Miriam's Quilt (30 page)

“Jah, I would.”

Jacob and Joshua took her hands and led her into the kitchen, bare except for the neatly arranged cupboards, smooth countertops, and a wood cookstove resting on a short platform made of stone.

“We sit on the floor,” Seth said. “I am afraid there is not one chair in my entire house.”

Although his floors were bare, Seth’s cupboards were well stocked. He gave her a silly grin when she pulled three bottles of ginger from the spice rack. “No one is going hungry in this house,” he said.

Seth made honey-wheat pancakes stuffed with walnuts while Miriam tended the bacon and whipped up a batch of creamy cinnamon syrup. Joshua squeezed orange juice, and Scilla and Jacob swept the floor and kept the stove stocked with wood. The two younger ones spread a sturdy blanket in the middle of the floor and finished it with a lovely set of mismatched plates and forks. They sang Christmas songs while they worked, and Miriam marveled at Seth’s deep bass voice that sounded like butter sliding down a stack of hotcakes.

They sang “Silent Night” as Seth flipped the last stack of pancakes onto the tray and carried it to the blanket where his family waited. The song, melodic and simple, echoed through the hall, filling the empty house with the spirit of Christmas. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, they took hands and bowed in silent grace.

Miriam sat next to the man she loved, with her hand in his. Even if she never ceased praying, she could not begin to thank the Lord for guiding her to her new family and showing her the way to overflowing happiness.

The Lord is good. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

JENNIFER BECKSTRAND grew up with a steady diet of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. After all that literary immersion, she naturally decided to get a degree in mathematics, which came in handy when one of her six children needed help with homework. When daughter number four was born, she began writing, and between juggling diaper changes, soccer games, music lessons, and dinner preparations, Jennifer finished her first manuscript in just under fourteen years.
Rachel’s Angel,
a historical Western, won first place in two writing contests.

Soon Jennifer turned her attention to the Forever After in Apple Lake™ series, about three cousins who find love in Wisconsin’s Amish country. The first two novels in the series,
Kate’s Song
and
Rebecca’s Rose,
released in 2012 and have received praise from readers and reviewers alike.
Miriam’s Quilt
is the final book in the series.

Jennifer has two Amish readers who make sure her stories are authentic. No matter the setting, she hopes to pen deliriously romantic stories with captivating characters and soar-to-the-sky happy endings. A member of both the American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America organizations, Jennifer is the PAN liaison in her Utah RWA chapter. She lives in the foothills of the Wasatch Front in Utah with her husband and two children left at home. She has four daughters, two sons, three sons-in-law, and one grandson.