The Amish Christmas Kitchen (11 page)

Mammi skewered a carrot with her fork. “This chicken potpie is delicious, Katie. Don't you think it's delicious, Titus?”

“It's my favorite food ever,” he said, taking a hearty bite just to prove his point. If that didn't cheer Katie up, he didn't know what would.

“My favorite food is chocolate cake,” Adam announced, methodically separating the cooked carrots from his potpie and sliding them onto Titus's plate. “One of the children in my class brought me a whole cake as a gift last year at the end of school.”

Katie perked up a bit, as if she finally had something to say. Even though her lips were quivering slightly, she smiled at Adam. “My
mamm
told me you are a teacher. My sister is a teacher.”

“I have twenty-nine students,” Adam said.

Katie seemed to be trying real hard to find something to say. “Do you enjoy being a teacher?”

“It's not a bad job, but I'm quitting after this school year. I can make more money shingling roofs. I like being outside.” He wiped his face with one of Mammi's cheery yellow napkins. “Do you like being outside, Katie?”

“
Jah.
I like—”

“Though I guess it doesn't matter. I don't suppose you'll ever want to go hunting with me. Girls kind of slow you down on a hunting trip.” Adam leaned over and elbowed Titus's arm. “Right, Titus?”

“I don't hunt,” Titus said. Dawdi didn't like killing animals. Titus had taken after him.

One side of Adam's lip curled. “Not a hunter? It's because you haven't done it before. I'll have to take you out sometime.”

It was wonderful nice of Adam to offer, but Titus wasn't interested. Could he tell Adam no without hurting his feelings?

Once Adam had cleaned his plate and stacked his carrots onto Titus's, he laid his fork and knife on the table, laced his fingers together, and stared at Katie as if she were a horse he was thinking of buying. Did Adam always inspect his cousins this way? “Tell me about you, Katie. I've hardly been able to get you to say a word this whole time. What do you like to do?”

Katie looked as if she'd rather chase Beth around Huckleberry Hill than have to answer any more questions. Titus gave her a slight nod of encouragement. Mammi and Dawdi were about as fearsome as two fuzzy white kittens, Titus already thought she was
wunderbarr,
and surely there was nothing to fear from her cousin Adam.

“I like to cook,” she said softly.

“You're very
gute
at it.” Titus said, nodding again just in case she hadn't seen his first nod. What the world needed was a lot more nodding.

“Except for the carrots,” Adam said, folding his arms across his chest. “Next time remember about the carrots.”

Katie lowered her eyes. “I won't forget.”

“You're a wonderful-
gute
cook,” Adam said. “I couldn't be happier about it. Except for the carrots.”

If Titus had a toothpick in his mouth, he would have broken it in half with his teeth. Couldn't Adam stop with the carrots? Katie looked as if she were about to cry.

Cousins could be so thick in the head.

Titus retrieved a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. “You can't make a chicken potpie without carrots. It would be like eating apple pie without cheese or a peanut butter sandwich without potato chips on top.”

Adam gave Titus the look that Norman often gave him. “Whatever you say, kid.” He grinned at Katie and winked as if she were in on some secret.

But Katie wasn't even looking at Adam. Her eyes were squarely focused on Titus, and behind the distress in her eyes, he could see a little sparkle, too.

It might be a
gute
idea to change the subject, just in case Adam decided to cast aspersions on the celery next. “So, how are you two related?” Titus asked. “On your
mater
's side or your
fater
's side?” He furrowed his brow. Maybe he should have said “
Adam's
mater
and Katie's
mater,” or “
Adam's
mater
and Katie's
fater” or the other way around. There were actually several ways Katie and Adam could be cousins.

He gazed around the table. Even Adam had fallen silent, and all eyes were on Titus, including Mammi's and Dawdi's.

“Who do you mean, Titus?” Mammi prodded.

Titus hesitated. He was always saying the wrong thing, but he couldn't think of a reason why his question should offend anyone. “Adam and Katie. Are they cousins on their
mamm
's side or their
dat
's side?”

Adam exploded into loud, uncontrollable laughter, throwing his head back so far, Titus feared his chair might tip over backward. Dawdi looked mildly surprised, and Mammi smiled that grandmotherly smile that meant that no matter what he did, she still loved him. Katie's eyes were full of worry, as if he'd just told her he had some dreaded disease.

Titus had obviously said something very funny. Adam was laughing so hard, he couldn't speak for several seconds. After sitting up straight in his chair, he wiped the tears from his eyes and stifled the chuckles. “We're not cousins. It wonders me what gave you that idea.”

Titus's heart suddenly felt as heavy as Katie's suitcase full of gadgets. Whatever it was, he'd made a horrible mistake. “I thought you said . . . maybe I heard you wrong.”

Adam smirked and laid a hand over the one Katie was resting on the table. “Katie and I aren't cousins. We're sweethearts.”

