The Amish Christmas Matchmaker, page 5
“Ahh. Now your concern makes sense. But what does this have to do with me?”
“I need to distract him.”
“That’s what you want me to do?”
“Nein. Ya. Maybe.” Baby Joseph had fallen asleep in her arms, so Annie sat on the ground in front of the picnic table, crossed her legs and placed him in the crook of her knee. She quickly explained that Levi was working at their house two days a week and that he had set his sights on recruiting her father and brother.
“Jebediah and Nicole might move to Texas?”
“I don’t know. Anything is possible, I guess.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
“Texas?”
“You should hear him talk about it. Actually, you will hear him talk about it if you go out on a date with him because it’s his only topic of conversation.”
“Hmm. You make him sound more attractive all the time.”
Annie snorted. “He’s good-looking enough, I’ll give you that, but that’s not the point. I just want you to agree to go out with him a few times.”
“Again...why? You know I’m taking a six-month break from dating.”
“Ya.”
“After what happened with David—”
“It wasn’t your fault he left the faith. He would have been willing to move to Alaska if they’d let him keep that cell phone.”
They shared a smile, both remembering the way that David had carried it around, glancing at it every few minutes, tapping on it constantly with his fingers.
“That relationship was never going to work anyway,” Martha admitted. “But the fact remains that I’m on a roll of bad relationships.”
“Only three.”
“Four if you count Meno.”
“Years ago, and he was never right for you.”
“None of them are.” Instead of looking as if that thought depressed her, Martha smiled. “I’m on a break.”
“Okay. All right. So don’t call it a date. Call it being a friend to someone new in our community.”
“It doesn’t have to be romantic?”
“Nein. Levi thinks...”
“Uh-oh. What did you tell him?”
“I might have mentioned that you need practice dating.”
“We both know that isn’t the case.”
“You need practice dating someone new.”
“Let me get this straight. I’m supposed to go out with him and distract him...”
“Maybe mention the gut points about Goshen. You know this place as well as I do, and it’s a fine community. He doesn’t have to go to Texas to find a place to settle down.”
“I’m not falling in love with Levi Lapp.”
“Of course not.”
“I don’t want to move to Texas any more than you do.”
“Exactly.”
“He’s bound to figure that out sooner than later.”
“Later would be better. Just buy me some time for Dat to simmer down about the idea.”
“Why don’t you do it? Why don’t you date him?”
Annie shook her head so hard that her kapp strings bounced back and forth. “Oh no. That would only encourage him to get closer to my family. Plus, fall and spring are the busiest seasons for my business. I have no time to waste on dating.”
“Oh, but I should...”
“You know what I mean. It’s fine for other people. I want other people to date.”
“If they didn’t, you’d be out of business.”
“Exactly.”
Martha placed the toddler on the ground and baby Jeremiah in his baby carrier. She stood, stretched and cast a look toward Big Tom who was still playing in the leaves, though now he was lying on his back and making a snow angel—or maybe a leaf angel. Martha smiled, and Annie was struck again by how close the two were.
Annie handed Joseph back to Martha, stood and brushed off the back of her dress.
“Will you do it?”
“Ya, ya, I’ll do it.”
“Danki.”
“But only because you’re my best friend.”
“I owe you.”
“Ya. You do.” Martha walked over to her bruder, who held up a hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet.
Annie glanced up in time to see Levi driving away in Old Simon’s buggy. She’d missed talking to him today, but that was okay. She’d tell him the good news first thing Wednesday.
* * *
By the time Levi showed up at the Kauffmann place on Wednesday, he’d completely forgotten Annie’s plan to find him a girl. He’d been focused on other things. He’d talked with several of the local families at the wedding, and three had come back to ask him questions after the church service. At this rate, he might get to Texas earlier than he’d thought. He might have enough interest to send down a scouting group before fall turned into winter.
He was mucking out the horse stalls early Wednesday morning, before they’d even had breakfast, when Annie showed up in the barn.
“Gude mariye, Levi.”
He wiped the sweat out of his eyes and squinted at her.
As usual, she looked fresh and energetic. Normally she seemed aggravated when she saw him, as if she’d swallowed unsweetened lemonade. Today she was smiling broadly. Why the change in attitude?
Then he remembered their deal and literally slapped himself on the forehead.
“Problem?”
“Just remembering what you talked me into.”
“I didn’t talk you into anything. I simply made a suggestion and you agreed.”
She grinned at him as she had on Saturday. He could still feel her hand in his, the way her eyes had widened as she’d glanced up into his eyes, and then how she’d snatched her hand away as if she’d been stung by a bee. What was that about?
She didn’t waste any time ruining his morning. She pulled a folded sheet of paper from her apron pocket and waved it at him. “I wrote down the information you need for your date.”
“My date...”
