“Ach! I think I’ve caught my dress!” She stopped and then tripped forward into the front seat.
Joshua reached out, but didn’t know what to do. “Are you alright?”
“Jah.” She smiled sheepishly at him. “I can be a little klutzy.”
“It’s okay, we all have our gifts.”
Marianna laughed and shook her head. “How was your day?”
“It was gut.” Joshua pulled the buggy out onto the street beside the candle shop.
Marianna smiled. “I hope I didn’t keep you in town later than you planned.”
“Nee, I was helping my mamm. I think I’m done moving display shelves around the shop.” Joshua looked over at her. “I’ve moved all of them at least once.”
“I’ll have to stop in and see how it looks,” Marianna said. “I haven’t seen you in a while. What else have you been doing?”
“I’m actually working on a new idea,” Joshua told her, surprised that he was excited to talk to her about it.
“I would love to hear about it.”
“I’m looking into making deliveries in town after I deliver milk. I got the idea after Daniel mentioned needing help with the bakery delivery to the coffee shop.”
“That’s a great idea!” Marianna said, and then added, “in fact, Diane had me watch the shop while she went to your mamm’s candle shop.”
“Hmm…great idea. I can ask Mamm about candle deliveries too.” Joshua shook his head. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought about his mother’s shop.
“Also, Diane had to go to the post office as well. Maybe you could drop off items at the post office too.”
“Marianna, you are full of great ideas. Danke!”
* * *
Chapter 3
“Joshua! Great! You’re here. I want you to hear this too,” Naomi called to him from the kitchen.
He had just walked into the bakery to pick up the delivery for the coffee shop. Naomi had gathered Daniel, Elizabeth, and his sister, Lucinda around one of the tables. Naomi had a pad of paper in her hand.
“Okay,’ he said and joined them in the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“It’s about Marianna.”
“Is she alright?” Joshua was suddenly feeling panicked. He immediately worried that she was sick or hurt.
“Jah, she’s fine.” Naomi gave him a funny look. “Her birthday is coming up in a few weeks. We are having a special dinner, of course. It’s always been a small party with just the four of us, and then lately just the three of us. I thought it would be fun to invite more people and have it be a bigger spring party.”
“Naomi, that’s a wonderful idea. She will love it,” Elizabeth said.
“I think we’ll plan the party for the Friday before her birthday.” Naomi pointed to the calendar on the wall. “She’ll know we are having the party, just not that it’s for her birthday. I’ll just tell her it’s a spring party for everyone to get together.”
“Let us know what we can do to help. I’ll be happy to bring food, maybe sandwiches and potato salad,” Lucinda offered.
“Jah, that would be great. Perhaps you and I could sit down and put together a list of food we need and then if anyone asks what to bring we would have suggestions.”
“Why don’t we have it our house?” Joshua suggested. “We have extra tables and Marianna wouldn’t be expecting a birthday party at our house.”
“Perfect.” Naomi added a note to the pad of paper.
“I can bring over a volleyball net,” Daniel offered.
“That would be perfect. So it will be next Friday. I’ll tell her about my idea for the spring party tonight. So don’t mention it until tomorrow, okay?” Naomi said.
Everyone agreed.
Daniel added a box to the basket and set it on the counter. “Joshua, here’s the coffee shop delivery, we were waiting for the muffins to cool.”
“Since I have you here, I was wondering about something. Do you have other regular deliveries to make in town?”
“A few, not as regular as the coffee shop though.” Daniel rubbed his chin. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m thinking about starting a delivery service here in town. I’m done delivering milk by about nine o’clock when I deliver to the places here in town. Usually I go home and help around the milk barn, but my daed just recently hired someone to help out and there’s not really a need for me to be there too. I’m starting to think that I would really like to do something that’s my own.”
“I completely understand what you are saying. I was feeling the same three months ago,” Daniel said with a gesture to the bakery. “I would be happy to give you our deliveries. I’ll get a list together today and we can discuss it this afternoon.”
“Great! Danke, Daniel. I’ll be in after the lunch rush to take Marianna home.”
“Marianna has been a great help here…as long as she stays at the counter.”
Joshua frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Daniel chuckled. “Almost every time she comes into the kitchen she has some sort of mishap. You were here the day she tripped and nearly knocked the coffee shop order off the counter. Yesterday, she nearly dumped a tray of soup bowls on the floor.”
Joshua winced. “She did tell me that she was a bit of a klutz. I think she gets nervous and doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on around her.” He was feeling like he needed to defend her, even though he knew that Daniel wasn’t being mean.
“Jah, both she and Naomi have been through a lot. I worry more about her getting upset about breaking bowls or dropping an order than I do about anything getting broken or dropped,” Daniel told him.
Joshua nodded, relieved that Daniel was so understanding
“She does so much at home and rarely goes anywhere.” Daniel shook his head. ”Naomi thinks that she feels she needs to stay home and take care of everyone in an effort to make sure no one will get sick like her mamm.”
