An Amish Family Christmas: Heart of ChristmasA Plain Holiday

by Marta Perry

  “I’m afraid I don’t.” The officer straightened to address Granny. “The children’s parents are on their way back from Europe. They had trouble getting a flight out, but they will be in Cincinnati tonight. They have asked the children be taken to a hospital there for evaluation. Although they look fine to me, I have to follow my orders. I hope you understand.”

  Kimi spoke up for the first time. “Mom and Dad are coming back already? They were going to stay in Paris for two weeks.”

  “When they heard your message, they immediately started trying to get back. They are very concerned about you and your brother.”

  Kimi rolled her eyes “That’s a switch.”

  Although the officer looked puzzled by her comment, he turned his attention to Ryder. “How would you like to ride in our helicopter?”

  Ryder’s excitement faded. He reached for Sally’s hand. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s a little scary, but your sister will be with you and so will I and our pilot. It’s very safe.”

  “What about Sally?” Ryder gazed at her with frightened eyes.

  “I don’t have any instructions to take Sally with us. Just you and your sister.”

  Ryder wrapped his arms around Sally. “I’m not going without her. Kimi, tell him we aren’t going without Sally.” Ben heard the panic setting in.

  “I’m sorry, son.”

  “No. No. I won’t go. You can’t make me go!” He screamed and began sobbing wildly.

  Jake glanced at Ben for help. “I can’t authorize another person unless they are a patient in need of medical care. I can’t reach the parents to get their okay for the added expense of transporting another passenger.”

  If Sally got on the helicopter, would Ben ever see her again or would she be lost to him in the outside world? He had grown to care about her deeply in these few days, but Ryder needed her desperately. She was the one anchor in the boy’s life. She could help him become a man pleasing to God.

  Ben’s hopes to start a courtship with her crumpled beneath the onslaught of Ryder’s tears. “Contact their grandmother, Velda McIntyre. She can make the decision and she will cover the cost.”

  “Great. What’s her number?”

  * * *

  Sally comforted Ryder but she really needed someone to comfort her. She loved Ben. She loved him more than she had ever thought possible. She wanted to believe his kiss meant as much to him as it meant to her, but she couldn’t be sure. Did she dare tell him of her love? If he gave her some sign that his affection was more than friendship, she might find the courage. For a woman who wanted to be independent and in charge of her own life, she was miserably inept at telling the one person who mattered most how she felt about him.

  Officer Cameron went back to the helicopter and conferred with the pilot. She hoped she would be able to go with Ryder, but she desperately wanted a reason to return to Ben. Had their kiss last night meant anything to him? It meant everything to her. She gazed at him, but he avoided looking at her.

  When Jake approached them again, he was all smiles. “Everything’s been taken care of, Miss Yoder. You are to accompany the children and to stay with them until their parents arrive.”

  Ryder’s sobs tapered off. He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his coat and sniffed. “Sally can come with me?”

  “Sally can come with you,” Jake replied. “You and your sister should go collect your things. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.”

  Kimi threw her arms around her great-grandmother. “Thank you for a wonderful time and for telling us the Christmas story. I want to come back and learn all about how to make bread and rolls with you.”

  “That may take a while.”

  Kimi looked up and Sally saw tears in her eyes. “I have three months off from school in the summer. Would that be enough time?”

  Granny stroked Kimi’s hair. “Three months would be exactly enough time.”

  “Can Ryder come, too?”

  “Of course he can. You are welcome here whenever you want.”

  Sally took the children inside and they packed up their few belongings. Kimi gently wrapped the chess pieces she had made for her brother in the wool scarf her great-grandmother had given her. When she had the gift carefully tucked in the small box, she looked at Sally. “Mom and Dad are never going to bring us back here.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I’m making an educated guess.”

  “You’re a wise girl, Kimi. Someday, you will be old enough to do what you want and to visit whomever you want.”

  “Granny Weaver is pretty old. She might not be here then.”

  “If God wills it, your Granny will be here for a very long time. Her mother lived to be a hundred, and Granny is only eighty-one.”

  “You always look on the bright side, don’t you, Sally?”

  “If I do, it’s because I know that when God made the heaven and the earth, he put the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. To me, that means he wanted us to see the bright side more than he wanted us to dwell in darkness.”

  “I have a lot to learn about God.”

  “You’ve made a good start. Just remember, he doesn’t have a cell phone number.”

  Kimi grinned. “He might not, but my friends do.”

  Sally shook her head and followed Kimi downstairs where Ben and Ryder were waiting for them. As the children headed toward the helicopter with Jake, Sally hung back. She wanted to promise Ben that she would return to him. She wanted to speak of her love, but after behaving foolishly for so long, she knew she had to wait for him to speak of his feelings first. When he remained silent, she tried to prompt him. “It was quite an adventure, Ben. I will never forget it.”

  “Nor will I.”

  There was something odd in his voice. He wouldn’t meet her gaze. She tossed caution to the wind. “I’m going to miss you, Ben.”

