The Amish Blacksmith (18 page)

“Penny for your thoughts,” my mother said, and when I looked up I realized she was talking to me.

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” I replied, spearing my last bite of chicken and popping it into my mouth.

“You looked like you were a million miles away,” Rachel added, retaking her seat at the table as the monkey bread cooled on the stove.

“I was just… I was thinking about Priscilla Kinsinger, Amos's niece,” I said. Then, turning to
Daed
, I added, “Remember the little girl who used to hang out at Amos's blacksmith shop when I was a kid?”

He shook his head.

“Sure you do. Daniel Kinsinger's daughter? Real quiet, kind of a tomboy?”

“Ah, yes,” he said, nodding. “I remember. The girl whose mother died so tragically.”

“Right, I remember that too,”
Mamm
said. “We sent over a casserole and some pies. Her mother fell down the stairs or something, didn't she?”

“That's the one,” I said. “Anyway, Priscilla has been living in Indiana for the past six years, but now she's back, at least temporarily. Amos and Roseanna are happy about it, and they're hoping she'll stick around. They want her to make a new life for herself here.”

“I hope things work out well for her,” my mother said. “And I'll certainly keep her in my prayers.” She took a sip of her tea and then put down the glass and looked my way, her eyes twinkling. “Is she pretty?”

Oh, boy. I knew what she was insinuating, that this Priscilla person might be a good match for her youngest son. I answered her question with a shrug and tried to change the subject, but then Tyler had to open his big mouth.

“Jake's already seeing someone,
Mammi
,” he told her, sounding like a much younger version of himself.
Jake ate the last slice of pie, Mammi; tracked mud in the house, Mammi; broke the flower vase, Mammi.
“At least that's what I hear.”

I gave him my sternest glare even as everyone else at the table seemed delighted with the news.

“Is this true, Jake?”
Mamm
asked. “You may as well go ahead and tell us. Who is she?”

I couldn't believe my mother was asking me such a personal question, especially because she'd always been so good about respecting my privacy. Perhaps she, too, had been wondering when or if I was ever going to move into the next phase of my life with a wife and children.

I was trying to think how to respond, but when I didn't reply soon enough, Tyler spoke again.

“It's Amanda Shetler,” he said, flashing me a victorious grin.

Mamm
looked confused, so Rachel elaborated. “Her
daed
is a minister? Her
mamm
was Mary Ellen Fussner from Quarryville? They have those adorable twin girls?”

“Oh, yes,”
Mamm
said finally, nodding. “Amanda is their oldest.” Turning to me, she added, “I know her. My goodness, Jake. She's a lovely young woman. Just lovely.”

“Just lovely,” Tyler echoed, and I kicked him under the table.

“So?”
Mamm
asked, zeroing in on me. “Is Tyler correct? Are you really courting Amanda Shetler?”

“Seriously,
Mamm
?” I replied. “Why aren't you scolding Tyler right now? You've never abided tattling before.”

She dabbed at her mouth daintily with a napkin and then returned it to her lap. “What can I say, son? That's when the two of you were still at home. Once a woman's children are grown and gone, she'll take information any way she can get it.”

Everyone laughed, and Tyler gave a hearty, “Hear, hear!”

I gave up. “Fine.
Ya.
I'm courting Amanda Shetler. Have been for four months now.”

“Four months,” my mother said, glancing toward the calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen. “
Gut
. Because it's already June.”

They all chuckled again as they knew what she was implying. With our district's wedding season beginning in mid-to-late October, I would need to propose to Amanda by September at the latest if we wanted to marry this time around. If we didn't take that step then, it would be a whole year before we would have the opportunity again.

“Don't rush him,” Tyler said, suddenly shifting to my side in the conversation. “You don't want to scare him off.”

“Yes, dear,” my mother replied sweetly, “but autumn will be here before you know it.”

“And t'will be back again the following year,” Tyler replied.

This time, I joined in the laughter. Tyler, more than anyone, knew what it meant to delay an engagement. After all, he'd known and loved Rachel since they were children together, but he hadn't asked her to marry him for years, not until he was almost twenty-four. Fortunately for him, she was a patient sort and had loved him enough to wait him out. Now they were blessed not just with a happy union but a new child on the way as well.

“My timeline with Amanda is on track whether we publish this season or next,” I said, hoping to end the discussion there. They all knew it wasn't unusual for a couple to date for at least a year before taking that next step. They also knew that my relationship with Amanda was a private matter, not fodder for dinner table conversation. In fact, the only reason this discussion was happening at all was because there were only the five of us today. If my other siblings and their families had come too, the table talk would have remained at a far less intrusive level.

“You're not getting any younger, is all I'm saying,” my mother told me in a singsongy voice.

“And she is a very special girl,” Rachel chimed in.

“Ya
, I know. I'm well aware that I'm no spring chicken, and that I would be blessed to have Amanda Shetler as a wife.” Holding up both hands in mock surrender, I added, “Thank you all for your input. So,
Daed
, what do you think of the new polyurethane buggy grips for the four seventeen? Are they as solid as the steel ones on the two twelve?”

