Naomi’s Christmas

by Marta Perry

  “Paula Schatz at the bakery has agreed to let me put up a display of the honey. I intend to start a little business, selling my honey to customers.”

  “But—” Betty’s plump face crinkled in dismay. “Maybe you should talk to your daad about this idea. I’m not sure he would think it a gut plan.”

  Naomi tried not to clench her teeth. “Daad understands that the hives are mine. Certainly I respect his opinion, but I must decide this for myself.” She tried to smile. “It’s not so unusual for an Amish woman to have a little business, ain’t so?”

  Betty dismissed that with a wave of her hand. “You are an unmarried woman, Naomi. Surely you would do better to allow yourself to be guided by your father.” Betty took a step closer. “You will say that this is not my business, but I only want what’s best for everyone. Your father feels sure that once you move in with your brother—”

  Naomi turned away, lifting the heavy box and carrying it to the stairs. Maybe Betty had invited her here today in order to get to know her better, but it seemed clear that her main aim had been to persuade Naomi to heed her father’s wishes.

  You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. The old saying flitted through her mind. Daad, angry and giving orders, had been the vinegar, and it seemed Betty was meant to supply the honey. Ironic, given that it was the honey Naomi would be taking out of here today.

  “I thank you for your concern, Betty.” She took the second box, filling it quickly with honey jars. “I am leaving some of the honey mixtures for you, as well as the plain clover honey. I know Daad likes the rhubarb and berry honeys. Just let me know if you run out of anything, and I’ll try to replace it.”

  The second box filled, Naomi hefted it, her muscles straining. In her haste to be gone she’d put too much in the box, but she would manage. Without waiting for a response from Betty, she carried the box on up the stairs and out to the buggy.

  When she came back for the other box, Betty seemed to have regained her composure. She watched without comment as Naomi carried it to the door.

  “Naomi.” Her voice stopped Naomi before she could get outside. “I hope you will not regret this action.”

  Naomi looked at her, arms straining from balancing the heavy box. “Denke, Betty. It was ser gut of you to invite me. I know my sisters and the boys will appreciate the quilts and coverlets you are sharing with them.” If they could end on a civil note, at least, that might be a bit of goodwill salvaged from this visit.

  “Your daad was right about your stubborn nature,” Betty said, as if making a pronouncement from on high. “I hope you will think again before you persist on this path. If not, your father plans to speak about it to the bishop.”

  Stony-faced, Betty held the door open. Feeling as if she’d just taken a blow to the heart, Naomi walked out.

  Betty’s sharp words still rang in Naomi’s head the next day at worship. She shifted a little on the bench where she sat in the midst of the unmarried women. About an hour and a half into the three-hour service, the benches started feeling rather hard, and she wasn’t the only one to shift position a bit.

  Head bowed, she let her gaze steal toward Bishop Mose, who sat in his accustomed place, seeming to listen with close attention to the minister who was giving the sermon today. Had there been some special attention in his glance her way when the ministers had entered the large basement room where worship was being held? Or was her imagination, or her guilt, prompting her to imagine it?

  She fixed her gaze firmly on the preaching minister. She should not let her eyes or her mind wander during worship, but it was hard to concentrate when her thoughts bounced around so many different issues.

  Behind her a baby whimpered for a moment and then was quiet again. No one would think badly of a mother who had to take a little one out during the service for feeding, but it seldom happened. She could remember Leah saying, when Rachel Anna was tiny, that she’d timed her feedings down to the minute in the hopes that she wouldn’t have to go out.

  Gradually, as the years went by and she grew older, Naomi had moved farther back in the rows of unmarried women. There came a time when a woman had to accept the fact that marriage wasn’t for her.

  A long time ago, she’d given up all hope of knowing what real motherhood was. So why was she thinking about babies now? If she couldn’t concentrate on the sermon, she ought at least to be praying for peace between herself and Daad. The thought of speaking to Bishop Mose, kind as he was, filled her with dread.

