The Matchmaker (21 page)

By the time the dinner hour arrived, the table was set as well as an additional folding table set up at one end to accommodate all of the guests. Emma assumed her spot next to her
daed
, and to her delight, Francis sat next to her. After the silent blessing, he immediately began the conversation, sharing his exploits over the past week with the others at the table. Several times he directed his conversation toward her, and Emma felt the color rise to her cheeks at his attention.

With the garden plowed over and the manure spread, the guests had a leisurely dinner. Following the after-prayer, they retired to the living room to continue visiting while Anna and Emma quickly cleaned the dishes.

For the first few minutes they worked in silence, listening to the conversation and laughter that came from the far side of the room where the sun shone through the glass windows onto the sofa, recliner, and folding chairs that had
been set up for company. Anna occasionally glanced over her shoulder, smiling to herself as she observed her husband and stepson deep in conversation with the other guests.

When she had a moment, however, Anna quietly cleared her throat and leaned over toward Emma. In a soft voice Anna inquired how she was feeling. Emma was uncertain whether she meant the situation with confessing to Hannah earlier the previous week or the news about Paul’s sudden marriage.

“I’d be telling an untruth if I didn’t say that I have lost quite a bit of respect for Paul,” Emma admitted, lowering her voice so that no one overheard her. “That seems either rash or deceptive on his part, and either way, I am not impressed.”

Anna seemed to digest this, taking her time to respond. She was drying the last plate when she finally turned to Emma. “It’s not up to us to judge,” she replied thoughtfully. “The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow. I do believe you have experienced that yourself most recently.”

Emma understood that statement to reference her dilemma with Hannah. Heat rushed to her cheeks and she lowered her eyes in deference to Anna’s reminder.

“However, since Paul was not interested in your friend and you were not interested in Paul, I see no harm in what he has done. In fact,” she added cheerfully, “I look forward to meeting this Alice.”

Emma only wished that she could mirror Anna’s kind sentiments.

By the time they finished cleaning the kitchen and joined the rest of the gathering, it was clear that the focus of conversation had finally shifted away from Francis. Only now it was focused on Jane. She sat demurely on a folding chair,
having apparently insisted that her
aendi
and
grossmammi
take their seats on the more comfortable sofa.

Emma moved her own folding chair to the outer skirt of the circle as there was barely enough room to be a part of it. She listened as question after question was asked of the young woman, most of them being directed at her from Francis. For a few minutes it appeared as if no one else was in the room, just the two of them, and Emma felt the heat rise to her cheeks. When she glanced around, she noticed that Gideon, Samuel, and her
daed
were hanging on to every word that Jane said in response to Francis’s thoughtful questions about her life in Ohio, her
g’may
, and her family. She also noticed that, unlike the previous week, Jane’s answers flowed much more easily than when she had responded to Emma’s own questions.

The final straw, however, was when Gideon began to squirm in his seat. Something was bothering him; that much was clear. He fidgeted and took deep breaths, clearly agitated over something. Finally he jumped up from his seat and retreated into the kitchen. When he returned momentarily, he held a glass of water in his hand, which he proceeded to hand to Jane.

The gesture was a peculiar one and Emma found herself perplexed. Was it possible, she wondered as she watched Gideon’s staring at the young woman, that he had taken a romantic interest in her? Her suspicions were only further aroused when it was time for the guests to begin leaving: Gideon insisted upon taking Jane and the Blanks home, claiming that, despite their house being in the opposite direction, there was no imposition at all on his time.

“It would be my pleasure,” he said with a slight dipping of his head.

Hetty seemed especially pleased. “
Danke
, Gideon,” she gushed. “
Danke
! That would be ever so
gut
, especially for my
maem
. It’s such a long distance for her to walk and,
vell
, we are not as fortunate to have the income or property to keep a horse and buggy.” She leaned over and tapped her
maem
’s shoulder. “Isn’t that most kind,
Maem
? Gideon offered us a ride home.” When it was clear that her
maem
hadn’t heard properly, Hetty repeated the key words again, this time louder. “Gideon. Ride. Home.”

When the gathering disbanded, Emma stood at the kitchen counter, her hands aimlessly drying a plate while she watched out the window. It struck her as odd that she felt a growing ache in her stomach as she saw Gideon help Jane and Hetty into the backseat of the buggy before offering his assistance to Hetty’s
maem
, who sat next to him on the front seat. As the buggy pulled away, she stared after it for a long while, her mind far away until her
daed
teased her that the plate was certainly dry by now.

Startled back to reality, Emma gave a weak smile and quickly put the plate away in the open cabinet next to the sink. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what bothered her so much about the possibility that Gideon’s offer to take the three ladies home was not just neighborly kindness but due to interest in a certain young woman from Ohio. It was something that gave her pause to reflect and wonder while she finished drying the dishes.

