Home Sweet Home

by Amy Clipston

  © 2017 by Amy Clipston

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, IncTM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  CIP data available upon request.

  Printed in the United States of America

  1718192021LSC54321

  CONTENTS

  Glossary

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Discussion Questions

  Acknowledgments

  Recipes from Home Sweet Home Black Raspberry Pie

  Barbecue Meatloaf

  An excerpt from A Flicker of Hope

  Also by Amy Clipston

  About the Author

  DEDICATION

  With love and appreciation for my friends at Morning

  Star Lutheran Church in Matthews, North Carolina

  GLOSSARY

  Ach—Oh!

  aenti—aunt

  boppli—baby

  daadi—grandpa

  daadihaus—grandparents’ house

  dat—dad

  English—non-Amish person

  freind—friend

  freinden—friends

  gut—good

  haus—house

  mamm—mom

  mammi—grandma

  mei—my

  ya—yes

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE COLD AIR SEEMED TO SEEP INTO THE MARROW OF MIA O’Conner’s bones, and her teeth chattered as her husband steered their pickup past a large white farmhouse. Rain splashed against the windshield and beat a steady cadence on the roof of the old Chevy truck as the tires crunched on the rock driveway beside two large barns. She held her hand over the vent and shivered. Only brisk February air whooshed through. If only they had the money to fix the heater . . .

  That was the least of their worries. She glanced down at their five-month-old daughter bundled under a blanket in her car seat between them.

  “Well, this is it,” Chace said as the truck came to a stop. The headlights sliced through the dark and illuminated the front door of a rustic, one-story cabin. “Welcome to our new home in Bird-in-Hand.”

  Mia blinked twice as she studied the building. It featured a small front porch and two windows. She shivered again, hoping the tiny house was warm.

  “What do you think?” Chace shifted the truck into Park. “It’s not much, but it’s more than reasonable. Isaac is charging us next to nothing.” He paused. “Isaac Allgyer is the best boss I’ve ever had.”

  Mia turned toward her husband, and his handsome face and Caribbean-blue eyes focused on her. “Well, it’s not—”

  Kaitlyn’s sudden screech interrupted Mia’s response.

  Mia unbuckled Kaitlyn and pulled the sobbing baby into her arms. “Mommy is right here, sweet pea.” She snuggled Kaitlyn closer to her chest, wrapping the blanket around her little body. “I guess she’ll have to sleep with us until we scrape together the money for a crib.”

  Chace’s lips formed a thin line. “We’ll figure it out.”

  Mia swallowed a sigh as Kaitlyn’s sobs subsided.

  Chace pushed his door open, and a blast of frigid air filled the cab of the truck. Mia gasped and held Kaitlyn even closer. She longed to be able to afford the warm snowsuit she’d seen at a department store after all the snowsuits had been snatched up from her favorite consignment shop. Surely her baby was cold, and the guilt that had haunted her since Kaitlyn’s birth flooded her once again.

  Chace pulled up the hood on his navy blue sweatshirt to cover his sandy-blond hair as he stood by the open truck door. Rain beat down on him, drenching his sweatshirt and worn jeans, and no doubt his work boots too.

  “Why don’t you get her inside?” he called over the rain. “It has to be warmer in there than it is in here. I’ll help you, and then I’ll handle emptying out the bed of the truck.”

  Mia nodded before Chace shut the driver side door and ran to her side of the truck.

  She retrieved a blanket from the diaper bag she’d bought at Goodwill before Kaitlyn was born. After draping the extra blanket over Kaitlyn’s head, Mia shouldered the diaper bag and her purse, then leapt out of the truck when Chace opened the door. She hustled through the icy rain and up the front steps of the cabin, where Chace had run ahead to hold the door open for her. It must not have been locked.

  Mia stepped through the door and shivered once more as the chilly air from inside the cabin seeped through her damp jeans. She caressed Kaitlyn’s head. “I think it’s colder in here than in the truck.”

  “We just need to get the coal stove going.”

  Coal?

  By the light of the truck’s headlights shining into the cabin, Chace found a Coleman lantern that sat on a small table by the door. He flipped it on, then shut the door against the wind.

  The bright yellow light allowed Mia to take in their new home. Her heart sank when she realized it was only slightly bigger than their apartment had been. She had hoped for more. A tiny kitchen with a small refrigerator, a stove, a sink, a few cabinets, and a short counter spilled into an area with a table and four chairs. Off to her right, a worn brown sofa and dark green wing chair served as a family room. Beyond the sofa were two doorways.

  “How many bedrooms are there?” she asked.

  “One.”

  “Oh.” Mia adjusted Kaitlyn in her arms. Their apartment had only one bedroom. They could make do.

  Chace crossed the room to a large black stove in the kitchen. He placed the lantern on top and began examining it.

  Mia balanced Kaitlyn with one of her arms and ran her free hand over the wall. “Where are the light switches?”

  Chace chuckled and shook his head. Normally, the warm sound of his laugh would make her smile, but tonight she frowned.

