Read the book: «The Amish Nanny's Sweetheart»

Chapter One

LaGrange County, Indiana

February 1938

“You’re sure you want to do this?”

Judith Lapp grinned at her brother-in-law, Matthew Beachey, as she climbed into the buggy. “I’ve been looking forward to going to a Youth Singing for years. Why would I refuse this chance now?”

Matthew’s grin echoed hers as he turned the buggy onto the road leading to the Stoltzfus family’s farm. “That’s just what your sister would say.”

As the horse trotted down the snowy road, the cold February air pressed close inside the buggy. Judith pulled her shawl more tightly around herself and tucked the heavy lap robe under her legs. A shiver made her teeth chatter, but she didn’t care. All those years growing up on the farm near Shipshewana, she had never gone to a Singing. Of course, she hadn’t been old enough to go until the last few years. Even so, she and Esther would never have gone if their older brother, Samuel, had had his way. Living at the edge of the Amish community, just like she had when their father had been alive, Judith had never felt welcome among the young people her own age.

But then, last fall, their lives had changed. Samuel had met Mary. The couple had wed in September, and Esther had moved next door to live with Mary’s sister and their aunt. Judith had joined them until she moved to Matthew and Annie’s home last week to help care for their growing family. Not only was she delighted to become reacquainted with Annie after their years of separation, her oldest brother, Bram, lived in the same community, and she was learning to know him again, also.

A tingling started in Judith’s toes and she tapped them on the buggy floor to warm them. Matthew’s shoulders were hunched, and he had pulled his chin into the collar of his coat like a turtle.

Dear Matthew. It had been his idea for her to live with him and Annie after the twins were born. Such wiggly, red, crying babies! Judith’s job was to fix meals and care for Eli, her eighteen-month-old nephew. She shivered again, but whether it was from the cold or happiness, she couldn’t tell. She had to pinch herself every morning to convince herself that her new life wasn’t just a dream.

Matthew turned the horse into the Stoltzfus farm lane and Judith leaned forward as they approached the large white farmhouse. A dozen or more buggies were lined up along the edge of the lane in front of the barn, the buggy shafts resting on the ground. Lights from the house shone onto the snow, and through the windows Judith could see a crowd of young people milling around inside the Stoltzfuses’ big front room.

Her grin grew wider. These girls would be her new friends. And, perhaps, some evening a young man would ask to drive her home from the Singing. A fine, upstanding Amish man who was looking for a bride to share his life with. Finally, the night she had longed for was here.

The barn door opened and closed in a beam of light as one of the young men led their horse into the warm shelter. Ahead of them, silhouetted against the lantern light from the barn, someone walked up the lane toward the house with his hat perched on the back of his head the way an Englischer would wear it.

“Is that Guy Hoover?” She nudged Matthew’s elbow. “I know I’ve seen him before.”

“It looks like it might be. He lives with the Masts on the farm across the road from us.”

“That’s right. He brought some milk over on Friday.” His smile had been enough to make her like him right away. “I don’t remember seeing him at meeting this morning, though.”

“He was there, but the Masts left before dinner. David said one of their cows wasn’t doing well this morning, and he wanted to get back to her.”

Judith smiled at the young man as the buggy passed him. He might have returned her greeting, but she couldn’t tell with his face wrapped to the eyes in a wool scarf.

“I’ll be back to pick you up at ten thirty,” Matthew said as he pulled his horse to a stop at the end of the walk leading to the house.

“What if some fellow asks to take me home?” Judith couldn’t resist teasing Matthew.

“Tell him he’ll have to wait. It’s my privilege tonight.” He helped her take the robe off her lap as she slid the buggy door open. “Have fun.”

“I will,” she said, but her attention was on the icy walk leading to the kitchen door.

Guy reached the back step the same time she did.

“It’s sure cold tonight, isn’t it?” His words were muffled by his scarf.

“Ja. Very cold.” She shivered, anxious to get into the warm house.

He pulled the scarf down, revealing a pleasant face and ready smile. “Do you remember me? Friday I saw you when I brought milk to the Beacheys.” He spoke in a mixture of Englisch and Deitsch words, turning his sentence into a jumble.

“For sure, I remember.” She remembered how his brown eyes had widened and then crinkled into a grin when she answered the door.

“In a hurry, you were...” He stumbled on the Deitsch words and switched to Englisch. “You were in a hurry on Friday.”

Judith changed to Englisch, too, as she reached the door. “You didn’t stay long, either.”

Guy opened the wooden storm door and followed her into the washing porch. “You surprised me. I didn’t know anyone but Annie would be there.”

