Amish Christmas Twins

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  When traffic slowed, he slid her door open and took her hands to help her step out. “Be careful. The last thing you need is to fall.”

  True. But if she did, he’d catch her. She wouldn’t mind that at all.

  Right now, she could barely concentrate on putting her stronger foot on the ground. Her hands tingled everywhere his touched.

  After she steadied herself, he let go of one of her hands to reach the crutches and close the door. She missed his warmth.

  Then hooking the crutches over his shoulder, he put an arm around her waist. “Let’s get you to the curb before the light changes.”

  A car rounded the corner and whizzed past, splattering slush. Luke turned his body to shield her, so the backs of his pant legs got soaked. She hadn’t gotten splashed.

  Once again, he’d been her protector. Even in small things like this, he’d always taken care of her.

  “Danke.” She tried not to let admiration seep into her words.

  “For what?” Luke looked surprised.

  “You blocked the slush.”

  “Anyone would have done that.”

  Not anyone. Elizabeth could think of few people who’d do that in addition to all the other things he’d done for her—rescuing her last night, riding in the ambulance, driving her to work, assisting her to the curb. He hadn’t changed from when they were young.

  When they reached the curb, he held her elbow to help her up. “Ready for the crutches?”

  “Jah.” She wanted to walk into Yolanda’s on her own. She needed to prove to her boss she was capable of keeping this job despite the cast. But using crutches on a slippery sidewalk turned out to be challenging.

  Luke walked beside her, one arm extended behind her, preparing to catch her if she fell. She prayed that wouldn’t happen. Or maybe she should hope it did. She wouldn’t mind landing in his strong arms.

  Stop it, Elizabeth. You shouldn’t be thinking like that.

  As soon as she walked through the door, Yolanda gasped. “I didn’t expect to see you today. Last thing I saw was them loading you in the ambulance.”

  “Only a broken leg. But if you think I’ll be a problem or be in the way—”

  Luke interrupted, “I told Elizabeth I can bring two high counter stools—one for the cash register and one for the stockroom.”

  “That would be perfect. Elizabeth can handle the cash register, and I’ll do her usual running around.”

  Elizabeth cleared her throat. The other two were talking as if she weren’t around.

  A guilty expression crossed Yolanda’s face. “If you want to work, that is.”

  “It’s why I’m here.” Elizabeth hadn’t come all this way and struggled through ice and snow to give up and go home.

  She was rewarded with Yolanda’s sassiest grin. “You’ve got guts, girl.” Then Yolanda turned to Luke. “Thank you kindly for the barstools.”

  He smiled at both of the women. “I’ll bring them down as soon as I can.”

  Less than ten minutes later, he and a young boy entered the shop carrying the stools and two cushions. “Why don’t you put that one behind the counter there?” he directed the boy. “I’ll take this one back to the stockroom.”

  Luke returned with one cushion, which he tied onto the stool behind the cash register. “I figured if you’re sitting most of the day, you might want a cushion.”

  “Well, aren’t you thoughtful?” Yolanda said. “Thank you for taking care of my girl here.”

  * * *

  Luke kept his mouth shut before he admitted how much he wished Elizabeth were his girl.

  He’d better get out of here before he made a fool of himself. “Come on, Martin. We have plenty of work to do.”

  Elizabeth’s quiet danke made his heart skip more than one beat. Instead of turning toward her, he kept walking toward the door. Better not to look her in the eyes, or he’d be lost.

  “Happy to help,” he said. More than happy. He pushed open the door.

  Martin stopped in front of the window. “Didn’t notice this when we were going in. It looks like the carvings you do.”

  Luke had tried to keep his work secret, but several times his employees had startled him by coming in early or stopping back after hours for something they’d left behind.

  “It is,” he admitted.

  But rather than studying the nativity set the way Martin was doing, Luke tried to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth. One of the artificial trees blocked most of her face.

  Yolanda headed toward the door with a shovel and a bucket of salt. He didn’t want her to think he’d been admiring his own work. Or, worse yet, realize he’d been sneaking glimpses of Elizabeth.

