When Leah arrived back at Sara’s after driving her sister and nephews to the dentist, she didn’t expect to find Thomas there and busy at work. He was digging a hole in the side yard using a Bobcat, a small specialized tractor with a backhoe on the rear. Thomas saw her and waved before shutting off the engine. “You’re out early,” he called to her.
“Dental checkups for Johanna’s older boys. No cavities.”
She got out of the car and crossed the lawn to the edge of the excavation.
“They keep you busy, driving to doctors and such,” he said. “Your sisters.”
“Not just my sisters. Friends, family, half the people in Seven Poplars, I think,” Leah replied, tickled to see Thomas, even though she wasn’t expecting him. “I won’t be allowed to keep the car once I join the church, but until then, I’m glad to help out the community. Saves them paying a driver. Grossmama needs to go to the lab for some blood work soon. I promised Anna I’d take her.”
She was also driving Ruth to the midwife for a checkup, but that wasn’t information she intended to share with Thomas. Her sister was in the family way, something women liked to keep private until their condition became obvious. “What are you doing? Don’t tell me Sara is putting in a swimming pool?”
Thomas chuckled. “Close enough. She wants a fishpond with a fountain. It’s going to be solar powered.”
“I didn’t know you could drive one of those things.” She pointed at the Bobcat. How handsome he looked, she thought. Just the sight of him on this bright June morning made her want to clap for joy.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know,” he replied with a grin.
Typical Thomas, always ready with a smart answer. She looked at the hole in the lawn and then back at the machine. “I meant, I didn’t know that the elders approved of tractors. Shouldn’t you be digging this with a shovel?”
He shook his head. “It would take a lot of shoveling. The community voted to allow heavy machinery on a limited basis.” He chuckled. “So I’m fine as long as I don’t use it as transportation. I just can’t drive it home.”
She laughed. “How did you get it here?”
“The equipment-rental place delivers.” He climbed down off the tractor seat and pointed to the excavation. “Sara asked me if I wanted to put in a bid for the pond, a screened-in gazebo and an arbor. She wants a welcoming place where her couples can sit and talk privately while remaining in full view.”
“It will be lovely, but she didn’t say a word about it,” Leah said.
“That’s Sara. She likes to have all her ducks in a row before she talks about her plans. This shouldn’t take too long, and it will give me extra money to put into my garden. Speaking of which...” He pointed at her. “Would you like to come over after work and see my peppers and tomato plants?”
“I would.” The two of them spent three or four evenings a week together and she never grew bored with being with him. Sometimes they just went for a walk or fishing in the pond, but often they made themselves busy planting seedlings or even weeding his small but growing garden. “Any idea when the first tomatoes will be ripe enough to sell?”
He considered. “Let’s see. This is the first of June. So far, we’ve had excellent weather for growing. If we get enough rain, I should be picking cherry tomatoes by early July. Four or five weeks. God willing.”
“Ya, God willing,” she repeated. They had much to be thankful for. So far, Thomas’s plans for raising and selling his organic vegetables had gone smoothly. He was excited about it, and she was as well. It was good to have a new project to help bring to fruition. “Is it too late to put in more spinach? Mam has had luck with a heritage variety that stands the heat better. And those baby eggplants. Maybe there’d be a market for those.”
“Leah, are you keeping Thomas from getting my fishpond dug?” Sara came from the house carrying glasses of iced tea.
“We were talking about Thomas’s garden,” Leah explained. “His heritage tomatoes are growing well.”
Sara chuckled. “You were talking, all right. I shouted out the window to see if you’d like something cold to drink, and you were so intent on your conversation that you never heard me.”
“Sorry,” Leah said. She smiled, feeling a little bit as if she’d been caught doing something naughty. But it was Sara’s idea that they see each other, so she refused to feel guilty about it.
“I’m just teasing you.” Sara handed each of them a glass of tea. “I’ve been wanting to catch the two of you together. Do you realize that your six weeks is up?”