“And then Eli was crying...”

“Those babies were, too.”

Judith unwound her scarf from her neck. “They always cry, but I don’t mind. There is nothing sweeter than a new baby, and the twins make things twice as much fun.” She glanced through the glass window of the kitchen door. The room beyond was crowded, and even though she longed for its warmth, she wished she had an excuse to stay here and continue visiting with Guy. She wondered why he didn’t seem comfortable speaking Deitsch, but how could she ask that question?

Suppressing a shiver, Judith settled for a smile. “It was nice seeing you again.”

Guy unwrapped his own scarf with one hand as he held the door open for her, then she was swept into the crowded kitchen.

Two girls stood between the door and the big kitchen stove, talking with each other, but turned to greet her.

“I’m so glad you came,” one of them said. “We met at church this morning. I’m Waneta Zook.”

“Ja, Waneta, I remember. It’s so good to see you again.”

“This is my friend Hannah Kaufman.”

“I saw you at meeting,” Hannah said. Her smile was friendly and welcoming. “You came with Matthew Beachey, didn’t you?”

“He’s my sister’s husband. I came to live with them last week.” Judith started to say how thankful she was that Matthew and Annie had opened their home to her, but Hannah’s face lit up.

“You’ve come to help Annie with the twins? What fun!”

Judith smiled as she untied her bonnet. “They are so sweet, but all they do is eat, cry and sleep. Annie keeps busy with them while I watch Eli and take care of the house.”

Waneta led the way to a back bedroom where Judith laid her shawl on top of a pile of other shawls and coats on the bed and set her bonnet on a table. She felt to make sure the hairpins were still holding her Kapp secure and ran her hand down her skirt to smooth out any wrinkles, then she followed Waneta and Hannah into the big main room. She found a spot against the wall with the other girls and watched the group of boys lounging along the opposite side.

Hannah leaned close to speak into her ear. “After the singing, I’ll have to introduce you to my brother. He’s that handsome one over there.”

Judith looked in the direction Hannah indicated. The young man was tall, and as good-looking as Hannah said. He glanced in her direction as he talked with some other boys who gathered around him, but Guy caught her attention as he stood off to the side, staring at her. He wore the same plain clothes that the other boys wore, but somehow, he looked out of place.

Before she could ask Hannah if she knew Guy, one of the older boys announced that it was time for the Singing to begin. As the girls took their places on one side of the long table in the middle of the room, the boys scrambled to sit across from the girl of their choice. Judith watched to see who would sit across from Waneta. The spot remained empty until a tall young man came in late.

“That’s Reuben Stoltzfus, Waneta’s beau,” Hannah said, whispering into Judith’s ear. She giggled as a young man sat across from her.

“Who is that?” Judith whispered back.

“Reuben’s brother, Ben.”

Hannah looked everywhere except in Ben’s direction. Judith didn’t dare look to see who had taken the seat across from her. She had never had much to do with boys, since she and her sister Esther hadn’t attended the Singings in their home district of Shipshewana. She didn’t know if she should say hello, or if she should acknowledge his presence at all. She watched Hannah, who finally looked across the table at Ben, blushing as she gave him a smile.

Judith dared to look at her partner. She drew a breath of relief when she saw it was Guy. His dark brown eyes crinkled as he grinned at her. She could only give him a brief smile before she looked down at her lap. The boys chose to sit across from a girl they were interested in, according to what Annie had told her about the Singings. But was Guy interested, or had he sat there because no one else did?

She took a songbook from the stack that was passed along the table and dared to meet his gaze again just as a voice called out the first song number. She fumbled with her book until she found the right page, knowing he was watching her all the time. The group started singing and she struggled to join in the unfamiliar tune. She glanced up again and was relieved to see that he was concentrating on the songbook.

Holding her book in front of her face, Judith squeezed her mouth shut tight to keep from giggling. She was at a Singing, and a boy was sitting across from her. So, this was what it was like to be grown up. She dared to peek at Guy again, but he was still concentrating on the book in front of him. She suppressed a little quiver that went from her middle all through her, then turned her eyes back to the words of the song. It was a hymn, but not one from the hymnal they used on Sunday mornings, the Ausbund.

The tune became more familiar as they started the second verse and she joined in. As she did, she could hear a clear tenor humming the tune without singing the words. It was Guy. He frowned at the book in his hands. If he didn’t speak Deitsch well, perhaps he couldn’t read it, either. Judith lost her place in the song as she let her imagination fill in the empty pieces of Guy’s story without success. She would just have to get to know him better if she wanted her questions answered.

