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  “A detail person—yes. Like my mother—no.”

  Jessie giggled.

  “Anyway, that’s what’s keeping me busy these days. I’m working on getting the coffee shop in ship-shape form so it can be my flagship store.” He took a bite of his sandwich.

  “Sounds as though you have a lot of plans.”

  When he'd finished chewing and had swallowed, he said, “I’m going places. I’ve always had a drive to succeed. I sold lemonade when I was seven, I had a paper route when I was eleven, and I had a thriving Internet business when I was fifteen, which I sold to buy the restaurant. Out of the money I made from the restaurant, I bought the coffee shop.”

  Jessie knew he didn’t own the Coffee House, where she and her friends went. Dan’s parents’ owned that. More than likely it was one of the newer up-market cafés. She didn’t choose to ask which one it was.

  “What about you, Jessie? What do you see in your future?”

  “My future is pretty much the same as every Amish woman. Family is very important to us, and I’d love to have a lot of children.”

  “So would I.”

  Jessie looked at him. “You would?”

  He dug her in the ribs. “Don’t look so surprised.”

  “Sorry, it’s just that I didn’t think you would want a family and children and all that.”

  Donovan tipped his head back. “All I ever wanted when I was a child was a brother or a sister. I nagged my mother for years to have another child, and she said it would ruin her figure. I’d never have just one child, not after how it was for me growing up.”

  Jessie giggled.

  Donovan inched closer to her. “Don’t laugh, it’s true.”

  “How many would you have?” Jessie looked at him as he looked straight ahead.

  “I’d say the ideal number would be four. Two boys and two girls would be about right.” He turned to her and smiled.

  Jessie’s stomach flip-flopped and she had to look away.

  Chapter 20

  When Jessie’s father drove her home, she saw a buggy parked at their haus. “Is that Elijah’s buggy?”

  “Jah, his mudder sent him over with whoopie pies.”

  Jessie wondered if his mudder had sent him over with the whoopie pies or whether it was Olive’s idea.

  “He’s staying for dinner.”

  “He is?”

  Her vadder nodded.

  Mr. Miller stopped the buggy in front of the house so Jessie could walk straight in. When she opened the door, she saw her bruder, Mark, and Elijah sitting in the living room.

  “Hello, you two.”

  Elijah rose to his feet. “Hello, Jessie.”

  “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll need to clean up. I’ve had a busy day.” Jessie hurried up the stairs and once she was in her bedroom, she closed the door. She sat on her bed and lay down. She wasn’t prepared to see Elijah today. Had their mudders gotten together and were they trying to match them? Or, was it Olive? Was her friend the one who'd sent him over with the whoopie pies?

  After Jessie had washed her face and changed her clothes, she went downstairs to help her mudder with dinner. She was glad her bruder was entertaining Elijah in conversation when she walked past them on her way to the kitchen. “What can I do to help, Mamm?”

  Her mudder swung around to face her. “Nee, you go out to Elijah. I’m about done in here and the table is ready.”

  Jessie looked at the table wondering how she could help.

  “Go on, off with you.” Her mother walked toward her making shooing motions with her hands.

  Jessie swallowed hard and walked out to their guest.

  As she approached the couch, her bruder leaned forward. “If you’ll excuse me, Elijah, I’ve got a few things to attend to before dinner.”

  “Certainly.”

  Her brother carefully pushed himself up off the couch while hanging onto the crutches.

  “Do you need help?” Elijah offered.

  “Nee, I’m fine.”

  Jessie shot her brother a glare before she sat with Elijah. Mark smiled at her, got his crutches positioned and gave her a wink as he left the room.

  “How was your day at your new job, Jessie?”

  All Jessie could remember of her day was sitting in the garden while she and Donovan spoke on how many children they’d have. “It was a wunderbaar day.”

  Elijah smiled, and Jessie had to admit to herself that he was handsome.

  “It must be gut to have work that you enjoy so much.”

