Amish Treasures of the Heart Read online

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back.

  Jake lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I’ll admit; I was only trying to make you jealous.”

  Ellie blushed. “I was doing the same by accepting a buggy ride from Jackson.”

  The two locked eyes for a moment, and they chuckled lightly at their absurdity.

  “If I’d been honest with you from the start,” Jake confessed. “We could have avoided all these hurt feelings, and perhaps we could have taken a buggy ride tonight instead.”

  Ellie smiled a hopeful smile.

  “Maybe we could start over,” Jake suggested. “And maybe we could go on a buggy ride sometime?”

  Ellie smiled again, lifting her gaze from the ground. “I’d love that.” She replied with absolute sincerity.

  Chapter 7.

  Jake arrived at Ellie’s farm the next evening wearing a pair of broad-fall trousers and a royal blue dress shirt he had borrowed from his father. He wanted to look his best for Ellie, and he figured the more Amish he looked, the better his chances would be to turn her head toward him.

  The two were finally going to take their first buggy ride together, and Jake couldn’t have been more nervous. It was like their first time meeting all over again. Wiping his sweaty palms down the front of the black trousers, he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He wanted to make his absolute best impression on her tonight, feeling the need to redeem himself after the stunt he’d pulled trying to make her jealous.

  Jackson had kept to himself the entire day and had gone about his chores as usual, but this time, he hadn’t teased Jake even one time. It had made the day go by faster so he could get to his much-anticipated part of the day—their buggy ride.

  Ellie stepped out of the house wearing a plain, pale blue dress, and the sight of her caused his heart to flutter as if there was more than one heart tucked away behind his ribs. When he’d researched the practice of buggy rides, he’d also read about marriage rituals such as growing and serving celery as a staple, and the wearing of a blue dress as a wedding dress. His gaze never left her as she approached him, and he couldn’t help but feel that something about her seemed different tonight. It was almost as if she had picked out this particular dress just for him. Jake couldn’t help but stare, wondering how it was she’d managed to look more beautiful than usual.

  She stepped down off the porch, closed the space between them, and tucked her finger beneath his suspenders. “You’re really taking this Amish thing seriously, but I have to admit, you make a very handsome Amish mann,” she said, making him blush.

  “Thank you, but you look beautiful as beautiful as an Amish Bride,” he said with a smile.

  The two hopped into the buggy and he steered Coal down the quiet country road. Jake was still in awe of how peaceful Indiana was compared to the city. Instead of cars and people, all you could hear was the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, and the cicadas in the trees. He’d always thought the city felt like home to him but this place made him realize how wrong he was about that, especially with Ellie sitting next to him. Fireflies flitted along the path all around them, helping to light the way.

  “I’m curious about something,” Ellie said. “What were you doing spending all that time at Rachel’s since you weren’t courting her?”

  “I was learning how to do simple farm chores so I could stop making a fool of myself, and I was doing it just to impress you! Honestly, though, I rarely saw Rachel, and tried my best to avoid her. I was working with Isaac.”

  Ellie sighed. “You make me feel ashamed and embarrassed that I accused you of courting my cousin. I never should have accepted a buggy ride with Jackson just to get back at you. Will you forgive me?”

  She was flattered that Jake wanted to impress her, but she also felt embarrassed at her jealousy. She knew it was wrong to accept Jackson’s offer even if she’d known Jake’s intentions, and she was truly sorry she’d done such a foolish thing.

  “Of course I forgive you,” he said with a smile. “But there’s really nothing to forgive. We both made a mistake, and we both did it with the best of intentions—given the circumstances.

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, I’ve noticed your improvements, and I’m very impressed. You learned a lot pretty quickly.”

  “Yeah, Isaac is a good teacher.” He felt awkward for telling her he had done all this for her. He hoped she didn’t find that to be too weird.

  Ellie could sense he felt embarrassed for admitting his intentions to get her attention. “I’m flattered you wanted to impress me.” She said with a warm smile.

