The thought brought him up short. When had he started thinking of her as a woman he’d like to go out with? Would she even consider it? The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea.
He looked toward her, but she was nowhere in sight. Her mother was checking in the women. Naomi chatted happily with the Englischers, answering their questions with ease.
That was one thing about Emma that troubled Adam. She never seemed to visit or joke with her guests or the other staff. In a business that had people around her all the time, she seemed to hold herself apart.
She seemed lonely.
And where did she go when she rushed out every two or three hours during the day? It was none of his business, but he couldn’t help being curious.
Late in the afternoon, he was clearing the snow from the back steps of the inn and studying the second-story guttering along the roof. The icicles hanging from the gutters were several feet long. It was a sure sign that the downspout was frozen shut. Someone needed to do more than knock them down. He’d need to go up a ladder and rake what snow he could reach off the roof. Then he would have to put socks full of ice melt in the gutters. If the downspouts weren’t opened, the meltwater could back up under the shingles and damage the walls inside.
The problem was, he couldn’t do it. Climbing a ladder inside the building hadn’t bothered him, but outside was a different story. No, he couldn’t go up there. Not yet.
Turning away, he saw Emma come through the garden gate at the back of the property. He leaned on the shovel handle and waited for her to approach. Once again, she had hay sticking to her coat.
His curiosity got the better of him. He arched one eyebrow. “What have you been up to, Miss Emma?”
Chapter Nine
Adam watched the color bloom in Emma’s cheeks. She stuttered, “I—I was seeing to the horse, that’s all. You don’t have to clear our walks. I was getting to that.”
“I don’t mind. Your mother asked me to fix the boot scraper, but the metal is old and rusty. You would be better off buying a new one from the hardware store.”
“You astonish me. There is actually something you can’t fix?”
He laughed. “Jah, so I am clearing the walkway instead before I go home for the weekend. If you need help with your stable work I’ll be glad to lend a hand.”
“No. I can manage. Cream doesn’t need much care.”
He chuckled. “Your horse’s name is Cream? Is she white?”
The glimmer of humor filled her eyes. “No. Her previous owner’s little girl named her Marshmallow Cream because of the spot of white on her black nose. That’s a mouthful so I just call her Cream.”
“Kids have such wonderful imaginations. Not like the old folks that only think of work, work, work.”
The sparkle in her eyes died. “I trust you’ve been busy?”
Had he just implied she was old? He wanted to kick himself. “I did fix the two broken shutters on the lower-floor windows.”
Walking in that direction, he indicated his work. “When the spring comes you should have them painted again. They’re getting pretty weathered.”
“I was thinking of taking them off. They are too fancy for my liking.”
“But they are quaint and that is what the tourists like. It must be a hard line for you to walk. Running a business for the English and an Amish home.”
“The tourists say they want an ‘Amish experience,’ but they also want electric lights, central heat and internet access.”
“And for you, is it hard to go home to your gas lamps and no central heat?”
“Some cold mornings make me wish I could sleep in one of the inn’s empty beds.”
“Why don’t you?”
Her gaze snapped up to his. “I take the vows of my faith seriously. It would be easy to stay at the inn. My cold feet would feel better but what good would it do my soul if I let temptation bend me hither and yon like the wind does a reed? Nee, I will not go against the teaching of our faith.”
“You are a wise woman. I lived a long time in the English world. It didn’t do my soul any good.”
Chapter Ten
Adam didn’t know why he felt the need to share his past with this woman. She would likely think the same thing his father did. That he would run back to the worldly ways of the English when things got tough.
“What made you leave the Amish?” Emma asked quietly.
He wanted her to think well of him, but he knew she would hear the story someday. It would be best if it came from him. He gathered his courage. Laying his foolishness bare for her to see was harder than climbing to any height.
He took a deep breath. “When I was young, the outside world seemed glamorous. Full of forbidden fun and overflowing with things like cars and televisions and video games. I wanted to be a part of it. I felt smothered in my life on the farm. Did you ever feel that way?”
Emma shook her head. “Nee, I have not. I believed our Plain lives bring us closer to God. I find much comfort in our ways.”
“I had a brother, Jason, who felt the same as I did. We went to work for an English construction company because my family needed the money after a poor summer crop. The pay was good. I even learned to drive a car and I bought one. Dat hated it and soon stopped taking the money we brought home. When I wouldn’t give up my car, he made me move out. My brother came with me.”
“How sad that must have been for all of you.”
Adam swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. “It was hardest on my mother.”
“Is that why you came back?”
“Nee,
