Amish Treasures of the Heart (4 page)

“Yes, Jake,” she interrupted. “I did accept a buggy ride from Jackson. Is that a problem?”

She was hoping he’d say yes and they could end this silly game they were playing.

“No. Well, it’s just, he’s an Englisher. And an ill-mannered one at that. Why would you wanna go on a buggy ride with him?”

“Why shouldn’t I? He isn’t all that bad; I think he’s kind of sweet.” Ellie said, mostly trying to convince herself.

Jake couldn’t help but chuckle. “Are we talking about the same guy? You know, Jackson, the guy who’s a complete brute and gets his entertainment by bullying.”

Ellie pursed her lips at his comment. Was she going to let him get away with discounting her decision that way? She wasn’t looking forward to the buggy ride at all, but she couldn’t admit that to him. What was worse, she knew what Jake was saying was right.

He just looked at her and shook his head with disbelief that she would actually take a buggy ride with Jackson. What if she actually liked him and wasn’t just trying to make him jealous? He couldn’t get the thought out of his head, and he feared he had lost her.

“Jake,” she said without looking at him. “I need you to till this section of the garden to make room for a large celery patch. I’ll also need you to go to town to get a couple of pounds of seeds.”

“What do you need so much celery for?” Jake was confused.

“It’s an Amish tradition.” Ellie stated with bitterness in her tone. “It’s for yours and Rachel’s wedding, of course.” She wasn’t being serious, but she was angry, and wanted to make him believe she didn’t care what happened between the two of them.

Jake stepped back and gave Ellie a quizzical look. “What makes you think I’m marrying her?” he asked defensively.

“Well aren’t you? That’s what courting leads to around here, Jake. Amish girls take buggy rides seriously.”

“Well I’m only
half
Amish, and I won’t be taking it that seriously.”

“I hardly think that excuse will get you out of a commitment with Rachel.  A buggy ride is a buggy ride, and since this isn’t your first, you could already be engaged, so we better get that celery in the ground—especially since it’s already so late in the season!”

Jake’s heart began to race as it dawned on him the meaning of what Isaac’s warning was about. He hadn’t intended to give anyone the impression that he’d be marrying Rachel, and he especially hoped Rachel would not think that. “I can assure you that I don’t intend to marry her.”

“I would
love
to be there when you try to talk your way out of that one with my cousin!”

Jake threw his hat down in the dirt, and scowled at Ellie. “What about Jackson? Aren’t you worried he will get the wrong impression about your buggy ride with him?”

Ellie furrowed her brow. “Just what are you implying, Jake? Maybe it’s you who has the wrong idea about it and not Jackson!”

“Come on, Ellie, you really expect me to believe you like that bully?”

She threw down the garden tool and leered at him. “He isn’t a bully! He gets impatient with you because you can’t do anything right!”

Jake’s expression fell, and Ellie wished she could take back the words she knew had hurt him, but there would be no taking back her careless words. She cared deeply for him, and now she’d destroyed everything.

Jake walked away without another word, discouragement weighing heavily on his mind. He would finish the task he’d started, and then be on his way. There was no way he could get himself out of this situation, and no way to fix things with Ellie.

It was over between them before it even began.

Chapter 6.

That night, Jackson arrived back at Ellie’s farm, and she thought he actually looked presentable. He cleaned up nicely, she had to give him that, but it was not enough to make up for his ill manners. Besides, he was no substitute for Jake. Maybe this buggy ride wouldn’t be so bad if Jake could see them; it might be the thing to get him so jealous he admitted his feelings for her. Thankfully, the buggy ride would be over before she knew it and she wouldn’t have to go on any other buggy rides with him again. She decided to just make the best of this, since she had brought it upon herself.

Jackson helped her into the buggy and they were off. Ellie kept her eyes on the sky so she didn’t feel too much pressure to keep up a conversation. After all, what could they possibly have to talk about? This was awkward at best, and she wished she would not have agreed to such a foolish thing.

The night sky was crystal clear and lit up brightly with a million dazzling stars. Jackson made a few attempts at conversation, but Ellie kept fairly quiet. She wanted to give him every reason to think she was rude and boring so he wouldn’t even bother asking for another date.

After riding along for a mile or two, Ellie finally saw a shooting star. She smiled a bit at this, and made a wish that Jake’s buggy ride was going even worse than her own. She knew it wasn’t right, but she just couldn’t help herself.

Jackson turned around shortly after, having had enough of the awkward silence, and he couldn’t wait to get Ellie back to her farm.

