Amish Country Box Set: Restless Hearts\The Doctor's Blessing\Courting Ruth (46 page)

Ruth’s mother directed the fire-fighting efforts and instructed the older girls to take the smaller children back to where Susanna waited so that they would be out of danger.

Two of the Beachy boys carried the rain barrel to the other side of the schoolhouse and splashed water against the wall. Other boys used their lunch buckets to carry water. One moment they seemed as if they were winning the battle, but the next moment, flames would shoot up in a new spot. Someone passed her a bucket of water, and Ruth rushed in to throw it on the porch roof. As long as the roof didn’t catch fire, the building might be saved. Abruptly, a sensation of heat washed up over her. She glanced down to see that sparks had ignited the hem of her apron.

As she reached down frantically to tear off the smoldering apron, strong hands closed around her waist and lifted her off the ground. Before she could utter a protest, Ruth found herself thrown onto the ground and roughly rolled over and over in the grass. Her bonnet came off, her hairpins came loose, and her hair tumbled down her back.

“Are you trying to kill yourself? Didn’t you see your apron on fire?” A stranger with the face of an angel lifted her into his arms, and gazed into her face.

Ruth couldn’t catch her breath. All she could do, for a second, was stare into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Behind her she heard the shouts of male voices, but she couldn’t tear her gaze from the eyes.

“Are you all right?”

She swallowed hard, unable to find her voice, and nodded as she began to cough.

“You scared me half to death,” he murmured, still hold
ing her against him, his body as hot against hers as the flames of the fire behind them.

“Is she hurt?” Mam laid a hand on Ruth’s arm as her rescuer backed away from the smoking building.

The sound of her mother’s voice brought her back to the reality of the situation. “Put me down,” she ordered, embarrassed now. “I’m fine.”

“Her apron was on fire. Her clothes would have gone up next,” he explained, lowering Ruth gently until her bare feet touched the ground.

“It looks like the fire’s almost out,” Mam said, turning to see Roman and one of the older boys spraying the back wall with fire extinguishers. “Thank goodness they were able to climb in the window and get the extinguishers.”

Ruth snatched off her ruined apron and accepted her
Kapp
that Mam handed her. Flustered, she stuffed her loose hair up in the dirty
Kapp,
stabbing the pins she had left into the hastily gathered knot of red hair.

“You sure you’re all right?” The beautiful stranger was beside her again. He cupped a strong hand under her chin, tilted her head up and looked boldly into her face.

Ruth bristled and brushed away his hand. The man staring at her was no angel and entirely too handsome for his own good. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with butter-yellow hair that tumbled over one eye and a dimple on his square chin. He was clean-shaven, she noticed, so he wasn’t married, although he was certainly old enough.

She choked and coughed again, more flustered by his familiarity than by the smoke still lingering in her mouth and lungs.

“Eli Lapp.” He offered his hand to her the way the English did, but she didn’t take it.

Another flush of embarrassment crept across her face.

“And you must be Ruth, Hannah’s daughter,” he said, letting his hand drop, but still grinning.

Ruth looked to her mother, feeling a betrayal of sorts. Mam knew this Eli? How did he know Mam? How did he know Ruth?

A hint of unease flashed across her mother’s face, quickly replaced with her normal calm. “Eli is Roman’s sister’s son. He’s come from Belleville, Pennsylvania, to work for Roman. We met at the chair shop yesterday. Thank the Lord he was close enough to help. You might have been badly burned.”

“I didn’t need rescuing,” she protested. She didn’t want to be beholden to this arrogant stranger who made her feel so foolish. “I saw the sparks. I was taking my apron off when he threw me on the grass.”

“Nevertheless, I thank God that he sent someone to watch over you.” Mam squeezed her hand. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Mam turned to face the school. The fire seemed to be out, and the men had set aside the fire extinguishers. “I just don’t see how this could have happened. We haven’t had a fire in the stove in weeks, and we have no electricity.”

“I’d say somebody started it,” Eli replied. “That’s how this kind of thing usually happens.”

Immediately, Ruth thought of Irwin Beachy, who she’d seen running away from the school, but she didn’t say anything. Irwin had a reputation for causing trouble. He’d been a thorn in Mam’s classroom ever since he’d come from Ohio to live with his cousins after his parents had died. But Irwin could have just been frightened by the fire. It would be wrong to accuse him, especially in front of this Eli.

