Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Rancher for ChristmasHer Montana ChristmasAn Amish Christmas JourneyYuletide Baby

by Brenda Minton

  Greta’s heart gave a happy leap at the sound of Toby’s voice before she forced it to be calm. She turned to see him standing in the doorway. The only light came from the glow of the snowy fields and the stars. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew every inch of it. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

  “You didn’t. I think it was the silence. After so many days of wind, it was eerie.”

  “That’s what woke me, too.” She pulled her coat tightly over her chest. “You’ll be able to leave soon.”

  He came to stand beside her. “I should be happy, but I’m not.”

  “Why aren’t you?” The darkness made her bold. If she couldn’t see his face, then he couldn’t see what was in her eyes. A fierce longing to be held in his arms.

  “If the storm is over, the roads will be cleared and we will be on our way to Pennsylvania again.”

  “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  He reached out to cup her cheek. “It was before I met you.”

  She should pull away. A single step back would be enough to tell him he had gone too far, but she didn’t take that step. Her heart thudded painfully as she tried to make light of their time together. “We shared an adventure, Toby. That’s all it was.”

  The pad of his thumb brushed over her lips. “Nee, this was much more than an adventure. For the first time in my life, I see my heart’s desire. It’s true we haven’t known each other very long—”

  “You don’t know me at all, Toby. Not really.”

  “But I want to, Greta. I want to know everything about you.”

  “And what if you don’t like what you discover?”

  “I don’t see how that’s possible.”

  “This has to stop, Toby. We don’t have a future.” She turned her head away from his hand. He let his arm drop to his side.

  “I’ve spent all day trying to figure out a way to stop caring for you. I can’t. I only see one option. I’ve decided to stay in Hope Springs.”

  Her gaze snapped to his face, but it was too dark to read his expression. “What did you say?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Toby wanted to gather Greta in his arms. He heard the uncertainty in her voice. What he wanted to hear was joy. Didn’t she want him to stay?

  “I’ve decided to remain in the Hope Springs area. I’ll find work here, and put down roots. Hopefully, someone will have use for a wood-carver. If not, I’ll find something. I know this might offend you, but I don’t think I can raise sheep. They stink.”

  “No, they don’t. But what about your family? What about Marianne? Do you think she will want to stay here?”

  “I think if we give her a little time, she will come to love it here. She is already fond of you and your family. As for my family in Pennsylvania, they will have to understand.”

  Toby didn’t kid himself, his aunt would not like this, but she would come to accept it in time.

  “It’s such a big decision. You should think it over. I don’t want you to do this for me. What if this attraction we have isn’t real?”

  “I agree that it’s a big decision, and I agree I need to think about it and pray about it.” He cupped her face between his hands. “Greta, God brought me here for a reason. I think the reason is you. I’m not going to leave, so we can take our time and get to know each other. If it isn’t right, I want to know that, too. Don’t you?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think it might be better to believe it was real but that you had to go away than know it wasn’t real.”

  “The truth is the truth, Greta. It is neither good nor ill. I think this is real, and I’m going to stick around until you know it is real. Now, we should go inside, it’s freezing out here and smart people are in bed this time of night.”

  “At least the storm is over and we can find the lost sheep as soon as it is light.”

  “Oh, joy. More time with smelly sheep.” She giggled and his heart soared.

  *

  Greta couldn’t sleep a wink. Toby wasn’t leaving.

  It was what she wanted, wasn’t it? Of course it was.

  She pushed aside the small nagging grain of doubt that told her he had made this decision too quickly. He was a grown man. He was capable of making his own choices. Marianne would grow to love the community the way Greta and her sisters had.

  The storm was over and Toby wasn’t leaving. That was all she cared about.

  Naomi came to her room at first light. “Dress warmly, girls. We have a lot of sheep to find.”

  The family assembled in the kitchen shortly after dawn. Greta and Betsy, Carl, Joseph and Toby were dressed in layers of clothing and heavy overshoes. Naomi and Lizzie would stay at the house with Marianne, Morris and Arles.

