The Amish Potato Farmer’s Widow
Expectant Amish Widows Book 17
Samantha Price
Amish Romance
Copyright © 2018 by Samantha Price
* * *
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
The next book in the series:
Expectant Amish Widows series
About Samantha Price
Chapter 1
“I was a wandering lost soul until Malachi found me. Through him, I found out what’s important in life. I cried out to know the meaning of life one morning, and that very day I met Malachi. It was all meant to be because I hated everything about my life and had nothing to live for. The straw that broke me was when the tire of my car blew out when I was escaping from my abusive ex-boyfriend.” She gave a little giggle as she remembered how Malachi had looked, coming along in his buggy, smiling without a care in the world. “Malachi found me crying there by the roadside. I fell in love with him immediately.” She stared at the coffin on the other side of her living room. Bishop Luke’s wife was one of the few people who hadn’t already heard her story that day.
“You’ll miss him. Everyone will,” Ruth said.
Jeanie nodded. “There is no one like him.” Jeanie nibbled on a fingernail and was grateful her mother-in-law was at the door greeting late-comers to the viewing prior to the funeral. Jeanie wasn’t herself and now with Malachi gone she never would be. The preparation for the funeral and organizing the food for the meal afterward had kept Jeanie from thinking too much about her loss.
The only thing that mattered was doing what Malachi would’ve wanted and that was to look after his mother, Magda, and his younger brother, Werner. The four of them had lived together in the old house on the potato farm. They’d all worked hard on that farm for the past years.
When the bishop’s wife excused herself and left Jeanie alone, she felt someone standing beside her. She turned to see Amos. “Hello. Have I told you how lost I was when Malachi found me?”
“Jah, twice this last week.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She shook her head and looked back at the coffin. It seemed she was in a dream. Ever since she’d been told there’d been an accident she’d felt like she was in a different reality. Nothing seemed real anymore. If it weren’t for the other loved ones Malachi had left behind, she’d surely sit in a corner somewhere and do nothing. “I keep thinking I’ll wake from this bad dream. I just can’t believe he’s gone.”
“No one can. He's left a big hole in your life — in all our lives.”
Jeanie didn’t care much about anyone else or what they felt, not today. Her life as it was had ended the day Malachi’s buggy had overturned after that collision with the car. The driver of the car had also died and it was determined later he'd been highly intoxicated.
Amos touched her arm lightly. “Today’s not the day, but I will talk to you soon about the farm.”
Jeanie gulped and stared up at Amos. Was he still going to stick to his agreement about the farm? “We’ll continue working as we’ve always done. The three of us will work harder to make up for Malachi being gone.”
His face went stiff, almost like Ruth’s face just now when Jeanie realized she’d been talking too much. “We’ll speak about it another time.”
She turned her shoulders slightly to face him properly. This man held the future of her loved ones in the palm of his hand. “When?”
He blinked his dark eyes. “When you’re feeling better.”
“I won’t recover from how I’m feeling, but I do have an obligation to others and need to know your thoughts on the farm. Are you still —?”
He pressed his lips together, and said softly, “I’ll come see you tomorrow.”
“Nee.” If the news was bad, she wanted to break it to Werner and Magda herself. It would be easier coming from her. And, there was a better chance of talking him out of bad news if she was by herself. “Can I come to you tomorrow at about ten?”
“Jah. Okay.”
That pleased her. Her old Englisch life flickered in front of her. Before she met Malachi, nothing had gone right for her. She’d just driven away from a cruel and violent man after having found out he was on the run from the police. She had no family to speak of, and what little she had didn’t want her around. What would she do if that pattern of things returned? The worst thing would be if they were all turned out of the house and Amos sold the farm. They had a little savings, but not enough to buy such a farm and he might not be willing to sell it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
She’d never be okay again. “Jah, I’m all right.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow.” The corners of his lips turned upward.
“Denke, Amos.”
Magda came hurrying over as soon as he walked away. “What did he say?”
“We're going to talk about the farm tomorrow. I’m going to his place.”
Her green eyes opened wide. Malachi's eyes had been similar to his mother's, only darker. “I’ll come too.” Magda was the dominating matriarch, but Malachi had still managed to have the rule of the house. Now, Jeanie felt she had to take over that role and lead them. Her first job was to secure their future with what was to be Malachi’s.
“Nee, Magda. I’ll go alone.”
She frowned and lines appeared across the bridge of her nose. “Why?”
“I don’t want you to be upset if it’s bad news.”
Magda shook her head. “We were once so close, our family and Amos. Things changed when that woman came into his life.”
Jeanie knew she was talking about Zelda. “Everything will be okay. It’s got nothing to do with Zelda. I’ve already told him we’ll be able to do all the work. We can employ more helpers than we do now if we can’t handle the workload in the busy times.”
“Jah, but Amos had a special relationship with Malachi and that’s why he said he’d make a gift of the farm to him. They were like brothers.”