“What?” Thomas nearly choked on his tea. He started to cough, and when he’d cleared his throat he shook his head. “It can’t be. Six weeks?”
Leah thought for a minute. Could six weeks really have gone by so quickly? But when she did the math, she realized Sara was right. It had been six weeks since she and Thomas had agreed to see each other. Almost seven weeks. She gave a little laugh. “She’s right. The time has flown, hasn’t it?”
Sara planted her hands on her ample hips. “So?” The question was directed at Leah.
“So...what?” Leah repeated.
“So, what do you think?” Sara pointed at Thomas. Then she gave a wave in his direction. “No need to ask you. I already know you’ve fallen head over teacup for our Leah.” She returned her attention to Leah.
Leah took a breath. She hadn’t contemplated what she would say because she hadn’t thought she’d ever be in this position. But facts were facts and she wasn’t afraid to admit she’d been wrong. “You were right, Sara. Thomas and I are a good match.” She went on, matter-of-fact. “I didn’t think so when you first brought up the idea. In fact, I was sure that he wasn’t what I wanted.” She gave him a warm look. “Nothing against you, Thomas. I just thought... Well, never mind what I thought. What matters is that I was wrong. We’re compatible.” She shrugged. “So I guess we should move forward.”
Sara narrowed her gaze. “So, you two have talked about this?”
“Not...exactly,” Leah went on. “But, you’re fine with this, right, Thomas?” She glanced his way.
He nodded rapidly, looking a little surprised.
It was just like a man to be surprised by something so apparent as this. She and Thomas were compatible—they had the same values, the same desire to live in a way that was pleasing to God. And they both needed spouses. It was really that simple. Leah looked at Sara again. “Thomas and I are both seeing Bishop Atlee for baptismal classes. We’re happy with each other, so I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t begin official courting. We could probably be married in autumn, once both of us have been baptized.”
“You seem to have your mind made up,” Sara said, looking directly at Leah. But then her gaze drifted to Thomas. “I see no reason you can’t court, but I’m not sure you’re ready to set a wedding date.”
Leah looked down at the watch locket that she wore on a chain around her neck. “Oh, look at the time! I’ve got to pick up Anna and Grossmama. I hate to run, but I promised I’d be at Anna’s early. It’s not so easy getting Grossmama dressed and into the car. Her health really seems to be failing in the last few months.”
“Will you be home for supper?” Sara asked.
“Ne, don’t wait on me.” She turned to go, then back to wave. “See you later at your place, Thomas. Have fun with the Bobcat.”
* * *
Thomas drank the last of his iced tea and watched Leah drive out of the yard in her car. Vaguely, he was aware that the tea was icy cold, just the way he liked it. The tea quenched his thirst and the June sun was warm on his face. Still, he felt a little odd, even out of sorts. Had he just heard what he thought he’d heard? That Leah didn’t just want to marry him? That she wanted to set a date for their wedding? It was what he’d wanted, what he’d prayed for. So why, now that it was going to happen, was he not bursting with excitement?
“You look confused,” Sara said.
“Shocked, I think,” he admitted. “Leah and I have been really enjoying each other’s company and getting to know each other. I’d hoped she’d want to move forward. I think she has feelings for me and I definitely...” He felt his cheeks grow warm. He’d never been shy about talking about a girl before but maybe because he’d never felt this way before. “It’s just... I...” He stopped and started again. “I guess I didn’t realize that we...that Leah was ready to take the next step.”
“But you are, too, aren’t you?” Sara’s gaze was direct and a little uncomfortable. “You’re ready to move toward marriage?”
He nodded. Honestly, he was a little bewildered by Leah’s casual declaration. He had just assumed that at some point he and Leah would talk about the original arrangement they’d made with each other and how it had changed. When they’d agreed to see each other seven weeks ago in Sara’s office, he’d thought he’d been buying himself some time with his grandfather. And Leah had agreed to date him to please Sara with the understanding that if it didn’t work, the matchmaker would find her an older widower. Neither had thought they’d end up discussing marriage. What had he missed?
