My Amish Love

Lucky I'm In Love

Daniel's POV

My father, David, and I were hard at work building chairs in the shop. We built things, fixed things, and sold old things. Everyone, including tourists, who needed furniture in Lancaster would come to our place or Jacob's place across the road. It wasn't a war between two shops, we all looked after each other and introduced our customers to one another. If we didn't have something, we'd tell our customers to go to Jacob's store and vice versa.

David was building a crib for his wife, Mary. She was pregnant with their second child. David said it would be a boy this time so he wanted a new crib. My father was building a rocking chair, and I was making a small table.

After tending to the animals in the morning, we shower, eat breakfast, and work in the store until sundown. Usually, it took a little while to build things, but no one in this town was in a rush.

Work passed by quickly today. It felt great being back home and in the family store with my daed and brother again. It felt like I never left. I thought about Casey a little, but in about an hour, I'd be going home to see my leibchen. Daed had already set aside a few farm animals for us to take when we move out of their home in December. I couldn't wait to start fixing the old house up.

As we packed up, the bell rang and I saw that we had a customer. I groaned before I made my way to the front counter.

"Sorry, we're closing down," I said without looking up.

"Daniel?" As soon as I heard the young woman say my name, I realized who it was.

"Catherine?" I looked up.

"I can't believe it's you!" She exclaimed.

I walked around the counter and hugged her tightly. Catherine was my first girlfriend. We dated before I left to go to California. Everyone expected us to end up together, and honestly, so did I. Before I left, there was no doubt in my mind that I would marry Catherine Miller. She was smart, beautiful, and in the church. My mamm, daed, and even David suspected we'd get married, but things had changed. While I never felt Catherine was "the one", I did plan to marry her because that's just what everyone else expected of me. Do not get me wrong, I cared deeply for Catherine, but it was more like a best friend and not as a lover. On the other hand, I was in love with Casey. She is the one. Not only was she one of my best friends, but she was also my future fraa. I knew it the moment I met her that there was no other woman in this world for me.

"It's me," I said unenthusiastically.

"We all thought you were never coming back. I've missed you, we all missed you," she said, smiling and letting me go.

"I missed everyone, too. How are Eli, Abram, and Ester?" I asked.

Eli, Abram, and Ester were her older siblings. Eli was thirty-one, Abram was twenty-nine, Ester was twenty-six, and Catherine was twenty. Eli was a master crop grower, half of the marketplace was his own food. He had a wife and two kids when I left. Abram helped Eli at the farm. He was dating a girl named Eliza when I left. Ester was single. She was a school teacher and I suspected that she still was. Ester was very beautiful. She has long, golden hair, a beautiful smile, and the bluest eyes imaginable. She would have been married by now, but her boyfriend, Caleb, died in a horse accident. She never dated again after that. At least as far as I was concerned.

"Good. Eli is still growing crops and Abram finally married Eliza. They're trying for a baby now."

"And Ester?"

"Well, she left." Catherine dropped her head and pretended to fix her dress.

"I'm sorry to hear that."