  “What’s so funny?” Her sense of humor waned with every passing moment.

  “I’ve told you Isaac and his family are Amish, Mee.” He leaned back on the kitchen counter behind him and held up his arms as if to gesture around the cabin. “There’s no electricity.”

  “What?” Mia snapped, louder than she’d meant to.

  Kaitlyn gasped and then began to cry again, her wails echoing throughout the cabin.

  “There’s no electricity?” Mia crossed the small room and stood in front of Chace. She ignored Kaitlyn’s screaming as she gaped at him.

  “What did you expect me to find with our income and credit?” His eyes narrowed to slits. “I’m sorry it’s not the Hilton.”

  Mia ground her teeth as fury boiled through her veins, exacerbated by the combination of Kaitlyn’s unrelenting screams and her husband’s caustic remark. She opened her
mouth to deliver a biting retort just as someone knocked on the front door and called out. “Chace?”

  When Chace opened the door, a tall man with dark brown hair and a matching beard that fell past his chin stood in the doorway. He was dressed in black broadfall trousers, a plain black coat, and a black hat. He looked to be in his midforties. “Chace! You made it.”

  “Isaac.” Chace’s face brightened as he greeted the man and invited him in with a nod. A woman and four children, two girls and two boys, filed into the cabin behind him. The woman and girls wore long, solid-color dresses and black coats, and their heads were covered with black bonnets. The woman, who looked to be in her early forties, had an amicable smile.

  “This is my family.” Isaac pointed to each one as he introduced them. “My wife, Vera, and our children, Rhoda, Susannah, Adam, and Joel.” All the children had dark hair and eyes, like their parents.

  Chace shook Isaac’s hand and then Vera’s. He gestured toward Mia and then raised his voice over Kaitlyn’s howling. “This is my wife, Mia, and my daughter, Kaitlyn.”

  The couple both spoke, but Kaitlyn’s keening drowned out their words. Mia bounced the baby in her arms as a migraine brewed behind her eyes. Could Kaitlyn sense her frustration? Mia moved Kaitlyn’s fine blond hair to one side and kissed her little head. Kaitlyn continued to sob as large tears streamed from her bright blue eyes and down her pink cheeks.

  “May I hold her?”

  Mia looked up at who she thought must be the eldest Allgyer daughter. She had stepped closer and was smiling. Since she had already removed her black coat and bonnet, Mia could see her purple dress was plain and that a white, gauzy cap covered her hair. Her face was free of any makeup, but she had a natural beauty with flawless ivory skin.

  “I’m Rhoda. I don’t mean to sound prideful, but I’m gut with babies.”

  “Ya, she is.” Her sister appeared at her side. “I’m Susannah.” She was a couple of inches shorter than Rhoda, but she could nearly pass for her twin. She wore a green dress made in the same plain pattern as her sister’s, and she also had a white cap over her hair.

  “All right.” Mia handed the baby to Rhoda, and her aching arms were grateful for the rest.

  “Kaitlyn is a pretty name.” Rhoda adjusted the baby in her arms.

  “Thank you,” Mia said.

  Kaitlyn took a deep breath and then yawned before resting her cheek on Rhoda’s shoulder and placing her thumb in her mouth. Her expression transformed from agitated to content in less than a minute. Mia gasped.

  “I told you.” Susannah grinned. “My sister is great with babies.”

  Rhoda pointed to the diaper bag hanging over Mia’s shoulder. “Would you like me to see if she needs a change?”

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

  Rhoda and Susannah headed toward one of the doorways beyond the family room. Mia followed them to a small bedroom. Inside were a double bed, two nightstands, a lamp, and a small bureau. Mia lingered in the doorway as Susannah flipped on the lamp on one of the nightstands, and Rhoda spread the baby blanket on the bare mattress before setting Kaitlyn down on it. Kaitlyn sputtered noises at the girls, and they laughed as Rhoda checked her diaper.

  “Mia,” Vera said as she sidled up to her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Hi.” Mia shook her hand and noted that Vera was a few inches taller than she was, possibly close to five-eight. “Thank you so much for renting us the cabin.”

  “You’re welcome.” Vera looked toward her daughters and smiled. “They enjoy taking care of babies.”

  “They’re experts.” Mia removed her damp coat and hung it on a hook by the door before coming to stand with Vera once again. “I’m thankful for the help. I wasn’t sure what to do for Katie since I had breastfed just before we headed over here. I thought maybe it was the cold, but I guess she wanted to spend some time with someone else.”

  “Isaac checked the stove, and it should warm up soon.”

  “Who used to live here? Other renters?”

  “No, Isaac’s parents. This is what’s called the daadihaus, which means the grandfather’s house. His parents lived here until they both passed away. My father-in-law has been gone for two years.” She gestured for Mia to follow her. “Let me show you around. The bathroom is right here.”

  Mia followed her to the next doorway and opened it. The bathroom was small but functional, with an ordinary sink, a vanity, a commode, and a bathtub with shower. Although the fixtures showed their age, the bathroom was clean. A small window provided the only light in the room.

