Amish Brides of Willow Creek 1-4 Omnibus

by Samantha Jillian Bayarr

  “Just relax and let us take care of everything,” someone else was saying.

  Take care of what? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I move, and why do I hurt so much?

  “Can you hear me, Darlin’?” the kind voice asked her.

  Libby tried to nod, but couldn’t.

  “We need to get her into the ambulance.”

  She looked around at the gathering crowd of people she didn’t recognize. They were moving in slow-motion, and the sounds coming from them seemed muffled. She could no longer comprehend their movements or their words.

  What was happening to her?

  Libby tried to move, but everything hurt. She could feel herself being lifted and moved. Her eyes wide, the sky moved swiftly away from her. The snowflakes disappeared, bright lights replacing them.

  “Am I dead?” she cried?

  No one answered.

  The handsome face faded.

  It was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

  CHAPTER 2

  “They tell me my name is Libby,” she said to the nurse, who was resetting her IV.

  “Yes,” the nurse said kindly. “It’s Libby Troyer.”

  “Is that short for anything?” Libby asked, fighting a feeling of wooziness.

  “Your family didn’t say,” the nurse answered.

  “Mei familye?” Libby asked. “Ach, you mean the Amish ones? I don’t think they’re kin to me.”

  “What would make you say that?”

  “Because I’m an Englischer, and mei name is Liberty.”

  “Liberty Troyer?”

  “Nee, just Liberty,” Libby said.

  “Do you remember the accident?” the nurse asked.

  “The doctor told me I was ice skating and hit my head on the ice.”

  “Your family said you’re quite the skater. Your mother told me you’ve been skating since you were two years old, and that you give lessons every winter to the younger kids.”

  “But I don’t even know how to ice skate,” Libby protested. “Come to think of it, I don’t even know me mudder.”

  The nurse pushed a vile of medicine into Libby’s IV. “This will help you to get some rest. Maybe when you wake up, things will be a little less confusing.”

  Libby agreed that she did feel confused. The medicine relaxed her, and soon she’d drifted off to sleep.

  ****

  “When will she regain her memory?” Frau Troyer asked the doctor.

  “I’m afraid there’s no guarantee on that. The memory is a delicate, yet tricky aspect of our brains. She could regain all of it within the next twenty-four hours, or it may take weeks. At least until after the swelling goes down completely, we can’t know for sure. Either way, there is no telling if she will ever regain all of it, or only select things. What concerns me most is the fact she seems to have invented an alternate identity for herself. Is this a game she may have played as a child? Perhaps someone she knows outside of the community? If we knew the source, we might be able to unlock it in her mind.”

  “Jah,” her mudder agreed. “I’ve never heard her speak the name before. But for her to think she is an Englischer, and she doesn’t recognize her own familye—ach, that is worrisome for sure and for certain.”

  The doctor offered a weak smile. “We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours or so. In the meantime, all we can do is pray.”

  He left Frau Troyer in the hall just outside Libby’s hospital room with an uneasy feeling.

  CHAPTER 3

  “Of course you can move in with me, Libby,” Bethany conceded. “But what about your familye?

  “They’re not mei familye,” she protested. “And mei name is Liberty!”

  Bethany rolled her eyes. How was she going to get used to calling her lifetime friend by another name? But she would have to for the sake of Libby’s health. Her doctors had advised them to go along with anything she said, no matter how out-of-character it was, just for sake of not putting more confusion in her than she already felt.

  “Alright, Liberty, you can move into mei haus with me for as long as you need to, but your familye will want to see you.”

  Libby ignored her. Though it annoyed Bethany, it was an old trait of Libby’s that wasn’t such a bad thing at the moment. In all their years as friends, any time Bethany would say something Libby didn’t agree with, she would ignore her and change the subject. She’d done a lot of that during their discussion of Jonas. Before the accident, Bethany had tried to encourage Libby to give Jonas another chance, and Libby would not participate in the conversation after that point.

  Now, her dear friend would have to come to her own conclusions of her family, and Bethany might just have to take a back seat concerning Libby’s home-life for the time being. It wasn’t in her nature to do so because she cared so much about her friend, but she would do whatever it took to keep Libby happy under the stressful conditions that were now her life.

  “I know mei mamm has been here the whole time with me, and I’m grateful for that, but my mind struggles with it. I know she’s mei mamm, but I don’t know how our relationship was before—before I hit mei head.”

  Bethany knew what it was like to have no knowledge her own mother, but only because she hadn’t been with her since she was a toddler. To have spent an entire lifetime with a mother and not remember her was a mystery to Bethany that left her with confusion too. She couldn’t imagine what poor Libby was suffering.

  “I will help you fill in some of the memories if you’d like, but I do know you were close.” she offered.

  “Jah,” Libby said quietly. “I would like that. It seems narrish that I could forget mei own familye.”

  I think I would be terrified, Bethany thought.

  Bethany looked at the clock on the wall and excused herself to Libby, knowing she needed to intercept an impending visitor.

