Whoopie Pie Bakers: Volume Nine: Amish Romance

  WHOOPIE PIE BAKERS

  VOLUME NINE

  AMISH ROMANCE

  BY

  SICILY YODER

  DUTCH FARM BOOKS

  ~*~

  Copyright 2012 by DUTCH FARM BOOKS. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form either written or electronically without the express permission of the author or publisher. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are therefore used fictitiously. Any similarity or resemblance to the actual persons; living or dead, places or events are purely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or publisher.

  Photos courtesy of Photo Bucket, I Stock, vso@BigStock and , Paha_L@BigStock, and the author. Scriptures were taken from the KJV.

  “For me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.”

  WHOOPIE PIE BAKERS

  9 VOLUME SERIAL

  Volume 1: Silvery Snowflakes on Lancaster

  Volume 2:Kneeling to Heaven

  Volume 3: Amish Heart

  Volume 4: Heavenly Homecoming

  Volume 5: Special Friends

  Volume 6: A Change of Heart

  Volume 7: Amish Forgiveness

  Volume 8: An Amish Wedding

  Volume 9: Amish Romance

  Other Books by Sicily Yoder

  Amish Blizzards

  Amish Winter Love

  An Amish Winter Surprise

  An Autumn Wind in Walnut Creek

  Amish Garden: 50 Slow Cooker Recipes

  Christmas in Sugarcreek

  Frontier Kisses

  Heaven Driven

  White Christmas Fudge

  Whoopie Pie Bakers

  TABLE ON CONTENTS

  ~DEDICATION~

  ~AMISH WORDS~

  ~CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE~

  ~CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR~

  ~CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE~

  ~DEDICATION~

  To my fellow Christian authors. You inspire me. To Christ for loving me enough to die for my sins. To my family, who puts up with Papa John’s pizza on nights that I am on deadline. To Hertz Rental Car, who provides my car rental needs for research for my books. To my author friends who have helped in critiquing, book cover and interior layout feedback, and just being there to chat with me on Facebook. To my former Kentucky State Trooper friend, Gene Stratton, for being there for me after my car wreck. No book tours would take place without you.

  ~AMISH WORDS~

  Danki, Thank You

  Fraa, wife

  Schwester, sister

  Bruder, brother

  Haus, house

  Milich Haus, milk house

  Schwester, Sister

  Gut, Good

  Wunderbar, wonderful

  Grossmammi, Grandmother

  Grossdaedi, Grandfather

  Jah, Yes

  Gut Mariye, Good Morning

  Gut Nacht, good Night

  Gott, God

  Boppli, baby

  Kinner, children

  Menner, men

  Vorsinger, the Man who leads the song service at church

  Uffgevva, to give up ego to trust in God’s will

  Wie bist du heit, It is nice to meet you

  Wasser, water

  Blaeckbier, blackberry

  Dach-weggeli, wagon

  Schuldiner, debtor

  Shtill hokka, member meeting

  Chite, fit in morals

  Du dosht nelt, you may not

  Ich glie de, I love you

  Mamm, Mother

  Daed, Dad

  ~CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE~

  Esther ran the tea towel over the saucer, studied the thin, beautiful flower pedals that adorned it. Mamm’s china, a wedding gift from Daed, made her smile, especially when visitors drank tea or kaffi with her.

  The mood in the kitchen was gloomy, as everything reminded her of Mamm, from the anniversary tea towels to the Sunday silver, which Esther was glad they wouldn’t be getting down and using today.

  This Sunday is our community’s turn to have church services. Maybe we can skip this Sunday service and big dinner. Cold sandwiches and kettle popcorn is sufficient. A fully-cooked Sunday dinner meant having guests.

  Church members jumped in and visited during times of need, and Esther appreciated their support, but she would rather stay at the haus. She needed time.

  To grieve.

  The kitchen’s granite countertops needed a scrubbing, and she needed to go down to the cellar to get a jar of gooseberry jam for breakfast. It was Grossmammi’s favorite and made Daed smile. He needed all the cheering he could get since he’d just lost his fraa and youngest docdher.