Of course, he’d never seriously dated anyone like this before. Maybe it wasn’t something you were supposed to talk about to each other. “I’m in love with Leah,” Thomas said quietly. “So that means that we should be courting. And marrying in the church.”
“Is she in love with you?”
He dropped his gaze to his boots.
Sara made a sound in her throat. “You’ve not discussed your feelings for each other or the idea of marriage.” It was a statement, not a question. “You would feel easier if the two of you had talked it out before Leah said something to me?”
He squinted, thinking. “Should we have? I mean, is that what couples do?” He shrugged. “This is all new to me. I’ve never seen my mother and father talk about personal stuff.”
“But you wouldn’t hear private conversations between your parents, would you?” Sara said. “Matters that are private between a couple are not for others to hear, not even a dear son.”
Thomas scratched his head. “So...are you saying Leah and I should have talked about this? Alone?”
Sara pursed her lips. “It seems to me that if you and Leah intend to marry and spend the rest of your lives together, that decision should be made together.”
“So...we should talk about it?” he said. “We need to?”
“I think you two need to get in the habit of talking things through. Not just thinking the other knows what’s going on in your head.”
He nodded, thinking, staring at the toe of his boot. “Leah’s not a big one for talking about how she feels. She’s more one for just doing. But I have my own faults. And I want Leah for my wife.” He looked up at Sara. “I want her any way I can get her. And that’s the truth.”
Sara smiled. “You must be cautious, Thomas. Marriage is for the rest of your lives. Once joined, you are together until death. You might feel differently in ten years, even twenty. And it isn’t fair to change the rules then. You need to establish things now, before you make that commitment.”
He continued to look at her, not certain where this conversation was leading. “Establish them how?”
“There is nothing wrong with telling Leah that you want to talk things out before she makes decisions for both of you. Even when you agree with what she thinks, it’s important that you both have your say.”
He nodded. “I’ll think about it, Sara. I will.”
“Be certain you do. These things need to be worked out between you before you exchange vows. There’s nothing that says you have to marry this fall. Not if you’re not ready. Marry in haste. Repent in leisure.”
“But...” He handed her his iced-tea glass. “I don’t understand, Sara. You’re the one who said we were right for each other. This match is your idea. Now are you saying it’s not?”
“That’s not what I’m saying, Thomas. But I’ve been doing this for a long time. Every couple has issues to work out. And they are best worked out before marriage. That way there are no unpleasant surprises for either of you later.”
“I don’t see any problems between us.”
“I’m glad of that. But you need to take this one step at a time. You’re not a raw boy. You’re used to doing things a certain way, which is natural. And Leah has been through a lot. You’re not marrying a twenty-year-old girl.”
“I know that.” He hesitated. “About your fee. Do I pay it after the wedding or—”
“No need to worry about it. Hannah and Albert are taking care of Leah’s portion, and your grandfather has already come to an agreement with me.”
“So you think that fall would be too soon for us to marry?”
Sara shook her head. “No, I didn’t say that, either. Plenty of time to set a date for a November wedding. What’s important is that you each marry with a free heart, that you find what you want in the union.”
“I want to make a home with Leah, to have children if God sends them, to serve Him and our community.”
Sara smiled. “I can’t think of better reasons to marry.” She patted his arm. “You’re a good man, Thomas, and Leah is fortunate to find someone like you.”
“And me, her.” He grinned at Sara. “But I’d better get back to work on this pond. They charge rent by the hour, and we’re talking on your pocketbook, when I should be digging.”
“I’ll leave you to it, then.” Sara took the glasses and went back to the house.
Thomas let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t wait to get home this afternoon and tell his family that he and Leah intended to set a date for their wedding. That should please them—especially his grandfather. It pleased him well enough.
He climbed back into the seat of the Bobcat and started the engine. Maybe there was something to what Sara had said about telling Leah they needed to talk things out between them. But, right now, he was happy that she’d agreed to be his wife.
