Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish Read Online Free Page A

women what kind of a
housekeeper you are. So do clean kitchens.” She put the kettle in
the rinse pan and wrung out the dishcloth so she could scrub the
counter tops before she moved to the table.
    Emma implored, “Aendi Tootie, you should let
me wash the table.”
    “No, Dear. That goes with the dish washing
job,” Tootie declared.
    Hal left for the barn. When she came back she
set the empty pail by the dishpan. “Aunt Tootie, wash this scrap
bucket last.”
    Tootie scrunched her nose up as she finished
the table. “I'm done with the dishes. Do I have to wash the slop
bucket?”
    “Jah, we don't want it to smell and draw
flies in the mudroom,” Hal said.
    Tootie's face stayed unpleasant as she washed
the pail, but she didn't say anything. As soon as she finished the
distasteful task, she left Emma to empty the dish pans and joined
Nora and Hal in the living room.
    After the family gathered, Tootie said,
“John, if we're going to have devotions, would it bother you if I
sang a hymn?”
    Nora snapped, “Now, Tootie, John's the one
who leads the family devotions. You sit back and listen.”
    Tootie leaned back into the couch and
pouted.
    Emma placated, “It is all right, Aendi
Tootie. We like to sing hymns, too. Can I sing with you when Daed
says it is time to sing?”
    “Oh yes, Dear. Sure you can,” Tootie crowed
with a smug look at her sister.
    “We all will sing,” Hal added, trying to be
as nice as she could to her aunt. After the way she'd talked about
Tootie when she knew the elderly woman was coming, she felt guilty
now.
    As soon as the devotion time was over, horse
hooves and the crunch of rocks on the driveway put them on
alert.
    John answered the knocks. “Wilcom, Eldon and
Jane. Come on in.”
    Hal asked, “What brings you over
tonight?”
    Eldon's smiling red face took in each of the
Lapp's visitors. “We wanted to wilcom your parents and invite them
to come to the next Sunday meeting with you.”
    John said, “Boys, get some extra chairs from
the kitchen. Jim and Nora, you remember Eldon and Jane
Bontrager?”
    “Of course, we do,” Jim said, and Nora
nodded.
    Hal said, “This is my mother's sister,
Tootie.”
    “Wie bist du beit, Tootie” Eldon said.
    “It's nice to meet you and your wife,” Tootie
replied politely.
    The boys came back with chairs and sat down
on the floor near the men.
    Emma said, “I am going to pop us a big pan of
popcorn.”
    “I'll help,” Nora volunteered, following Emma
to the kitchen. She set a stack of cereal bowls on the table while
Emma shook a skillet full of kernels. “So, Emma, when do we meet
your boyfriend. Adam is it?”
    “Jah, Adam will be over soon. We are very
special friends,” Emma said, blushing. She poured the corn in the
dishpan and popped one more skillet full. After she melted butter
in the skillet, she poured that on the popcorn while Nora stirred
the kernels with a spoon. Emma picked up the dishpan. “Now we are
ready.”
    Nora carried the bowls. Emma set the dishpan
down on the table by the window. Nora filled each bowl while Emma
served.
    When Emma came to Tootie, the elderly woman
said, “Don't you have bigger bowls than this? I just love
popcorn.”
    “Of course, Aendi Tootie. I'll get you one.”
Emma brought back a vegetable bowl.
    The way Tootie stuffed herself with popcorn
made Hal wondered if the elderly woman really had stomach and bowel
problems. If Tootie could eat that much popcorn her ailments might
be selective. Maybe she wouldn't have to give her aunt an enema
after all.
    “I am going to have a quilting frolic soon. I
hope you ladies will be able to join me. Several of the neighbor
women will be there,” Jane Bontrager invited.
    “We'd like that,” Hal said. “It will be
something different for my mother and Aunt Tootie to do while
they're on vacation. Sound gute to you, Mom?”
    “Yes, it does. We'd love to come. Don't know
how good we will be at quilting, but it will be fun to watch
experts at work,” Nora