A Match For Addy (The Amish Matchmaker Book 1) (14 page)

That stopped him short in his shoes. “Addy...”

“Addy, nothing.” She stopped and turned back to him. “If you’d be honest with yourself, you’d know that I’m speaking the truth.” She started walking again; suddenly, her eyes were stinging. She was afraid she was going to cry. “I’m going home.”

“You can’t go home by yourself. Let me go with—”

“I’ll go with her,” Ellie said, following Addy. “I think the two of you have said quite enough to each other for one night.”

“But it’s going to rain,” Gideon protested after her.

“Good,” Ellie called over her shoulder. “Because if anyone needs cooling off, both of you do.”

Chapter Eleven

S
aturday morning, Gideon guided Sara’s mule, Jasper, close to the front door of Byler’s Country Store. “Is this rain ever going to let up?” he wondered aloud, not really expecting Sara or Ellie, who were sitting next to him, to answer.

“When the Lord wills it,” Sara said cheerfully.

Rolling to a halt, he wrapped the reins around a bar on the dashboard and got down to help Sara out of the buggy. “Careful,” he warned, offering his hand. “Watch out for that puddle.”

“Danke.”
Once she was on the pavement, her skirts in proper order, she turned around and looked up. “You coming, Ellie?”

“I’ll walk in with Gideon,” Ellie said. “I have an umbrella. You go on ahead. I’ll find you inside.”

As Gideon got back into the buggy, Ellie slid a proper distance away from him on the bench seat. He drove past a line of automobiles in search of a place at the hitching rack at the east end of the building. Despite the downpour, the parking lot was crowded. Saturdays were always busy at Byler’s, with both Amish and Englishers doing their shopping. Four other buggies stood waiting for their occupants, the horses’ hides soaked. Jasper disliked rain. The mule’s ears were flattened against his big head, and he trudged along as though pulling a heavy load instead of the light carriage with only two passengers.

Ellie waved to another family from their church district that was just leaving. “It’s really coming down. Poor Jasper. Maybe we should have waited until afternoon. It will be a mess getting our groceries in.”

“I’ll bring the buggy back up to the door to load them,” he told her. “And don’t worry about Jasper. The rain’s warm enough. He’ll be fine.”

A pickup backed up in front of them, and Gideon reined the mule in until the vehicle was out of the way. Two more English women pushing carts crossed in front of Jasper. Gideon sighed. Saturdays there were always crazy. He didn’t know why Sara was always set on doing her dealing on the busiest day of the week.

Truth was that he wasn’t in the mood for shopping or crowds. He couldn’t stop rehashing his and Addy’s exchange the previous night. The way she’d stomped off across the field had really ticked him off. She’d been unreasonable. The disagreement with Andy hadn’t been a big deal; he’d apologized and shook hands with him twenty minutes later.
After
he’d apologized to Addy for spilling the drink. After he’d watched her stomp off.

He glanced at Ellie as he eased into a spot at the end of the row of horses and buggies. He needed to talk to someone, but didn’t want to explain the situation to either Joseph or Sara. Ellie had been there; she’d heard the words out of Addy’s mouth. Maybe she’d have some insight.

He glanced at Ellie. “Why would Addy say such things to me? I know she was upset over the punch spilling on her dress, but that was an accident. I didn’t mean it. Neither did Andy.”

Ellie turned to face him, her eyes narrowed. “
Ne
, you didn’t mean it, but if you and Andy hadn’t been acting like school-yard children, it wouldn’t have happened, would it?”

For a second, he couldn’t think of what to say. That wasn’t the reaction he’d expected from Ellie. She was usually so sensible.

“What were you two talking about that made you think you needed to lay hands on each other?” she asked. But she didn’t give him a chance to answer. “I’ll bet it was about Addy.”

He thought about saying it wasn’t, but Ellie was a perceptive woman. And he wasn’t a liar. He exhaled loudly, frustrated. “They’re not right for each other, Andy and Addy. I mean, try to say that a couple of times. Addy and Andy. Andy and Addy.”

Ellie arched her eyebrows.

“I’m just trying to look out for her,” Gideon explained. “She’s like a sister to me. You can see that, can’t you?”

Ellie folded her arms over her chest and glared. “What I see is that you were completely in the wrong last night.”

“Me?”

“
Ya
, you.”

“What about Andy? He pushed me first.”

“All right. So you’re both woodenheads.”