“It was good you came when you did,” Mam said to
Roman as he approached. “God must have sent you. If it wasn’t for you, we might have lost the school.”

“We were delivering a table to Esther Mose. We heard the bell.” Roman glanced at Ruth. “Good you thought to ring it.” He slapped Eli’s shoulder. “And good my nephew saw Ruth’s clothes catch fire.”

“Glad to be of service.” Eli stared boldly at Ruth and she felt heat wash over her again. “I’d hate to see such a pretty face burned.”

Ruth felt so self-conscious that she wanted to melt into the grass. “We’re thankful God sent you to save the school,” she said stiffly.

“No lives were lost and no one was injured,” Mam said. “Wood can be replaced.” She straightened her shoulders. “It appears we’ll be in need of a good carpenter. We’re nearly at the end of the school term, and the children can’t miss any days, especially those who are graduating.”

Eli winked at Ruth. Even with her face smudged with soot and her red hair all in a tangle, she was the prettiest girl he’d ever laid eyes on. She had the cutest little freckled nose and a berry-colored mouth. She wasn’t very tall; her head came barely to the top of his shoulder, but she was slim and neatly put together in her modest blue dress. But most of all, he was drawn to her eyes, nutmeg brown with dashes of cinnamon and ginger. “Aren’t you a little old to still be in school?” he teased.

“I am not in school,” she corrected him. “My mother forgot her dinner bucket, and I came to bring it to her.”

He grinned mischievously. Ruth wasn’t just pretty, she was saucy. A man didn’t come across too many saucy Amish girls where he came from. Mostly, they were quiet and meek. Hannah Yoder’s daughter was different, not
just a pretty face and a tidy body. She had spirit, and he liked her at once. “If I thought you would bring my lunch, I might forget it, too.”

Chapter Two

T
he hanging oil lamp cast a warm golden light over the Yoder kitchen as Ruth’s family prepared for supper that evening. This was her favorite part of the day, and despite the near-tragedy of the fire, she found sweet comfort in the familiar odors of baking bread and the clatter of dishes and silverware.

Dutifully, Ruth helped her sisters carry food to the old trencher table that Dat’s great-grandfather had crafted. The kitchen was Plain, spacious and as neat as the starched white
Kapp
Mam wore to Sunday services under her black bonnet.

Ruth was carrying two steaming bowls of corn chowder to the table when she heard a knock on the back door.

“Whoever could that be?” Mam asked.

Anna placed an iron skillet of fresh-baked biscuits on top of the stove. “I’ll get it.”

Ruth had a strange feeling she knew who the unexpected visitor was, and she hurried to the window over the sink and tugged back the corner of the yellow chintz curtain. The minute she saw him, she dropped the curtain and spun around, leaning against the sink. “Don’t answer it!” she called, panic fluttering in her chest.

“Don’t answer it?” Anna laughed as she walked toward the back door. “Ruth, what’s gotten into you? You hit your head when that boy rolled you around in the grass today?”

Susanna giggled and covered her mouth with a chubby hand. Nothing was said or went on in Susanna’s presence that wasn’t repeated later to anyone who would listen.

“No, I didn’t hit my head,” Ruth whispered loudly. She felt silly and shaky at the same time, as if she’d played ring-around-the-rosy too long with her nephew. “It’s supper time. Just let him go.”

“Him?” Anna raised a blond eyebrow and Susanna giggled again.

Eli heard the sound of feminine voices on the other side of the door and yanked his straw hat off. Then, feeling silly, he dropped it back on his head. What was he doing? He wasn’t
courting
the girl; he’d just stopped by after work to check on her. Okay, so it wasn’t on his way home, but it
was
the proper thing to do, wasn’t it? To check on a girl after she’d nearly caught her clothes on fire?

Eli groaned. Who was he kidding? He knew very well Ruth was fine. She’d made that quite clear at the school yard. He should never have come to the Yoder house. When he had left Belleville, he’d sworn off pretty girls. They were nothing but trouble. Trouble, that was what it was that had led him here tonight, and if he had any sense at all, he’d turn and run before the door opened.

That was the smart thing to do. Eli took a step back, cramming his hat down farther on his head. A smart man would run.

He was just turning away when he heard the doorknob, and he spun back, yanking off his hat again. In his mind, he already saw Ruth, pretty as a picture, smiling up at him,
thanking him for rescuing her from certain death today. He smiled as the door opened.

