by Brunstetter, Wanda E. ; Brunstetter, Jean; Brunstetter, Richelle
“I can’t recall, Roseanna.” She went over to the fridge, carrying a foil-covered dish. “I believe I have everything prepared for when your grandparents show up. I still have to defrost the turkey, and your father will be helping me stuff the bird early on Christmas morning.”
“Just like he does every year.” Roseanna chuckled. “And then he’ll fall asleep from eating too much turkey.”
“Your Grandpa Allgyer, too.” Mom went over to Roseanna and rubbed her shoulders. “Do you need help with anything before I leave?”
“No, I’ve got it all under control.” Roseanna opened the can of pumpkin and scooped it into the medium-sized bowl. Between baking pumpkin pies and sewing dresses, she had control over some things in her life at least.
Everyone gathered around the dining-room table, with tantalizing Christmas aromas enveloping Roseanna’s senses. The ring of tableware echoed in her ears, and the voices of family warmed her heart.
Occasionally, Nancy Anne would ask something in sign language, and their father would translate so the grandparents would know what she was saying.
Roseanna was disappointed when she heard Grandpa and Grandma Zook had caught the flu. It was a rarity to have everyone here at one time, and she’d been looking forward to them being here, too. She hadn’t seen them since the day of the wedding. Not only that, but her grandmother wouldn’t be able to have any of the pumpkin pie she’d baked. Roseanna prayed for her grandparents before they began their meal, hoping she’d be able to visit them sometime next year.
After the meal, her father and his dad went to the living room, and Adam tagged along. Roseanna and Mary headed into the kitchen to help clean up the dishes for their mother, so she could talk with Grandma Allgyer.
Roseanna ran her fingers through warm water from the faucet and sighed. She never minded doing dishes. It was a comfort. She poured the liquid soap under the stream of running water, watching as the suds began to build up and spread to the edges of the sink. The bonus was the soothing lavender fragrance.
Nancy Anne and Adam went past as they pulled on their gloves and hats.
“Where do you think you two are going?” Mary asked, signing at the same time.
“We’re gonna build the best snow fort ever.” Adam grinned.
“Not without me.” Mary left the room for a few moments and came back wearing a jacket, scarf, and mittens, while carrying her boots over to the door. “Roseanna, wanna join us?” Mary slipped her boots on and tapped them against the wooden floor.
“Think I’ll stay in here where it’s warm and wait for dessert.” Roseanna smiled. “You guys have fun.”
“Are you sure?” Adam blinked. “You love being out in the snow. We’ve all gone out together every year.”
“I’m not feeling up to it.”
“Okay, see you later, then.” Adam followed Mary and Nancy Anne out the back door.
Roseanna finished drying the dishes and went to her room, closing the door behind her. She took off her kapp and unpinned her bun. Her long tresses fell down over her shoulders, and she ran her fingers through it as best as she could to break up any tangles.
She stood by her sewing area, eyeing all of the dresses she’d made in the course of a month. Only a third of them were for buyers. Roseanna covered her mouth, giving in to her unpredictable emotions. John, you were dishonest with me the entire time we were courting. Her vision of the dresses blurred. You promised we would be together for Christmas. But now… I don’t know whether to be angry or sad about what you did to me.
A knock sounded on her door. “Rosey, could I come in, please?”
“Uh, Mom, now is not a good time.” Roseanna rubbed a palm against her chest as she turned away from the dresses. “I don’t want any dessert.”
“That’s not why I’m here, Roseanna. Please open your door.”
Roseanna went over and opened the door a crack. “What is it?”
“You have to let me in so I can show you, Rosey.”
She took in a deep breath before allowing her mother to enter. Roseanna sat down on the edge of the bed as her mother unfolded a quilt in front of her.
“This beautiful covering was given to me by my mother when I was around your age. It has comforted me through hard times throughout the years, especially when your daed and I were having difficulties with our marriage.” Mom pressed her hand on the quilt and smiled. “Your grandma Zook gave me this quilt during Christmas the same year your father and I were married, and now I want to pass it down to you, Roseanna.”
