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Ruby’s cell phone buzzed in her dress pocket behind the apron. She did not use it much and felt guilty whenever she did. Being raised strict Amish, the rules ran thickly through her blood.
Pulling the phone from her pocket, she saw David’s name on the screen. Her heart raced, knowing it was him on the other end of the line.
“Hello, David.”
There came a pause before David responded. “Ruby? Are you alright? You sound out of breath. Did you have to race for your phone?”
Ruby bit her bottom lip. Did he recognize the change in her voice? “No, just working at closing the store until spring.”
She heard David take a breath.
“Could you come over to my house right now. The kinner are here, and I would like to talk to you all at the same time.”
Walking to a nearby chair, she sat and offered, “Certainly. I will be there in just a few minutes. I will finish covering my card shelf, and I will come directly to your home. It sounds important.”
“Jah, it is, but nothing to fear. It is gut news.”
After saying goodbye, Ruby finished the final task in closing the store. It had taken her longer than she expected. She would miss the work, but the customer base was not there at this time of the year. Thankfully, her on-line business had taken off. In the back room of the store, she had all the items which she advertised on-line, ready to go out to the buyers. If the sales kept up, she would have to move more treasures from the front of the store, photograph them, and get the pictures up on the website.
Ruby stepped quickly to David’s house and felt the excitement building within her. If only she knew how the man felt about her. Here she was, a thirty-six-year-old woman, with a crush bigger than anything she ever felt.
As she opened the mudroom door, she saw David in the kitchen, and he waved her into the room where he stood. Putting her coat and black bonnet on a peg, she went in to join the kinner and Mrs. Guthrie.
“Ruby!” The twins cried. They jumped from their chairs and rushed to her sweeping her in an enormous hug. “Did you kum to have lunch with us?”
“Well, thank you for the greeting. You act as if you have not seen me for months. Truly, it was only yesterday when we parted. Remember?” She laughed, but inside, she knew how anxious and distracted the children were. Hopefully, something would happen to give them happiness back.
David poured Ruby a cup of kaffe and pulled out a chair for her. “Let’s all sit and talk. I have something I want to tell you.”
“You are going to let us move to Hannah’s?” Sarah cried.
David shook his head. “Nee, little ones. But I want you to know that I have let Susan go. She will no longer be working for us.”
“You fired her?” The twins cried, and Ruby had to hold herself back from joining them. The girl disgusted her, but she had not realized just how deeply the feelings went.
The look on Mrs. Guthrie’s face was priceless. The lines across her brow relaxed.
“It will be good to have her away from us, but I do not want any of us to speak badly about her. We are guilty as well for acting out against her. It is not our Amish way.”
“But daed...
“Nee, Dan, I will not hear any more about this. I have her out of our home now, and that is the end of it.”
Ruby sat in silence. She hoped and prayed that this would be the end of their problems with Susan, but she doubted it.
“And I want to speak with Ruby alone.” David walked about the table and deliberately took hold of Ruby’s arm as if he feared she would bolt.
Ruby looked over at the twins and saw them looking at each other with a big grin.
“Kum, Ruby, let’s go out on the front porch.”
*~*
THE AFTERNOON WAS WARM, with just a hint of a breeze. She and David set their refilled kaffe mugs on the wooden table between the large rockers. Ruby sat first, then David followed. She smiled to herself. David always was so gentlemanly, opening doors for her, helping her into a buggy and on and on. She was falling in love with the nicest man she knew.
They sat quietly, sipping their rapidly cooling beverage and watching the breeze come up and toss around the few leaves that had fallen from the trees.
“I wanted to talk to you, but I am having a hard time getting the words out.” David turned to face her.
Ruby’s heart dropped at his words. Was he letting her go, as well as Susan? She enjoyed the bookwork a lot, but she would miss David’s presence as well. “Are you letting me go?”
“What? Nee! Absolutely not. I want to court you!”
She sucked in a sharp breath, and her mind could not form words. Did David just say he wanted to court her? Was this real or some dream she cooked up?
“Pinch me.”
“What? Why?” he laughed at her request. “If you insist.” Reaching over to her, he softly pinched the top of her hand.
She grasped his hand and smiled. “You have made my day! Of course, I want you to court me.”
David laughed, then jumped from his chair, knocking into the table and sloshed his kaffe from the mug. “Oh! I was so worried you would say no.” He pulled her up and grabbed her in a hug. He whispered in her ear, making it tickle with his breath, “Even more than that, I want us to marry.”
Ruby pulled away so she could see his face. “Marry?”
A frown pulled his brows together. “I know it is too soon to speak of it, but Ruby, I love you and have for quite a while. I just had to tell you how I felt. If you do not want this right now, it is okay.” He stumbled over the words.
“Sit down. We ought to talk about this.”
David did as she requested and folded his hands in his lap, staring at them.
He loved her. And she loved him. Her emotions were all over the place. Elation. Joy. Excitement. They all whipped through her with the speed of a racing train. He loved her. His words repeated over and over in her mind.
“I am in love with you, as well.”
Her words were a whisper, but David quickly turned his head toward her, and their gazes met. He did not say a word but continued to stare at her as she went on.
“It is about time I tell you how I feel. I was worried though, afraid if I said anything that it might interfere with our friendship.”
David shook his head. “Ach, you felt the same way I did. I too worried about my feelings. Would they make it difficult to be together if you did not feel the same way? Or would you quit working for me?”
“Could we keep this between ourselves for a short while?” Ruby asked. “We have our children to bring into this, and I do not want them to feel they have to accept us as a couple. We can gradually be together more often and get them all used to us together.”
David stood and pulled Ruby to her feet. “I agree but let us speak to the Bishop and plan a date to marry. I do not want to lose you now that we have declared our love for each other. Shall we take a ride to his house?”
Ruby nodded in agreement.
“Let me tell the kinner that we are taking a buggy ride, and I will be back in just a second.”
David returned to the front of the house with the buggy in only a few minutes. He stroked his horse's nose and then stepped from the buggy and walked up to the porch for her.
He offered his hand, and she stood. They walked toward the buggy arm in arm. Just before David set the team off, Ruby caught a quick glimpse of two hopeful faces plastered to the window watching them go.