But it wasn’t Ruth, and he took a step back in surprise, nearly tripping down the step. Definitely not Ruth. This girl was taller and far rounder and not nearly so gentle on the eyes….

She looked as startled as he felt.

“H-hi.” Her round cheeks reddened as she wiped her hands on her apron, a smile rising on the corners of her lips.

He had that kind of effect on girls. They smiled a lot, giggled when they looked at him. “H-hi,” he echoed, feeling completely ridiculous. He heard someone whisper loudly from inside.

“Tell him I’m not here.”

The girl at the door smiled more broadly, bringing dimples to her cheeks, and she took a step toward him, practically filling the doorway so he couldn’t see inside.

Eli took another step back. That had to be Ruth he’d heard. It had sounded like her.

“Bet you’re Eli,” the girl said, crossing her arms over her plump chest.

He nodded, wishing more with every second that he’d taken that opportunity to run. “Yeah, yeah, I am.” He looked down at his scuffed boots, then up at her again. “I…stopped by on my way home just to see…to make sure Ruth was all right,” he stammered, and then started again. “You know, with the fire and all.”

“Just on your way home from the chair shop?” She nodded, still smiling. She knew very well his uncle’s farm wasn’t on his way home.

He didn’t know what to say, but that didn’t seem to bother her.

“I’m Anna, Ruth’s sister.” The big girl glanced over her
shoulder. “We’re just sitting down to supper. Would you like to come in? We’ve got plenty.”

“Anna!” came Ruth’s voice from inside, followed by more giggles.

For a second Eli was tempted. The smell of fresh biscuits made his stomach growl. Supper with Ruth would make the day just about perfect.

But she was a pretty girl, and he was supposed to be staying away from pretty girls.

“No. Thank you.” He took another step back, making sure he hit the step. “I need to get home. Aunt Fannie will be expecting me. I just wanted to check to be sure she was okay. Ruth.” Somehow his hat had gotten in his hand again, and he gestured lamely toward the house.

“She’s fine,” Anna said sweetly. “She really appreciates you putting the fire out on her apron and saving her from burning to death in front of all the children.”

“Anna, please!” Ruth groaned from behind the door.

Eli had to suppress a grin. “Well, good night.”

“Good night.” Anna waved.

Eli nodded, stuck his hat back on his head, turned and made a hasty retreat before he got himself into any more trouble.

The minute Anna shut the door, Ruth grabbed her arm. “What are you doing inviting him to supper?” she whispered, not wanting Mam to hear her. In the Yoder household, there was always room for another at the table.

“He’s very cute,” Anna said. “He was just checking on you. He wanted to make sure you were all right.” She grabbed the biscuits to put on the table. “I think he likes you. Susanna said she thought he liked you.”

Ruth’s heart was still fluttering in her chest. The idea of a boy that good-looking liking her was certainly not a possibility. Boys like Eli liked girls like her sister Leah.
Beautiful girls. Or they liked exciting girls like Miriam. Ruth knew she was attractive enough, but she was the steady girl, the good girl. She wasn’t beautiful or exciting.

“Supper time,” Mam called with authority, looking from Anna to Ruth.

Mam never missed a thing, but luckily, she said nothing about Eli being at the door. Ruth didn’t want to talk about Eli. Not ever. She just wanted to pretend the whole thing with her apron catching fire had never happened. It was too embarrassing.

“I hope there’s enough here,” Anna said, when they’d finished silent grace.

“This is plenty, daughter.”

“It all looks delicious, Anna,” Ruth said, finding her normal voice. Seated here at the table with her family, she could push thoughts of Eli Lapp and all her tumbling emotions out of her head. “But then everything you make is delicious.”

Anna smiled, always grateful for a compliment. Cooking seemed to be what she lived for. Ruth cared deeply for Anna, but even a sister’s loving eye couldn’t deny the truth that Anna’s features were as ordinary as oatmeal. Her mouth was too wide, and her round cheeks as rosy as pickled beets. Anna was what Mam called a healthy girl, tall and sturdy with dimpled elbows and wide feet. The truth was, Anna took up twice the room in the buggy as her twin Miriam.

Ruth knew the neighbors whispered that Anna would never marry but would be the daughter to stay home and care for her mother in her old age, but she thought they were wrong. Surely there was a good man somewhere out there who would appreciate Anna for who she was and what she had to offer.