Roseanna stared down at her feet. Is it right for me to take this quilt when I don’t deserve it? I didn’t get married.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Roseanna shook her head. “No, Mom. I don’t want the quilt.”
“What?”
“Mom, I don’t need to have it because I’m the oldest. You have two other daughters who are so close to becoming adults themselves.”
“But, Roseanna—”
“Give the quilt to Mary when she gets married.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Roseanna opened her eyes as the weight of her mother was no longer on the bed.
“Are you sure you don’t want any dessert? Not even the pie you made?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve lost my appetite.”
Mom refolded the quilt and carried it out with her without saying another word. Roseanna didn’t want to turn down her mother’s thoughtful gift, but she didn’t see herself as being worthy of it. The decision would be different if John were here holding her in his arms and saying how much he loved her and never wanted to leave. But some things in life didn’t play out exactly how people wanted them to. Some things were not meant to be.
CHAPTER 6
Roseanna thumbed through the fabrics lined up on the shelf, deciding which colors she’d take home with her. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long to set the fabrics she wanted into the shopping basket.
“Now I just need some thread,” Roseanna murmured as she went over to another shelf and reached above her.
“Do you need help with that, miss?” The male employee stood at the end of the aisle.
Looking around the taller person behind her, she shook her head. “No, I’m good. Thank you anyway.” Roseanna stood on the tips of her toes and grabbed the spool of thread.
After Roseanna was finished gathering her needed materials, she walked to the checkout counter at the front of the variety store. She noticed Catherine was up at the register working today. Sometimes, she worked on the floor, restocking. Roseanna wondered if working here and constantly walking by all those beautiful fabrics would make it too tempting not to keep buying them. Catherine was Amish but hadn’t joined the church yet. She was about two years younger than Roseanna.
Only a couple of shoppers stood in front of her, and they each held only one item. Roseanna scrambled through her purse and pulled out her wallet, opening it to grab a couple of twenties. This should be enough for everything. Roseanna tugged on the neckline of her dress as she moved up in the line.
“Ah, Roseanna.” The cashier smiled. “How are you and your family doing?”
“We’re doing okay, despite this cold weather.” Roseanna wove her fingers around the bills in her hand. With the number of times she’d walked into this store, she was quite familiar with some of the employees working here. “How are things going for you, Catherine?”
“Pretty good. My brother had the flu for a few days, but he’s feeling better. So far, he’s the only one at the house to have gotten it.” She smiled. “And we’re all grateful for that.”
“Good to hear. I’ll be praying no one else at your place gets it.” Roseanna pressed her lips together.
Catherine nodded.
Roseanna wasn’t sure her response had been adequate, but it was all she could think to say.
She stood silently as Catherine rang up the items in her basket, but then the clerk lifted one of the fabrics. “This is a great color. Burgundy is one of my
personal favorites.” Catherine placed the fabric into a plastic bag with the rest of Roseanna’s items.
“It’s one of my favorites, too. I’m making a dress for one of my neighbors with that material.”
“Not until you’ve paid for it.” Catherine winked. “Which neighbor, may I ask?”
Roseanna couldn’t help but giggle at that remark. “The widow, May Yoder. With her arthritis acting up, she can’t do much sewing.” She handed Catherine the amount she owed and then grabbed the plastic bags. “I hope the rest of your day goes well.”
“Thanks. You too, Roseanna.”
Roseanna pushed on the door and stepped outside, grimacing as the cold stung her face. At least March will be here in a few weeks. There’s no point in having winter winds without any snow. She gripped her scarf.
As Roseanna approached her horse and buggy, she smelled the enticing aroma of food and wondered if she should get something to eat before heading home.
