Amish White Christmas Pie (38 page)

“Why don’t you ask him about that now?” Mama Regina said as she slipped in beside Karen.

Will turned his head in time to see Pop enter the room. At that moment, he remembered Papa Mark saying to him,
“God has a reason for bringing people into our lives at certain times.” Could God have brought Pop here to save my life? No matter what’s happened in the past, at least Pop and I are together again
.

“Hello, Will,” Pop said. “I’m relieved to know you’re going to be okay.”

“I understand I have you to thank for that. I hear you gave me the blood I needed.”

Pop nodded and moved to the side of Will’s bed. “I’m glad I could do it, but it doesn’t make up for the years we’ve spent apart.”

Will drew in a quick breath. “Karen told me about the note she found on the back of the recipe card. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“Since you didn’t see the note after I wrote it, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t believe me.”

Will swallowed hard. “I…uh…need to know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Why didn’t you come back for me, or at least write and let me know why you weren’t coming back?”

Pop leaned closer to Will. “I’d planned to write, but a few days after I left you with Regina and Mark, I was in an accident that landed me in the hospital, where I stayed for many months, thanks to my injuries. Once I was well enough, I headed to Pennsylvania to get you. Unfortunately, you weren’t there. Someone else was living in Mark and Regina’s house.”

“We left word with a neighbor so that if your daed came to get you, he would know we had moved,” Papa Mark said. “I guess by the time your daed showed up, our neighbor had also moved.”

Frank grimaced. “I was so shook up when I found out you were gone I could barely function. If I hadn’t met Megan when I did, I might never have gotten my life straightened around.”

Will stared at the ceiling as he mulled things over. He’d been so sure Pop had abandoned him on purpose. He hadn’t figured Pop might have had a good reason for not contacting him.

“‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,’” Will said, quoting John 8:32.

Pop tipped his head. “What?”

“It’s a verse from the Bible. Jesus was telling those who believed on Him that they would know the truth and be set free from their sins. The verse reminds me of my situation,” Will said. “I’ve been holding a grudge against you all these years because I didn’t know the truth. But now the truth has set me free.”

Pop nodded. “Megan quoted that verse to me not long ago. Afterwards, I prayed and asked God to forgive my sins.”

“I’m happy to know you’re a believer.” Will reached out and touched Pop’s arm. “Will you forgive me for not believing you wrote a note and for holding a grudge against you all these years?”

Pop nodded as tears trickled down his cheeks. “If you’ll forgive me for not being there during most of your childhood.”

“I forgive you, Pop.” Will looked over at his folks. “I’ve always been thankful that you took me in and treated me like your own son, and I’m sorry if the things I said during our Thanksgiving dinner hurt your feelings. I love you both so much.”

“We love you, too, Will.” Tears shimmered in Mama Regina’s eyes.

“And we’ve been glad we could raise you,” Papa Mark added.

Will smiled at Karen. “I’m also thankful to God for giving me a special woman to share my life with—if she still wants to marry me, that is.”

Karen nodded as tears sprang to her eyes. “Jah, Will, I do.”

“Before we pass the box of tissues around, I’d like to know one thing,” Frank said.

“What’s that?” Will asked.

“Am I invited to your wedding?”

“Yes!” Will and Karen said in unison.

Frank clasped Will’s hand. “I’ll have to head home with Megan and the girls tomorrow, but I promise to stay in touch, and we’ll be back for your wedding in December.”

Karen smiled at Frank. “We’d like to have your family join us for Christmas, too, wouldn’t we, Will?”

Will nodded. “Maybe by then I’ll be well enough so we can go outside and build that snowman we never got to make sixteen years ago.”

“I think my girls would enjoy that, too.” Frank grinned like a boy given a new toy on Christmas morning.

As Mama Regina, Papa Mark, and Pop moved away from Will’s bed, Will reached for Karen’s hand. “Even though I had some doubts about being your husband, I know I could never be truly happy without you in my life.”

She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. “I wouldn’t be happy without you either.”

R
eady or not, here we come!” Pop shouted as he and Kim raced across the yard with arms full of snowballs and a honey-colored cocker spaniel puppy nipping at their heels.

Will smiled as he thought about the Christmas present he’d given his half sisters earlier today. The girls had named the puppy Shadow because it liked to follow them.

“No snowball fight yet,” Carrie squealed. “Mommy and I aren’t ready.”

“How about you, Will?” Pop called. “Are you and Karen ready to make a few snowballs?”

Will looked at Karen, who stood by his side, red faced and full of smiles. “Would you rather watch from the sidelines, or would you like to take part in the fight that’s about to begin?”

She pulled the collar of her coat around her neck and shivered. “I got cold enough building our snowman, so I think I’ll watch the snowball fight from the porch where it’s warmer.”