  Jessie raised her eyebrows. “You enjoy working on the farm, don’t you?”

  “Not so much. I’m going to learn construction work with my onkel.”

  “Building houses and such?”

  Elijah nodded.

  While she sat and talked with Elijah, she couldn’t help comparing him to Donovan. Donovan was better looking, more confident, but they were equally hardworking. Elijah was the more obvious choice given that he was Amish, but she would not rule Donovan out just yet. He was the one who made her heart race and her body tingle.

  “Would you come for a buggy ride with me after dinner? It seems like it’s going to be a nice night.”

  Jessie would have preferred her whole familye not know when she went on a buggy ride. They would ask her a ton of questions, such as, ‘how was it, do you like him, does he like you, are you going to get married? She groaned inwardly at the thought of having to answer those types of questions. “Jah, I’d like that.” She figured she’d give him a fair chance since a relationship with him made sense.

  When dinner was over, they retired to the living room. Jessie’s mudder would not even allow her to help clean up. Elijah must have had a word with Jessie’s vadder because when she came out of the kitchen, Elijah stood before her, and he said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”

  She nodded and in two minutes they were in his buggy. His spritely bay horse took off at quite a pace with his head held high.

  “I hope you don’t mind me coming tonight,” Elijah said.

  “Nee, of course I don’t mind. It was nice to see you.”

  He glanced over at Jessie. “Really?”

  She nodded.

  “Truth is, I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day.”

  She frowned at him. “Your mudder didn’t send you over?”

  Elijah laughed. “Nee, it was my idea and my mudder baked the whoopie pies for me to bring.”

  “Ah, I thought it might’ve been Olive’s idea.”

  “Olive?”

  “Jah. I think she’d be happy if the two of us became a couple.”

  “She’s never mentioned anything of the kind. So, she’s said that to you?”

  “Once, or maybe twice.”

  He took his eyes from Jessie and looked back at the road. “I don’t want you to feel pressured. I shouldn’t have come tonight. I wouldn’t have if I’d known that.”

  Jessie searched for something to say, but what could she say without giving him hope? She didn’t want him to be disappointed. “Don’t say that, it was nice to see you again.” Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at his profile. He had handsome, angular features and a straight nose, which was neither too big nor too small. He glanced over at her once more, and she looked away and silence followed. Again, she searched for something to say. “I was talking to someone today who was an only child; he said that it was awful.”

  “Jah, I imagine that would be awful.”

  “That’s the good thing about being in the community though. There’s always someone. If I hadn’t any siblings, it wouldn’t have mattered because I’ve got Olive, Lucy, Amy and Claire who are just like my sisters, except we don't have the same parents.”

  “I couldn’t imagine not being in the community, could you?”

  Jessie shook her head. “Nee, I couldn’t even go on rumspringa. I’d miss my familye too much. You didn’t go on rumspringa, did you?”

  “Nee, I didn’t. I couldn’t leave the community.” Elijah
chuckled. “Jessie, I’m a quiet man and I find it hard to speak to people.”

  He looked away from the road and looked at her; she thought he looked nearly as handsome as Donovan.

  Elijah continued, “What I’m trying to say, in my awkward way, is I’d like to see more of you than Sundays at the gatherings.”

  Put on the spot, she searched her mind for an intelligent response. If she said ‘yes’ then they would soon court and she would be expected to marry him after a suitable time. If she said ‘no’ she knew he would be too shy to ask again, and she would lose him forever. “I’d like that.” That was the only thing she could say, and at that moment, she wanted to see where things between them would go. She considered him genuine, and he was giving her the same warm feelings that she had with Donovan.

  From the smile on his face, Jessie knew that she had made the right decision. Her eyes fell from his face to his hands. They were large and strong as they loosely held the reins. It felt good to have two men interested in her.

  Elijah relaxed when Jessie agreed to see more of him. He stopped the buggy, and they talked for some time. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  “Okay,” she agreed. The moon was high in the sky, and tonight it shone with luminous gold light.

