The Amish Marriage Bargain (Love Inspired)

by Marie E. Bast

  May hooked the pail of oats to the stall door and headed to the haus, excitement bubbling in her to hear the news of Sarah’s new boppli. She was happy for her friend. Sarah had been married to Samuel for ten years but they had never had kinner. After his death, she’d never planned on having the joy of a family until she married Caleb a few years ago. Now Sarah would finally be a mamm.

  May entered the kitchen in a daze of happiness for her friend. She turned to see Thad and his mother hovering over the canned string beans on the counter. They both turned at her entrance. Thad’s face was covered in regret, Gretchen’s was a glare. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” Gretchen began. “Most of these beans you canned the other day are spoiled. The lids never sealed, and you apparently never checked them. Every woman knows to check to make sure they sealed.”

  May ran to the counter and gasped. Gretchen was right. The lids weren’t sealed and the beans were bubbling with fermentation. She glanced up and locked eyes with Thad. “I guess I forgot.”

  “You forgot! Such carelessness!” Gretchen hissed.

  “Mamm, May feels bad enough. What’s done is done.”

  “Well, I’ll leave you two to take care of the mess.” Gretchen huffed to the screen door, letting it bang on her way out.

  “May, I’m sorry, I must have distracted you. We started talking about other things when we were done and just forgot. I’ll start taking off lids while you can get a bucket.”

  She hurried back and helped Thad empty the jar contents into the bucket. “I checked the first few jars when they came out of the canner. They sealed, and I guess I got busy and didn’t check the others. I feel like such an idiot.”

  “Nein. I’m sure Mamm knows by experience, she just doesn’t want to say it. Besides, it’s always a lot easier to criticize someone else’s work.” He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

  She turned toward him and he hugged her. It felt gut to have him stand up for her against his mamm, but she still felt stupid. But that wouldn’t happen again.

  She ached from embarrassment as she dumped a lot of hard work into the slop bucket.

  Thad took a jar, opened it and dumped. “You don’t have to help me,” May said.

  “Of course I do. We’re partners. You’re helping me out keeping the farm, why shouldn’t I help you? We’re in this together. Don’t feel bad. It’s the kind of error that we all make. The ones you checked should have been a gut indication of the whole group. It just so happened in this case they weren’t.”

  “Danki for your understanding.”

  “How was the frolic?”

  “Very exciting. In all the fuss over the beans, I forgot to tell you about it. We were all talking and having a gut time and all of a sudden Sarah Brenneman goes into labor. Christine called the midwife to meet Sarah at her haus. Fortunately, Caleb had driven Sarah over to the Yoders’ and was waiting outside for her, so they could get right home.”

  “Wow, you don’t get that kind of excitement at a frolic very often. So has she had her boppli yet?”

  “We haven’t heard yet.”

  It was nice just talking to Thad about her day, Sarah thought to herself. They didn’t often do that. He was always so tired after working on the farm all day, and now, with her foot healing, sometimes the effort of getting around wore her out and she went to sleep early.

  She glanced over at Thad. “Danki again for helping clean up the mess. That was so thoughtful.”

  When they finished the cleanup, Thad went out to do chores and May leaned a hip against the sink and stared at the counter where the beans had sat. She’d make sure that never happened again, but what hurt most was that Thad’s mamm had scolded her like a child. Her sharp tongue cut faster than a double-edged blade.

  At 7:00 p.m., a buggy came up the driveway and stopped at the haus. May ran to the front door. “Caleb, how is Sarah?”

  “She is doing well.” His smile stretched from ear to ear. “It’s a boy!”

  “Congratulations! Jacob will be a gut big bruder to him. Have you named him?”

  “He is named after his two grossdaedi, Michael Paul Brenneman.”

  “Datt’s a fine name. Is Mary at the bakery?”

  “Nein. We closed the bakery for a couple of days. Mary wants to stay home with Sarah and the boppli. The whole family is excited.”

