An Amish Country Christmas (6 page)

“
Jah
. Exactly.”

Oh, but the steam was about to come out her ears from exasperation! Martha inhaled
the frosty air to settle herself, wondering if she liked Nate’s silence better than
this conversation that was going nowhere . . . just as their relationship seemed to
be. Maybe if she’d chosen Bram instead . . . “Nate, is there something wrong? Did
I say something that upset you?” she demanded.

As he gazed at her, the heavy
clip-clop! clip-clop!
of Clyde’s hooves, along with the jingle of his harness bells, again filled the space
between them. “Nope. Why would you be thinking that?”

“Well—” Martha’s breath shot out in a stream of vapor. “You were plenty chatty enough
in the mercantile, and while we were putting your beds together and—”

“That was Bram doing most of the talking. I’ve just been . . . enjoying the way this
fine sleigh glides through the snow,” he murmured. “Guess I’m more used to spending
my time with horses.”

“So are you going to kiss your horse
gut
-night, then, instead of me?”

Martha immediately regretted smarting off that way. Yet when Nate’s mouth dropped
open, she crossed another line—reached up to hold his face so she could give him the
kiss that had simmered inside her all day. She sat taller, pressing her lips to his,
and for a long, blissful moment Nate kissed her back. Oh, but she longed to reach
inside his coat and feel the warmth of his strong, muscular body.

Then he pulled away with a gasp. “If that’s what you wanted, Martha—”

“
Jah
, and why wouldn’t I?”

“—well, I was just biding my time,” Nate continued nervously, “thinking to pass muster
with your
dat
before I got my hopes up about you and me—”

“So were you going to kiss Dat
gut
-night, then, too?” she blurted. “I’m feeling a little left out here, Nate, what with
you sitting like a bump on a—oh, just take me home. I’m tired and I can’t recall ever
being this cold in my life.”

She shouldn’t have snapped at him that way. Nate was being respectful, not rushing
into words or actions they might later regret—and he would know about that, and how
much it hurt. But what was wrong with having a little fun on such a perfect moonlit
night? Joining the church didn’t mean you put your happiness away and forgot how to
laugh. Or kiss.

Not another word passed between them. Nate’s mouth remained in a set line as he gazed
at the snowy road and steered Clyde into the lane leading toward the house. When he
stopped, Martha jumped down. No sense in waiting with hopeful anticipation in the
kitchen or front room while he unhitched his horse and set out some feed. She removed
her shoes, got a glass of water, and went on upstairs to get ready for bed. It wasn’t
even midnight, so Mary and Bram were probably still out in his buggy, laughing and
having a fine time.

Everyone was in bed, so Martha ascended the stairs carefully, avoiding the squeaky
spots. When she saw dim light shining under the door of the room she shared with Mary,
as well as the next bedroom where their guests would sleep, she paused in the hallway.
Had Bram lit his lantern and then gone in to be with her sister? Not an uncommon way
for Plain kids to date, but it made things awkward when you shared a room.

Martha listened at the door for a moment, and then eased it open. Mary sat cross-legged
on her bed. She was in her nightgown, with her auburn hair falling forward like a
curtain as she held her head in her hands. It was a sorrowful sight, and Martha set
her water on the nightstand to kneel at her sister’s bedside.

“What’s wrong, Sister?” she whispered. “I figured you and Bram were still—”

“Oh, but we’re in deep trouble.” Mary grabbed Martha’s hands with trembling fingers.
Her face was wet with tears. “We went into Preacher Abe’s stable to get warm and,
well . . . he caught us rolling in the hay, kissing.”

Martha blinked. “Well, it’s not fun to get caught. But kissing’s not a sin, either.”

Mary squeezed her eyes shut. “He heard Bram saying how he wanted to jump the fence—with
me—to start his own auction business,” she explained in a tiny voice. “I’m just waiting
to hear Abe pounding at the door, waking up the parents. Or maybe he’ll barge in on
our breakfast to tell them what he overheard. I’m on pins and needles, Martha, and
I can’t seem to settle down.”

Martha wrapped her arms around her twin’s waist and hugged her hard. “Bram’s done
enough talking for both brothers then,” she murmured. “I couldn’t pry three words
out of Nate. Finally got so frustrated I kissed him, and now he’s not speaking to
me at all. Never figured on such a cold, boring sleigh ride, and now things will be
really
chilly around here.”

Mary blinked back her tears. “Maybe we should tell them to go home. Maybe right now.”

