Romance In Amish Country Series Boxed Set: 1-3 Naomi's Story; Miriam's Story; Ruth's Story

by Melanie Schmidt

  “Will you visit your family’s farm?” Ruth finally asked, wondering if he would really have the audacity to do so after his shunning.

  Thomas took a deep breath then shook his head, his expression full of regret. “My father made it clear when I left that I would forever be dead to the family. I’ve told my kids we can drive past the farm, so they can see it, but we won’t be stopping.”

  “Your leaving was very hard on your family, Thomas.”

  “I’m sure it was.”

  Ruth couldn’t tell if he was agreeing with her or being sarcastic.

  “Did you know your father was asked to step down as minister?”

  Ruth’s answer was in the shock on Thomas’ face.

  “They never do that.”

  “They did this time,” Ruth said. “It was decided that any man whose eldest son would leave the community could not be considered a fit leader.”

  Thomas shook his head and sighed, looking old and worn out as he heard the news about the effects of his decision on his father.

  “I didn’t know they’d do that,” he murmured.

  “Would it have made a difference?”

  Thomas looked up to meet her frank gaze. “Probably not.” He sighed. “I just had to get out, Ruth. Can you understand that?”

  Ruth considered his question, thinking back on what it had been like for him twenty-five years ago. “Perhaps I can—for you. But what I cannot understand is why you would have thought I would go with you.”

  “I loved you. I thought you loved me.”

  “I thought I did, too,” Ruth admitted, “but that was before I realized you knew so little about me, had so little respect for me that you would ask me to betray my baptismal vows, betray my family, and run away to live outside of the community. How could you have thought I would run away from the Amish life, away from everything I knew and loved, to be shunned by my friends and family? To this day I wonder how you could have thought so little of me.”

  Ruth was a little surprised at herself, at finding the boldness to speak plainly to the man who had hurt her so deeply. She took a seat on the wooden bench in from of the Lapp’s store and felt both a little stunned and a little proud for having spoken up after all this time.

  Thomas stared a Ruth, surprised by the anger that had simmered all these years and finally boiled over. He sat down on the bench next to her. “I thought the world of you, Ruth,” he whispered. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Ruth shook her head and smiled sadly, felling both relieved at having aired her feelings and all at once understanding the man before her as she never had before. “You may have loved me, Thomas, but you certainly did not know me. Leaving or staying was never a choice for me, for my life is here and always will be.”

  Thomas glanced up to meet her gaze. When he smiled warmly, it reached his eyes. “You’re even more formidable now than you were at twenty, Ruth. I hope your family appreciates that about you.”

  Ruth looked away, uncomfortable with his attention and realizing for the first time that she was out in public, in full view of potentially gossipy acquaintances. She shrugged of his comment. “Not ‘formidable’ so much as just certain in the knowledge of what God has always intended for me.”

  Thomas nodded then slapped his hands on his thighs and stood. “Just as I knew, Ruth. I thought my future would be with you, but I knew for sure that I was meant to live outside the Plain community. I have lived a happy life, and I believe that God has blessed me.” Thomas turned to look toward the ice cream shop. “Look – there are my children. I want you to meet them.”

  Ruth turned to see two young teenagers approaching. They were clean-cut, neatly-dressed, and sported the wavy sun-streaked blond hair of their father. The girl looked to be about thirteen, her brother perhaps a year or two older. They were focused on their ice cream and didn’t really notice Ruth until they’d reached their father.

  “Hey, kids,” Thomas said, wrapping one arm around each of their shoulders in an easy, affectionate manner that was obviously familiar to both children. “I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine, Ruth Miller.

  “Ruth, these are my two kids, Katie and Tommy.”

  “Hello, Katie and Tommy. You look much like your father did at your age.” Ruth said with a smile.

  “You knew Dad when he was a boy?” Katie asked shyly.

