The Amish Nanny's Sweetheart

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.”