A Husband For Mari (The Amish Matchmaker 2) (8 page)

Other than a warm smile or brief “We’re so happy to have you with us today” from friends and neighbors, no one made much of Mari’s presence among them. The feeling she received was one of total acceptance, and that was far easier than being pointed out for special notice and attention. She joined the other women in the kitchen, glad for something to keep her hands busy, and grateful for the satisfying routine of breaking bread together.

Twice Zachary passed through the kitchen. Once he and one of Anna’s older boys were carrying a table in from the bench wagon used to carry furniture from house to house for worship. The second time, he’d come with Johanna’s Jonah to find a mop to wipe up milk that a child had spilled. Both times, he’d grinned at her but hadn’t lingered to talk.

Mari helped in the kitchen until everything seemed to be done that needing doing, and then she found her coat, put it on and stepped out onto the porch. She just needed a minute to be alone and take in the day’s experience. Closing the door on the laughter and talk inside, she inhaled deeply of the frosty winter air. A light dusting of snow had transformed the stables and sheds and farmyard to a Grandma Moses
painting, complete with a black-and-white cow sticking her head out a barn window and a flock of sheep gathered in the shelter of a covered well. Mari sank down on the back step, hugged herself and closed her eyes.

How long she sat there thinking of the bishop’s touching sermon and listening to the echoes of the hymns in her mind she couldn’t say, but gradually she realized that she was no longer alone.

“It means a lot to me that you came.”

Mari’s eyes snapped open. “James?” Immediately she felt silly. Who else could it be? She would know that deep and tender voice anywhere. “I’m sorry—you startled me,” she said quickly, trying to cover her blunder. “I was daydreaming.”

“Thinking about Bishop Atlee’s sermon, I hope,” he teased, taking a seat beside her on the step.

She glanced at him shyly. “Actually, I was. He’s not a shouter, is he? Our bishop at home—where I grew up, I mean—he shook the rafters when he preached. Your Bishop Atlee speaks softly, and everyone gets quiet and leans forward to hear him. I like that.”

“He’s a good man. He has a good heart and a way to remind us of God’s word without raising his voice. Preacher Reuben, Addy’s father, now,
he
can get loud. And his sermons are a bit long, but...” James smiled and shrugged.

“Well, I do like your Bishop Atlee. He seems a wise man.”

“One you might want to speak with. If you have questions,” he added hastily. “Or you want to talk.”

“It’s good to know,” she replied. It was nice here, sitting with James, her mind at ease, not worrying about anything, just enjoying the moment. “You’re a good friend.”

“Am I?” He smiled again in that lazy way, and his eyes gleamed with warmth and compassion.

“You are,” she said. “I’ve only been here a week, but it feels like it’s been months. Years.”

She rested a hand on the step between them. The wood was cold and slightly damp, but the overhanging roof sheltered the steps. She didn’t want the moment to end. Tomorrow would bring work, decisions to be made and a need to plan, moving out of Sara’s house. But for now, she didn’t have to worry about any of that. She could just sit there with James and enjoy the peace of the snowy afternoon.

James smiled at her, and they sat there for a little while in silence. Then he put his hands together. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. I think I’m going to try some of Johanna’s vegetable soup. Can I interest you in joining me?”

“Sounds good.” She rose to her feet, returning his smile. And suddenly she was hungry, not only for food but for the company of the others inside. For an instant her gaze met James’s, and then she nodded and followed him into the warm kitchen.

He’s my friend
, she thought, and her heartbeat quickened.
My friend.
The sound of it was sweet, but a part of her wished... She shook her head, pushing the unthinkable away.
It’s enough
, she thought.
It would be greedy to wish for more.

Chapter Seven

T
he next morning, when Mari passed the plywood partition that closed off the addition from the rest of the house, she noticed a crude window cut through the plywood. She couldn’t resist peering through and when she did, she spotted James, crouched on the floor. “Good morning,” she said, pleasantly surprised to see him.

He looked up from the measurements he was taking on a board and smiled at her. “Good morning.”

She didn’t hear the now-familiar sounds of the men working. “Here all alone today?”