“Guess I’ll sit this one out, too,” Will said.

Whoosh!
—a snowball flew across the yard and hit Will’s arm. “We’d better get out of the line of fire before I change my mind and start making a few
schneeballe
.”

“If you’d like to join the fun, I’ll stay on the porch and cheer you on,” Karen said.

Will shook his head. “No way, I’d rather be with my
schee
fraa.”

The color in Karen’s cheeks deepened when he called her his pretty wife. He loved the way she blushed so easily. Will took her hand and led her over to the porch.

“I can’t believe we’ve been married a whole week already,” he said as a surge of joy swept over him. He envisioned how sweet and beautiful Karen had looked on their wedding day as they’d stood before the bishop and repeated their vows. It had been a wonderful day, and having Pop and the rest of his family there to share it with them had made it especially memorable.

“I’m glad we were able to postpone our wedding by one week so you could have more time to heal. I’m pleased your daed and his family could be here for the wedding and stay through Christmas, too.”

“Jah, it made the day even more special.” Will nuzzled the back of Karen’s neck with his cold nose. “Is being married to me all you’d hoped it would be?”

She shivered. “It’s all that and more, but if you keep doing things to make me feel colder, I’m going to drag you into the yard and douse your face with snow.”

He chuckled. “Is that a challenge?”

She shrugged. “Take it however you like.”

Will was about to respond when Mama Regina and Papa Mark joined them on the porch.

“I’ve got some hot chocolate heating on the stove,” Mama Regina said. “Whenever everyone’s ready for a break from all this merriment, we can have some of Karen’s White Christmas Pie to go with it.”

Will smacked his lips. “That sounds good to me. Should I see if I can get our snowball throwers to stop so we can go inside?”

Papa Mark shook his head. “We’re not ready to go in just yet.”

“How come?”

“Your daed and I have a surprise for you.” He pointed to the horse and buggy coming down the lane. “And here it is now.”

As the rig drew closer, Will realized it was Nathan’s. A shiny black horse trotted behind the buggy.

“That’s enough with the snowballs,” Pop shouted to Megan and the girls. “Will’s Christmas present has arrived!”

Will looked over at Papa Mark then back at Pop, who was heading for the porch. “My Christmas present?”

Pop nodded, and a wide smile spread across his face. “I figured you’d be needing a new horse to replace the one you lost in your buggy accident, so Mark went with me to pick it out a few days ago.” His smile widened as Nathan untied the horse. “Aaron Chupp agreed to keep the horse in his barn until Nathan brought him over here today.”

“It’s another trotter,” Nathan said as he led the horse closer to the house.

“So what do you think?” Pop asked. “Do you like the horse we chose?”

Will nodded. “He’s real nice. Thank you, both, so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

Will reached out and touched the horse, letting his fingers glide through its silky mane. “I hope I have better luck with this one than I had with my other two.”

“You know what they say about the third time around,” Nathan said with a chuckle.

Will rubbed the horse’s muzzle. “Any idea what I should name this one?”

“How about Pie?” Pop suggested. “After all, it was the recipe for Regina’s White Christmas Pie that brought us together.”

“What kind of name is Pie for a horse, Daddy?” Carrie asked.

“You’re right. It is a silly name.” Pop grinned at Will. “It’s your horse, so you choose a name.”

“How about I call him Pop? That way, whenever I’m with the horse, I’ll think of my daed and be reminded of how much I love him.”

Tears welled in Pop’s eyes, and he gave Will a hug.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m cold and hungry,” Mama Regina said. “How about we go inside for a piece of Karen’s White Christmas Pie?”

“Sounds good to me,” Megan agreed. “My nose and toes are about to fall off from being out here in all this cold snow.”

Nathan grinned at Will. “I’ll put Pop in the barn, and then I’ll join you.”

“And I’ll put the girls’ puppy away until it’s time for us to go,” Pop said, turning toward the barn.

As the others headed for the house, Will touched Karen’s arm and turned her to face him. When he saw the peaceful look on her face, he felt a sense of joy and hope for the future. He couldn’t imagine what more he could want than having his family together on Christmas Day. He couldn’t conceive of being married to anyone but Karen. And it was all because of a note that had been written on the back of a recipe card.

Wanda E. Brunstetter is a
New York Times
bestselling author who enjoys writing Amish-themed, as well as historical, novels. Descended from Anabaptists herself, Wanda became deeply interested in the Plain People when she married her husband, Richard, who grew up in a Mennonite church in Pennsylvania. Wanda and her husband now live in Washington State but take every opportunity to visit their Amish friends in various communities across the country, gathering further information about the Amish way of life.