  “I love looking at all the stars, especially on a night like this.”

  “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” Jessie turned her head slowly to put the moon behind her and face the stars.

  “It makes me wonder why Gott bothers so much with us. The world is so large, and we are so small.” He chuckled a little. “To think that He created everyone and everything; I do wonder why He made people.”

  “I never really thought of it.”

  “I think of things like that all the time. Just think of a leaf and how it has all the tiny veins and patterns, and that’s just in one small leaf. I wonder why He would take time to put designs into things that might never be seen.” He looked up to the sky. “Then you look at the stars and wonder why He put them there. Was it for us to enjoy? Maybe to prove to us that there’s something bigger than we are. The Scripture says we see His handiwork in the stars.”

  Jessie looked away up at the stars again. It was a beautiful moment, and she was glad she was with Elijah.

  Elijah looked at her and smiled. “Now you know what things run through my mind.”

  “I like it. It’s good to think deeply about things and not just take everything around us for granted.”

  “Well, mostly I think of work because that’s what I do nearly every day.” After a silence, he asked, “What things do you think of?”

  “I think of what it’ll be like to have kinner.” Jessie giggled.

  “I think you’d make a gut mudder, Jessie.”

  “You do?”

  He nodded. “Jah, you’re straightforward and speak your mind. I don’t think you’d put up with nonsense. You’d be firm and fair.”

  Jessie smiled and looked away. She was surprised he knew her so well. Lately though, she had not been straightforward, and she struggled with speaking her mind.

  “I can see you with many kinner,” he added.

  “What about you, do you want a lot?” Jessie asked.

  “Ach, jah, about a dozen or even more.”

  Jessie giggled. “More than a dozen? That’s a lot.”

  “Kinner make a happy home. That’s what life’s all about—familye and bringing them up to know Gott.”

  Jessie nodded and then looked up into his eyes, liking him being a good six inches taller.

  He stepped a little closer and his gaze lowered to her lips before he cleared his throat. “It’s getting late; we should head back.” She wanted to hear him speak some more and didn’t move. He lightly touched her shoulders and turned her to face the buggy. “Let’s go,” he said.

  * * *

  Moments later, they were back at Jessie’s haus. Elijah pulled the horse to a halt by the front door. “Denke for coming out with me tonight.”

  “I really enjoyed it.” She’d enjoyed his company more than she had thought she would. “I’ll see you again soon.”

  “I hope so.”

  She jumped out of the buggy and hurried to her house. Everyone was in bed when Jessie crept through the front door. There was a lone gas light on in the living room. She lit the gas lantern that someone had left out for her, doused the light, and quietly made her way up the stairs to her room. Thankfully, she did not have to talk to anyone or answer any questions about her time with Elijah.

  Once she was settled in bed, she closed her eyes and images of Elijah drifted through her mind. She could see herself married to him. She was sure Olive had been behind him being there tonight, even though Elijah had said it was his idea.

  Pushing her annoyance at Olive aside, Jessie pulled the sheet over her head and imagined what it would be like to be in Elijah’s strong arms. It was weird that when she was with Elijah she liked him, but when she was with Donovan she liked him. Right now, Donovan was a distant memory but how would she feel when she saw him again?

  Chapter 21

  Jessie woke the next morning pleased to have a good sleep, but it was way too early to wake. The sun had not even appeared on the horizon. She took a deep breath of fresh air as it breezed through the partially open window. Turning over, she folded her pillow under her head. Elijah’s words and thoughts were in her mind from the previous night. He was a serious man of Gott who wanted the same things as she did. Elijah would make her a gut husband.

  Donovan was exciting and interesting. He was also hardworking and had said he wanted many children, so those were things in his favor.

