The Amish Bachelors

The Teacher’s Choice

For Lillian Keim, instructing children in her one-room schoolhouse is as close to being a mother as she’ll ever get. Lillian has a calling to be a teacher, and she won’t give it up to marry. But her plans—and her heart—are at risk when she begins to feel more than friendship for lifelong pal Timothy Bowman. When Tim rescues Lillian and her class from a fire, the volunteer firefighter suddenly sees what he’s been blind to all his life: he wants his friend as his wife. But something beyond her professional goals is holding Lillian back. He’s got to unlock her secret before he loses his friend—and his forever love.

“Do you have a mother in mind for your future children?”

She was teasing him, but she had heard a bit of gossip about him and wondered if it was true.

He shook a finger at her. “Lillian Keim, you’re prying.”

“I hear you have a come-calling friend.” She named the woman, but he explained he’d just given her a lift home. She was glad he wasn’t seeing anyone. But why? she asked herself. They were just friends. Right?

A gleam sparkled in the depths of his eyes. “Would you be jealous if I were going out with her, Teacher?”

Trust him to turn the tables on her. “Of course not, but after what you said to my students today, I’ll be answering many questions as to who my new ‘boyfriend’ is.”

He frowned. “Do you really think so? I didn’t mean to make trouble.”

“When people start asking, I’m going to tell everyone it’s you.”

He pressed his hands over his heart. “Teacher, don’t get my hopes up unless you mean it.”

After thirty-five years as a nurse, PATRICIA DAVIDS hung up her stethoscope to become a full-time writer. She enjoys spending her free time visiting her grandchildren, doing some long-overdue yard work and traveling to research her story locations. She resides in Wichita, Kansas. Pat always enjoys hearing from her readers. You can visit her online at patriciadavids.com.

Dear Reader,

I hope you have enjoyed this new story in the Amish Bachelors series. The Bowman brothers have all been fun to write about. I have used my four brothers as inspiration for many of their quirks and conversations.

The story of the arsonist in this book was inspired by true events. In 1993 the grandson of an Amish bishop was arrested and charged with setting fires to multiple Amish farms in one night. As with my story, the damage was too costly for the Amish community to absorb. After a newspaper article detailed their struggles, donations poured in for them to the point that they had to return some money.

People are basically good, be they Amish or English. As Lillian said, every man has good and bad within him.

Blessing to all,

His Amish Teacher

Patricia Davids

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Bear ye one another’s burdens,

and so fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6:2

This book is dedicated to the memory

of Joan Stroda. Heaven gained a dear and

wonderful angel when she left this earth.

Miss you, Mom. Love you still.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Dear Reader

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“We all know Teacher Lillian is a terrible cook, don’t we, children?”

Lillian Keim’s students erupted into giggles and some outright laugher. She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together to hold back a smile.

Timothy Bowman winked at her to take any sting out of his comment, but she wasn’t offended. They had been friends for ages and were members of the same Amish community in Bowmans Crossing, Ohio. She knew he enjoyed a good joke as well as the next fellow, but he was deadly serious about his job today and so was she. The lessons they were presenting might one day prevent a tragedy.

He stood in front of her class on the infield of the softball diamond behind the one-room Amish schoolhouse where she taught all eight grades. Dressed in full fireman’s turnout gear, Timothy made an impressive figure. The coat and pants added bulk to his slender frame, but he carried the additional weight with ease. His curly brown hair was hidden under a yellow helmet instead of his usual straw hat, but his hazel eyes sparkled with mirth. A smile lifted one side of his mouth and deepened the dimples in his tanned cheeks. Timothy smiled a lot. It was one reason she liked him.

His bulky fire coat and pants with bright fluorescent yellow banding weren’t Plain clothing, but their Amish church district approved their use because the church elders and the bishop recognized the need for Amish volunteers to help fill the ranks of the local non-Amish fire company. The county fire marshal understood the necessity of special education in the Amish community where open flames and gas lanterns were used regularly. The Amish didn’t allow electricity in their homes. Biannual fire-safety classes were held at all the local Amish schools. This was Timothy’s first time giving the class. With Lillian’s permission, he was deviating from the normal script with a demonstration outside. Timothy wanted to make an impression on the children. She admired that.

It was another unusually warm day for the last week of September. It had been a dry, hotter than usual summer. Timothy had chosen the bare dirt of the infield with an eye to safety rather than setting up on the brown grass of the lawn that could catch fire. The children were seated on the ground in a semicircle facing him. Only two of her older students, cousins Abe and Gabriel Mast, weren’t paying attention. Abe was elbowing his cousin and the two were snickering and whispering behind their hands.