  “Of course. Tell Mary I can help when she needs it. Josie is here to watch Leah, but if Josie goes home soon, I’ll just bring Leah with me.”

  “Nein, that won’t be necessary. Mary has hired a friend to work in the bakery. I need to get going, I have a couple more stops to make.”

  “Danki for letting us know, Caleb.” She closed the screen door and watched Caleb rush to his buggy. He waited when he saw Thad walk over from the barn. May heard the excitement in his voice as he told Thad the news.

  Sadness drifted over her heart. Right now, it was doubtful she’d ever have kinner. After all, her and Thad’s marriage was only one of convenience.

  Wasn’t it?

  * * *

  The next morning, May sat with Leah and Blackie on the grass in front of the haus and watched them play. Blackie hopped around jumping at bugs and birds and chasing her tail. Leah played tug-of-war with her with her chew toy. She’d hold it out, Blackie would try to get it, she’d pull it away and laugh. Leah tried to push herself to stand, but was wobbly.

  “Oh, are you going to try to walk? You are so big.”

  Leah plopped back down, then picked up the chew toy and poked it at Blackie.

  Wheels crunching over rocks and horse’s hooves tromping the ground stole May’s attention as Janie parked her buggy under the oak tree by the haus. She stepped down and ran toward May, her eyes and cheeks glazed with tears.

  May jumped up and wrapped Janie in a hug. “What’s wrong?”

  Janie gasped for breath. “Jonah says he can’t court me any longer.”

  “Why, did he give a reason?”

  “His mamm told him I wasn’t the right girl for him.”

  May could hardly believe her ears. She had no idea the extent of Gretchen Hochstetler’s sway over her buwe. Nein, they weren’t buwe, they were men. “What? He listens to his mamm when he wants to find a frau?”

  “Apparently so, and you know Gretchen, she is pushy.” Janie looked around. “I hope she isn’t close by to hear me. That’s all I need.”

  “Nein, I saw her and her ehemann Aaron leave the dawdi haus earlier and they’re not back yet.” May motioned at the blanket Leah was sitting on. “I’m afraid I know Gretchen only too well. Now, sit and tell me the whole story.”

  Her friend wiped away the tears from her cheeks and sat down. “Not much to tell really. He stopped by yesterday and said that we could no longer court, that his mamm said she had someone he needed to meet, and she just knew he’d liebe her. She wouldn’t quit pestering Jonah about it until he broke it off with me.” Janie sniffled, took a hanky and dried her eyes.

  “He told you that?” The heat burned its way up May’s neck. “So without even seeing or talking to this mädel, he breaks up with you?”

  “Apparently so.” Her shoulders shook with each sob. “I’m sorry, May.”

  “For what?”

  “For not realizing how much it hurt you when Thad dumped you for April.” Janie blew her nose. “I was really insensitive. I remember I joked around about how Thad was so cute, you should marry him. I never stopped to think how that must actually have felt.”

  Stunned, May straightened her back and rubbed a hand across the grass. “For Leah’s sake, I pushed that behind me and haven’t thought about it since Thad and I married.”

  “I just wanted you to know that now I understand what you went through.” She patted May’s arms. “I didn’t mean to open old wounds and hurt you again.”


  “It’s oll recht. But now that I think about it, Gretchen always did like April better than me. I wonder if she told Thad the same thing?” She swallowed hard as the thought settled upon her like the dust stirred up from galloping hooves.

  If Gretchen had poked her nose into her and Thad’s courtship, that would explain so much.

  Chapter Eleven

  May finished sewing her strips of rags together, then started rolling them in a ball. Jah, this group of blues and yellows would make a beautiful rug when she had it woven.

  Thad stepped in the doorway. “So here you are.” He crossed the sewing room and sat in the chair next to hers. He smelled gut. She tried to keep the smile off her face, but it was hard. The scent of his goat’s milk soap was a little intoxicating, and he’d combed his hair. He looked so handsome.

