The Troyer Sisters Series - Amish Romance: 4-Book Box Set

by Rebekah Fisher

  “I hope to remarry one day,” Isaiah said. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone. I’m just following Gott’s path and letting him lead the way.”

  Abigail smiled uncomfortably at Isaiah. Did he tell her that because he was truly interested in her or was he just making conversation? Having fought her feelings for so long, she certainly didn’t want him to think she was interested in him.

  * * *

  Dinner was delicious, and Abigail couldn’t get over how well mannered the children were at the table. After the children had finished their meals, they asked if they could be excused so they could go into the other room and continue to play the games.

  Isaiah smiled. “Only for a little while. I have to get you all home to bed.”

  They chatted while they cleaned and did the dishes and Abigail thought how nice it was to have the company of someone else other than her father.

  “Well, it’s past the kinner’s bedtime. I should be getting home,” Isaiah said, getting up from the chair. He walked over to the doorway leading into the sitting room and motioned for Abigail to come. Abigail came over and looked inside the room to find all four of the little ones sound asleep on the floor. Smiling at the scene, Abigail suddenly realized that Isaiah had placed his hand on her shoulder and she quickly looked up at him. For one fleeting moment, their eyes locked and Abigail could feel her heart begin to beat faster.

  “Hmmm, I guess you’ll need to wake the children,” Abigail said quickly, not wanting to put herself in an embarrassing position.

  “Before I do, Abigail, will you allow me to take you to dinner one night?”

  Abigail suddenly felt very flushed and nervous. “Um…I don’t know, Isaiah, I’m very busy with the animals, and I don’t have a lot of time right now.”

  “Okay…but please think about it. It’ll be my way of thanking you for all your kindness,” Isaiah said, realizing he had put her in an awkward situation. “Well, danke for an enjoyable evening.”

  * * *

  “HE WHAT??” Katie exclaimed when Abigail told her about her evening with Isaiah.

  “You heard me; he asked me out to dinner,” Abigail repeated while she kneaded some bread dough.

  “And of course you said, jah,” Katie answered, wide-eyed.

  “I said nee,” Abigail replied curtly.

  Katie gave her sister a shocked look. “What’s wrong with you? A wonderful man asks you to go to dinner with him, and you say nee? He obviously likes you. Don’t you like him?”

  Abigail glared at Katie. “It doesn’t matter if I like him or not, he’s too old for me plus he already has four kinner. He’s just looking for a mamm for his kinner.”

  Katie shook her head. “You don’t know that for sure. I think he likes you. Why else would he keep coming to visit you?”

  Abigail sat down in the chair and rested her head on her hands. “Ach, I don’t know anymore. I keep praying to Gott if it is His will for me to ever marry and every time, Isaiah shows up. I do like him, but I just feel he’s too old.”

  “Has Daed met him yet?”

  “Jah, a few times. He told me he seems like a nice man, but that was all.”

  “Well, my dear shveshtah, you need to follow your heart and listen to Gott,” Katie said. “You have every right to be happy, and if it is Isaiah you are meant to be with, the kinner love you already.”

  Deep down, Abigail knew her sister was right but the fact that there was a difference in their ages very much bothered her, and she didn’t understand why. Her friend, Beth, had married an older man, and they were quite happy.

  Abigail sighed as she prepared the bottles for the animal’s feedings. I’ll say extra prayers to Gott tonight; maybe he will point me in a different direction, she thought as she headed out to the barn.

  * * *

  The next day, Isaiah stopped by to see Abigail on his way to work. Finding her in the barn, he smiled. “I knew I’d find you here. I was wondering if you could join me for dinner tonight? I thought we could try the new restaurant in town. Mrs. Green said she would watch the kinner for me.”

  “Nee, I’m sorry, Isaiah. I promised my daed I would help him with something this evening. Perhaps another time,” Abigail answered. It wasn’t really a fib. She really was helping her daed; it just wasn’t as important as she made it sound.

