The Amish Nanny's Sweetheart. Jan Drexler

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СКАЧАТЬ to admit that he knew more now than he had that first evening. At breakfast, Verna had asked what he wanted on his toast, and he had been able to ask for and get apple butter. A few days ago, he thought he had asked for apple butter, but Verna had given him a dish of applesauce.

      Was his Dutch good enough to ask Judith to go with him to the next Singing?

      “Are you ready to go?” Verna asked as she came back to the kitchen, setting her bonnet in place. She wore her thick black cape and her heavy winter shoes.

      Guy missed some of the words in her question, but caught the meaning. “Ja, for sure.”

      Still munching on his donut, he took the heavy basket in his other hand and followed her out of the house and down the lane toward the road.

      “Even with that sharp north wind, you can tell spring is coming,” Verna said, lifting her face toward the sunshine.

      “It smells...” Guy struggled to come up with the word he wanted. It was one of the new ones on the vocabulary list Judith had given him the night before. He made a guess. “Frish?”

      “Ja, fresh.” Verna took a deep breath. She pulled her cape closer around her and hurried down the lane. “But chilly.”

      Stuffing the last bite of the donut into his mouth, Guy pulled his chin down into his coat and followed her.

      Buggies were coming from both directions on the road, all heading toward the Beacheys’ house.

      “This is the first quilting at Annie’s since the twins were born,” Verna said as he caught up with her. “Everyone is coming to see the babies, so there will be a crowd.” She lifted her hand and waved to a buggy full of women coming from the north. “There is Annie’s sister Esther with the ladies from Shipshewana. Judith will be glad to see them.”

      Guy walked behind Verna as she headed toward the door and followed her in, holding his hat in his hand. As he set the basket on the kitchen table, he searched for Judith in the crowd of women. When he finally found her, she gave him a quick wave and headed in his direction.

      She said something, but he couldn’t catch the words. He shook his head and pointed to his ears, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute as he realized he was the only man in the entire house.

      Judith grabbed his sleeve and led him out to the washing porch. It was sheltered from the breeze but not heated.

      She shivered. “You can’t stay here.”

      “Ja, I know.” He licked his lips. “I wanted to ask you if—” Now that it came to it, he found his knees shaking. “If I could take you to the Singing on Sunday night. I don’t have a courting buggy, but we could walk. It’s only at Deacon Beachey’s, in the next mile.” He cringed as his sentence drifted from Dutch to English.

      Judith’s face took on a slight frown. “I will walk there with you, but this doesn’t mean we’re going together.”

      Guy gave up on the Dutch. “You mean, it isn’t a date.”

      “That’s right. I’m not ready to keep company with anyone, but I’ll be glad to walk with you. As a friend.” She put her hand on the doorknob, ready to join the others in the kitchen. “Matthew is out in the barn. I’m sure he’d like some manly company today.”

      “Yeah.” Guy put his hat back on.

      Judith opened the door, disappearing into the sea of Kapps, and anything he might have said was lost in the noise.

      He stood back to let another group of women into the house, then he headed toward the barn. He thought he had been clear, that he wanted to take Judith to the Singing, but had he said it wrong? Or maybe he had misunderstood their evenings together when he thought she liked him. Maybe Matthew could solve the puzzle.

      Guy found Matthew in the barn loft, forking clean straw down into the horses’ stalls. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called up to him. “Hello!”

      Matthew peered over the edge of the loft. “Guy. Good to see you. I’ll be down in a minute.”

      Three more clumps of straw drifted down into the stalls, then Matthew came down the ladder and shook Guy’s hand.

      “What brings you here today?”

      Guy grimaced, trying to catch Matthew’s words. It seemed that everyone was bent on making sure he learned the Penn Dutch.

      “I carried a basket over for Verna.” He grinned as a phrase came to him. “The house is packed with chickens.”

      Matthew rubbed his chin. “Chickens?”

      “Chickens. Ja. A house of chickens. Talking.”

      “I see. You mean it’s a hen party in the house.”

      Guy shook his head, giving up. He switched to English. “Yeah, that’s what I mean. A hen party.”

      “You’re right about that.” Matthew sat on a bench and motioned for Guy to join him. “How are the Deitsch lessons coming?”

      “I don’t know if I’m ever going to learn this.” Guy rubbed at a stain on his trousers with his thumb. “It’s too hard, and I don’t think I’m smart enough.”

      “Du bischt schmaert.” Matthew grinned at him. “You are smart. Judith says you’re picking it up quickly.”

      “But the words keep getting mixed up in my head. Like the chicken-house thing. Why couldn’t I remember to say it right?”

      Matthew shrugged. “Learning a new language is hard.”

      “But all of you speak two languages. Three, if you count the German the ministers use for Sunday preaching.”

      “We learned to speak Deitsch from birth. Hoch Deutsch, High German, isn’t much different, and we’ve heard that from when we were babies, too. And we learn Englisch when we go to school, when we’re still young. If I was trying to learn, say, French or something, I’d have a hard time, too.”

      “Maybe.” But Guy doubted that Matthew would have trouble learning anything if he put his mind to it. “I have another question for you, though.”

      Matthew took off his hat, running his fingers through his hair. “Sure. What is it?”

      “Why doesn’t Judith want me to take her to the Singing next week?”

      “Did she say she wouldn’t go with you?”

      “She said she’d walk with me, but not like if we were going together.”

      “You mean, she doesn’t want to be more than friends.”

      Guy nodded. “I’m not sure she even wants to be friends.”

      “She does, but she’s still young. She doesn’t want to be tied down, yet.”

      “Going to the Singing with me won’t tie her down.”

      Matthew stood, clapping Guy on the shoulder. “You СКАЧАТЬ