An Unexpected Christmas Gift Read online

  Troy opened the back hatch and tossed in the shovels and Linda’s suitcase. He didn’t seem to be disappointed that she hadn’t acknowledged his kindness, so I decided to act the same way. Never mind that it was Christmas Eve. I was not in the holiday mood. I had little to rejoice about.

  Troy fishtailed as he turned the Suburban around and progressed down the road. Every bump made Linda start, but Nancy attached Linda’s seat belt and leaned into her to give her comfort. On the main road, the Suburban seemed to glide along on its own several times, but Troy maneuvered it like a pro. We passed two horse and buggies. In spite of the cold, I hoped to get a ride in one before I left.

  When we arrived at the Millers’, I was once again struck by the size of the sign of the quilt shop at the end of the lane, like a beacon calling me. My car still lay buried in the ditch. I was thankful to have Troy and Isaac’s promise to help me later, as a tow truck would be expensive.

  Troy drove us into the Millers’ barnyard and stopped at the bottom of the stairs to the back porch. I held Saucy again as he and Isaac helped Linda climb the ice-covered steps. The door burst open, and Naomi greeted her with a hug.

  “Ach, I was so worried for all of you. But especially you, dear Schweschder.” Then her eyes took in the little dog I was carrying, and she let out a sigh.

  Linda’s demeanor stiffened. “If you force my little Saucy to sleep in the barn, I’ll turn around and go home.”

  “And how are you going to get there?” Silas stepped around Naomi.

  Linda coughed. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

  “Hold on.” Naomi looked up to Silas. “May the dog sleep in the utility room?”

  He lowered his brows. “What’s the use of having rules if they’re broken?”

  Anna squealed as she wriggled between Silas and Naomi. “Let me give Saucy a bath, Dat. I can tell she needs one.”

  He sniffed the air, flared his nostrils. “She needs a dose of good manners more than anything.” Silas’s voice was firm, yet I could see his demeanor relaxing.

  “Please, please, Dat.” Anna tugged at his elbow.

  “The last time that little mongrel was over here it bit me.”

  “She won’t do it again, will she, Aenti Linda? We can make her a leash.”

  “I’ll find a piece of rope,” Naomi said.

  Troy and Isaac lugged Linda’s suitcase and bags of Christmas gifts up the stairs behind us.

  “Are you moving in permanently?” Silas’s voice was laced with humor. I had the feeling they’d had this conversation before.

  “I’ll be out of your hair before you know it.” Linda stepped into the kitchen. “Ach, it’s so nice and warm in here.”

  Naomi draped an arm around Linda. “You look pale as a ghost.”

  “Her house was like an icebox,” Nancy said.

  “What happened to all the wood we brought you?” Silas asked.

  “Buried under the snow.” Linda didn’t remove her coat. “I should have brought more in before the snowfall. No one to blame but myself.”

  Silas showed a look of remorse. “We should have thought to do that ourselves. I got so busy . . .”

  “Of course you did.” Linda’s cheeks still hadn’t filled with a blush of color. “You already do too much for me.”

  “We’re glad to help.” Naomi took Linda’s coat and replaced it with a woolen shawl. “And we’re delighted to have you here on Christmas Eve. Maria and I are going to make use of our culinary skills, so you can just sit and watch.”

  No answer. Was this woman intentionally snubbing me because I wasn’t Amish?

  “Linda? Is there a problem?” Naomi felt her forehead. “Ach, you’re burning up.” She helped Linda take a seat at the table and insisted she drink a glass of water. “Did you have breakfast today? Can I get you some coffee?”

  “I have no appetite. You know, Christmas Eve is the day my Jonathan died.”

  “Sorry, I forgot.” Naomi turned to me. “Linda’s husband passed away only three years after they were married. No children.”

  “Why would you tell a stranger such a thing?” Linda said sharply.

  Ignoring her sister, Naomi continued talking. “He was a fine young man. A buggy accident on the highway took his life too early.”

