“Will we get home in time for daed to show me how to harness Snowball?”
Lizzie looked at the sun that rested high above their heads. “We have two more loads of linens to finish, and then we can go home. If we hurry and clean the last room we should be home with enough time for you to spend about thirty minutes before dinner.”
“I don’t have to help you cook?”
Lizzie smiled. “I think I can do without your help just this once.”
Abby rushed at Lizzie with a hearty hug, and then went back to work hanging towels on the clothesline.
****
Lizzie pulled the last piece of fried chicken from the iron skillet and placed it on the linen-clad platter. She covered it to keep it warm while she checked on her biscuits. Seeing they still had a couple of minutes, she set the table and went out to ring the bell to alert Jacob the meal was ready.
Jacob, Caleb and Abby came rushing in the door, laughing at something. It startled Lizzie, causing her to knock her hand against the hot stove when she took the biscuits out of the oven. “Oh, not again!”
Before she realized, Jacob was at her side, pulling her hand under the cold-running water in the sink. He put his arm around her and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
“I’m sorry for startling you again.”
“It isn’t your fault. I knew you were coming in, I just had my mind on other things.”
Jacob looked her in the eye and smiled. “I’ve had a tough time keeping my mind on my work too.”
She smiled back, losing herself in his dimples.
“I’d like it if we could take another buggy ride tomorrow night. Do you think you could arrange with Aunt Bess to stay with the kinner?”
“I’ll ask her in the morning when I go over to clean the B&B. It’ll be a short day tomorrow since she only has two guests.”
Jacob’s face lit up. “Gut. I was hoping to have some time to help Abby with Snowball. Caleb and I don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow, so we will be here when you return. I’d like it if I could spend the afternoon working with her and the horse. The sooner we break him, the sooner she’ll be able to ride him.”
Lizzie turned off the water, satisfied she’d left her hand under the cool tap long enough. “That would make her happy. All she talks about all day is how much she wants to ride that horse. I think she’d sleep in the barn with him if we let her.”
Jacob beamed at his dochder, and Lizzie loved him all the more for it.
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CHAPTER 25
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Lizzie was excited to hear that her aenti would watch the kinner so she and Jacob could take a buggy ride after the evening meal. She hoped tonight would be the night he would kiss her. As much as she tried to keep her mind on her work, she couldn’t help but let her mind slip back to thoughts of Jacob. But she had work to do or she would never get home to him.
Watching Abby dust the furniture and fluff the pillows, she admired how much she fit into the Amish lifestyle so quickly, right down to the purple dress with the black apron she now wore. Since they’d gotten Snowball, she hadn’t mentioned cell phones, computers or TV even once, and Lizzie wondered if her adaptation to her surroundings would stay with her.
“Are you happy now that you have a father?”
Abby looked up from her work, surprised at the question. “I thought I would miss my cell phone and TV, but I’m having a lot more fun here. And I have to admit that having a dad—daed—is really nice. You were right. I do love it here because everyone is nice. And I even have a few friends—Annie and Rebecca.”
“Do you want to know the nice thing about your friend Annie? She’s also your new cousin.”
“It is nice to have a big family now. I was always lonely when it was just you and me for a family, but now I have a daed, and a bruder, onkels, and even a grossdaddi.”
Lizzie’s eyes misted over, knowing she’d made the right decision for her dochder.
****
Lizzie watched from the fence post as Abby took her first ride on Snowball. He’d been gentle enough that Jacob felt he was ready for a rider—especially since the auctioneer claimed he’d been saddled before. Jacob was grateful that the previous owner of the seven-year-old gelding had broken him in and appeared to have treated him well, creating a gentle animal fit for his dochder.
Abby felt very comfortable on Snowball, as though she was meant for horseback riding. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have such a nice new daed to get her a horse of her own. She knew her friend, Rachel, would be envious of such a gift, and she intended to write to her—snail-mail, of course, just as soon she got the chance. Her mamm had tried to explain to her how much more satisfying getting a real letter in the mail can be, but she was still a little unsure of it. The important thing, though, was that she would help her to keep in contact with her best friend.
Jacob continued to walk beside Snowball, ensuring Abby’s safety since the horse was new to her. “You’re doing a gut job of learning. Snowball seems to have been made just for you.”
Abby leaned in and stroked Snowball’s silky neck.
“Can I braid his mane with red ribbons and put jingle bells around his neck for Christmas?”
Jacob laughed heartily. “That sounds like a gut idea. If we get him trained in time, we can have him pull the sleigh.”
Abby’s eyes grew wide. “You have a sleigh?”
Jacob smiled at her excitement. “Jah. We take the sleigh to visit neighbors at Christmas. It goes easier in the snow than the buggy.”
Abby giggled, delighting Jacob.
“I can’t wait for it to snow!”
Jacob could see that raising a dochder was going to be a lot different than raising Caleb—especially since she’d been raised as an Englischer. He might have missed her first steps, and other firsts in her young life, but he knew there were plenty of “firsts” ahead of them to look forward to as a familye—including her first sleigh ride.
And he could hardly wait.