  The gentle rocking of the open buggy on the uneven path drew her closer to him. Their shoulders bumped, and it sent warmth through her when his hand touched hers. He pulled the buggy off the main road at the park entrance and steered Coal to a parking area in the clearing of the large oak trees. He tugged on the straps and set the brake.

  Unable to stand it another minute, Jake turned to Ellie and pulled her close to him. He pressed his lips to hers, sweeping over her mouth lightly, his eyes drifting closed naturally.

  Ellie enjoyed the warmth of his lips on hers, closing her eyes against the love she felt in her heart for Jake.

  Chapter 8.

  Jake was especially happy working in the cornfield picking corn. He had a smile on his face and was singing and whistling while tossing the healthy, full ears into the cart. Jackson was working one row over, and took notice. He quickly became irritated, knowing Jake had taken Ellie on a buggy ride the night before. By Jake’s demeanor, he assumed it had gone better than his buggy ride had been with her, and that made Jackson jealous. How could Ellie want Jake over him? Being Amish didn’t make him a better man. As far as Jackson was concerned, Jake wasn’t much of a man and couldn’t support Ellie the way he could.

  “What are you so happy about, Curly?” Jackson asked, hoping he wouldn’t receive the answer he expected.

  “Oh, I’m sure you know.” Jake said with a sarcastic grin.

  Jackson became even more irritated. He didn’t want to just back down and let Jake win Ellie over. He wanted a way to prove to Ellie and everyone else who the real man was.

  “What would you say to a roping contest, Curly? We’re going to sign up for the roping contest at the county fair next week. Maybe you’d like to compete too, so why not get a little practice in. We could use the two calves since we have to brand them anyway.”

  Jake laughed. He couldn’t be serious, could he? This was something Jake had only ever seen in the movies. He wasn’t sure he could rope cattle, but he accepted Jackson’s challenge, as silly as he thought it was.

  Jake had confidence he had a fair chance of beating Jackson. If for no other reason, than the man was just too full of himself.

  Jake, Jackson and Will led Coal over to the corral to begin their challenge.

  “Some quick rules,” Jackson said. “We’ll each take a turn at roping, and we’ll each get a calf. Whoever finishes the task with the best time is the winner. Will, you let the calf out of the pen so it takes off running, and we’ll set the horse to galloping. Since we don’t have a shoot to come out of, we’ll have to wait until the calf reaches the other side of the corral before we can go after it. Then, we have to rope the head, and then bring the animal down and tie three legs with the small rope—the piggin’ string, and you keep that between your teeth until it’s time to use it. Once the calf is down, you throw your hands up to signal time, and Will stops his watch. Like I said, whoever has the best time, wins. You got all that, Curly?”

  Jake was nervous. It was a lot to remember. He didn’t care much about winning or losing. All he cared about was getting it done without getting hurt or being disqualified, especially seeing as he didn’t know what he was doing.

  Jackson pulled a quarter out of his pocket. “We’ll flip to see who goes first. Heads or tails, Curly?”

  He jutted out his chin. “Heads,” Jake said confidently.

  Jackson tossed th
e coin up in the air, caught it, and turned it over on the backside of his hand all in one fast motion. When he lifted his hand off the top to reveal the coin, it was tail-up, and Jake let out the breath he’d been holding in, grateful Jackson would go first. At least this way, Jake would have a chance to observe Jackson’s technique and go over the rules one more time in his head.

  Jackson mounted Coal, and rode him up to the pen. The moment Will closed the gate, Coal began to rear up. Jackson could tell that Coal wasn’t going to make things easy on him. The animal had never had a good temperament with him, but he was up to the challenge. He had to win this!

  Taking control of Coal with his left hand, he readied the lariat, waiting for Will to release the calf from the pen. He tightened his grip on Coal as he began to rear up again, but he nearly knocked him from his mount. He yanked Coal’s lead to control him, determined not to let the stubborn horse ruin his chances of winning. When Will released the calf, he readied the lariat, swinging it as he dug his heels into Coal’s sides. The horse took off running, and Jackson swung the rope once and missed.

