A Hope Springs Christmas (2 page)

Less than a year later, both his parents were killed in a buggy accident. Levi was forced to sell his father’s business. No one believed a fifteen-year-old boy could run it alone. Jonas Wyse bought the property and started a harness shop and buggy-making business in Hope Springs. He hired Levi, who desperately wanted to earn enough to support his sister and little brothers. The two men quickly became friends. Within five years, they had a thriving business going making fine buggies. They stopped repairing harnesses and focused on what they did best. It was a wonderful time in Levi’s life.

Then Jonas decided to marry Sarah and everything changed.

Levi shook off his thoughts of the past. Sarah was his landlady and the widow of his only true friend. Levi was determined to treat her with the respect she deserved, but he sometimes wished he hadn’t promised Jonas he would look after her when his friend was gone. That promise, made on Jonas’s deathbed, was a binding one Levi could not break. Not if he planned to face Jonas in heaven one day.

Levi’s gaze traveled to the colorful calendar on the shop wall. It was out of date by several years, but he’d never taken it down. His Amish religion didn’t allow artwork or pictures to decorate walls, but a calendar had function and even one with a pretty picture was permitted. The one he never removed featured a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains.

The dusty eight-by-ten photograph showed snow-capped mountains thrusting upward to reach a clear blue sky. Their flanks lay covered with thick forests of pine, aspen trees and spruce. It had long been Levi’s dream to move to Colorado. Several of his cousins from the next village had moved to a new settlement out west and wrote in glowing terms of the beauty there. The idea of raising a family of his own in such a place was a dream he nurtured deep in his heart.

Colorado was his goal, but Sarah Wyse was the rope keeping him firmly tethered to Hope Springs.

He had loved Jonas Wyse like a brother. When his friend pleaded with him to watch over Sarah until she remarried, Levi had given his promise without hesitation. A year or so wasn’t much to wait. The mountains weren’t going anywhere.

It wasn’t until Sara remained unmarried for two years that Levi began to doubt the wisdom of making his rash promise. Five years later he was still turning out buggies in Hope Springs and handing over rent money to help support her while his dreams of moving west gathered dust like the calendar on the wall.

He knew several good men who had tried to court Sarah, but she had turned each and every one of them aside. Levi had to admit none of them held a candle to his dear friend. But still, a woman Sarah’s age should be married with children.

The thought of her with another man’s babe in her arms brought an uncomfortable ache in his chest. He thrust aside thoughts of Sarah and replaced them with worry about his sister.

He hoped Grace was all right. He should go see, but he didn’t know what to say to her. Women didn’t think like men. Whatever he said would be sure to make her angry or make her cry. Perhaps it would be best to stay in the shop and wait until she called him for supper.

Half an hour later, he heard Sarah’s aunt’s buggy drive away. He went to the window and looked out. Sarah was alone again, as she was every night. She sat at her kitchen table working on some stitching. Why hadn’t she remarried? What was she waiting for?

She was a devout Amish woman. She wasn’t too old. She was certainly pretty enough. She kept a good house and worked hard. When the buggy shop needed repairs or upgrades he couldn’t do himself, she was never stingy about hiring help or buying new equipment.

As he was looking out the window, he saw his sister approaching. He picked up a file to finish smoothing the edge of a metal step he was repairing.

Grace opened the door. “
Bruder,
your supper is ready.”

“
Danki,
I’ll be in shortly.” He glanced up. His sister didn’t leave. Instead, she walked along the workbench, looking over the parts he was assembling for a new buggy. She clearly had something on her mind. When she didn’t speak, he asked, “Is everything okay?”

Her chin came up. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Because you were screaming at your boyfriend at the top of your lungs on a public street and giving our neighbors food for gossip.
“Just wondering, that’s all.”

“Levi, can I ask you a question?”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “Sure.”

“Why haven’t you married?”

That took him aback. “Me?”

“
Ja.
Why haven’t you?”

Heat rushed to his face. He cleared his throat. “Reckon I haven’t met the woman God has in mind for me.”

“God wants each of us to find the person who makes us happy, doesn’t He?” Grace fell silent.

Levi glanced up from his work to find her staring out the window at Sarah’s house. Because her question so closely mirrored his thoughts about Sarah, he gathered his courage and asked, “Why do you think Sarah Wyse hasn’t remarried?”

“Because she loved one man with her whole heart and her whole soul and she knows no one can replace him,” Grace declared with a passion that astounded him.

She suddenly rushed toward the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Your supper is on the table.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to talk to Sarah about something.”

