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The Amish Nanny
Patricia Davids
A Family In NeedA reclusive Amish logger, Ethan Gingerich is more comfortable around his draft horses than the orphaned niece and nephews he's taken in. Yet he's determined to provide the children with a good, loving home. The little ones, including a defiant eight-year-old, need a proper nanny. But when Ethan hires shy Amishwoman Clara Barkman, he never expects her temporary position to have such a lasting hold on all of them. Now this man of few words must convince Clara she's found her forever home and family.Brides of Amish Country: Finding true love in the land of the Plain People.
A Family In Need
A reclusive Amish logger, Ethan Gingerich is more comfortable around his draft horses than the orphaned niece and nephews he’s taken in. Yet he’s determined to provide the children with a good, loving home. The little ones, including a defiant eight-year-old, need a proper nanny. But when Ethan hires shy Amishwoman Clara Barkman, he never expects her temporary position to have such a lasting hold on all of them. Now this man of few words must convince Clara she’s found her forever home and family.
Brides of Amish Country: Finding true love in the land of the Plain People.
“It’s been a good week for me, Clara,” Ethan said.
Clara blushed. “For me, too.”
“If I had known how much easier my life would be with a nanny I would have hired one weeks ago.”
A nanny. Any nanny. Not specially Clara Barkman. She couldn’t suppress the small twinge his words caused, but she quickly told herself it didn’t matter. She wasn’t seeking praise. He was right. Another woman could have done the job as well as she. It was prideful to think otherwise. If she was hired as the new teacher, another woman would take her place with this family.
No one mentioned that Clara might become too attached to the family. She needed to keep her emotions in check. She was the nanny, nothing more.
“Is everything all right, Clara?” Ethan was watching her closely.
“Of course,” she managed to say.
Ethan was slowly finding his way to becoming a parent, and she was glad for him. He would be a good father if he just gave himself a chance. He needed someone to believe in him.
PATRICIA DAVIDS
After thirty-five years as a nurse, Pat hung up her stethoscope to become a full-time writer. She enjoys spending her new free time visiting her grandchildren, doing some long-overdue yard work and traveling to research her story locations. She resides in Wichita, Kansas. Pat always enjoys hearing from her readers. You can visit her online at www.patriciadavids.com (http://www.patriciadavids.com).
The Amish Nanny
Patricia Davids
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her price is far above rubies.
—Proverbs 31:10
The book is lovingly dedicated to teachers everywhere.
The hardest job in the world brings forth
the greatest rewards.
Contents
Cover (#u41dc9867-3179-57d1-a276-03adf14499d8)
Back Cover Text (#u8fb17d3a-fa0c-556c-9270-ab1c7a75f79b)
Introduction (#u7cbde12a-b945-5727-a74a-b497a619cbf1)
About the Author (#u3a2944a6-f6a3-5a61-8012-c03418c35b75)
Title Page (#uc9b24656-4bb8-544b-bb11-5ae16bee6a57)
Bible Verse (#u9cf5c363-8ed2-52be-ade2-5f50befe7396)
Dedication (#ud65b234a-ec50-5fe5-bbdf-567e4f189a48)
Chapter One (#ulink_cbee9228-73a7-5841-9995-1b4b441d1172)
Chapter Two (#ulink_9ab3b233-26ba-5573-a204-df6a50d3a186)
Chapter Three (#ulink_aae1c187-eac8-5e35-9d92-7d0030378c09)
Chapter Four (#ulink_9f6839dc-2e5e-5d89-b1dd-9fb32b9b2225)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Questions for Discussion (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_1e0a8e2b-2976-59d0-bdf0-27ff8845a646)
Ethan Gingerich led his draft horses out of their stalls and started to slide open the large door of his barn, but he stopped when he saw two irate women standing just outside. At second glance, only the one gripping his nephew Micah’s collar looked irate. It was Faith Lapp, his neighbor’s wife. He didn’t recognize the pretty young woman standing behind Faith. She looked scared. Her bright blue eyes were wide with apprehension.
Faith pointed to the child in her grasp. “Ethan Gingerich, do you know what your boy has done?”