  Jake let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Jackson maybe wasn’t as good at everything the way he boasted—or that perhaps this was tougher than it looked. He hoped it wasn’t as difficult as it looked.

  Jackson swung one more time and pulled the rope tight over the head, slid off the horse, flipped the calf on its side, and wrapped the feet all in one swift motion. Then he threw his hands up in the air causing Will to call time.

  Jake’s heart raced, and he prayed he could pull off such a move, especially having never done it before. Perhaps, if he could, Jackson would have more respect for him, and stop teasing him so much. He made a mental note to be sure to slide from the horse as soon as the rope latched onto the head of the calf—that was if he could get it lassoed in the first place.

  Jackson let the calf go, puffing out his chest and whooping.

  “Let’s see you do that!” he challenged Jake.

  It was evident Jackson was pleased with himself, but with that first miss, it had taken him extra time to rope the calf, which would be to Jake’s advantage.

  Jake’s heart was beating fast after seeing the way Coal was with Jackson, and prayed the horse would be more calm for him.

  When Jake got into the pen, Coal was as calm as he always was with Jake, which in turn, calmed Jake’s nerves a bit. He immediately began twirling the ropes over-head and took a practice swing. Maybe he could do this after all. He steadied himself with his right hand and kept a loose grip on the lariat in his left, then, he nodded to Will to let the calf out of the pen. He clicked his heels gently against Coal’s sides and the horse took off faster than he had with Jackson. Swinging the lariat overhead, Jake let it go, looping it over the head on the first try.

  He slid from the horse as he tightened onto the head and flipped the heavy calf onto its side with a grunt and pinned him. He wrapped the piggin’ string around three legs and threw his hands up in the air.

  Will called time, and Jake felt confident he’d made better time than Jackson. More than that, he was so shocked he didn’t miss on the first try, his heart raced with excitement.

  He blew out a confident breath, smiling and breathing hard and fast. “Whew, that calf was heavier than I thought!”

  Jackson growled. “What was his time?” he asked through gritted teeth.

  “Two minutes, seventeen seconds! He beat your three-minute, four seconds, Jackson!” Will said with a smile. “He beat you by almost a full minute!”

  Jake couldn’t believe it; he’d beaten Jackson.

  Will congratulated Jake, the two smiling.

  Jackson was infuriated. He threw his hat down in the dirt and charged toward Jake “You hustled me!” he yelled.

  “How could I hustle you? You’re the one that challenged me!” Jake said with a laugh. “Why are you taking this so seriously? It was fun, and I learned something new! I’m happy I did it. Why can’t you be happy for me?”

  Jackson let rage fill him as he surprised Jake by taking a swing at him, clipping his nose just enough to sting.

  Jake stood back, swiping his nose with the back of his hand, and looked at the blood Jackson’s punch drew. “You know, I might not know as much as you do on this farm, but I beat you fair and square on that roping contest, and you’re a poor sport. You want a fight? I’m not afraid to fight you!”

  “I’d be happy to add a couple of black eyes to that bloody nose,” Jackson said with a chuckle.

  “You caught me off guard and got lucky, that’s all.”

  Ellie came running up. “I will not have any more fighting!”

  She had witnessed everything and at first, she figured the two were just messing around. She had hoped it was a sign they were finally getting along, but boy was she wrong.

  Ellie stepped between Jake and Jackson with her hands on her hips. “What on earth do you two think you’re doing?” she asked excitedly, still a bit out of breath.

  “Jackson challenged me to calf-roping and I beat his time. Now he’s accusing me of hustling him, when I’ve never roped a calf up until now. I have no idea why Jackson is taking it so seriously. It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “It’s a big deal when you’re a cheat and a liar!” Jackson shot back.

  “Jackson, I won’t tolerate any more bullying from you,” Ellie stated firmly. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, and you’re not welcome back. I don’t like violence one bit and won’t tolerate it on my farm.”

