by Amy Clipston
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Hymn of Praise Dedication
Featured Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Discussion Questions
Amazing Grace Dedication
Featured Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Discussion Questions
Great Is Thy Faithfulness Dedication
Featured Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Discussion Questions
O Holy Night Dedication
Featured Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Discussion Questions
Lyric Credits
Acknowledgments
Glossary
About the Author
Praise for Amy Clipston
Other Books by Amy Clipston
Copyright
For my sweet Rico, with hugs and kisses
Chapter One
Sharon Lambert sighed with contentment as she strolled with Alice and Darlene toward the field of horses and buggies waiting for their owners to start the trek home. The church service and community meal had been held at Alice’s family’s dairy farm, which meant Sharon could walk home from the Blanks’ whenever she wanted.
The early April air was cool and crisp as she breathed in the scent of a rain-soaked pasture and enjoyed the warm sun that kissed her cheek. Springtime had made its way to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and when she glanced at the cheerful flowers in Alice’s garden, they seemed to smile as if they’d invited the warmer weather just for them.
“I heard everyone is going to play volleyball over in Ronks this afternoon.” Alice pushed the ties from her prayer covering off the shoulders of her yellow dress and white apron. “Do you want to join them?”
Sharon looked her way. With Alice’s reddish-brown hair and mocha-colored eyes, Sharon had always considered her one of the prettiest young women in their church district. Today was no exception.
“I don’t know.” Darlene blew out a sigh and looked toward where her father and older sister stood talking to some neighbors. “Mei mamm hasn’t been doing well since her treatment on Friday. I’m surprised mei dat was willing to leave her today, but he insisted the rest of the family come. We all wish patients receiving chemotherapy treatments could be around large crowds, but since their immune system is suppressed, she’d run the risk of getting krank.”
“So she has some good days?” Sharon touched Darlene’s arm as concern about the Bender family slid through her. She’d known Darlene and Alice since they were all in first grade together fourteen years ago. They were best friends, and she cared about their families too.
Sharon noticed Darlene’s demeanor as Darlene looked at her sister and father again. Sharon had always envied Darlene’s golden-colored hair and pretty brown eyes, too, but today she saw only the worry in her friend’s eyes.
“Sometimes, but most days are tough.” Darlene’s voice wobbled, and Sharon gave her arm a little squeeze as her own throat dried.
“I’m so sorry,” Alice said. “I know it’s Sunday, so we can’t help with chores today. But there must be something we can do to help out this afternoon.”
“No.” Darlene shook her head. “We’ll be fine. Go have fun with our freinden.”
“What are you three doing today?” Cal King asked as he approached them with Jay Smoker and Andrew Detweiler in tow.
All around the same age, the six of them had always been friends, but over the past year, they’d become a tight group.
Sharon tried to clear her dry throat as she looked up at Jay. Although she was taller than Alice and Darlene, which they’d once confessed to envying, Jay still stood a few inches taller than her—about six feet.
Inwardly, she sighed a little. Although Andrew and Cal were handsome, too, lately Jay had stood out as not just good-looking but intriguing. At twenty-three, two years older than her, he was about the same height as his friends, but he somehow seemed even taller. And she’d noticed how well his light-brown hair and honey-colored eyes complemented his chiseled cheekbones and enticing smile.
She’d always thought he was attractive when they were in school and youth group together, but he also seemed more mature these past few months. He’d seemed more serious as well, especially during church services.
“I was just talking about playing volleyball with everyone else at Katie Miller’s haus,” Alice said.
“Let’s do something different.” The words seemed to burst from Sharon’s lips.
“Like what?” Jay’s gorgeous eyes focused on Sharon’s, and her heart did a little dance.
“I noticed Martha Bontrager wasn’t in church today. I thought maybe we could go sing for her and brighten her day, so I asked her sohn if that would be okay. He said it would, and he promised not to mention it to her, so if we go, it will be a surprise.”
Jay nodded before dividing a look between Cal and Andrew. “I think that’s a wunderbaar idea. Don’t you agree?”
“Absolutely.” Cal lifted his hat and pushed back his golden hair. “Let’s do it.”
Sharon turned to Darlene, suddenly feeling guilty. Why had she suggested they sing for Martha when Darlene’s mother was so ill? “We can sing for your mamm instead.”
Darlene shook her head. “No, it’s okay. She likes it quiet after she has a treatment. She really doesn’t want visitors.”
“How is she doing?” Andrew asked.
“She’s hanging in there. Anyway, I need to go check in with mei dat and schweschder.” Her smile seemed forced before she hurried off.
“Is she all right?” Andrew’s dark eyes seemed full of worry. He was such a good guy.
“I’m not sure. She doesn’t share much about what she’s going through.” Sharon turned toward where Darlene now spoke to her family.
Alice frowned. “Maybe her mamm doesn’t want us coming to the haus, but let’s ask Darlene soon if we can help them some other way.”