  “Come on. We need to get back to the shop.” Luke strode down the sidewalk without waiting for Martin.

  “Hey, wait up. What’s the hurry?” Martin came pounding after him.

  They’d passed three stores before jingling bells signaled Yolanda had exited the store.

  Being in the Christmas store reminded Luke about his plan the previous evening. The one that had gotten sidetracked because of Elizabeth’s accident. After last night, he was all the more determined to buy that ornament for her. Except now that she’d be riding with him in the morning and afternoon, he had no way to buy it in secret. If he sneaked in during a lunch break, would Yolanda mention it to Elizabeth? He had to get it soon, before it sold.

  Luke mulled it over all morning. Maybe he could send one of his employees to purchase it. Not Martin, because both Elizabeth and Yolanda had seen him today. Alan might be best. An Englischer buying a tree ornament wouldn’t attract any attention.

  Luke stopped Alan as he headed out the door at noon. “Would you do me a favor while you’re out? Feel free to take a longer break to make up for the time.”

  “Sure. What do you need?”

  As Luke described the decoration and handed over the money, Alan’s brows drew together in a puzzled frown. “You want a Christmas ornament? Thought you Amish didn’t have trees.”

  “We don’t,” Luke said. “It’s not for me.” He had no intention of letting anyone know who would be getting this gift.

  After Alan left, Luke drifted into a daydream. Elizabeth’s face lighting up when she unwrapped the tiny, sparkling baby. If only he could be there to watch, but he didn’t want her to know he’d purchased the decoration for her. He only hoped it brought her joy. And it was the only way he knew to express all the love he kept bottled up inside.

  * * *

  During a brief lull close to noon, Elizabeth hobbled into the back and took her lunch pack from the refrigerator. She hooked the strap over the handgrip of one crutch, but before she could reach the table, the phone rang.

  Elizabeth leaned against the wall to answer. A shaky voice on the other end asked for Yolanda.

  “Just a minute. I’ll get her.” Lunch bag still dangling from her crutches, Elizabeth limped out to find the store busy again.

  “Phone’s for you,” she told Yolanda. “I’ll take over out here while you talk.” Elizabeth climbed onto the stool Luke had brought and leaned her crutches against the wall behind her. Eating would have to wait.

  “I won’t be long,” Yolanda promised.

  Within minutes, the line of customers waiting to check out snaked down one aisle and around into the next. Elizabeth flashed an apologetic smile at a woman who stared in dismay at the long line and then back at Elizabeth.

  “Only one cashier?” Her incredulous tone bordered on critical.

  “I’m sorry.” Elizabeth took the next customer’s purchases and punched in the amounts on the register. “We’ll have two cashiers soon, but I’ll do my best to move quickly.”

  The woman harrumphed and glanced at her watch. “Most of us are on lunch breaks. We didn’t plan to waste the whole time in here.”

  Elizabeth worked as fast as she could, but she was relieved when Yolanda entered.

  “My goodness.” Eyes damp and voice thick with tears, Yolanda glanced at the waiti
ng customers. “I should have come out sooner.”

  Elizabeth hoped Yolanda hadn’t received bad news. Before Yolanda reached the counter, a young man stopped her to ask a question.

  Elizabeth barely glanced at him because she wanted to rush through her checkouts, but he looked like one of Luke’s employees. Yolanda pointed to a far corner of the store and then joined Elizabeth.

  Once Yolanda took over the other register, the line moved faster. Elizabeth wanted to ask her boss if everything was all right, but she’d wait until they’d helped all the customers. The more buyers Yolanda assisted, the brighter and more cheerful her voice and expression became. Perhaps Elizabeth had been wrong about the call being bad news.

  “It’s about time.” The grumpy woman who’d been at the end of the line about five minutes ago heaved an exasperated sigh and tossed her purchases in front of Elizabeth. “I have other errands to run, so I won’t get time for lunch.”

  Elizabeth reached behind her for her bag and pulled out her sandwich and apple. “Here.” She handed them to the woman.

