Noah's Sweetheart. Rebecca Kertz

like to see the schuulhaus.”

      “It is not far,” Nancy said. “It’s just off our property and down the road a little ways between our land and the farm belonging to Noah’s family.”

      “Charlotte,” Aunt Mae said, “you can go with them. Nancy can finish these pies on her own.”

      “Are you sure you do not want us to stay and finish?” Rachel asked.

      Aunt Mae smiled. “We will be fine. Go and see where you’ll be spending a lot of your time soon.”

      Rachel grinned. “I will enjoy this.” To Noah, she said, “I will be with you in a minute. Just let me get cleaned up.”

      The relief he felt when she agreed to come made Noah realize just how eager he was to show her the schuul.

      Charlotte and Rachel went upstairs to change their aprons and wash their hands and faces of baking dust. Rachel was the first one downstairs and out the door.

      When she stepped outside, she noticed the buggy parked in the yard. It was an enclosed family buggy with a gray roof. Seeing it, she sighed with relief. Two mishaps in small open buggies had made her leery of riding in one again. She and Noah were alone, waiting for Charlotte to join them.

      She grinned at Noah. “Nice carriage.”

      Noah grinned back, pleased by her response. “I thought after that little accident yesterday that you’d prefer riding in this.” Her smile made him feel good inside.

      “Danki,” she said.

      Charlotte soon appeared, and she climbed into the front seat next to Noah, while Rachel climbed into the back.

      “And I hitched old Janey. She’s twenty-five years old and you couldn’t get her out of a trot if you tried.” Noah clicked his tongue, slapped the reins, and the carriage took off down the dirt lane toward the main road.

      Rachel sat behind Noah, aware of his straw-brimmed hat, his sandy-brown hair cut in the bowl-cap style that all the Old Order Amish men wore.

      Charlotte turned around to smile at her. “I think you will like the schoolhouse. Samuel Lapp and his sons built a new one, large enough for all of the school-aged children in our church district. The Lapp men are good carpenters. Noah is the best, after his vadder.”

      “How many brothers do you have, Noah?” Rachel asked.

      “Six,” he said with his eyes still on the road. They had come to the end of the lane and he steered the buggy left onto the paved street. “Jedidiah is the eldest, then I am next.” He turned his head to flash her a quick smile before his gaze returned to the road.

      “The Samuel Lapps include Samuel’s seven sons and one daughter,” Charlotte said. “Hannah is only six months old.”

      “You will meet them all on Sunday,” Noah said. “It’s visiting Sunday, and some of our friends will meet at our family farm.”

      The clip-clop of the horse’s hooves was the only sound in the buggy for a time, allowing Rachel to digest what she had learned. Noah pulled the carriage off the blacktop and onto a dirt drive that ran next to a white building with a front porch.

      “The schuulhaus,” Charlotte announced.

      Charlotte got out on the right side of the vehicle. Noah climbed down and offered his hand to Rachel. “Welcome to your new schuul.”

      Conscious of Noah’s relationship with Charlotte, Rachel smiled as she ignored his hand and stepped out of the buggy on her own. She studied the building with excitement. This was her school! Soon, it would be filled with her students!

      “It is very nice,” she said sincerely. “The nicest schuulhaus I’ve ever seen.”

      Noah looked pleased. “Let’s go inside.”

      They heard hammering as they approached. “Jedidiah or Dat is finishing up,” Noah said.

      The door swung in easily, and Rachel and Charlotte followed Noah inside. An older man with hammer in hand was bent low over a floorboard. “Dat,” Noah greeted.

      “Noah, you have brought our new schoolteacher.”

      “Ja, this is Rachel Hostetler,” Noah introduced. “Rachel, my vadder—Samuel Lapp.”

      Rachel nodded. “It is nice to meet you. You have done a gut job with this school. I am happy to see it.”

      Samuel’s eyes sparkled in a face that was an older version of his son Noah’s, except for the beard that edged his chin. As in Rachel’s Ohio Amish community, married men wore beards along their chins, but not on their upper lips. “Come in. Come in and look about. There is much for you to see.”

      The interior of the one-room schoolhouse was white and smelled of fresh paint and newly varnished wood. Someone had been thoughtful enough to hang posters of the alphabet printed on lines like those on primary writing paper. There were also numbers from one to ten. Beside the schoolroom door, there were built-in glass-fronted cabinets. The community or school board had been kind enough to fill the shelves with books.

      Noah and Charlotte talked with Samuel while Rachel wandered about, studying her surroundings.

      What captured her heart the most were the rows of student desks—five rows of eight, all newly crafted, stained and varnished and ready for use. Her heart gave a little leap as Rachel saw the teacher’s desk at the front of the class. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, made with care. She approached the desk and ran her fingers over the smooth, varnished surface.

      “You like the desk?” Noah asked, suddenly beside her.

      Rachel had sensed him instantly. She glanced over at him and nodded. “It is a wonderful desk.” Her gaze flashed briefly to the other side of the room and Charlotte, who was grinning at something Noah’s father had said. Her attention returned to Noah standing next to her. “It is beautiful.”

      “I’m glad you like it. I made it.”

      “You did?” She was impressed. “You are not only a carpenter but a cabinetmaker as well?”

      Noah shrugged, downplaying his enjoyment of creating something wonderful from a few blocks of wood, of running his fingers over the smooth, polished surface as he eyed the finished product. “I like making furniture. My grossdaddi makes wonderful furniture. Many come from miles around to buy his chairs and tables.”

      “A fine craft he has—as do you.” She awarded him a smile. “I will enjoy the desk.”

      Noah felt a rush of pleasure. He didn’t know what it was about Rachel, but he was feeling things he’d never felt before. He became aware of a sudden desire to confide in her, to tell her about his dream of opening his own furniture shop someday. “Rachel—” he began, but stopped at Charlotte’s approach.

      “Do you like the new school?” Charlotte asked.

      “Ja. It will be a good place to teach the children.” She eyed the number of desks. “Are there that many children who will attend school?”

      Charlotte chuckled. “Not yet, but the bishop wanted to make sure that there would be room for more in the future.”

      Rachel felt a sigh of relief. “There are forty desks.”

      “Ja, but only thirty-one children,” Charlotte said and then laughed when she saw her cousin’s astonished expression.

      “It is a good thing we have the room, then,” Rachel agreed. Thirty-one children! It was going to be an interesting school year, she thought.

      “Rachel,” Noah said. “Let us show you where your house will be.”

      She turned to Noah’s father. “It is a wonderful schuulhaus, Samuel. I appreciate all that you and your sons have done.”

      Samuel graciously accepted Rachel’s thanks. “I will see you on Sunday, Rachel,