“That’s a gut plan.” Jay stepped closer to Sharon, and his nearness sent her senses spinning. What was wrong with her? She’d known him since she was seven years old!
She saw Darlene nod at her father, and then she returned. “Mei dat thinks I should go singing with you. He just asked me not to stay out too long.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go home instead?” Sharon asked. She didn’t want Darlene to feel obligated to go with them.
“No.” Darlene shook her head. “I want to go with you. Mei dat and Biena said they’ll take care of Mamm this afternoon. It’s the Lord’s day. Let’s go to Martha’s haus and bring her some joy.”
Alice looked behind her. “Let’s invite Dave too.”
When Alice approached Dave Esh and said something, Sharon saw him stick his hands in his pockets and look down, shaking his
head. Alice frowned and nodded before returning to the group. Dave had always been a part of their activities until a tragedy occurred last winter, but Sharon wasn’t surprised he wouldn’t come.
“He said he can’t go.” Alice looked back at Dave as he made his way toward the knot of buggies. “I was hoping he’d say ya.”
“Dave has been best freinden with Cal and me forever,” Jay said, and then he turned to Cal. “We won’t give up on him, right?”
“Ya,” Cal said. “That’s right.” But Sharon thought Cal looked a little less sure about that.
“I just need to let Mamm and Dat know I’m going.” Sharon hurried to where her parents were talking to friends by the barn. She hoped Jay would wait for her and give her a ride to Martha’s house. The thought of sitting beside him in his buggy sent a thrill racing through her.
She stood near her family a little impatiently until her mother noticed her, but she didn’t want to interrupt her conversation.
“Sharon!” Mamm finally said. “Are you and your freinden going to play volleyball this afternoon? I heard that was the plan for all the young people today.”
“No.” Sharon jammed her thumb toward the buggies. “We’re going to go sing at Martha Bontrager’s haus since she wasn’t in church today. Her sohn said it would be okay.”
“Oh. I think she’ll like that.” When it looked like she wouldn’t be interrupting either, Mamm got Dat’s attention with a hand on his arm. “Ira, Sharon and her freinden are going to go sing at Martha Bontrager’s haus.”
“That’s awfully nice.” Dat smiled. “Be home for supper, though.”
“I will.” Sharon looked at her sister, who’d joined them. “What are you doing this afternoon?”
Ruby Sue nodded toward a group of teenagers behind her. “I’m going to play volleyball. Mei freinden and I are leaving in a few minutes.”
“Be careful,” Sharon told her before waving good-bye to her family. “I’ll see you all later.” She rushed back to where Alice was standing with Andrew by his buggy. “Where’s everyone else?”
Andrew opened the passenger-side door. “Jay said he had to run home for a minute, and Darlene and Cal just left for Martha’s. Hop on in.”
“Oh.” Sharon tried to disguise her disappointment as she maneuvered into the back of the buggy, doing her best to swallow a frown. She’d really wanted to ride with Jay.
Alice and Andrew sat on the front bench seat as Andrew guided the horse down the rock driveway toward the main road.
“Danki for coming with me to Martha’s,” Sharon said as the horse clip-clopped down the road. “While I was praying in church today, I felt moved to do something more meaningful than play games this afternoon.”
Alice looked back at her. “I’m glad you suggested this.”
Andrew nodded while keeping his eyes on the road. He was the quiet one in their group. When Jay and Cal joked and horsed around, Andrew just smiled as he looked on. Sharon often wondered what he was thinking.
“Martha’s sohn thought she’d appreciate company. She must be lonely since Herman died. It’s only been six months,” Sharon said as Andrew guided the horse onto Martha’s street.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Alice said.
Andrew guided the horse into the driveway that led past the main Bontrager house to Martha’s small, whitewashed daadihaus at the back of the dairy farm. As the horse approached the little building, Sharon spotted Martha sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch.
Cal was tying his horse to a post beside the house as Darlene made her way to Martha. Andrew halted his horse beside Cal’s, and Alice and Sharon climbed out of the buggy to join the other women.
“Good afternoon, Martha,” Sharon called as she and Alice climbed the porch steps. “Wie geht’s?” Sharon took in Martha’s bright smile amid the many wrinkles that lined her face.
“I’m well. What brings you all here today?”
“We wanted to see you since you weren’t in church today,” Sharon said.
“And we thought we might sing for you too,” Alice chimed in.
Martha clapped her hands together. “What a blessing! I prayed for some company, and the Lord has provided it for me. And I would love to hear you sing.” She looked past them as Andrew and Cal joined them. “You brought your handsome boyfriends too.”
“Oh no.” Sharon laughed as Alice and Darlene shook their heads. “We’re all just freinden.”
“My Herman and I started out as freinden. You never know.” Martha pushed herself up from the rocking chair and then hobbled toward the front door with the aid of a cane.