“But you heard what Addy said.” He fingered the leather reins in his hands. “She called me a coward. She said that I was jealous of Andy and finding fault with him and Nathan King because I like her myself. So my question to you is, when have I ever—”

“Gideon Esch, listen to what you’re saying.” She shook a stubby finger at him. “You’re so caught up in your own invention of who you are and what you want out of life that you don’t know your own feelings. Either you can’t see or you refuse to be honest with yourself.”

Ellie must have realized his astonishment at her reaction because she glanced down at her accusing finger, blushed and tucked it behind her. “I’ve tried to hold my tongue and stay out of it. Sara asked me to let it be and let the two of you work this out, but you asked for my opinion, and I’m giving it. If you believe that you act toward Addy as if she were one of your sisters, you need to drop down on your knees and pray for the Lord to show you what’s really in your heart.”

Gideon was surprised to hear that Sara and Ellie had been talking about him and Addy. What had Sara meant, saying he and Addy needed to “work things out”? Now he was more confused than ever.

He jumped down off the buggy bench and fastened the tie rope to the hitching rack. Paying no heed to the rain drenching his clothing, he splashed through the puddles back to the buggy and climbed back in.

“So what you’re saying here is that you’re taking her side in this?” he asked.

“There isn’t any side. I care about both of you.”

He stared out through the wet windshield at Jasper’s back. He didn’t know what to say. What to think. Could there be truth in what Ellie was saying? Which would mean there was truth in Addy’s accusation.

“You asked me what I think. I think you act like a man smitten, Gideon. Yet you...” Ellie sighed in exasperation. “If you’re interested in Addy, you’d better step up and tell her so. If you’re not, then it isn’t fair to keep her from finding a husband. She cares what you think. And if you don’t want her for your wife, you need to stop throwing obstacles in the way of men who might.”

* * *

“Aren’t you going to be late for work?” Monday morning, Addy’s father threw the lever that set the arms of the windmill in motion. The gears ground and clattered and the wind power drew water from the well and sent it gushing down the overhead pipe and into the pig trough.

Addy had already carried kitchen scraps to the hogs, milked the cow and fed the chickens. She’d also cleaned up and washed the breakfast dishes. Now she was headed toward the garden with a basket on her arm. She stopped and looked at her father, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t lie to him, but she didn’t want to tell him the whole truth, either.
“Ya,”
she
said reluctantly. “But I’m not sure I should go this morning. My stomach is a little
ryenich
. Sour.”

He shielded his eyes from the sun with a tanned hand. “You should go if Sara’s expecting you. If you don’t, she may decide to hire someone else, and where else would you find a job? If you don’t save your wages, you’ll have nothing for your bride box.”

Addy swallowed hard and forced a half smile. Her
dat
was right. She needed the job at Sara’s. And she loved it there, loved her time with Ellie and Sara, Gideon and Joseph. But how could she face Gideon after what she’d said to him at David’s birthday party? She hadn’t seen him since then. The previous day had been a visiting Sunday, and she’d spent the day with her parents going to the homes of several elderly folks in Seven Poplars.

“You go,” her father said. “It’s a fine day. By the time you get there, you will have walked off your stomachache.”

So Addy went, though not gladly. Each step from her father’s house to Sara’s kitchen was like going to her own funeral. What if her quarrel with Gideon ruined her relationship with Ellie and Sara, too? For the first time in her life, she had friends, and she was popular at young people’s gatherings. Would that all end now because of her own stubbornness?

When Addy arrived at Sara’s place, she was surprised to find Jasper missing from the field, the buggy gone and the house quiet. Ellie was alone in the kitchen, making jam.

“Sara and Gideon have gone for the day,” Ellie said as Addy came into the kitchen. “Off to meet with some prospective families. Sara didn’t say who.” She used a pot holder to pull the kettle off the heat, dried her hands on a towel and came to put her arms out to her. “It’s good to see you, Addy.”

Addy stooped to accept Ellie’s hug.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked. “You look like you just lost your best friend.”

“Oh, Ellie, I was such a fool.” Releasing her, she stood up. “You heard what I said to Gideon. I accused him of liking me. How can I ever face him again?”

“Sit down,” Ellie ordered. “I’ll put a pot of tea on. Nothing ever seems as bad over a cup of tea. And no tears. We’ll figure this out.”

Addy sniffed and dropped into a chair. “No tears,” she repeated. Then she covered her face with her hands. “I’m so embarrassed. I wouldn’t blame him if he told people what I said to him, but...I’ll be the joke of the county if anyone finds out.”