  The woman’s eyes widened. “You’d give up your lunch after I’ve been so crabby?”

  Her words hit Elizabeth hard. Hadn’t Elizabeth herself been doing the same with God? Complaining and criticizing?

  Humbled, Elizabeth admitted, “I’ve been complaining a lot recently, but I’m grateful that didn’t stop God from sending us the greatest Christmas gift of all—His Son.”

  The woman’s eyes grew misty. “I’ve been so frazzled trying to finish all my errands and shopping, I almost forgot why we’re doing all this.” She waved a hand around the shop. “Thank you for the reminder.”

  Actually, the woman had helped Elizabeth by revealing her ungratefulness.

  Before Elizabeth could thank her, a Mennonite girl in a calf-length flowered dress barged through the door, setting the bells jangling. In her arms, she carried a huge stack of papers. “Hi, I’m Melva. My parents run New Beginnings just outside of town.” She flicked her chin to the left.

  Without stopping for breath, she rambled on. “We’re having a benefit auction on Saturday. Would it be all right if I put a flyer in your window?” She stopped and gulped in some air. “I could also leave some for your customers.”

  “What’s New Beginnings?” Yolanda sounded suspicious.

  “It’s a shelter for teens who are expecting babies. Some are runaways, but many teenagers come to New Beginnings if they’ve been kicked out of their homes.”

  “And you’re having an auction?” Yolanda’s tone had softened.

  The girl approached the counter and held out a flyer. “We’re also asking for donations of items, if you have anything to give.”

  The customer Elizabeth had been waiting on stepped forward. “I assume you also take donations.” She pulled two twenties from her wallet.

  After the girl took the money, the woman turned back to Elizabeth. “It can’t compare with what God gave us, but maybe it will help a little.”

  Elizabeth forced a smile. When the teen passed the flyer with its baby-in-a-cradle logo to Yolanda, Elizabeth winced. She gritted her teeth and fought off the self-pity that threatened to overwhelm her.

  No husband. No babies. No future. A lonely Christmas.

  Hadn’t she just reminded this woman—and herself—about being grateful for the true meaning of Christmas? Elizabeth tried to focus on that rather than her loss.

  Several others followed the woman’s lead and held out fives, tens, or twenties. Grumbling turned to generosity.

  The teen’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow! Just wow! Thank you all.”

  Yolanda skimmed through the flyer. “The shop will donate a nativity set like the one in the window and two of our decorated Christmas trees.”

  Elizabeth gasped. She must have misheard. Those trees were expensive, and all the ornaments on them represented a huge portion of the shop’s income.

  Yolanda caught Elizabeth’s eye and whispered, “I just received the best Christmas gift ever. More precious than money can buy.” At Elizabeth’s questioning look, she explained, “That phone call. Tell you later.” Then she went back to waiting on customers.

  “That’s so generous of you.” The girl held out a small stack of flyers. “Is it all right if I leave these here?”

  “Of course.” Yolanda cleared a space for them on the counter between the registers.

  “My dad will stop by on Friday to pick up donations.”

  Yolanda nodded. “That’ll be fine.”

  The young man Elizabeth thought she recognized from Luke’s shop headed for her register. As he passed the girl, he said, “Be sure to stop at Bontrager’s Woodworking Shop down the street. I know my boss will donate. He’s always generous.”

  So, he did work at Luke’s store. And he was right about Luke’s generosity. If anyone could attest to that, she could. And Luke was also kind, thoughtful, caring . . .

  When the customer handed her his purchase, Elizabeth halted, hand frozen in midair. She didn’t take the white, sparkling ornament he held out. A baby.

  The baby she’d held that day Luke had dropped off the nativity sets. The baby that had brought back all her pain. The baby she’d hidden on the back branches of the tree, so she wouldn’t have to see it.

  “Are you okay?” the man asked. “You look like you might faint.”

  Yolanda whipped her head around to study Elizabeth. “As soon as you check out this customer, go back and eat your lunch. Can’t have you fainting behind the counter and causing a scene.” Although Yolanda barked out the words as an order, the worry in her eyes made it clear she cared.