Chapter Thirteen

E
MMA COULD HARDLY
believe what Gideon had just said to her. How had he come to this conclusion? He barely knew the man! She was sitting on the sofa, staring at him with her mouth agape, stunned by his words. It wasn’t often that she was held speechless, but Gideon had managed to do just that. It took her a long moment to compose herself before she was able to speak.

“Gideon, what do you mean that you don’t like Francis?”

The thought was disconcerting. To not like Francis Wagler? From the few interactions that she had with the man, he had been pleasant and cheerful, and his presence lit up any gathering. With great pleasure Emma had witnessed his attentiveness toward his new
maem
, Anna. Wherever he went, people seemed to flocked to him like moths to a lantern. Even today, after worship service, Francis was surrounded by a group of young men and quickly had them laughing, the center of attention and clearly admired by all.

Gideon frowned, leaning forward and rubbing at his forehead. “I didn’t exactly say that, Emma,” he said, his voice sounding stressed. “Once again, if I dare say, you are putting words into my mouth!”

Was she? She wasn’t too sure of this.

After the worship service Gideon had offered to bring her home since Henry had previously made plans to visit and play Scrabble with the Glicks. The grueling week ending with those dreadful long days left Emma exhausted, and she begged to be excused from any social obligations. Even during the sermons Emma fell asleep twice, and when it came time for the kneeling prayer at the end of the service, she could barely keep her eyes open. The last thing she wanted was to accompany her
daed
in his social visits. Thankfully Gideon noticed her fatigue and insisted upon taking her home, for which she was secretly grateful. Considering how tired she was, the walk home seemed daunting. Even if it were only a mere mile, she knew it would feel like ten!

To her surprise, after Gideon stopped the horse in front of her house, he got out of the buggy as well. She watched as he pulled out the horse’s halter from under his seat and quickly put it over the horse’s head, covering the bridle with it and securing the reins. He hooked a lead rope to the underside of the halter, clipping it to a small round metal piece, and tied the horse to the hitching post. Then, without even asking permission, he accompanied her inside the house as if he intended to visit.

For a split second his boldness took her aback. It was most unusual for a man to visit with a woman alone in a house. Such a situation was reserved for courting couples, and even then, being seen to enter a vacant
haus
could cause many tongues to wag. In fact, a young woman chanced having questions raised about her reputation if she were caught alone in a house with a young person of the other gender. Certainly the bishop would want to question the couple as to their intentions.

However, since this was Gideon, and he was a member
of the extended family, even if only by marriage, she pushed the thought out of her mind and decided that an hour of company was not necessarily a bad thing, especially because he was a dear friend.

At first the visit seemed awkward. She became conscious of the fact that she had never really been alone with Gideon in the house for an extended period of time. During his frequent visits over the years, Anna or her
daed
was usually home. Of course, there were times
Daed
might leave to take his daily walk or to tend to a task outside of the house, but that was usually at the tail end of Gideon’s visit and therefore would not be construed the same way as Gideon visiting Emma when she was home alone. Emma had never really given a second thought to such short periods of time spent alone in Gideon’s company. His frequent presence in the house seemed very natural, even expected. Today, however, was different. It certainly spoke volumes about his comfort level with the Weavers to have accompanied her into the
haus
.

The initial conversation focused on her. She didn’t mind that at all and actually appreciated his concern, especially when he asked her about her week helping Irene. Certainly he must have learned from his
bruder
that Irene had fallen ill. Emma had told him about Irene and the
kinner
, sharing stories about Little Henry and John Junior, who seemed to be the most mischievous boys that either one of them had even known.

“Reminds me of a young girl who shared a similar gleam in her pretty blue eyes,” Gideon teased lightly.

Emma ignored his comment and proceeded to tell him about having gone to market for Jenny Glick.

“Such long days,” Emma sighed, shaking her head wearily.
“And the long commute in that packed van! I am so glad that my quilting brings enough income to avoid having to work at the market every week.”

Gideon nodded in agreement. “I reckon days at market are no different than working a dairy farm. Rise before the sun, retire with the moon.”

“I do prefer to work at home,” Emma admitted. “It’s nice to be near
daed
and to enjoy the comforts of home and community.”

“You do that rather well,” was his reply. She wasn’t sure whether Gideon meant that as a true compliment or a comment in badinage. She certainly was not one to shirk obligations or labor. But the fact was that she preferred working indoors to outdoors, solitude to exposure. She had always found the stares and the questions from the
Englische
tourists and visitors at the market rather odd and uncomfortable.

The pleasant tone of the conversation, however, suddenly shifted when Emma inquired about how Francis was working out as a carpenter at his storage building business. His response caused Emma to question him.

As Gideon sat in Henry’s recliner, he stared at her with another of his side looks, one that clearly conveyed his never-ending disapproval. “What I said,” he began again, speaking slowly and carefully, “was that I have gained the suspicion that he cares more for his own pleasure than for a hard day’s labor. How you can possibly construe from that statement that I don’t ‘like’ Francis is beyond me.”

She almost smiled at how Gideon mimicked her when he spoke the word
like
.