Amish Treasures of the Heart (2 page)

“Now that you’re here, let’s get to work, shall we?” Jake said to Jackson and Will, as if he was their boss instead of Ellie. He didn’t like the idea of Ellie being in the role of boss over a couple of flirtatious men. He wanted to direct the farm hands since he’d been brought up in such a way that men conducted business with men, and women conducted business with other females, and the two did not mix company. It just didn’t seem proper to him.

He looked back at Ellie, and she nodded her approval, making Jake feel more at ease with the situation.  

“I think it’s a great deal we have going here; this is the first job I’ve had that came with home-cooked meals from a beautiful woman,” Jackson said with a cheesy grin.

Jake was surprised at this statement. “I didn’t know you’d both be taking your meals here.”

Jackson winked at him. “If she can cook half as good as she looks, then our stomachs are in for just as much of a treat as our eyes.”

Jake was a little disgusted by Jackson’s comments, and he certainly hadn’t expected these men to be competition, let alone to be at the dinner table. He felt a little discouraged, but that only fueled him to do a better job and work as hard as he could. There was something about Ellie that made him want to be a better man and he was determined to prove to her that he could be.

Jake dropped another bale of hay and the twine broke, splaying the hay all over the ground.

“How much longer are we gonna have to carry you,” Will asked. “You either do your fare share and stop making so many mistakes that it makes more work for us, or we’ll let Miss Ellie know you aren’t working out here.”

“Aw, she won’t let him go,” Jackson said. “Did you see the doe-eyes the two of them were giving each other? She’s his pet!”

Jake didn’t like the comments being made about either him or Ellie, but he’d learned a long time ago that men with attitudes like that usually got themselves into enough trouble on their own. They could make their complaints all they wanted to Ellie, but he had a feeling she would see right through their tactics. With Jake out of the way, one of them could swoop in and take over the job, and possibly Ellie too. At least that’s what they probably thought. Ellie was too smart to fall for their empty compliments, wasn’t she?

At the end of the working day, Ellie called Jake and the farmhands in for dinner. He was worn out and sore; he wasn’t used to doing such a physical job. Ellie had been right about his lack of knowledge and strength, but he was determined to learn. As long as the other two men would cut him some slack, he’d get along just fine. He’d dropped several bales of hay when they were hoisting them into the loft, and he’d made several other small mistakes, but nothing worth being let go over the way the others suggested.

Jake dusted off his pants, wishing more than anything he could clean up before sitting down to dinner with Ellie. Working in the hot sun had really taken a toll on him, and he felt self-conscious enough as it was. He preferred to look and smell clean, but dowsing himself with the hose would have to do. The men all took turns washing their hands before entering the house. When it was Jake’s turn, he removed his hat and ran the hose over his head to cool himself. Rinsing the dust from his face and hair made as much a difference as any, he supposed. As he flicked at his hair to get out the excess water, he noticed Jackson pointing at him and laughing.

He nudged Will in the ribs. “Hey, get a load of
Shirley Temple
over there!”

It wasn’t the first time he’d been ridiculed for his curly hair. He’d heard them all growing up;
Goldie-locks, Shirley Temple,
and other similar ribbing about his hair. It was the only thing he’d inherited from his mother, and he’d never let anyone bring him down about it. He ignored their laughter and walked past them to get inside the house.

When they walked into the kitchen, they were hit with wonderful aromas. Jake’s mouth watered at the sight of fried chicken, biscuits, and mashed potatoes that were all set out on the table. Ellie had gone all out for them.

They sat down, and Ellie glanced at Jake’s wet, curly hair. She’d not seen him without a hat before, and she couldn’t help but stare at his curls, wishing she could run her fingers through them.

Jackson cleared his throat. “If you’re gonna stare at
Curly-Boy
all day, can we dig in? Unlike him, we’ve both put in a hard day already, and we’re starving.”

Jake suddenly wished he hadn’t been sitting at the table, or he’d have put his hat back on. He watched Ellie’s face turn about ten shades of red, and figured his might be close to the same color.

Ellie turned forward and lowered her gaze. “Jake,” she said quietly. “Will you lead us in prayer?”

Jake felt put on the spot. He wasn’t really one to pray in front of others, and he didn’t know how to go about it, even though he felt honored that Ellie had asked him. So he said a quick, clumsy prayer, which made the farmhands give him a strange look, and chuckle quietly.

They were not going to let up.

“Thank you Jake.” Ellie said, noticing how awkward he felt. “Let’s eat, shall we?”

The farmhands all dug in ravenously, as if they had never eaten before. Jake was starved but he wanted to show he had table manners, so he ate slowly and politely. He and Ellie exchanged an amused look at the men eating so carelessly. Ellie was glad she had at least one well-mannered person at her table.