A red car sped past the school, and the driver laid on the horn. Abe jumped to his feet and waved wildly. The car didn’t slow down.

Lillian did a double take. Was that her brother Jeremiah in the front passenger seat? Surely not. The vehicle rounded the sharp bend in the road and was gone from sight before she could be certain.

Abe grinned from ear to ear and kept jumping. “That’s Davey’s new ride. He’s gonna teach me to drive, too. I want to go fast, fast, fast!”

Davey Mast was Abe’s eldest brother. Davey had chosen to leave the Amish faith after his baptism and had been shunned for his decision. He had taken a job with a local Englisch farmer instead of leaving the area as most young people did when they didn’t remain Amish. Lillian hoped her brother hadn’t been in the car. If he had been, Jeremiah ran the risk of being shunned, too.

Abe ran toward the road. She called him back. “Abe, come sit down.”

He ignored her.

“You need to pay attention. This is important.” Timothy spoke sharply and leveled a stern look at Abe. The boy sheepishly returned to the group and sat down. Lillian wished she could use the look with the same effectiveness.

Timothy turned to a long table he had fashioned from wooden planks on a pair of sawhorses. A propane cook stove in the center held two pans that were both smoking hot. Various household items were arranged along the table, and a large pail of water sat on the ground in front of the table along with a red fire extinguisher.

He carefully carried one pan to the end of the table. Using a long-handled lighter, he clicked it once and the pan burst into flames. He looked at the children. “Let’s pretend Teacher Lillian is frying chicken and a pan full of hot grease catches fire when no one else is around. What should you do?”

“Throw water on it,” little Carl Mast shouted. The second grader was Abe’s youngest brother.

“Carl says water will put out the fire. Let’s see if that works.” Timothy picked up a glass and filled it with water from a bucket beside the table. He flipped down the face shield of his helmet and tossed the liquid onto the skillet.

With a wild hiss and roar, the fire shot skyward in a flaming mushroom eight feet high. All the children drew back with wide frightened eyes. Lillian jumped, too. She wasn’t expecting such a fireball. Puddles of burning grease dotted the ground.

Timothy lifted his face shield and looked at Carl. “Water isn’t the right thing for putting out a grease fire, is it?”

Carl slowly shook his head, his eyes still wide.

Timothy used the extinguisher to put out the fires; then he lit the second pan ablaze with his lighter. “What is a safe way to put out a grease fire like this? Gabriel, Abe? What would you do? Quick. What’s in the kitchen that will help?”

“I’d run outside and watch the whole thing go up in smoke,” Abe said with a smirk, and elbowed his cousin. Gabriel nodded.

Timothy’s eyes narrowed. “Not a very good answer, Abe. This isn’t a joking matter.”

“I’d get the fire extinguisher,” Gabriel said quickly.

Timothy pointed to him. “Goot. Where is it kept in your home?”

A puzzled expression replaced Gabriel’s grin. “I’m not sure.”

Lillian calmly walked to the table. “A fine bunch of firefighters you are if you can’t put out a simple grease fire without help.”

She picked up a dish towel, soaked it with water and gently draped it over the pan. The fire was instantly smothered. The children cheered.

Timothy nodded in appreciation. “I see Teacher Lillian has had lots of practice putting out her burning chicken. She did it the correct way. She smothered it. How else could she have smothered a grease fire?”

The children began calling out suggestions. He acknowledged each answer with a nod and a comment if it was a good suggestion. If it wasn’t, he explained why. As he spoke, Lillian noticed he held the attention of all the children now. He had a knack for engaging them.

Timothy laid aside his lighter. “Now let’s imagine that Teacher is burning leaves in the fall and she sees her boo-friend driving past.” Again, the children giggled.

Lillian scowled at him, not amused this time. Timothy continued speaking. “She is so busy waving at him that she doesn’t notice the hem of her dress has caught fire.”

Sending him a sour look, she said, “I don’t have a boyfriend, but I would certainly wave if one of my scholars were to pass by my home.”

He wiped the grin off his face. “All right, one of your students has distracted you and now your hem is on fire.”

She raised her arms in mock horror and shouted, “This is terrible! Help!”

“What should she do?” Timothy cupped one hand to his ear and leaned toward the children.

“Stop, drop and roll,” the group yelled.

Lillian covered her face with both hands, dropped to the ground and rolled back and forth. She lifted her hand from her face and squinted at Timothy. “Did I do that right?”