  ****

  Bethany stood outside of Libby’s hospital room waiting for Jonas. Adam had told her Jonas had sent word that he was coming to see her. He’d not been told of her accident yet, and Bethany suspected Adam and his father would tell the poor fellow. But since Bethany knew the most about Jonas’ relationship with Libby, she was probably the best buffer between the two of them when he made his visit.

  Before long, a tall Amish man appeared at the end of the long hall and began to walk toward her. He was just as Libby had described. Aside from the look of worry in his kindhearted, brown eyes, she’d have probably known him anywhere. Libby had described his features to Bethany in such detail, that she even knew his mannerisms right down to his stride as he approached her.

  He tipped his hat. “I’m Jonas Graber from Nappanee. Is Libby in there?”

  Bethany held up a hand to him as he gestured toward the door behind her. “Wait a minute. You can’t just barge in there without knowing what is going on.”

  He tipped his hat again. “Her vadder and bruder told me she has memory loss, but surely she will remember me—I’m her betrothed!”

  My, he is polite, but persistent.

  “Not anymore, you’re not,” Bethany argued. “She broke it off with you before she came home from her visit in Nappanee. And she doesn’t even recognize her own mamm, so what makes you think she will know you?”

  “Our love is as strong as a mule,” he said with confidence.

  And you seem as stubborn as one!

  Bethany couldn’t help but snicker. “Well, I hope you’re in for a mule-sized kick to the head because she thinks her name is Liberty, and she thinks she’s an Englischer!”

  Jonas furrowed his brow. “She thinks she’s an Englischer? Her familye didn’t tell me that.”

  “I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you, but she asked me if she could live with me because she doesn’t feel comfortable living with those people, as she calls her familye now.”

  His face drained of its sun-kissed color. “Surely she remembers her own mamm!”

  “Jah, but very little, and her daed and b
ruder are strangers to her, and that scares her.”

  “Mei poor Libby,” he said as he hung his head.

  Bethany smirked. “That’s another thing. You’d better get used to calling her Liberty because she won’t answer to anything else at the moment!”

  Jonas’ expression fell, and Bethany couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, even more than before.

  CHAPTER 4

  “I will not help you trick Libby,” Bethany argued. “She’s like a schweschder to me.”

  “I’m not asking you to trick her,” Jonas pleaded. “I still love her and I came here to tell her that I changed mei mind about moving to Pinecraft. I still want to marry her, and if the only way I can get her to know me again is through skating, then I have to try.”

  “If you hadn’t chickened out yesterday instead of visiting her, then you would have already known if she remembered you,” Bethany scolded him.

  Jonas blew out a discouraging breath. “I needed time to think this through and how I would handle it if she didn’t recognize me.”

  Bethany pursed her lips. “I think you’re a coward, but if she fails to recognize you, I will introduce you as a skating instructor. But I don’t know what gut will come of it. She’s already told me she’s afraid to go back out onto the ice because she can’t skate.”

  Jonas tipped his hat to her. “You won’t regret this. We both know she is gut enough to compete professionally. She just needs to remember her love for it—and for me.”

  Bethany shook her head and leered at Jonas.

  “Jah, it seems you have prideful reasons for doing this, and it will come back on your head if you aren’t careful.”

  “I don’t intend to hurt her, and I don’t intend to lose her again,” he said.

  Bethany felt sorry for him. She knew from having conversations with Libby that she still loved him too, but she had felt she had to break things off with him because he was so set on moving to Florida. She hadn’t wanted to leave her family or Bethany to move so far away to another community. Her fears drove her to leave Jonas, but she’d not stopped loving him; Bethany was certain of that, and it was the only reason she agreed to help Jonas.

  “I’m only doing this for Libby because I know she still loves you too, but if you hurt her, she will never trust me again because I helped you, and I’m not certain I can live with that.”

  He tipped his hat again. “I give you my word I will not do anything that will hurt her. I only want a chance to remind her of our love.”

  “I don’t know how you think you can get her back on the ice, and that’s even if the doctor lets her.”

  “If you fall off a horse, you get back on and ride. Libby always had that attitude about skating—at least that is what she taught her young charges. I think I can apply the same principles with her, and help her to remember.”

  “I wish you luck with that,” Bethany said.

  “You are her best friend. You could try being optimistic instead of sarcastic for Libby’s sake.”

  Bethany rolled her eyes. “You mean for Liberty’s sake!”

  “More sarcasm?”

  Bethany planted her fists on her hips. “What am I supposed to say? That this is normal?”

  She swallowed down the lump that clogged her throat. Even though Bethany knew Libby was just in the next room, it seemed as if she was gone. That she’d somehow not survived the accident and would never return. She supposed that was what it would be like if she never regained her memory. Bethany wasn’t even certain she would be able to embrace Liberty in the same manner. She’d lost her best friend, and she feared she would never get her back.

  Jonas sighed. “Of course it isn’t normal, but it’s what we have to deal with for now. At least until she gets better.”

  “And if she doesn’t? Will you want to marry Liberty? Ach, what if you do and she doesn’t want to marry you because she truly thinks she’s an Englischer. What then?”

  Jonas wasn’t able to think that far ahead. “I suppose I won’t know the answer to that question until I meet Liberty.”

