The Amish Bachelor's Choice. Jocelyn McClay

summon the energy to urge the mare to go any faster. She was in no hurry to get home to an empty house where the only sounds other than what she created were cracks and groans as the old structure settled.

      Jacob, Isaac, Nathaniel and Benjamin had been encouraged by the short visit with the new owner. The reins dropped farther into her lap as Ruth sighed. Malachi Schrock. She supposed she should start thinking of him by his name and not as “the new owner.” He wouldn’t always be the new owner. One day he’d just be “the owner.”

      And she’d be gone.

      A black-and-white blur, accompanied by energetic yapping, darted into the road. Bess shied away from it, causing Ruth to smack herself in the chin as she jerked the reins up to regain control. Guiding an agitated Bess into a nearby field lane, she set the brake. Heart pounding, Ruth looked around to identify the problem. A border collie puppy bounced out from under the buggy and plopped his rump down a few feet from the buggy step. He looked up at Ruth with his pink tongue lolling out one side of his grinning mouth, one ear up and one down. His eyes above the black button nose sparkled, as if waiting for Ruth to respond to his actions. She couldn’t help smiling.

      Securing the reins, Ruth hurried down from the buggy and squatted next to the pup. He rested his front paws on her bent knees. The white tip at the end of his black tail wiggled on the gravel as he showed his appreciation for her attention.

      “Oh, you sweetie.” Picking up the pup, she cuddled him against her chest. His warm squirming weight fitted into her arms, and her empty heart, like a puzzle piece. Closing her eyes, Ruth hugged him and smiled as he licked her cheek. Her eyes popped open and both she and the pup turned their heads at the exasperated call from up the lane.

      “There you are, you rascal. Are you all right, Ruth?” Hannah Lapp strode down the lane, a frown on her pretty face. “I’m so sorry. We can’t seem to keep the little stinker inside. All the rest of the pups stay put, but this one must be some type of magician, because he keeps escaping. Much to the dismay of the chickens and the pigs and the goats, and basically everyone on the farm.” She stopped beside Ruth, hands on her hips as she regarded the errant pup.

      “I don’t think he made a good first impression on Bess, but no harm’s been done. In fact,” Ruth added after tucking her chin against the pup’s soft head, “he’s just what I need right now.”

      Hannah eyed her quizzically.

      “The new owner came in today.” The words were mumbled into the top of the puppy’s head but her best friend heard them.

      “Oh, Ruth, I’m so sorry.” Hannah placed a hand on Ruth’s shoulder. “I know how hard that must’ve been for you.” Ruth had shared her feelings about the loss of the business with Hannah yesterday after church.

      “Certainly made it real. No going back now.”

      “It is Gott’s will. He’ll take care of you. You just have to trust in Him.”

      The pup wiggled to get down. Ruth reluctantly let him out of her arms. Arms that immediately felt emptier than the release of the warm weight justified. She knew her friend was right. Hannah had always had the gelassenheit that Ruth knew she should be practicing. But she couldn’t just let things be. She couldn’t help doing what she could to make things turn out the way she thought they should.

      Standing, Ruth wistfully watched the puppy explore the territory around the end of the lane, the white tip of his tail waving like a flag over his chubby ebony back. Here in the abnormally warm November afternoon, the tension of the day faded as she watched the inquisitive pup. She didn’t look forward to entering an empty house, but at least she could do it with a more peaceful attitude than when she left work.

      The pup wandered over to sniff at the buggy’s wheels. After confirming that Bess was going to tolerate the small investigator, Ruth turned to Hannah to share a grin at the puppy’s antics and found her friend eyeing her speculatively.

      “I think you do need him.”

      “What?” Ruth tried to recall the last bits of their conversations. They’d been talking about Gott. Of course she needed Gott. Everyone needed Gott. That was a given and one Hannah wouldn’t have bothered to voice. Before that they’d spoken of the new owner. Hannah couldn’t be thinking that Ruth needed Malachi Schrock, could she? A vivid image of the first moment she saw Malachi popped into her head. Her heartbeat had jumped at the sight of his tall form and intelligent eyes. It’d quickened even more at the smile he’d sent her across the showroom floor. Then her stomach had dropped when he’d said his name.

      “No, I don’t need him.” Ruth held her hands in front of her as if to ward off the traitorously tempting thought. “We might not get along at all.”

      “Oh, but I think you already do.” Hannah nodded to Ruth’s feet, where the puppy was nipping at her shoelaces.

      “You mean the puppy?” Ruth stared blankly at the busy dog.

      “Who did you think I meant?”

      Ruth wasn’t going to go there. “I never thought about adopting a puppy.” She knelt and was immediately rewarded with the wash of the pup’s tongue on her fingertips. A great longing washed over Ruth. She looked up at her friend. “Do you really mean it?”

      Hannah laughed. “We don’t raise them to keep them all. We’d be overrun.”

      Ruth wrapped her arms around the pup and stood up. Now that the idea was planted, she couldn’t let it go. “I’ll pay you what he’s worth,” she vowed, mentally wincing at the hit to her funds because she knew the value of the border collies the Lapps raised and sold.

      “I think we can work something out. Right now the greater value to us is regaining the peace that he continually disturbs. We might pay you to take him off our hands.” Hannah rubbed the panting puppy’s head.

      “When can I take him?”

      Hannah raised her eyebrows as she considered the question. “I don’t see any reason why you can’t take him with you today. Socks has begun to wean them. Let me get you some of the food they’ve been started on so you’ll have something for him to eat until you can get back into town. You’re sure you want to do this? I didn’t mean to talk you into something you’re not ready for.”

      Ruth bent her cheek to touch the pup’s head. He twisted in her arms to try to lick her. “I may not be ready, but I can’t think of anything I want more right now.”

      * * *

      Ruth settled the pup in her lap and waved to Hannah before picking up the reins. A hastily assembled puppy survival bag rested at her feet. Bess flicked her ears toward the buggy, questioning what the new passenger was doing there. Ruth smiled as she checked for traffic before backing out of the lane. Let the old girl pout. Ruth was as happy as she could remember being before her father had come home from seeing the Englisch doctors and confirmed what was making him feel weak and lose weight was the cancer they had both quietly feared it to be. The smile stayed on Ruth’s lips, curving up self-mockingly at the corners when she felt a warm wet spot growing on her lap.

      The pup didn’t seem to mind, as he curled into a ball and fell asleep. Ruth clicked her tongue, urging Bess to increase her speed. For the first time in a long time, she was eager to get home. Even if it was to start teaching her new roommate a few basic rules.

      * * *

      “I think rules are going to come easier for you than for me,” Ruth admitted later that evening. “You’re smart, and you should be, as border collies are one of the most intelligent breeds. I’m just afraid I’m not smart enough, or disciplined enough, to teach you what you need to learn.”

      Perhaps it had been a mistake to get a puppy, particularly with her plans. But after spending the evening with him—feeding him, taking him out several times, setting up a bed and later having him rest at her feet while she knit—Ruth knew she couldn’t bear to part with the pup and face an empty house again.

      Ruth