Free The Only Way (The Amish Millers Get Married Book 4) by Ruth Hartzler

that Sarah would consider
he had good manners to suggest sitting outside the house. It was
not the done thing in the community for an unmarried girl and an
unmarried man to be alone in a house together, with no others
present.
    Nash looked out over the rolling fields and
hills. How could anyone live here? he asked himself. The
most exciting thing in view is a cow. It’s so boring; there’s
nothing to do. I can’t believe these people actually live
here .
    Yet Nash was feeling quite smug. Everything
was falling into place nicely. He was so pleased with himself that
he barely noticed Sarah return with two mugs of tea. He thanked her
and wrapped his hands around his mug of tea to warm his hands.
    “Are you on rumspringa ?”
    Nash looked at Sarah. “ Jah . It’s been
a long rumspringa , and like many of the youngie on rumspringa , I did some foolish things. I confessed to the
bishop in my own community, and then came on here to see if my daed and my mudder would forgive me.” He wiped a
pretend tear from his eye. “I won’t return to the community until
after they have forgiven me.” Nash was satisfied to see the
sympathy in Sarah’s eyes.
    “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
    Nash nodded. “I also wanted to see my grossmammi again with her being so old and frail, even if my
parents had said I couldn’t.”
    “Your parents said you couldn’t see your grossmammi ?”
    She’s hooked , Nash thought with
satisfaction. Aloud he said, “ Jah , sadly that is the case.
The bishop from our community told them they had to allow me to
come here, but they haven’t forgiven me for the bad things I did on rumspringa .”
    “But you repented.”
    Nash just shrugged. “Anyway, I must apologize
for calling in on you when you were alone.” He fixed the most pious
expression on his face that he could muster.
    Sarah looked a little embarrassed and simply
smiled shyly at him.
    “I hope it doesn’t cause problems between you
and Elijah.” Nash was careful to look out toward the rolling hills
when he said that, but he could still see Sarah’s reaction in his
peripheral vision.
    “Elijah? Whatever do you mean?”
    Nash was concerned. Sarah actually appeared
to be shocked. He didn’t think a simple Amish girl would be such a
good actor; it must be genuine. He now turned his full gaze upon
Sarah. “Oh do forgive me if I’ve overstepped the mark. It’s just
that everyone thinks you and Elijah… well…” He let his words hang,
and he looked at Sarah from under his long eyelashes.
    “Oh no, you have it wrong,” Sarah hastened to
explain. “It’s Rebecca and Elijah.”
    Nash thought for a moment how to play this.
“Yes, I must have it wrong,” he said. “But I heard my mudder and Rebecca talking in the kitchen, and Rebecca said that she no
longer had feelings for Elijah. She said that a few weeks ago
Elijah told her he liked another maidel . Rebecca told my mudder that she was upset at the time, but has moved on.”
Nash hoped that was believable; he wouldn’t have believed
the far fetched story he had just invented on the spot, but then
again, he wasn’t a sweet and naïve young girl.
    “I’m surprised Rebecca didn’t say something
to me,” Sarah said.
    Nash continued to look at Sarah and raised
his eyebrows, waiting for her to make the connection. When, to his
annoyance, she didn’t, he continued. “I could be wrong, but I
thought the other maidel was you.”
    “Me?” To Nash’s disappointment, Sarah looked
alarmed. For his plan to work, Sarah would need to have at least a
little crush on Elijah. It didn’t seem that this was the case.
    “It’s not my place to say,” Nash said,
injecting concern into his voice. “I shouldn’t have repeated what
I’d heard.” He sipped his tea, hoping Sarah would say something. He
was not disappointed.
    “I have no idea about Elijah, but I know he’s
not interested in me,” Sarah said thoughtfully. “As for Rebecca, I
don’t know.”
    Nash’s plan had gone out the