  There was only one thing she could do before she made any further commitments either way. She would have to get to know Donovan a little more. Maybe Donovan was a Christian or was open to know about Gott. She closed her eyes tightly. Nee, maybe Olive was right. I shouldn’t let an Englischer side-track me. I have a gut Amish man interested in me, so I should block out all thoughts of Donovan and concentrate on Elijah. That would be the right thing to do.

  “You’ll be late if you don’t wake up now.”

  Jessie woke with a start at the sound of her mudder’s voice. The sun was well over the horizon, she saw when she looked out the window. She’d drifted off to sleep again. “I’m coming, Mamm.”

  “Breakfast is on the table.”

  “Denke,” she called to her mudder from the bedroom. “I’ll be a couple of minutes.” She’d gone to bed without braiding her hair and now it was full of tangles. With her fingers, she worked out the worst tangles. Then, with broad strokes, she dragged a brush through her hair, braided it and pinned it to sit nicely under her prayer kapp. Once she'd pulled on her lemon-colored dress and her apron, she secured her kapp. From the aroma wafting up the stairs, she knew her mother's pan-fried scrapple was for breakfast.

  Before she went downstairs, she stuck her head around her bruder’s bedroom doorway. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, but I’m late for work. I’ll see you when I get home.” Her bruder grimaced. She knew he didn’t want to hear everything that was going on in her life, but his advice was always exactly what she needed. Her head was in such a muddle, now that she had two romantic prospects after having none for so long.

  No sooner had she sat down and started to eat Mamm wagged a finger at her. “Dat’s got the buggy waiting. Don’t eat too fast, or you’ll get a pain in your belly.”

  Jessie nodded as she cut a small piece of scrapple. Then her mother placed a cup of not-too-hot coffee in front of her. “Denke, Mamm.”

  “How was your buggy ride with Elijah?” Her mother sat next to her and peered into her face as though she was trying to catch something in her expression.

  Since Jessie had a mouthful, she could only nod. When she had swallowed, she took a large mouthful of coffee. “Got to go, Mamm.” She kissed her mother goodbye and raced out the door before her mother had a chance to ask again.

  How could she tell her mother how she felt whe
n she wasn’t sure herself? She certainly could not tell her about Donovan and let her know she had any sort of feelings for an Englischer. Mamm would surely faint if she heard that. No, the only person she could share that with was her bruder. He was more open to things—reacted more calmly—since he had some friends who’d been on rumspringa.

  The journey to the B&B was quiet since her vadder was not much of a talker. He would not ask her questions like her mudder had.

  “There you are.” Dat stopped the buggy in front of the long driveway.

  “Denke. Can you collect me, or should I get a taxi?”

  “Nee, I’ll come get you.”

  Jessie exchanged smiles with her vadder and hurried inside the B&B. She looked up at the clock on the wall of the reception area absolutely horrified to see she was ten minutes late.

  “Morning, Jessie.”

  “Morning, Yvonne,” she said to the receptionist as she hurried past. When she raced down the stairs, she saw Donovan. “Donovan.”

  He glanced at his watch. “Here you are.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m so sorry I’m late. It won’t happen again.” She had no good excuse.

  “That’s fine. Linda’s twisted her ankle, though, so it’ll be just you for the next few days. Can you handle it?”

  “Yes, I can. I will. Where’s your mother?”

  “She’s away too.”

  “Oh. She didn’t say anything.”

  “It was all last minute. Anyway, I’m here to help you get the cart up the stairs.”

  Jessie tried to steady her breathing. “Thank you, that was kind of you to remember me.”

  He wheeled the cart to the bottom of the steps.

  “Wait; I need to fill it first.” Jessie spun around and put all the necessary things in the cart.

  He leaned against the wall and folded his arms while watching her gather the cleaning equipment. “Since you won’t agree to dinner, what about lunch? Lunch today with me?”

  Jessie spun around to face him. “I’m not sure.”

  “You normally have lunch at one. I’ll meet you right here at one. It’ll just be a quick lunch, not a date or anything, so you needn’t look so worried.”