“Just passing through. I sent the crew to do a quick repair on a roof for the day.” He stood up. “I came by because I wanted to tell you we won’t be working today. I’m going with Mattie up to Wilmington, so I can’t keep an eye on Zach. Hearing tests for the twins at A. I. duPont Children’s Hospital.”

“Oh, my. That sounds serious.”

“Probably not. Just a precaution. Their pediatrician thinks the boys are probably fine, but he suggested the testing just to be sure.”

“Your sister must be worried.”

“
Ya
, but Mattie worries a lot.” James approached the makeshift window. “I tried to tell her that there are enough things to worry about that you are certain of. It doesn’t seem right to worry about possibilities. With Roman, she was worried about his speech. That little chipmunk didn’t say a word until he was two. No
mam
, no
daddi
, not even
ne
. Mattie didn’t think he’d ever talk.”

Mari drew closer to James.

“
Ne
, not a word,” James continued. “And then one morning Mattie made oatmeal for breakfast and Roman said, ‘
Ne
, want pancakes. Booberry.’ Mattie was so tickled that she sent me to Byler’s store to buy blueberries.”

Mari chuckled. “So he started talking, just like that?”

James nodded. “Started jabbering and hasn’t stopped yet. Talk your ears off. Emanuel was the opposite. He talked really young. Shouts most of the time. I think the twins are used to hearing the older two make so much racket, they don’t pay attention to the little beeps and bells in the hearing test.”

“Let’s hope that’s what it is,” Mari said. She knew Zachary would be disappointed to hear that there wouldn’t be any working going on in the addition today. That meant he’d have to stay with Sara while she was at work.

James picked up a hammer. “Why don’t you stand back and I’ll open this up. Once the last plywood is on the exterior, we’ll have to start using this entrance.”

She moved back several steps.

In less time than she would have expected, James took down two pieces of plywood, opening up an entranceway that was the width of a double door. He stepped through with a flourish and a grin. “It won’t be long now and Sara can start bringing in brides-to-be by the dozen.”

“A dozen at a time? Goodness, that will be a full house!” Ellie came into the living room with three cups of coffee on a tray. As always, she was neat and pretty, blond hair peeking out from beneath her brilliant white
kapp
and blue eyes sparkling with energy. Ellie might have been a little person, but her personality was huge, and Mari liked her more every day.

“Big day,” Ellie said, taking in the addition with a gesture. “It’s actually starting to look like rooms.” She offered Mari and James each a mug, indicating whose was whose. “Just the way you like it.”

“Danki,”
James said. “Just what I need. I only got one cup this morning.” He blew on the hot coffee and took a sip. “Where’s Sara? She knew I planned on opening this doorway this morning. I thought she might want to see.”

“She should be back soon. She had to make an early-morning phone call at the chair shop. Ruth’s husband came to fetch her.” She chuckled, looking at Mari. “A prospective client in Missouri with five unmarried daughters.”

“Five?” James laughed. “Sara will find someone for every one of them. I don’t know how she does it.”

“Tell the truth, James,” Ellie teased. “She’s looking for someone special for you, too, isn’t she? For all we know, Mattie could have hired Sara. I hear she’s desperate to see you married within the year.” Her eyes twinkled as she glanced at Mari. “Sara never tells a client’s business unless they want it told.”

Mari smiled at the two of them. She liked how comfortable they were with each other. James was definitely a different kind of Amish man than the taciturn uncle and male cousins with whom she’d grown up. Even the boys she’d known in school and the neighborhood had been much more formal with girls and women they weren’t related to. She found James’s kind, easy manner refreshing.

James motioned to them both. “Come on in. Take a look. There’s going to be a bedroom, a full bathroom and a big parlor downstairs, and three big bedrooms and another full bathroom upstairs. Plus some closets. Now that we have heat from the woodstove, the inside finishing will come together fast.”

“I love all the windows,” Mari said. “And the oak staircase will be lovely.” Although the Sheetrock hadn’t gone up yet, she could imagine what the space would look like once it was done. The wood-burning stove was a high-efficiency model made of soapstone from Sweden that was popular in Wisconsin and gave off a steady heat.