Turning away from the buggy, Roseanna walked along the street as she bundled up in her jacket, keeping warm as best she could. As she headed in the direction of the restaurant, she bumped into someone who had been passing by. This caused her to lose her grip on the plastic bags she was carrying. “I’m so sorry.” Her face heated while she bent down to pick up the bags.
“Why are you apologizing? I was the one who wasn’t paying attention.”
Roseanna gasped when she looked up. “Mark?”
“Roseanna? Is that you?” Mark stumbled back, his expression brightening. “Oh, wow. What are the chances?” He chuckled and then bent down. “Here, let me help you pick up your stuff.”
“Oh, danki.” Roseanna’s heart beat a little bit quicker when he inched closer to her. Why do I feel so nervous? She reached for a spool that had fallen from its bag and wrapped up the loose thread.
After she grabbed one of the bags, Roseanna stood up, and Mark handed her the other bag, making slight contact with her hand. Her arm trembled, but she had the cold weather as an excuse for her awkward behavior.
“Thank you again, Mark. I appreciate the help.”
“No problem.” He rubbed his dimpled chin and grinned. “How have you been, Roseanna?”
“I should be asking you that question. It’s been a couple of years since you moved away. Are you here visiting someone?”
“Well, no. I actually moved back here about two weeks ago.”
“Really?”
“Jah. I was missing this place. And the people I grew up with, too.”
Mark’s steady gaze made Roseanna’s face heat up in a matter of seconds. “I see.” She looked down at her bags. “Well, it’s nice seeing you again, Mark. I better get home and get some things done.”
As she was about to walk away, he rested a hand on her shoulder. “Wait, Roseanna. I know we haven’t talked in a long time, but I was wondering, maybe sometime—if you’re free of course—we could get something to eat and catch up.”
“Umm…” Roseanna bit her bottom lip. “Right now isn’t a good time for me.”
“But weren’t you heading to that restaurant across the street?” Mark raised a brow.
“I had thought about it, but there’s still some leftovers in the fridge at home I was planning to eat.”
Mark laughed and nudged her shoulder. “It’s okay. I wasn’t expecting you to drop what you were doing right now to have lunch with me. Like I said, whenever you’re free to do it is fine.”
“All right.”
“Okay. But before you go…” Mark reached into his jacket pocket and removed a pen. “Do you happen to have the receipt for the items you bought? I want to give you my home address and I have nothing to write it on.”
Roseanna’s hand shook as she dug through the plastic bag to find the receipt. “Here you are.”
Mark took the receipt and knelt to the ground, using one of his legs as a surface to write on. While doing so, he flipped over the receipt and then looked at Roseanna. “So I see you were buying material. Does that mean you make dresses for a living, like you’d once said you wanted to do?”
“Jah, I’ve been doing it for over a year now.”
“That’s good to know.”
“It’s nice to earn a little money while doing something you love.” She put her hands into her jacket pockets. “Speaking of jobs, what have you been doing for work?”
“Blacksmith. Mostly with horseshoes.”
“Ah. And how has that been going for you, Mark?”
“As good as I’d hoped.” Mark stood and handed Roseanna the receipt. “There you go. Now you can come over whenever you’re ready to talk a bit more. I would love to stand around right now like we’ve been doing, but it’s a bit chilly out here.”
“So true. It was nice talking with you again, Mark.”
“Same here. See you soon, Roseanna.”
Karen was glad Roseanna was out shopping today. She hoped it was a sign that Roseanna was doing better.
Nancy Anne deserves a break, too. By the time she’d gotten up, her youngest daughter was in the kitchen and had the coffee going. Nancy Anne had even swept the living-room floor.
Karen stood by the washer, ringing out some towels, when Nancy Anne came into the kitchen to sweep that floor next. Karen smiled, pausing to look out the window. “Oh boy, Ash is out in the front yard eating grass,” she signed, setting the broom aside. “I’d better go put him back in the corral.” She groaned. “Great, Coal is out, too.”
“No problem; I’ll get them both put away,” Nancy Anne signed. She threw on a heavy sweater and dashed out, closing the door behind her.