  “He tricked me! Why should I have to leave?” Jackson was furious.

  “I was just having fun with this. I had beginner’s luck, and there’s no reason to get so worked up.” Jake tried to remain calm, he didn’t want to make Ellie even angrier. “I didn’t trick you like you tricked me into de-tasseling the corn!”

  “I can’t help it you’re an idiot!” Jackson growled.

  “I’ll send your pay,” Ellie said firmly. “Now pack up your things and get off the property.”

  She was shaking, but she tried not to let it show.

  Jackson threw his gear down and scowled at both of them. “You can have her! She’s a tease anyway!”

  Jake could not take it anymore. He was not about to let this bully tarnish Ellie’s reputation. “That’s enough trash-talk. Maybe you want to pick on someone your own size!”

  “Are you talking to me, runt?”

  Jackson threw a punch, and Jake ducked, following through with a left hook to Jackson’s chin.

  Jackson stumbled backward, and Jake reached out a hand to catch him. Once he regained his balance, he smacked Jake’s assisting hand away.

  “I don’t need your help,” he grumbled. “Leave me alone!”

  Jake watched him walk away, feeling relief that it was over.

  He turned to Ellie. “I’m sorry about all that. I hope you’re not mad about the roping contest.”

  Jake still couldn’t believe he had successfully roped the calf and won Jackson’s challenge. He hadn’t taken it seriously but he was still pleased with himself for accomplishing another skill.

  Jackson stormed off, rubbing at his jaw and fuming. He didn’t believe Jake hadn’t cheated, and he was even angrier that Will was smiling with him and congratulating him. The worst of all of it was that Jake’s stunt had cost him his job and Ellie.

  They watched him get into his truck and squeal the tires, throwing up gravel.

  “Good riddance,” Jake said with a chuckle.

  “I agree!” Will said.

  Ellie smiled. “So, where did you learn to fight like that?”

  “I went to public school in New York, remember?”

  She giggled. “Remind me never to make you mad!”

  “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”

  He smiled and pulled Ellie into his arms, pressing a victory kiss upon her lips. He just couldn’t help himself.

  Chapter 9.

  Jake and Ellie worked in the large kitchen-garden, pi
cking some ripe vegetables for dinner. He’d worked up quite the appetite. With Jackson gone, Will had helped him get acclimated with the chore schedule, and they’d been working since sun-up.

  Ellie was impressed with Jake’s progress on the farm, and she couldn’t help but think he would make a good Amish farmer after all. They worked side-by-side picking out the best produce, both of them excited to be together after the long day apart. Jake was elated to have her by his side, her company making his hard day worth every ache he felt. He couldn’t help but find pleasure in being around her; he had fallen in love with her.

  Jake looked over at the small corner of the garden that was still bare and looked back at Ellie with a sly smile. “You know, I think we ought to put in that celery patch in the bare section of your garden.”

  Ellie giggled and looked at the ground shyly. She knew why he was saying this but she still wanted to play along since she wanted so badly to hear it from his lips. “And why is that, Jake?”

  “Well if we’re to be married in November, that doesn’t leave much time to get everything prepared for a traditional Amish wedding like you want.”

  She suppressed a smile. “Jake Fisher, what kind of proposal was that?”

  “Who said I was asking?” he teased.

  “I did!” she answered.

  “Well,” he said, pretending to think about it. “You are my boss, and I have to do what my boss says!”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe I don’t want to be your boss.”

  “Why not?” he asked, playing along.

  “Because I’d rather be your fraa—your wife.”

  He tossed a couple of cucumbers into the wicker basket with the snap beans and tomatoes. “Well, then I suppose we better get busy on that celery patch—that is if you’ll have me.”

  “Are you asking this time?” she teased.

  He pulled himself up from the dirt and rested on one knee, pulling her hand into his. He kissed the back of her hand ever so gently and smiled. “Ellie Yoder, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”