His Suitable Amish Wife. Rebecca Kertz

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СКАЧАТЬ away without a word, hoping that he wouldn’t follow. She didn’t want to get into a discussion with him when he was that high off the ground, and she didn’t want him to send her away before she could finish cleaning his house.

      Heart thudding, she retrieved her cleaning tools and approached the side door of the house. To her surprise, the door opened, and Sarah waited with a smile and warmth in her expression. There was no sign of Ethan.

      “You came back!”

      “I said I would.”

      Sarah nodded. “I know you clean houses for a living and that you have other work that needs to get done. I don’t expect you to ignore it to help us.”

      “Not to worry. The family I was going to clean for this morning rescheduled. Even if I have to work, Sarah, I’ll clean for you. I may have to come later in the day, but I will come,” Ellie said softly. “I always keep my word, and I want to help.”

      Sarah blinked back tears. “Danki,” she whispered. She followed as Ellie set her supply tote on the bench behind their dining table. “I can’t believe how good the great room looks after you scrubbed the walls,” the girl said. “Reuben wants to paint every room in the house, but there is so much else to do, he had to decide what needed to be done most urgently.”

      “Like the roof.” Ellie sorted through her supplies. “That makes sense. You never know when it will rain. Water damage is hard to fix.” She pulled out a foaming spray, a roll of paper towels and window cleaner. “Your bruder knows what he is doing.”

      “I know.” The girl sighed. “I wish I could do more for him. He hasn’t been the same since Susanna died.”

      “I’m sorry. It must be hard for him having a son so young.”

      “’Tis. But at least I can be there for Ethan.”

      “Ja, but what about your plans?”

      “I’m fine. Once Reuben finds someone to care for Ethan, or if he chooses to marry again, then I’ll join my eldre in Ohio.”

      Ellie studied her with warmth and compassion. “You haven’t been out of school long.”

      “I finished eighth grade last session.”

      She smiled. “You’re a gut sister, Sarah.”

      The girl shrugged. “He’s family. You do what you can for family and friends.”

      “Wise as well as compassionate,” Ellie murmured with a smile. “I’m going to tackle the bathroom.” There was no sign of Ethan. She looked around, wondering if someone had taken the baby to help out. “Where’s your nephew?”

      “Sleeping.” Sarah grinned. “Hard to believe given the noise Reuben is making, but he’s asleep in the other room. Last night Reuben made him a large cradle for the great room. I was able to feed him, then rock him to sleep.”

      “Then you’d better enjoy the moment. I’d say peace and quiet, but clearly you don’t have that,” Ellie said drily as she glanced toward the ceiling.

      The teenager laughed. “That I don’t.”

      When she entered the bathroom, she was surprised to see that it was amazingly clean.

      Ellie sought out Sarah. “Who cleaned in here?”

      “Reuben,” the girl said. “My bruder likes a clean haus, which is why this—” she gestured all around her “—upsets and embarrasses him.”

      “I can help. He has enough to do.” She was actually shocked that the man had done work that most of the men in their Amish community wouldn’t touch because they considered it women’s work. She must have spoken her thoughts aloud, because Sarah answered her.

      “Reuben helped Susanna during her pregnancy. He doesn’t mind doing women’s work.”

      “An unusual man,” she murmured beneath her breath. Ellie saw that Sarah looked much better today, with bright eyes, clean clothes and hair rolled and pulled back neatly into the style of Amish women. Reuben, she realized with an odd pang in the center of her chest, cared about his sister’s well-being and probably made time for chores so Sarah wouldn’t be overworked.

      She swallowed hard. She didn’t want to think well of him. Her sister Meg had mooned over him for a long time after she met him at a youth singing one summer a few years back. Reuben had belonged to another church district and hadn’t come back to visit until nearly two years later. Then he’d finally shown an interest in her sister. He’d offered to take Meg home from the singing and she’d agreed. It had been a rainy night as Reuben steered his buggy along a back road as he drove her home. A speeding car had rounded a bend, forcing his buggy off the road, down an incline and into a creek. Reuben and Meg had ended up in the hospital; Meg’s injuries were a concussion and a severely fractured leg. Reuben had suffered a worse concussion that had affected his memory of the crash.

      Reuben’s attention toward Meg before and after the crash had been caring and courteous. But Meg had realized early on that she’d fixated on him because she’d been trying to forget her feelings for Peter Zook. She’d continued to see Reuben, feeling as if she owed him after he’d saved her life, but then she realized that she couldn’t allow Reuben to court her when she was in love with Peter. After Peter and Meg discovered they were meant for each other, her sister had realized that it was Peter, not Reuben, who had rescued Meg from the creek. Despite his foggy memory of that night, Reuben had known he couldn’t swim and probably hadn’t saved her. But when everyone had told him he had, he’d believed it because he’d wanted it to be true.

      Once Meg ended her relationship with him, Reuben had no choice but to let her go.

      Reuben as he’d looked years ago and the way he appeared now suggested he had suffered in the intervening years. Ellie didn’t want to think about Reuben or his suffering. She forced him from her mind as she went upstairs to find the other bathroom as clean as the one on the first floor. She entered a bedroom where she began to dust furniture. Once finished, she picked up a broom, dust cloth and lemon polish, then left the room. And found herself blocked by Reuben.

      She gasped. His imposing nearness stole her breath. She eyed him warily as he stood before her with perspiration staining his shirt and beading on his forehead. He smelled like man and hard work, and the scent wasn’t unpleasant. “Reuben! You frightened me.”

      He didn’t smile. Instead he narrowed his gaze and stared at her. “I thought I told you that I didn’t need you.” His lips firmed. “The haus is already clean.”

      “You cleaned the bathrooms.”

      He nodded. “And the rest of the haus.”

      “I’ll just go over the bedrooms again lightly so you won’t have to worry about them for a few days.”

      “Elizabeth,” he began, and she jerked at the use of her proper name.

      “Reuben, please,” she pleaded, wondering why she was trying so hard. “Just let me do the work. It won’t take up much time and then I’ll be out of your hair and gone.” She bit her lip. “And ’tis Ellie.”

      She was shocked to СКАЧАТЬ