The Amish Suitor. Jo Brown Ann

will help you learn to understand others better.

      He couldn’t deny the truth, but spending time with her might only increase how often she invaded his thoughts. A bad idea. He couldn’t see any outcome other than her dumping him as Betty Ann had or her trying to shower him with compassion. He didn’t want either, especially the latter because he’d come to equate compassion with pity.

      When Caleb called out what must have been a jesting comment because everyone laughed, Eli chuckled, too, though he had no idea what Caleb had said. He relaxed when he realized the topic was how he was looking to establish himself as a carpenter. Questions were fired at him, and he kept nodding, hoping he wasn’t committing himself to something he didn’t have the skills to do.

      “...more pie?” asked Miriam as she held a plate out in front of him.

      The aroma of baked apples flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg made his mouth water. He took the plate. “Danki.”

      “You...doing well.”

      “Ja, you’ll be moving the scholars into the school before you end your summer term.”

      Her smile wavered as it did whenever he mentioned her teaching the kinder. Curiosity tugged at his tongue, urging him to ask the obvious questions.

      He didn’t.

      If he started probing into why she acted as she did, she might do the same to him. He didn’t want to talk about the tragedy...again and again as he’d had to in Delaware.

      “You...rest doing a gut job,” she said before she put another piece of pie in front of a man who’d been cutting two-by-fours.

      In spite of himself, Eli’s hand paused between the plate and his mouth while he watched the other men’s gazes following Miriam. That wasn’t any surprise, because she was lovely. What was a surprise was the swell of something distasteful when she wore a brilliant smile as she answered a man on the other side of the table.

      Jealousy.

      For the time she was spending with the others? Or for how easy it was for them to talk with her?

      Or both?

       Lord, help me focus on what’s important for me and for Kyle.

      It was a prayer he needed to keep in his heart every hour of every day.

      Yet, it was impossible to look away when Miriam set a plate in front of LaVon, who was sitting across from him. She said something to the other man, but her gaze locked again with Eli’s.

      This time she didn’t look away like a frightened rabbit. She met his eyes. The bits of voices he could discern faded as he became lost in the connection between them. Every instinct told him to tear his gaze away. He didn’t.

      Was it confusion he saw on her face? Was she as baffled and uncertain about this invisible bridge that spanned the distance between them?

      Eli had no time to puzzle that out because she looked toward the other end of the tables. Just as everyone else did. Belatedly, he copied the others’ motions.

      Caleb had risen to his feet. He was smiling as he spoke, but Eli caught only two words.

      “Fire department...”

      He didn’t know what else Caleb had said. Whatever it was must have been important because the other men were sitting back, considering Caleb’s words. Eli waited for one or more of them to ask questions so he could discover why Caleb had mentioned a fire department.

      “Volunteers...?” asked LaVon.

      “Ja.” Caleb smiled as he sat again and folded his arms on the table. When Eli strained, he picked out the words, “With more houses...Harmony Creek...more volunteers. We’re here during the day. That...gut for the department.”

      Eli understood. Or hoped he did. The local fire department was looking for more volunteers, especially those who were at home during the day. From what he’d learned about Salem, most people worked in other towns, some driving more than thirty miles each way. A fire during the day would get out of control without enough volunteers to fight it. The arrival of the Amish who worked on their farms was the perfect solution to the quandary.

      “Interested?” asked Caleb as he looked in Eli’s direction.

      “Ja. I volunteered in Delaware.” He wished he hadn’t jumped on the chance when he saw Miriam frown in his direction.

      He understood what she didn’t say. Kyle had told him about the sirens that had sped past on the main road, the ones Eli hadn’t heard when he went to talk to Miriam about the schoolhouse plans. No wonder she looked puzzled that he was volunteering to be a firefighter.