He looked at the children. “Scholars, did Teacher Lillian do it correctly?”

“Ja!” they shouted in unison.

He held out his hand to help her up, his eyes sparkling. “Exactly right, Teacher.”

She took his offered hand. His firm grip sent an unexpected rush of pleasure spiraling through her. As soon as she was on her feet, she pulled her hand from his and brushed at her dusty dress. “Next time you can do the stop, drop and roll while I ask the questions.”

He grinned. “But you did it so well. You were far more graceful than I could ever be.”

Turning to the children, she said, “Let’s all thank Timothy for taking the time to teach us about fire safety.”

“Thank you, Timothy,” they said in unison.

Hannah added, “Danki, Onkel Timothy.” Hannah was the stepdaughter of Timothy’s brother, Joshua. Lillian tried hard not to have favorites, but she couldn’t help it where Hannah was concerned.

“We only speak English at school, Hannah,” Lillian reminded her.

Hannah ducked her head. “Sorry, Teacher. I forgot. Thank you, Uncle Timothy.”

Lillian softened her tone. “It’s all right. Sometimes I forget, too. Now, let’s review some of the points Timothy made. Susan, can you tell us how often to change the batteries in our smoke detectors?”

“Twice a year, and the detectors should be replaced if they are more than seven years old,” the eighth-grade girl said quickly, proving she had been listening. Susan Yoder was one of Lillian’s best students. The girl hoped to become a teacher someday.

Lillian gestured to Timothy’s niece in the front row. “Hannah, what are some ways to prevent fires?”

Hannah wasn’t a bit shy. She shot to her feet. “Don’t ever play with matches. I don’t, but Carl does.”

Seated beside Hannah, the young boy leaned away from her and scowled. “Not anymore.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Timothy said, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

Lillian raised her hand. “How many of you have practiced a fire escape plan with your family at home?” Nearly all the students raised their hands. Abe didn’t and neither did his little brother Carl.

“All right, I want you to go inside, take out a piece of paper and draw a diagram of your home. I want you to show at least two ways to escape from the house in the event of a fire and mark where your meeting place is outside. Siblings may work together on the project.”

The children rose and filed toward the school. Lillian stopped Susan. The girl served as Lillian’s much-needed teacher’s aide. “Will you help Hannah with this project? She doesn’t have older siblings.”

“Sure.” Susan smiled and followed the others.

Abe shoved past Hannah, almost knocking her down when they reached the steps at the same time.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, but he didn’t sound remorseful in the least. He caught Gabriel’s eye and whispered something to him. They both laughed as they went in.

Timothy moved to stand beside Lillian. “I noticed the son of our school board president is a bit of a troublemaker.”

“Abe is, but I don’t treat him differently because of his father.”

Silas Mast, the school board president, had brushed aside her concerns about Abe’s behavior when she tried to speak to him about it. His lack of support was making it more difficult to handle the boy.

Lillian watched until the last student entered the building; then she whirled to face Timothy with her hands on her hips. “What possessed you to suggest in front of my students that I have a boyfriend?”

He looked taken aback. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was making a point that you were distracted.”

“You should have chosen better.”

“Are you upset with me?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Ja, Timothy Bowman, I’m upset with you.”

He relaxed. “Nee, you aren’t. I can tell by the look in your eyes.”

“How do my eyes look when I’m upset?” she demanded.

“Frosty.”

Did he really know her so well? “And how do they look now?”

“Like you’re trying to be serious, but you’re smiling inside.”

He was right, but she wasn’t about to admit it.

He leaned one hip against the table. “How did I do for my first time giving a program?”

“Very well. You clearly have a knack for teaching.”

“Danki. I tried to think about what I would say to my own children.”

“Do you have a mother in mind for them?” she asked with false sweetness, knowing he was a single fellow. She had heard a bit of gossip about him and wondered if it was true. Courting relationships were often closely guarded secrets in the Amish community.

He shook a finger at her. “Lillian Keim, you’re prying.”

She spread her hands wide. “You brought up the subject of children.”

“I want a wife and children someday. I pray I will have sons to work beside me in our business as I have worked beside my father. I hope I may teach all my children to be good and faithful members of our church.” His voice had grown soft. Lillian realized he was sharing something important with her.

“I hope God answers your prayers.” A family of her own was something she would never have.

He tipped his head to the side as he regarded her. “What about you? How many children do you want?”

She gave a laugh but knew it sounded forced. “I have forty-one children to care for. That’s more than enough. There will be forty-four next month because we have a new family transferring to our school. I hope the school board approves the hiring of a second teacher when they meet next Friday. I’m not sure I can manage that many.”