  “I’ll be fine,” Elizabeth managed to say. Once she finished with this customer, she’d think of something besides husbands and babies.

  “I shouldn’t have made you work so hard after your accident last night. Maybe we should cut back your hours until your leg heals.”

  “No, please don’t do that. I’m all right.” Or she would be soon.

  “Oh, are you the one who was hit by the van last night? My boss called about that. He went to the hospital with you, didn’t he?”

  Elizabeth nodded and forced herself to reach for the ornament. She pinched the very edge between two fingers as if it were on fire. Then she dropped it onto the small stack of tissue paper beside her register and wrapped it. Even after she slid it into a small gift bag, her fingers still burned. And the shape of the baby remained imprinted in her memory.

  A baby. A family. Something she’d never have.

  Chapter 6

  Alan returned with a small bag and handed it to Luke. “Here’s the change.”

  Luke set the ornament gently in the drawer of his worktable. Then he waved away the change. “Keep that for your trouble.”

  “You sure?” Alan asked.

  After Luke nodded, Alan pocketed the money and said, “The girl that works there—the one with the crutches. She’s the one you took to the hospital last night.”

  “Elizabeth? Yes, she ended up with a broken leg.”

  “She’s awfully brave to come into work the next morning. Most people I know would have taken time off and made their employers pay sick leave.”

  That made Luke smile. He couldn’t imagine Elizabeth ever considering that. “I don’t think she’d do that.”

  Alan grinned. “I wouldn’t either.”

  His comical expression made Luke laugh. “I know. That’s why I hired you.”

  Before Alan headed to the workroom, he remarked, “She’s something else, that girl.”

  Luke had always believed that, but Alan’s remark made Luke curious. He raised an eyebrow to encourage Alan to continue.

  “You should have seen the way she dealt with this grumbling lady. The woman reamed her out for taking so long.” Alan waved a hand to indicate the length of the store. “They had a superlong line that stretched all the way to there and then some.”

  Luke’s hackles had risen when Alan mentioned someone yelling at Elizabeth. “That
wasn’t her fault.”

  “I know, but the woman was upset about wasting her whole lunch break in the store.” Alan stopped to explain, “That’s what took me so long.”

  “I figured.” Luke wished Alan would stick to the story.

  “Anyway, when the woman complained about missing lunch, that girl—Elizabeth—reached behind her, took her own lunch out of a bag, and handed it to the woman. Can you believe it?”

  Knowing Elizabeth, jah, he could. But did that mean she went without lunch herself?

  “Can you keep an eye on things out here for a few minutes?” Luke asked Alan. “I need to run into the back to make a phone call.”

  Alan gazed at the phone on the counter with a questioning look, but he only nodded. “Sure.”

  Luke hurried to the back, ran a finger along the list of nearby businesses posted on the wall beside the phone, and dialed. “I’d like to order a large pizza with double cheese to be delivered to Yolanda’s Christmas Year Round Shop. I’ll send someone over in a few minutes to pay for it. Please don’t tell them who ordered it.”

  After pulling money from his wallet, he put it in an envelope with a note saying that it was for Yolanda’s pizza, and then he sent Martin over with the envelope and extra money for another pizza for the three of them. Alan had already eaten, but Luke had no doubt both of his employees would be happy for a snack later that afternoon.

  While they waited for Martin to return, Alan pulled a crumpled flyer from his pocket. “That reminds me. This girl came into the Christmas shop. I told her to stop by here for some donations. I know how you like to help worthy causes.”

  Luke read the flyer. “Did she want items for the auction?”

  “Yep. And people gave her cash donations.”

  “Hmm.” Luke looked around the shop. Most of the items on display had Sold signs on them. He had a few unfinished samples in the back.

  “There she is now.” Alan pointed to a Mennonite teen emerging from the store across the street.

  The girl glanced at the sign over their door and, after looking both ways, crossed and headed into Luke’s store.

  “Good afternoon!” she called out, her voice filled with cheer. “I’m Melva Hess.”