Authors: Brenda Minton
Love Inspired December 2014 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Rancher for Christmas\Her Montana Christmas\An Amish Christmas Journey\Yuletide Baby (35 page)
ISBN-13: 9781460344125
A Rancher for Christmas
Copyright © 2014 by Brenda Minton
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Their Holiday Adventure
Toby Yoder promised to care for his orphaned little sister the rest of her life. After all, the tragedy that took their parents and left her injured was his fault. Now he must make a three-hundred-mile trip from the hospital to the Amish community where they'll settle down. But as they share a hired van with pretty Greta Barkman, an Amish woman with a similar harrowing past, Toby can't bear for the trip to end. Suddenly, there's joy, a rescued cat named Christmas and hope for their journey to continue together forever.
Brides of Amish Country: Finding true love in the land of the Plain People
“Do you do that often?” Greta asked.
He opened his eyes and frowned. “Do I do what?”
“Refuse help when you need it?”
He gave her a wry smile. “Am I guilty of being prideful? I have been, but I'm learning that I can't do everything.”
Greta gathered her things. “Then stretch out on this bench and take a nap. I will keep an eye on your sister and wake you if she needs anything.”
He nodded his consent. Greta moved up to one of the single seats where she could keep an eye on Marianne and on Toby. He folded his long legs on the seat and pillowed his head on his coat. It wasn't long before his breathing became deep and even and she knew he was asleep.
She had never watched a man sleeping before. At least no one younger than the elders who sometimes nodded off during the long church services.
At leisure to study him, Greta assessed his features one by one, trying to decide why she was so attracted to him.
The lines of strain around Toby's eyes touched a chord within her. She wanted to see them soothed away.
Books by Patricia Davids
Love Inspired
  His Bundle of Love
  Love Thine Enemy
  Prodigal Daughter
  The Color of Courage
  Military Daddy
  A Matter of the Heart
  A Military Match
  A Family for Thanksgiving
*
Katie's Redemption
*
The Doctor's Blessing
*
An Amish Christmas
*
The Farmer Next Door
*
The Christmas Quilt
*
A Home for Hannah
*
A Hope Springs
Christmas
*
Plain Admirer
*
Amish Christmas Joy
*
The Shepherd's Bride
*
The Amish Nanny
*
An Amish Christmas
Journey
*Brides of Amish Country
Love Inspired Suspense
  A Cloud of Suspicion
  Speed Trap
PATRICIA DAVIDS
After thirty-five years as a nurse, Pat hung up her
stethoscope to become a full-time writer. She enjoys spending her new free time
visiting her grandchildren, doing some long-overdue yard work and traveling to
research her story locations. She resides in Wichita, Kansas. Pat always enjoys
hearing from her readers. You can visit her online at
www.patriciadavids.com
.
AN AMISH CHRISTMAS JOURNEY
Patricia Davids
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,
and in his word do I hope.
âPsalms
130:3â5
This book is dedicated to women and men
everywhere who seek to mend fences and to
right wrongs within their families.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God.
â
Matthew
5:9
Contents
Chapter One
“I
suppose we must do it.” Greta Barkman almost choked on her words.
It was the right thing to say. The only decision her Amish faith would let her make, but she'd rather walk through the snow barefoot...all winter...than spend one hour with her uncle Morris. Bringing him home to stay with them for a few months would be unbearable. Surely God would not ask this of her and her sisters after all they had endured.
Betsy, the youngest at eighteen, slapped the letter facedown on the table. “It's not as if
Onkel
Morris can expect us to drop everything and rush to his side. We escaped his cruelness by the grace of God. Besides, it's almost Christmas. It will be our first happy Christmas together. I don't want him to spoil it.”
He will spoil it. I know that as surely as I know it's cold outside.
Greta glanced at the kitchen window. The late-afternoon sun shone brightly beyond the frost-covered glass, but it added little warmth to the December day. The dusting of snow that had arrived in the night blew around, sparkling like glitter in the breeze. She shivered and looked back at the people seated around her grandfather's table. Her three sisters, her grandfather and his new wife, and two of her sisters' husbands were gathered for this family meeting.
Clara, the oldest sister, picked up the letter. “I agree with Greta. We have to do this. His bishop would not write asking us to take Morris in if our uncle's condition were not serious.” She glanced at her husband seated beside her. “I will go, if you agree, Ethan.”
He covered her hand with his own. “I won't pretend that I like the idea, but you must do what you think best. The children and I will manage without you for a few days.”
“I can go.” Lizzie, the second sister, looked as though she would rather eat dirt.
Carl, Lizzie's husband, laid his hand on her arm. “I won't agree to it. You have to think of the babe. Such a long car ride will not be good for you.”
Naomi, their grandfather's wife, reached over to clasp Lizzie's hand. “You know the midwife cautioned against traveling with the problems you've had.”
Lizzie nodded in resignation, but Greta detected a hint of relief in her eyes. Who could blame her?
Greta retrieved the letter and scanned it again. Their uncle lived near Fort Wayne, Indiana. She explained the contents for those that hadn't read it. “His bishop writes that the congregation is willing to arrange for a van and driver to take Morris from the hospital to our home. His doctors wouldn't allow him to travel by bus. A car or van is acceptable as long as the driver makes frequent stops. Morris must take brief walks every hour or two to prevent circulation problems with his legs.”
And he must have someone travel with him. The five-hour car trip from Fort Wayne to Hope Springs would need to be broken into at least two days of travel. It would make a very long trip, breaks or no breaks.