  That was not a subject that was any more likely to fill her with the peace of the Sabbath. And she knew, if she were honest with herself, why she had been thinking of mothering. It was because her time with Joshua and Sadie was coming to an end.

  She had been kidding herself to think it wouldn’t be difficult to give them up even after so short a time. It would hurt, but surely the hurt would pass quickly. She’d be busy at the bakery, and Paula’s enthusiasm over the honey sales would help to distract her.

  Besides, it wasn’t as if she wouldn’t see Joshua and Sadie again. She had spotted Nathan’s tall figure when he’d arrived for worship, the children clinging to his hands, still looking a bit sleepy. She would see them at worship, at community events, and often when she went to the farm to tend the bees. Life would settle down to normal eventually.

  She caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of her eye and tilted her head to look. Sadie was slipping across the aisle between the men and women, as quiet as a little mouse. Now, what was she up to? Nathan usually kept the kinder close by his side during worship, sitting with his father and sister and her family.

  Sadie reached the end of Naomi’s row and began sliding in, climbing over legs and probably stepping on a few toes in her haste. The rustle of movement was surely obvious to anyone looking their way.

  Sadie stopped at Naomi’s knees. Giving her a drowsy smile, she climbed into Naomi’s lap.

  Naomi cradled the child in her arms, feeling Sadie’s little body relax against her. Sadie patted the front of Naomi’s cape, and she might just as well have reached in and patted her heart.

  Naomi held her close. She’d been wrong. She wasn’t going to stop missing Sadie and Joshua any time soon.

  And Nathan? Her thoughts backed away from that topic. It was far better not to think of Nathan at all.

  CHAPTER NINE

  So this is Naomi’s last day,” Daad said, fastening his jacket against the cold as he and Nathan came out of the kitchen after lunch. “We will miss her, ain’t so?”

  Nathan decided to take that comment as if Daad meant the children. “The kinder will, but they will be excited to have their grossmammi back.”

  “Ja, I suppose. I think Naomi will miss us, as well.” Daad went slowly down the steps. The flower beds on either side were barren, the few stalks that remained lying on the ground. Only the hardy oregano that Ada had planted near the porch still showed green.

  Nathan shrugged. “She didn’t look bothered by it being her last day.” That had nettled him a little, Naomi seeming to show no regret at leaving them.

  Daad gazed at him with reproach. “Naomi would not show her emotions in front of the kinder. She would not want to upset them.”

  His father’s words made sense. Naomi hid her feelings behind her calm manner and serene face, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel them.

  He started to speak, but turned instead at the sound of the door opening behind them. Naomi stepped out on the porch, wrapping a thick black shawl around her shoulders.

  “Nathan, can you spare a minute? There’s something I wanted to speak with you about.”

  Nodding, he turned back toward the porch. “You’ll be cold out here. We should go inside.”

  “I’m fine.” She drew the shawl closer. “I didn’t want to speak of this in front of the kinder.”

  He went back up the porch steps to stand beside her. “Feels like snow in the air.”

  She nodded, her thoughts obviously on something other th
an the weather. “Since this is my last day, I wanted to talk with you about paying rent for the use of your land and the shed. Did you want me to pay each month?”

  Nathan was surprised by the strength of his feelings. “I don’t want you to pay at all.”

  Naomi blinked, probably surprised in her turn. “But…we agreed, didn’t we? I would watch the kinder in exchange for setting up here, but after that I would pay you.”

  “I don’t think we ever spelled it out, did we? Anyway, you have more than repaid me for having the beehives here by your care of the kinder.”

  “That was easy. I love them.”

  There was a flash of emotion in Naomi’s eyes as she said the words, a hint of something very deep, quickly hidden again behind her usual calm. But he’d seen the emotion, and it threw him off balance. All he could do was repeat himself.

  “I don’t want money from you, Naomi.”

