Courting Emily (A Wells Landing Book 2) (9 page)

Sunday dawned with blue skies and a thin layer of frost twinkling in the sunlight. So very soon temperatures would drop even lower and winter would officially come to Wells Landing.

Emily couldn’t say she liked winter, but she enjoyed the change from one season to the next. Oklahoma winters were unpredictable at best. The morning could be sixty-five and breezy, with snow falling the same day at sunset. Such changes were hard, but expected. Though she hoped tonight would be a little more even. Especially since the youth singing would be held at their house.

But first . . .

She turned the buggy into the Riehls’ driveway. So much for her mother sending Mary over to help. As the oldest, Emily felt she should be at home helping to get ready for the church service, taking care of the final details before everyone started arriving.

She parked her buggy and set the brake. For this trip she wouldn’t unhitch the horses. Soon enough they would be back on the road headed toward home.

Becky opened the door, a bright smile spreading across her face. “
Guder mariye,
Emily. Come in, come in.”

Emily stepped into the house and hugged her young friend.

“I was expecting Mary.”

“
Mamm
sent me instead.” She shrugged.

Becky smiled. “
Dat
will be pleased.”

The Riehl house on a church Sunday morning was a lot like the Ebersols’. The milking had been done long ago, but five girls were trying to get ready to go. Add in James who was so excited about attending church for the first time in a year, and the atmosphere was more than chaotic.

Emily brushed out Johanna’s hair and twisted it into a tidy knot at the back of her head. Then she pinned on her prayer
kapp
. She sent Johanna on her way, then did the same for Norma. In no time at all, the girls were dressed and ready to go.

“I want to ride with Emily.” James rubbed his hands together and grinned. Couldn’t they see how good this was for him? A high flush rode his cheeks, making him look like a kid at Christmas. His eyes twinkled, and his lips had curved into a permanent smile.

“The sun is awfully bright today.” Joy shaded her eyes and cast a concerned glance toward James.

“I almost forgot.” Emily pulled out the dark sunglasses she had bought for just this occasion and handed them to James.

He slid them on his face. If anything, his grin grew even wider as he swung his gaze from one side of the yard to the other.

“It’ll help with the glare and your headaches,” Emily explained.

The family seemed to hold its collective breath.

“That is against the
Ordnung,
” Joy whispered.

Elam frowned.

“I have it on good authority that the bishop does not object.”

Everyone relaxed. Except for Elam. What was his problem today? Was it outside help that he objected to or her in general?

“
Danki,
Emily.” James grabbed her hand much like Johanna would have and squeezed her fingers.

“You’re welcome.”

Then he turned his head, this way and that, as if posing for invisible cameras. “Do I look like a movie star?”

Everyone laughed. Except for Elam, of course.

“An Amish movie star.” Ruthie chuckled.

“Maybe you could be on one of those television shows,” Becky said.

“What do you know of those shows?” Elam scowled at his sister.

Becky mumbled something and looked off over the pasture.

“We’d better go if we want to get there in time.” Emily had to say something to break the tension. Hadn’t Elam said he wanted Becky to enjoy her
rumspringa?
What harm was there in a little bit of television? Emily had certainly never been afforded such freedoms during her own run-around time. Sometimes being the bishop’s daughter was harder than anyone knew.

“I want to ride with
Dat,
too.” Norma took his hand into hers and bounced on the balls of her feet.

The twins joined in, chanting that they wanted to ride to church with their
vatter
as well.

Elam let out a shrill whistle that Emily was certain he used to summon his livestock. “Of course everyone is going to ride with Dat. Now get in the buggy.
Dummle
. Hurry, before we are late.”

James crossed his arms and frowned, looking all the more like a spoiled
Englisch
movie star in Plain clothes. “I am riding with Emily.”

All at once the chatter began again as the girls argued as to who would ride with Emily and their father.

Elam whistled again. It was a handy trick for sure.

The girls immediately fell silent.

“Not everyone can ride in Emily’s buggy,” Elam said.

Immediate protests sprang up.

Elam frowned.

As if sensing they had pushed their
bruder
beyond the limits of his good nature, the sisters fell silent once again.

Obviously he didn’t like the disobedience he received from his siblings. He had been head of the household for a year and evidently had grown accustomed to everyone following his orders.

“I could drive your buggy,” Emily said. “And you can drive mine.”

The buggy she’d brought could only comfortably seat four, but the Riehls’ buggy could hold the entire family.

“That’s a perfect idea.” Joy nodded.

Elam looked like he wanted to protest, but the words didn’t come.

The girls cheered, and they scrambled into the large buggy without another word.

Elam helped his father climb inside. He was still frowning, his scowl the direct opposite of his father’s soppy grin.

“He’ll be fine,” Emily said quietly. She didn’t receive so much as a grunt in response. Had Elam even heard her?

He slid the door closed. “Hang on here, if you feel dizzy.”

James patted his son’s hand where it rested in the open widow of the buggy. “I am fine. Emily will take
gut
care of me.”

Elam gave a stern nod, then disappeared from view.

Emily set the horses in motion.

James laughed and grabbed his hat as they started down the road. Everyone seemed happy, content, even excited to be on their way to church.

Couldn’t Elam see that? His family needed normalcy, something to let them know that despite their hardships, God was good and watching over them all.

 

 

“Why such a look, Elam?”
Mamm
asked him as they drove Emily’s small buggy back to her house.

He relaxed his features into what he hoped was an impassive expression. It seemed the more time he spent around the bishop’s oldest daughter, the more he scowled.