  “How’s the new rug coming along?” he asked, his voice almost startling her.

  “Your old shirts are going to look great alongside the yellow of this old tablecloth. What’s your dairy association meeting about tonight?”

  “They want to start dumping milk in protest for having to sell it at regular price. Other small farmers across the country are starting to dump.”

  May laid her ball of strips down and faced Thad. “What do you think?”

  “I hate to dump perfectly gut milk, but I feel it’s important to follow what the majority wants. The association members need to stick together. They’ll probably take a vote tonight. But I shouldn’t be home too late. They might just have a discussion, then take the vote, if not tonight, then at the next meeting. They are letting everyone think about it.”

  “Does discussion mean argue? Dumping sounds like a touchy subject when it comes to money. There could be strong opinions on both sides of the issue.”

  Thad chuckled. “Jah, I’m afraid you’re probably right.” He glanced at the clock. “I better get going. See you later.”

  At 7:00 p.m., May glanced out the window. Black clouds rolled and rumbled across the evening sky. The air had turned a greenish-gray. She laid her ball of strips down and hurried downstairs to close all the windows.

  When she entered the kitchen, Thad burst through the door, turned and slammed it closed.

  “What’s going on, Thad?”

  His face was ashen. “There’s a tornado coming across the field. Grab Leah and head to the basement. Where’s Josie?”

  May gasped. “She and Leah are both upstairs.”

  “New plan. I’ll run up and get them. You get a lantern and go to the basement and get into the southwest corner. We’ll be right down.”

  May scurried downstairs, hurriedly cleared the southwest corner and dragged an old mattress close so they could cover themselves with it. Within seconds, Thad was marching down the stairs holding Leah, followed by Josie close on his heels. By the time they reached her, the day had turned as black as night and the wind’s howling was deafening, sounding like a freight train passing directly overhead. Thad passed Leah to May, then grabbed the mattress and held it over them.

  Before the mattress covered her eyes, May glanced at the window. She could see the trees bending so far over, she feared they’d snap clean off. She heard a loud cracking, like a tree falling. Crashing sounds next to the haus and farther away in the distance made her squeeze Thad’s arm. Glass breaking upstairs along with thumps, bumps and bangs made her huddle closer to Thad and Leah, with Josie clinging close on the other side of Thad.

  Leah began to cry. May attempted to soothe her. “Shh, it’ll be all right.”

  “Nein. Stop it! Stop it!” Leah screamed. The louder the storm raged, the louder her cries grew.

  “I know you’re scared, but we are here to protect you,” May cooed next to Leah’s ear. “Shh.”

  Thad wrapped May and Leah in his arms. “Josie, stay close.”

  “Jah, don’t worry, I will.”

  The wind died down and the crashing noises stopped. But the rain continued, and the hail pummeled the roof and the side of the haus so hard, May feared it might break the walls down. After what felt like hours, the storm finally quieted, and Thad pushed the mattress off them.

  The brightening sky pulled May’s attention to the basement window plastered with mud. Apparently, the pounding rain had splashed mud up from the ground. A shiver of fear ran through May’s heart.

  Thad started to stand but Leah clutched at his shirt. “Nein, Daed. Nein.” He kissed Leah’s head and held her close.

  “Shh, the storm is over. It’ll be okay. The worst is over. It’s just rain now.” When she quieted, he handed her back to May and started to stand.

  “Nein, Daed!” Leah screamed.

  “Okay. We’ll all stay here a while longer to make sure the storm has passed. Is everyone all right?”

  “Jah, just scared.” Josie’s voice quaked.

  “I’m fine.” May clutched Leah close to her chest to soothe the little mädel. After a while, she checked Leah. “She’s finally asleep,” she whispered to Thad. “We need to see if we should board up windows or doors so the rain doesn’t make things worse.”