When the meal was done, the farmhands left the table abruptly, leaving their mess. They said their goodbyes and set a time to return tomorrow. Jake was upset by their lack of manners, but decided he’d stay behind and help Ellie clean up.

As he picked up his plate and went to the sink with it, Ellie put a hand on his arm to stop him.

“That’s alright Jake; you’ve done so much already today. You should go home and get some rest. I’ll need you back here tomorrow bright and early.” She said with a coy smile.

Jake tried to curb his smile at her comment. “So I did a good job, then?”

“Jackson and Will don’t seem to like you,” she said. “What’s that about?”

“I have to admit this work is not as easy as I thought it would be. I made a few mistakes and they threatened to tattle on me!”

“Being raised as an
Englisher,
you still need to learn a thing or two about running an Amish farm, but I appreciate your effort. Honestly, I appreciated your company among those men. They’re a little rough around the edges, and I feel safer with you here.”

Jake wanted to let out a whoop, but suppressed his emotions for Ellie’s sake. She wanted him here, and that’s all that mattered to him.

“If we could do something about their table manners, that might help a little too,” she said.

“They were a little—messy, weren’t they?” he said with a chuckle.

Jake grabbed his hat and started to tell her goodbye, when Ellie touched his arm. “I like the curls.”

Jake couldn’t suppress his smile this time. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he intended to show her he had better manners than her hired hands.

Instead, he wished her a good night, and promised to return first thing tomorrow—before the hired hands arrived.

Chapter 2.

When Jake arrived at Ellie’s farm the next morning, the sun had barely been up for more than an hour, but he was irritated to see the other farmhands had already shown up and were working in the stables while Ellie brushed her horse, Coal. He’d made certain to get there early, but they had obviously been there for some time already. She was quite oblivious and preoccupied with Coal’s attention to notice how the men kept sneaking lewd glances at her.

“You missed breakfast.
Curly,”
Jackson teased him as he entered the barn.

Jake could feel his temper rising, but kept it in check for Ellie’s sake. She looked up at him long enough to smile, and then returned to the task of brushing down her horse. He didn’t know they were supposed to be there for
every
meal, and wished Ellie had told him before he’d left the night before. He guessed she must have assumed he knew the protocol, but he obviously had more to learn than he thought.

“I won’t miss it tomorrow!” he shot back with a smirk to match Jackson’s. “And the name is Jake!”

“Whatever you say, Curly!” Jackson said with a chuckle.

He wasn’t about to let that man break him. Jake knew what he was trying to do, but he would stand his ground. Ellie’s safety probably depended on it. He knew that his presence alone would keep the man from taking any notions he had of making a move on Ellie too far.

Jake immediately got to work with the other men, reprimanding himself in his head for being late. They were already busy mucking out the stalls, so he grabbed a shovel and began to scoop the manure into the wheelbarrow, knowing it would be used to fertilize the kitchen garden. Jackson tossed a pitchfork full of soiled hay in Jake’s direction, causing him to step sideways to avoid the mess. In doing so, he backed into the nearly full wheelbarrow and fell right into it.

Both farmhands laughed at Jake as he sunk deep into the manure, while Jackson flashed him a look of satisfaction. Jake glanced over at Ellie and realized she’d witnessed the whole thing. His face felt hotter than the August sun and he was certain it was redder than the tomatoes in Ellie’s garden.

“It’s alright, Jake, we could all stand to be less clumsy,” she said, glaring at Jackson.

She wondered if she hadn’t made a mistake agreeing to let Jake help her. He didn’t seem like he was cut out for this type of work.

“Perhaps you could come help me in the garden today, Jake. I could use an extra person to help me till between the rows; they’re getting overgrown with weeds.”

Jake nodded, feeling relief to be away from Jackson for the remainder of the day.

“Angus left a trunk full of things in the loft,” she told him. “Why don’t you get a fresh pair of clothes out of there, and we’ll get to work as soon as you change.”

Jake stared at the ground, still feeling embarrassed. “I’d be happy to help you.” he said quietly, following her out of the stables.

He walked toward the hose, and took a second shower in the cold water. He wasn’t about to leave the pants and shirt to dry unless they were at least rinsed off. He’d worry about washing them later. He picked up his chin, determined not to give Ellie a reason to let him go from her employment.

When he was up in the loft changing, Ellie walked back to the barn to get the tools she needed to work in the large garden, when she overheard the farmhands teasing Jake.

“You’re pretty worthless if you ask me,” Jackson was saying. “You can’t even handle the stables.”

“And you don’t have half the muscle you should to be working on a farm,” Will added.

“If you ask me, I’d think you’re playing dumb just trying to get Ellie’s attention,” Jackson accused. “You’re Amish, aren’t you? So why is it that you don’t know how to do any of this stuff?”