  “Alright; well, perhaps another time then,” Isaiah said, trying to hide his disappointment. “The kinner are asking if they can come and see you and the animals again. Can I bring them around tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow isn’t a good day,” Abigail said abruptly. She had realized that letting the children come over all the time was not helping. They had become attached to her, and that wasn’t good.

  “Alright, maybe another day,” Isaiah said, wondering why Abigail was being so cold. “I have to get to work. Bye, Abigail,” he said, tipping his hat to her. As he walked away, he turned and took a piece of folded paper out of his pocket. “I almost forgot— the kinner made this for you.” After laying it on the top of a barrel at the barn doorway; he turned and walked towards his buggy.

  Watching him drive away, Abigail could feel the tears form in her eyes. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do, but felt it was necessary. She just couldn’t be with Isaiah no matter how much she wanted to and it wasn’t fair to the children to have them get too attached to her.

  She quickly finished feeding the animals and went to start supper. Limping back to the house, she sat down on the porch briefly to rest her leg. She looked around the yard and thought to herself, this wouldn’t be a bad life. Taking care of animals and Daed for the rest of my life. It would be fulfilling enough. Do I really need a husband to make me happy?

  * * *

  Chapter 10

  “I think he likes her,” Katie said to Miriam and Rose as they sat in the kitchen after cleaning up from supper. The sisters and their husbands had come over for dinner; something they tried to do once a week.

  “Will you stop!” Abigail snapped at Katie after she told Miriam and Rose all about Isaiah. “He’s too old, and that’s that.”

  “Abby, why do you say that?” Miriam asked softly, realizing that the subject was a sore spot for her sister. “Love has no age. So what if he’s older? If he loves you, age doesn’t matter.”

  “Miriam is right,” Rose added. “He would provide you a great life, plus his kinner love you.”

  Miriam went over to her sister and put her hand on her shoulder. “Abby, answer me honestly. Do you have feelings for this man?”

  Abigail kept looking down while she thought, then looked up into Miriam's eyes. “Jah, I do, but why would he want me? I can’t even walk properly.”

  “Abby, Isaiah would have noticed your limp the first day he met you. If he wasn’t interested, why would he keep coming around? Why would he bring his kinner here to meet you and why would he keep asking you out to dinner? Gott doesn’t seem to be worried about age, why should you?” Miriam asked, tenderly. There is nothing in the Bible that says it’s a sin to marry someone older or younger than you.”

  Abigail wiped her eyes. “I don’t know. I need to think.”

  After everyone had left, Abigail went out to the barn to settle the animals before bed. She worked quietly and quickly, spending a bit of time with each animal, petting them and making them feel comfortable. Happy stood wagging his tail, looking out the door of the barn and Abigail realized he was looking for the children.

  “They aren’t coming, Happy,” she said, patting the dog’s head. “It’s just me tonight.”

  Abigail closed the last stall and went to sit on a bale of hay. As she stared out the barn door, in the distance, dark clouds were forming and Abigail realized that a storm would soon be upon them. A piece of yellow paper on the floor caught her eye, so she bent to pick it up. She unfolded it carefully and realized it was the note that Isaiah had brought from the children the other night. On the front was a picture of a bright yellow sun with a smiling face and around i
t were little dancing flowers. Opening it up, she saw the crayon scrawl of the children.

  Dear Abby,

  We love you and we hope we can always help you with the animals. Maybe you can even be our new mamm someday.

  You are the best.

  All four children had signed the paper. Was this Isaiah’s idea? Did he know what the children had written?

  The rain started just about the same time as Abigail began to cry. Sitting alone in the barn, her sobs were masked by the downpour as she put her head down on the barrel and cried.

  “Why are you avoiding me?” a voice shouted over the roar of the rain.

  Abigail looked up to see Isaiah standing in the doorway looking at her.

  “Why are you avoiding me? Do you not like me?” he yelled, to make himself heard over the rain.

  “Go away, Isaiah. Stop coming by here,” Abigail cried.