They chuckled, but they got the point. The subject was closed.

At last.

It wasn't until we were ready to leave that I had the chance to give Tyler a piece of my mind for being such a blabbermouth. I had already told my parents goodbye in the house, and the two of us were out front hitching our horses to our buggies.

“Pull that kind of tattletale stunt again,” I told him, “and I'll… ” My voice faded as I tried to think of a sufficient punishment.

“You'll what?” Tyler replied, struggling not to laugh.

“I'll tell them Rachel's expecting.”

He stopped what he was doing and stood up straight, his eyes wide. “How'd you know?”

“So it's true?”

“
Ya.
About three and half months now.”

He grinned, and seeing the joy on his face, I felt my earlier resentments
slipping away. Tyler was my nephew and my best friend, and I loved Rachel like a sister. Truly, I couldn't have been happier for them both.

“Just bear this in mind,” I said as I tugged on the cinch one last time before giving Willow a pat on her rump. “The fact that I didn't use that bit of information in there to divert the attention away from myself only proves that I'm the better man.”

Tyler threw back his head and laughed.

“Always said you were, Jake,” he told me, reaching out to give my shoulder a squeeze. “Always said you were.”

Rachel emerged from the house and came our way, but instead of going straight to their buggy, she surprised me by walking over to me and taking one of my hands in hers.

“Before you go, may I be so bold as to give you a bit of advice?” she asked.

I cringed, knowing full well this was going to have something to do with my courting Amanda. Ever since Rachel and Tyler had gotten married, she'd begun to make a habit of doling out words of wisdom to me now and then whether I wanted to hear them or not. Usually I did, but this time, not so much.

“Sure,” I groaned.

Smiling, she moved in even closer and spoke in a soft voice. “Now that you're in a relationship, you must keep your eye on the most important thing. Remember, the point of courting is not for you to decide if Amanda will become your wife.”

My eyes widened. “It's not?”

“It's not?” Tyler echoed, also moving in close.

Rachel shook her head, her vivid blue eyes sparkling. “No. It's the time for seeking whether it is
God's will
that Amanda become your wife.”

“Ah,” I replied, nodding. Though I already knew what she was saying, it never hurt to be reminded of that. “
Ya.
Of course. Not my will, but His.”

We said our goodbyes after that, and then Tyler helped Rachel into their buggy. Before he climbed in after her, I gave his shoulder a pat.

He flashed me a grin in return, seeming to know without words what I was trying to say, that the life God had willed for him was very blessed indeed.

E
LEVEN

R
achel's parting advice had me so deep in thought that instead of returning directly to the Kinsingers', I detoured my buggy to the nearby Welsh Mountain Nature Preserve. After tying up Willow and giving her some water, I went for a long walk on the trails there and spent a good two hours in quiet prayer and reflection. Rachel was right. This was not about me choosing Amanda for myself. It was about God choosing her for me—or not.

I left in plenty of time for the volleyball game, stopping to pick up Amanda just before four with the intention of picking up Priscilla after that. Amanda had said she didn't care if I came for her with Priscilla already in my buggy, but I cared. In my youth, I had been known as something of a ladies' man, and even after I joined the church and changed my ways, it had taken a while for that reputation to fade. I had no intention of bringing it back now. People in our communities always tended to talk about whom and what they saw. Why feed the gossip mill for no reason? Besides, I was pretty sure Priscilla wouldn't have wanted to start any rumors either. No doubt, folks already talked about her enough as it was.

Amanda was her usual cheerful self, chatting easily as we made our way to the Kinsingers' farm. Under her black cape and apron she was in green today, which always looked so pretty with her emerald eyes and blond hair.

“So what about Matthew Zook?” she said out of nowhere as we were turning onto the last road before the Kinsinger place.

“What about him? Did something happen to him?”

She punched me playfully. “For Priscilla!”

I still didn't get it. “What?”

Amanda rolled her eyes and laughed. “For
Priscilla
. As in, let's introduce them to each other tonight. He's perfect for her.”

It took me a minute to get into synch with Amanda's train of thought, which obviously had been chugging along at a brisk pace with regard to matchmaking.

“Matthew Zook?” I echoed, though I knew whom she meant. Matthew lived in Bird-in-Hand, worked alongside his parents and younger brother at their feed and tack shop, and was a couple of years younger than me. Tall, quiet, and curly haired, he had always reminded me of a scarecrow with too much hay posing as hair—though when I said that to Amanda now, she jabbed me with her elbow.

“Scarecrows are ugly. And trust me, Matthew is
definitely
not ugly.”

I didn't respond, though I wasn't crazy about how emphatically she'd said that.

“He's perfect. He's shy and quiet just like she is, and he's never had a girlfriend.”

I laughed. “How do you know he's never had a girlfriend?”

She frowned at me, a smile still hinting in her eyes. “Haven't you noticed? No matter how much the girls flock to him, he's too shy to ask any of them out. And it's a shame too because he's really cute. And nice.”

I shook my head. “I agree that he's a nice guy, but how does the fact that he's never had a girlfriend make him perfect for Priscilla?”