In Time for an Amish Christmas
Page 18
This is what he said to me, “I went away again to think about everything. Agnes, I had to go home early when you were still visiting. It was a silly thing I was doing following you around the countryside.”
“You were following me?”
“I was.”
“Why?”
His eyes opened a little wider. “Isn’t it obvious?” He smiled at me and I knew what he meant.
I smiled back at him and then I was embarrassed by him looking at me and I had to look away.
He leaned closer to me, and whispered, “Your mudder asked me to keep an eye on you.”
My heart sank like a heavy lead weight, right to the bottom of my feet. “She what?” I was shocked that my mother would involve him like that in my life. She’d really gone too far this time. And she’d upset me. I thought he might have been in love with me.
“It’s hard for parents to let go and they have a special place in their hearts for you. They told me they nearly lost you as a boppli, and …”
“They shouldn’t have sent you all that way to spy on me.”
“I wasn’t spying. I was checking on you.”
I shook my head, angry with my parents.
“Why did you think I kept turning up everywhere?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn’t tell him that I thought he was in love with me. “I kept asking you that.”
“You seemed pleased to see me, when you saw me.”
“I was. You reminded me of home.”
“Is that all?”
I stared into his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He chuckled. “Your mudder was upset that you were leaving, and I wanted to get to know you more because you never paid me any mind when we were at your parents’ house. I thought it was a way to do both; that you and I could get to know each other better and it would make your Mamm happy knowing that I’d be there.”
I smiled at him. “Your plan worked.”
“There is something I must tell you, and that is that I got sick and had to come home early.”
“What do you mean you got sick?”
“I won’t go into all the details except to say the doctor found out that there is something wrong with me and the plain truth is I don’t have long to live.”
I could not believe his words. He was the best man I have ever found and now I knew I loved him. I guess that he thought the same because he conspired with my mother to go to all those places at the same time I was at them. He wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t liked me. “How bad is your illness?”
“They tell me I don’t have long. Six month, maybe more and maybe less.”
I held my stomach, I couldn’t believe my ears. I felt I was in a bad dream. “We can pray.”
“I know where I’m going, Agnes. I will gladly go home with Gott where I belong, at whatever time He wills it.”
I couldn’t stop the tears that came into my eyes.
“Don’t be sad,” he told me.
I wanted to scream out that it wasn’t fair.
Then he said, “I had plans for us in my mind until I found this out. I guess I shouldn’t have built things up until I’d talked to you.”
“And have those plans changed now that you have found out about your illness?” We both knew now that we liked each other. No mushy words had to be said.
“I don’t want to be a burden on you, Heidi.”
“Wouldn’t that be my choice to make, if I want to take on that burden?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t put you in that position.”
“Would you deny me what we could have in however long a time you have left?”
He smiled. "I didn’t think of it in that way.”
“You should start thinking that way.” I was trying to find words to tell him that I liked him without saying them, I just wanted him to know that I didn’t care how long we had.
“I had planned at the end of your trip to ask if you would marry me.”
“You were?”
He smiled and his eyes twinkled. “That’s right.”
“And if I tell you I’m willing to accept any time Gott gives us together, what would you say about that?”
“I wouldn’t say anything about that.”
I looked down quite sad because I wanted him to ask me to marry him.
Then he said, “I wouldn’t say anything, but I would ask you this; Agnes, would you marry me?”
He was still being funny even in an important moment like this. I liked his joyful heart. “Jah, I will.”
My words pleased him and I wanted more than anything to spend the rest of our lives making him happy. His happiness meant more to me than my own. “Now tell me what illness you have.”
“I have cancer.”
I’d heard of it and I knew it was bad. I told him we would face it together.
* * *
“It’s time, Heidi,” her mother opened the door and saw her reading. “You can’t be doing that now. Everyone is waiting for you downstairs. And look at you, you’re crying.”
“It’s sad, you see he’s dying.” Heidi wiped away a tear. “And it’s also happy because they’re getting married.”
“Who?”
“My grossdaddi, and grossmammi. Agnes and Malachi.”
She shook her head. “Put the book down now and wipe your eyes, and then find your smile and come downstairs and get married.”
Heidi wiped her eyes once more, and placed the book back down on top of the other two. She couldn’t wait to read more, but it might have to wait until she got back from the one week's vacation of visiting relatives that Derek had planned.