  “But why? Tell me why.”

  “It’s too hard to explain.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Stop doing this to me. Go away,” Abigail demanded.

  “I love you. I can’t go away,” Isaiah answered, approaching the barn door.

  “You what?” Abigail looked up, thinking she misunderstood him.

  “I love you, and I’m not going away until you give me a good reason why you won’t come to dinner with me,” he said, now standing inside the barn. He clothes were soaking wet, and Abigail could see a few stray curls hanging down in his face from his dripping hat.

  “We can’t be together.” Abigail stood up from the hay bale and walked farther inside the barn, turning her back to him.

  “Why can’t we? What is it, Abigail? I know you like me. I sense it,” he said, following her.

  Abigail sobbed. “You’re too old for me.”

  “What does that matter? Besides, I’m not that old,” Isaiah said, reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder.

  Abigail jerked herself away from his touch. “Please don’t. It’s for the best.”

  “Abigail, please don’t do this. I’ve prayed every night to Gott to help me find a new wife. He’s led me to you,” Isaiah pleaded. “Now that I’ve met you, I can’t imagine my life without you in it.

  “You don’t truly want me as your wife.”

  “I do, I really do. Why would you say that?”

  “Why would you want a wife that is a cripple? A wife who can’t walk long distances, or chase after her kinner, or who has to sit down because her leg aches so much?” Abigail shouted at him. “No one would want a wife like that.”

  Isaiah stood staring at her, touched by her honesty. “But I do and I also want a wife who is caring, loving, compassionate and patient and you are all of those wrapped into one.”

  Abigail put her face in her hands and began to cry.

  “Ach, Abigail is that what this is all about? Not about our age difference but about the fact you didn’t think I could love you because you have a limp?”

  Abigail nodded her head.

  Isaiah looking intently at her. “Answer me one question…do you love me?”

  Abigail stared at him and shyly nodded her head yes.

  “Well, I love you too, so what’s the problem? I don’t care if you have a limp; that means Gott made you extra special.”

  Abigail laughed through her tears. “That’s what my mamm always said to me.”

  “Your mamm was a smart woman,” Isaiah said, taking Abigail’s hand. “Abigail, I fell in love with you the first day I saw you when I brought the fawn here. I fell in love with a woman who not only loved animals but was caring and honest. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Besides that, the kinner love you. It would break their little hearts if I had to tell them they would never see you again.”

  Abigail smiled softly at Isaiah as she realized the true intentions of his heart. “I’ve come to love the kinner too. And I do love their daed…very much.”

  He took her hand in his. “So, does that mean you will court me and become my wife?”

  “I would love to be your wife, Isaiah,” Abigail answered as she felt herself being picked up and swung around.

  “You have made me the happiest man in this world! And the luckiest!”

  Abigail laughed. “I guess we need to tell a few people. Let’s tell my daed first; then we can drive over and let the kinner know.”

  * * *

  The children were beside themselves with joy when they found that Abigail was going to be their new mamm.

  “Can we call you Mamm?” they asked innocently when she and Isaiah told them the news.

  Abigail looked up at Isaiah, who nodded his approval.

  “Jah, but I’ll be your second mamm. Your first mamm is up in heaven watching you, and you can never forget her. She loved you first, and I loved you second,” Abigail said, smiling at the children.

  “When Abigail becomes your new mamm, she is going to need lots of help because of her weak hip,” Isaiah added.

  Ruth-Ann immediately broke into tears and ran and clung to Abigail. “Don’t die, she begged.

  “What do you mean, Ruth-Ann? I’m not going to die.” Abigail looked at Isaiah, puzzled.

  “My mamm had a weak heart, and she died,” Ruth-Ann said between sobs.

  “Ach, nee, nee, Ruth-Ann. Having a weak heart is different than having a weak hip. Abigail will not die because of her hip,” Isaiah cooed to his daughter.

  “Promise?” Ruth-Ann looked at Abigail with her big blue eyes.

