by Tamar Myers
“Into this holy union,” Rev. Schrock intoned, “Magdalena Portulaca Yoder and Aaron Daniel Miller Jr. now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now or else forever hold your peace.”
The heavy barn door slid open with a thud and Auntie Leah burst in, accompanied by a gust of rain. In my excitement I hadn’t noticed her absence.
“Someone left the cake out in the rain,” she bellowed.
“I don’t know if I can take it,” I said, leaning heavily on Aaron’s arm.
“Don’t worry, hon,” my Pooky Bear whispered. “When this is over I’m going to take you on the trip of your dreams—to Japan. It was going to be a surprise.”
“Japan?” I was approaching a state of shock.
“What?” Auntie Leah barked.
Aaron turned to her and put a silencing finger to his lips.
“But it took so long to bake it,” Auntie Leah boomed in despair, “and I won’t have time to make that recipe again.”
“Oh, no!” I wailed.
That’s when Barbara Hostetler stepped forward. “Don’t you worry, Magdalena. I have thirty pecan pies at home. You’re welcome to them.”
“Thirty pecan pies?” Delirium wasn’t all that bad, as long as it solved your problems.
“Yah,” Barbara said, with a smile that was clearly meant for Freni. “When I get my work done on the farm I spend my time baking pies for the English. John and I are saving up for our own place.”
“Ach du lieber!” Freni started to pass out in her chair, but when Mose made no move to catch her, she sat up straight again.
“Well, then, may we continue?” Rev. Schrock asked. The edge to his voice hinted that he preferred grilled trout to pecan pie.
We nodded humbly.
“Magdalena Portulaca Yoder, will you have this man to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”
“Ahoooooo!”
“I beg your pardon?”
I was staring helplessly at Susannah. It wasn’t me who had yowled, but the bantam-size beast in her bra.
“She will,” Susannah said, without skipping a beat.
Clearly Rev. Schrock was eager to get on with it. “And will you, Aaron Daniel Yoder, have this woman to be your wife, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?”
“I will,” said my Pooky Bear loud and clear.
“Those whom God has joined together let no man put asunder,” the reverend said quickly. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
“Ahoooooo!” Shnookums yowled again.
This time everyone laughed.
Aaron grinned and put his arms around me. His lips met mine. I kissed my husband for the very first time.
Chapter Thirty
Magdalena Yoder’s Wedding Feast, from Soup to Nuts
Barbara Hostetler’s Save-the-Day Pecan Pies
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1½ cups dark corn syrup
½ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
1 unbaked fluted piecrust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the filling ingredients and pour into the pie shell. Bake approximately 40 minutes or until set. Especially delicious when served slightly warm and topped with hand-cranked vanilla ice cream.
Serves 8.
Discover Tamar Myers
An Amish Bed and Breakfast Mystery with Recipes Series (PennDutch)
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime
No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk
Just Plain Pickled to Death
Between a Wok and a Hard Place
Eat, Drink, and Be Wary
The Hand that Rocks the Ladle
The Crepes of Wrath
Gruel and Unusual Punishment
Custard’s Last Stand
Thou Shalt Not Grill
Assault and Pepper
Grape Expectations
As the World Churns
Hell Hath No Curry
Batter Off Dead
Butter Safe than Sorry
PennDutch Mystery Box Set 1-3
Belgian Congo Mystery Series
The Witch Doctor’s Wife
The Headhunter’s Daugther
The Boy Who Stole the Leopard’s Spots
The Girl Who Married an Eagle
Den of Antiquity Series
Larceny and Old Lace
Gilt by Association
The Ming and I
So Faux, So Good
Baroque and Desperate
Estate of Mind
A Penny Urned
Nightmare in Shining Armor
Splendor in the Glass
Tiles and Tribulation
Statue of Limitations
Monet Talks
The Cane Mutiny
Death of a Rug Lord
Poison Ivory
The Glass is Always Greener
Non-Series Books
Angels, Angels Everywhere
Criminal Appetites (anthology)
The Dark Side of Heaven
About the Author
Tamar Myers was born and raised in the Belgian Congo (now just the Congo). Her parents were missionaries to a tribe which, at that time, were known as headhunters and used human skulls for drinking cups. Because of her pale blue eyes, Tamar’s nickname was Ugly Eyes.
Her boarding school was two days away by truck, and sometimes it was necessary to wade through crocodile infested-waters to reach it. Other dangers she encountered as a child were cobras, deadly green mambas, and the voracious armies of driver ants that ate every animal (and human) that didn’t get out of their way.
At sixteen, Tamar's family settled in America, and she immediately underwent culture shock: she didn’t know how to dial a telephone, cross a street at a stoplight, or use a vending machine. She lucked out, however, by meeting her husband, Jeffrey, on her first day at an American high school. They literally bumped heads while he was leaving, and she entering, the Civics classroom.
In college Tamar began to submit novels for publication, but it took twenty-three years for her to get published. Persistence paid off, however, because Tamar is now the author of three ongoing mystery series: One is set in Amish Pennsylvania and features Magdalena Yoder, an Amish-Mennonite sleuth who runs a bed and breakfast inn; one, set in the Carolinas, centers around the adventures of Abigail Timberlake, who runs an antique and collectable store (the Den of Antiquity); and the third is set in the Africa of her youth, with its colorful, unique inhabitants.
Tamar now calls North Carolina home. She lives with her husband, a Basenji dog named Pagan, two rescue kitties: a very large Bengal named Nkashama, and an orange tabby cat who goes by the name of Dumpster Boy. Tamar enjoys gardening (she is a Master Gardner), bonsai, travel, painting and, of course, reading. She's currently working on her next Amish mystery.
tamarmyers.com