“Thomas...” Patience said.
He looked over and she reached past Rue and put a hand on his upper arm. Her touch was warm and gentle, melting away the irritation rising up inside him.
“Yah?” he said.
“You’re a good daet.” She smiled then, and he sucked in a slow breath.
Amish families were calm and collected. Already, he was feeling himself getting riled up at the thought of everything he could not control, but at a touch from her hand, he was reminded of everything he was supposed to be. It made him want to close his fingers around hers, tug her closer against him... But there was a child between them, and this new addition to his life had to have his focus.
A man could make a good many mistakes in his life and manage to forgive himself, but the errors in judgment he made with his own kinner were the ones that haunted him. He couldn’t afford to mess this up with Rue.
They carried on for another couple of miles, then turned down a gravel road that led to the Smoker farm. Patience was silent, and Rue, who hadn’t understood any of their German conversation, swung her legs and watched the scenery go by.
As they turned into the Smoker drive, Rue leaned forward when she saw two little girls in the garden. They were barefoot, and they each had plastic ice cream pails that they were filling with weeds. The girls stood up when they saw the buggy and wiped their dirty hands on their dresses.
“There are kids here!” Rue said with a smile.
“Yah, you’ll have some girls to play with for a little while,” Thomas said, and he was glad to see that his daughter was simply happy to see other children, instead of judging whether they were Englisher or Amish.
“This is better than a swing,” Rue announced.
Thomas looked over and met Patience’s eye. She shot him a smile. Then the door opened and Susan Smoker came out with a wave and a smile. Thomas pulled up the horses.
“Good morning, Susan,” Thomas called. “I’ve come to help Ben with the gate.”
“Yah, yah,” Susan said. “He’ll be glad of that. I think he’s in the main barn right now.”
“I’ve brought the new schoolteacher,” Thomas said. “Meet Patience Flaud. She’ll be teaching some of your girls this year.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” Susan’s smile spread. “Well, come on down and let’s get some pie, then.”
It was then that Susan’s gaze fell on Rue, and Thomas could see the question forming on her face before she said anything.
“This is my daughter, Rue,” Thomas said, and he cleared his throat. “It’s a long story, but suffice it to say, she’s from my Rumspringa. I know I did wrong, and Gott has forgiven me, but... Her mamm passed, and she’s mine to raise now.”
“Oh...” Susan nodded twice. “So she’s Englisher, is she?”
“Yah,” he admitted.
“She looks it,” Susan replied.
Rue, not understanding the conversation, just stared, her blue eyes wide and uncertain. After Thomas hopped down from the buggy, he lifted his daughter down, and then held a hand out to help Patience to the ground, as well. It felt oddly comfortable to have a little girl and a woman in his care today.
But when he turned back to Susan, her easy smile was gone and she was staring at Rue solemnly. The girls arrived from the garden just then, and an older girl opened the screen, a toddler on her hip. The girls were all in matching dresses—some dirtier than others—and he couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief. This was the kind of family that Rue needed to see—respectable, well behaved, pious. Except Susan looked a little less welcoming now.
“I hope it’s a convenient time for us to get to know each other,” Patience said, seeming to read Susan’s altered expression at the same time.
“Yah, of course,” Susan said. “Do you need clothes and shoes for her, Thomas? Because we have some dresses the girls have outgrown and a couple of pairs of shoes, too—”
“Yah, thank you,” he replied. “That would be a great help. We’re starting from scratch, and this was a bit of a shock.”
Rue looked up at Thomas uncertainly, and a part of him wished he could stay with her, help her feel more comfortable. But he was here to help Ben, and Patience could help her navigate. Patience seemed to sympathize with Rue’s plight, at the very least.
“Go on inside with the women, Rue,” Thomas said. “You’ll have friends to play with.”
It would be all right. This was where his daughter belonged—with Amish playmates and a community that would help her get a proper start...just as soon as they forgave her father for the mistakes that had brought her into the world.
Patience took Rue’s hand and followed Susan Smoker into the little farmhouse. Susan looked over her shoulder again at Thomas, who was leading the horses toward the stable, then she sighed. Patience looked in the same direction, watching Thomas’s form as he walked away. He was a strong man, but right now, Patience sensed he was at his most vulnerable. It was all coming back on him—his mistakes, his family’s problems... To simply look at him, a woman would never know. If Patience had met him under any other circumstances, he’d be just a handsome Amish man, laughter twinkling in his eyes and good looks that could sway just about any single woman.
“It’s good to meet you... Patience, is it?” Susan said, drawing Patience’s attention back.
“Yes,” she said with a smile. “Likewise.”
The kitchen was neat, and the table had some basic school worksheets laid out—some printing, some counting... Someone was getting ready for school. The older girl stood by the door with the baby on her hip, looking at Patience shyly. Patience smiled at her, then turned
