The Amish Christmas Gift by Laura V. Hilton

Author:Laura V. Hilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2020-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Friday evening when Levi returned home from work finishing the bad plumbing job, the yard and pasture were full of buggies.

What? Why? What had Elsie done now? This on top of the website issue seemed too much.

Levi took his hat off to eliminate the shadows it created and rubbed his tired eyes, then looked again. There were definitely dozens of buggies there. Had she invited all the youngies over? Wait. She had. A taffy pull so Abigail could spend time with Noah.

Levi exhaled heavily. It was amazing how quickly Elsie and Noah got the word out about the taffy pull. Abigail was probably over-the-moon excited. And all these people were there before the supper hour, which meant two things: They brought food for snacks or supper, and more people would likely be coming when they got off work or finished chores.

It also meant he’d be hidden in the barn. Working. Freezing because his space heaters didn’t put off much heat. Hiding from all these people and the desperate-to-be-married females of the group who thought he was fair game. And starving just thinking about all the food.

On cue, his stomach rumbled.

He steeled himself and drove the buggy toward the open barn doors. Open! He was certain they were shut when he’d left in the morning, which meant someone or more than one someone was lurking in the barn—in Levi’s personal space. He’d shoo them out in short order. He parked the buggy and was unhitching Trouble when George tapped his way into the area from somewhere. Hopefully, he hadn’t been in Levi’s workshop messing with tools and the toys.

“Horses and buggies outside,” George bellowed.

“I live here,” Levi shouted back. It strained his vocal cords. He wasn’t used to raising his voice.

George halted, frowned, and scrutinized Levi, then apparently decided he was telling the truth. “Okay. Take care of the horse then get to the house. No one is supposed to be out here. Including you. Abigail’s orders.” Everything was said at top volume.

Levi frowned. There was notepaper in his shop, but it would take too much yelling to try to make George understand that Levi needed paper to explain why he needed to be in the barn. Maybe. He pointed toward his workshop. “Deadline,” he shouted, unintentionally, then cringed.

George’s face screwed up. “Dead? Who’s dead?”

“Paper,” Levi yelled.

“The paper’s dead?” George loudly asked. He looked at Levi as if he wondered whether Levi was mentally off.

Why was George there guarding the barn anyway? Did someone seriously ask him to chaperone? Although if the elderly man did catch someone making out in the barn, all the shouting would ruin the mood. And if it didn’t, one good whack from that very sturdy walking stick would do the trick.

Something to keep in mind on the off chance he was alone with peppermint-scented Elsie.

Although, maybe she had a date. A very attentive date.

Oh, that thought hurt. But it was a very real possibility.

Levi slowly finished unhitching and taking care of Trouble while George the chaperone stood guard; then he trudged toward the house.

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