He’d never seen the mild-mannered woman with such fire in her eyes. And what was that horrible smell? It seemed to be coming from his nephew. “I reckon I’d be the one holding him by the collar if I knew. What did you do this time, sohn?”
Micah glared at him. “I’m not your son.”
“That’s neither here nor there. You did something to upset Mrs. Lapp. What was it?”
Micah looked down at his bare toes. “Nothing.”
Faith let go of his shirt and gestured toward the woman standing with her. “This is my friend Clara Barkman. Clara saw him jump out of a tree onto one of my alpacas.”
Ethan flinched. He’d heard stories about the way Faith Lapp valued her strange animals. She treated them almost like family. How much would an alpaca cost if he had to replace one? He could barely afford to feed the family and his horses as it was. He hadn’t been able to go logging in weeks. Not since his brother’s children had come to live with him over a month ago. No cut timber to sell meant zero income.
Micah raked his bare toes through the dirt. “I just wanted to ride one. I didn’t mean any harm.”
Faith scowled at him. “They’re very delicate animals. They can’t carry a rider bigger than a two-year-old. Had you asked permission to ride one of them, I would have told you that. You could have seriously injured Myrtle.”
“Or you might have been injured yourself,” Clara added in a small voice.
He liked that she was thinking of the child. The recent deaths of his brother and sister-in-law had left him in charge of their three small children. He gazed at Micah’s belligerent face. They were still finding their way with each other. Micah was having a much harder time than his younger brother and sister.
The boy was only eight, but he wasn’t too young to learn responsibility and respect. “Micah will work off any damages that are owed, Mrs. Lapp. Go up to the house, boy. We’ll talk about this later.”
Micah’s chin came up. “I’m not scared of you.”
Ethan managed to keep a stern face, but it was difficult. Micah was so much like his father had been at that age. Always ready to scrap with his bigger, older brother. Ethan summoned a forbidding tone. “You should be. Don’t make me tell you twice. Go!”
Micah’s defiance crumbled. He bolted toward the house. The fire in Faith Lapp’s eyes cooled as she watched the boy race up the front porch steps. Her expression turned to one of sympathy when she looked back at Ethan. “I know how troubled a boy can be when he has lost his parents as Micah has. It was the same with my nephew when Kyle first came to me. It takes time, and it takes attention to help them recover.”
Why did women always think he needed a lecture on how to manage the children? He’d already had plenty of that from his aunts. Was he ever to have any peace? “I’ll handle Micah in my own way. Is there anything else?”
He shoved the barn door wide open and led his team of draft horses out. Faith moved aside, but Clara shrieked and threw up her hands as she scurried backward, almost falling in her haste. The horses snorted and tossed their heads, jerking him off the ground for an instant. Terror-stricken, Clara covered her face with her hands. What was wrong with her?
He calmed his animals. “Easy, boys, easy.”
Faith wrapped her arm around Clara’s shoulders and moved her to the side. “Clara is frightened by large horses. Would you take them away, please, Mr. Gingerich?”
“An Amish woman who is afraid of horses?” He would have laughed at the idea, but the proof of it was cowering before him.
“Only big ones,” Clara admitted breathlessly. She had her eyes scrunched shut.
“These are big,” he acknowledged as he led them past the women to the nearby pasture gate. He owned two teams of massive Belgians, among the largest of all draft horse breeds. They were his most prized possessions. He loved their strength and their power, their placid nature and their willingness to work as hard as he asked without flagging. How could anyone be afraid of such gentle giants?
When he turned them loose in the pasture, Fred and Dutch took off at a thundering gallop, bucking like colts and nipping playfully at each other. He never grew tired of watching the matching sorrels with their sleek red-brown coats and blond manes and tails. They were beautiful to behold.
But he had more than his horses to look after now. He had three kinder to care for. One of them was bent on getting himself into trouble at every turn. Ethan came back to stand by Faith. Now that the horses were gone, Clara had her eyes open. It was easy to see she was embarrassed by her reaction. Her cheeks were bright red. Her gaze was focused on her hands clasped tightly in front of her. “I’m sorry I made a fuss. I wasn’t expecting to see them.”