With a sigh, Martha stood up. “
Jah
, and I’m just the one to send them packing, too, if it wouldn’t wake everybody up.
Maybe they’ll have the sense to leave without us saying anything.”

A loud creak on the stairway made them stop talking as they listened for Nate to walk
past their room. When he had entered the next bedroom and shut the door, Martha looked
purposefully at her sister. She gulped some of her water and poured the rest on the
philodendron in the window. Then, with the glass against the wall, she listened for
what the boys might be saying. Mary came to stand beside her, and with their heads
together they could both hear the conversation.

“. . . putty in my hands, I’m tellin’ ya,” Bram boasted with a low chuckle. “A fine
little filly, Mary is, and we’re lookin’ to have a lot of fun these next couple of
days.”

Mary’s jaw dropped as she gaped at Martha. They kept quiet, though, so as not to miss
anything else they needed to know about how their evening had supposedly gone—and
what the Kanagy brothers thought would happen next.

“
Jah
, Martha’s a feisty one, too,” Nate remarked. “She likes it that I’m established in
my horse training business, and already a member of the church, too.
Not
that we were talking about church while she was kissing on me.”

Martha clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from responding aloud. She and Mary
stepped away from the wall, shaking their heads. “Can you believe they were saying—why,
that’s the same sort of horse hockey I’ve heard from the boys at our Singings, bragging
about their dates.”

“Puh!” Mary said with flashing eyes. “If Bram thinks I’m a filly, maybe he needs to
step in some you-know-what! Might take him down a peg or two!”

“Right you are, Sister.” Martha crossed her arms and glared toward the wall between
them and the Kanagy brothers. “They need a lesson in respect and humility, for sure
and for certain. And I’m thinking we’re just the girls to teach them.”

Chapter Six

Nate descended the stairs while it was still dark, partly because he hadn’t slept
well for recalling last night’s fiasco. Mostly, though, the aromas of bacon, coffee,
and other heavenly dishes called him to start the day at the table with the Coblentz
family. Most mornings, he and his brother ate breakfast at the Sweet Seasons Bakery
Café because his Aunt Miriam fed them in exchange for the fresh vegetables and honey
his
mamm
provided her. It was nice not to have to walk down a long, snowy lane to eat . .
. even though everyone in Martha’s family would be eyeballing him, checking him over.

He stopped in the kitchen doorway. What a homey sight, watching Martha and Mary, dressed
in identical forest green dresses and white aprons, set plates on the long table.
Mrs. Coblentz was stirring a skillet of fried apples while young Joanna placed bacon
on a platter. The girl turned, grinning at him.

“I know when
you
got home last night!” she teased. “Heard your sleigh bells.”

Nate nodded, almost wishing he’d not indulged himself in such a noisy piece of tack.
“And
gut
morning to you, too, missy,” he replied evenly. “Still remember your poem for tonight?”

“Got it down perfect. Wanna hear?”

Her mother laughed and elbowed her playfully. “I think we all know it as well as you
do, daughter, after listening to it so many times yesterday. Hope you and your brother
like breakfast haystacks, Nate. We’ll be sitting down soon as Amos and Owen get in
from loading their truck.”

“
Jah
, saw we had a couple of busted windows in the house we’re building,” a male voice
said from the mudroom. Then a tall, dark-haired man stepped into the kitchen with
his shoes in his hand. “Even with it being Christmas Eve, we want to get those fixed
so the snow won’t get in. Amos Coblentz. Pleased to meet you.”

Nate shook the hand he extended. “
Denki
for letting my brother and me stay over. I’m Nate Kanagy, and Bram’s coming along
behind me.”

“
Jah
, that would be me!” His brother entered the kitchen with his hair still wet from
a quick shower, buttoning a heavy shirt of pink, purple and black plaid that hung
loose over his snug black jeans. “Yesterday was quite a day, pickin’ up our new rides
at the Graber shop and then meetin’ up with your girls. Awfully nice of you folks
to put us up—and put up with us.”

Within minutes, they had also met Owen, the eldest son, who built houses with his
dat
, and Noah, who was apprenticed at the carriage shop. It was quite a sight to see
so many redheads at one table, for he, Bram, and Amos were the only ones with dark
hair. But it was the girl sitting across from him that Nate paid particular attention
to. When she smiled, her eyes seemed cautious yet hopeful, as though she hoped they
could make a fresh start today.