“I feel bad that I didn’t let you know about not being able to keep an eye on Zach,” James said to Mari. “There was a cancellation.” He set down his coffee cup and picked up a broom. “The doctor’s office left a message Friday on the chair shop’s answering machine, but Mattie didn’t get it until last night.” He began to sweep. “Any progress on getting Zachary in school?”

She sighed. “The new school won’t take him until they have his records, so that’s what we’re waiting on.”

James swept the sawdust into a pile. “How long will that take?”

“I’m not sure. Honestly, it’s my fault. It never occurred to me that they wouldn’t take him without them,” Mari said. She set down her coffee mug, picked up the dustpan and stooped to hold it for him.

“I’m sorry I can’t spend time with Zach today.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. He’ll be fine here with Sara.” She glanced up at him. “Although I’m sure he’d rather spend the day working with you. Sara’s liable to put him to work folding laundry or dusting furniture.”

“Why don’t I take him to school with me?” Ellie offered, sipping her coffee.

“I don’t know,” Mari said slowly.

“Can’t I just go with James? I don’t want to go to the Amish school.”

Mari turned to see Zachary standing in the new door opening to the living room. He was wearing jeans and his pajama top. “Please don’t be rude to Ellie,” she said quietly. It hadn’t been so much what he said as how he said it.

“Or to your mother,” James said quietly.

Zachary’s features lost their defiant expression, and he looked down at his feet. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He looked up again. “But I don’t want to go to school. I want to build stuff. Like James.”

Mari emptied the dustpan into a bucket of trash. She rested the dustpan against the wall and went to her son. “Not going to school was never an option, Zachary. You know that.”

He set his jaw. “It’s not fair.”

Ellie glanced at Mari, then at Zachary. “What I was wondering, Zach, was if you’d be willing to come give me a hand today at school? Not as a student. More of a helper.”

Interest sparked in Zachary’s eyes, but he averted his gaze. “Will I get paid?”

“Zachary!” Mari’s eyes widened. “You don’t ask people for money.”

“I’ll not give you a penny,” Ellie said with a smile, not in the least bit fazed. “Just a big thank-you from me. James has been telling me what a help you are to his crew, and I thought I could borrow you for the day.”

Zachary rubbed one stockinged foot against the other. “I don’t know...”

Mari turned to James. Ellie’s offer sounded like a great idea to her, but Zachary, realizing how she felt, might work against her. “What do you think, James? You think Zachary would be any help to Ellie at school?”

He nodded. “I do. He can be a big help, when he wants to be.” He looked to Zachary. “I have to leave in a minute, but I could actually use your help right now moving a piece of plywood.” He hooked his thumb in the direction of the far end of the addition. “You have time?”

Zachary looked to his mother, and she nodded. “Be right back,” he said and ran after James.

Mari watched as Zachary followed James. Her son, she noticed, had thrust his hands into his pockets just as James had. “He has the magic touch, doesn’t he?” she said to Ellie, watching them. “Zachary has taken to him. I’m constantly hearing ‘James says this’ or ‘James does that.’”

“He’s a good role model,” Ellie agreed. “None better. He’ll make a fine husband and a fine father.”

Mari looked at her, suddenly wondering if she’d been so caught up in her own life that she’d missed something going on between Ellie and James. “Wait...” She pointed to James and then Ellie. “You and James, you’re not—”

“Oh, no.” Ellie laughed. “We’re friends.” Her smile was so wide that her dimples showed. “Good friends but just friends. We wouldn’t be suited. I’m in no hurry to be wed, and I’ve made that clear to Sara. I’m a schoolteacher. It’s a job I’ve wanted since I was six years old. If I marry, I have to give up the school, and I have no intention of doing that anytime soon.”

Mari picked up her mug and took a sip of her coffee. “But all Amish women marry. At least most of them do. Don’t you want a husband, a family?”

