Bethy's Heart's Hideout (Amish Circle Series Book 4)
Read Bethy's Heart's Hideout (Amish Circle Series Book 4) Online
Authors: Esther Weaver
Bethy’s Heart’s Hideout
(Amish Circle Series, Book 4)
Esther Weaver
Copyright © Esther Weaver, 2016-. The right of Esther Weaver to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) 2000
This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
(Continued from
Jane’s Secret Love Recipe
)
Elizabeth looked around the store, trying to decide what she wanted her next task to be. There was always so much to do, from folding and tidying the displays to making sure everything was priced and arranged properly. Sometimes they would get a bunch of new items in and she would have to make sure that they were sorted, priced correctly and arranged in a way that would make people want to buy them.
Sometimes it felt like the cleaning and tidying was never ending. The store was always busy with a steady stream of tourists and other local
Englisch
individuals who loved the beauty of the items that members of the
Ordnung
created. Her community was particularly known for the beauty of the cloth items that they sold although the wooden furniture also sold quite well too. Because of this, it was not uncommon for people to be constantly walking through the store, touching and moving items that then needed to be tidied up and put away neatly.
The rest of her
familye
had left for the day but Elizabeth didn’t really mind. Her
Maemm
was at home, getting supper ready and her
Daedd
had also left early. He had already helped bring in a couple of orders from some of the people who made items for the store and it wasn’t likely that she would need help moving any large, heavy objects. Because it was just the end of the day tidying up, Elizabeth was happy to do the work herself. It gave her time to think. These days, it seemed like Elizabeth had a lot of things to think about.
She heard the door chime and looked up just in time to see her friend Hannah Sutter entering the store. Hannah was one of Elizabeth’s oldest and dearest friends. The girls had known each other the entire time they were growing up. Elizabeth was happy to see Hannah looking so healthy. Her friend had fought hard to overcome illness but
Gott
had seen fit to help her recover and Hannah had been getting better and stronger day by day.
Hannah looked radiantly happy and seemed like she was dying to tell Elizabeth some important news. While Elizabeth was overjoyed to see her friend looking so healthy and happy, she felt fairly sure what her friend was about to tell her. Hannah bounded over to Elizabeth, her
kapp
falling back off of her head so that it dangled behind her. Hannah seized Elizabeth by the shoulders and whirled her around in a circle until both girls were breathless.
“
Ach
Elizabeth! You’re the first person I have told! It’s so
wunderbaar
! Elizabeth, Luke has asked me to marry him! I said
jah
!
Ach
, Elizabeth, I’m getting married and I’m so happy!” A delighted laugh burst forth from Hannah’s throat and she looked positively radiant. She gazed at her oldest and dearest friend, expecting to see a similarly happy look on Elizabeth’s face. What Hannah saw made her laugh still in her throat and her face fall, just a little.
Elizabeth felt the first twisting pangs of envy in her stomach. She felt so horrible about it too. Here was her friend, a girl who had been so sick for so long, being asked to wed by the man she adored. Elizabeth tried hard to muster up a smile but it fell flat. While she was very happy for her friend, she just couldn’t shake her disappointment.
“What’s wrong, Elizabeth? Aren’t you happy for Luke and I?” Hannah’s heart fell a little too. Here was her dearest friend sitting before her, clearly upset about something. Hannah was happy but she wanted to make sure that her friend was happy as well. “Please tell me what’s bothering you? Don’t you like Luke?”
“Of course I like Luke! He’s
wunderbaar
. I see how happy he makes you and he is a truly
wunderbaar
person. He is going to be a fantastic
mann
for you and I know that you and he will be perfect for one another. Please, please, don’t think I’m not happy for you!
Ach,
Hannah, I’m so happy for you, I am. It’s just that...” her voice trailed off as she tried to explain what was upsetting her. “I just feel like everyone else is courting or betrothed. Everyone except me, that is. I worry that I’m never going to find someone. And I hate that I’m feeling jealous instead of happy for you on what should be such a happy, happy day.”