Joshua hadn’t thought of it that way. It made him sad for her. She was such a joyful person and he hated that she kept worries like that inside her. “Naomi is probably right. I hope working here and putting more of her art in the gift shop will help too.”
“Jah. I’m so glad that you mentioned her artwork. I wanted to talk to her about working on a more permanent sign. When we first opened it was still so cold out, that we just went with a lettered sign to replace the old one.”
“Well, I’m going to talk to some more shop owners about my idea. I want to gauge interest and see if this idea is worth starting.”
“I think it’s a great idea, and I’m sure others will too.” Daniel shook his hand. “We’ll talk more this afternoon.”
* * *
As soon as Marianna walked into the bakery she looked for her sister. She came over early before the lunch rush, as she had good news to share about her artwork. From the front she didn’t see Naomi in the kitchen, and she went around the counter to look for her.
Elizabeth and Lucinda were talking at one of the tables with a pad of paper in front of them. When Lucinda saw Marianna, she stopped talking and picked up the pad of paper, holding it down next to her side. Elizabeth looked up a little startled.
Marianna felt queasy, and suddenly it hit her. It was the second time today that people stopped talking when she walked into the room. She’d seen it before when her mother was sick. She looked over at Elizabeth who was talking to Daniel. She looked concerned and then looked over at Marianna. Daniel shook his head and then patted Elizabeth on the arm.
“Marianna, can I talk to you for a minute?”
She nodded slowly. “Sure.” What was he going to tell her? Was Naomi okay? Marianna still hadn’t seen her sister. She blew out a deep breath. Naomi was probably just in the office dealing with orders like she did every day before lunch.
Daniel led her out to one of the tables. He had a pad of paper with him and a pencil. “I wanted to talk to you about paying you to paint us a new sign.”
A new
sign? She smiled, a little relieved. “I could do that. What did you have in mind?”
“I was over at Diane’s gift shop yesterday and really liked your artwork. Do you think you could design something special for the bakery?”
“Jah, I could.” She and Daniel had talked a little about it when the bakery first opened.
He set the pad of paper on the table. “Now don’t laugh. I’m not an artist but I had a few ideas that perhaps you could put together. Actually, after looking at my drawing, you’ll probably laugh no matter what.” He grinned and flipped to a page on the pad with some drawings.
The drawings were just sketches, and while they weren’t great, they got the idea across. She grinned at him. “Would it help if I said I’d seen much worse?”
“Jah, that helps a lot.” He chuckled and pointed to the drawing near the top of the page. “I would like some sort of sunburst, but after that I’m kind of lost.”
She flipped to a new page and started sketching. “This will be quick and simple but we can make as many changes as you would like.”
She sketched out a sixteen point sunburst and added hearts and flowers alternating between the star points. “This is similar to a quilt design.”
“Marianna, the design is perfect.” Daniel held up the paper. “I think it will look great on the sign.”
“I can use similar shades of orange and yellow for the sun and some deep pinks for the hearts and tulips. I’ll draw a color version of it with pencils tonight and see if you want any changes.”
“I can’t wait to see it. Danke.” Daniel stood up. “Guess it’s time to get ready for the lunch crowd.
“Jah.” She followed him back into the kitchen.
After the lunch rush, Marianna looked into the office and saw that Naomi was on the phone. She had left her bag on a bench next to the desk so she walked in quietly.
“Jah, I just need to find out from Daed. Nee, he said not to say anything either.” Naomi looked up and saw Marianna as she walked by, her face registered surprise.
“Sorry, I just wanted to get my bag.” She picked up her bag and left.
As she walked out she heard Naomi say, “it was Marianna; I don’t know how long she was there.”
Marianna walked through the kitchen and went out the back door. She sat down on a wooden crate and cried.
Why, Gott? Why is this happening? I should have stayed home and taken care of Daed. Please take care of him. He is gut and faithful. Amen
Marianna heard someone calling her name and realized it was Joshua. She quickly wiped her eyes; she didn’t want him to see that she had been crying.
The door opened and Joshua was standing in the doorway. “Are you okay?”
“Jah.” Marianna straightened her shoulders and tried to compose herself.
“Everyone is a little worried about you.” He let the door shut behind him. “They said you looked upset when you came through the kitchen.”
“Nee, just a little overwhelmed by how busy everything was today.”
Joshua looked at her for a bit before asking, “are you sure that’s all it is?
Marianna nodded. “Daniel wants me to paint the new sign so I think that has me a little off kilter too, but I don’t want to let him down.” She was telling the truth. As much as she was looking forward to painting the sign, she was nervous about it too.
“Fridays are very busy here in town, so by the time you come back on Tuesday it will be much better. As for the painting, your work is very pretty and I know you will do a great job.”
“Danke.”
“Are you ready to go home?”
She let out a big sigh. “Jah. You seem to be my caretaker these days,” she said, grinning.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
“Jah?” She looked up at him, and felt a little calmer.
He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. “Jah.”
* * *
Chapter 4
Joshua finished his morning deliveries and went straight to his mother’s candle shop.
“Hi Joshua, I’m surprised to see you here. Did you need something?” His mother asked .