Jake didn’t say a word.

“I think she should just fire him and keep her eyes on the real men like us,” Jackson said with a chuckle.

Ellie was appalled to hear them speaking in such a manner. She cleared her throat at the entrance of the barn to establish her presence. They stopped talking suddenly and turned to greet her.

“I don’t like gossip on my farm, men.” She told them sternly. “And I won’t tolerate teasing either. Jake is not going to fight you if that is what you’re looking for. He has no reason to, and nothing to prove to you. We are peaceful and humble, and this is not acceptable. There will not be any more of this, or
you
will be the one fired.”

“Sorry ma’am, it’s just, it doesn’t seem like you can afford to have him working here. Since he doesn’t know what he’s doing and he doesn’t have the man power we do, I hate to see you waste your time and money on him. He’s actually making our jobs more difficult by making more work for us when we have to go after him and correct his mistakes.”

“What I can and can’t afford is none of your business.” She reprimanded him. “Not that it’s any of your concern, but Jake is working here as a family favor to me.”

She grabbed the garden tools and headed out with her head held high, letting them know who was in charge. She knew they might be right, but that was her decision to make, not theirs.

Ellie was determined to give Jake another chance—or two.

Chapter 3.

Jake attempted to clean out the nesting boxes for the chickens, but he couldn’t master the task without the hens pecking at him or flying out at him because he was disturbing their nests. He broke down and decided it was time to ask for help. Even if it was from one of those no-good farmhands. He walked over to where they were cleaning out the horse stalls.

“You’re both really hard workers,” he said, hoping flattery would make a difference in their temperament.

The farmhands just glanced at him, rolled their eyes, and went back to work.

“I was just wondering, since you are so good at what you do, if you wouldn’t mind teaching me a thing or two. I can’t seem to get to those nesting boxes from the backside the way you both do. Wouldn’t it be easier to go in through the front of the coop?”

“Ha! Like I’d help you,
Mr. Favorite!
I don’t have time to teach you; I’m too busy doing your job already—on top of doing my own work—and only getting paid one man’s salary,” Jackson complained. “You don’t need help. No matter how much you mess up, it’s not as if you’ll ever be fired. Not like you should be! I won’t show you anything, except my backside.”

“I know it may seem like I’m being favored, and maybe I am, but Ellie and I are kind of…family.” He cringed at saying this. “I suppose she just feels sorry for me, but I’d like to actually be of some help around here.”

“I know you two don’t see each other as family. She keeps you around for
other
reasons. I’m not blind! Although I think she may be,” he said, laughing as he turned his back to Jake.

Jake was offended. He wanted to yell at him, or even compete with him on his terms, but he knew better. He’d certainly lose, and the end result would not be pretty. He had nothing more to say to either of them. Jackson had made it clear from the first time they’d met that he didn’t want to get along, and Will had gone along with him. Now, he’d admitted he had no intention of helping Jake so he could carry his weight on the farm. He would gladly leave both of them alone. He started to walk away when Jackson stopped him.

“If you really want to be of help,” Jackson said politely. “You can get started on de-tasseling the corn.”

“How do you do that? You mean, pull off the tassels on the top?” he asked, trying not to sound completely ignorant of farm-related tasks.

“Exactly!” Jackson said, feigning a smile. “See, you do know a few things around here.”

“Why does it have to be de-tasseled?”

“To keep it from rotting before we can get it all harvested,” he said convincingly. “We’ll be out there to help you just as soon as we finish with the barn.”

Will agreed with Jackson, and so Jake went out to the cornfield to get a head start on them. Perhaps if he did well enough, Ellie would notice, and be pleased with him.

Jake made fast work of de-tasseling, having gotten two entire rows done before Jackson and Will showed up—with an angry Ellie not far behind them.

“What on earth are you doing?” Jackson accused him, and then quickly turned to Ellie. “We thought he was joking when he said he was going out to de-tassel the corn! But then when we saw him doing it, we
had
to come and tell you what he was up to.”

“Now, wait a minute!” Jake said. “I was only doing what Jackson told me to do.”

The man actually rolled his eyes at Jake as he smirked confidently. “Do you know why corn might be de-tasseled? For pollination control. But this isn’t hybrid corn, and it’s clearly already been pollinated. It’s August! Even this section that was planted late in the season has already been pollinated. These stalks have fat ears on them, and we need to get this section harvested—unless you want to keep wasting our time! Why don’t you do us all a favor and go work somewhere else, because farming is not your strong-suit.”

“You told me to come out here, and you know it, Jackson!”

He chuckled. “Maybe you should stop blaming all your problems on everyone else, and start taking some responsibility for yourself, Jake. We’d all be a lot happier.”

Will and Jackson laughed at him.