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CHAPTER 26
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Jacob was eager to get his fraa home after their buggy ride—especially since Aunt Bess offered to keep the kinner overnight. He had to admit that he was nervous to be alone with Lizzie, even though they’d slept in the same bed together since their marriage. But this was different. They would have no responsibilities except to each other for the entire night. But first, he would enjoy the remainder of their buggy ride together by the light of the harvest moon.
Lizzie reached for Jacob’s hand and leaned into his shoulder. She didn’t mind the chill in the air; her thoughts of Jacob were keeping her cheeks pretty heated. The quilt that spread across their laps was the very quilt her mamm had made for her. She wanted to use it once before giving it to Abby for her bed. It was made for her at Abby’s same age, and Lizzie felt it important that she have something from the grossmammi she would never get to meet.
Jacob clenched her cold fingers in his. “Are you warm enough?”
“I’m a little cold, but I’d like to stop for a minute alongside the road to gaze at the stars if that’s alright with you.”
“Jah.” Jacob pulled the buggy to the side of the dirt road and gazed upward. “The sky is full of stars tonight.”
Lizzie nuzzled in a little closer, and Jacob put his arm around her.
“I really missed the stars living in the city. The view out here is so bright, whereas the stars are hard to see against the city lights.”
Lizzie tilted her head up. “There must be a billion of them out tonight.”
Jacob watched her as she smiled at the stars. She was so beautiful against the moonlight, he wondered if it was too soon to kiss her. He loved her more than he ever thought he could, and didn’t think he could stand to wait even another moment for her full lips to touch his.
She turned to him then. “Are you still angry with me?”
Jacob�
�s heart caught in throat. He wasn’t expecting such a question. “Why would I be angry with you?”
“Because you were forced to marry me!”
Jacob pulled both of her hands in his and turned to face her. “No one forced me. I did it willingly. At first I thought it was to keep from being excommunicated. But when I saw how much you and Abby needed me I realized that maybe Caleb and I needed you too.”
Lizzie swallowed the lump that tried to invade her throat. “How do we make this work when it really seems like we used each other to stay in the community?”
Jacob pulled her close enough to smell the flowery fragrance of her hair. “Because I never stopped loving you! And it took being forced into a marriage to make me realize it.”
Lizzie giggled. “So you admit to being forced to marrying me?”
“Yes! But that doesn’t mean I’m not froh.”
Lizzie looked him in the eye, noticing for the first time just how handsome he really was. She’d not been able to really look at him since they’d been married, and she realized she was happy too.
Jacob cupped her cold cheeks in his warm hands and pulled her close, placing his lips on hers. Leaning into his advances, she tasted his sweet kisses, feeling like they were drips of honey on her tongue.
****
Lizzie slipped under the quilt and waited for Jacob to finish taking care of the horse and buggy. She put her fingers to her lips, remembering the way Jacob’s lips felt when they’d touched hers. They’d shared one kiss when they were younger, but it was nothing like the passionate kiss they’d just shared only a few minutes ago.
Jacob entered the bedroom, causing Lizzie’s pulse to race. It made her so nervous she jumped from the bed and stood in front of the window. Jacob stood behind her, folding his arms around her.
“Is something wrong?”
Everything is right for the first time in a very long time. So why am I so afraid?
She turned around swiftly and looked him in the eye, her mouth slightly agape as though she wanted to say something and forgot midsentence. He dragged his fingers through her long, brown hair and lowered his mouth to hers. Love surged through him as he drew her so close he could barely breathe, but he feared he would lose his breath altogether if he let her slip from his grasp. She welcomed the kiss as his mouth swept over hers with sweet desperation. She knew that desperation well; it had been building in her soul for the past ten years, and escalated during the week while she waited for him to claim her as his. She stumbled backward, pulling him toward the bed where she could give herself to him with reckless abandon. Jacob was her one true love, and she would have him forever this time around.
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CHAPTER 27
**********************
One year later…
“I can’t do this anymore, Jacob. You’re going to have to ask someone else!”
Jacob smoothed Lizzie’s damp hair from her face, and watched the midwife’s face for the signal.
“One more push, Lizzie. Just one more, I promise.”
Exhausted, Lizzie pushed once more, feeling the pressure of her boppli’s head emerging. She hadn’t struggled this much giving birth to Abby. Was something wrong?
“Stop pushing for a minute and let me ease out the shoulders. This one looks like he’s built like his daed.”
Jacob squeezed Lizzie’s hand and whispered in her ear to distract her from pushing for a minute.
“I’ve never been more in lieb with you than right now, Lizzie.”
Lizzie giggled, tears streaming down her cheeks when her boppli emerged. He was beautiful, with a full head of curly brown hair like Jacob’s. The midwife wiped his face and handed him to Lizzie for examination.
He was perfect in every way.
Suddenly, another contraction assailed Lizzie, causing her to let out a scream. Jacob lifted the boppli from her arms and stood up, fear directed at the midwife.
“I think we have another boppli trying to make its way into your familye.”
Lizzie pushed herself up on her elbows. “What do you mean another one? You only heard one heartbeat!”
“Sometimes these things get missed. Get ready to push so we can deliver this little one.”