  He cleared his throat and said, “Ryder and Kimi will keep you busy. God knew what he was doing when he sent you to them. They need you, Sally. You have done them a world of good. Continue teaching them the important things in life.”

  She didn’t want to hear that the children needed her. She wanted to hear that Ben needed her. She wanted to hear that he would wait for her. “They won’t need a nanny much longer.”

  “Then you’ll be free to decide on the life you want to live.”

  “And if that life is among the Amish?” Would he be waiting for her and rejoice at her decision?

  “If that is where you believe you belong, I will be happy for you.”

  It was so much less than she wanted to hear. What was wrong? Had she misread his feelings, making his kindness into more because that was what she wanted?

  “And if I wish to live Englisch?” She held her breath.

  He straightened and smiled at her, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then I will be pleased to say I have a friend who is Englisch.”

  He thought of her only as a friend. Then that was what she must be. She looked away before he could see the tears she couldn’t hide. “Goodbye, Ben.”

  With her head down, she rushed toward the helicopter.

  Chapter Ten

  Two days after Sally and the children left, Ben was able to leave, too. An Amish neighbor with a team of draft horses pulling a snowplow opened the lane for Mrs. Weaver’s sons in their buggies. After promising to look after Dandy until he was fit to travel, Mrs. Weaver’s grandson gave Ben a lift to the McIntyre farm.

  Trent was overjoyed to see Ben return. “Finally. I hope you had a nice vacation while I was working myself to death.”

  “You look well enough to me.”

  “I managed. Mrs. McIntyre hired some temporary help yesterday. She knew you wanted to go home for Christmas. I he
ard you almost lost the boy. I’m glad I wasn’t in your shoes.”

  “I wish I hadn’t been in my shoes.” No, that wasn’t true. He wouldn’t trade those remarkable days with Sally and the children for anything.

  After packing a few things, he had Trent drive him home. Everyone in his family was delighted to see him, but he couldn’t call up the delight he knew he should feel in return.

  He wasn’t the kind of fellow who would dwell on his mistakes. When he messed up, he would admit it. He learned from his mistakes. What he learned was that life wasn’t the same without Sally.

  The day after he arrived home, he attended a Christmas Eve singing being held at the home of Eli Imhoff. It had seemed like a good way to get his mind off Sally, but it wasn’t working. There were two dozen young men and women from Ben’s church group present as well as a half-dozen visitors from a neighboring community.

  He stood by the back wall with a glass of punch in his hand. He didn’t feel like joining the game being played. A nearby table was laden with good things to eat, but he found he wasn’t hungry, either. He eyed the group of girls across the way. There were some pretty girls and some plain ones, but none of them had ginger-red hair and amazing blue eyes with silver flecks in them.

  “I can’t believe you survived being snowed in with Sally Yoder.”

  Ben looked over his shoulder at the twins, Moses and Atlee Beachy. Moses said, “Will we hear the banns read in church this Sunday?”

  Ben shook his head. “Sally is living Englisch now.”

  “That’s a shame,” Atlee said.

  “A shame for us you mean.” Moses took a sip of his punch. “Now that Ben is a free man, half the girls in here will be waiting for him to take them home in his buggy, and you and I will be riding home by ourselves.”

  Ben didn’t put much stock in their banter. “The two of you like to exaggerate.”

  “Ha!” Moses turned his back to the room and leaned closer. “Don’t look now, but Wanda Miller is coming over.” He and his brother shared a chuckle as they moved away and left Ben as the lone target.

  “The pastries look good.” Wanda gave him a shy smile but kept her eyes down.

  Humble, unassuming, easy on the eyes. There was a lot about Wanda that was exactly the kind of girl he was looking for in a wife. Except for one glaring problem. She wasn’t Sally Yoder.

  Bold and outspoken, Sally had a caring heart that was every bit as important as the modesty he thought necessary in a woman.

  Wanda added a doughnut to her plate. “I heard about your adventure. I’m so glad you were able to save that little boy.”

  “It was Sally Yoder and Granny Weaver who saved him.”

  “Is it true that Sally has chosen to be Englisch?” Wanda still didn’t look at him.

  He sighed heavily. “Sally is taking care of two children who desperately need her. It is the path God has chosen for her.”

  “Our ways are not for everyone,” Wanda said. Was that a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth? He wished that she would look up.

  “Nee, they are not.”

  She glanced at him then. “She had quite a thing for you. She really made a fool of herself over you. People say she lacked demut.”

  “Sally struggles with meekness but she is humble before God.” He didn’t repeat Sally’s story. That was something that would remain between the two of them. He treasured the fact that she’d trusted him enough to confide in him. He treasured a great many of his moments with Sally.

  No, that wasn’t true. He cherished every hour he’d spent with her because he was in love with her.

  The thought took his breath away. He loved Sally.

  Wanda spoke again, “I’m sure that none of us are surprised she left, but it still must be hard on her family. I wonder if she even gave them a thought.”

  He frowned. “Sally cherishes her family.”