  “Did you see the propane lamps?” Vera asked as they walked to the kitchen area.

  Mia shook her head. “I saw the Coleman.”

  Vera stopped in the family room and turned on the lamp on the table beside the wing chair. The lamp came to life, sending a bright glow throughout the cabin. “It will get warm, so it’s another way to heat the cabin. The lamp in the bedroom is propane too. Do you know how to use a coal stove?”

  “No. The only heating system I’ve ever known how to use had a thermostat.”

  “Let me show you.” Vera gestured for Mia to follow her.

  The front door opened and closed as Chace, Isaac, and Isaac’s sons lugged Chace and Mia’s belongings into the house. A pile of suitcases and black trash bags already clogged the small family room. Vera’s youngest son dragged in a heavy bag with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. He dropped the bag with a loud thunk before rushing back outside and into the rain for another.

  Mia turned toward Vera. “Your sons are hard workers.”

  Vera shrugged. “It’s our culture.”

  “How old are your children?” Mia leaned against the kitchen counter.

  Vera nodded in the direction of the bedroom. “Rhoda is eighteen and Susannah is seventeen. Adam is twelve and Joel is ten. Are you from a large family?”

  “No, I’m an only child.” Mia traced her finger over the worn Formica. “I’d always longed for siblings, but my mother felt children were too much of an inconvenience. She was more interested in meeting her friends at the country club.”

  Vera tilted her head and frowned.

  “Never mind.” Mia pointed to the black potbelly stove in a corner of the kitchen. “Is that the coal stove?”

  “Ya, it is. Isaac came over earlier today and started it.” Vera pointed to a bucket full of coal beside it. “You have to check it twice every day, and you’ll soon figure out how much coal you need to keep it warm overnight. If we had known you were coming yesterday, we could have started it for you then. But I understand this was a last-minute situation.”

  Mia’s throat dried as she recalled their landlord appearing at their furnished apartment earlier that day. He had previously issued a Notice to Quit, which started the clock ticking on a ten-day deadline for Mia and Chace to pay their overdue rent before they would be evicted. Ten days, however, was not enough time for Chace to gather up the money, and the deadline arrived at lightning speed. When Mr. Newman knocked on their door that morning with an eviction notice in hand, Chace begged him for an extension. But their cantankerous landlord refused, insisting they pack their things and get out by nightfall.

  Mia had never felt so distraught and humiliated. She’d dissolved in tears as Chace read the eviction notice aloud to her. He promised he would take care of them. Mia was thankful that when Chace called his boss to ask for help, Isaac offered the cabin as a quick solution.

  “There’s a coal bin in the mudroom back here behind the kitchen.” Vera pointed toward the doorway beside them. “That’s also where the wringer washer is.”

  “Wringer washer?” Mia’s eyes widened.

  “I can show you how to use it another day.” Vera gestured toward the cookstove. “The stove and refrigerator run on propane. I started the refrigerator earlier today. I can help you unpack your food.”

  Mia’s eyes stung with threatening tears. Hold it together, Mia. This woman probably has no interest in, or time fo
r, your sob story. Besides, this is so humiliating.

  Then again, she might as well be honest. Isaac had probably already told his wife everything Chace told him about their problems. “We don’t have much food.” She paused to clear her throat against a lump swelling there. “We put most of Chace’s paychecks this month toward our hospital bills from when Kaitlyn was born, which is why we couldn’t get caught up on the rent. And that’s why we wound up . . . homeless.” Her voice quavered and she sniffed.

  Vera placed her hand on Mia’s arm and gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay. Have you eaten tonight? Do you need some supper?”

  “We’ve eaten,” Mia whispered before clearing her throat again. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll have my sons bring over a basket of food before they go to school tomorrow morning.”

  Mia fought the urge to gape at Vera. Why would she offer to feed Mia and her family when she’d only just met them?

  “Mia,” Susannah said, walking out to the kitchen. “Do you have sheets? I’ll make the bed for you.”

  Rhoda stood behind her with Kaitlyn happily balanced on her hip. “Do you want me to give her a bottle for you?”

  Mia blinked. Were all Amish people this giving and helpful? She shook herself from her momentary stupor. “I breastfed her before we came, but thank you for offering.”

  “Okay.” Rhoda sat down in the wing chair with Kaitlyn in her arms.

  “Can I put linens out for you?” Susannah asked.

  Mia nodded. “Oh. That would be great. Thank you.” She pointed to a nearby suitcase. “I think the linens are in there.”

  “You’re welcome.” Susannah opened the suitcase and pulled out a set of mint-green sheets, along with a set of towels. “I’ll make your bed and then put the towels in the bathroom for you.” She walked back toward the bedroom.

  “Do you have a crib?” Vera asked. “Isaac can help Chace set it up before we go home.”

  Mia frowned. “We’ve never had enough money to buy a crib. We only had a used portable crib I bought at a consignment shop, but we lost it during the move today. We left some of our baby things in the truck while we were packing up the apartment, and when we came back, they were gone.”