C
HAPTER
4

K
atie stuffed a hearty bite of scrambled eggs into her mouth and gagged it down with a swig of goat's milk. By drowning the mouthful with milk, she barely noticed how the slimy, undercooked eggs slid down her throat and came to rest in her stomach. Right after breakfast, she would volunteer to take over all the cooking for Anna.

“How are your eggs, dear?” Anna said, spreading a dollop of jelly on her toast.

“Best I've ever tasted,” Felty said. He was on his second helping, shoveling eggs into his mouth like a starving man. “You are the best cook in the world, Annie.”

Katie could barely keep the surprise from showing on her face. Did Felty really like the eggs, or was he just pretending? He must be pretending. Katie loved him instantly for that alone. Nothing made a cook feel so happy as knowing someone liked her food, and nothing made her so miserable as thinking her food tasted terrible.

“And what about you, Katie?” Anna said, turning her bright eyes to Katie. “Are your eggs the way you like them?”

“Delicious,” Katie said, sure that
Gotte
would forgive her for fibbing to spare Anna's feelings. “Nothing like farm-fresh eggs.” Katie gave up on trying to eat something so runny with a fork. She picked up her spoon, determined to finish every bite, no matter how unpleasant.

How had Anna raised thirteen children without ever learning how to cook? Perhaps it was her children who had needed to learn something—like how to eat barely edible food and still be grateful and kind to the cook. Kindness and gratitude were never wasted lessons.

She polished off her eggs, every bite, then stood and collected the plates from the table. Anna got up to help her, and Katie waved her back down. “You made a wonderful-
gute
breakfast,” she said. “The least I can do is clean the kitchen.”

Anna tapped her finger to her chin. “It will give me more time for crocheting. I'm making a surprise for someone special.”

“For Christmas?” Felty said.

Anna grinned. “You'll see.”

A stiff and cold wind blew into the house as Titus opened the door. Wearing the beanie with horns, he stomped the snow off his boots and came into the kitchen. Before he could shut the door, Beth galloped in with him and clomped around the great room as if she were frolicking in the pasture.

“Titus!” Anna squealed. “The special Christmas goat is not allowed in the house.”

Sparky, the dog, yelped, shot onto Felty's recliner, and barked at Beth as if her life depended on it.

“I'm sorry, Mammi,” Titus said over the din of goat hooves and barking dogs. “She keeps sneaking out and following me.” Titus slammed the door, waved hello to Katie, and chased the goat around the room. His winter boots slowed him down, and Beth would not be caught. She dodged his every attempt to catch hold of her and ran this way and that, upending the magazine rack next to Felty's recliner, bumping into the walls, and nearly toppling over the propane floor lantern.

Katie gasped as Titus caught the toe of his boot on the rug and fell hard. He rolled over onto his back and groaned. “Ow.” Beth hopped right over him. Titus had been right. Bethlehem seemed to enjoy watching him run.

“Oh dear, Felty. Help!” Anna said, scurrying to her rocker and gathering up her crochet hook and three balls of yarn.

Felty leaped from his chair, surprisingly spry for an eighty-six-year-old, and joined Titus in the chase. Bethlehem jumped up and ran across the sofa, her hard hooves sinking into the stuffing with each step. The special Christmas goat was a very
gute
runner. Sparky was nearly hysterical, climbing onto the recliner's headrest and barking with all her might.

Katie snatched a snickerdoodle from the cookie jar and broke it in half. She stepped into the great room and held the cookie in front of her. “Here, Beth. Yum, yum. Come get a cookie.”

Beth immediately slowed down, changed direction, and strutted over to Katie. She snatched the cookie out of Katie's hand with her rubbery lips. Katie grabbed the red ribbon around Beth's neck and held on tight.

Titus grinned at Katie as if she had just worked a miracle. A toothpick had somehow managed to stay intact between his nice white teeth. “Look, Mammi,” he said. “She's done it.”

Anna propped her hands on her hips and scolded Beth with her eyes. “Bethlehem C. Helmuth, you are a very naughty goat. And you scared poor Sparky to death.”

Titus got to his feet and took the goat from Katie. “I'm sorry, Mammi. She keeps escaping the barn. I should probably keep her tied up, but it makes me sad that she can't roam free, at least around the barn.”

Anna sighed with her whole body. “Thank the
gute
Lord that Katie knows how to catch a goat. Beth might have broken something.”

Titus turned his full attention and his heart-stopping blue eyes to Katie. “
Denki
for catching the Christmas goat. I hope she didn't scare you.”

“I've tussled with a few stubborn cows in my day,” Katie said. “Beth is cute.”

Titus nodded. “She is pretty cute, even though a goat tried to eat me once.”

He strolled out of the house with Beth in tow, and Katie helped Anna and Felty put the room to rights. Titus came back shortly thereafter without a goat and with a bucket of milk.

“I got almost half a gallon of milk from Beth this morning,” he said, placing the milk on the floor next to the table.

“What are we going to do with all this goat's milk?” Anna said. “We've already got more than we need from the cow.”