  Carl addressed the group. “We’re going to use Duncan to help us locate our missing sheep. We assume they are buried under the snow. I have already checked the shelters and have a head count. We have at least thirty unaccounted for. The sooner we can get to them, the better their chances of survival.”

  “What do you need me to do?” Toby asked.

  “We will work together in pairs. Duncan and I will locate a likely area and leave two of you to dig them out. The other two will come with us while we look for another pocket of animals. Pace yourselves. Shoveling snow is hard work. If any of the animals are showing signs of distress, try to get them to the barn. I have shovels for everyone on the porch. Are we ready?”

  They all nodded and headed out the door. Toby moved beside Greta. “What does a distressed sheep look like?”

  “Let’s hope you don’t have to find out.”

  They walked out into a world blanketed in brilliant white silence. Every surface was covered with snow. The trees were weighted down with it, their drooping branches pulled almost to the ground. Every fence post wore a white hat. The glittering brightness of the fields against the brilliant blue sky was breathtaking.

  Together, they trudged across the pasture, sometimes breaking through the snow crust, sometimes able to walk along the top of it. The landscape was so changed by the drifts of snow that Greta wasn’t certain where the stone fences lay. Duncan worked back and forth at Carl’s command, searching for any sheep hidden under the snow.

  A few hundred yards beyond the barn, Duncan stopped and began digging. Carl pulled him aside. Toby dug down and hit a stone wall. The snow caved in six inches to the left of it and a sheep’s muzzle appeared. Carl patted Duncan. “Good boy. Keep count of the ones that you free. We’ll compare totals when we regroup at noon.”

  Her grandfather and Betsy followed Duncan and Carl as they went on. Greta and Toby worked to enlarge the opening in the snow until he could reach in and pull the reluctant sheep out. A second and a third animal followed of their own accord. The animals staggered through the deep snow toward the barn.

  “Three. It’s a start,” Greta said.

  He leaned on his shovel. “That’s all we need, isn’t it? A start?”

  She knew he wasn’t talking about the sheep. She smiled and allowed happiness to rise in her chest. “A start and God’s helping hand. The rest is up to us.”

  “I see Carl waving. I think he’s found some more.”

  They began trudging through the snow toward a group of trees with limbs sagging to the ground under their load of white. “You don’t really think sheep stink, do you?” Greta asked.

  “I don’t wish to speak ill of them.”

  She laughed. “You get used to it.”

  “You’re talking to a man who carves fragrant cedar and sweet apple wood. I don’t think I’ll get used to the smell, but I can put up with it.”

  Although it was the hardest day’s work that Greta had ever done, she had never enjoyed anything more than working beside Toby. Naomi and Marianne brought them hot coffee and tea in the morning. At noon, they came in to warm up with hot soup and sandwiches. Marianne seemed at ease being without her brother although Naomi told them the child had stayed
glued to the upper story windows in order to keep watch on them.

  The lines of stress around Greta’s grandfather’s eyes disappeared when Carl announced their final tally just before dark. They’d found all the missing sheep. Only one was sick enough to need extra care, but Carl was optimistic about her chances of recovery.

  As they filed into the house, Marianne flew to her brother and threw her arms around him. “You’re safe. It was getting dark and I was worried.”

  “You are very brave to stay with Naomi while we found the missing sheep. We saved them all, aren’t you glad?”

  “Does this mean we can go home now?”

  Greta met Toby’s gaze over his sister’s head and read the hesitancy in his eyes. He leaned away from his sister to look her in the eyes. “Not yet, lieschen. We’re going to be here a little while longer.”

  The nagging grain of doubt came back to rub against Greta’s happiness. Was Toby doing the right thing for the right reason?

  *

  It was noon the next day when Duncan suddenly ran to the door and began barking. Greta looked out but didn’t see anything. She opened the door and stepped onto the porch. In the distance, she heard the faint jingle of sleigh bells. Duncan raced down the lane barking a welcome.