When the door banged shut behind her, he sighed. It was just like his sister to leave him in the dark about what was going on. He hoped Sarah could help because the last thing he wanted was a home in turmoil, and unless Grace was happy, that was exactly what was going to happen.

* * *

After her aunt had gone, Sarah stared at the snow piled on the sill of her kitchen window. Dismal. There was no other word for it. Christmas would be here in less than a month, but there wasn’t any joy in the knowledge. The Christmas seasons of the past had brought her only heartache and the long winter nights left her too much time to remember. At least this year her only loss was her job. So far.

She closed her eyes and folded her hands. “Please, Lord, keep everyone I love safe and well this year.”

Second thoughts about inviting her brother for a visit crowded into her mind. He was all she had left of her immediate family. At times, it seemed that everyone she loved suffered and died before their time. What if something should befall Vernon or his wife or children while they were here? How would she forgive herself?

No, such thinking only showed her lack of faith.
It is not in my hands
,
but in Your hands
,
Lord
.

Still, she couldn’t shake a feeling of foreboding.

She opened her eyes and propped her chin on her hand as she stared at the notebook page in front of her. The kerosene lamp overhead cast a warm glow on the mending pile and the sheet of paper where she had compiled a list of things to do.

Clean the house.

Mend everything torn or frayed.

Make two new
kapps.

Stitch the border on my new quilt.

She had already finished the first item and was on to the second. They were all things she could do in a week or less and she had a lot more time on her hands than a mere week. Spring seemed a long way off. Inviting Vernon and his family was one way to help fill the days.

She added three more items to her list.

Don’t be bored.

Don’t be sad.

Don’t go insane.

Six days a week for nearly five years she had gone in early to open the fabric store and closed up after seven in the evening. Without her job to keep her busy, what was she going to do? Work had been her salvation after her husband’s passing.

Had it really been five years? Sometimes it seemed as if he’d only gone out of town and he would be back any minute. Of course, he wouldn’t be.

She had tried to convince Janet to let her run the shop until spring, but Janet wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, her boss said, “Enjoy the time off, Sarah. You work too hard. Have a carefree Christmas season for a change.”

Janet didn’t understand. Time off wouldn’t make the holidays brighter. Six years ago Sarah and Jonas learned he had cancer only a week before Christmas. He battled the disease for months longer than the doctors thought he could. He died on Christmas Eve the following year. A month later, her sister ran away, leaving Sarah, her parents and her brother to grieve and worry. Their father died of pneumonia the following Thanksgiving. Her mother passed away barely a year later. Vernon said they died of a broken heart after Bethany left.

Bethany had been the light of the family. Her daring sense of humor and love of life were too big for Hope Springs and the simple life of the Amish. It had been two years ago at Christmas when Jonathan Dresher came to tell Sarah that Bethany was dead, too. Since that day, Sarah faced the Christmas season with intense dread, waiting and wondering what the next blow would be.

She sat up straight. She wasn’t going to spend this winter cooped up in the house, staring at the walls and dreading Christmas. She had to find something to keep the bleak depression at bay. To her list, she quickly added
Find Another Job!
She circled it a half dozen times.

The sound of her front door opening made her look up. Like most Amish people, she never locked her doors. Knocking was an English habit the Amish ignored for they knew they were always welcome in another Amish home. A brief gust of winter wind came in with her visitor. Sarah’s mood rose when she recognized her friend and neighbor, Grace Ann Beachy.

“Gut-n-owed,”
Sarah called out a cheerfully good evening in Pennsylvania Deitsch, sometimes called Pennsylvania Dutch, the German dialect spoken by the Amish.

“Sarah, I must speak to you.”

Sarah was stunned to see tears in Grace’s eyes. Fearing something serious had happened, Sarah shot to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“
Nee,
I’m not. I love him so much.” Grace promptly buried her face in her hands and began sobbing.

Sarah gathered the weeping girl in her arms. Matters of the heart were often painful, but never more so than when it was first love.

“There, there, child. It will be all right.” Sarah led Grace to the living room and sat beside her on the sofa. The two women had been friends for years. They were as close as sisters.

Between sobs, Grace managed to recount her evening with Henry Zook from the time they left the singing party. The whole thing boiled down to the fact that Henry had grown tired of waiting for Grace to accept his offer of marriage. The conversation soon turned to a quarrel. Henry, in a fit of anger, said Esta Barkman had been making eyes at him all evening. Maybe she was ready to settle down and marry.

Sarah lifted her young neighbor’s face and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “If you love him, why don’t you accept him? Is there someone else?”