Ellie’s gaze shifted from the sky to Jackson. “Where are you going? I thought we were going to sit in the park and watch the stars.”

“This isn’t anything like I thought it was going to be, that’s all,” he grumbled.

She had to suppress a smile as she acted like she was disappointed, though she was happy he’d turned around. She didn’t dare say a word for fear he would change his mind and want to continue the date.

When the two arrived back at the farm, Ellie noticed Jake sitting on the front porch swing. Shouldn’t he be with Rachel?

Jackson grumbled that he would return in the morning to work, but neither Jake nor Ellie paid any attention to him. He didn’t even offer to unhitch Coal from the buggy, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was ask Jake why his evening with Rachel had ended so soon. So when Jackson got in his truck and spun his tires in the gravel, she was happier than ever to get rid of him. He reminded her too much of Angus, and she was not going to make the same mistake her mother had made by getting involved with a hot-tempered man.

She walked up the porch steps and headed toward the swing to sit down next to Jake. “So how was your buggy ride with Rachel?”

He wanted to tell her that Rachel had confided Ellie’s confession about her buggy ride with Jackson being only a ruse to make him jealous, but he would let her tell him herself.

“I had no idea that taking a buggy ride would indicate you were courting. When I looked it up online, I suddenly understood your anger over the time I’d spent with Rachel. In my defense, she only asked me to make Troy Miller jealous.”

Ellie sucked in her breath. “Troy Miller?” she practically squealed. “Did it work?”

“I wasn’t intending to court her, and I never wanted to go on a buggy ride with her. I just wanted to make you think I was, though I’m not sure why now. I went over and had a talk with Troy after seeing Rachel, and they are on a buggy ride as we speak. The two of them dropped me off here so I could wait for you and talk to you.”

Ellie backed away from Jake a little so she could look him in the eye. “How could you let me believe that? I only went on this buggy ride with Jackson because I thought you were courting Rachel!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back.

Jake lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I’ll admit; I was only trying to make you jealous.”

Ellie blushed. “I was doing the same by accepting a buggy ride from Jackson.”

The two locked eyes for a moment, and they chuckled lightly at their absurdity.

“If I’d been honest with you from the start,” Jake confessed. “We could have avoided all these hurt feelings, and perhaps we could have taken a buggy ride tonight instead.”

Ellie smiled a hopeful smile.

“Maybe we could start over,” Jake suggested. “And maybe we could go on a buggy ride sometime?”

Ellie smiled again, lifting her gaze from the ground. “I’d love that.” She replied with absolute sincerity.

Chapter 7.

Jake arrived at Ellie’s farm the next evening wearing a pair of broad-fall trousers and a royal blue dress shirt he had borrowed from his father. He wanted to look his best for Ellie, and he figured the more Amish he looked, the better his chances would be to turn her head toward him.

The two were finally going to take their first buggy ride together, and Jake couldn’t have been more nervous. It was like their first time meeting all over again. Wiping his sweaty palms down the front of the black trousers, he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He wanted to make his absolute best impression on her tonight, feeling the need to redeem himself after the stunt he’d pulled trying to make her jealous.

Jackson had kept to himself the entire day and had gone about his chores as usual, but this time, he hadn’t teased Jake even one time. It had made the day go by faster so he could get to his much-anticipated part of the day—their buggy ride.

Ellie stepped out of the house wearing a plain, pale blue dress, and the sight of her caused his heart to flutter as if there was more than one heart tucked away behind his ribs. When he’d researched the practice of buggy rides, he’d also read about marriage rituals such as growing and serving celery as a staple, and the wearing of a blue dress as a wedding dress. His gaze never left her as she approached him, and he couldn’t help but feel that something about her seemed different tonight. It was almost as if she had picked out this particular dress just for him. Jake couldn’t help but stare, wondering how it was she’d managed to look more beautiful than usual.

She stepped down off the porch, closed the space between them, and tucked her finger beneath his suspenders. “You’re really taking this Amish thing seriously, but I have to admit, you make a very handsome Amish
mann
,” she said, making him blush.

“Thank you, but you look beautiful as beautiful as an Amish Bride,” he said with a smile.

The two hopped into the buggy and he steered Coal down the quiet country road. Jake was still in awe of how peaceful Indiana was compared to the city. Instead of cars and people, all you could hear was the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, and the cicadas in the trees. He’d always thought the city felt like home to him but this place made him realize how wrong he was about that, especially with Ellie sitting next to him. Fireflies flitted along the path all around them, helping to light the way.