  He had de maedels upstairs, the older ones, but they seemed self-absorbed in another world, one without mourning and fear. Maybe it was their way of handling loss, to tune the sadness out.

  Esther couldn’t shove her sorrow aside, for Mamm and she had been close, and before Emma was abducted, she had been close to her. In the back of her mind, she hoped to kindle a friendship with Emma. Now, as they got ready to plan a funeral, that special bond was just a dream.

  Hope, Love and Faith, it all seemed like a dream too.

  The kitchen took on a rather gloomy appearance as Esther tiptoed up, placed the saucer in the cupboard, and then grabbed another one to dry. Down in the dumps, she wished the day would pass quickly. And the next one, and the next one after that, forever.

  No matter how dreary she felt, she knew that Gott hadn’t forsaken her. She leaned on John 1 4:7-8. Gott was love, and nothing else. Her soul felt His presence, His marvelous power to reach down, provide for her at a time like this. Gott placed Jacob there.

  Praise Gott for Jacob, she thought as she placed the last saucer on the shelf, then dried the teacups and placed them next to the saucers. She vowed to keep everything as Mamm had it. An orderly, Proverbs 31 woman of faith, Mamm had been dedicated to Gott and her familye, in that order.

  Esther closed the cupboard, looked up at the narrow cabinet above the icebox, and wondered about the Sunday silver. This Sunday was church day, and if Mamm were there, she’d have no hesitation in inviting a guest for dinner. Folks kept a good appetite on church Sundays since the noon meal, served by the host family, consisted of “picnic foods” like home canned trail bologna, ham, several cheeses, and a relish tray.

  She quivered at the thought of entertaining a guest. Maybe Jacob will be our guest? He wouldn’t make her as nervous as another guest would. Fear of deviating from Mamm’s style of hosting horrified her. Jacob has to come. She had to continue Mamm’s legacy of hospitality.

  “You’re deep in thought, Jah?” Daed walked into the kitchen, chuckled. “You are planning a Sunday gathering, eh?”

  A warm rush of air filled the room, calmed her shaky body. She turned her eyes away from the cabinet, forced back tears. “Daed, Mamm invited guests for Sunday dinners. And this Sunday is church Sunday, isn’t it?” She searched his eyes, hoped he felt her need to continue the tradition.

  He did, but he had other plans. “Jah, this Sunday we meet. He raised his hand, ran his fingers through his beard. “We might do that again one day, but now isn’t the time. We need to be alone as a familye.” He arched a brow, lowered his tone to a soothing, fatherly voice, “You’re in Mamm’s kitchen, and you’re sad, eh?”

  Esther nodded and ran her top teeth over her bottom lip, and then shot Daed a dull glare. The whole experience disheartened her, made the once-joyful haus an overcast one. “It’s just, you know–I’ll miss her to guide me–to do things her way in her kitchen.” Esther scanned the lonely kitchen. “It’s just I’m having a hard time in an o
ut of sorts kitchen, one that used to be peaceful, but is now cheerless.”

  “Mamm is singing with angels now, Esther, and so is Emma, and you know that—”

  Daed always halted his words when she didn’t listen. “Sorry, Daed, I slumped into my own self-pity. What were you saying?”

  “Concentrate on what you can do, and not what you can’t do. Sing praises to Gott and the mood will be airy and merry.” He nodded towards the table, and then took a seat in the middle chair opposite her. Emma’s chair.

  Esther waited for him to realize that chair should be kept vacant. She pulled out a chair opposite him.

  He stunned Esther when he appeared to suppress memories of Esther by remaining in her chair. Esther grimaced. He acts different this time, no hope—

  Reality overtook her, made her head spin. How crazy am I to hang onto such a faulty hope. There is no hope for Emma to come home this time. We plan her funeral soon.

  My baby schwester is dead.

  Nonetheless, such a false hope minimized the pain, and until she stood and watched Emma’s casket be lowered into the ground, she had to believe it.

  “Daed, why do you think Gott brought Emma back for a little while, and then took her home?” She searched his wrinkled face for an answer, lines carving deep into his forehead above strong, wise eyes.