* * *
Two days later, Leah, Thomas and Ellie were driving back from Rehoboth on Route 1 in Leah’s car. Thomas had delivered assorted orders of lettuce, spinach and strawberries to three restaurants, and Ellie had come with them as chaperone. They’d all enjoyed a walk on the beach after the vegetables had been delivered, and both Ellie and Leah had gotten slightly sunburned.
“Next time, we’ll remember to put on sunscreen,” Leah said as she glanced into the mirror to see her sunburned nose. Her sister Miriam tanned, but she never did.
“I offered to lend you my hat,” Thomas teased. He tapped the edge of the wide straw brim. He had the hat in his lap because he was tall and the car had a low roof. Ellie, in the backseat, had plenty of room.
“Wouldn’t that be a sight for the Englishers?” Ellie said chuckling. “But it wouldn’t be right for you to go without your head covered, Thomas. You would have to wear one of our kapps.”
Leah and Thomas both laughed at the thought. Traffic was light, and Leah was enjoying the drive. The whole day had been fun. She always enjoyed being with Ellie, and having her along was easy, without any awkwardness. Nothing fazed Ellie, not the noise and clamor of the boardwalk or the open stares of the tourists and their children.
“Does it ever bother you, Ellie?” Leah asked. “Having people point at you in public?”
“Because I’m short or because I’m Amish?”
Leah laughed. Her friend had a good point. And she liked the fact that they didn’t have to avoid the subject of her stature. “Because you’re short.”
“When I was little, it frightened me that people were always staring,” Ellie admitted, “but then I decided it was because I was pretty, not because I was little.”
Leah grinned, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “Only you would say such a thing.”
“Ya, but it’s true, isn’t it? I’m short, but I’m cute. And God gave me a brain. I have my health and my eyes and two hands and two legs. Why should I feel sorry for myself because I’m not taller? If I—”
“Did you see who that was?” Thomas said, interrupting Ellie. “Walking along the highway?”
“Ne,” Leah answered. “I was concentrating on that pickup. He’s switched lanes multiple times and I was just trying to stay out of his way.”
“Where’s the next turnoff?” Thomas asked, looking over his shoulder. “We have to go back.”
“Go back? Why?” Ellie asked. “Who was walking along the road?”
Thomas pointed to a traffic light ahead. “There,” he said. “Make a U-turn. I think that was Jakob.”
“Jakob? You mean Jakob Schwartz?” Leah asked. She put on her signal, moved over and guided the car into the turn lane. “What do you suppose he was doing walking?”
“He was going fishing today on a boat out of Bowers Beach. A driver picked him up before daylight this morning. I’m sure it was Jakob,” Thomas insisted.
Ellie groaned. “It’s not like little people are as common as cows around here.”
Leah looked in the mirror as she made her turn and saw the sour expression on Ellie’s face. “You wouldn’t want us to leave him by the side of the road, would you?” she asked.
“Ya, I would. Unless you plan on putting him in the trunk. If anyone in Seven Poplars sees me in the backseat of this car with him, my life is over.”
Leah accelerated in the southbound lane. “Why will your life be over, Ellie? I’ve met Jakob. He’s a very pleasant person. Smart. And funny. You two should—”
“Ne, we shouldn’t. Your grandmother asked me after church when we were crying the banns, me and the little man. And your aunt Martha said out loud during one of the hymns that us both being little didn’t mean our children would be short. We could have normal children.”
“But that isn’t Jakob’s fault,” Thomas defended.
Ellie sniffed. “If you’d heard as many hints and suggestions and offers to have us both to dinner as I’ve heard since that man first came visiting to our community, you’d understand. When I marry, if I marry, it won’t be because my husband has to be a little person. And as for our children being normal, I think I am normal,” she fumed. “It’s the rest of you who are too tall.”
Leah spotted Jakob, made the next U-turn and pulled to the shoulder of the road behind Jakob, who continued walking. She put on her flashers. Pulling off like this made her nervous. Seeing Jakob walking the busy highway made her even more nervous.