Katie smiled. “I could make cheese. Mozzarella, ricotta. Goat cheese is delicious.”

“What a
gute
idea, Katie,” Anna said. “We have enough milk. You could probably sell some.”

Titus nodded and slid his beanie off his head. “People pay lots of money at fancy stores for goat cheese. That's what they told me at the dairy.”

Katie fingered her
kapp
string. “I do need to make some money for my wedding.”

Titus cleared his throat and stared down at the beanie strangled between his fingers. “So, you and Adam are engaged?”

“We . . . uh . . . plan to get engaged at Christmastime.”

No one mentioned that it was already Christmastime. Katie decided not to point that out. She felt her face get warm. Why should she be embarrassed about getting engaged to Adam?

Anna waved her hands in the air and spoke a little too loudly. “There's still plenty of time to make that decision. There are so many other people you have to get to know and so many crochet projects I need to finish.”

“If you need money for your wedding,” Felty said, “why don't you make more than cheese to sell? You're a fine cook, Katie. I know one or two neighbors who would buy your snickerdoodles.”

Katie drew her brows together. “I don't know. I should probably be spending my time making cakes and goodies for Adam.” The way to a man's heart was through his stomach, Mamm always said. “
No girl who can cook will ever be without a husband if she just tries hard enough, Katie. Boys will take a full belly over a beautiful
fraa
any day.
”

“You can only cook so many cakes for Adam Wengerd,” Anna said. “What about all those other people who need a Christmas cake?”

Titus gave her a half smile. “You should start a bakery. It might help you feel closer to home.”

“Oh, Titus,” Anna said, clapping her hands in delight. “You are smarter than a raccoon in the rain. Katie could start a bakery to pass the time while she's waiting for Adam to pop the question.” She looked at Katie with such eagerness in her eyes that Katie couldn't have contradicted her if she'd wanted to.

Anything would be better than sitting around waiting for Adam to propose, and starting a bakery would feel like a little slice of heaven right here on Huckleberry Hill. She couldn't keep her lips from curling. “Do you think I could? I mean, how would people know about my bakery? What if nobody wanted to buy anything?”

Titus's eyes widened with excitement. “If you make me a list of things you want to sell, I'll go around the community and ask people what they want to buy. Lots of the mothers would be happy for some help with their Christmas baking.”

“But . . . but that's so kind of you,” she said, as if that would dissuade him from helping her. She didn't want to take advantage of him.

“Kind?” His lips vibrated as he blew air from between them. His toothpick stayed put. “I'm not kind. It would be a sin to keep all your talent a secret. Your food could bring so much happiness to people.”

Katie had known Titus for twenty-four hours, and he had already shown himself to be one of the kindest boys ever. How many boys would take care of a Christmas goat for their
mammi?
Titus was thoughtful and kind to his grandparents, and he didn't look at her as if he judged everything she did with a critical eye.

That was her
mamm
's job. And Adam's, it seemed. The dread she had been trying to tamp down all morning surfaced before she could gather her thoughts. Titus was wonderful nice. She felt comfortable with him, and she didn't feel the least bit comfortable with Adam. But surely that was because Adam was her intended fiancé. There were no expectations with Titus, so they could just be friends.

She would learn to love Adam. He had all sorts of interesting stories, and he didn't expect her to talk much, which was
gute
because she didn't like the pressure of trying to carry on a witty conversation. Adam was very handsome, with his chestnut hair and caramel-colored eyes. She couldn't imagine why some girl in Bonduel hadn't already snatched him up. Surely Katie was the most blessed girl in the world. She couldn't have been happier.

“Is everything okay?” Titus said, studying her face as if he didn't like what he saw in her expression. “Are you missing home again?”

“I think maybe I am.”

He winced. “It was me, wasn't it? I'm sorry about what I said about sin. I didn't mean you are a sinner. It's just an expression, but you have probably only committed like one sin in your whole life . . . not that I'm saying you have ever committed a sin.”

Katie frowned. Titus took too much on himself. “
Nae,
Titus. You haven't done anything wrong. I was just thinking about home.” The home she would be making with Adam. Would it be happy? Did it even matter?

Titus gazed at her with genuine concern and stuffed his hand in his pocket. “I'm sorry you're so sad about leaving home. I hope you don't mind, but I wrote you a poem.”

“For me?”

His blush traveled to the tips of his ears. “It's not very
gute,
but I hope it might make you feel better.”

Warm electricity traveled clear to her toes. Titus had written a poem for her? She already felt better. “Oh. That is so nice of you.”

He pulled a sheet of lined paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and gave her a sheepish glance. “
Katie came to Bonduel with a suitcase full of gadgets. Being in Wisconsin is the greatest adventure she's had yet.
”

“What a clever rhyme,” Felty said.

Anna immediately shushed her husband.

Titus glanced at Katie doubtfully before continuing. “
And so when she is very sad and thinking of Augusta, I hope that she will think of us, and not cry on her custard.
”