Promised to Another (5 page)

He slid open a drawer and reached underneath his socks, pulling out the letter, which he’d received that day. He’d started to read it earlier, but Luke had come around, giving orders that he expected Joshua to obey right away. Joshua hated taking orders from his host’s prodigal son, but didn’t know what else to do. The son would be favored over the transplant. Henry Schwartz had made that more than clear from the beginning. “Nein transplant will be working in my business,” he’d said.

Joshua walked over to the narrow cot and sank down onto the thin canvas, the metal bars biting into the backs of his legs. A wave of homesickness washed over him as he pulled the lined white paper out of the envelope, opened the tri-folded letter, and saw Mamm’s familiar scrawl. He could almost smell the maple scent he associated with home. His mouth watered, remembering the taste of homemade maple syrup on his tongue. He loved every step of the sugar mapling process and longed to participate in it this year.

After he’d satisfied his wanderlust, he’d return home to Pennsylvania. Well, maybe he wouldn’t even wait until then. His parents and he had agreed that he’d return before sugar season, in late February. As the only son—the only child—he was set to take over the family business and all of the sugar maple trees. But he’d wanted to see the world first, from Amish community to Amish community. He’d gone to Alaska with a bunch of Amish scouts, looking for land—an experience he’d relished, but the consensus had been that Alaska wouldn’t be a good place for the Amish to settle. Disappointing, really. Now, he was in Missouri. He’d go home, as planned, before the start of sugar season, when they would harvest the sap from the trees.

It was a bit dishonest, maybe, as he was supposed to be part of the man swap meant to introduce fresh blood into the Amish community in Seymour. But as long as he chose a frau from here, he would fulfill his duty, right?

Annie’s face flashed across his mind, and he frowned. He hadn’t even taken her out. Though he’d wanted to. Desperately. Their friendship was tenuous, at best. So, why was she the single woman who’d made any lasting impression on him? The only woman he’d noticed? The only girl he really wanted to get to know? The one who came to mind when he thought of marriage?

Something bumped against the door, and Joshua looked up, bracing himself for an interruption.

The door opened slowly, and Luke peeked inside. “What’s up?”

Joshua scowled. So much for reading in peace. He didn’t care for the Englisch slang that permeated Luke’s manner of speaking. He shrugged. “Not much.” His fingers tightened around the edge of his letter. Maybe he could finish reading it in the barn or someplace else where he could be alone.

Luke opened the door the rest of the way, stepped inside, and sat down on his bed. The bed Joshua had slept in before Luke’s return. A wave of body odor assaulted Joshua’s nose. “What do you think of Annie?”

Luke seemed a bit defensive, judging by his set jaw. Had he been drinking? Joshua sniffed the air again. He did pick up a kind of yeasty smell. “Uh, Annie who? There are several around here.” Might be best to play dumb.

“Annie Beiler.
My
Annie. I saw you talking with her.” Luke balled his fists, though they remained at his sides. “Walking in the woods with her.”

Joshua scooted away a bit, wondering if he should stand up or even make a hasty exit. He didn’t need to fight with his host’s eldest son. “Hmm. Did you?” Had Luke trailed them into the woods and seen their few moments of closeness? He hated the idea of someone observing that private moment, even though the entire scene was completely innocent. He hadn’t even thought of anything happening—at least, not until he’d felt that unexpected spark when he’d touched her and heard her gasp. She’d noticed it, too.

She’d noticed it, too.
He fought to keep his face stolid, in spite of the grin that threatened to form on his lips.

“She’s my girl.” Luke squirmed a bit, twisting to fully face him, anger coloring his voice. “Nein point in your meeting her outside the barn and going for a walk. She and I, we have an understanding. We’re getting married.”

“You were spying on us?” Joshua rose to his feet. “Any understanding you may have had was before you jumped the fence.”

“I asked her to kum with me. She didn’t want to leave her family.”

Joshua refolded his letter and stuffed it back into the envelope. “Is that so?”

“Jah. And now that I’m home…well, you’ll see.”

Home? What did Luke mean by that? He’d returned to the faith? Or, he was just physically present once more?

Joshua scowled but refrained from pointing out that Annie had refused to allow Luke to take her home the night before. Instead, he walked over to the window closest to the bedroom door and opened it. He heard muffled voices as the school board members said their good-byes.

A decision might have been made. He wished he knew what it was. Henry Schwartz would know, but Joshua doubted he’d tell him.

He turned around and studied Luke. “So, you think they decided to let
your
Annie go?” Ach, it hurt to include that possessive pronoun.

Luke shrugged. “Who cares? If she isn’t working there, she might be too ashamed to face the community and more willing to leave.”

“You aren’t planning on staying, then?” Joshua’s eyes widened. If Luke left again, his parents would really be hurt. And if he were only toying with Annie, getting her hopes up…now it was Joshua’s turn to ball his fists.

Luke pursed his lips and, without answering, got up and left the room.

Joshua slid the envelope back beneath his clean socks and shut the drawer. Luke had been warning him to stay away from Annie. He must have noticed something between them, too. His thoughts returned to the private moment at the spring.

A moment Luke might have witnessed.

Joshua sighed. Luke had a point. If Annie were fired, she might be more willing to leave the Amish. And that would give Luke the advantage. Not only that, but if the wedding were to go on as planned, or if she refused to leave this particular community, what was the point in even trying to win her?

She wouldn’t be willing to leave with Joshua, either.

He shook his head.

Pointless.

