Leah's Choice (23 page)

“Mail? Really?” She flung the pillow back and sat up, reaching for the packet. “For me?”

Still chuckling, he waved the envelope just out of her reach. “A boat arrived this morning with supplies, books, your new sewing machine and what looks like six months of the
Budget,
all addressed to Mrs. Daniel Brown, Bethesda Mission. I suppose that must be you.”

Leah flung aside the sheet. “Give me my letters, please.” Excitement thrummed through her, sending ribbons of joy to the tips of her toes.

“Breakfast first,” Daniel said. “Midwife’s orders. Caridade came by with a ripe pineapple, a bowl of figs and mangos, and a pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Nothing too good for
little teacher in the family way.
”

Leah wiggled out from under the sheet, pushed aside the mosquito netting and slid to the floor. Daniel handed her a white organdy duster to cover her modest white cotton nightgown and shook out each of her soft leather huaraches to make certain no spiders were hiding there before slipping them onto her feet.

“How’s the tummy?”

Leah took a deep breath and smiled at him. “Good.” She quickly pinned up her braids, took her small, lacy Mennonite prayer
kapp
off the nightstand, and fastened it on the back of her head. “Really good. I think I’m hungry.” She was only three months along, and had had morning sickness for weeks, but it seemed to be passing.

He laughed. “It’s about time. I made you breakfast—fig and Brazil nut muffins and a soft-boiled egg.”

“Mmm, sounds delicious, but I’d rather have my letters first, then eat.”

Daniel shook his head and chuckled. “Oh, no. First the egg—”

“One bite?” she bargained as she followed him through the tiny thatched-roofed cottage. Out on the covered porch, Daniel had set the breakfast table for two, complete with fresh-cut pink orchids floating in a hand-thrown pottery bowl and a basket of fruit.

As she sat down, she looked around her, marveling at the beauty of the Amazon rain forest and the slow-moving river that bordered the clearing. “This must be what the Garden of Eden looked like,” she said as she drank in the wonder of the soaring capirone, capok and leafy cercropia trees that sheltered her jungle home.

“You say that every morning,” he teased as he took his chair.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” As she watched, a scarlet macaw took flight from a lower branch of a Brazil nut tree, his colorful feathers a slash of brilliance against the green backdrop of the jungle. “You’ve brought me to paradise.”

“Not every wife would think that.” He chuckled as he poured her a brimming glass of orange juice. “No running water, electricity only a few hours a day, no grocery stores or shopping malls.”

“But bananas and lemons grow in our backyard.” She held out her hand. “My letters from home?”

“Actually, you might want to wait on the letters.” He looked over his shoulder again. “There’s another surprise. Why don’t you have some egg while we wait?”

“Another surprise?” She gazed into his handsome face.
I couldn’t have found a more devoted husband, not if I’d searched the world over,
she thought. And the chasm she’d thought she was crossing—from the Amish faith to the Mennonite faith, had turned out to be only a series of slow, easy steps. Now, to her joy, they were expecting a child who she hoped might inherit Daniel’s beautiful green eyes and his loving spirit. “How can I eat when you tell me you have another surprise?”

“You need to eat for the baby.”

Leah started to argue, then bowed her head and closed her eyes for grace. Daniel Brown could be a stubborn man, she’d learned; sometimes it was just easier to play along with him.

“Thanks be to the Lord for all His blessings,” Daniel said. “And for you, who left so much behind for me.”

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “I do miss my family,” she said, “but there’s so much to do here. My preschool and Sunday School classes, and the sewing circle with the women.”

She remembered that Daniel had said the new sewing machine had come on the boat. That would make her sewing group’s fledgling enterprise so much easier. Many of the young women who had come to live near the mission were single mothers or widows without education and no means to support their children. Leah had proposed that they start a business making a high-quality line of baby clothing that could be sold at Mennonite-owned stores and bazaars in the United States. They’d begun the project only eight months ago, and already they were showing a profit, with a potential for selling as many garments as the women could produce.

“When the baby’s old enough to travel, we’ll go home on leave,” Daniel assured her. “Three months. And you’ll get to show off Rachel to your mother and sisters.”

“Or David,” she teased. “I think this is going to be a boy.”

“Boy or girl, I’ll be happy with, either.” He slid a muffin, sliced banana and a small bowl with the soft-boiled egg onto her plate.

“You spoil me, Daniel.”

“You deserve to be spoiled,” he answered.

Leah nibbled at the egg. Surprisingly, she found it delicious and devoured every bite of the egg, the banana and half a muffin before taking a swallow of orange juice. “Now, what’s the other surprise,” she asked.

Mischief sparkled in Daniel’s eyes.

“Is it a monkey?” Leah clasped her hands. “You’ve found me a baby squirrel monkey?” One of the women who attended her sewing circle had a pet squirrel monkey with a pretty little white face and a brown cap of fur that Leah had found adorable. Orphan monkeys were sometimes brought to the mission, and Daniel had been promising that the next time one appeared, she could have it.

“No,” he said. “Better than a monkey.”

“Not a sloth.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want a sloth.” Daniel had argued that a sloth would be a lot less trouble than a monkey with the baby coming.

“You’ll like this, I promise. Close your eyes.” He rose, stepped behind her, and covered her eyes with his hands.