Heidi looked out the window. “More people are coming. Do you think we should wait for them to get inside the haus?”
Mamm leaned across Heidi and looked out the window. “Just another few minutes until you have dried your eyes then.”
“Denke, Mamm.”
As soon as her mother shut the door, she couldn’t wait any longer. She quickly grabbed another diary and leafed through it.
* * *
I saw the doctor for the first time with Malachi and found out more about what was wrong with him. The doctor explained it to me and didn’t give us false hope, which I appreciated. The doctor didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t get married and he said there’s no reason why Malachi can’t father children. It was one of my main concerns, and Malachi’s. Once we found that out, there was no reason to delay our nuptials.
Malachi suggested we get married at the end of the month on January 29, if I still wanted to marry him. So that is the date our wedding is to be.
* * *
Heidi froze. That was today’s date. How uncanny for it to be the exact date as her wedding and not only that, but also to be reading about it on that very date. She scanned down the page to find where she was up to.
We are getting married with the knowledge that we may not have a long time, but that we would certainly make it a good time.
* * *
Heidi heard the crowd talking downstairs and she closed the diary. What a good attitude her grandparents had. She was so pleased to be able to call them her grandparents, and so blessed to know both of them through her grandmother’s writing. Malachi was a good man, quiet with a sense of humor. Agnes was a strong-willed, determined and adventurous woman with a touch of an entrepreneur’s spirit, just like herself.
* * *
Now, she focused on her wedding. Just like her grandmother, she would make the most of each day because it was a gift. She looked down at her clothes to make sure everything looked good and she hadn’t forgotten anything. The blue dress she and her mother had sewed together and finished with a week to spare looked perfect. They had also worked together on sewing her white cape, apron, and kapp.
She looked down at her black leather lace-up boots and gave a little giggle as she remembered that not so long ago she wouldn’t be caught dead in anything but stilettos.
She
took a deep breath, and then opened the door.
Her mother’s smiling face was the first thing she saw. Her mother then nodded toward the stairs. “Everyone’s waiting.”
Heidi walked down the stairs with her mother close behind her. As her foot hit each step, she thought about the real estate business that she’d allowed to take over her life. No longer would she be burdened by staff problems or worried about leads, systems, or expansion. And that’s just how she wanted things because a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Derek was at the bottom of the stairs and he looked up and stared at her as a hush fell across everyone in the house.
Soon they were both standing before the bishop as a married couple. Heidi and Derek signed the necessary paperwork, accompanied by the rich tones of Zachariah Yoder’s voice singing a hymn, and then they headed outside to the undercover area by the barn for the wedding breakfast.
This was the start of their life together and, unlike Agnes, she was marrying a man who was healthy. She couldn’t imagine how it would’ve been for her grandmother. Still, Heidi was determined to take heed of the lessons she’d learned and take nothing for granted. No one is promised tomorrow.
Heidi had shared with her mother some of the recipes from Agnes’s diary and they made them for the wedding. They had the sauerbraten and several of Agnes's favorite lemon meringue pies were on the desserts table.
It had taken Heidi a while to adjust to being back in the community and, although she still had many questions that had never been satisfactorily answered, she knew her life was better in the community than out.
* * *
Eleven months later, Heidi and Derek spent their first Christmas together in the home they had bought and renovated. It had come as no surprise to Heidi when Derek suggested they buy the old Henderson home by the mill. The home had the lovely stone fireplace she remembered, and on moving-in day, Heidi placed the special clock that Derek had given her right in the center of the mantel.
* * *
A few months into Derek and Heidi's second year together, Heidi had a dream.
She was strolling through the markets, just looking at one thing and another. A woman she didn't recognize approached her, stopping right in her path. Heidi stopped, puzzled. The woman smiled and handed Heidi a bag of oranges, saying, "Here. These are for your baby girl, a gift from her great grandmother."
Heidi woke with a start. She realized Derek was just waking, too, so she got up to start her day.
After breakfast, she asked Derek if she could use the buggy to visit her parents. He said, "Okay, as long as you take me to work first." So Heidi headed to her parents house as soon as she'd delivered Derek.
After greetings had been exchanged, her mother went back to making bread in the kitchen and Heidi sat with Dat in the living room. She told her father about her dream. As she described the woman, his eyebrows rose. He could see the question written on her face. He said, "Yes, Heidi, you're describing my mother, your Mammi Agnes."
