Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (17 page)

Adam wrote on his notepad. “Unless you adopted me I
am not a Lapp yet.”

Hal laughed.

Adam wrinkled his nose like a rabbit and sniffed.

“
Aunt Tootie and I went shopping today in
Walmart and sampled the perfumes. All of them. All right?” Hal
asked, daring him to object.

Adam grinned and put his thumb and finger
together.

Tootie stopped cutting cookies and looked from one to
the other. “What's so funny?”

“
Nothing important, Aunt Tootie. Adam just
noticed how gute I smelled,” Hal said, patting Adam on the
shoulder.

Tootie smiled at Adam. “ I smell as good at Hallie.
We had fun today. Hallie, I filled the cookie sheet.”

“
Gute job. I'll put it in the oven. The
potatoes are ready to mash. The cream cheese is soft. You need to
help me put this potato dish together so we can bake
it.”

Tootie surveyed the counters. “Have you got a kitchen
aid mixer somewhere?”

Hal frowned at Adam as he put his hand over his mouth
to hide a smile. “Nah, Aunt Tootie. That kind of mixer takes
electricity to operate. Is a mixer essential to make this
recipe?”

“
No, guess not. We have to mix the soft cream
cheese and sour cream together in a bowl. If you had a mixer, we
would add the potatoes next, but we can mash the potatoes in the
kettle and mix everything together. After that, we add the
seasonings and put the potatoes in a baking pan.”

Hal put a bowl on the table next to the hot kettle.
She pulled a hand potato masher out of a drawer and held it up.
“Which job do you want Aunt Tootie? Mash the potatoes or mix the
cream cheese and sour cream together.”

Tootie looked at the potato masher as if Hal had
tried to hand her the garden hoe again. Hal got a fork from the
silverware drawer, dropped it in the bowl and slid the bowl over by
Tootie. “There you go. Mix.”

Hal grabbed the kettle from the stove with a couple
of pot holders and drained the potatoes. She had the mashing done
by the time Tootie had the other ingredients and seasonings
mixed.

“
Okay, now what?” Hal asked.

“
You mix the potatoes in my bowl and pour the
whole thing in a baking pan.”

Hal did as she was instructed. Once the potatoes were
in the large square baking pan, she asked, “That it?”

“
Now you have to put pats of butter on
top.”

“
How much? About like a stick?”

“
Sounds right I think,” said Tootie slowly,
trying to rack her brain for the correct amount.

“
We make our own butter so I'll just spoon some
little mounds over the top.” Hal scattered the butter across the
creamy potatoes. “How does that look?”

“
I've kind of forgotten for sure. Plenty of
butter is good. Maybe add a few more spoonfuls to make sure,”
Tootie said.

As Hal added the extra butter, her head came up. She
sniffed the air. “The cookies! We forgot the cookies. Adam, please
rescue them.”

Adam shot out of his chair, grabbed two pot holders,
opened the oven door and brought the tray out. He hurried to the
table and plopped the tray down.

Hal said, “How do the cookies look?”

Adam made a circle with his finger and thumb.

“
Gute,” Hal said with relief.

Tootie sniffed disagreeably as she inspected the
baking sheet. “A little too crispy on the bottom for me, but maybe
everyone else will eat them.”

“
That's gute to know since those cookies are
our only dessert,” Hal snipped as she put the potato pan in the
oven.

The rest of the supper was made up of dishes she
could cook on top of the stove; canned corn, greens, tomato gravy
and biscuits. While she got the pans and a skillet from the
cupboard she said to Tootie, “Open the jars for me. The can opener
is in the drawer where I got the potato masher.”

Tootie stared into the drawer. She looked helplessly
at Hal and said in a tiny voice, “What does it look like?”

Adam came to her rescue. He reached into the drawer
and handed the opener, with a stiff pointed end for opening juice
cans and a hook for opening jar lids, to her. “Thank you, Adam. I'm
used to an electric opener,” Tootie excused.

About a half hour later, Hal said, “I smell
smoke.”

Tootie added, “Something is burning in the oven.
Smoke coming out around the door. Oh my, the oven is making an
awful sizzling noise.”