“I’m curious about something,” Ellie said. “What were you doing spending all that time at Rachel’s since you weren’t courting her?”

“I was learning how to do simple farm chores so I could stop making a fool of myself, and I was doing it just to impress you! Honestly, though, I rarely saw Rachel, and tried my best to avoid her. I was working with Isaac.”

Ellie sighed. “You make me feel ashamed and embarrassed that I accused you of courting my cousin. I never should have accepted a buggy ride with Jackson just to get back at you. Will you forgive me?”

She was flattered that Jake wanted to impress her, but she also felt embarrassed at her jealousy. She knew it was wrong to accept Jackson’s offer even if she’d known Jake’s intentions, and she was truly sorry she’d done such a foolish thing.

“Of course I forgive you,” he said with a smile. “But there’s really nothing to forgive. We both made a mistake, and we both did it with the best of intentions—given the circumstances.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’ve noticed your improvements, and I’m very impressed. You learned a lot pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, Isaac is a good teacher.” He felt awkward for telling her he had done all this for her. He hoped she didn’t find that to be too weird.

Ellie could sense he felt embarrassed for admitting his intentions to get her attention. “I’m flattered you wanted to impress me.” She said with a warm smile.

The gentle rocking of the open buggy on the uneven path drew her closer to him. Their shoulders bumped, and it sent warmth through her when his hand touched hers. He pulled the buggy off the main road at the park entrance and steered Coal to a parking area in the clearing of the large oak trees. He tugged on the straps and set the brake.

Unable to stand it another minute, Jake turned to Ellie and pulled her close to him. He pressed his lips to hers, sweeping over her mouth lightly, his eyes drifting closed naturally.

Ellie enjoyed the warmth of his lips on hers, closing her eyes against the love she felt in her heart for Jake.

Chapter 8.

Jake was especially happy working in the cornfield picking corn. He had a smile on his face and was singing and whistling while tossing the healthy, full ears into the cart. Jackson was working one row over, and took notice. He quickly became irritated, knowing Jake had taken Ellie on a buggy ride the night before. By Jake’s demeanor, he assumed it had gone better than his buggy ride had been with her, and that made Jackson jealous. How could Ellie want Jake over him? Being Amish didn’t make him a better man. As far as Jackson was concerned, Jake wasn’t much of a man and couldn’t support Ellie the way he could.

“What are you so happy about, Curly?” Jackson asked, hoping he wouldn’t receive the answer he expected.

“Oh, I’m sure you know.” Jake said with a sarcastic grin.

Jackson became even more irritated. He didn’t want to just back down and let Jake win Ellie over. He wanted a way to prove to Ellie and everyone else who the real man was.

“What would you say to a roping contest, Curly? We’re going to sign up for the roping contest at the county fair next week. Maybe you’d like to compete too, so why not get a little practice in. We could use the two calves since we have to brand them anyway.”

Jake laughed. He couldn’t be serious, could he? This was something Jake had only ever seen in the movies. He wasn’t sure he could rope cattle, but he accepted Jackson’s challenge, as silly as he thought it was.

Jake had confidence he had a fair chance of beating Jackson. If for no other reason, than the man was just too full of himself.

Jake, Jackson and Will led Coal over to the corral to begin their challenge.

“Some quick rules,” Jackson said. “We’ll each take a turn at roping, and we’ll each get a calf. Whoever finishes the task with the best time is the winner. Will, you let the calf out of the pen so it takes off running, and we’ll set the horse to galloping. Since we don’t have a shoot to come out of, we’ll have to wait until the calf reaches the other side of the corral before we can go after it. Then, we have to rope the head, and then bring the animal down and tie three legs with the small rope—the piggin’ string, and you keep that between your teeth until it’s time to use it. Once the calf is down, you throw your hands up to signal
time,
and Will stops his watch. Like I said, whoever has the best time, wins. You got all that, Curly?”

Jake was nervous. It was a lot to remember. He didn’t care much about winning or losing. All he cared about was getting it done without getting hurt or being disqualified, especially seeing as he didn’t know what he was doing.

Jackson pulled a quarter out of his pocket. “We’ll flip to see who goes first. Heads or tails, Curly?”

He jutted out his chin. “Heads,” Jake said confidently.

Jackson tossed the coin up in the air, caught it, and turned it over on the backside of his hand all in one fast motion. When he lifted his hand off the top to reveal the coin, it was tail-up, and Jake let out the breath he’d been holding in, grateful Jackson would go first. At least this way, Jake would have a chance to observe Jackson’s technique and go over the rules one more time in his head.

