by Mary Ellis
Emma opened her mouth to argue, but Leah forestalled complaints with an upraised palm. “Don’t worry, sister. I’ll hold the reins, and I’m very good at keeping the buggy on the shoulder of the road.”
Emma shuddered. She’d gone few places since the accident other than her doctor’s office and a few preaching services. But considering how Leah had been doing all her chores plus waiting on her like a princess, how could she say no? “All right. I’ll ask Henry to hitch up the buggy while you pack up your pies and tell mamm.”
Leah hugged her so hard Emma’s ribs hurt. “I’m so grateful. I know it’s hard for you and I appreciate this.” The girl ran toward the house like a schoolgirl instead of a businesswoman.
Emma watched her go, wondering if she would ever be able to run again. No matter. At least I can walk. “Get my purse from my room,” she hollered. “I might as well pick up a few things while we’re there.”
Leah waved while Emma motioned over Henry to tell him about yet another chore and then started her painstaking meander toward the barn. She would get through a simple trip to town…but she uttered a silent prayer just the same.
As it turned out, Emma was glad she made the trip. Leah handled herself quite professionally when she delivered her pies to the cafeteria manager. If the pies tasted as good as they looked, Leah would have something to keep her busy this winter. The manager promised to send a note reporting on the popularity, or lack thereof, of each recipe.
Emma waited in the buggy while Leah shopped for the family. Her legs felt achy and tired, and she longed for one of her pain pills. But soon her sister returned toting several shopping bags, and their buggy headed for the back road out of town. They hadn’t gone far when Leah pulled up on the reins and called to the horse, “Whoa, there.” Leah turned the buggy off the pavement into an empty parking lot. Weeds, brush, and even a few tree saplings had sprouted in between cracks in the asphalt.
“What are we doing here?” Emma asked, glancing around but seeing no reason to stop.
“Oh, my. Just look at that!” Awe could be discerned in Leah’s exclamation.
Emma stared where the girl focused but couldn’t fathom any cause for exuberance. All she saw was an abandoned train car still attached to a woebegone faded red caboose. No glass remained in any of the windows. And the only explanation for the caboose remaining red was the extreme amount of rust. The train cars sat forgotten on an unused siding next to a vacant factory.
“Looks like the place went out of business and somebody dumped parts of a train there.” Emma clucked her tongue with disapproval.
“It’s a passenger car and a caboose,” Leah murmured. “I wonder if it’s for sale. It would be perfect.”
Emma glanced around before replying. “What I see is two train cars barely this side of falling down.”
“Oh, no, sister. Squint your eyes to soften the edges and use some imagination. What I see is a diner in the larger passenger car and a kitchen in the caboose. Wouldn’t that make a sweet restaurant?” The words left her tongue as expressions of love.
“You’d better stay out of the sun without your full bonnet. You might have sunstroke. It’s too small for a restaurant anyway. One busload of tourists and you’d be overflowing.”
“It wouldn’t be for tourists, in particular. I’m thinking a great breakfast and lunch spot for Amish folk when they come to town on business. I would close before the supper hour when folks need to go home anyway.”
Even squinting her eyes and mustering every bit of imagination God had given her, Emma couldn’t share her sister’s enthusiasm. “I see no For Sale sign, so we had better head for home, although we probably have enough in our wallets even after shopping, considering its deplorable condition.”
Leah obliged and started the horse back toward the road, but she couldn’t resist one last glance over her shoulder. “I’d love to open my own diner someday. I’d call it Leah’s Home Cooking, or Leah’s Plain Cooking…no, Leah’s Simple Delights.” Her smile filled her entire face.
“What about Leah’s Sure Path to Bankruptcy?” Emma asked, pinching her sister’s arm.
Leah shook her head. “You have no vision. Just picture it all fixed up with curtains in the windows and potted petunias in flower boxes hanging beneath every window. English people would be welcome too, but I wouldn’t advertise in the tourist magazines. It would remain a local hidden gem.”
Emma smiled at the mental picture of Leah wielding her spatula at an eight-burner commercial stove. She allowed her little sister to wax poetic about the specials she would make each day of the week but Sundays. Everyone needed to have dreams, even if they were only fourteen years old and fresh out of school
If mamm and daed could handle her turning New Order Amish in one year and someday marrying James, having a chef in the family might not seem so extraordinary.
She would pray for her sister tonight. That busy little cooking bee deserved every happiness life could offer.
Everything is possible for the person who has faith.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Ellis grew up close to the eastern Ohio Amish Community, Geauga County, where her parents often took her to farmers’ markets and woodworking fairs. She and her husband now live in Medina County, close to the largest population of Amish families, and enjoy the simple way of life.
Never Far from Home is Mary’s second novel with Harvest House, following up on her bestselling first book in The Miller Family series, A Widow’s Hope.
www.maryellis.wordpress.com
A WIDOW’S HOPE
by Mary Ellis
CAN A YOUNG AMISH WIDOW FIND LOVE?
After the death of her husband, Hannah Brown is determined to make a new life with her sister’s family. But when she sells her farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and moves her sheep to Ohio, the wool unexpectedly begins to fly. Simon, her deacon brother-in-law, finds just about everything about Hannah vexing. So no one is more surprised than the deacon when his own brother, Seth, shows interest in the beautiful young widow.
But perhaps he has nothing to worry about. The two seem to be at cross-purposes as often as not. Hannah is willful, and Seth has an independent streak a mile wide. But much is at stake, including the heart of Seth’s silent young daughter, Phoebe. Can Seth and Hannah move past their own pain to find a lasting love?
An inspirational story of trust in the God who sees our needs before we do.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Epilogue
About the Author