As they passed around bowls of hash browns, fried onions, and chunks of ham, everyone
began the “haystack” that would fill his or her plate. Nate piled on the green pepper
strips, crumbled bacon, and stewed tomatoes, his stomach rumbling. “Oh, but this looks
gut
,” he remarked as he ladled cheese sauce over the top of the small mountain of food
he’d taken. There was barely room for a big spoonful of fried apples, which dripped
with melted butter and cinnamon, and a fresh biscuit. “And how might Bram and I help
you folks today? Need to do something to earn our keep.”

“Well, I’ll be mucking out the stalls and forking clean straw down from the loft,”
Mary said, widening her eyes at Bram.

“And we’ll need wood chopped and hauled in,” Martha continued, “while I’ll be helping
get our dinner for tomorrow ready—”

“
Jah
, tomorrow might be our birthday but we’ll be having the usual quiet, worshipful Christmas
Day,” Mary explained. “So the cooking and redding up get done today, before we all
go to the program at the schoolhouse after supper.”

Nate glanced at his brother, whose eyes were half closed in ecstasy as he stuffed
another forkful of breakfast into his mouth. While it surprised him a bit that Mary
would be choring in the barn while Martha cooked, it seemed only fair that the sisters
traded off doing the outside chores while the men were off working.

“Happy to chop that wood for you,” Nate said, smiling to himself. Bram had grown up
swearing he would find an occupation that didn’t require him to shovel manure, the
way their
dat
did with the sheep and horses at home, so it would be interesting to see how he handled
barn duty today.

Bram, however, nodded good-naturedly. “Count on me to be out in the barn,” he said
as he reached for another biscuit. His smile for Mary held a secret or two, and she
returned it. “It’s the least we can do to thank you for feedin’ us and our horses.”

“That’ll be just fine then,” Amos said with a satisfied nod. From the head of the
table he smiled at Nate and Bram. “Mighty nice having surprise guests for Christmas
this year. With all of us getting our work done today, why, the next couple of days
off will be a
gut
opportunity to get to know you fellows better.”

“And what did your
mamm
say about you staying over?” Nell asked as she started the bowls around again. “You
did call her,
jah
?”

“Aunt Beulah Mae saw to that right off,” Nate replied, gratified when everyone around
the table laughed.

“And
jah
, Mamm called on my cell to let me know it was, um—a bit of a surprise to her, too,
our stayin’ here,” Bram remarked with a roll of his eyes. “But she and Dat send their
best wishes to all of you for a wonderful-
gut
Christmas.”

Nate glanced across the table at Martha, noting again how she seemed to search his
eyes for . . . what? Forgiveness for her snit? A chance to kiss and make up? More
than he cared to admit, he’d enjoyed Martha’s bold kiss last night . . . the sweet
tingle of peppermint on her lips and tongue. He smiled at her, indeed hoping that
today they could redeem their new friendship and go forward. “Wouldn’t be Christmas
without a surprise here and there, ain’t so?”

 

 

“Do you think Bram suspects he’ll be choring with you instead of with me?” Mary whispered.
She and Martha had disappeared into the cellar after breakfast, to bring up jars of
food for today’s meals and tomorrow’s Christmas dinner.

Martha’s grin turned catlike. “I think we’ve got them fooled so far. I’ll just explain
that you and I take turns at the outdoor chores.”

“And don’t forget to look outside now and again, watching for Preacher Abe,” Mary
suggested. “It’s
gut
he hasn’t come over here, but now we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, ain’t
so?”

“It’ll all work out, Sister. After all, it’s not you Abe’s peeved at. It’s his nephew,”
Martha pointed out. “Could be he’s called Bram’s folks, so they’re ready to give him
a talking-to when he gets home.”

Mary placed jars of cherry pie filling, vegetable soup, and sliced peaches in her
basket while her sister pulled a ham and a couple of ducks from the deep freeze. “Guess
I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Then she chuckled. “We’ll see whether Nate helps
me around the house or runs off looking for more
horsey
business after he chops the wood.”

“
Jah
, well, they’re both in
horsey
up to their knees, far as I’m concerned,” Martha replied as she glanced up the cellar
steps. “Are you into this switch for the whole day, then?”

“We can’t very well change horses in the middle of the stream,” Mary quipped. “Can’t
let them suspect what we’re up to, either, or we’ll never hear the end of it—from
them and the folks, as well.”

“We have to be careful in front of the brothers and Joanna, too. She’s the one most
likely to figure us out.” Martha clutched her cold, bulky packages, which were wrapped
in butcher’s paper. “Better be getting back up there, or they’ll be wondering what
we’re up to. Be a
gut
girl now,
Martha
.”

“You, too,
Mary
!”