***

The next morning, Annie didn’t know whether to go to the schoolhaus or not. She hadn’t heard any news about the board’s decision. She hoped they wouldn’t show up when class was in session and humiliate her in front of her scholars. But, if they had decided to fire her, surely they would have the decency to come to the haus and let her know, instead of subjecting her to public humiliation.

Just in case they decided to come to the schoolhaus, maybe she should take the children on another field trip. One that was allowed, of course. Today would be a good day for a walk in the woods. They could collect different types of leaves to identity, or even use them for an art project. The youngest scholars could practice counting or naming colors or writing the letter
l
, for “leaf,” and
t
, for “tree.”

Her plan decided, Annie pulled on her brown dress and black apron, pinned her hair up, and covered it with her kapp, then headed downstairs to get started on her chores. Mamm stood by the stove, her walker in close proximity, as she stirred a kettle of oatmeal. “Gut morgen, Mamm.”

“Morgen, Annie. If we get enough eggs, I’m thinking of making custard for dinner. Does that sound gut to you?”

“Jah.” Annie grabbed her egg basket and went outside, but her stomach growled for breakfast.

“Gut morgen, Annie,” Daed called to her from the barn. “Beautiful day.”

“Jah. I thought I’d take the kinner for a nature walk this morgen. That way, we can enjoy this nice weather some.” The egg basket banged against her knees.

“I need to work more with the bees, too. I’m way behind with the honey harvest since your mamm’s accident. And I need to inoculate the bees before winter.” Daed scratched his bearded chin. “Yesterday, that bu from Pennsylvania, Joshua—the one living at the Schwartzes’—suited up and helped. Surprised me. Guess he liked the bees better than he does picking up rocks from that field.”

Her heart stuttered. Joshua had come to work with Daed? She forced her voice to remain neutral. “Is Henry Schwartz planning on doing something in that field?”

Daed chuckled. “If he were, I suspect it would’ve been done long ago. I think they just gave the bu something to keep him busy and out of the way until he found a job. Henry said he doesn’t want a transplant messing with his leather. That’s a family business.”

“Too bad Joshua hasn’t found a job.” Did she sound as interested as she felt? She didn’t want Daed knowing about her fascination with Joshua.

“Ach, I asked Joshua to kum work for me. Our Aaron doesn’t care much for the bees, and he doesn’t have a knack for tinkering with small machinery. Joshua didn’t seem to mind either one. He got that Englischer’s leaf blower fixed in nein time yesterday. Could free Aaron up to find his own place in life, since he wants to work with horses.”

Joshua would be coming to work for Daed regularly? A thrill shot through Annie. She squelched it. “Too bad Aaron doesn’t want to be in the family business.”

Daed shook his head. “Just because I raise bees for honey doesn’t mean he should. And just because I have a small engine repair shop doesn’t mean it’s a family business. If Joshua Esh wants to learn, great. His family’s business isn’t going to be of much use down here. They raise sugar maple trees and make syrup. Not the right climate for that here. Besides, we don’t have the right sort of trees.”

“Maple sugar and honey…guess he’s interested in sweeteners.” No wonder Joshua was so sweet. She held back a dreamy sigh. “I need to gather the eggs. Mamm says if we have enough, she wants to make custard for dinner.” She opened the gate to the chicken yard and went inside. Seconds later, she released the door to the coop and let out all of the fluttering, squawking birds before going inside to see how many eggs she could find.

When her task was complete, and her basket was filled with eggs, she set it down outside the door of the chicken coop, then went to get the feed and a bucket of water to replenish the dishes. That finished, she picked up the basket again and headed for the haus. She glanced over her shoulder a time or two, hoping to see Joshua crossing the field on his way to work for Daed, but she never saw him. He probably had chores of his own to finish first.

Funny how just the slightest hope of finding love put a spring in her step and a smile on her face. Annie tried to control it. After all, Joshua had asked to take Rachel home after the singing. And he’d mentioned he might visit her later this week. But he hadn’t asked Annie for anything. Except for a walk, after the school board meeting. And a tour of Wilson’s Creek Battlefield.

But still…. Possibly, if they had time, the driver could take them to the Bass Pro Shop, and they could go through the museum. Joshua might love it as much as she had. Perhaps, he’d enjoy a drink from the koffee shop, too. And as long as they didn’t get caught….

Her mouth watered, and she quickened her steps toward the haus. A cup of chai, even if it was homemade on a gas stove, sounded wonderful right now.

***

Joshua carried another load of wood into the schoolhaus, then bent over to build a teepee of twigs and crumpled paper inside the wood stove, so that all Annie would need to do was light a match. He would have started the fire himself, but there was only a slight chill in the air, and it’d probably warm up enough by mid-morning to the point that a sweater would suffice.

After he finished, he turned to one of the desks and picked up the apple he’d lifted from the Schwartzes’ fruit basket. He rubbed it against his shirt to polish it, then carried it over to the teacher’s desk, where he set it down gently, front and center. Beside it, he placed the glass jar he’d filled with a bundle of colorful autumn leaves. It was the best bouquet he could come up with on short notice. Then, glancing out the window, he saw Annie crossing the field, carrying a lunch bag and a thermos.

He’d intended to keep this a secret. Just something to brighten her day.

Besides, he really did like her. A lot. And maybe a little pursuit wasn’t pointless. He’d find out how things really stood between her and Luke.

He looked at the open front door, checked to make sure he still had the key in his pocket, and then, with hurried steps, he went to the back door and slipped out. He wished he could see her expression when she discovered the surprises he’d left, but that would be too risky.