Hal opened the door quickly. “Fudge! What a mess. The
melted butter is running over the side of the pan and burning on
the oven bottom. What can we do?”

“
How about putting a piece of tinfoil in there
to catch the butter.” Tootie glanced at the clock. “We still have
at least fifteen minutes before the potatoes are done.”

Hal went to the pantry after the tinfoil. She tore
off a large strip and folded it in half. She opened the oven door
to place the foil over the burning puddle. Too late. Most of the
melted butter had dripped over the edge of the pan. Dense gray
smoke rolled out at her. As she shoved the tin foil in, flames
ignited in the butter pool. The volcanic smoke cloud darkened to
black as it bellowed out and filled the room.

“
Adam, help. The oven's on fire,” Hal shrieked
as she backed up.

Adam grabbed one of the larger pot holders from Hal's
hand and batted at the flames.

“
Quick, Aunt Tootie, we can't stand breathing
this smoke. Open all the windows and doors,” Hal ordered. They
scurried to let the smoke out. They came back to the kitchen to
find smoke smudged Adam, watery eyed and flushed faced, standing in
the murky haze, pointing to the shut oven door.

“
Adam, are you all right?” Tootie asked,
coughing.

Adam shook his head no with his hand over his
nose.

“
You burnt anywhere?” Hal looked him over as he
shook his head no. He handed her the charred and frayed pot holder.
“Thank you, Adam. You're a lifesaver. What about you, Aunt Tootie?
You have black smudges all over your face. You should wash that off
before anyone sees you.”

“
Your face is as black as mine and Adam's. You
both should wash, too,” declared Tootie.

In the living room, the little girls belted out angry
cries. John and Jim rushed in from the mud room.

“
Where is the fire?” John demanded.

“
It was in the oven. Adam put it out,” Hal
said.”

“
Good thing Adam was here,” Jim
declared.

Noah and Daniel appeared behind the men. Noah asked,
“Is it safe to come in?”

“
The way all that smoke is shooting out of the
windows and doors makes the house look like one big chimney,”
Daniel exclaimed.

The front screen door slammed. Emma yelled, “Everyone
all right in here?”

“
Where are you?” Nora asked, coughing and
waving her hand in front of her face.

“
We're in the kitchen,” Hal called.

“
Poor babies,” Nora exclaimed. She picked the
little girls up and rushed back outside.

Emma waved her hand in front of her face as she
turned in a circle, inspecting the kitchen. “My clean kitchen. It
wonders me how it could have come to look like this in the short
time I was gone.”

“
I'm sorry, Dear,” Tootie said contritely as if
she meant it.

Hal said, “We're going to clean this mess up. Aren't
we, Aunt Tootie?”

“
Oh yes, I'd be glad to help if I don't catch
pneumonia first from breathing in all this smoke.” She had a
coughing attack just to prove the point.

Suddenly from the living room came more voices. “Is
everyone all right in here?” Stella Strutt demanded.

“
Do you need our help?” Moses asked. “Should we
call the fire department?”

Hal hissed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling “Just
what we need for company right now. Moses and Stella Strutt. How
cruel is this?”

“
I agree,” spit out Tootie.

Stella tromped into the kitchen on her swollen feet,
waving her hand in front of her face. “Need help?”

“
Nah,” John said. “Denki, but the fire is
out.”

“
Denki to God, you have the fire out already.”
Moses looked around. “Where was the fire?”

John pointed to the stove. “In the oven.”

The oven was still making protesting sizzles as the
last of the butter burnt on the hot bottom. Only a small trickle of
gray smoke leaked from around the door.

“
What happened?” Stella demanded, pushing the
brim of her black bonnet away from her eyes.

Hal and Tootie looked at each other. Finally, Hal
answered. “We were just baking a potato dish Aunt Tootie knew
about.”

“
Holy Buckets! The potato casserole! We better
get it out of the oven, or it will be over cooked,” Tootie said
urgently.

Stella gave Tootie a hard look as she and the others
parted so Hal could bring the steaming pan to the table.