  She stiffened, and he could sense her opposition strengthening. “This is a business arrangement. It’s not right to mix business and friendship. I have to pay you rent if I am using your property.”

  Frustration had him gritting his teeth at her stubbornness. For someone so outwardly serene, Naomi had a core of strength that would not be moved when she thought she was right.

  He’d have to find another way around this barrier, but he certainly wasn’t going to accept money from her.

  He studied her face, wondering what she was thinking.

  “What will you do if I refuse to take your money?” he asked, trying to measure the depth of her determination.

  Her struggle showed itself in her shallow breath and clenched hands. “Then I would have to move my beehives again.”

  He shouldn’t have pushed her so hard. It wasn’t fair to make her admit she’d give up something she wanted so much. But what was he going to do with her?

  The idea came so quickly that it must have been lurking in the back of his mind. “Ach, Naomi, what makes you such a stubborn woman?”

  She smiled, maybe relieved to hear the light tone in his voice. Maybe assuming that meant he was giving in. “How would I have raised four siblings without it?”

  “All right,” he said. “Here’s how I see it. You having the beehives on my land is the same as if I was leasing land to a tenant farmer, ain’t so?”

  She frowned a little, considering his words, and then she nodded. “I guess.”

  “Well, when I let Harvey Muller, my neighbor, put corn in the field adjoining his property, I didn’t take money from him. I just took a share of the crop.”

  Her frown had intensified. “It’s not the same thing. There’s my using the shed, for one thing.”

  Had there ever been such a stubborn woman? He surprised himself with how much patience he was showing with her.

  “A shed that would be sitting empty otherwise, so that I’d have to keep it clean and in repair,” he pointed out. “I consider it a fair trade if you provide me with a share of the honey for my family.”

  “Nathan, you know full well that I am happy to do so anyway.” Her tone was lightly scolding.

  But this time he knew how to get around her. “Now who is mixing business and friendship, Naomi?”

  It took a moment, but her expression dissolved into a smile. “All right. I give up. But it still seems to me that you are getting the short end of the deal.”

  His heart seemed to warm at her smile. “Maybe you are underestimating how much we enjoy honey,” he said. “And now you must go back in the house and get warm.” He touched her arm, turning her toward the door. “I don’t want to be responsible for you getting a chill.”

  She stepped away and then turned to smile at him. “Denke, Nathan,” she said, and went into the house.

  A smile lingered on his lips as he walked toward the barn. It had taken all his ingenuity, but he had gotten an agreement from Naomi. She would not be paying him money for something he intended to do as a friend.

  Friend. He repeated the word. He had always thought of Naomi as Ada’s friend, but in the past couple of weeks that had changed. After seeing her nearly every day and talking with her about anything and everything, she was his friend, as well.

  Their time together was coming quickly to an end. After today, she wouldn’t be busy in the kitchen or with the children when he went in the house. Strange as it was to admit it, he was going to miss her.

  Naomi poured oats into the feed bin in her mare’s stall, gave her a final pat, and headed out of the small barn behind the quilt shop. It was kind of Caleb and Katie to let her stable the mare there. Unlike Nathan, Katie hadn’t quarreled when Naomi had insisted on paying her. Maybe Katie, having much in common with her, understood Naomi’s need to pay her own way.

  She slid the door closed, latching it, and started toward the street. Dusk was drawing in, and a fine, misty rain had started falling when she was halfway back from Nathan’s house. She’d be glad to get in where it was warm.

  She wouldn’t be driving back and forth to Nathan’s nearly so often now that her work there had ended. As she’d promised Joshua and Sadie, she would be there to look after the bees. Did they realize that wouldn’t be very often during the winter?

  Probably not, and she hoped they wouldn’t think she was letting them down. Most likely they’d be so excited to have their grandmother back that they wouldn’t even notice.

  She was getting what she’d wanted—a new life, work to do that didn’t involve raising someone else’s children, the freedom to make some decisions on her own. So why did she feel so low today?