Hannah stood back and looked at her friend. Elizabeth had dropped her gaze during her confession and was still staring at her feet. Hannah knew that she had worried about this for a while. Up until Hannah had gotten sick, who was courting who had been a prime topic of conversation with the girls and it never seemed like anyone had been interested in her friend.
“Please, Elizabeth, cheer up? I can understand why you’re upset and I know that deep down you’re happy for me. You’ll find someone. I know you will. You’re so pretty and so nice;
Gott
has to have someone special set aside for you. You just haven’t met him yet. Give it time and pray about it. I know that you will end up finding the perfect
mann.
”
Hannah hugged her friend tightly. She hoped that her friend felt a little better than she had when they started talking and when she lifted Elizabeth’s chin, her friend did give her a small smile. She hugged Elizabeth again and then let her know that she had to get going. Luke was waiting for her outside and they had a few more homes that they wanted to visit. They were telling friends and
familye
the good news but Hannah had wanted to let Elizabeth know her big announcement first.
Elizabeth watched as Hannah whirled and rushed out the door. She was so happy to see her friend as healthy and happy as she was. There had been a long time when they had all worried about her even surviving her sickness, let alone recovering completely. The fact that she had met someone and was getting married was even more of a blessing. Elizabeth just wished that she could feel happier about it.
It was time to close the store, and Elizabeth tried to concentrate on finishing all of her tasks. Her mind constantly seemed to return to the fact that she had no suitor, no one who even seemed to want to court her and that it was beginning to feel like nobody ever would.
By the time Elizabeth left the store and headed home for the night, her face was stormy and she had convinced herself she would be alone except for her friends. She resolved to make sure that she was the best friend she could possibly be to each one of them, since it was likely they were the only ones she would ever have in her life other than
familye
.
The air was nice and warm and there was a breeze blowing in Elizabeth’s face as she walked home. It wasn’t quite enough to keep her from sweating and she carefully loosened the strings that kept her bonnet in place over her
kapp
. She didn’t have the courage to take it off completely; she just hoped that by untying it a little it would make her feel less warm and sweaty. She was only paying half a mind to the road and her surroundings. In her head she was imagining her life as she thought it would be years from now.
It wasn’t a happy picture. In her mind, she was still at the store only this time, she was an older woman sitting on a chair out front. There were young people working in the shop but they weren’t her
kinder
. They belonged to her
bruder
Jacob and his
fraa
, Grace. The
kinder
worked in the store and let their Aunt relax out front, only coming to disturb her if she was needed for some reason. The rest of her days were spent waiting for one of the tourists to visit with her or waiting for the chance to exchange a bit of news or small talk with one of the Amish women who passed her by as they went about their day.
Elizabeth found that to be an utterly depressing thought. She so desperately wanted to find someone to share her life with and was certain that she was not going to find anyone in the local community to share it with. She adamantly refused to even consider leaving the
Ordnung
and so an
Englisch
boy was simply out of the question. Not only did she refuse to turn her back on her community, the idea of being shunned by her
familye
and friends terrified her. No, she simply had to find another solution to her problem.
The road sent clouds of dust up around Elizabeth as she walked and every so often, she absentmindedly wiped her face. She hardly noticed what she looked like as she was so deep in thought. Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out how she could solve her problem. She began by thinking about the eligible young men that were part of the local community. Ideally, she thought, she would like to stay in the local area.
The list of boys that were around her age and who were not paired up was fairly short. Her
bruder
Jacob had some friends but he was a little older than her and many of the boys that he had hung around with had either left to join other Amish communities or they had already found someone and were married or seriously courting. Jane and Grace had
bruder
s but they were also all taken or were young enough that it would be inappropriate to court them.
She briefly considered talking to Jane about whether anyone was available but crossed that possibility off of her list. Jane worked at the restaurant that her
familye
owned and she did get to see a regular stream of young men and women come through the doors. She felt odd asking her which ones seemed to have paired off, though. She supposed she could always go to a Singing next time the community held one but she wanted to find even the beginning of a solution before she did. She was a bit shy and the last thing she wanted to do was be in a place where she was the center of attention of a group of people. Then, she had an idea. It wasn’t an ideal solution to her problem but it just might work. She thought over a few details as she walked the last half-mile to her parents’
haus
.