Karen smiled. Her youngest daughter couldn’t hear, but she was certainly her most helpful child.
Karen watched out the window, to be sure neither of their buggy horses decided to be uncooperative. To her relief, Nancy Anne led both horses together into the barn.
At least their other buggy horse, Cinnamon, was with Roseanna in town today. They’d had their old horse, Millie, for several years, but they’d ended up giving her to a struggling Amish couple in a different community several years ago.
The typical February cold and breezy weather only added to the discomfort of being outdoors, so Karen wasn’t eager to hang out the clothes. She finished wringing out the whites and had them piled, ready to be hung outside, when she called Mary to help get the laundry to the clothesline.
“I’m not looking forward to going out into the cold.” Mary slipped on her heavy sweater.
Karen closed up her daughter’s black coat and held open the back door. “I know how you feel, Daughter. Stoking the warm fire would be more my choice of something to do on a day like this.”
On Mary’s way out, she ran her hand into the doorjamb and almost dropped the basket. “Ow. That didn’t feel too good.”
“How does it look, Mary? Did you break the skin?”
Mary turned her hand to inspect the spot. “It’s red and it stings a little, but I’ll be okay.”
They both went outside, and while Mary hung the sheets, Karen pinned all the towels to the line. With the way the breeze was blowing, the laundry would be dry in no time. “I need to start another load,” she told Mary. “The next one will be the sheets off Adam’s bed.”
Mary hung some hand towels. “You know, Mom, I’m still not happy about how John left my sister on their wedding day. I think about it a lot.”
“I agree with you. It was heartbreaking to see something like that take place—especially to one of our family members.” Karen’s dress stirred in the breeze. “But things happen sometimes, and there’s no simple way to fix them.”
“My sister should stop thinking about John and find someone new to begin courting with again.” Mary dropped a clothespin and retrieved it out of the grass. “Of course, only when Roseanna has healed from her pain and is ready to move on.”
Karen shook out a towel and pinned it to the line. “I’m praying for your sister, Mary. I know the Lord has the right young man for Roseanna.”
Mary picked up the empty clothes basket. “You’re right, Mamm. My sister needs encouragement from her family and friends. I’ll keep praying, too.”
Karen looked over at her. “Is something else bothering you? You look like you have a problem.”
Mary toed her black clog against the grass and fidgeted. “Why does Nancy Anne get to sit in the living room, doing nothing?”
Karen frowned. “Doing nothing? Why, Nancy Anne was up early and did several chores—including putting two loose buggy horses away.”
“Really? I didn’t know the horses had escaped.” Mary looked a tad sheepish.
“Your sister helps out around here a lot, so she deserves to sit in the living room and read a book once in a while.”
“You’re right, Mom. I shouldn’t have assumed my sister was getting special privileges.” Mary walked back to the house with Karen, holding on to the empty laundry basket.
“That’s okay, it’s easy to draw the wrong conclusions when we don’t have all the facts.” Karen closed the back door behind her and walked over to the wringer washer.
“I hope Roseanna is enjoying her time alone in town, doing some shopping.”
“I’m glad to see her keeping busy again and getting out among our community.” Karen grabbed Adam’s sheets and placed them in the washer.
“I’m sure she feels a bit awkward yet, but who wouldn’t? I’m trying not to be prideful of how well my sister is doing.”
“We’ll both try hard to be humble and praise the Lord for His continued healing of our family.” Karen grabbed the detergent, measured out what she needed for the washer, and started up the machine.
“I’ll help you with the sheets outside when that load is finished.” Mary pulled off her jacket and draped it over the kitchen chair.
Karen removed her own outer garment and slipped it on a wall peg. “We have time for a break, so I’ll heat some water for tea. Would you like some?”
“I wouldn’t mind some hot chocolate.” Mary smiled.
Karen took the kettle over to the sink and filled it with water. “I’ll see if Nancy Anne would like anything.”