“Hurry,” Leah said impatiently. Then she heard footsteps on the porch.

“Surprise,” Daniel said, as he dropped his hands.

Leah stared, not certain she could believe her eyes. Standing there on her porch were Miriam and Charley. “Miriam!” she cried, leaping out of her chair. “Charley! Am I dreaming?”

And then they were all laughing and hugging each other, and Leah was crying for joy. “How?” she demanded. “How did you get here?”

“It was Susanna’s idea,” Miriam said between hugs. “She said she missed you and we should come to see if you were all right. Everyone in Seven Poplars agreed it was time someone looked in on you two, so everyone contributed a little to pay for the plane tickets. Even Aunt Martha.” She chuckled.

“Even Aunt Martha?” Tears filled Leah’s eyes. She knew her pregnancy was making her emotional, but she was truly touched that Aunt Martha, who had little money, would contribute to Charley and Miriam’s trip. “Does that mean she’s forgiven me for marrying Daniel, leaving the church and moving to South America?”

“No one at home is angry with you, silly goose.” Miriam hugged her sister again. “You’re serving God here, just in a different way than we do.”

“How long can you stay?” Leah demanded, squeezing Miriam’s hands in hers. “A long time, I hope.”

“Through Christmas.” Miriam grinned. “Almost three weeks. So you won’t be alone for Christmas.”

“I couldn’t ask for a better Christmas gift.” Leah looked at Daniel. “Did you know they were coming?”

He nodded. “Just for a few weeks. I thought that since you’d been feeling under the weather, this would cheer you up.”

Miriam looked back to Leah, her face falling. “You’re not sick, are you?”

“Nothing that another six or seven months won’t cure,” Daniel teased.

Blushing, Leah turned and pressed her face into her husband’s chest and his strong arms drew her in to a warm embrace. “You shouldn’t say that,” she whispered. “Not in front of Charley.”

“Why not?” Charley asked. “We’re all family, aren’t we?”

“Ya,”
Miriam said, clasping Charley’s hand. “We’re all family. Even if some of us do wear smaller
kapps
.”

* * * * *

Dear Reader,

If you’re returning to the Yoder farm for another visit, welcome back! If this is your first time with us, I’m so glad you could join us around Hannah’s cozy kitchen table. It’s springtime in Seven Poplars, everyone is busy turning the soil, planting seeds and picking strawberries, but we always have room for one more. Here in Seven Poplars, the sun is bright, the grass is sweet-smelling and love is in the air. Hannah’s daughter, Leah, has always been different than the others, always looking out the window while the other girls were looking in. When Leah meets the Mennonite missionary, Daniel, his presence not only has the potential to affect her life, but the lives of every member of the Yoder family. What do you do when you fall in love with an outsider? And if the larger world beckons, is it temptation or simply another of life’s doorways?

I hope you enjoy your time with Leah and Daniel and that their story brings as much pleasure to you in reading it, as it has me in writing it. I found Leah, in many ways, to be different than her sisters. She’s so worldly! And yet there’s an innocence about her that makes me smile.

Next time we get together, I have a special surprise for you! A secret visitor, lost to the Amish world and in desperate need of love and understanding. Can Hannah welcome this young woman into her arms? Will the Yoder household ever be the same again?

Wishing you peace and joy,
Emma Miller

Questions for Discussion

1. Do you think it was a good idea for the bishop to allow the Gleaners youth group to go to the Mennonite program?
   
2. Once Leah realized she was interested in Daniel, could she have kept herself from falling in love with him if she had stopped seeing him? Do you think Hannah should have advised her daughter to avoid Daniel?
   
3. Do you think Daniel decided too quickly that he was in love with Leah and wanted to marry her? Do you believe in love at first sight? Do you think it’s possible that God put Leah in Daniel’s path?
   
4. At one point, Susanna says she wants to marry Samuel, and Leah teases her about Samuel already being married. Do you think it was okay for Leah to lead her sister to believe that she could, perhaps, marry some day? Considering Susanna’s mental challenges, would it have been kinder for Leah to explain to Susanna that she would always remain at home with their mother?
   
5. Were you surprised to learn that Wilmer, an Amish man, was suffering from depression? Have you ever known anyone suffering from depression? How did you deal with it in your life? Do you think that Wilmer’s story might have ended differently if he had sought professional help?
   
6. Leah kept saying that her outings with Daniel weren’t dates. Was that true? By Amish standards? By English standards? Do you think that Leah was trying to convince Daniel or herself that the two of them weren’t
   walking out
   together?
   
7. Do you think that if Daniel’s aunt and uncle had been stronger in discouraging the relationship between Daniel and Leah, that Daniel might not have pursued Leah? Were you surprised that Daniel’s family was worried about the possible relationship?
   
8. At what point do you think Mam realized something was going on between Daniel and Leah? Should she have said something to Leah then? If she had forbidden Leah to see Daniel again, do you think Leah would have obeyed?
   
9. Did Leah do the right thing in leaving her family to go with Daniel? Why or why not? Have you ever been forced to make this kind of decision? How did you decide what was best? And if Leah hadn’t met Daniel, do you think she would have been happy living as a member of the Old Order Amish Church? Do you feel that she compromised her faith in becoming Mennonite?
   

ISBN: 9781459227811

Copyright © 2012 by Emma Miller

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