  The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to assemble themselves. Linda was a widow and had no children. She’d never married again. And she’d lost her husband on Christmas Eve. No wonder this day was so sad for her. I admonished myself for judging her without having the facts first. I wondered why she never remarried but wouldn’t dare inquire. Well, maybe no other man found her attractive. She was not sweet-natured. Yet Anna and Nancy adored her. Nothing made sense with this family.

  “Come with me.” Naomi took hold of Linda’s elbow and guided her toward the living room. “I’ll get you settled on the couch in front of the fireplace.” Naomi returned and prepared some kind of herbal tea I didn’t recognize. “Will you please bring Linda this tea?”

  “Sure.” I carried the mug into the living room. Linda lay blanketed on the couch, pillows propped behind her back.

  Linda took a couple sips of tea, then her head drooped back into the pillows. I heard Silas’s voice and the clicking of a dog’s paws on the kitchen’s linoleum floor. A still-damp Saucy raced into the room and licked Linda’s hand.

  “Ach, not in the living room.” Silas thundered in but stopped short when he saw Linda and heard her cooing over Saucy. “Well . . . I suppose he needs to dry off somewhere warm. Better here than the kitchen.” Silas shook his head in slow motion. “Just this once. I will not allow a hund to take up permanent residence in this house.”

  Back in the kitchen, wearing an apron, I washed and dried my hands, then stood at the counter with Naomi, taking a lesson in making piecrusts. “Your mother never taught you to bake a pie?” She sounded like she was asking me if I’d ever gone to the moon.

  “Nope,” I said. “And I’m not much of a cook, either.”

  As Naomi directed me on how to measure out flour into a bowl, sadness wafted over me as I realized how much I missed Mom. She was the woman who’d raised me. But the truth was, she’d always favored my sister, who I loved with all my heart. When Trish got married and moved away, there’d be nothing left for me in Hartford.

  “Being with you is fun, but I can’t imagine growing up this way or living your life. No TV, no Internet, and I can’t help but notice those straight pins around your waist.”

  She grinned. “And yet a lot of Englisch people wish they were Amish. I know of only a few cases where that actually worked out and Englischers were baptized into the Amish church. Even then, two of the people I know left the church.”

  “Do all the women have to wear the same dress and apron?” I glanced down at my own black apron—without the pins, thank goodness. “It’s sort of like a uniform.”

  “Yah, we are not supposed to try to outdo each other. Be prideful. Although sometimes that happens . . . Never mind, I must not judge others.”

  “What’s this Rumspringa all about?”

  “When Amish children turn sixteen, they may experiment with the world before they get baptized, which is a lifetime commitment—so we don’t pressure them. For the most part.”

  “Is that why Isaac gets to hang out with Troy?” I dipped my hands in the apron’s deep pockets.

  “Yes and no. Those two have been friends all their lives. Troy’s parents live next door, so the boys played and fished together often. They even attended the same one-room schoolhouse until the eighth grade. However, Troy is Mennonite and went off to public high school and then college to study business, while Isaac stayed home to help his father on our farm. That’s the Amish way.”

  “Do you think Isaac would’ve been happier with more schooling?”

  “I have no idea. But I’ll ask you this question: Do you think Troy would have learned more staying home and working in his father’s business, which he now manages and will someday own?”

/>   “I don’t know.” The thought of Troy’s dreamy eyes caused a jolt of electricity up my spine. But the last thing I needed to do was get involved with Troy or any other man. Still, I recalled how gently he’d treated Linda and how he’d ventured outside with Isaac to inspect my car in the ditch. My ex-boyfriend never would have done either. He certainly never would have dragged a car out of the snow when he could call AAA. And he’d told me once he didn’t like being around uneducated people. His snobbish attitude had always irked me.

  I heard coughing from the living room. “How sick do you think Linda is?”

  “I’m not sure.” Naomi filled the kettle with more water and set it over the flame on the stove. “I’ll make her more herbal tea, a blend used by my family for decades.”

  “What if she gets worse?”

  “If she doesn’t improve by this afternoon, we’ll have to do something. Depending on the weather.”

  I glanced out the window and saw fluffy snowflakes drifting down. “I should tell Troy not to bother with my car until this snow stops.”