* * *

Guy Hoover couldn’t believe that the seat across from the new girl had remained open long enough for him to claim it. But now, he told himself, he had to quit staring at her. It didn’t matter if she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She would think he was some kind of fool if he didn’t get hold of himself.

Running a finger inside the too-tight neckband of his shirt, he stared at the songbook in his hands. He hadn’t wanted to come to the Singing tonight. He hadn’t been to one since Hannah Kaufman had laughed at his attempt to talk to her in Pennsylvania Dutch. Three months had passed since then, but the sting of her rejection had kept him away from any gathering of the community’s young people. Tonight, though, Verna Mast had pushed him out the door.

“Go have some fun,” she had said. “David has you working so hard all through the week that you deserve to spend some time with folks your own age on a Sunday evening.”

Folks his own age, yes, but the fellows treated him like the outsider he was. They knew his past, that his pa had abandoned him at the orphanage. That he was an unwanted mongrel, not worth their bother. That he was only a hired hand.

David and Verna had never made him feel that way, though. They were good people.

He sneaked a glance over the top of his songbook. Judith’s soft blue gaze, as soft as her voice had been as they talked outside, met his, then dropped to her book.

Looking down at his own music, Guy gave up trying to sing. He could speak a little bit of the Pennsylvania German, but not enough to follow the words on the pages. He knew the tune, though, and hummed along with the singers while his mind wandered.

He let his thoughts drift to the first time he had seen Judith. David had sent him to the Beachey home with a pail of milk and he had knocked on the kitchen door the same as every other time. But when Annie’s sister had opened the door...

Guy felt a foolish grin slide over his face and glanced across the table just in time to see Judith’s red face before she lifted her songbook to hide it. His grin took over. With some planning, he might be able to talk to her some more before the end of the evening. Perhaps he would even be able to walk her home.

At that thought, his stomach churned like a windmill. Judith sat next to Hannah, and he could imagine what Hannah was saying about him. Why couldn’t folks let the new girl get to know him on her own, without gossiping?

After the group had sung several songs, Elizabeth Stoltzfus announced that refreshments were ready. Guy noticed that several of the fellows were coming out of the kitchen with cups of punch for the girls. This would be his opportunity to talk to Judith, but he saw that Luke Kaufman was already at her side with a cup. As he offered it to Judith, she smiled up at him.

Luke Kaufman.

Guy pushed away from the table and made his way to the kitchen. If she was interested in Luke, then she would never even look at him.

As he reached the table filled with sandwiches, John Stoltzfus thrust a plate toward him. “Glad to see you here tonight, Guy.”

Guy nodded at the older man, the father of Benjamin and Reuben. John had always welcomed him whenever he was in the Amish community.

“Denki.” Guy switched to English. “Thank you for hosting the Singing.”

“Of course.” John spoke in English, too. “You know that whoever hosts the morning church services also hosts the Youth Singing in the evening.”

“All the same, thanks.” Guy took a thick sandwich spread with ground ham and then one with egg salad.

“Don’t miss the pie,” John said. “Elizabeth makes the best pumpkin pies.”

“I know.” Guy slid a piece of pie onto his plate, then moved around the table to stand next to John, out of the way. John’s wife, Elizabeth, was the best cook he knew of, other than Verna. “I’ll probably have seconds if there are any pieces left.”

John grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll keep one back for you, if you’d like. Although you look like the Masts’ table has been agreeing with you.”

Guy nodded as he took a bite of the ham sandwich. He had worked for David Mast every summer since he was nine, and those summers had filled his winter dreams with memories of Verna’s delicious cooking. When he turned eighteen last year and could no longer live at the Orphan’s Home, David had offered him a regular job, including room and board. He had jumped at the offer.

“Verna’s cooking is a sight better than—” Guy stopped. He didn’t need to remind John or the others in the kitchen of where he had lived most of his life. “Her cooking is delicious.”

The short refreshment break was nearly over, and while Guy finished his first piece of pie, the kitchen emptied as the others drifted back into the front room. John cut a second helping of pie for him, and Guy couldn’t refuse.

“How are things going? David speaks highly of your help on the farm.”

Guy raised his eyebrows as he swallowed a bite of pie. “You wouldn’t know it to hear him some days. It seems I can’t do anything right.”

Especially yesterday. He had driven the wagon too close to the corner of the shed and had spent the rest of the afternoon whitewashing the scraped siding.

John grinned. “I’m sure my boys think that about me, sometimes.” He shrugged. “But how else will you learn to be a good farmer?”