  “I agree.” Thad kissed Leah on the cheek. “Hand her to Josie and let’s do a walk-through upstairs before we let them come up.” He looked at Josie. “Do you mind waiting down here?”

  “Nein, but could you bring us some blankets?”

  “Sure, give us a minute.” He grabbed May’s hand as if it was the natural thing to do and helped her up the basement stairs. He paused and drew in a deep breath before he unlatched the basement door and peered out. He pushed the door open and pulled May up to the top of the stairs. She held the lantern up and moved it around in an arc as they assessed the damage.

  May stared. The two west windows in the kitchen were broken and glass was scattered all over the room. The table and chairs were overturned. The cupboard doors were open and it looked like the storm had sucked everything off the shelves of one of the cabinets and thrown them around the room. They walked through the mess, Thad still clutching her hand.

  The sitting room was untouched. Thad led the way upstairs. May stayed close behind, her heart pounding against her ribs at what they might find.

  The empty west bedroom had a broken window and water had drenched the flooring. The rest of the second floor was untouched by the storm.

  Thad looked all around. “I’ll need to get the windows boarded up tonight. Let’s check the outside.”

  “Okay, but let me run some blankets down to Josie first.”

  Thad was waiting in the kitchen for her when she came up from the basement.

  “Ready?” He flashed an encouraging smile. She nodded and he threw open the door.

  He stepped onto the porch first, and she followed. It was 7:40 p.m. The sun breaking through the clouds was just setting, giving her enough light to see around the farm as they stepped off the porch.

  May swept her gaze from one side of the barnyard to the other. The barn and shed roofs lay scattered over the barnyard and field. Several trees were down and debris strewn all around. She pressed a hand to her chest. “It’s going to cost a lot of money to repair these buildings.”

  Thad nodded. “Money we don’t have for something as massive as this damage. I’m going to walk out into the pasture. Do you want to come along?”

  “Jah. We do this together.” She glanced his way, trying to focus through tear-filled eyes. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close to him as they walked out to the pasture. She scanned the land and saw that several cows were dead.

  Thad murmured, “I count twelve down.”

  May’s throat tightened as she burst into tears. “What are we going to do? There is so much damage.”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t have the money to repair all this. We can borrow from an Amish lender but the farm is barely making ends meet right now. I’m not sure where the extra money f
or the loan repayment will come from. Look at that field.” He pointed to the fall crop of squash and pumpkins. “It looks like a total loss but I’m hoping in the morning I can salvage some. I’ve been counting on the fall market. In order to survive, we’ll need a bumper crop next year and for milk prices to go up.”

  May surveyed the haus as they walked back. It didn’t look bad, but a lot of shingles were missing, which meant the haus roof would have to be reshingled. Thad let go of her hand and turned all around examining the land again. His shoulders slumped.

  Raindrops hit May’s hand, then quickly turned to a light shower. She ran up the porch steps while Thad kept looking around.

  “So much destruction, but it could have been worse. If every Amish farmer around here has this much damage, there won’t be enough money in our community to pay for all the damages. Everyone chips in, but that won’t work for this much damage.” When it started to rain harder, he jumped up the porch steps two at a time and plopped down in a chair next to May.

  He glanced her way. “I don’t know how we will ever recover from this.”

  She reached over and patted his arm. “The bishop will put the word out to the other Amish communities asking for help. We don’t know, maybe it’s just our farm that got this much damage.”

  “You’re right, and it could have been a lot worse.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “I’m going to check the milk room and get a hammer and some plywood to cover the broken windows until we can get them fixed. You better let Josie know she can come up but Leah needs to stay off the floor until we sweep.”

  “If she’s still asleep, I’ll just put her to bed and start cleaning up.”

  Thad gave her a hug. “We’ll get through this.” The feeling of his arms was comforting on so many different levels. He kissed her forehead and took his arms away. The cool air that passed between them when he stepped away let her know what she was missing.

  She smiled up at him. “Jah, we will. Together.”