Jake looked at Ellie, but she put a hand up as if to say she’d heard enough. “Please get back to work—doing something productive,” she said as she aimed her gaze in Jake’s direction.

He walked away, intending to hook up the mule to the large cart so he could get busy picking the corn. He knew Ellie kept a roadside stand stocked with bushels of corn that she sold. He would make this up to her if it was the last thing he did. But first, he would apologize to her.

Before he hitched Muley to the cart, he went back out to the garden, where Ellie now stood with a young woman who appeared to be around their same age.

When he approached the two, the young woman standing with Ellie seemed to get very excited.

“Jake! It’s so
gut
to finally meet you!” she said with a little too much enthusiasm for Jake’s liking. “I’m Rachel, Ellie’s cousin.”

Ellie smiled. “She’s here to help for the day. She lives just down the road with her parents, her brother, Isaac, and sister, Bethany.”

Jake nodded, and then turned to Ellie. “I wanted to apologize for what happened.”

Ellie swiped a hand in the air and scoffed. “All is forgiven, so let’s drop it. There is too much to be done around here to be crying over spilled milk.”

Jake agreed, even though he wanted to plead his case.

Ellie looked at the sun, noting it was getting late. She had been caught up in conversation with her cousin. “I better go start the afternoon meal,” she said. “Jake, would you show Rachel the stables? She’s been begging to meet Coal.”

“Sure, no problem.” He motioned for Rachel to follow him, though he’d rather be in the kitchen helping Ellie.

Jake and Rachel started their walk over to the stables.

“So, how do you like working on the farm?”

“Well, to be honest, I’m having some difficulty. I wasn’t raised Amish. I was raised in the city, so all of this is foreign to me. I’m having a hard time getting the hang of it.”

Rachel chuckled. “It can be complicated work at times, why don’t you get the farmhands to teach you a thing or two?”

“They aren’t the friendliest guys. They tricked me into de-tasseling two entire rows of corn in the field just now!”

“Ouch!” Rachel said. “That must be what the apology was all about, then,
jah?”

Jake nodded.

“At least this time of year it won’t do any harm, but what did Ellie have to say about it? Did you tell her what they did?”

“I tried, but, as you can see, she still doesn’t want to talk about it,” Jake complained.

“Maybe she didn’t want to embarrass you,” Rachel offered.

“I don’t know about that. I’m not sure she believed that they set me up. They’d love nothing more than to see me fail, and for Ellie to fire me. I’d ask my dad to help me learn what I need to know to work here, but I don’t want to take away from the time he has with Becca right now.”

“Well perhaps my brother could teach you some things.” She suggested. “He should be arriving in time for dinner, so we could ask him tonight.”

“That’d be great, but would it be okay if we kept this between us three? I’m a little embarrassed that I haven’t caught on to things on my own yet.”

“Your secret’s safe with me, Jake, on one condition.”

“You name it,” he said. “And I’ll agree.”

“I want you to take me for a buggy ride.”

Jake stopped mid-step and looked at Rachel. “Is there somewhere you need to go? If it’s in town, I could take you in my car.”

Rachel giggled. “I forgot; you wouldn’t understand because you aren’t completely Amish! It needs to be a buggy ride. I’d like the chance to make Troy Miller jealous.”

“As long as it won’t end up with me getting punched in the face!” he said with a chuckle.

“
Nee!
He wouldn’t do that; he’s too quiet and shy for a confrontation. I want to court him, but I think he needs a little persuading, and if he sees I’m not sitting around waiting on him, he might finally ask me to take a buggy ride with him.”

Jake smirked. “Aren’t you worried he might think you’re taken if he sees us together?”

She shook her head and giggled. “
Nee,
it isn’t like we’ll go again!”

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“One more thing…you can’t tell anyone why we took the buggy ride. If you do, there won’t be any chance to make him jealous because he’d know that’s why I did it.”

Jake shrugged. “Who am I gonna tell?”

“
Danki,”
she said. “I can get Isaac to help you, starting tomorrow, but you’ll have to come to our place to do it.”

“I don’t really want to be away from here too much while the hired hands are here. I’m not sure I trust them around your cousin. They don’t exactly have manners.”

“I can send my younger sister, Bethany, over here to work in the garden with Ellie. She’s only twelve, but she’s sort of what you
Englishers
call a Tomboy.”

Jake frowned. “I’m only half Englisher.”

“I was teasing you, silly,” she said with a giggle. “Let’s see if we can’t get a
gut
look at this horse Angus left to Ellie.”

Jake wasn’t wild about the idea of having to take Rachel for a buggy ride, but he was willing to do it if it meant he could get some help with learning what he needed to be able to do the work on Ellie’s farm. He wanted nothing more than to impress her, and so far he’d been doing just the opposite. He couldn’t wait to show her his
Amish
side.