  “Gut idea,” Naomi said. “I hope that means you’ll stay with us all through Christmas.” She placed a cinnamon roll on a plate. “Would you mind taking this to Linda? She never could resist these.”

  “I get the feeling she doesn’t like me.”

  “She’s sick and she’s probably surprised to see an Englischer in the house.”

  “But I’m not English.”

  “We call anyone who isn’t Amish Englisch.” She sliced into the butter and laid a slab and a knife on the plate. “Please don’t take offense, as none is meant.”

  “Okay, I won’t.”

  I expected to find Linda asleep on the couch, but she sat staring at the flames in the fireplace. “Naomi asked me to bring this in.” I set a tray with tea and the roll on the low table before the hearth. She made no move to drink or eat. “Is there anything else I can bring you?” I heard a rustling sound in her chest as she breathed.

  “No. I have no appetite.”

  I plunked down on the couch next to her. A snoozing Saucy awoke and sniffed at my hands, then turned her nose to the roll and sniffed the air.

  “She’s a consummate beggar.” Linda furrowed her brow. “We brought her kibble, didn’t we?”

  “Yes, and there’s a bowl of water out in the kitchen for her.”

  I lifted the mug and put the handle in her hand. “Naomi said this tea is an herbal remedy. I’m sure she wants you to drink some.”

  She put the mug to her lips and sipped. “Denki—I mean, thank you. I shouldn’t take my poor mood out on you. For me, this is the worst day of the year.”

  “This isn’t exactly a great day for me, either.”

  My statement garnered her attention. “Why not? Why aren’t you with your family?”

  I stumbled on my words. “My sister is staying with her girlfriend and planning for her wedding, and my mother died a couple years ago.”

  “And your father?”

  “He’s married to a woman who doesn’t like me.”

  “How could that be?”

  “It’s a long story.” My throat closed, cutting off my words.

  Silence filled the living room, broken only by the crackle of the fireplace. Now what would we talk about?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Naomi called me into the kitchen and asked if I’d like to assist in the preparation of the Christmas cake, although it seemed she had plenty of help. I noticed Anna chopping nuts and Nancy browning butter in a saucepan.

  “Isn’t there a saying about too many cooks in the kitchen?” I asked.

  “Not in an Amish kitchen.” Naomi added sugar and butter to a large ceramic bowl.

  “Really, I’m happier watching.”

  “As you like, Maria.” Naomi commenced creaming the sugar and butter. “We’ll eat this cake tomorrow. If you like, I’ll give you a copy of the recipe. It’s the family’s favorite Christmas cake.”

  “That would be nice, although I can’t promise I’ll use it.”

  “Sure, you will. You’ll get married and have a husband and children to feed.”

  “First I need the husband.”

  “Troy seems sweet on you.”

  I felt warmth moving up my throat to my cheeks. “Unlikely. I hardly know him.” I wouldn’t mention our previous chat on the phone or that he’d given me their address. Or how attracted I was to him.

  “Not only that, I think Isaac likes her, too,” Nancy said with a whine in her voice.

  “He does not,” Anna cut in. “You’re his obvious choice.”

  “Do you really think so?” Nancy’s eyes brightened.

  “Yah, to him I’m invisible. Why else would he come back and visit you last night?”

  “Shush,” Nancy said, her finger to her lips. She and Anna burst into giggling laughter.

  “What’s going on?” Silas sauntered into the kitchen from the utility room, followed by Bart, whose cheeks and nose were scarlet. He removed his damp beanie, then rubbed his hands together.

  Linda stepped into the kitchen from the living room. “What are you talking about? Is there a problem with my being here?”

  “Not at all. We want you with us.” Naomi grasped Linda’s hand. “Ach, you’re still too warm. You should rest. Have a seat.” She led her to a rocking chair near the stove.

  “I’ll make more tea.” Nancy added water into the brass kettle.

  “Maybe she should go to the doctor’s office.” But one glance out the window showed me that the snow was increasing; I realized it was almost impossible to go anywhere.

