A Match For Addy (The Amish Matchmaker Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

fee.”
    “Ach,”
her mother soothed, pushing a bite of soft egg into her mouth. “You’re not to worry about the money. We’ll find it somewhere. Your father can always sell off some of his beef cattle.”
    “Or maybe those acres of woods that Charley’s been wanting to buy,” her
dat
suggested.
    “Ne.”
Addy shook her head. “I don’t want you to sacrifice what you worked all your life for. Tell Sara that we’ve changed our minds. Maybe if I went to visit our Ohio cousins, I could meet someone there.”
    “Not every girl’s family pays,” her mother explained. “Sometimes, it is the man or his parents who bear the expense. I’ve already brought that possibility up with Sara.”
    Addy’s heart sank. Who else knew about this? Who had Sara told? Did Gideon think she was one of the girls who had to pay to find someone? How could she face him again? “Is that why Sara hired me?” she asked.
    “Of course not, you silly goose.” Her
mam
stood and came around the table to hug her, an act Addy found almost as startling as the fact that her parents had engaged a matchmaker without consulting her. But Addy couldn’t pull away, and her mother’s embrace, so rare, was all the more precious. “The new teacher helps out, but she doesn’t have the strength to keep up that house. Sara needs some painting done, and help to do her canning. She’ll have more girls coming to stay, and she needs someone she can count on.”
    “Unless you’ve changed your mind and you don’t want to work for her. I thought you could give your mother half of your pay and keep half for yourself,” her father said. “As any other unmarried daughter would do.”
    “Ne, Dat,”
she assured him. “I
want
to work for Sara.”
    “Goot,”
her mother said. “It’s settled. You’ll work and while you’re at Sara’s, she’ll give you some instruction. You’ll follow her advice and meet the men she wants you to meet. And let us worry about Sara’s fee. If she makes a good match for you, you’ll be in a position to help us in our old age.”
    Addy nodded. She had other siblings, but they were older and lived far away. It would be her duty to care for her parents when they were too old to work. It was what was expected of Amish daughters, and she would do what she could for them with a whole heart.
    “Don’t look so glum,” her father said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “It’s time you were married, with a good husband and children of your own. My other grandchildren I never get to see. We only want what’s best for you.”
    “Ya,”
her mother agreed. “I’m weary of going to my sister-in-law’s family’s weddings. It’s time we had one of our own.”
    Maybe the idea of having Sara find her a match wasn’t so bad. Addy did want a husband, and she was tired of serving as an attendant at her cousins’ weddings. But—she sighed inwardly—who would want her, at her age? Most girls were married and had several children by thirty. No young man would want her. Sara would most likely find her an older widower, someone who already had children. She tried to imagine what such a man would look like. She wouldn’t mind being a stepmother, but she hoped this bridegroom wouldn’t be too old or too ill-tempered.
    She wouldn’t set her hopes too high. She would do as her father always did and place her faith in God. It should have been easy. If only Gideon Esch hadn’t pulled her out of a briar patch and carried her across the field like some English girl out of a paperback romance.

Chapter Three
    W ith trepidation, Dorcas—
Addy
, she reminded herself, she was
Addy
now—approached the fence line that bordered Sara’s property. The dreaded stile.
    The sun was bright, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The day promised to be warm and humid, and she could already feel a sheen of moisture on her face and throat. She hoped she wouldn’t arrive at Sara’s all hot and sweaty; she wanted to appear mature and competent.