Her plan was bound to be a trap. He didn’t know how, but he was sure that it must be designed to ruin his goal of moving to Texas.
“Her name is Martha Weaver. Here are directions to her house as well as the number for the nearest phone shack.”
He took the piece of paper and stared down at her tidy handwriting. “Guess I’m stuck doing this.”
“You’re lucky to date Martha, actually. She’s levelheaded, nice looking—”
“Then why isn’t she courting or married? There must be something wrong with her.”
“And she’s my best friend.”
“Oops. Sorry if what I said sounded rude.”
“It did, but I’m not surprised. Men your age only want to step out with the prettiest, thinnest girls.”
“That’s not true.”
Instead of arguing, Annie walked into the stall and around the perimeter. “Martha has a sweet tooth. You might think about taking her to the pie pantry.”
“I have dated before, you know.”
“Oh, you have?”
“Don’t look so surprised.”
“I’m not surprised.”
He could tell that she was holding in her laughter, which irritated him more than it probably should have.
“I wonder if your mamm has breakfast ready.”
“Oh, ya. That’s what I came out to tell you.”
“You could have led with that.”
“And miss the chance to tease you?”
“Is that what you’re doing? And why are you in such a chipper mood this morning?”
“Who wouldn’t be in a good mood on such a beautiful morning?”
He had been too—until Annie showed up with her dating instructions. He hadn’t fully thought this through when he’d agreed to her dating scheme. His few attempts to date back in Lancaster had been a disaster. The women he’d met were only interested in settling down and having babies. He had nothing against either, but they’d had no patience for his talk of moving to Texas, especially when they’d heard that he was saving every dime in order to make the move possible.
Dreamer.
Naive.
Immature.
He’d been called all sorts of things, always with a smile, a touch on the shoulder, and a look of pity. Well, he didn’t need anyone’s approval or sympathy, and he didn’t need another woman who was going to try and set him straight.
“What are you frowning about?”
Instead of answering, he carried the pitchfork into the main room of the barn, then returned to pick up the muck bucket. Annie was still there, leaning against the wall, a smile on her pretty face, arms crossed, studying him.
“You don’t have to look at me that way.”
“I don’t?”
“I promised you I’d take your friend out.”
“Her name is Martha.”
“I agreed to take Martha out, and I will.”
He trudged toward the house, aware that Annie was practically jogging to keep up with him.
“You’re looking at this all wrong. It’s not like an extra chore.”
“So you say...”
“She’s levelheaded and—”
He turned toward her so quickly that she nearly bumped into him. “And pretty. Ya, I heard.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“No problem, Annie.” Instead of backing away, he stepped closer, causing her to cross her arms and frown at him. “Just be sure you keep up your end of the bargain.”
“Of course.”
“No more hiding your dat’s library books.”
She pulled back in surprise.
“He’s not that absentminded, and he wouldn’t have left them on top of the washing machine where he found them.”
“Oh, well...I might have been looking through them and...”
“Left them there by accident? Uh-huh. Just remember that we have a deal, and you have to keep your side of it if I’m going to keep mine.”
When she’d nodded once, he turned and clomped into the house. He’d brought a map of Texas, and he was eager to show it to Alton. He’d even marked the route from Stephenville to Beeville. Sure, they were three hundred miles apart, but Levi wanted him to know that they wouldn’t be completely alone in their new community.
By the time he’d had two cups of coffee, breakfast potatoes, eggs and pancakes, he was in a better mood. Alton had gone to find his reading glasses so he could better study the map. Lily was humming softly as she ran dishwater into the sink. And Annie?
Annie was throwing daggers his way, which was fine with him. She’d soon accept that there was no stopping him. He’d had his dreams trodden on by plenty of women before—girlfriends, his sisters, even his mother. Annie Kauffmann didn’t represent that big of an obstacle. It was a shame, though. Her sort of stubborn spirit would have been a real asset in settling a new community.
Chapter Five
The first official meeting for those interested in a Texas community was held ten days later on a Friday afternoon. The weather was pleasant—still warm though it was now October. Storm clouds were building in the west. The front would bring rain and cooler temperatures, but Old Simon said it wouldn’t hit before the next morning.
They’d placed chairs in the backyard in a semicircle.
Levi had hoped half a dozen men would attend. He was pleasantly surprised when their numbers hit ten, including Jebediah and Alton.
There were three women, as well—Nicole, Jebediah’s wife; Beth, who had married Avery the first Saturday Levi was in town; and Annie.
Marcus stood when it seemed everyone had arrived. “As your bishop, it’s my duty to oversee any plans to split and/or begin a new community. I don’t want to lose a single man, woman or child from our group. You’re all vital to our church district here in Goshen, but I do want to be sensitive to Gotte’s leading. If it is Gotte’s wille for you to begin a new life in Texas, then we will find a way to make it happen. These are, of course, the very early stages of inquiring and everyone here should understand that nothing has been decided. We’ll move slowly, carefully and with consensus.”
