The Chosen Amish
Deidra Scott
Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
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Chapter One
David Miller took a deep breath of the clean spring morning air and sighed. Spring...it had always been the promise of fresh starts and new beginnings.
Not that there was very much hope of a new beginning for him.
Reaching up to adjust his straw hat on his head, David kicked at a clump of dirt in the midst of his freshly plowed corn field. He started toward the house where his wife, Ida, would surely be up making breakfast. Soon it would be time to get the horses hitched up and start on their way to church.
“Daed, Daed!” The voice of his six-year-old son, Lucas made David look up and give a slight smile in the child’s direction. The little boy was running through the clumps of dirt, struggling to keep his footing. There were few things in life that made David quite as happy as the sight of his little boy. The spitting image of David with his curly dark hair and brown eyes, Lucas certainly made his father proud.
Reaching down, David scooped the little boy up in his arms right before he could trip over a clump of dirt.
“Watch it there, son,” David warned him as he slung the child under his arm like a sack of potatoes, “No need to get your church clothes all filthy.”
Lucas giggled as he bounced in his father’s arms.
“Mamm said to tell you it’s almost time to leave!” Lucas informed David when he finally reached the yard and had put him back on his feet in the soft grass, “She said you’d better get yourself ready or we’d be late again.”
David sucked in a deep breath and slowly shook his head. Ach, if that woman didn’t nag him about everything. And lately it seemed that she was trying to use his child to nag him as well!
“You tell your Mamm...” David’s voice trailed off as he thought better of his words. Letting out a huff, he gave Lucas a push toward the house, “Tell her I’ll be in soon. I just want to go on and hitch up the buggy.”
Walking toward the barn, David wished that he could just hole himself away in it for good. It was starting to look like life with his wife just wasn’t worth living.
By the time David had the horses ready and went into the house, it was easy to tell that Ida was in a tizzy.
“David!” Ida exclaimed as she glanced at the pocket watch lying on the table, “Do you realize how late it is? Ach! We should have been on the road fifteen minutes ago!”
“We will get there,” David assured her as he reached out for his black felt hat.
When he reached for it, Ida let out a deep groan and hurried to his side, “David, look at your shirt! You’ve got dirt all over the sleeve. Why did you wear it to go out into the fields, anyway?”
David felt like he was a bottle of soda pop that had been shaken for too long and was finally being released to explode. Unable to hold in his fury any longer, he turned on his heels and looked at his wife in surprise, “Can’t I do anything good enough for you?!” .
Obviously taken back by his outburst, Ida took a deep breath and stepped away to make room between them.
“Let’s just get going,” She managed to whisper as she reached for her black bonnet.
Sitting on the hard wooden church pew, David tried to keep his mind on the service, but it seemed that his thoughts were constantly traveling to any other topic.
Realizing the sermon was coming to a close, David sat up straighter, anxious to get out of the packed Amish house and back to his own home.
“Before we enjoy the delicious meal that the Millers have prepared, I have an exciting announcement,” Preached Ben said. Motioning toward someone in the crowd, David turned and let his eyes follow a young Amish couple as they slowly rose to their feet.
“Joe Eicher and Miriam Kiem want to announce their engagement,” Preacher Ben continued.
David watched the young couple glance at each other, their eyes filling with excitement and love.
It had been a long time since Ida and David had looked at each other like that.
There had been a time when David had truly thought that he loved Ida. He could still remember their first encounter. He had been attending a wedding for his cousin in Indiana and had managed to come across the spunky sixteen-year-old girl. She was so cheerful, her round cheeks so rosy, and she had such a happy skip to her step. Just being around Ida had made David happy...so happy that he could hardly stand to come back home to Kentucky. Ach, how he’d worried that she would find another beau before he had a chance to get to know her!
But now...well, everything had changed now. Maybe it had simply been too many years together...maybe time was dragging them apart as they each became more consumed with their own chores and daily tasks. Whatever the case, David had to admit that he no longer felt anything close to love when he saw his wife; in fact, more days then not, he found himself battling feelings that bordered closer to outright dislike.
“David? David!” Ida’s voice brought David out of his thoughts, alerting him that church services were over and he was the only one still sitting on a bench.
Pulling himself to his feet, David tried to ignore the irritation that he sensed in his wife’s voice.
“Where’s Lucas?” David asked as he reached for his black felt hat.
“He’s out in the barn playing with some of his friends before we eat.” Ida sounded so cheerful that her syrupy words made David want to vomit. Why was she putting on a show, acting like she liked him? David knew the truth and he was sick