“Actually, I was wondering if you had a lot of clients in town that you deliver to or could use a delivery service.”
“I have several clients that I deliver candles to, or that have standing orders.” She tilted her head. “Why do you ask?”
“I’ve decided to start a delivery service. Daed doesn’t really need me during the day since he hired Henry. Daniel mentioned that he needed someone to deliver for the bakery and it made me think there might be a need in town. I thought I would ask around and see if anyone else was interested.”
“I think it’s a great idea. This town has grown a lot since I opened my shop. A delivery service in town would be really helpful. Good for you.” She patted his arm. “I have a list of the deliveries I make and my regular orders too. I’ll bring them home tonight.”
He was glad that she was so supportive of the idea, but he still felt a little cautious. “Great. I want to sit down and look at everything, and make sure I don’t have fifty deliveries on Tuesdays and then nothing on Wednesdays.”
“Ach, that’s smart.” She smiled at him. “I’m pretty sure that most of my clients would be fine with adjusting their delivery day.”
He nodded. “Oh, also if you need anything to go to the post office I can do that too.”
“Perfect.” She pointed towards the front of the shop. “There’s a stack of mail and a box to go, too. It’s all set. Danke.”
“You’re welcome. See you at home tonight.” He waved and left, picking up his mother’s stack of mail on his way out.
He stopped at the coffee shop and the quilt store and received a positive response and more mail. The gift shop was next on his list.
Diane was behind the counter. “Joshua, how are you today?”
“I’m gut. How are you?”
“I’m doing well. It’s nice having people in the store early in the day.”
He saw Marianna at the back of the store painting. She looked up and smiled at him. He nodded and smiled back, not wanting to disturb her.
“I was wondering if you had any baskets for sale?
“Baskets? Sure, I have several shelves of them.” She came out from behind the counter. “Can I ask what you need it for? That way I can help choose the shape you need.”
“I’m looking for something to keep in my buggy for mail,” he explained. “I’m starting a delivery service here in town and picking up mail is part of my service.”
Joshua, what a fantastic idea!” Diane said. “I wish the post office would pick up mail here. They deliver the mail and packages to the group mailboxes at the end of the street, but getting my mail delivered is difficult.”
“My mother has the same issue, but Marianna is the one that gave me the idea. She said that you have a hard time getting to the post office since you can’t leave the shop unattended.”
“Thank you, Marianna,” Diane called over to her. “Now I don’t have to worry about getting to the post office.”
Marianna smiled. “You’re welcome, but the delivery service was really all Joshua’s idea. I just happened to suggest adding the post office deliveries.”
Diane smiled at her and then looked back to Joshua. “She is such a sweet girl. I love having her in the store in the mornings.”
“Jah, she is very kind and caring.” He wanted to add joyful and beautiful and several other things. He frowned as he realized what he was thinking. In a few short days, Marianna had gone from being someone he casually knew to someone he cared about quite a bit.
He looked over at her and she looked down quickly, her eyebrows knitted together. She began painting again and he figured she was working on a complicated part of the design.
“Will this basket work?” Diane held up a rectangular basket. “If you put them in sideways and lean them I think this would work well.”
“That looks per
fect to me.” He walked with her up to the counter. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
“What?” He looked at her confused.
“It’s my congratulatory gift on your new business.” She shook a finger at him and smiled. “And don’t even think about arguing with me.”
He laughed and shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t. Thank you.”
“Joshua, it’s great that you are doing this. When you get everything set up come see me and I can put together a list of your delivery services and print it out for you. Then you will have something to hand out to some of the other business in town.”
“That sounds wonderful.” He nodded, trying to think of where else he could visit.
“The buggy repair shop might not have anything you could deliver here in town, but they may get a weekly delivery from the grocery store or another shop.”
“I didn’t think of that. Thank you.”
The phone rang and Diane nodded at him as she picked up the call.
Joshua waved to Marianna in the back and left the store.
* * *
“Where are we going?” Marianna asked Naomi.
“Over to Lucinda’s house. We’re going to talk about the spring party.” Naomi pushed her out the front door and closed the door behind them.
Marianna thought for a moment. “I wasn’t sure if she was still having the party.”
Turning onto the road, Naomi asked, “why do you say that?”
“I asked her yesterday if there was anything I could bring or if I could help set things up. She just looked at me like she didn’t know what I was talking about.” Marianna shrugged, it had been so strange. There had been a lot of odd moments since she had started at the bakery, and although it was just her first week, she somehow felt as though she didn’t quite belong.
Naomi gave her a funny look. “Hmm, maybe she was just preoccupied with an order at work. We had quite a bit to get done today.”
“Jah, that could be it.” Marianna didn’t want to complain to Naomi; the bakery was her favorite place.
“So how are things at the gift shop?”
“Gut. Diane has really enjoyed having someone in the shop in the mornings,” Marianna said. “And I’m getting more work done on Daniel’s sign.”
AMISH ROMANCE: The Amish Bakery Boxed Set: 4-Book Clean Inspirational Box Set - Includes Bonus Book Page 6