Grace rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “There’s Levi and the twins and the business. How can I leave my brothers? Levi can’t manage the business alone. He can barely speak to people he knows. He’s terrible at taking care of new customers. They’ll go elsewhere with their business and where will that leave him? You depend on the income from the shop, too.”

“Your brother could hire someone to replace you. I know Mary Shetler would welcome the chance to have a job in an Amish business.”

“I’m not sure she would want to work with the twins, knowing what they did.”

Grace was probably right about that. Mary Shetler had left the Amish and wound up living with an English fellow who turned out to be a scoundrel. Just fifteen and pregnant at the time, Mary had been terrified to learn her boyfriend planned to sell her baby. She had the child alone one night while he was gone. Planning to leave her boyfriend for good as soon as she was able, she hid her infant daughter in an Amish buggy along with a note promising that she would return for her.

The buggy belonged to Levi Beachy. The twins had taken it without permission and sneaked out to see a movie in another town. It wasn’t until they were on their way home that they discovered the baby. Afraid their midnight romp would get them in trouble if they brought the infant home, they stopped at the nearest farmhouse and left the child on the doorstep in the middle of the night.

Fortunately, the home belonged to Ada Kauffman. Her daughter Miriam was a nurse. She and Sheriff Nick Bradley finally reunited mother and child but not before Mary suffered dreadfully believing her daughter Hannah was lost to her.

“All right, Mary was not a good suggestion, but I’m sure there are other young women who could work with Levi.”

“Maybe, but what about the twins? They could burn the town down or who knows what if someone doesn’t keep an eye on them. I know I haven’t done a great job, but I’m better than Levi. When he’s working, he could be standing in five feet of snow and not notice. I can’t leave knowing no one will look after them.”

“I’m sorry you feel trapped by your family, Grace. You know I would help if I could.”

Grace grabbed her arm. “You can.”

“How?”

“Help me find a wife for Levi.”

Chapter Two

S
arah stared at Grace in stunned disbelief. “You must be joking. How could I find a wife for your brother? I’m no matchmaker.”

“But you are,” Grace insisted. “Didn’t you convince your cousin Adrian Lapp to court Faith Martin?”

“Convince him?
Nee,
I did not. If I remember right, I cautioned Faith against losing her heart to Adrian because he was still grieving for his first wife.” Sarah knew how it felt to mourn for a spouse.

“And that was exactly the push Faith needed to see beyond his gruff behavior. They married, and they are very happy together. Besides, you’re the one who convinced me to give Henry a chance.”

“I don’t remember saying anything to you about going out with Henry.”

“If you hadn’t told me how your Jonas settled down from his wild ways after you were married, I never would have given Henry the time of day. But I did, and now I’m in love with him. I want to marry him. You have to help me. I will just die if he marries someone else.”

Sarah leveled a stern look at her young neighbor. “That’s a bit dramatic, Grace.”

Drawing a deep breath, Grace nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave Levi and the boys, but I can’t expect Henry to wait forever, either. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place with no way out.”

“I hardly think finding a wife for your brother is the answer.”

“It’s the only one I can come up with. I’m afraid if I ask Henry to wait much longer he’ll find someone else.”

Sarah took pity on her young friend and tried to reassure her. “Henry Zook will not marry anyone else. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“I believe he loves me. He says he does, but he wants an answer.”

“Henry is used to getting his own way. His mother has done her best to spoil him. He will be a good man, but right now he has the impatience of youth. What you and Henry need is a cooling-off time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The last thing Sarah wanted was to see her friend pushed into something she might regret. “You two have been seeing each other almost daily. I think both of you could use some time apart. Rushing into marriage can cause a lifetime of misery.”

Grace shook her head. “Oh, Sarah. I don’t know. What would Henry think?”

Sarah could see that Grace’s dilemma was taking its toll on her friend. There were shadows beneath her eyes that didn’t belong on a girl who was barely twenty. Her cheeks were pale and thinner, as if she’d lost weight. There had to be some way to help her. Suddenly, an idea occurred to Sarah.

“He can’t object if you tell him you’re going to visit your grandmother in Pennsylvania. I know you’ve wanted to see her for ages. It will give Henry a chance to miss you while you’re gone, and it will give you a chance to relax and think about what you want to do without worrying about Henry or about your brothers.”

“But what if Henry doesn’t miss me?”

“Wouldn’t you rather know that before you are wed?” Sarah asked gently.

“
Grossmammi
has asked me to come for a visit many times. She’s getting on in years. I would like to spend some time with her, but that means I would miss the quilting bee for Ina Stultz and the hoedown that’s coming up.”