He took pity on her. “My sister-in-law would shriek at the sight of the tiniest spider in the house. Everyone is afraid of something.”
Clara gave him a tremulous smile, a reward for his kindness. “My father’s team of draft horses bolted and ran over me when I was six.”
“Were you badly hurt?” he asked.
The bright color was fading from her cheeks. “Nee, their big feet missed me by the grace of God.”
“It’s not so surprising. My teams pay close attention to where they put their hooves. They don’t like to be tripped up. But you didn’t come to talk about horses. What kind of damages do I owe for the injury to your animal, Mrs. Lapp?”
“Myrtle seems to be all right. She had a bad fright more than anything. She may be skittish for a few days, but I think she’ll recover.
“You let me know if she starts ailing. I’ll send Micah to work for you for the next three days, if that’s agreeable.”
“If you are sure you don’t need him here.”
“I can spare him for the mornings. Is that acceptable?”
Faith nodded. “Ja, it is. Perhaps if he learns more about alpacas, he’ll be careful around them. I’m afraid Myrtle spit on him. It will take a few days of airing for the smell to get out of his clothes.”
“Serves him right. I’ll see that he’s punished for what he did.”
Clara’s gaze snapped up and locked with his for an instant before she looked down again. “He’s only a little boy.”
“He’s old enough to know better. I don’t tolerate careless or wild behavior around my animals. He knows that. If there’s nothing else, I’ve got two more horses that need to go out to pasture. They’re big ones, too,” he added.
Clara flinched at his remark. He regretted sounding short-tempered, but before he could form some kind of apology, the women turned and walked away.
His eyes stayed on the gently swaying figure of Clara as she and Faith went down the lane. Clara Barkman. He wasn’t familiar with the name. Was she a local woman? He didn’t attend the same church group as his neighbors, so he hadn’t seen her before.
She stopped and glanced back for a moment. He raised a hand to wave. She suddenly rushed to catch up with Faith. He watched until they rounded the bend in the road, but she didn’t look back again. She was a pretty woman. Was she married?
He shoved aside the thought. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t interested in her or any woman. Clara might be pretty, but a pretty face didn’t mean much. He had loved one beautiful woman beyond all reason. She said that she loved him, too, but she had married another man. A man he had introduced her to... His best friend. Their betrayal of his trust cut deep. He didn’t know if it would ever heal although he tried his best to forgive them.
Jenny’s beautiful face hid a selfish nature. She decided not to settle for a poor fellow with only his horses and his heart to offer her. She wanted a secure life. She found it with a man who owned a big house and his own factory. An Englisch man. That she had to turn her back on her Amish faith hadn’t deterred her any more than it had kept his mother from leaving.
Ethan rubbed his hand over his chest, but it didn’t lessen the ache those memories caused.
He returned to the barn and brought Rosie and Golda out. After checking them over, he turned them loose in the pasture, too. Golda took off at a gallop to catch up with the boys, but pregnant Rosie buried her nose in the long grass and began tearing up mouthfuls near his feet. He patted her sleek shoulder. “Eat good, little mudder. I need a strong, healthy hutsh from you.”
Rosie and her colt would be the foundation of his business as a draft horse breeder and trainer. Up until now, he’d made a living by logging, but with the addition of the children in his life, he needed a way to earn a living that didn’t take him away from home for much of the fall and early winter. It was his new plan for the future, but he knew God had a way of changing a man’s plans without warning.
He settled his hat lower on his brow as he glanced toward the house, where Micah was waiting for him. He’d never expected to raise his niece and nephews. He drew comfort from knowing he was doing what his brother would have wanted, but he hadn’t realized how hard it would be. For everyone.
What could he say to make Micah understand he was traveling down the wrong path? Ethan looked up at the cloudless blue sky. “God, I don’t know why You needed my brother and his wife with You, but we sure do miss them. If You want me to look after their kinder, You had better show me the way to make it work, Lord, because right now I’m lost.”
