An Amish Wedding (15 page)

“I
S
M
RS
. K
ING’S SALVE NOT WORKING?
”
A
ENTI
T
ABBY ASKED
from where she sat reading her Bible near her bed.

“I want to believe it’s helping.” Rose sighed as she maneuvered onto her aunt’s bed, rubbing her woolen clad arms against the quilt.

“Well, let’s talk about something to distract you then . . . Tell me if things are better now that you know a little more about Luke.”

Rose flopped on her belly and regarded her
aenti
’s merry face. “I have the feeling that there’s a lifetime of things for me to learn about Luke.”

“That’s as it should be—like the Bible says, ‘new treasures out of old.’”

Rose gave in to one delightful scratch. “Then I’ll pray that we have a lifetime of treasures together,
Aenti
Tabby.”

The older woman smiled. “You will, Rose. You will.”

O
N
M
ONDAY MORNING
, L
UKE’S FATHER TOLD HIM TO
step into the office. “Just go along and have a hello with our new bookkeeper.”

A new bookkeeper? What was his
daed
talking about? Luke shrugged and knocked on the office door with good grace, then, when no one answered, opened it slowly.

The back of a dark head and
kapp
greeted him.

“Rose?” he asked in disbelief.

She spun in a new swivel chair and smiled up at him, pencil in hand. “
Hiya!
You’ve always known I have a head for figures.”

He smiled slowly. “So you do, but what about . . . ?”

“The house?” she queried. “I can do both, Luke Lantz. Women are great at multitasking.”

He had to laugh, then bent close to her. “Is that your secret, Rose? Being able to do two things at once?”

“Maybe. What did you have in mind?” She blinked bright eyes at him, and he lowered his mouth to hers.

“Ach
, I don’t know,” he whispered, pressing his lips to hers. “Maybe this . . . and this . . .”

“And this,” she added, drawing him close again until he had to sigh aloud.

A PERFECT
MATCH

K
ATHLEEN
F
ULLER

Chapter One

“T
HOSE COOKIES SMELL
APPEDITLICH
.” N
AOMI
K
ING SMILED
at Margaret as the young woman pulled a tray of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. She brushed a bit of excess flour from her hands. “Chunks or chips?”

“Chunks, this time.” Margaret put the cookie sheet on top of the stove and turned to Naomi. “I noticed the chunky ones sell faster than the chips.”

Using a knife, Naomi cut the freshly rolled bread dough into narrow strips, which she then manipulated into twists. “I’m surprised we ran out of the bread twists so soon.”

“They’ve been pretty popular too.” Margaret picked up a metal cooling rack and put it on the counter next to the stove. A knock sounded on the front door. “I’ll get it.” She left the kitchen.

With quick, practiced motions Naomi put the pale twists on a baking sheet and popped them into the oven. She wound the timer and walked over to the sink to wash her hands. The window above the sink was open halfway, letting a refreshing cool breeze into her small kitchen. Not for the first time she said a prayer of thanks for Margaret’s help with her bakery business. For the past three months, since Naomi started selling baked goods from the
daadi haus
where she lived behind her parents’ home, business had been brisk. She wouldn’t have been able to keep up, not without Margaret’s help.

A few moments later Margaret returned and handed Naomi thirty dollars. “Three loaves of bread, a gooseberry pie, and two pumpkin rolls. The
Englisch
woman was a repeat customer, by the way.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Naomi looked at the money. “
Geh
ahead and keep it.”

“But you already paid me.”

“I know. You’ve been working hard these past two weeks. You deserve a little extra.”

Margaret smiled and tucked the money into her purse, which was hanging on a peg near the back door. “Did you know you have a leak in your front room?”

“What?”

“A small drip in the corner, by the couch. I noticed it as the woman was leaving.”

“Nee.”
Naomi hurried out of the kitchen, down the narrow hallway to the small sitting room. She saw several drips of water slip from a sag in the ceiling. Last night an intense storm had hit Paradise. Being a deep sleeper, she’d slept through the whole thing. But this morning Margaret had mentioned seeing several large branches littering the yards along the road, ripped from the trees by the harsh winds. The winds must have damaged the roof somehow.

Quickly she went to the back porch and retrieved a bucket. She moved the couch out of the way and put the bucket under the drip. After getting a towel from the linen closet she wiped up the water from the hardwood floor.

“How bad is the damage?” Margaret moved to stand next to her.

“I think the floor is all right.” Naomi looked up at the ceiling again. “I don’t know about the roof.”

“Isn’t the
haus
pretty old?”