“I’ll take your place at Ina’s quilting bee, and there will be other hoedowns. Of course, once you marry, that kind of fun is over.” To marry, an Amish couple had to be baptized into the faith, which meant their running-around time was ended. Barn parties and such gatherings would give way to family visits and community events that bound together all members of their Amish faith.

“What about the business?” Grace asked.

“Levi will understand that you need some time to make up your mind about marrying. Besides, he’s a grown man. He can manage without you for a few weeks. I can help if worse comes to worst. I used to work there every day.”

“Oh, it’ll come to worse very quickly. I don’t doubt you could do all that I do, but what about your job?”

“The fabric shop is closing for a few months, so I have some extra time on my hands.” A lot of extra time, but was working beside Levi the way she wanted to spend it?

Grace’s face lit up. She grabbed Sarah’s hand. “You are so clever. You can work with Levi and find out what kind of wife would suit him all at the same time. I won’t feel a bit bad about leaving him, knowing you’re there.”

Sarah held back a smile. If this is what it took to get Grace to leave town for a few weeks, Sarah would agree. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you may be right. In spite of the fact that Levi was Jonas’s friend and has been my neighbor for years, I don’t really know him well.”

Grace sat back with a satisfied smile. “I can tell you anything you want to know about him. Go ahead, ask me something.”

“All right, what does Levi like to do for fun?”

A furrow appeared between Grace’s eyebrows. “He doesn’t really do anything for fun. He doesn’t have a sense of humor, that’s for sure. He works in the shop all day and sometimes late into the night.”

“I know he is hard-working, but does he like to hunt or play checkers or other board games?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve known him to go hunting in the fall when we need meat, but I don’t think he enjoys it. The boys and I like board games, but Levi doesn’t play with us.”

What kind of wife would want a husband who didn’t interact with his own family?
Sarah said, “He used to go fishing with my husband. Does he still do that with his friends?”

“He goes fishing by himself sometimes. Levi doesn’t really have friends. Everyone says he makes right fine buggies, though.”

Sarah knew that for a fact. She drove one he and Jonas had built together. It was solid and still rode well after eight years. However, Levi had to have other traits that would make him attractive to a potential wife. “What does your brother like to read?”

“He reads the Bible every night, and he reads
The Budget
.”

The Budget
was a weekly newspaper put out by the Amish for the Amish. Everyone read it. It was good to know he read the Bible. A devout man usually made an excellent husband. “Does he read other kinds of books?”

“Books? No, I don’t think so.” Grace shook her head.

Sarah never suspected Levi was such a dull fellow. What had her outgoing husband seen in him?

“You’ve been a big help, Grace. I’ll look over my list of single friends and think on who might find him appealing.” Right off hand, she couldn’t think of anyone.

“Do you really believe I should leave town?”

“I do. It will do you, your grandmother and Henry a world of good. Trust me on this.”

Grace nodded bravely. “I do trust you, Sarah. I’ll do it.”

Sarah grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

Grace jumped to her feet. “I must ask the Wilsons down the block if I can use their phone. I need to find out when the bus leaves and call my grandmother’s English neighbors so they can tell her I’m coming.”

“But it’s getting late, child. You should go home and talk this over with your family.”

“
Nee.
If I’m to do this it must be now.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss on Sarah’s cheek. “You’re the best friend ever, Sarah Wyse.”

Without a backward glance, she rushed out as quickly as she had rushed in, slamming the door behind her.

“I’m not sure your brothers are going to feel the same,” Sarah said to the empty room.

* * *

Levi tugged his suspenders up over his shoulders as he walked down the stairs from his bedroom on the second floor of the house. When he reached the kitchen, he paused. Instead of the usual aromas of toast, bacon and scrambled eggs, the forlorn faces of his twin brothers sitting at a bare table greeted him.

A suitcase sat beside the front door. His sister, Grace, entered the room, tying her best bonnet beneath her chin. “I left sliced ham in the refrigerator for sandwiches. You boys can heat some up in a skillet for breakfast if you’d like or make oatmeal. After today, you’re on your own as far as getting something to eat. There is plenty of canned fruit and vegetables in the cellar along with canned meats. If you don’t want to cook, the Shoofly Pie Café serves good food, and it’s reasonable.”

She picked up her suitcase and gave her younger brothers each a stern look. “I expect the house to still be standing when I return.”

Levi found his tongue. “Grace, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to visit
Grossmammi
for a few weeks.” She had a smile on her face, but it was forced.

He scowled at her. Grace was impulsive, but this was odd even for her. She hadn’t said a word about visiting their relative. “Is Grandmother ill? Is that why you’re going?”

“
Nee,
she’s fine as far as I know.”