Guy stared at the plate in his hand. Is that what David was doing? Teaching him to be a farmer?

“I’m not sure that’s what I want.”

John scraped the last crumbs of his pie into a pile with the back of his fork. “Don’t be too quick to decide. Ask for God’s direction.”

Guy nodded. “Sure.” Ask God. That’s what Verna would tell him.

“Meanwhile, soak up all you can from David’s teaching. You never know when those skills will come in handy, whether you stay on the farm or not.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Guy took his plate to the sink. He didn’t know how long he’d be living with the Masts. David had never said anything about him staying on past this year. But then, he never had the other years, either.

“David loves you like a son. You know that, don’t you?”

Guy glanced at John as he went back into the front room to join the Singing again. He had gone over this time and again in his head, ever since the first summer he had stayed with the Masts. David and Verna seemed to like him, but after all these years, they had never adopted him, and he knew why. He wasn’t Amish. He wasn’t good enough for them.

* * *

Judith leaned away from Luke until her back touched the wall. His hand rested next to her head as he loomed over her. She had to look up at an uncomfortable angle to see his face, but it was worth it. Luke Kaufman was one of the cutest boys she had ever seen and popular with the other fellows.

“How long will you be staying with Matthew’s family?” Luke’s blue eyes held hers in a steady gaze as he took a sip of punch.

“Quite a while. At least until the twins are a few years old, I think.”

He glanced away as a girl’s laughter rose above the conversations in the room, then focused back on her.

“Did you leave a lot of friends behind in Shipshewana?”

Judith shook her head. She and Esther hadn’t done much socializing before their brother Samuel got married.

Luke leaned even closer. “Not even a boyfriend?”

“Ne, no boyfriend.” Judith felt her cheeks flush hot. Were all boys this bold?

“Then you’ll have to let me be your first beau.” He smiled, but his eyes smoldered. “I’ll take you home from the Singing tonight.”

Judith pressed her lips together to keep from giggling. Luke leaned even closer to her, making her even more nervous, but she couldn’t move away with the wall right behind her. “You must already have a girl you’re interested in.” She turned her punch glass in her hands, not daring to take a drink. She was shaking so much inside that she would spill the punch down the front of her dress, for sure.

He shrugged. Even his shrugs were smooth and self-assured.

“No girl to speak of.” He lifted one of her Kapp strings with his finger. “Not now.”

She couldn’t stop the nervous giggle from escaping again. “Then, there was a girl?”

“No one special.” Luke breathed the words as he leaned even closer. He smelled of soap and something else that Judith couldn’t identify. Something smoky and bitter. His gaze slid from her eyes to her mouth and her stomach flipped over.

Someone clapped their hands to get everyone’s attention. “It’s time to take your seats.” Reuben Stoltzfus’s voice carried over the rest of the sounds in the room, but Luke didn’t move.

“Let me take you home tonight. Meet me at the end of the lane.”

Judith found herself nodding, but then remembered her promise to Matthew and turned the nod to a shake.

“I can’t. Matthew said he was coming for me.”

“When he sees that you’ve already gone, he’ll understand.”

Judith shook her head again and ducked under Luke’s arm to head back to her seat. “Ne. Matthew said that he wanted to take me home this time.”

“I’ll get my way.” He tugged on the Kapp string again and gave her a heart-stopping smile. “Count on it.”

As Judith slid into her seat next to Hannah, the other girl grabbed her hand.

“I saw you talking to Luke. Did you like him?”

Judith glanced down the table toward Luke. He was laughing with the fellows sitting on either side of him. Their conversation during the break had been unsettling, but she wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t had much experience talking to boys.

“He is nice, I guess.”

Hannah squeezed her hand. “I knew you’d think so.”

Reuben called out the number for the first song, and the group had nearly finished it before Guy took his seat again. He looked in her direction, then at his songbook. Judith kept watching him. He stared at the book, but didn’t join in the singing.

The next song was a fun one. Each verse was about two people who had a hole in their bucket, and at the end it repeated the lines from all the previous verses. By the time they reached the twelfth verse, everyone was laughing so hard they couldn’t keep singing. Everyone except the young man across the table from her.

After the rollicking fun, someone suggested a quick break. Judith stayed in her seat this time, not wanting to be cornered by Luke again.

A few minutes later, a cup of punch appeared on the table in front of her. She looked up to see Guy smiling at her.

“Denki,” she said.

He made his way around the end of the table to his seat and took a drink of his punch. Judith leaned toward him, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear their conversation.

“Why didn’t you sing with us?”