Chapter Seventeen

David Troyer clapped Adam on the back when he sat down beside his cousin. “I thought I was seeing things this morning. There was my cousin, escorting the homeliest old maid in the county around this auction.”

Lydia giggled. “When I thought of all the pretty English girls Adam used to chase I could barely keep a straight face.”

“Me, too,” Susan added. The girls, eighteen and nineteen, were always laughing at something. Or someone.

Seated on the wooden risers at one end of the cattle pens, Adam listened to his cousins’ remarks with growing unhappiness. Finally, he said, “Emma Wadler is not homely. She is a devout, hardworking woman with a kind heart. You don’t know her the way I do. I’m thinking of courting her.”

Lydia and Susan flashed a scowl at each other. Then Susan asked, “Are you serious?”

“Jah, I am.” He hadn’t known Emma very long, but that was what courtship was for. To talk and make plans, to discover if they were right for each other. In his heart, he knew she was the only woman for him.

David nodded toward Adam’s father seated a few rows away. “Are you sure you aren’t rushing into this for another reason?”

Adam clenched his jaw. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

David shook his head. “You think if you quickly settle down and start planning a family your father will welcome you back with open arms. That isn’t fair to a woman.”

“If that happens I will be overjoyed,” Adam admitted. Like David, he thought it would take more than an Amish girlfriend to convince his father he had mended his life. None of that had to do with the way he felt about Emma.

After the cattle were auctioned off, the gas-powered tools were brought out. David and the girls left. Adam made his way up to the tools to look them over. From the corner of his eye he saw his father talking to the auctioneer beside the gas skill saw Adam intended to bid on. To his surprise, his father beckoned him over.

His dat said to the auctioneer, “This is my son. He has a gift for fixing things.”

Adam glanced sideways at his father. “What seems to be the problem?”

The auctioneer said, “We are trying to make the most money we can for this family. A working machine brings more money than a broken one.”

“I will see what I can do.” Removing the cover, Adam got to work. Within a few minutes he had the gas motor chugging away and the saw buzzing.

Delighted, the auctioneer asked, “How much do I owe you for the repair?”

Adam shook his head. “Nothing. It is my gift to the family. I was hoping to buy this, but now it may bring more than I can afford.”

He started to turn away, but his father stopped him by grasping his arm. “You did a good thing for this family.”

Adam smiled at his father. “From the time I was little I was taught to think of others first. I wasn’t a very good student, but I had a good teacher.”

His father smiled. “Maybe you weren’t as bad a pupil as I thought.”