Ellie’s features creased into a smile over the rim of her mug. “Sure I do. Someday but not yet. I’ll teach a while first, get it out of my system. Then I’ll let Sara find me a good man with broad shoulders and a gentle heart.” She looked up at Mari. “How about you?”

“Me?”

“Would you like to be married?” Ellie asked.

Mari felt far more comfortable talking about Ellie’s future than her own. “I...I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I’ve been so busy trying to put a roof over our heads that I haven’t thought much about it, I guess.” She sighed. “I think I would like to be married again. To have a husband, but...I’m not sure I trust myself to choose a man I’d want to spend the rest of my life with.” She pressed her lips together. “I made a pretty poor choice once.”

Ellie caught Mari’s hand and gave it a squeeze before letting it go. “That’s why you let family or friends help you choose. Or a matchmaker.” Her tone turned teasing. “Sara would make the perfect match for you—I know she would.”

“You mean an Amish match?”

Ellie lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “If that’s what you decide you want.”

Mari found herself gazing off in the direction James had gone with Zachary, her hands wrapped around the still-warm coffee mug. “The thing is, I don’t know what I want,” she said softly.

“That’s okay,” Ellie assured her. “You don’t have to know all the answers all the time. Sometimes we just need to sit back and see what God has planned for us. And
relax
.”

Mari thought about the previous day, about church and how good it had felt to be there. And how she had felt a nearness to God that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. So maybe Ellie was right. Maybe she did just need to relax and see what He had in store for her.

Ellie glanced down at the watch she wore attached to her apron. “
Ach.
Look at the time. I’d better get my lunch packed. And I think I’ll pack one for Zachary, too. Just in case he decides to take me up on my offer.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Mari said, on steadier ground talking about Zachary than herself.

“I want to. And he really would be a help. I know you probably don’t always see it, but your Zachary is a very sweet boy.”

“Who’s sweet?” Zachary asked, coming toward them.

Ellie put a hand on her hip. She might have been barely as tall as Zachary, but she appeared imposing just the same. “Are you coming with me or not?”

“Yeah, I’ll come,” he agreed.

“
Goot.
Now, if you want anything besides egg-salad sandwiches, you’d best come give me a hand packing our lunches.”

Zachary glanced at Mari and she nodded. “Go. Have a good day. And make sure you don’t cause trouble. And thank you, Ellie,” she called after her. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t worry about the boy,” James said quietly when Ellie and Zachary disappeared into the kitchen. “Ellie’s tough. She won’t let him get away with anything.”

Mari sighed. “Sometimes, I don’t think I’m tough enough. And other times I’m convinced that I expect too much of him.” She offered James a grateful look. “I don’t know what you said to convince him to go with Ellie, but thank you.”

“No problem. He reminds me a lot of myself at that age.”

She stood there for a minute in comfortable silence with James, then picked up his empty coffee mug to take it to the kitchen with her own. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to eat something before I go to work. I hope everything goes well today. Safe travels.”

“Mari?” he called after her as she turned away.

She turned back.

“I almost forgot,” James said. “Mattie wanted you and Zach to come to supper tomorrow night.”

“At your house?” She hesitated, wondering if she should. When she’d come to Seven Poplars, she thought it would be just a place to stop over on her way to a better life for her and Zachary. She hadn’t expected to become so...
involved
in everyone’s lives. She hadn’t expected to make so many friends. And she couldn’t help wondering if it was a mistake. If it would just make it harder when she left.

“Please come. I’ll be happy to ride over and get you. It would be a big favor to me. Lilly’s coming and bringing her cousin. Mattie is determined to throw Lilly and me together. And with her cousin, I’m afraid I’ll be outnumbered, three to one. I need a friend to back me up.”

Mari chuckled. “Well, when you put it that way.” She gave a nod. “I’ll be happy to have dinner with your family. I’ve been wanting to get to know your sister and the rest of your nephews.” She liked the idea of him needing a favor from her. It was what friends did, wasn’t it?

“Just be prepared for anything,” he said with a grin. “And
never
, ever turn your back on Emanuel. The last time Bishop Atlee came to supper, he put a cricket in his soup.”