Free Ella Finds Love Again by Jerry S. Eicher Page A

want quilts?” she asked.
    He was a good-looking Englisha man, his chin straight, his jaw formed with straight lines, and his eyes had that twinkle some Englisha men had.
    “Not really,” he said, still smiling. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”
    “Oh, no,” Ella replied. “You didn’t frighten me. I’m just not used to men asking after quilts.”
    He laughed and to her surprise, she really wasn’t frightened by this stranger. Still, it seemed that her heart was pounding with an awful energy all its own. She tried to keep breathing. This was an Englisha man, and there was no sense in acting like this at all.
    “Ah,” he said, his head tilted to the side. “Is it okay then if I come in? I have some questions that would be easier to ask with me not standing out here in the snow. I’m harmless. Really.”
    “What kind of questions? About quilts?”
    “Well, no. About the Amish.”
    “Why are you coming to me?”
    “Well, it all started when my mother visited here. Since she returned from her visit to the Amish country, we’ve all been fascinated by your people. I’ve done some research myself, and I’m very taken by your people. I would like to know a little more from something other than the Internet.”
    “The Internet?”
    The man kept smiling and said, “Oh, sorry. The computer. Do you know about computers?”
    These Englisha people. They think we are so ignorant. “Yes, I do know about computers.”
    After a brief silence, the man said, “Please. I won’t be long. I promise.”
    With some hesitation, Ella stepped back from the door. He came in, glanced around, and pulled out a kitchen chair.
    “Okay if I sit?”
    What was there to say? No? What did one say when a strange Englisha man walked in and asked to sit at your table?
    “Sure,” she said, the word coming out in a rush.
    He laughed again. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I really am, but I don’t know how else to do this. Mom said you were one of the most decent Amish women she had ever met. She talked about you so much it’s almost as if I know you.”
    “You know me?”
    “Not really,” he said. “Not in that sense, but I’m hoping this might be the place to start my journey.”
    “You said your mother visited here?”
    “Yes. Mom bought a quilt from you. I think soon after you opened the shop, and you shipped it to her. I believe it was your first project, and it has your house drawing on it. In fact I found the place partly from the picture—even with the snow on the roof.” He laughed again. “Mom couldn’t be more pleased with your work. She’s been showing the quilt to all her friends. And she talks her head off about the workmanship and you …and it looks to me as if her judgment was correct.”
    “I’m not married,” Ella said, blurting the words out and glancing at the girls. It didn’t matter how this sounded, but the words suddenly needed saying.
    “I didn’t know,” he said, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the girls. “I thought…Amish people married.”
    “It’s not like that,” she said, meeting his eyes, feeling warmth rushing into her cheeks. “I take care of the girls during the week. They are the daughters of Preacher Stutzman.”
    “Are you…uh…connected with him?” he asked. “Perhaps his relative?”
    “No!” Ella said, the word coming out forcefully. “His wife died some time ago. I look after them weekdays…until he remarries.”
    “Oh,” he said. “I didn’t mean anything by my question. See I’m still learning the Amish ways and perhaps I seem a bit presumptuous. So is this how your people take care of each other?”
    “He pays me for their care,” Ella said.
    “I see. Until he remarries, you said.”
    The red rushed to her cheeks again, but he was Englisha , so what harm could come from telling him?
    “He has asked me to marry him.”
    “Well, congratulations,” he said, half-standing before sitting back down. “I’m sure he’s getting a wonderful wife. Sorry