“No look,” he said.

But from the frown on
Mamm
’s face she wasn’t convinced. “I think perhaps this has something to do with our new helper.”

“I don’t want to talk about Emily Ebersol.” His voice came out sterner than he intended.

“Why not?”

Elam shook his head. The woman had upset everything about his way of living. She had come in unwanted and started rearranging what Elam had spent the last year carefully stacking into place.

How could he explain that to
Mamm?

“She would make a good
fraa
.”

Elam grunted. “So you’ve said.” She would make a
gut
wife for someone. Nor would he admit that out loud. She was kind and caring, beautiful even with her chocolate brown hair and eyes the color of twilight. She was smart and brave, but her heart belonged to Luke Lambright.

“Do you really think I don’t know?”

He turned his attention from the road to stare at her. His heart gave a hard pound of apprehension. “Know what?”

“That you are in love with Emily.”

An immediate protest sprang to his lips. “She is in love with someone else.”

Mamm
shook her head. “Luke Lambright is not coming back here, and Emily’s not leaving her family. Seems to me you have a
gut
opportunity to show her you care.”

He pulled his gaze from
Mamm
’s to stare over the swaying rears of the horses. “I don’t know.”

“I do.” He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye. “It would help if you would stop glowering at her whenever she gets near.”

“I don’t glower,” he lied.

“You do.” A small laugh escaped her. “How is she supposed to know you care if you keep trying to scare her away?” She stopped. “That is it,
jah?
You don’t want her to know that you care.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said, feeling very much like a bug trapped in a jar. “She is a menace.” A beautiful menace, for sure.

“Mm-hmm,”
Mamm
murmured. “Be sure to add these lies to your prayer list today.”

 

 

Back before Elam could even remember, Bishop Riehl had built on a special room to his house for when church services were held there. The room was open and airy with large unadorned windows that let nature be a part of the service. Elam wasn’t sure which he liked best: the dark cool services held in the barns or the bright service held in what the Ebersols referred to as the “bonus room.”

He supposed it served two purposes. It gave them extra room for when they hosted church. But it also gave the family a place to gather to play games and enjoy each other’s company.

Today it was filled with rows of benches from the bench wagon. As usual, there was a walkway through the middle. The women gathered on one side and the men on the other. Special cushioned seats had been set up across the back for the elderly and infirm.

“James, you sit here.” Emily guided him to one of those chairs and held his arm to steady him while he lowered himself into the seat. He was still wearing those dark glasses. If anyone thought it strange, they hadn’t said. More than anything, the district seemed happy to see James up and about.

“And you sit here.” He patted the seat next to him.

“I’ll sit with you,” Elam said.

“But I want Emily to sit here.”

“I don’t mind,” she said.

But Elam did.

He bit back his protests. Everything that sprang to mind seemed petty and unwarranted. Emily was only trying to help, but his pride had reared its ugly head. She wanted to help now. But where had she been the past year?

He tamped down the memories of her bringing by casseroles and pies those first couple of months.

If he could admit the truth to himself, then he needed to stay a little angry at her. Otherwise he might find himself head over heels for her once again.

 

 

The three-hour service seemed to fly by for Emily. Maybe it was because James found such joy in the Word. He kept his glasses on during the service to help with the glare streaming in from the large windows, but she could tell. He only took his gaze from the speaker when the congregation was asked to kneel and pray.

His happiness was nearly tangible like the heat rising off the pavement in August. She could feel the elation he had for being out, being in church, and just being.

At the end of the service, the benches were flipped over and pushed together to make tables for the food service. Both Joy and Elam tried to take over the care of James, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He looped his arm through Emily’s for balance and did his best to talk to everyone he saw.

Emily could tell it was both fun and hard for him. Some people he remembered right off, while others had names that eluded him. In the end, she would allow him a chance to remember, then she’d whisper the name as to not allow him to get frustrated.

“Will you eat with me?” James asked as the women began serving the meal.

Emily hesitated. The men were served first, then the women and children. As in church, the males and females separated from each other, sometimes even sitting across the yard from one another.

“I know that it’s not . . . not . . .”

“Customary?” she supplied.

James smiled. “
Jah,
but I want to talk with you more.”

“Okay,” she said, unable to refuse him. He was such a kind soul. His family had been through so much. If he wanted to talk while they ate, then that was what they would do. If the church elders had a problem with it, then she would deal with it later. “I will find us some place shady to eat.”

James gave a small nod. He looked tired, as if the morning had been too much for him.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home and rest?”

“
Nay,
” he said. “I can rest next Sunday.”

She made them both a plate and together they walked to the shade of the large maple tree. Already the leaves had begun to change, turning a brilliant orange against the clear blue sky.

They garnered a few looks as they settled down together under the branches, but no one said a word. Among those looks was the hard stare of Elam Riehl. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or thoughtful.

“My son is jealous,” James said as if he could read her thoughts.

“W-what?” she stammered.

James took a bite of the cheese and cracker stacks she had made for him. She had purposefully chosen food he could eat with his fingers, things he wouldn’t spill with his unsteady hands. “I think he would rather be over here eating with a pretty
maedel
instead of with the men.”

Emily laughed. “Did you do this on purpose?”

James dropped his chin to his chest, but not before she caught the quick flash of his grin. “
Jah
. A man must seize his opportunities.”

“Is that what you call it?”

“For sure and for certain.”

They ate in a comfortable silence while everyone around them chatted amongst themselves. James seemed to be content to just be outside, be among the others, even if he couldn’t participate as he had before the accident.