  “Gott’s not gonna tell us.” He nodded towards the stove, “Get us a cup of kaffi and some cream and sugar. You are fidgety, my dear.” He scanned her shaky body as she got up from the chair. “Like your Mamm used to be when we first married.”

  Esther grinned. “Mamm worried?” It couldn’t be possible, for Mamm was a prayer warrior, weather spotter for the women working the neighborhood fields, and a faithful woman. Even when Emma called her, “Lilly,” instead of “Mamm,” she kept a warm smile.

  “About everything. The hail storm in the early eighties calmed her a bit, made her see the light.”

  “Gott protected the wheat?” Esther reached up into the cabinet, grabbed two saucers and teacups, before making her way over to the stove. “Glad Gott provided.” She wished he had now, by saving Mamm and Emma, but He hadn’t saved them. “Sugar and cream, Jah?” She cut her eyes toward his eyes, and he nodded.

  She moved the sugar and creamer on the table; she poured the kaffi, handed one cup to Daed. “I’ve heard being a newlywed makes one’s knees worn from praying so much.”

  Daed stopped stirring his kaffi, looked up in a serious gaze. “I hope your knees are worn before you marry. Gott tells us saints to not cease praying.”

  She missed prayers when she was tired, eager to get under the warm, soft blankets. Guilt rushed into her cheeks, turning them crimson-red. “I have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “Before you marry.” He studied her eyes. “Be serious about being a fraa. Mamm wasn’t, but I taught her wisdom, gently guided her.” Tears welled in his eyes. “She’d be proud of you for doing what she didn’t do.” He looked at her as if he knew she wanted to be like Mamm.

  “I will do my best, Daed.” Esther reached over, grabbed a teaspoon of sugar, and then poured some cream into her kaffi. “The sugar will be gut for me.”

  “Nothing like a sweet drink.” He paused, sipped his kaffi, soon after leaned back into the chair, his blue dress shirt crinkling around his suspenders. “I didn’t want to make Jacob think we drink like this all the time.”

  “He likes his kaffi black with sugar.” Esther smiled. Daed’s humor uplifted her mood, created a festive frame of mind. She chimed in. “We’ll have to serve him a cup with cream and extra sugar to see how he likes it Sunday.”

  Daed’s brow wrinkled, his eyes picking up on her latter words. “You are inviting your first dinner guest?”

  A light carnation-pink kissed Esther’s cheeks, and she giggled. “I guess you can say he will be the first.”

  “You’ll be up to Mamm’s standards in no time.” He lifted his hand, wiped the sweat off his brow. “I need you to be as close to Mamm as you can right now. Your schwesters don’t have anyone to lean on, and with the demands of the bakery without you being there, they are bound to get weary. “You have Jacob, so please work hand-in-hand to keep this farm going.”

  She understood. “Das gut. Will you continue the donut route, or can Jacob’s older bruders help you?” Her words shocked her. Jacob’s bruders kidnapped Emma, led her away. How could she forget?

  And forgive?

  According to Daed, it was simple. “Treat those boys like they never sinned. I know it is hard for you, but Gott requires us to forgive and forget.”

  “Daed, I don’t know why I thought they would be gut—”

  He halted her words, shot her a stern gaze. “Gott forgave us, didn’t He?”

  “Jah, He did, and He sent a S-A-V-I-O-R.”

  His arms flew in “safe” mode like an umpire on a baseball field when someone had slid home. “Jesus settled it, so let’s move on. If Jacob is to be our familye, he needs to feel welcomed.” He paused, lifted the cup up and took a big sip. “Anyway, Miriam needs a special friend, so maybe one of his bruders might take interest, then join the church.”

  “I hope both do.” She’d spoken the truth, although, deep down, she felt the pain the bruders caused her. Gott, I need to let go. Help me let go. She’d been raised in a community that forgave all, loved widely.

  A look of gladness filled his eyes. “Gut attitude. Gott doesn’t ask us to forgive, He tells us we have to, and we must obey Him if we’re truly dedicated to Him.” He grabbed the cup, took a sip, at that instant leaned back into the chair. “I’m in Emma’s chair, Jah?”