“You can’t take off at the drop of a hat like this.”

Atlee spoke up, “That’s what we told her.”

“But she told us she was going and that’s that,” Moses added.

Grace’s smile faded. “Please, Levi. Don’t forbid me to go. I need you to understand that I have to get away for a while.”

How could he understand when she hadn’t told him anything? He opened his mouth but nothing came out. She took it as his consent and her smile returned. He never could deny her what she wanted. She and the twins had lost so much already.

She rushed to his side and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Levi. Sarah said you would understand. I’ve got to run or I’ll miss my bus. This was a wonderful idea. I’m so glad she suggested it. I can’t wait to see
Grossmammi
again.”

Sarah suggested it? He should have known. “Grace, who will take care of our customers?” he asked as panic began to set in. He couldn’t deal with people. Words froze in his mouth and he looked foolish.

“Sarah will help you. Be kind to her.” Grace gave him a bright smile as she opened the door. A flurry of cold air swept in as she went out.

When Levi blinked he was still standing in his kitchen not really sure what had just happened. He looked at his brothers. They both shrugged.

Atlee said, “I’d like dippy eggs with my ham.”

“I want mine scrambled.” Moses folded his hands and waited.

Levi stared at the black stove with a sinking feeling in his gut. How on earth would they manage without Grace?

An hour later, Levi left the house and headed for his retreat, his workshop, where nothing smelled like burnt ham or charred eggs and he couldn’t hear his brothers’ complaints. He’d left after telling them to do the dishes.

A body would have thought I told them to take the moon down and polish it the way they gaped at me.

When he left, they were arguing over who should wash and who should dry. He didn’t have time to referee because he was late, and he was never late opening his business.

He still didn’t know why Grace had to leave town so suddenly. He hoped she hadn’t gotten herself in trouble. That wasn’t the kind of thing a man wanted to ask his sister. All Atlee and Moses knew was that after an argument with her boyfriend, Grace had decided to visit their grandmother for a few weeks. How many was a few? Three? Four? She didn’t intend to stay away for a month, did she?

One thing Grace said stuck in Levi’s mind. She’d said Sarah had suggested it. He suspected that Sarah Wyse was a whole lot better informed about his sister’s abrupt departure than he was.

Two men in Amish clothing were standing in front of his store when he approached.

“Did you decide to sleep in today, Levi?” one man joked.

Levi tried to think of a snappy comeback, but nothing occurred to him. He kept his eyes down and wrestled with the key that refused to unlock the door.

“Reckon he wants to start keeping banker’s hours,” the second man said with a deep chuckle.

Levi hated it when people made fun of him. He searched his heart for forgiveness and offered it up to God, but he still felt small. He always felt small.

When the stubborn lock finally clicked open, he rushed inside. He hadn’t had a chance to get the stove going and the building was ice-cold. The two men waited by the counter while he stoked the fire. When he had a flame going, they both stepped up to warm their hands.

Levi cleared his throat and asked, “How can I help you?”

The outside door opened, but Levi couldn’t see who had come in. The men blocked his line of sight. He hoped it was the twins because he didn’t like dealing with customers. Not that the twins would do better. They were likely to pull some prank and then disappear, leaving him to deal with the fallout.

The taller of the two men said, “We’re wanting to order a pair of courting buggies for our oldest boys. They’re good sons and they are willing to help pay some of the cost. Before we place any orders, what kind of deal can you give us for ordering two buggies together?”

Levi scowled. “A buggy costs what a buggy costs.”

“That’s not what Abe Yoder over in Sugarcreek told us. He’s willing to take ten percent off for a double order.”

Levi struggled to find the right thing to say. Grace always knew just what to say. Why did she have to take off and leave him to work alone? She knew how much he hated dealing with people.

Abe Yoder’s offer was a good one, but Levi didn’t want to send these men back to his competition. He couldn’t cut ten percent off his price or he’d be making the buggies for free. He cleared his throat again and felt heat rising in his face. Why was it always this way? Other people didn’t have trouble talking.

Behind the men, a woman’s voice said, “If Abe Yoder says he can cut ten percent off he’s overcharging to begin with.”

The men turned around as Sarah Wyse approached the stove. She was looked straight at him. “Isn’t that right, Levi?”

He nodded and followed her lead.
“Ja.”

She waited, as if expecting he would say more, but when he didn’t she gave her attention to the men. “Come up to the counter, neighbors, and let us talk about what you think your sons will like and what they can live without. Once we have an idea of the amount of work that will be needed, we can give you a fair estimate. You’ll find our prices are as good as Abe Yoder’s and our quality is better.”