Ellie filled the teakettle with water. “Time somebody put him in his place. He’s too sure of himself, all puffed up with his own self-importance. I think he had it coming.” She carried her stool over to the cabinet and climbed onto it to get down a canister of tea leaves. “Assam or Earl Grey?”

“Either one.”

Ellie held up both tins. “You pick. You’re the one having the crisis.” Addy motioned to the Earl Grey, and when the water boiled, Ellie made the tea and brought it to the table.

“I’m so sorry for what I said, Ellie. I wish I could take it back.” She watched Ellie climb up into her chair. “Should I apologize? What should I do?”

Ellie poured tea into the pretty porcelain cups with the roses on the side. “It seems to me that Gideon should be apologizing to you, considering the trouble he’s caused—finding fault with every man Sara looks at for you.”

“
Ya
, he did do that, but he said it was because we’re friends, and he only wanted what’s best for me. That has to be it.” She stirred a spoon of sugar in her cup, then slowly added another...and another.

“Enough sugar.” Ellie grabbed the sugar bowl. “Next we’ll have to find a dentist because you’ll rot all your teeth.”

“It’s fine.” She took a sip, gasped at how sweet it was and clapped a hand over her mouth.

“
Ya
, fine.” Ellie chuckled, carried the cup to the sink, dumped it and poured another cup for her.

“Danke.”
She glanced at Ellie. “I still can’t believe I said such a thing. How silly it must have sounded. Gideon is handsome, hardworking, pleasant...a real catch. There’s no way he could be interested in a beanpole with a face like mine.
Mam
says a plain face is an asset to a woman, but I know very well—”

“Stop it, Addy. Listen to yourself. You sound like the old Dorcas. Have you learned nothing from Sara since you’ve been here? Gideon doesn’t think you’re plain.”

“He doesn’t?” She looked up from her teacup. “How do you know?”

“He told me so himself. He thinks you have pretty eyes. And a nice smile. And he really likes that you’re so smart. And that you speak your mind.”

“He does?” Addy knew her mouth must have been hanging open, making her look neither pretty nor smart.

Ellie toyed with the handle of her cup. “You know what I think,” she said slowly, looking as if she were going over things in her mind. “I think you’re right. I think he
does
like you and furthermore—” she met Addy’s gaze “—I think you like him. Both of you are just too pigheaded to know it.”

A small eddy of joy swirled in the pit of Addy’s stomach, and for a second, she found it hard to catch her breath. But then the reality of their situation settled heavily on her shoulders. She stared at Ellie across the table. “What if I do like him? And what if, by some crazy chance, he likes me? My parents would never allow us to marry. You heard him. His family is so poor, they sell sausage to their neighbors to make ends meet. Gideon could never afford Sara’s fee. It’s hopeless.”

Ellie’s small hand covered hers. “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t,” she said in her high, sweet voice. “Who knows what God’s plan is for any of us? I’m certainly proof of that. I always wanted to be independent, to prove that I could take care of myself as well as any average-size woman. I tried my best, but no school board would hire me. My parents kept urging me to marry, marry anyone who would take me off their hands. I prayed so hard, and when I began to believe that the Lord didn’t hear me, Sara invited me here to Seven Poplars. She offered me a home with her, and she found me a job teaching school.” Ellie’s pretty red-cheeked face glowed with an inner light. “If my dreams can come true, maybe yours can, too. Have faith, Addy. Put your trust in Him.”

* * *

Gideon spent Monday with Sara, driving her first to Dover to the bank, and then different homes to interview prospective matches. At the third farm, farthest away, Sara interviewed a middle-aged widow who was seeking a second husband. She had one child still at home, and two living nearby. She was hoping Sara could help her to arrange a marriage with a man who would be willing to come to Delaware, rather than her having to move away and be separated from her two married daughters. Sara was well pleased with the woman and promised to see what she could do.

Gideon had remained outside at each stop until he was invited inside. Sara took her position as matchmaker seriously, and it was only natural that her clients expected privacy when financial compensation was discussed. Even though part of the conversations were private, he still ended up being invited in at the first potential client’s for dinner, for coffee and pound cake at the second and finally for a light supper with the widow and her son.

The time Gideon spent waiting for Sara gave him the solitude to think about Addy. As his hands were busy grooming Jasper, braiding a rope halter or whittling, he kept mulling over what she had said...and what Ellie had said. And he came to the conclusion that what he really needed to do was talk to Addy.