“Still, you must want children of your own someday.”

That wasn’t possible. Only her parents knew about the surgery that had saved her life but left her barren. She’d never told anyone else. She didn’t want pity. God had chosen this path for her. It wasn’t an easy one, but she would do her best to live as He willed.

She drew a steadying breath and raised her chin. “Every morning I wake up and think about these children waiting for me and I can’t wait to get here. I thank God every day and night for leading me to this work. I love it. Are you shocked that I want a career instead of a family?”

“Nee, I’m not. Luke mentioned as much to me.”

“You and your brother were talking about me?”

“It was last Christmas. Luke thought the reason I was helping with the school program was that I wanted to court you. He decided to become my unofficial go-between and have Emma find out if you would be interested in dating me. Emma told him you were devoted to teaching and not looking to marry. He relayed that to me.”

“And was that the reason behind your offer to help at the school?”

Timothy shook his head. “You and the kinder needed help. Friends help friends.”

A touch of disappointment pricked her, but she quickly suppressed it. She valued his friendship. Any sign of romantic attachment from either of them would make their friendship awkward and could bring censure down on her. As a teacher, she was expected to be a model of proper behavior. “Your help made the program extra special. Danki.”

He shrugged off her praise. “I didn’t do much.”

Now it was her turn to tease him. Checking to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard, she leaned closer. “I understand you are Nellie Martin’s come-calling friend. Is it serious?”

His eyebrows shot up. “What? Who told you that?”

“You were seen driving together last Sunday evening.”

“I passed Nellie walking along the road after visiting her sister and I gave her a lift home because I was going the same way. That’s all. I’m not her come-calling friend or anyone else’s, for that matter.”

“See how easily rumors get started?” She was glad he wasn’t seeing anyone. When he did find the right woman, Lillian knew their friendship would change.

A gleam sparkled in the depths of his eyes. He leaned toward her. “Would you be jealous if I were going out with her, Teacher?”

Trust him to turn the tables on her. “Of course not, but rumors will soon circulate that I have a new boo-friend.”

“Why?”

“Because these forty-one students will go home and repeat what they learned today. Some of them will fail to mention you were teasing about my boyfriend. By Sunday after the prayer meeting I’ll be answering carefully worded questions from many curious mothers as they try to figure out who he might be.”

A frown line appeared on his forehead. “Do you really think so? I didn’t mean to make trouble.”

“I know small children and the way they can mix up the simplest things. When people start asking, I’m going to tell everyone it’s you.”

He pressed his hands over his heart. “Teacher, don’t get my hopes up unless you mean it.”

It was her turn to frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I would be your boo-friend in a heartbeat. May I come courting?”

Chapter Two

Timothy watched an array of fleeting expressions cross Lillian’s delicate face. Surprise, dismay and finally skepticism narrowed her green eyes. He would cheerfully snatch back his words if he could. She had to know he was joking, didn’t she? Had he gone too far this time?

Her eyes narrowed. “Where is that bucket of water? You need to soak your head.”

“Is that any way to talk to the man you’re dating?”

She jabbed her finger into his chest. “I’m too smart to go out with you, and it’s nothing to joke about.”

“You are right. Courting and marriage are not joking matters.” Relieved that he hadn’t truly upset her, he turned the conversation in a safer direction. “What did you think of the book I lent you?”

Her tense shoulders relaxed at his change of subject. “I haven’t had time to sit down with it yet.”

“Teacher hasn’t finished her homework. Shame on you.”

“I do have papers to grade and lessons to prepare.”

“I will accept that excuse today, but I’m dying to know if you find the story as funny as I did. The main character reminded me of you.”

“I thought you said it was about a dog.”

“It is. A lovable, devoted dog who believes she knows what’s best for every creature in the barnyard. Truly, it’s a great book with an excellent message.”

“So I’m like a bossy dog, is that what you are saying?”

She rolled her eyes, and he chuckled. He enjoyed teasing Lillian. They had been close friends when they were younger, drawn together by a love of books and reading. He cherished the hours they had spent discussing the works of Dickens, Henry David Thoreau and the stories of their persecuted Amish ancestors in The Martyr’s Mirror. His love of reading was something his brothers never understood.

Lillian and her family had moved away the summer he turned eighteen. He’d lost touch with her for a few years, but he never forgot the way she made him feel. The Amish valued hard work. Book learning had its place, but few people understood his desire to read and learn more about the world the way Lillian did.