The Amish Suitor. Jo Brown Ann

need to plan another event for the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club.” She giggled. “I love getting to spend time with you. What does your brother think of it, Miriam?”

      “I haven’t said anything to him about our club.” Her embarrassment faded when she saw the uneasy expressions on the twins’ faces. “I guess you haven’t, either.”

      “It sounds as if we’re desperate to be married,” Annie murmured.

      “Or have given up.” Leanna clasped her hands in front of her. “I believe there’s a man out there who will fall in love with me.”

      “All you have to do is not be looking for him, ain’t so?” teased her twin. “Isn’t that what you say the heroines in your romance novels do?”

      Color burnished Leanna’s cheeks. “I know those are just stories, Annie. I like reading them.”

      “I do, too.” Annie’s face became almost the same shade as Leanna’s. “But if the right man comes along...” She sighed. “I don’t want to lose this friendship.”

      “Once a member of the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ Club, always a member, ain’t so?” Miriam laughed, so glad she could let her worries slide away at least for a short while. Between the kinder coming for lessons and having Eli across the road day after day, in addition to teaching him to read lips, not thinking about those hurdles was a blessing. “We could rename it—”

      “No! Don’t change its name.” Annie leaned forward with clasped hands. “Please!”

      “But if none of us has told anyone—”

      “The next one we come up with could be worse.” Annie shuddered.

      Again, they shared a big chuckle.

      “If you’d let me finish...” Miriam waited until they were listening again. “I suggest we rename our older girls’ group the Harmony Creek Spinsters’ and Newlyweds’ Club.”

      Leanna brightened. “That’s perfect.”

      “Do you have something to share, little sister?” asked Annie as she winked at Miriam. “Big plans for the fall?”

      Taking pity on the younger woman, Miriam put her arm around Leanna’s shoulder. “I thought brothers were awful about picking on their sisters, but I think Annie takes the cake.”

      “Did I hear someone say cake?” called a deep voice from the door.

      Miriam started to turn to motion to her brother to come in, but her eyes were caught by how pale Leanna’s face became.

      The young woman clamped her lips closed, but her gaze followed every motion Caleb made as he sauntered into the room and greeted them. When he spoke to Leanna, color erupted anew into her cheeks.

      Could Leanna have a crush on Caleb? And did he look and smile at Leanna a bit longer than he did Annie? Caleb had been gone in the evening a lot lately. Was he walking out with Leanna?

      Coming to her feet, Miriam knew she shouldn’t be speculating on such private matters. A couple who was seeing each other didn’t make that fact public until their intentions to marry were published two weeks before their wedding.

      “You don’t have an oven here, do you?” asked Annie.

      He shook his head. “And I miss baked goodies.” He winked at Miriam.

      Her brother didn’t like anyone outside the family to know he was a far better baker than she was. She could make tasty food, but he managed to create treats that were delicious and spectacular-looking. She understood his reluctance to share his skills with others. Few plain men spent time in the kitchen unless necessary.

      “I wanted to give you a head’s up,” Caleb continued as he snatched a cookie off the tray the twins had brought. “We’ll be ready for dinner in about a half hour. Will that work for you?”

      “Certainly.” Miriam smiled. “Do you want to eat at the school or here?”

      “We’re going to set planks on sawhorses out in the yard. That way you can serve from here. Does that work for you?”

      “Perfectly.”

      The other women nodded.

      As her brother hurried out to continue working, Miriam noticed Leanna wasn’t the only one watching. Her twin was, as well. Were they both interested in her gut-looking brother, or was something else going on?

      Miriam didn’t have time to puzzle out an answer as two more women came into the barn, carrying additional food for the midday meal. As they worked together to have the meal ready for the laborers across the road, she didn’t have a chance to think of much of anything but the tasks at hand.

      * * *

      It was an excellent beginning.

      Eli straddled the ridge board at the roof’s peak as if it were a horse. Looking at the level stretched out before him, he smiled. The bubble in the center glass of the lengthy tool was exactly in the middle. He held his right thumb up. Those who’d been working on the school cheered.

      Handing the level to LaVon Schmelley, who’d moved into the hollow from Pennsylvania a month or so before Eli and his nephew arrived, Eli reached for his hammer as he waited for the first sheet of plywood to be slid toward him.

      LaVon squinted through his gold-rimmed glasses as he handed off the level to someone standing on the ground and guided the large sheet into place. Eli nailed the top into place with an air-powered nail gun. LaVon used a regular hammer on the bottom.

      The other man grinned and said something Eli didn’t catch; LaVon pointed to the ground. Eli looked down.

      Caleb and Jeremiah Stoltzfus, whose farms shared a common border, motioned toward them. Eli couldn’t guess what they were trying to communicate. When LaVon edged to the ladder while the other men put aside their tools and walked across the road, Eli guessed it was time to eat.

      His stomach rumbled at the thought and tightened with anxiety. He hesitated while the men began lifting plywood on top of sawhorses. From where he sat, he could see Miriam working with a half dozen other women to arrange chairs around the makeshift tables.

      He groaned, wishing he had some excuse not to join the communal meal. Unlike on church Sundays, he couldn’t slip away. He was needed to oversee the afternoon’s work. A quick glance at the ground warned he couldn’t use needing to get more supplies as an excuse for why he couldn’t sit with the rest of the workers while they ate.

      Taking a deep breath, he climbed down. He took his time switching off the nail gun and the air compressor. Without its low rumble, he caught staccato hints of voices and laughter. No specific words, but he guessed the atmosphere was casual and cordial. He wished he could feel that way, too.

      Pausing to wash his hands at the hand pump set between the barn and the dilapidated house, Eli walked to where a generous assortment of food was arranged on planks that would be used on the school’s roof and walls. Drawing in a deep breath of the aromas, he helped himself to a variety of casseroles, a couple rolls and apple butter. Conversation buzzed like a swarm of maddened bees, and he picked out a few words. Enough to let him know most of the discussion was about the progress on the school.

      He smiled. That he could talk about, though he wished Kyle was there. His nephew was gut about clueing him in to the specifics of anyone’s comment.

      Taking a seat at the end of one makeshift table, he said silent grace before digging into his food. It was as tasty as it smelled. He’d learned that bending over his plate and appearing completely focused on his meal kept others from trying to draw him into the conversation.

      He couldn’t keep himself from looking at where Miriam sat at a nearby “table.” She was chatting with her friends, and they laughed with an ease that suggested they’d known each other their whole lives. He remembered when it’d been simple to be around people and enjoy their company, but that seemed as