Runaway Amish Bride. Leigh Bale

seemed kind of sad.” Her gaze drifted to the doorway where Lizzie had stepped outside with her empty basket. The young woman looked up, shading her eyes against the sun.

      “That’s because she’s still missing Eli,” Naomi said.

      “Eli?”

      “Eli Stoltzfus, her fiancé. He left a couple of years ago... I lose track of time. They were supposed to get married, but he wanted to go to college. The night before they were to be baptized together, he abandoned our faith and joined the Englisch in Denver. He didn’t even have the common courtesy to say goodbye or write Lizzie a note. Nothing. He just left.”

      “Oh, how sad,” Abby said, understanding how that must have hurt his familye and Lizzie.

      “I understand from his mudder that he is doing very well in school,” Naomi continued. “He hasn’t even written to Lizzie. He broke her heart, and she hasn’t been the same since. Now, she won’t attend the singings or even think about getting married. I fear she’s lost her trust in men.”

      Abby felt a powerful rush of sympathy. She didn’t trust men either. Her heart had been broken, too, but for different reasons. Neither she nor Lizzie wanted to marry. Not after the painful betrayal they’d experienced at the hands of men they should have been able to trust.

      Looking up, Abby saw Jakob leaning against the buggy, his ankles crossed. With the warmth of the day, he’d rolled the long sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows and pushed the straw hat back on his head. She blinked, thinking him the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

      Ruby was already sitting quietly in the back of the buggy, a perpetual smile on her face.

      Beneath the brim of his hat, Jakob watched his mother and Abby. From his calm exterior, he appeared to be patiently waiting for them. But Abby sensed a nervous energy in him. No doubt he was eager to return home.

      “We better go. I don’t want to keep Jakob waiting any longer,” Naomi said.

      Abby agreed. She hurried past Naomi and climbed into the back of the buggy with Ruby. Ever considerate, Jakob reached to help her, but she pretended not to notice and quickly sat beside the little girl. Ruby leaned against her. Unable to resist the girl’s open affection, Abby lifted her arm around her slender shoulders and cuddled the child close to her side.

      Jakob helped his mother. Naomi gave him a sweet smile and patted his arm. When she sat back, Abby heard her breathing heavily, as though she couldn’t catch her breath. It had been a hectic morning. No doubt the woman needed a rest from her busy day.

      Jakob rounded the buggy to climb into the driver’s seat, then took the leads and clicked his tongue. As the horse moved into a quick trot down the street, Abby wished that things could be different somehow. But Jakob loved his wife. He didn’t want her. And longing for something that could never be would only bring more discontent to Abby’s heart.

       Chapter Four

      That afternoon, Abby carried the heavy rag rug from the main living room outside to the backyard. Swinging it up, she struggled for a moment to get it draped over the strong rope line that stretched between two wooden poles. Picking up a wicker rug beater, she pounded the rug for several moments. Clouds of dust wafted into the air. Bright sunlight streamed across the yard, highlighting the flower beds where yellow tulips and daffodils were just starting to bloom.

      Thirty minutes. That’s how long she had before she’d need to pull two cherry pies out of the oven. She’d set the timer on the front porch, so she’d be sure to hear it when it rang. Just enough time to get some house cleaning done.

      Ruby was inside with Naomi, helping dust the furniture. To ease Naomi’s workload, Abby had insisted on mopping the wooden floors herself. Soon, Reuben would be home from school. She was eager to hear his comments over the special note she’d tucked into his cookie bag. Hopefully the message had made him happy.

      Tugging on the rug, she adjusted its position and smacked it several times in different places. She coughed and waved a hand in the air to disperse the dust. The sound of horses drew her attention, and she faced the south pasture. On the opposite side of the barbed wire fence, Jakob sat on a disc plow with a two-team hitch. The moment she saw him, a buzz of excitement pulsed through her body. She didn’t understand why, but her senses went on high alert every time he was near.

      The two gigantic draft horses pulled the plow with ease. Jakob held the lead lines in his strong hands, his body swaying gently as the blades sliced through the heavy clods of dirt. His straw hat was pulled low over his eyes, casting his face in shadow. He didn’t look up as he passed, his focus directed at the dappled Percherons as they plowed in long, even furrows. Abby was amazed that anyone could handle such big horses, but she knew they were nothing more than gentle giants. She had been here only one day and already couldn’t help admiring Jakob’s strength and hard work ethic. In spite of taking them to the bakery in town that morning, he had plowed half of the fields. Neither her father nor Simon had ever been so industrious, and she couldn’t help making numerous comparisons.

      As he reached the end of the row and turned the horses, Jakob lifted his head and looked straight at her. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Abby tugged the rug off the rope line and hurried toward the house. When she returned fifteen minutes later with the rug from the kitchen, Jakob and the horses were nowhere to be seen. She had just enough time to clean this rug before her pies needed to come out of the oven.

      “Abby!”

      She turned. Wearing a blue work apron over his clothes, Dawdi