  “Let’s wait a few hours to see if her fever breaks,” Naomi said. She turned to Bart. “You look half frozen. I’ll make you hot chocolate. How did you two get along in the barn?”

  “Great.” Silas patted Bart’s back. “He’s an excellent worker. Now that our sons are gone, I’d like to hire him. If he wants a job.” Silas brought his face close to Bart’s. “How does that sound?”

  “Wunderbar.” Bart sent him a lopsided grin.

  “We’re all done for the day, Bart, if you want to head back home after you have your hot chocolate,” Silas said. But that statement made Bart shrink back.

  “He’s not going anywhere in this fierce storm,” Naomi said. “We can’t turn him out in the cold.”

  “I think he should be with his parents for Christmas.”

  “My Dat told me not to return.” Bart’s words came out in a whisper.

  “Ever?” Silas asked. “Are you sure?”

  “That’s what Dat said after the accident. I left the gate open and his favorite draft horse wandered out onto the road, where he was struck by a truck.” All of us cringed. “The horse recovered, but Dat is still furious.” Bart hung his head. “It was my negligence. I’ve always been a disappointment.”

  “I don’t recall hearing about this,” Silas said. “Where do they live now?”

  “Up by New Holland.”

  “They must be worried sick about you.” Nancy poured milk into a small pot, set it atop the stove. “But let’s not fret about it right now.”

  Five minutes later, Naomi escorted Linda back into the living room. I brought a fresh cup of tea to Linda, who sank down into the couch as if the cushions could swallow her.

  Naomi draped a shawl around Linda’s shoulders and a blanket across her lap. “Linda needs to eat,” Naomi said. “She’s skin and bones.”

  “I could bring her a tray when there’s something ready,” I said.

  “Denki. I’d appreciate that.”

  As Linda sipped the tea, her gaze latched on to mine. When Naomi returned to the kitchen, I decided there was no time like the present. Linda’s cough could spiral into pneumonia. She could end up in the hospital tonight and pass away.

  “Linda, please forgive me for being so forward, but I have a question for you.” My heart pounded in my ears as I formulated my words. “My adoptive parents lived in Hartford, Connecticut. Have you ever been there?”
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  “I don’t recall.” Her face twisted. “What gives you the right to ask me personal questions?”

  “I’m sorry.” How could I have been so thoughtless on the anniversary of her husband’s death? “I won’t trouble you again.”

  I returned to the kitchen to see Naomi arranging slices of whole wheat buttered toast upon a plate, along with blackberry jam. She placed them on a tray and I carried it into the living room. But Linda would not allow me to place the tray in her lap.

  “I’m still not hungry.”

  “Maybe later.” I set the tray on the coffee table. “Naomi says you should try to get some food in you. I can bring you more tea if you need it.”

  “No. Now leave me alone.”

  The snarl in her voice startled me. I tried to decipher my warring emotions. I needed to accept the fact that Linda was not my mother either. Did I even want a mother like her?

  Laughter and chatter erupted from the kitchen as the back door opened and shut.

  “Hey, there. How’s it going?” Troy asked as he entered the living room with Nancy in tow.

  “What brings you back out in this terrible weather?” I said.

  “I wanted to find out if Linda feels better. And I brought my mother, who’s a nurse practitioner.”

  “I’m fine,” Linda answered, followed by a cough.

  “Too late, Linda,” Troy said, his voice upbeat. “My mother’s in the kitchen. Her office is closed today. Would you mind if she gives you a quick exam? She brought along a stethoscope.”

  “I’m sure I’m fine.” Linda glanced toward the women’s voices in the kitchen.

  A moment later, a tall lady strode through the door and into the living room. “I think we’ve met, Linda, but in case you don’t remember me, I’m the Millers’ neighbor, Charlene Bennett.” She shook Linda’s limp hand. “How about if I check you over?” Charlene, who must have been in her early sixties, wore her dark hair pulled into a bun, slacks, and a red cardigan over a turtleneck.

  “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.” Linda’s voice waned to a whisper.

  Charlene extracted a thermometer from her bag and put it under Linda’s tongue, then palpated her upper neck.