  Bethany sighed deeply and gestured toward Libby’s hospital room. “Are you certain you’re up to this? Or will you chicken out again today?”

  Jonas took a few steps away from the door. He was certain God had put Libby and him together, and wasn’t about to give up on her. He loved her. But did he love her enough to marry her as an Englischer? What if she rejected him again? Could his heart take the stress of losing her all over again if she chose not to take him back—or worse—if she didn’t even remember him?

  “I suppose there is only one way to find out, and it won’t happen with me standing out here in the hall waiting for it to come to me.”

  Jonas took a brave step toward Libby’s door and breathed a faint prayer for God to bless him with strength. He couldn’t be certain, but he suspected he was about to need an extra dose of it.

  CHAPTER 5

  “Get out of here!” Libby shouted. “I don’t want a skating instructor. I don’t want to go back onto the ice where I fell because I obviously don’t know how to ice skate!”

  Jonas backed away, not knowing how to deal with Libby’s sudden mood change. Only moments ago they were getting along just fine, but the mere mention of skating and getting back out onto the ice had caused her to snap. It frightened Jonas that he could love someone so much who had no idea who he even was.

  Tipping his hat, Jonas excused himself from Libby’s hospital room and waited in the hall for Bethany to come back out. When she did, she flashed him an I told you so look, and Jonas didn’t appreciate it one bit.

  “I warned you,” she added.

  “Don’t add insult to injury,” he said sadly. “Perhaps there is another way I can talk to her. The direct approach never hurt anything. I should have just asked her to take a buggy ride with me.”

  Bethany swished her head back and forth with a tsk, tsk. “Try telling her the truth! Tell her you used to be her beau, and see what happens.”

  He shook his head vigorously. “I can’t tell her that because then she will know she broke it off with me and I’ll never get another chance with her.”

  Bethany rolled her eyes impatiently. “She’s going to remember eventually, and then she will be upset with both of us for tricking her.”’

  “I already told you,” he said. “I’m not trying to trick her. I only want a second chance with her.”

  “Then get it honestly or don’t get it at all. From now on, you’re on your own. I’m not deceiving my best friend.”

  Jonas raised an eyebrow. “Even if it’s all to make her happy?”

  Bethany pursed her lips. “I won’t help you anymore, but I won’t tell her who you are either. That is up to you to tell her the truth about who you are, but I’m not getting in the middle of it anymore. That is between you and her.”

  “Danki,” he said respectfully. “Just so you know, the last thing I want to do it hurt her. I love her.”

  Bethany patted his arm. “I believe you do.”

  She walked down the hall, hoping Jonas would be brave enough to go back in Libby’s room and try a different approach. One that didn’t involve lying.

  She passed the dinner cart and nearly gagged from the smell. She felt sorry for Libby having to eat the hospital food. When she returned, she would bring her something from home. The bakery had been closed for the past two days since her accident, and Bethany wasn’t certain how long she would have to keep it closed to the public while waiting on Libby’s recovery. In the meantime, she’d kept up her orders from the surrounding folks in the community, especially the Fisher family, who counted on the daily donations from the bakery.

  Jonas stepped cautiously into Libby’s room, aware that her new temper could meet up with him before he could manage to get a word in. Still, he took a chance that she might have calmed down since he’d left a few minutes before. Barely in the doorway, Jonas turned around when he heard a male voice greeting Libby.

  “There y
ou are Miss Liberty,” he said, and then turning to Jonas, he said, “You must be family, how is she doing?”

  Jonas wanted to blurt out to the smooth Englischer that he was Libby’s betrothed, but he held his tongue.

  “He’s not familye, he was just leaving,” Libby said through gritted teeth. “I’ve already told him I don’t want a skating instructor, but he doesn’t want to take no for an answer.”

  “Actually,” the stranger interrupted. “A skating instructor might be just the thing to help you.”

  The man suddenly had Libby’s full attention.

  “I’m not sure if you remember me or not, but I’m Logan Carter, a medical student, and I was doing a ride-along with the paramedics on the ambulance service the day you were brought here.”

  Libby smiled at Logan and fluttered her eyelashes in a flirting manner. Jonas stood by, fuming at her brazen behavior.

  “Do you have a few minutes so I can explain why I’m here?” Logan asked.

  Jonas started to excuse himself.

  “No, please stay,” he said. “What was your name?”

  “I’m Jonas Graber, and I’m not familye...”

  “I know,” Logan interrupted. “You’re the skating instructor.”

  Jonas wanted to argue, but decided against it. There was no point. This man was a smooth Englischer, and at the moment, his betrothed thought she was an Englischer too, and gave the smooth-talker the advantage.

  “With your permission, I’d like to study you because I’m in the middle of writing my dissertation on memory loss, and methods of retraining your memory. I believe your case is unique, and I’d like the opportunity to shadow you for a little while to compare your case with my research.”

  Libby looked at him starry-eyed. “I’m not certain I understand.”

  He ran a hand through his thick, blonde hair. “Mostly, I would study your medical records and the treatment methods of your doctors, but I would also like to see if you truly have forgotten how to ice skate, or if you only think you’ve forgotten. That, and other things you may not remember fully, such as your family.”