  Ruth smiled, attempting to put the girl at ease. “Yes, I knew him—a very long time ago.”

  She glanced up to meet Thomas’ eyes. She thought she saw relief there. Yes, Thomas, we will keep our conversation light for their sakes—and ours.

  Thomas looked back toward the ice cream shop. “Where’s your mother?”

  Tommy stopped devouring his ice cream just long enough to answer. “She wanted to look around the bookstore next to the ice cream shop. She said she’d be out in a minute.”

  They heard the bell in the church steeple toll the hour, and Ruth glanced around. “I am sorry to run off, Thomas, but Ezra will be waiting for me.”

  Thomas nodded his understanding. “Can we help carry that heavy basket for you?” he asked, though Ruth was certain it was just for form.

  “No, thank you. I am used to it. Good day to you, Katie and Tommy. I am pleased to have met you both. I hope you enjoy your visit to Paradise.”

  She picked up her basket, and realized it actually felt lighter. She felt a great deal lighter, too. After twenty-five years, it was good to know that whatever feelings she might have had for this man in the past were long gone, leaving only the good memories behind. Ruth felt as though she had finally resolved something that had bothered he for years. She had said her piece, and she felt almost as though she had a fresh start.

  “Good day to you, Thomas King,” she said cheerfully. “Travel safely.”

  She did not look back as she set off down the street, though she felt them watching her. It is good to finally know what happened to him, she thought, as she waited for traffic before crossing at the next corner. Thank you, God, for protecting him and giving him such children.

  18

  Ruth was slicing strawberries for the fruit salad when her brother came into the kitchen early for dinner. “Things are going well at the stable, I take it,” she said.

  “Very well,” Ezra answered. “Daniel is putting that mare he bought from Petershwim last summer through her paces, and it is amazing to watch.”

  Ruth smiled. “I saw them working yesterday. I have never seen a horse so eager to please before. And to think back on what she was like when Daniel and Seth bought that poor bedraggled beast.” Ruth gave a mock shudder. “It is a wonderful thing they have done, and it just shows that compassion and a soft touch can be more effective than a whip.”

  “Well, the men who came out today are certainly impressed.”

  Ruth looked up from her fruit. “Daniel will not sell her, will he?”

  “No, no. She is much too valuable for that, especially since those who come to see her as she is now know what she was like only a year ago. She is the perfect advertisement for the stable and Daniel’s gift as a horseman.”

  “‘Our Bright Hope,’” Ruth murmured. Miriam’s oldest daughter, Ruthie, had named the mare not long after Daniel had brought the horse home, and the sentiment had been as fitting for the little horse—a creature that had thrived under Daniel’s care—as it had been for the new business Daniel, Seth, and Ezra were building.

  “She will be our symbol for a very long time, I think,” Ezra said, “not to mention a fine brood mare. Daniel expects great things from her foals by that stallion he bought.”

  “I have yet to see Daniel wrong about anything ‘horse,’” Ruth said with a chuckle, “so I expect he is right about Hope and Tipper, too.”

  Miriam’s son, Ezra, had named the stallion. The Irish Draught horse had come to their stable under the registered name of “Tipperary’s Grand Gentleman,” but that was too much of a mouthful for anyone, let alone the young boy who so
clearly adored him, and “Tipper” became his family name.

  Ruth got back to slicing strawberries and worked for a moment until she realized that her brother’s silence was a bit odd. Ruth glanced up to see him frowning.

  “Ezra?”

  He looked up to meet her puzzled gaze and sighed. “The men who came today brought unsettling talk.”

  “About what?”

  Ezra took a deep breath. “They say you were seen speaking to an English man for a long time yesterday morning.”

  Ruth sighed and set aside her paring knife. “Ezra Miller! Have these men nothing better to gossip about?” she asked, barely attempting to keep any resentment from her voice.

  “Is it true?”

  “Yes,” she said, without any hesitation.

  “This conversation,” Ezra began but hesitated.