Marcus looked at Levi, who nodded in agreement.
They’d had this very talk the night before.
Marcus wasn’t about to let any fool with a dream come in and disrupt his community, but at the same time he seemed like a fair man. And that was all that Levi could ask for. It was certainly more than he’d received from the community in Lancaster.
“How many families do you recommend we need?” Jebediah asked.
“Normally we suggest ten, at least. Since this community would be a good distance from any other—” Marcus held up his hand to stop Levi’s protests. “Beeville is five hours away, by car, which you won’t have and won’t be able to afford to hire. Because there is a significant distance between you and another Plain community, I’m going to recommend that you have a firm commitment from a dozen to fifteen families before you purchase land.”
Marcus studied the group and let the weight of what he was saying sink in. “You’ll be on your own in Stephenville, and that’s why it’s important that you start with as much support from one another as possible. Also, I’m going to insist that you have at least three ministers so that you’ll be able to hold proper church services.”
Levi tried to stifle his groan, but with little success. He’d thought they would let the community begin with one minister, and he had that—Old Simon. Finding two more was not going to be easy.
“Any idea how we can find two more ministers?” Alton looked around at each person and then back at Marcus. “They’re not exactly growing on trees.”
The small joke went a long way to easing the tension in the group.
Avery Stutzman spoke for the first time since the meeting had begun. “We could put a notice in The Budget asking any interested persons, any interested ministers, to contact Levi or Marcus. I’d be happy to write that up and give it to our scribe. She could post it in the next issue.”
Avery reached over and snagged his new bride’s hand. “We’re committed to helping make this happen. As a young newlywed couple...”
Beth and Avery smiled at each other and she blushed as the chuckles died down. “Having our own place is a real concern. My parents have land here, of course, as do Beth’s parents. But we’re both the youngest in our families, so there are a lot of siblings in line before us.”
“We’ve been saving,” Beth added. “But the cost of land here is a bit steeper than what we can afford at this point. At the rate things are going, it will be several years before we have our own place, and we’d rather not wait that long.”
“It’s a problem in nearly every Amish community.” Marcus nodded in understanding. “As the group grows, as more people need and want to farm in an area, the price of land goes up. That’s another thing to consider in a new community, as well. We need to do this carefully so the price per acre doesn’t spike once the good folks in Texas realize we’re coming.”
At least that sounded more positive to Levi, though the deal about needing three ministers...it could be a problem. He didn’t know if they’d be able to find two other men in leadership positions who would be willing and able to uproot their families.
It was decided that Marcus would contact bishops in neighboring communities and see if any of their ministers had a desire to help build a new group. Avery had volunteered to write a piece to give to their scribe, a girl named Naomi. Other persons attending vowed to write to relatives and friends in locations outside their county—looking for interested families as well as two additional ministers.
Levi had harbored high hopes for this meeting, but to this point, the news certainly wasn’t all good. Of course it wasn’t all bad, either. The folks assembled seemed eager and committed, for the most part.
It felt to Levi like they were taking two steps forward and one step back—but it was forward progress and that was all he could ask for. As the meeting progressed, his mood went from wildly optimistic to worried to cautiously hopeful. He was exhausted and ready to call it a night when Marcus asked for any last questions.
“I have a question.”
He jerked toward the voice, sure it couldn’t be...but it was. Pretty Annie Kauffmann had stood, squared her shoulders and faced the group. He had a bad feeling before she even tossed her question out.
“Why Texas?”
Levi had jumped up from his chair and was ready to blast a dozen reasons back her direction when Old Simon reached out, grasping his arm and pulling him back into a sitting position.
“But...”
Old Simon only shook his head and nodded toward Marcus who was listening intently to whatever Annie was saying. She spoke demurely and with a pleasant tone, as if she hadn’t cooked up what she was going to say days ago.
Levi knew better.
This was a plot to ruin his chances of moving.
This was a scheme to keep her father in Goshen. Steam must have been shooting out of his ears, but he forced himself to focus in on her last words.
“I’m just wondering, why not Missouri or Arkansas? There’s plenty of good farmland between here and Texas. Plus a community in Stephenville has been tried before, and it failed. So what has changed? Why do we think it will be successful now?”
Levi again tried to jump to his feet, but Old Simon’s surprisingly strong grip on his arm held him back.
“Those are gut questions, Annie, and thank you for bringing them to our attention. In fact, if you hadn’t, I would have.” Marcus stared down at the sheet of paper where he’d jotted some notes. “I had planned to ask you all to carefully consider that very thing as you go about your work in the coming days. I beseech each of you to pray about this, seek Gotte’s guidance, and when we meet again in three weeks I’ll ask Levi to address those very questions that Annie has brought to our attention.”