  “I promise. What your daed means is that I can’t stand or walk very long, so I might need some help doing little things around the house,” Abigail said, giving Ruth-Ann a hug.

  “But what about the animals?” David asked. “If Abigail lives here, who will take care of the animals?”

  Isaiah picked David up and sat him on his lap. “Well, I haven’t talked to Abigail yet, but I have an idea.”

  Abigail looked over at him and cocked her head. “You do? What is it?”

  “Well, there’s not enough room in your daed’s barn, but I happen to have a barn that I don’t use. I thought we could fix it up to suit your needs and then you could open your own animal rescue center,” Isaiah said, waiting for Abigail’s reaction.

  “Really?! What a wonderful idea!”

  “Jah, I think it’s a wonderful idea too. The kinner can help you when they’re not in school and I think it would be a great experience for them to learn how to care for animals; not to mention, you will be better able to fulfill Gott’s calling for the work you were meant to do.”

  “Jah, and that means I could help Gary so much more if I had a proper facility for the animals,” Abigail said excitedly.

  Isaiah grinned.“Jah, in fact, I’ve already spoken to him about what exactly is needed, and I’ve drawn up plans already. I’m sure I can get your daed, Abraham, Joshua, and David to help me. Besides, it makes me happy when you are happy.”

  Abigail nodded. “Gary will be so pleased when he hears my news. He was beginning to worry that the facilities were becoming too small to take care of larger animals like horses,” Abigail said, clapping her hands. “Kinner, we’ll have so much fun taking care of the animals together.”

  The children all scurried over and surrounded Abigail in hugs. Abigail looked over at Isaiah who had tears running down his cheeks.

  “All a daed wants is to have his kinner happy, and I think I have succeeded. Danke, Abigail. I promise I will do everything in my power to be a good husband to you.”

  Abigail smiled and kissed the tops of each child’s head. Looking up at her future husband, she said, “I promise to be a good wife and I will love these kinner as if they were my own; and I promise never to let them forget Claire.”

  The news of Abigail and Isaiah’s upcoming wedding spread among the community, and everyone was helping with the preparations. Abigail and her sisters went fabric shopping and were now working on sewing her wedding dress. John was busy getting the community center ready and
with the help of the rest of the community, food was planned, and Abigail had starting to prepare to be baptized into the Amish faith.

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  “Where’s Daed? Rose asked excitedly. “We want to see Abigail’s chest.

  It was Abigail and Isaiah’s wedding day, and the house was a flurry of activity. The community once again came together and provided a plethora of food. Some of Isaiah’s relatives had come to town, and everyone was excited that Isaiah was going to remarry and provide his children with a mother.

  “Here I am, girls,” John said, running into the room. In his hand he held the key to Abigail’s chest as well as a white envelope.

  “What’s in the envelope, Daed?” Miriam asked.

  “It’s a letter your mamm wrote to me. I think today is going to be an extra special day,” John said, placing the envelope carefully on the table. “Here’s your key, Abigail. Open your chest.”

  Abigail grabbed the key and unlocked her chest. Closing her eyes for a moment, she reached down and opened the lid. As with the other three chests, there was a letter carefully placed on top of blue tissue paper. Abigail lifted the letter and unfolded it.

  She looked at her sisters and father then began reading the letter.

  My darling Abigail,

  Like your shvesthtah’s, if you are reading this then it must be your wedding day. Abigail, because you were my last dochtah, Gott made you extra special. Don’t ever let anyone tell you, you can’t do something. Even when the doctors told me you would never walk, you proved them wrong. You had a determination about you that always amazed your daed and I, and I knew that despite your disability, you would go on to do wonderful things with your life. You were always so loving and caring towards others, and to all of Gott’s creation. I remember you bringing in all those caterpillars because you didn’t want them to get cold outside.

  I’m sure the man you are marrying knows how lucky he is and what a special gift he is receiving in having you as his wife. Be happy, my beautiful Abigail. I will be watching.