  “It was Thomas, Ezra.”

  “Thomas King?” he asked sharply.

  “Yes.”

  “He would dare to come back here after what he did to you and after being shunned?”

  Ruth held her tongue. She was not about to defend Thomas to her brother—not after the way he had treated her all those years ago, nor would she criticize Ezra’s animosity toward the man who had left his little sister after trying to persuade Ruth to leave the Amish.

  Ezra sat down heavily at the kitchen table.

  “What did he want?”

  “Nothing improper, that is for sure, Ezra.” Ruth said, her voice as calm as she could make it. She sat across from her brother and prayed for guidance. “He told me his daughter had been looking through family pictures. It seems she was curious about why there were no photographs of her father before his wedding to her mother. Apparently, he had never told his children about his Amish family, so he brought them here today to show them where he had come from.”

  Ezra grunted. “So, his children were there, too?”

  “Not at first—they had gone into Peterson’s for ice cream—but yes, they did join us. And his wife was shopping in town as well. There was nothing improper.”

  “And? What did you talk about? What did you think of the children? Were they rude Englishers?”

  “I must admit I was impressed by them. We see so many English children who are dressed outrageously and behave rudely, especially the teenagers. Tommy and Katie were dressed, if not plainly, at least conservatively, and they were very polite when Thomas introduced us.”

  “Who did they think you were?”

  “Thomas introduced me as an old friend. That is all.”

  Ezra studied her face closely for a long moment. “Do you still have feelings for this man?”

  Ruth smiled. “No, Ezra. At least not the sort of feelings I once thought I had for him. I was pleased to see how well he has raised his children, and I was glad to be able to get a few things off my mind, let him know how much it bothered me that he thought he could ask me to leave and that I would go with him. I cannot say I am sorry he came, nor that he spoke to me. After so long, I only think of him occasionally, but I have always been curious about what happened to him. Now I know.” Ruth paused and thought a moment before she continued. “And I confess I am also much relieved to know that whatever feelings I once had for him are long gone. It has always been difficult for me to understand just what happened between us all those years ago, and now I know with certainty that it does not matter anymore.”

  Ezra reached across the table to take her hand. “You should have married,” he said, in a rare show of physical affection. “You would have made some man a good wife.”

  Ruth shook her head. “God meant for me to be here for you and your children, Ezra. I have never doubted that for a moment.”

  “We sure would have been lost without you,” he conceded with a slight smile.

  “I am not going anywhere.”

  “Gut.” He gave her hand a squeeze and rose from the table.

  It was clear that in Ezra’s mind that the matter of her conversation with Thomas King was resolved, and he was ready to move on. “I will see how close Seth and Daniel are to being finished,” he said. “If Herr Bender leaves his horse with Daniel for training, it will be a very good thing for that part of the business, I think.”

  “I will hold dinner for as long as you need, but if you will send little Ezra along to tell me when you are ready to eat, I can have it on when you get here.”

  “I will.”

  Ezra went to the door then turned to look back. “You are a good woman, Ruth Miller. That is all the people will be saying tomorrow.”

  Ruth smiled as Ezra headed out with a firm step. Leave it to my big brother to jump to my defense, she thought, reaching once more for her knife.

  “Are you all right, Aenti Ruth?”

  Ruth glanced toward the hallway to see a very pregnant Naomi standing there. Naomi knew of Ruth’s history with Thomas King, and Ruth suspected that Naomi had hear some of her conversation with Ezra. “How much did you hear?”

  “Pretty much all of it,” Naomi said, blushing. “I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I was worried about you, too.”

  “There is no need, to worry child. I am fine. Actually, the more I think about meeting Thomas today, the better I feel about it. I can now leave everything that happened between us entirely in the past, where it belongs.”

  “Has he changed much?” Naomi asked, waddling across the room and sitting heavily in the chair her father had vacated. Naomi was well into the eighth month of her pregnancy, and was finding even sitting down in a chair an awkward challenge.