“At least fifty years. My
grossvatter
built it for his parents.” She rubbed her fingers against her temple. “I hate to tell
Daed
about this, but I’ll have to. He’s so busy with wedding preparations; he doesn’t need another thing to worry about.” She also didn’t think her father needed to be repairing a roof, not at his age. “So many things have been going wrong lately. Like the house Chester is building for Priscilla and him to live in. The foundation didn’t set right, the lumber they ordered for the frame was delayed, and Chester’s brother Abraham broke his wrist when he fell off the roof. Now this.” She frowned.

“It’s only a small leak, Naomi. It shouldn’t be any trouble to fix. Do you want to tell your
daed
now? I can handle any customers that come by, and I’ll whip up another batch of cookies too.”

Naomi shook her head. “He’s not home. I’ll wait until tonight.” She looked at Margaret, her eyes suddenly going wide. “The bread twists!”

“I took them out already,” Margaret said.

Naomi breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Her friend’s cheeks pinked. “You’d do just fine.” She smiled. “All this baking has made me hungry.”

“Let’s break for lunch.”

A short while later Margaret joined Naomi on the back porch underneath the extended roof, a shiny red apple in one hand, a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich in the other. With the toe of her black lace-up shoe, Naomi pushed a chair toward Margaret and took a bite of her tuna fish sandwich.

It had rained most of the morning. Heavy drops fell from the edge of the roof, but there was enough shelter to keep the women dry.

“We won’t be able to sit out here much longer.” Margaret sat down and let out a small shiver. “Winter isn’t far around the corner.”

Naomi pulled her sweater closer to her body. “I’m surprised it’s so chilly. Must be because of the storm last night.”

Margaret polished the apple on the edge of her white apron. A few grease spots dotted the thin fabric. “How are the wedding plans going?”

“Other than what I’ve already told you,
gut
so far.” Naomi set her sandwich down on her napkin and took a sip of water from her glass.

“And to think those two wouldn’t be getting married if you hadn’t helped them find each other.”

“Oh, I didn’t do much.”

“You must have, because Priscilla said you convinced her to give Chester a chance. And I remember seeing you talking to Chester a few times. The next thing I hear, the two of them are courting.” Margaret sighed. “It’s all so romantic.”

Naomi smiled. “They are a perfect match,
ya
? My sister has never been so happy.”

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m a little jealous.” Margaret rolled her apple around in her hand. “I wish I could find someone to love.”

“You will.”

“Sometimes I really doubt that. I’m almost twenty-four, Naomi.”

“What about Ben Hooley?”

“Him?” Margaret waved her hand as if she were batting away a pesky fly.

“But he’s picked you up a couple of times.” Naomi thought of the quiet, stolid man who had moved to their district a few years ago. “I thought you two liked each other.”

“He only gives me rides home as a favor to
Daed
. He doesn’t even talk on the ride home. Ben Hooley isn’t the
mann
for me, that’s for sure.” She leaned forward, her cheeks turning pink, her voice lowering to a whisper. “I’m kind of embarrassed to ask you this.”

“We’re friends, Margaret. You can ask me anything.”

Margaret’s light blond eyebrows formed a V over her pale blue eyes. “Could you . . . could you help me find someone?”

Naomi gave her an encouraging smile. “You don’t need my help to find a beau. Any
mann
would be interested in you. You’re smart and sweet and lovely.”

“I’m old.” Margaret’s frown deepened. “And I can’t be that sweet and lovely, because no one has been interested in me for a long time.”

“You just haven’t found the right
mann
. He’ll come along.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I do. God has set apart someone special for you, Margaret. You’ll meet him in the Lord’s timing.”

“I wish the Lord would hurry up, then.” Margaret leaned back in her chair and put the apple on the desk. “I also wish I could be patient about this, like you are. I’m not at peace with being an old maid.”

Naomi flinched a little inwardly. She’d never considered herself an old maid, and at twenty-five, she was older than Margaret. But she’d never felt any pressure from her family to get married, and her life was busy and satisfying. She’d had little time to think about dating.
Except for David .
. .

She put her former boyfriend out of her mind. She’d come to terms with what he did three years ago. She even counted herself blessed that she hadn’t married him.

“It scares me,” Margaret said.

“What does?”

“That I’ll never know what it’s like to fall in love. To have a
kinn
.” Her gaze met Naomi’s. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Naomi reached out and patted her hand. “You won’t be.”

Margaret’s face brightened. “Does that mean you’ll help me? Like you helped Priscilla?”

“Ya,”
Naomi said, glad to see the strain seep away from her friend’s expression. She didn’t know exactly what she could do to help Margaret find a beau, but she’d figure that out later.

Margaret smiled. “I knew I could trust you to understand.” She reached into the pocket of her apron and took out two cookies, offering one to Naomi.

“Are these the ones you just made?”

“
Ya
. They’re still a little warm.”

Naomi bit into the soft cookie. Chocolate and sugar flavors flooded her mouth. “Mmmm. I think these are the best batch you’ve made so far.”

“I could barely make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I first started here.”