About nine months after the dream, Heidi gave birth to a baby girl, and Derek asked if they could name her Molly. Heidi agreed happily, telling him she liked that name too.
A year after that, their daughter Jessica was born. Heidi’s father died when Jessica was a baby, and everything else unfolded just as Heidi had experienced. Derek's brother, Ben, married her friend, Faith, and they opened the Amish crafts store, and Derek's woodworking hobby soon became his fulltime job.
Heidi got to experience each of the moments that were important in her life. Even Michael came along just as she had suspected he would. Heidi fell down the rain-slicked porch steps chasing after her girls when Michael was a few months old; she had a memory lapse and a slight concussion. She soon recovered, grateful that there were no lingering problems.
Heidi never went back to her old life in New York City and neither did she miss it.
Every day, Heidi thanked God for her life with Derek and their children here in the Amish community, and she was grateful that, the second time around, she never got on that bus. It had been a blessing to know her grandmother through her diary and have the advantage of the life lessons of someone older and wiser. She always treasured the gift of that dream-glimpse of her grandmother Agnes.
Heidi often wondered how many others had the chance to see where their life choices would take them. How many people got to turn back the clock? She was glad that she’d been given another chance all those years ago, and thankful her travels had brought her home to Derek all those years ago in time for an Amish Christmas.
* * *
Thank you for reading ‘In Time For An Amish Christmas.’ I do hope you enjoyed it.
Blessings,
Samantha Price
www.SamanthaPriceAuthor.com
The next book in the Amish Christmas Books series is book 2:
Amish Christmas Bride
Many said Matt Yoder was the most handsome Amish bachelor in the county, maybe even the country. When he contacted Jane and asked her to return to the community where she grew up, she was convinced all her prayers had been answered. She'd always dreamed of marrying Matt and having a large family.
Her dream turned into a nightmare when she discovered he asked her to come home to help him select a bride. He was tired of being single and declared he would be married by Christmas. He had narrowed his search to five women and was having trouble deciding between them.
Since Matt had always overlooked Jane, was it already too late?
Or can she find a way to make him see that she is and always has been his perfect Amish match?
Amish Christmas Bride.
Other books by Samantha Price:
AMISH MISFTIS
Book 1 The Amish Girl Who Never Belonged
Book 2 The Amish Spinster
Book 3 The Amish Bishop’s Daughter
Book 4 The Amish Single Mother
Book 5 The Temporary Amish Nanny
Book 6 Jeremiah’s Daughter
Book 7 My Brother’s Keeper
* * *
SEVEN AMISH BACHELORS
Book 1 The Amish Bachelor
Book 2 His Amish Romance
Book 3 Joshua’s Choice
Book 4 Forbidden Amish Romance
Book 5 The Quiet Amish Bachelor
Book 6 The Determined Amish Bachelor
Book 7 Amish Bachelor’s Secret
* * *
EXPECTANT AMISH WIDOWS series.
Book 1 Amish Widow's Hope
Book 2 The Pregnant Amish Widow
Book 3 Amish Widow's Faith
Book 4 Their Son's Amish Baby
Book 5 Amish Widow's Proposal
Book 6 The Pregnant Amish Nanny
Book 7 A Pregnant Widow's Amish Vacation
Book 8 The Amish Firefighter's Widow
Book 9 Amish Widow's Secret
Book 10 The Middle-Aged Amish Widow
Book 11 Amish Widow's Escape
Book 12 Amish Widow's Christmas
Book 13 Amish Widow’s New Hope
Book 14 Amish Widow’s Story
Book 15 Amish Widow’s Decision
Book 16 Amish Widow’s Trust
Book 17 The Amish Potato Farmer’s Widow
* * *
For a full list of Samantha Price’s books visit:
www.SamanthaPriceAuthor.com
About Samantha Price
USA Today Bestselling author, Samantha Price, wrote stories from a young age, but it wasn't until later in life that she took up writing full time. Formally an artist, she exchanged her paintbrush for the computer and, many book series later, has never looked back.
Samantha is happiest on her computer lost in the world of her characters. She is best known for the Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries series and the Expectant Amish Widows series.
www.SamanthaPriceAuthor.com
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samantha@samanthapriceauthor.com
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