The Amish Clockmaker by Mindy Starns Clark

walked over to relieve Amanda from the situation, asking them if they needed help finding anything. They pelted me with questions about Clayton Raber, but when I offered no exciting answers, they left.
    I was about to return to my work area when, yet again, the bells rang. Two Amish men walked through, one younger and one older. I was prepared to tell them we wanted no part of their curiosity or rumors, but I could see by the knowledgeable way they looked around the store that they were here to shop, not gossip. Finally, some actual customers.
    â€œExcuse me,” the younger man said. “Where is your leather strapping?” He motioned to the older man beside him, explaining that he and his grandfather had a buggy shop down near Strasburg. “We’ve always bought our supplies at Waggoner’s since it’s so close, but now that he’s retiring, he suggested we look here.”
    Deeply pleased at this development, I was about to respond when I heard Amanda gasp. I turned around quickly to see if she was okay, but when I looked at her, she was smiling. She walked past me and up to the two men.
    â€œWhat a nice surprise seeing you in here!” she exclaimed. She shook both of their hands warmly, as if they were old friends. Turning to me, she said, “This is my husband, Matthew.” I stepped forward and shook both of their hands. “Matthew, this is Joel and Tyler Miller.”
    The tone of her voice indicated I should know who they were. Miller. I recognized the last name but couldn’t remember why.
    Tyler must have seen the confusion on my face because he paused to explain. “We’re related to the blacksmith Jake Miller. I’m his nephew—though we grew up more like brothers—and this is his father.”
    Miller. Now I remembered. Fumbling over my words, I welcomed themto the store, shook their hands again, and excused myself, retreating to the closed aisle as fast as was polite. I was more familiar with the name “Jake Miller” than I wanted to be. Amanda had courted him. She had been courting him, in fact, at the same time she was falling in love with me.
    Whether these two men knew the whole story or not, I could still feel the heat in my face as I considered what Jake Miller must surely think of me, the “other man” who stole his girlfriend away. Then again, by doing so, I had freed him up to be available for the true love of his life. Obviously, things had worked out well for both of us in the end.
    Working back behind the shelves, I couldn’t really hear Tyler and Amanda’s conversation at the register. But then she brought him to the section of the store with the leather straps, which was right on the other side of the aisle where I stood. Through no fault of my own, I was privy to their entire conversation.
    At first they just talked about the merchandise and the kinds of products the Millers would be buying here from now on. But then their voices grew silent for a moment.
    â€œHow’s Jake?” Amanda asked after the lull.
    â€œHe’s doing well. He and Priscilla just had their first child a few weeks ago, a boy. They named him Daniel, after her late father. Mother and son are healthy.”
    â€œThat’s wonderful,” Amanda said with sincerity.
    â€œJake misses his family and friends here, of course, not to mention his mother’s cooking. But otherwise he’s happily married and enjoying Indiana. His blacksmith shop there has grown so much, in fact, that this past spring he hired his first employee, a second blacksmith, to work along with him.”
    Amanda expressed her happiness and asked another question, but I was no longer listening. Relief had washed over me. I’d harbored such guilt about the whole matter, and seeing Joel and Tyler had reawakened that fear. But now that I knew Jake really had ended up with the right woman after all—as had I—I could forgive myself and let it go.
    My