They forgot about Tootie's slip of the tongue as they
stared at the cause of the fire. Hal said, “It looks all
right.”

Tootie frowned. “Maybe a little browner than it
should be.”

“
Might taste like smoke,” Jim said.

“
That looks just like my Party Potatoes. Is
it?” Nora demanded.

Tootie nodded.

“
That recipe may never be the same again. You
maybe should change the name to Smoky Party Potatoes,” Jim said
with a chuckle.

Nora elbowed him and nodded at how dejected Hal and
Tootie looked from the teasing.

Hal grumped, “Aunt Tootie, this whole thing wouldn't
have happened if you had let me stop with the first batch of
butter. That last I added was too much.”

“
Don't blame me. This whole mess was all your
fault. The pan you put the potatoes in was too small. If you had
gotten out a bigger baking pan, the butter would have stayed in
it,” huffed Tootie.

John leaned against the wall and stuffed his hands in
his trouser pockets as his eyes darted from his wife to her aunt
and back to Hal.

Stella Strutt gave one of her finest, loud, throat
clearing noises. Everyone quieted. She faced John. “This is a
miracle, John Lapp. A miracle for sure.”

“
I hardly think a fire in the oven makes for a
miracle, Stella. It did not burn the house down,” John said
dryly.

Jim chuckled. “Maybe that is the miracle.”

“
I am not talking about the fire,” Stella said,
ignoring Hal Lapp's English father. “The miracle is how calm you
are, John Lapp, when a calamity like this happens. This sort of
thing always happens when
she's
around.” Stella nodded at Hal accusingly.

“
I figure I might as well accept what happens.
No need to question what has occurred that I can not change. It is
God's will,” John said flatly.

“
Amen,” Stella Strutt said. “Come on, Moses.
Time to go. We have inhaled enough smoke. Enough smoke for
sure.”

Tootie watched the sassy woman leave. “I'm glad she's
gone.” Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout.

“
Now what, Aunt Tootie?” Hal said in her
ear.

Tootie whispered, “I was just thinking you don't have
to worry about smelling nice anymore. We both smell like chimney
swifts.”

Emma patted Adam on the arm. “You are all right?” He
had a save me look on his face. “We need to get out of here for a
few minutes while the smoke clears. Come for a walk with me before
I help with supper.”

Once they were out in the fresh air, they both took a
deep breath.

“
Sorry I did not get home sooner. The school
house needed more attention than I thought it would. Gute thing
Mammi Nora went along to help me,” Emma said. “Did you have a gute
visit with, Aendi Tootie and Hallie?”

Adam gave her a nonplused squint and wrote, “Are you
kidding?”

“
Well, I mean other than you having to save the
house from burning down,” Emma said offhandedly.

Adam grinned. He held up two fingers and put one
down.

“
Oh, let me guess which one you did not have
such a gute visit with. Aendi Tootie?”

Adam nodded agreement.

“
Figures. We all have to endure her. Since you
will be part of this family you might as well get used to her,”
Emma said matter of factly.

Adam wrote on his notepad, “That is what Hal told
me.”

“
I have been thinking about our future. Maybe
we should decide soon about the wedding,” Emma blurted
out.

Adam wrote, “You suddenly in a rush before I meet any
more of Hal's relatives and change my mind?”

Emma laughed and slapped his arm. “Jah, that is the
reason.” She turned serious. “What I wanted to say was I turn
eighteen in September. I should take the lessons so I can join the
church. After that we can set a wedding date.”

Adam clapped his hands.

“
Not so fast. I would like to teach school one
more year,” Emma said, watching him for a reaction. “I did not
think I would ever say this, but I really enjoyed teaching last
year.”

Adam wrote, “You can teach after we are married if
you want to do it.”

“
Really? You would not mind,” Emma
squealed.

Adam shook his head no.

“
That is why I love you, Adam Keim,” Emma said,
giving him a big hug. “Now I should go help cook supper, before we
have a repeat disaster. I don't know how I can ever leave Hallie
alone in the kitchen. I am gone a day and look what happened.” She
gave Adam a quick kiss. “Maybe later we can talk about setting the
wedding date.”