  “Surprisingly, no, although I suppose it is partly because he still does not wear a beard.”

  “His children sound nice, so I suppose that says good things about him and his wife.”

  Ruth smiled. “I believe it does.”

  Naomi sighed and ran her hand over her huge belly.

  “Are you all right, Naomi?”

  “Yes. I just wish I could put him down once in awhile!”

  Ruth laughed. “Just remember Miriam carried two of them. Be thankful that you are not bigger than you are!”

  Naomi looked panicked for a moment. “You do not suppose there could be two?”

  Ruth patted her back. “Do not worry. Twins are rare in both our families, so I think you are safe.”

  Naomi sighed once more and leaned her head against Ruth as she had since she was a little girl. “I hope you are right. I do want lots of children, but I would much prefer them one at a time.”

  Ruth laughed, dropped a light kiss on Naomi’s forehead, and went back to her fruit salad. Business was picking up for Daniel, Seth, and Ezra, and Naomi would soon bring a new baby into their lives. Life was good here on the Miller farm, and she was content. She was happy, and she was pleased that Thomas King had gone on to find his own happiness.

  19

  The Miller-Fisher clan arrived bright and early at the Barber farm, ready to pick blueberries from the bumper crop. Ruth had been watching out the window for the arrival of the big open wagon, and as soon as it arrived, Ruth happily headed outside. The wagon carried Miriam along with her children, Ruthie and Ezra, as well as her mother-in-law, Rachel and some of Ruthie and Ezra’s cousins. The children laughed and waved to Ruth as she climbed into the back of the wagon.

  Ruth realized that they weren’t the first to arrive when she saw the shiny cars parked next to John Barber’s barn. Two local English couples who Ruth recognized vaguely from town were already picking—though from the looks of the bushes, there were plenty of berries to go around. John’s grandchildren played in the big open meadow with the English children, and Miriam’s children could hardly wait to join them.

  Tobias Barber, John eldest grandson, tethered their horse to the rail and welcomed them. John met them at the wooden table set at the side of the house, just up a gentle slope from the blueberry bushes.

  “Welcome,” John called, waving to the new arrivals. He was tall and slender, his energy belying his fifty-one years. His eyes were a clear,
true blue, and his dark hair showed some silver at the temples, though his beard remained mostly dark. “I hope you have come for blueberries.”

  “Oh, yes, Herr Barber!” Ruthie said, her face alight with excitement. “Mama promised to bake us a pie, if we bring her enough of them!”

  John laughed and laid a gentle hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Well, you will find plenty enough berries today for a pie and much more.” He turned to Ezra, sizing the child up. “I remember you from last year, young man. You are a very good picker.”

  “Yes, sir, I am.”

  Ruth laughed. “Ezra is always very quick to learn the skills he needs in order to eat the things he likes.”

  John sent Ruth a warm smile then turned back to Ezra. “And what is the first rule for picking blueberries, young Ezra?”

  “We are to only pick the very blue ones, so the others can ripen for later.”

  “Very good. And Tobias, here, can tell you the second rule for picking blueberries, eh?”

  Tobias grinned. “You must put at least two berries into the bucket for every one berry you eat, or you will turn all blue and have nothing to show for it.”

  They all laughed, and Martha, John’s youngest daughter, joined them to hand out aprons and gallon buckets. Joanna had devised and sewn the aprons to hold the buckets in front at the waist, so pickers could use both hands, and soon the older children and Esther were outfitted and ready to pick.

  “I am afraid we are short one apron,” Martha apologized to Ruth. “Perhaps you can trade off with the children as they tire.”

  “That will be fine, Martha. Do not worry about me.”

  Martha smiled then whispered something in her father’s ear before returning to the house.

  When John glanced back at Ruth, she was almost certain he blushed but then decided it must be the morning sunlight.