.
The two elderly brothers playing checkers looked on in interest.
“It’s oll recht,” Beth assured her. “Let’s go home.”
Tears ran down Willa’s face. “But Dat asked you to get the chicken feed. We can’t go home without it.”
“I’ll get the feed tomorrow,” Beth assured her, speaking in a soothing tone.
“I know I have to see him at some point.” Willa lowered her head, pulling a fresh handkerchief from her apron pocket to delicately dab at her nose. Even when she cried, she was pretty. “But not yet. Why is he here?” she blubbered. “Why is he following me?”
Beth turned her back to the Zook brothers, blocking their view of Willa. She knew her sister wouldn’t want anyone to see her this way. “He’s not following you. You haven’t heard from nor seen him in weeks. He must’ve needed feed or something.”
“Willa?” came Jack’s tenor voice from inside the store. “Wait a minute. I want to talk to you.”
They spotted Jack through the open doors, striding in their direction.
Her heart fluttering, Beth clasped Willa’s forearms and looked directly into her teary eyes. “Go to the wagon. I’ll get the feed.” She released her. “Wait in the wagon. I’ll be right there.”
Willa hurried down the steps. At the same time, Beth saw Lavinia Yoder come up the walkway. She was Elden’s mother and would soon be their sister Millie’s mother-in-law. Of all the people walking into the store, she was the last person Beth wanted to see. The woman had a good heart, but she loved to gossip with her widowed friends. By church Sunday, everyone in Honeycomb would know that Jack and Willa had run into each other, and it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think there would be a lot of guesses as to what had transpired. Beth loved that their community was a close-knit one, but there were days when she longed for friends and neighbors who were a little less interested in everyone’s lives.
“Willa!” Jack called again.
Willa’s teary eyes widened as she gazed at Beth over her shoulder. “What about Jack?”
Beth set her jaw angrily. “I’ll take care of him.” Then she spun around and strode back through the door.
* * *
Jack was in such a hurry to catch Willa before she left that he almost ran smack into her sister in the doorway. Startled, he took an unbalanced step back and watched Willa rush down the steps. He looked at Beth.
Beth dropped her hands to her hips, blocking his way. She was wearing a rose-colored dress, and he noticed that the centers of her cheeks were the same hue. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
“What?” he asked, instinctively taking a step back.
“You heard me!” Beth pointed an accusing finger. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