Elizabeth entered through the back door after shaking the dust off of her hem and cloak and wiping her feet on the back porch. As soon as the door opened, she smelled the mouth-watering scent of her mother’s beef stew and dumplings. It was her favorite meal and her mother didn’t make it nearly as often as Elizabeth wished that she would.
Elizabeth walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apron. The table had already been set and she realized that it had taken her much longer to walk home than she realized. She felt bad about the fact that she had not been here to help her
maemm
prepare supper and she hoped that it hadn’t upset her. Usually her
maemm
relied on her to do some of the set up for supper. Tonight, when she wanted to ask them something important, the last thing she wanted was for her parents to already be upset at her. Luckily, her mother didn’t seem like she was upset about how late Elizabeth had been. She simply asked her
dochtah
to bring the food to the table and wash up for dinner.
It wasn’t long before everyone was seated. The delicious smell of the meal had filtered all through the
haus
and everyone was hungry after working hard all day. Elizabeth sat with her
familye
and everyone lowered their heads while her
daedd
led the prayer. The next few minutes were silent as people passed dishes and filled their plates.
Elizabeth felt nervous as she waited for the chance to speak to her
familye
. Her
daedd
and
maemm
discussed important events at the store and on the farm as well as some of the more important happenings in the community. Her
bruder
chatted as well about a few of the things that had been happening with his friends. Then, it was Elizabeth’s time to speak and she cleared her throat nervously. She wasn’t sure how her request was going to be received by her
familye
.
“Hannah Sutter came in to the store today. She told me that Luke has proposed and they are getting married.” Her
maemm
let out a happy little cry. She liked Hannah and was happy that the girl had gotten better and had found happiness. She looked at Elizabeth and when it was clear that her
dochtah
had more to add, she quieted down again.
“I’ve been thinking
Maemm
and
Daedd.
I’m not getting any younger and I haven’t found anyone that I am interested in courting. Or rather, that seems interested in courting me. I love you but I don’t feel like I have much of a future here. I want your blessing to move and stay with Uncle Johan and Aunt Rebekah in Ohio. Please let me. I don’t think I have a future here anymore and I need a change.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jacob banged on the table and let out a cry of protest. He didn’t look like he was very pleased with her suggestion. Her
daedd
also looked concerned and he sat in silence for a moment. He stroked his beard, something he always did when he was giving an idea some serious consideration. Elizabeth knew that her father never made rash decisions about important issues and was glad that he was taking her request as seriously as he was. Then, he spoke.
“Well,
dochtah
,
danke
for speaking your heart. I can see how you would be worried about building a future here. It’s true that a lot of the young men have gone to other communities. I worry though, about what your leaving would mean for the
familye
. You are needed at the store,
dochtah
. What will we do if we need to find someone to fill in for you?” He stroked his beard again, once again thinking about how Elizabeth’s leaving could affect them.
The look on her mother’s face was a mixture of sadness and acceptance. Elizabeth could tell that her mother understood her need to leave although it made her deeply sad. Elizabeth also knew that she would be the only child who had left home and that it would be hard on Elizabeth’s mother to lose the company and support of her only
dochtah
. Then, surprisingly, her mother spoke up as well.
“I think we need to let her go, Joseph,” said Elizabeth’s mother. “Our
dochtah
is right. There have been no young men who are interested in her and without a
mann
and
kinder
, what kind of life can she enjoy when she gets older? I think she needs to stay with our
familye
in Ohio, even just for a little while. Please, we can find someone to help with the store. We need to let her go and make a life for herself.”
Elizabeth’s father was a wise man and he quickly recognized when his
fraa
was giving him wise counsel. He nodded and Elizabeth felt her heart soar. She was going to be allowed to leave!