Lizzie laid back, a thousand thoughts whirling in her head, but all she had time to concentrate on were the contractions causing her to push another boppli from her. One good push and the next one was born, screaming loudly.
Lizzie held her arms out for her new dochder.
The midwife listened to Lizzie’s abdomen through the stethoscope. “That was the last one, I promise!”
Lizzie smiled at Jacob, who held his son, while she held his dochder—his real dochder. Lizzie had to admit she’d been a little afraid this day would come. She’d been hoping for a boy her entire pregnancy, concerned that Abby would no longer feel like Jacob’s dochder if he had one of his own. But here she was, faced with reality, and wondered how her husband was feeling.
When the midwife finished with Lizzie, she took newborn Samuel from Jacob’s arms and went across the room to clean him up while Lizzie and Jacob picked out a name for their dochder.
“What do you think of the name Rachel? That was my mamm’s name.”
Jacob kissed Lizzie gently. “I think it’s a perfect name.”
Lifting her chin gently, he kissed her again. “Is something troubling you?”
Lizzie chose her words carefully. “I wonder what you’re thinking now that I’ve truly given you a dochder.”
Jacob smoothed back Lizzie’s hair and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll always cherish Abby, and I couldn’t love her any more if she was my own flesh and blood. I’m sure you feel the same for Caleb.”
Lizzie frowned. “You’re right. I do. But Abby isn’t your real dochder, and this boppli is your flesh and blood.”
Jacob smiled. “You gave me a dochder when I married you, and I gave you a son. Now we’ve been blessed with another one of each, and for that, I will always love you.”
“I love you too, Jacob.”
Lizzie and Jacob couldn’t stop smiling. They each now held a newborn—their bopplin—made from their love.
**PLEASE CONTINUE READING…
SNEAK PEEK OF
BOOK TWO in this series…
AMISH WINTER WONDERLAND
Two full chapters on the next page…
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CHAPTER 1
**********************
“Do you even like boys?”
Lillian Stoltzfus didn’t like the tone her younger sister, Hannah, was using—or her implications.
“That isn’t funny. Of course I like boys! They just don’t like me!”
Hannah held up her hand apologetically. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. But you have to admit that it appears you want to be a spinster.”
“That’s a mean thing to say, Hannah”
“Maybe you need to make yourself a little more available to the menner when we have working bees. You have a lot to offer a husband since you have your own bakery that daed built for you. It’s on your own land and everything. What man wouldn’t want you for his fraa?”
Lillian sighed. “You know he only built the bakery on the land adjoining our farm so he could keep an eye on me—that, and the fact he only had dochdern. We both know if he’d had the son he wanted, I probably wouldn’t have any of it. He’s saving that land to sell to a potential suitor for me! But that’s exactly the problem, I’m afraid. The menner in this community don’t seem to want a strong, independent woman for a fraa.”
Hannah pinched her brow against the hazy October sun as they hung the last of the wash on the clothes line. Being the last day in October, it was already nearly too chilly to hang wash on the line, but the two of them made the decision, despite the fact their fingers were so cold, they could barely grasp the wet clothes.
Hannah winked at her. “Don’t get discouraged. You aren’t going to end up becoming a spin
ster if I can help it.”
Lillian picked up the wicker hamper and walked toward the house. “Of course I will—especially since I’m about to turn twenty-five. But at least with my baking business, I won’t be a burden to mamm and daed.”
“You’re forgetting one thing. There is one man in the community still unmarried who’s about your age.”
Lillian stopped in her tracks. “If you’re going to try to sell me on Seth Miller again, it won’t work! He’s five years older than me. It’s obvious he doesn’t want a fraa, or he’d already have one. Besides, he’s way too quiet. He never talks to me when he comes into the bakery—ever. I take that as a sign he just isn’t interested in me.”
If the truth be told, Lillian had been interested in him for the past year, ever since he started coming into the bakery on a regular basis. But though he would sometimes linger, he never said very much, especially nothing that would give her the impression he liked her. She was hopelessly infatuated with him, and it frustrated her that she was alone in her feelings. She couldn’t even be sure she could consider Seth a friend because friends usually talked more than the two of them did.
Hannah pushed out her lower lip. “Or he’s just shy. Lillian, you’re much prettier than I am. How could he not want you for his fraa? A man would have to be blind not to see how perfect you are.”
Lillian turned her back on her schweschder. “Don’t insult me, Hannah. We both know you inherited mamm’s beauty. And no man is that shy. I think he has too much responsibility to his daed. Maybe that’s why his schweschder ran away all those years ago—because of Hiram Miller’s strict parenting.”
Hannah stayed on her heels. “I’m not going to criticize the man’s parenting, but I’ll agree he does seem to work poor Seth to the bone. His loyalty to his daed is honorable—that’s a gut quality in a man. As far as you not being pretty, maybe if Seth saw you in something other than work dresses, he might take notice. Every time he comes into the bakery, your hair is always messy, and you’re wearing flour-covered work dresses, and your underarms are sweaty. You might as well wear Daed’s trousers and suspenders for all the feminine quality you display.”
Jacob's Daughter (An Amish, Christian Romance) Page 9