  The entire time they had been with Grandma Weaver, Sally had been trying to instill that same kind of love of family in Kimi and Ryder. Without her, they might never have understood the importance of caring for one another and having faith in God.

  If he had spoken of his love, would it have made a difference to her? His mind told him that he had made the right decision. His heart told him he had made a terrible mistake.

  Wasn’t he guilty of assuming that he knew what God had planned for her? For all of them? When the children didn’t need a nanny anymore, Sally might well return home. He could wait. She needed to know that. They were both young. Marriage was nothing to rush into. Sally had said that herself.

  She cared for him, but did she care enough to come back when he hadn’t given her an indication about the way he felt?

  He loved her. She deserved to know that. He tossed his empty cup into the trash can next to the pastry table. “It was nice talking to you, Wanda.” He started toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I forgot to tell someone something important.” He ignored the puzzled look on Wanda’s face and rushed out the door. Tomorrow was Christmas Day. He would spend it with his family, but the day after that, he would travel to Cincinnati and see the woman he couldn’t get out of his mind.

  * * *

  Christmas morning arrived quietly in Ben’s home. There was a small package on his plate when he came down for breakfast. He unwrapped a fine pair of calfskin gloves that were lined with fleece. He gave his mother a new teapot to replace the one she had chipped a few weeks before. He gave his father a book of woodworking plans. They were both delighted with their gifts. After breakfast, he went out to help his father with the chores. When they came in, his mother was already starting preparations for the feast they would enjoy with their extended family later that day. Now was the time to tell them of his plans, before more people arrived.

  “Daed, Mamm, I’m going to Cincinnati after Christmas.”

  “To the city? Why?” His father began washing his hands at the sink.

  Ben hesitated. There was nothing certain between himself and Sally. “I need to speak with...someone.”

  His mother stared at him for a long moment. “What could be so important that you have to go all the way to Cincinnati? It will cost a tidy sum to hire a driver to take you there.”

  His father turned around, drying his hands on a kitchen towel. “Will Mrs. McIntyre let you off work?”

  “I have vacation time coming to me. Trust me when I say it’s very important, even if I can’t really explain right now.” After complaining about Sally’s behavior for two years, he didn’t expect his parents to understand his sudden change of heart. Before he said anything about his new relationship with Sally, he wanted to make sure of her feelings.

  His mother tipped her head to the side. “Very important?”

  “It’s vital to my future.”

  She struggled to hold in a smile and turned back to her cake. “You don’t have to go all the way to Cincinnati to talk to her. I saw her mother in the store yesterday and she told me Sally’s coming home today.”

  Ben wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “She’s home? She’s here in Hope Springs?”

  “Why would Ben need to see Sally Yoder, Mamm?” Ben’s father looked confused.

  “Because he’s in love with her,” his mother said with a soft smile.

  “He is? Since when?”

  She walked over and took the towel from him. “Oh, for ages now, Papa.”

  “Why am I always the last one to know these things?”

  “Because you are too busy running a business, saying your prayers, keeping your wife happy and your children fed.” She planted a kiss on his cheek.

  “It’s good someone notices all I do,” he replied gruffly.

  “Of course we notice, dear. Now, get changed out of your work cloth
es. Our children and grandchildren will be here soon. And bring in those pies I put on the back porch to cool.”

  Ben’s father winked at him. “She’s a bossy thing, isn’t she?”

  “Ja, she is. I just never noticed before.”

  Daed frowned slightly. “Sally Yoder, huh? She always said she wanted to marry you. I thought that was pretty bold of her.”

  Mamm went back to the stove to stir something. “I told all my friends I intended to marry you, Henry,” she said. “When I was just twelve. Sometimes, a girl knows these things.”

  Daed chuckled. “When I was about that age, I told my brothers I was gonna marry Esther Chupp. Happily, she married Bishop Zook instead. I’m not sure I could live with a woman who doesn’t know how to laugh. Reckon it proves your mother is the smart one in the family.”

  “It’s good someone notices,” she replied with a sassy smile. “Ben, you had better get going if you’re going to get to the Yoder place and back in time to eat with us. I’ll put dinner back an hour.”

  “Danki.” He kissed her cheek and raced out the door.

  * * *

  Sally smiled brightly at her sisters and her parents. She chatted happily with her aunts, uncles and cousins who had arrived for Christmas dinner. She was determined that no one would know how truly miserable she was. She reached for the ribbon of her kapp and her fingers found it. She was back in her Amish clothes and it felt right.

  She didn’t question her decision to return to her Amish community and family. This was where she belonged. She knew that now with the certainty that she would never question again. She was miserable because she knew that she would come face-to-face with Ben Lapp one of these days and she would have to pretend that she didn’t love him. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but it was something she would have to do.

  She prayed God would give her the strength she needed.

  “Is that another buggy I hear?” her mother asked, glancing out the window. “I’m not expecting anyone else, but what a joy to have more company. See who it is, Sally, and make them welcome.”