Although the bishop hinted at some dissention among his flock over the matter, the fact that none of them were willing to take Morris in spoke of a serious rift in the church group. The Amish took care of their own within the community. Families were expected to look after aging or ailing members and normally did so gladly. His nieces were all the family Morris Barkman had left.
Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest. “I can't believe old man Rufus turned Morris out of the house and hired a new fellow to work the dairy farm. I thought our
onkel
and his landlord were friends.”
“I can believe it,” Clara said with a shiver. “Rufus Kuhns is an evil man. He's worse than our uncle.”
Greta nodded in agreement. Rufus had tried to coerce Clara into marrying him by threatening all of them with eviction and physical violence. “Morris is out of a job and has nowhere to live. He is dependent on us, the very women he mistreated for years. It must be a bitter pill for him.”
It was for her. For all of them.
Naomi sighed heavily. “Greta, you are the only logical choice to go and fetch him here.”
She looked up startled. “Me? Why me?”
Naomi's gaze softened with sympathy. “Lizzie can't go. Betsy has a job and shouldn't miss work, besides she is too young to travel so far alone. Clara is a newlywed. She has a new husband and three stepchildren to think about. It would be cruel to part her from the children so soon. I'm not related to Morris. He might find it uncomfortable traveling with me.”
“I don't care if he is comfortable or not!” Greta couldn't do it. She couldn't spend two days shut in a car with him.
“I don't know how I would manage without you for even a day, Naomi.” Joseph reached to take his new wife's hand.
Greta saw the warm look he exchanged with Naomi. It seemed everyone in her family had found someone to love. Everyone but her. Betsy was being courted by a local Amish fellow that everyone liked. Lizzie had married Carl last fall, and they were expecting their first child. Clara had wed Ethan Gingerich only a few weeks ago.
Greta had refused the few men who had asked her out. Marriage wasn't in her future, certainly not marriage to an Amish man. She wanted to become a counselor and help abused women. To do that would require more education than the eight years the Amish allowed. Leaving the community she loved was a difficult decisionâone she wasn't sure she was ready to make. She had only discussed it with Clara. No one else knew what she was thinking of doing.
Greta didn't begrudge any of her sisters their happiness. They deserved it and more. How many times had her actions and her words brought their uncle's wrath down on them? Far more that she cared to count. If only she had been stronger. If only she had stood up to him. If only she had told someone about the abuse, but she hadn't. They had all lived inside a circle of fear and shame until Lizzie found the courage to break out. It was because of Lizzie that they found a refuge of love and caring in their grandfather's home. God had rewarded Lizzie's selfless bravery.
Greta didn't possess such courage. The thought of spending time with Morris made her cringe. She couldn't do it. Panic hit her full in the face. She crumpled the letter and jumped to her feet. “Someone else will have to go.”
She ran out of the room and up the stairs with her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She was staring out her bedroom window struggling to regain her composure when Naomi came in. Without turning around, Greta said, “I can't do it.”
Naomi slipped an arm across Greta's shoulders. “Betsy has said she will go.”
Greta flinched. Her little sister was no match for Morris. “Betsy is too young. He's too mean. You don't know how he is. He can make her feel worthless with nothing but words. He doesn't even need his stick to beat her down.”
“I'm not saying it will be easy for her, but she's willing to do it to spare you.”
Greta bit the corner of her lip. “I'm afraid, Naomi.”
“Of what, child?”
“That I'll turn back into the groveling, miserable person I was when I lived with him. He called me Mouse because I was always scurrying out of his path. I existedâI didn't live. I was dead inside.”
She still was. In spite of all she had read about surviving abuse, she knew Morris still had a hold over her. “I don't have Lizzie's courage.”
Naomi enfolded her in a fierce hug. “Courage is fear that has said its prayers. God will give you all you need if you depend on Him.”
Drawing strength from the woman she had come to love and admire, Greta nodded. Now it was her turn to be brave. To prove to herself and to him that she wasn't worthless. “All right, I will go.”
Naomi pulled away to look into Greta's eyes. “Are you sure?”
She would be coolly polite. She would ignore her uncle's hurtful ways, and she would never,
ever
let him make her feel like an inadequate person again.
“Ja.”
They returned to the kitchen, and both women took a seat at the table. Naomi said, “It's settled. Greta will go.”
Afraid her sisters would read the fear in her eyes Greta kept her gaze on her hands clasped together on the table. “I'll take the bus there and accompany him in the van on his journey. I'll write to Morris and his bishop and tell them to expect me in four days. That should give them enough time to arrange everything.”
“
Gott
willing, you will be home two days later,” Naomi added.
Greta let out a deep sigh and looked around the table. “I really don't want to bring him into this house.”
The sisters exchanged glances. Clara said, “We feel the same, but perhaps this is a test of our compassion. It is the Christmas season, after all. How can we abandon
Onkel
Morris, ill and alone, knowing that God sent His only Son into this world to teach us to care for one another, even those who hate us?”
“The right thing to do is not always the easy thing to do,” Betsy added in resignation.
“Perhaps his illness has shown Morris the error of his ways, and he is ready to mend our family fences,” Lizzie suggested in a falsely bright tone.
Greta wouldn't count on it. Of all the ways she had imagined spending her first Christmas at her new home, none of them included sharing it with mean old Morris.
“Joseph, you have very wise granddaughters,” Naomi said with a tender smile.
He nodded. “That may be true, but I'm with Greta. I'll take him in, but I don't want the man here, either. Morris will find a way to ruin our Christmas. You mark my words.”