  The sound of the bells grew louder. She stepped inside the house. “Arles, I think your tow truck may be coming.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to call for one. How can that be?”

  “Come see.”

  Her brother-in-law, Ethan Gingerich, was driving his huge team of Belgian draft horses up the lane. Four abreast, the caramel-colored animals with blond manes and tails leaned into their collars as they pulled a snowplow, raising flurries of powder with every step. Off to one side, a colt running free frolicked alongside his working mother. Ethan stood on a platform just in front of the blade. Behind him, on a separate platform, stood Clara and the children all clinging to a large steering wheel that could change the angle of the blade.

  The children waved when they caught sight of Greta. She waved back. Ethan didn’t pause. He sent the team in several wide loops around the yard clearing a path between the house and the barns. Only when he was finished with the job did he stop the team. Clara and the children climbed down, their faces rosy with the cold.

  “Go in the house, children, and warm up. I imagine Naomi can whip up some hot chocolate and cookies.” Clara sent her brood inside.

  Smiling brightly, Clara clasped Greta’s hands. “I’m so happy to see you. How was your trip?” She glanced toward the house, and her smile dimmed. “How is Onkel Morris? And who are those people?”

  Toby and Arles were watching from the porch. Greta didn’t see Marianne. She made the introductions and then said, “Go inside and warm up, Clara. I will tell you everything, but first I must speak to Ethan.”

  Greta walked out to Ethan who was checking over his team and patting each one as a reward for their hard work. “Good morning, Ethan. I have another job for you if your team is up for it.”

  “I’m glad to see you made it safely home before the storm. Clara was worried. A few minutes rest and my team will be ready for anything. What do you need?”

  “Ethan, this is Arles Hooper and Toby Yoder. Arles is the driver who brought me home. His van ran off the highway north of our lane and hit the stone wall by the creek the night the snow started. Do you think you could see about pulling him out?”

  “I reckon I could. Even if we get you out, the highway hasn’t been plowed so you aren’t going anywhere. Some of the drifts are five feet high.”

  Arles nodded. “I figured it would take a day or two. I doubt my van will run, but I sure would feel better having it somewhere safe.”

  “Dress warm and we will go see what can be done.”

  “Bless you, Ethan.” Greta waved.

  “Mind if I come, too?” Toby asked from the porch. He was slipping into his coat.

  Ethan motioned him to come on. “I never turn down extra help.”

  Toby stopped beside Greta. “I figure I should meet all the family. Do you mind?

  “Not at all.”

  Arles came out with his coat on. Marianne came rushing out behind him. “Wait for me. I want to come, too.”

  Toby shook his head. “I’m going to help pull Mr. Hooper’s van out of the ditch.”

  Greta said, “You should stay here and visit with the children who just arrived. The men have work to do.”

  “I don’t want to talk to the kids. I want to go with Toby.”

  Greta glanced at Toby, expecting him to second her suggestion and insist Marianne stay home. Toby looked to Ethan. “Do you mind?”

  *

  Toby knew he should have insisted Marianne stay at the house. Working around big horses pulling heavy loads could be risky, but he didn’t want Marianne to make a scene in front of Greta’s family.

  Thankfully, the job turned out to be easier than he thought. It took less than ten minutes for Ethan’s Belgian team to pull the crippled vehicle out of its snow-covered grave once they located it.

  Arles walked around the front of it, brushing off the snow, and looking over the damage with an assessing eye. “It may not be as bad as I thought, but it sure is gonna need some work before it’s roadworthy.”

  Ethan handed the reins to Toby and joined Arles. “Would you like me to tow it back to the farm, or do you want to leave it here?”

  “How long do you think it will take to get a tow truck out here?”

  “The county plows the road between here and Hope Springs pretty quickly. Depending on how many other cars are in the ditches, I’d say maybe late today or early tomorrow.”