“Let me help.” Andrew opened the door wide for her.
“Danki.” Martha gazed up at him, and with her tiny frame, she looked like a child next to him. She touched his arm. “You’re a gut bu.”
Sharon looked at Alice, and they shared a grin.
Martha beckoned them to follow her. “Come into the kitchen. My daughter-in-law brought me kichlin from the bakery yesterday.”
“May I help you get them out?” Sharon offered as she stepped to the counter.
“Ya.” Martha pointed to a box. “The kichlin are there.”
“What can I do?” Darlene asked.
“I’ll help too,” Alice said.
Martha directed them to plates, napkins, and glasses, and soon they were all eating oatmeal raisin cookies and drinking milk, crowded around the small kitchen table with the aid of folding chairs Cal and Andrew brought from a tiny utility room.
“How have you been?” Cal asked Martha between bites of a cookie.
Martha turned toward the window that looked out over a vast green pasture dotted with cows and outlined by a white fence. “I miss my husband. We were together nearly seventy years.” She sighed. “It seems strange to wake up alone and then spend the day longing to tell him things.”
Sharon glanced at Alice, who looked at Martha with the empathy Sharon had come to appreciate from her.
“But God is gut.” Martha’s expression lightened. “After all, he sent you all to see me today. That’s just what I needed.”
Darlene smiled. “Sharon suggested we come, and we loved the idea.”
“You’re all so thoughtful. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I was too tired to get to church. I seem to have trouble sleeping now that Herman is gone.” Martha’s wrinkled hand shook as she picked up a cookie. “Now, what are you all going to sing for me?”
Sharon’s friends all turned their gaze to her.
“What do you think?” Alice asked.
Sharon bit her lower lip as her favorite hymns clicked through her mind. “How about we start with ‘Rock of Ages’?”
“Ya,” Andrew said, and their other friends nodded in agreement. “You sing the first verse, and then we’ll join in.”
Sharon closed her eyes and smiled as the Holy Spirit filled her with warmth. Yes, she belonged here, sharing the Lord’s love with this dear, lonely woman.
If only Jay were here to sing with them . . . Where was he?
Chapter Two
Jay blew out a sigh of relief when he spotted his friends’ horses tied up next to Martha’s house. He glanced down at his fresh pair of trousers and rolled his eyes.
When he told Andrew and Cal he had to go home first, covering the evidence the best he could with his hat, he couldn’t bring himself to admit that just as Sharon left to talk to her family, he’d noticed he’d dropped peanut butter spread on his trousers during lunch. He’d tried to get the spot out in the bathroom, but that just made it worse. Not only was the spot then wet, but the peanut butter spread smeared.
He couldn’t imagine going to Martha’s like that. So he’d hurried home, changed, and hoped his friends would still be there when he arrived.
He was grateful they all wanted to do something today. He needed to get his mind off his loss. His grandfather had died almost a month ago, but he still missed him to the depth of his soul. He’d been more than his grandfather; he’d been o
ne of his best friends and his greatest confidant. Jay felt lost without his sage counsel.
Putting those thoughts aside, Jay secured his horse and then jogged around to the front of the little house and up the porch steps. He raised his hand to knock on the screen door but then froze when he heard a single beautiful voice singing inside.
His heart seemed to turn over in his chest as he took in the lyrical tune and angelic voice singing “How Great Thou Art.”
His lips turned up in a smile. That had to be Sharon. He’d caught her singing “Jesus Loves Me” with one of the toddlers in their church district a few weeks ago, and he was struck by the beauty of her voice. But he’d noticed more than her singing voice lately. He’d seen her in a whole new light.
They’d known each other since she started school when she was seven and he was nine. As the years went by, he’d always found an easy friendship with her. During the past couple of months, though, he’d found himself wondering if they could be more than friends. The feelings had seemed to come out of nowhere, and they’d stunned him. Was it even possible that Sharon could see him as someone to . . . love? Or would she reject that idea as a crazy notion?
He pulled open the screen door and stepped into the small family room. After navigating past the furniture in that tight space, he stood in the doorway of the kitchen to listen. Sharon was still singing alone, her eyes closed.
Jay was mesmerized, his own eyes glued to her face. With light-brown hair, baby-blue eyes, high cheekbones, and pink lips, she was so pretty. Had she grown more beautiful just this week?
Sharon opened her eyes and stopped singing when her eyes locked on to his. Her mouth closed, and then her cheeks turned bright pink as she glanced down at her lap—as pink as her dress against a white apron.
What did that mean?
“Jay!” Martha said, her greeting enthusiastic. “How nice of you to come. Please sit down and sing with us.”
Cal grinned at him. “It’s about time you got here. We saved you a chair.”
“Sorry I’m late.” Jay cleared his throat and entered the kitchen. The empty chair was next to Sharon. Perfect. He smiled to himself as he sat down next to her. “Hi,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I interrupted you.”
