An Unusual Amish Winter Match by Vannetta Chapman

Author:Vannetta Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-07-19T14:24:57+00:00

Chapter Ten

On Saturday at five minutes until noon, Ethan found himself sitting at JoJo’s Pretzels. Taped to the front of the table where he was sitting was a sign that read Amish for the Humane Treatment of Auction Animals. Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately—no one had shown up for Ada’s meeting yet.

Then a gray-haired woman walked over to the table. “Mind if I sit?”

“Um, sure. I guess. Ya.”

When he didn’t say anything else, she glanced at her watch. “I guess we’re it.”

“We’re it?”

She pointed to the poster.

“Oh. You’re here for the meeting!”

“Indeed.”

Ethan took a big breath. Ada had gone over and over what he was supposed to say. He could do this.

“My name is Sally Drummond.” She waited, and he finally realized he was supposed to introduce himself.

“I’m Ethan. Ethan King.”

She smiled as if she’d known all along that he was capable of remembering his own name, and then she tapped the table. “I think I’ll grab a pretzel and a coffee. Can I get you anything?”

“Nein. I’m gut.” He’d already consumed two cups of strong coffee and a cinnamon pretzel. The combination of sugar and caffeine was making him a bit nauseous.

“Right back, then, and you can tell me all about your organization.”

He wanted to shout that it wasn’t his organization at all, but that seemed inappropriate as she walked away. So, instead, he sat there and fervently hoped no one else would show up. He didn’t like speaking to crowds. On the other hand, he rather hoped someone would show up, because he did not look forward to telling Ada that her organizational meeting had been a bust.

When Sally Drummond returned, Ethan again became a bit tongue-tied. Rather than be surprised by that, Sally sipped her coffee and waited.

“This isn’t my organization,” he finally blurted out.

“Okay.”

“It’s my friend’s...” Was Ada his friend? Why had he kissed her? And what was he going to be about her living in his house?

“Your friend is...”

“Ada. Ada Yoder.”

Sally seemed to be considering that as she sipped her coffee. Finally, she asked, “Is she a young Amish girl? Blond hair, blue eyes, lots of energy?”

“Ya. That would be Ada.”

“I think she picked up a flyer from our table—the SPCA table.”

“SPCA?”

“Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We had an information booth set up during the music festival in the park.”

“Maybe so. She did go to that.”

“Okay. So where is Ada today?” Sally had chosen a whole-wheat pretzel and proceeded to cover it with Amish-made natural peanut butter. Satisfied that she had it exactly as she liked, Sally broke off a piece of her pretzel, chewed a moment, then washed it down with coffee. Obviously, she was waiting for Ethan to untie his tongue.

“Ada’s moving today.”

“Moving?” Sally’s eyebrows arched. “Funny time to start a new organization.”

“Oh, she’s not moving far. See...her schweschder Bethany is married to my bruder Aaron. She’s expecting—”

“Bethany is?”

“Right, and she’s...well, she’s having trouble carrying the baby. Ada is moving into our place so someone can be there with Bethany all the time.

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