Jackson mounted Coal, and rode him up to the pen. The moment Will closed the gate, Coal began to rear up. Jackson could tell that Coal wasn’t going to make things easy on him. The animal had never had a good temperament with him, but he was up to the challenge. He had to win this!

Taking control of Coal with his left hand, he readied the lariat, waiting for Will to release the calf from the pen. He tightened his grip on Coal as he began to rear up again, but he nearly knocked him from his mount. He yanked Coal’s lead to control him, determined not to let the stubborn horse ruin his chances of winning. When Will released the calf, he readied the lariat, swinging it as he dug his heels into Coal’s sides. The horse took off running, and Jackson swung the rope once and missed.

Jake let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Jackson maybe wasn’t as good at everything the way he boasted—or that perhaps this was tougher than it looked. He hoped it wasn’t as difficult as it looked.

Jackson swung one more time and pulled the rope tight over the head, slid off the horse, flipped the calf on its side, and wrapped the feet all in one swift motion. Then he threw his hands up in the air causing Will to call
time.

Jake’s heart raced, and he prayed he could pull off such a move, especially having never done it before. Perhaps, if he could, Jackson would have more respect for him, and stop teasing him so much. He made a mental note to be sure to slide from the horse as soon as the rope latched onto the head of the calf—that was
if
he could get it lassoed in the first place.

Jackson let the calf go, puffing out his chest and whooping.

“Let’s see you do that!” he challenged Jake.

It was evident Jackson was pleased with himself, but with that first miss, it had taken him extra time to rope the calf, which would be to Jake’s advantage.

Jake’s heart was beating fast after seeing the way Coal was with Jackson, and prayed the horse would be more calm for him.

When Jake got into the pen, Coal was as calm as he always was with Jake, which in turn, calmed Jake’s nerves a bit. He immediately began twirling the ropes over-head and took a practice swing. Maybe he could do this after all. He steadied himself with his right hand and kept a loose grip on the lariat in his left, then, he nodded to Will to let the calf out of the pen. He clicked his heels gently against Coal’s sides and the horse took off faster than he had with Jackson. Swinging the lariat overhead, Jake let it go, looping it over the head on the first try.

He slid from the horse as he tightened onto the head and flipped the heavy calf onto its side with a grunt and pinned him. He wrapped the piggin’ string around three legs and threw his hands up in the air.

Will called
time,
and Jake felt confident he’d made better time than Jackson. More than that, he was so shocked he didn’t miss on the first try, his heart raced with excitement.

He blew out a confident breath, smiling and breathing hard and fast. “Whew, that calf was heavier than I thought!”

Jackson growled. “What was his time?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Two minutes, seventeen seconds! He beat your three-minute, four seconds, Jackson!” Will said with a smile. “He beat you by almost a full minute!”

Jake couldn’t believe it; he’d beaten Jackson.

Will congratulated Jake, the two smiling.

Jackson was infuriated. He threw his hat down in the dirt and charged toward Jake “You hustled me!” he yelled.

“How could I hustle you? You’re the one that challenged me!” Jake said with a laugh. “Why are you taking this so seriously? It was fun, and I learned something new! I’m happy I did it. Why can’t you be happy for me?”

Jackson let rage fill him as he surprised Jake by taking a swing at him, clipping his nose just enough to sting.

Jake stood back, swiping his nose with the back of his hand, and looked at the blood Jackson’s punch drew. “You know, I might not know as much as you do on this farm, but I beat you fair and square on that roping contest, and you’re a poor sport. You want a fight? I’m not afraid to fight you!”

“I’d be happy to add a couple of black eyes to that bloody nose,” Jackson said with a chuckle.

“You caught me off guard and got lucky, that’s all.”

Ellie came running up. “I will not have any more fighting!”

She had witnessed everything and at first, she figured the two were just messing around. She had hoped it was a sign they were finally getting along, but boy was she wrong.

Ellie stepped between Jake and Jackson with her hands on her hips. “What on earth do you two think you’re doing?” she asked excitedly, still a bit out of breath.

“Jackson challenged me to calf-roping and I beat his time. Now he’s accusing me of hustling him, when I’ve never roped a calf up until now. I have no idea why Jackson is taking it so seriously. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It’s a big deal when you’re a cheat and a liar!” Jackson shot back.

“Jackson, I won’t tolerate any more bullying from you,” Ellie stated firmly. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, and you’re not welcome back. I don’t like violence one bit and won’t tolerate it on my farm.”