by Sarah Price
Wilma blinked her eyes. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Wilma!” Edna gave her a sharp look. “It hasn’t slipped your notice that Rachel and Ella Mae do nothing but argue, has it?”
“Well, I—”
“And that’s not necessarily a personality trait that will interest any young man?”
“I suppose that—”
“And I can assure you that, despite your dochders’ pretty faces and desire to work, neither of my sohns would find anything appealing about a young woman who does nothing more than compete with her own schwester!”
Wilma pouted. “I think you’re being a bit harsh—”
“Nee, I’m not!” Edna shook her head. “And both Verna and Mary are aware of it, which makes this little scheme even more surprising to me.”
Wilma took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She bent her head, and an awkward silence filled the room.
For a moment, Edna felt terrible. Perhaps she had been too hard on her friend, although, truth be told, Wilma had been pestering her for well over a year about this matter. Still, she should have held her tongue and found a kinder, gentler way to dismiss Wilma’s dozenth attempt.
Suddenly, the hint of a smile crossed Wilma’s lips, and she lifted her gaze, her eyes catching Edna’s. “Still, you never know, Edna. God does work in mysterious ways.”
“Oh help,” Edna muttered, tossing her hands into the air.
“And you did say you’d help them to learn how to suppress their opinions and work as part of a team—”
Edna’s mouth fell open. Had she said that? She couldn’t remember exactly what she had said in the heat of the argument.
From the corner of her eye, Edna saw Mary cover her mouth and Verna titter, both of them clearly amused. The truth of the matter was that, while she had scaled back to just three days a week—the previous season had been far too much work for her—Edna most likely would still need help. Three days of cooking, baking, serving, and cleaning was an awful lot of work for just one woman.
As for Bethany, she had not fared too well recently, morning sickness having stricken her in the past two weeks. And Edna knew that John was overprotective of his wife. Now that he was working on the farm, he often stopped inside to check on her, making certain that she wasn’t pushing herself too hard.
His attention was sweet, but Edna could see that John would not permit Bethany to work for long, especially if she continued feeling poorly.
Wilma raised her eyebrows. “So when, exactly, should Rachel and Ella Mae start?”
Defeated, Edna exhaled and let her shoulders slump. “Next Wednesday.”
Wilma cheered while the other two women laughed. Edna, however, only felt the heavy burden of defeat. Suddenly she wasn’t looking forward to the following week after all.
photo credit: Cat Zimmerman, CZ Mustangs
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Price is the ECPA and Amazon bestselling author of Amish romances, including the #1 Amazon bestseller, An Amish Buggy Ride, and First Impressions: A Contemporary Retelling of Pride & Prejudice, a salute to Jane Austen from an Amish perspective. She comes from a long line of devout Mennonites, including numerous church leaders and ministers, and brings thirty years of experience living among the Amish to her books. Her involvement with the Amish dates back to 1978 when she wrote her first novel, Fields of Corn, while studying anthropology and writing at Drew University. She was drawn to the culture of the Amish of Lancaster County, where she continues to be involved with numerous Amish communities and is considered family by some and friend by most others. A former college professor with advanced degrees in Communication, Marketing, and Educational Leadership, Sarah Price now writes full time. Please visit her online at www.SarahPriceAuthor.com.