  “Where did you say that phone booth is?”

  “Hop on, I’ll take you there. It’s about a quarter of a mile up the road.”

  Toby was familiar with shared telephones located between Amish farms. Often solar powered, they normally contained a phone and a message machine. Amish farmers could contact feed stores and produce buyers with a minimum of interruption in their workday. The landowners around the phone shared the expense of its upkeep, but no one would claim to own it.

  Ethan pulled the horses to a stop in front of the booth. A small gray building not much bigger than a closet sat back from the road near a cluster of trees. As Toby expected, a solar panel extended out from the south side of the roof. If there was a path to the door, it was obscured by drifts of snow. At least the booth itself was accessible.

  Marianne, her cheeks red with the cold, pointed to the phone booth. “Are you going to talk to Aenti Linda?” The cold made her voice hoarse, too.

  “Not unless Aenti Linda happens to be at the bakery. Elsa and Karen should be working there today. They can give our aunt a message, but Mr. Hooper needs to use the phone first.”

  Toby waited with his sister and Ethan while Arles made his call. Toby looked Greta’s brother-in-law up and down. A mountain of a man, he almost matched his horses in size. “I understand you recently wed Greta’s sister. May God smile on your union.”

  “Danki, I was a blessed man the day Clara showed up on my farm with my troublesome nephew in tow. She could see that I had no idea what to do with my brother’s three children. It was fortunate for me that she decided to take us all under her wing.”

  “How does she feel about her uncle coming to stay?”

  “She was not thrilled, but she will do everything she can for him. He made their lives a misery. It has taken a lot for her to find forgiveness in her heart. I imagine it’s the same for the others. The good Lord causes our lives to take some very strange turns.”

  “That He does,” Toby said, thinking of all that had changed in his life and was about to change again.

  Arles tromped through the snow on the way back from the phone. “They will have a tow truck out here by two o’clock. He said the snowplow is headed this way now. I’ll ride into town with a tow truck so the mechanic and I can look her over together. I don’t trust just anyone with my livelihood.” />
  Having a ride was too good an opportunity to pass up. The sooner he got to town, the sooner Toby could start looking for work. “Do they have a general store in town?”

  Ethan nodded. “MacGregor runs a nice grocery there.”

  “Do you think your tow truck driver would mind another passenger?” Toby asked. He could pick up some things he needed and ask around about work at the same time.

  “Don’t see why not.” Arles climbed up on the platform behind Ethan. Toby and Marianne trudged to the phone booth. He placed a quick call to the bakery where his nieces worked. The girls were overjoyed to hear that he and Marianne were safe. He watched his sister’s expression light up at the sound of their voices when he allowed her to talk to them for a little while. Finally, he took the receiver back. “I have no idea when we will get there. Our van is wrecked and we don’t know how long before it can be fixed. There are some other things going on, too, so tell your mother not to expect us for Christmas. I’ll let you know as soon as I know something for certain.”

  He cut short their chitchat with the promise to call again before Christmas and then he hung up.

  Marianne sighed deeply. “I wish we could be there for Christmas.”

  “We’ll have a nice Christmas here. I promise.”

  “I know, but it won’t be the same.”

  They rejoined Ethan and Arles at the snowplow and Ethan took them back to the farm to await the arrival of the snowplow and tow truck.

  Greta came out onto the porch to greet them when they stopped in front of the gate. Toby’s heart swelled with happiness at the sight of her. He had made the right decision. They deserved a chance to find out if what they shared was love. For his part, he was growing more convinced by the hour. But was she?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It took some convincing on Greta’s part, but she finally got Marianne to agree to stay at the farm while Toby went into town. As soon as he was out the door, the child stuck to Greta’s side like a cocklebur.

  All of the sisters were seated around the kitchen table with Naomi when Clara’s oldest, eight-year-old Micah, came up to Marianne. “Daadi Joseph says we can build a snowman in his yard. Do you want to come help us?”