Thomas got out and shouted. “Jakob! It’s Thomas!”
The little man turned, grinned and waved, and trudged back to the car. In one hand, he carried a saltwater fishing pole and reel, in the other, a tackle box. “Glad to see you, I am, Thomas.”
“Get in,” Thomas told him.
Jakob leaned in the open passenger window. “I didn’t think to be picked up by a friend. Leah.” He nodded a greeting, then glanced into the backseat, saw Ellie and did a double take. “Ellie Fisher.” His smile spread until his whole face crinkled with good humor. “God is truly good to me.”
“The tackle box will go in the trunk,” Thomas said, taking it from him. “Fishing pole, too, if I break it down.” He made his way to the back of the car as Leah released the trunk latch. “You can jump in the back.”
“Or ride in the trunk with the tackle box,” Ellie muttered.
Leah stifled a chuckle. “Be nice,” she warned, turning to look into the backseat.
Ellie grimaced. “Maybe Thomas would like to ride back here with him.”
“Thomas barely fits back there.” Leah made a face. “He’s too tall.”
“We could fold him in half,” Ellie suggested.
“Fold who in half?” Thomas asked, closing the trunk. “Hop in, Jakob.”
Ellie slid over and Jakob got into the backseat with her.
“Sorry if I smell like a fishing boat,” he said. “I’m afraid I will stink up your car.”
Ellie drew herself up stiffly and moved over closer to the door, leaving a space between them. “Ya,” she agreed. “You do smell like a fishing boat.”
“What happened?” Thomas asked, getting back into the front seat. “Why are you walking? What about the driver who picked you up?”
“The bay was rough. The driver got seasick,” Jakob explained. “So seasick somebody else had to drive him home. They offered to take me, but he lives way south of Dover, so I decided the best thing to do was start walking.”
“It’s a long way from here to Seven Poplars.” Leah checked her rearview mirror and eased back onto the road. “At least twenty miles, maybe more. You should have called the chair shop or another driver.”
“Don’t know any others,” he said. “It never occurred to me that the Englisher who drove me to the dock wouldn’t take me home. And I don’t have the number of the chair shop.” He shrugged. “I don’t have a cell phone. And I’ve walked farther than this before. I might not have got back to the farm until after dark, but I would have gotten there.”
“I’m glad we came along when we did,” Thomas said. “Did no one else offer you a ride?”
“Two Englishers,” Jakob said, “but they’d carried a cooler of beer onto the boat. I don’t hold with alcohol, and I’ll not ride with anyone who’s been drinking.”
“Did you catch any fish?” Thomas asked.
Jakob shook his head sadly. “Nothing I could bring home. And I had my heart set on fried fish.”
“I like fish, too,” Leah said, changing lanes to get around a tractor trailer hauling chickens. “Saltwater fish are my favorite. Especially flounder or trout.”
“How about you, Ellie?” Jakob asked. “Do you like fish?”
“Can’t abide them. Not the smell, not the taste.”
“I’m sorry for that,” Jakob replied. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“I think I do,” Ellie said.
Leah glanced at Ellie in the rearview mirror. She was staring straight ahead, her hands fisted at her sides. Her cheeks were pink and her mouth set in a thin line. Leah was surprised. She’d never seen Ellie so out of sorts, and it was unfair to blame Jakob, who’d done nothing but have a bad day. Leah hoped he wouldn’t notice her friend’s rudeness.
“Tell you what,” Thomas said. “Let’s stop in Wyoming. There’s a family restaurant there that serves good food at fair prices. I’ll treat you all to supper. And Jakob, they always have fish on the menu. You can enjoy your fish supper after all.”
“That’s a great idea,” Leah said. “Ellie?”
“Lovely,” Ellie said in a tone that clearly said she felt otherwise.
“Goot,” Jakob exclaimed. “But the treat will be mine. Nothing I like better than to share a meal with friends.” He smiled at Ellie. “Especially such pretty friends.”