  Since she didn’t have an answer for that question, maybe it was good that Katie, seeing her passing the front window, tapped on it. Smiling, she gestured for Naomi to come in.

  Naomi was happy to step inside the bright, warm quilt shop for a moment. She rubbed her arms briskly.

  “Do you have a few minutes before you go back to the bakery? There’s something I wanted to show you, and you look as if you could stand to warm up a little.”

  “Ja to both of those,” Naomi said. “Winter is coming on for sure. I just wish it would decide to snow and be done with it. I’ve had enough cold rain.”

  “Komm, let me have your jacket.” Katie helped her out of the damp coat and hung it on the end of a quilt rack. “You’ll have a mug of cocoa, won’t you? Rhoda just made some.”

  “That sounds gut, but I don’t want to put her to any trouble…”

  “No trouble at all.” Rhoda emerged from the back, holding a mug filled with foamy cocoa. “I heard you come in and poured it.”

  “Denke, Rhoda. That is wonderful kind of you.” Naomi picked up the mug, enjoying the heat against her palms.

  Rhoda nodded and glanced at her sister. “I’ll finish cleaning up in back, ja? I don’t think we’ll have any more customers this afternoon.”

  “I think you’re right.” Katie glanced at the gray street. “That will be gut.”

  She turned to Naomi as her sister disappeared into the back room. “I had a quilting class this afternoon. Beginners, they were, and so there’s a mess of scraps to be cleaned up.”

  “Your sister has turned into a wonderful gut helper to you, I think.” Naomi knew that teenaged Rhoda had had some difficulty adjusting to life here in Pleasant Valley when she’d come to live with her sister, but now it seemed she’d found her place.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without her,” Katie admitted. “It’s funny how things turn out sometimes, isn’t it? When Rhoda first came, I was dismayed at the very idea of taking charge of her. Now I think it’s the best thing that could have happened to me. Best after meeting Caleb, of course.”

  Naomi smiled. Everyone in the valley knew how in love those two were. “You said you wanted to show me something?” she reminded Katie.

  “Ja, I’ve been thinking of this ever since I saw the display of your jars of honey at the bakery this morning. And bought one, too,” she added, smiling.

  It was on the tip of Naomi’s tongue to say sh
e’d be happy to give some to Katie, but she managed to restrain herself. If she were to make any profit from the honey, she couldn’t give it away to everyone.

  It wondered her why Katie had been thinking of something in regard to her display, though. “Was there something wrong about the honey?” she asked.

  “The honey was delicious,” Katie exclaimed. “No, what I was thinking was a Christmas gift idea I saw in one of the craft magazines. It seemed to me that it would be simple to do, and it might encourage people, especially Englisch customers, to buy some jars for little gifts.” Katie stooped behind the counter, reaching for something. “So I made one up, just to show you how it would look.” She set a jar on the counter.

  Naomi picked it up. Sure enough, it was one of her jars of honey. But the top had been decorated with a bit of red and green fabric and tied with a red ribbon.

  “You see, it’s just a circle of bright fabric, cut with pinking shears so that it won’t fray.” Katie’s cheeks flushed with her typical enthusiasm. “I put a little piece of quilt batting on top to make it puffy, and then I put the fabric over it and tied it with a ribbon. What do you think?”

  “It’s pretty.” Naomi turned the jar in her hand, considering. “Do you really think this would make folks want to buy it for a Christmas gift?”

  Katie smiled. “It seems foolish, I know, but you’d be surprised at what makes folks buy something this time of year. You could try it and see, ain’t so?”

  Naomi nodded. “Denke, Katie. It was kind of you to think of it. I will try it. Do you have more of the fabric?”

  “Plenty, and the ribbon, as well. Just take a little to try, and then if you need more, I’ll put some back for you.”

  Katie began measuring fabric and ribbon, her hands moving surely.

  “I see what makes your shop such a success,” Naomi said. “You’re so enthusiastic that everyone who walks in probably wants to make something.”