  He finally noticed. ‘Bout time. Esther forced a smile. “Jah, Emma’s chair, one that sat dormant for years.”

  Daed smile compassionately. “Gott had an empty chair in heaven.”

  Esther’s eyes widened, her spirits lifted. “Daed, I never thought of it like that.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Gott needed Emma.

  “And Mamm.” The look of confidence lightened his eyes. “Gott owns this chair. He owns this haus, and He owns all souls, even the lost ones.” His tone increased, “Wouldn’t it be wunderbar to help get lost sheep back to Gott?”

  “Amazing, but Miriam seems content on being a spinster.”

  Daed rubbed his temples as if pain pierced them. “She likes Jacob.”

  Esther laughed. No way! “Daed, she doesn’t like my Jacob.”

  He was serious. “She came down here earlier and said he had a record.”

  It didn’t make sense. “A record?” Had she heard right? Did her own schwester spread nasty gossip about her man? She grimaced, and then quickly looked down at the half-full cup of kaffi. She knew not to pout in front of Daed, but his words shocked her.

  “She said he’s been arrested, so you need to ask him about it.”

  Esther fought to straighten her mouth to a more pleasant gesture. “Oh, I’ll ask him when he gets here for breakfast, when we gather wood.” She sighed. “I’ll set this gossip straight.” Her brow narrowed. “I know it’s a lie.”

  “Don’t say anything to Miriam since she came to me and not you. I’ll have a talk with her after you get the truth, and I hope it is hearsay.” He smiled, and at that moment scooted Emma’s or Gott’s chair back before getting up. He rubbed his back as if his arthritis bothered him. “I’m going upstairs. It’s well after midnight, and we have lots to do today.”

  “How many donut stops?” She knew he had a lot and wished she could somehow help him. He needed the help.

  “One-hundred, but Jacob’s neighbor offered to help, and she is seasoned at baking.

  “Stella?” Esther knew that Stella was a single church member, an old maid, one that worked at a bakery in Berne, Indiana before she moved to Lancaster County. “That is nice for her to help. She has lots of time on her hands since she missed out on marrying.”

  “She will be a gut asset to our bakery,” he assured in a nice tone.

  Esther had to make sure Stella hadn’t jum
ped the chance to chase after Daed before they even buried Mamm. “Who told you she volunteered?”

  “No one. I thought of her when I was brainstorming ‘bout what to do with the bakery route an hour ago.”

  Daed asked another woman to help? Esther’s blood boiled, and she gripped her hands under the table until they hurt. “Jacob and I will help with the route, than do farm work later.” She gazed at him with pleading eyes.

  “You can do it all?” Daed asked in an unconfident tone as if she couldn’t handle the load. “Are you sure?” His brow arched. “You would have half the route.”

  “I’m in, and so is Jacob.” Had she sounded confident? She wasn’t, but she didn’t want an old maid coming into their lives before or after they buried Mamm. Daed would remain single, stay faithful to Mamm.

  “Okay, he nodded towards the open living area entrance that showcased the bottom steps of the stairs. “Head to bed, we have a busy day in a couple of hours.”

  “Jah, Sir. Das gut.” She nodded, and then got up to wash the saucers and cups. Praise Gott for Jacob.

  ~CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR~

  In the dark, Jacob turned, hit the snooze button on the battery-operated clock that rattled on the nightstand. His head throbbed. Maybe a hot cup of kaffi would hit the spot. He had to admit that the kaffi Esther served him last night was mighty gut. He felt free and easy around her and loved her smile and twinkling eyes.

  But was admiration enough? Before he truthfully said, “Ich glie de” to her, he needed to get to know her more.

  A lot more.

  In fact, he needed to court her, not cheat on her. That would be easy since Gina was out of the picture. Although he felt sad about Gina’s untimely death, he had to realize that she had been cruel to Esther. Now, Esther deserved his full attention.

  Jacob was deep in thought of Esther when the alarm clock jiggled again. He reached over and turned it off, reluctant to see what the morning brought. Mamm had been gone when he got home, so he didn’t get to have a talk with her. He’d left her a note on the kitchen table. How would she take his moving to Miller’s dawdi haus?