“I’m Malachi’s widow and Malachi was supporting all of us. Surely Amos will feel an obligation to look after those Malachi’s left behind? The right thing for Amos to do is keep his word to Malachi by transferring the farm to me, to us. It’s Werner’s legacy too. I’ll point that out to him. Anyway, we shouldn’t be talking about this right now.”
Magda shook her head. “That’s the Englisch way of thinking, legacies, and such.”
“Nee. It’s the normal way of thinking. Everyone likes money. It makes the world go ‘round. Everyone needs it to survive.” Just because she wasn’t born Amish didn’t mean she didn’t understand them. She’d made steps to convert not long after she’d met Malachi. The bishop had allowed her to stay with a famil
y until she was sure she could live their ways. After her baptism into the faith, Malachi had proposed to her and she’d accepted without hesitation.
“We shouldn’t be worried about all of this today. He should’ve already told us he’d stick to his word.” Magda stared across the living room at Amos who was now talking to Zelda.
Neither Amos nor Malachi had thought about an alternate plan for what would happen in the case of an untimely death. “He just should’ve given it to Malachi. Why make him jump through hoops like he was a child? He should’ve known Malachi would make the farm prosper.”
“Shh,” Magda said. “It was just the way they always were with each other,” she whispered.
Jeanie blew out a deep breath. “Okay. You're right. We need to push it from our minds today while we’re saying goodbye to Malachi.” Jeanie looked over at Zelda. How much influence did Zelda have over Amos? It was odd they hadn’t married yet. She had come to this community from one in Ohio just over a year ago and at every meeting since, everyone had expected to hear their marriage announcement. It had never come.
At first, Zelda had stayed with the Harbingers and then she'd rented a small house of her own. Conveniently for her, the house wasn’t far from Amos’s. Even though Zelda was not someone Jeanie got along with very well, she felt sorry for the woman waiting around for Amos to propose. The rumor was he was the reluctant one in the relationship. Zelda looked up at her and Jeanie shifted her gaze elsewhere.
* * *
At the graveside it hit Jeanie hard. He wasn’t coming back. Malachi had been her whole world and now she had to find a way of living without him. That seemed impossible. There was no choice, he was gone and that was that. In despair, she watched the coffin being lowered into the ground. A week ago, he’d left to go into town — a trip she usually made every Tuesday to collect the earnings from their produce at the markets — and that was the last time she’d seen him alive.
When the coffin was at the bottom and the men released the ropes, it was a hard thing to watch.
She felt as though the rug had been pulled from beneath her. Malachi had been her foundation, her rock. Now she was sad, feeling desperately alone, but not broken. The one thing that kept her going was the potato farm. She couldn’t even think what they’d do if they didn’t have that to work on. It had consumed their lives for years and had been what they’d woken for every day.
Seventeen-year-old Werner touched her arm. He looked just like a younger version of her husband, yet Malachi had been loud and boisterous, whereas Werner was quiet. “You okay?”
“I am.” A cold gust of wind swept over her, nearly blowing off her black over-bonnet. She grabbed it and held it in place.
Then she looked up and saw everyone moving away. She stepped closer to the grave and looked down at the coffin in the carefully dug earth. This was one thing out of her control. Death was beyond anyone’s control. I will see you soon, my love, she said in her head as she stood with Werner.
“Can I just stand here a moment? I know Magda’s anxious to get back to the haus to help with the food, but I just want a moment.”
“Sure. Do you want me to leave?”
“Nee. You can stay by my side.”
He smiled and gave her a nod. She looked back at the coffin.
One thing she couldn’t understand was how this could fit into God’s plan. Why did He take Malachi when he was so healthy and well? He had so much more life to live. It didn’t seem fair if life was a lottery, a spin of the dice. “How does Gott decide who lives and who dies?” she murmured.
“We don’t know. His ways are higher than ours. No one knows the mind of Gott.”
She hadn’t realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud and was shocked when she heard the booming voice of the bishop behind her. She turned to him. “Jah, but … he was so young, so strong. He had so much more living to do. We need him still.” Jeanie’s stomach ached over the loss.
The bishop shook his head. “I know. I know.”
She raised her hand to her mouth and bit into her knuckles to stop herself from screaming. Walking away and leaving Malachi in the ground would be the hardest thing she’d done. “He lies here lifeless. Why? He had everything to live for.” She turned, took a step closer to the bishop, and said quietly, “I was the one who was supposed to make that trip into town. He went in my place because I wasn’t feeling well. I go there every Tuesday, to the markets to collect our money from the vegetables we grow besides the potatoes. Do you see why this is so awful?” She wasn’t sure if she was making sense and felt badly when Werner slowly walked away leaving her alone with the bishop. Was he embarrassed by her emotion?
“He’s gone home. He’s at peace.”
He was at peace here she wanted to scream. “Why didn’t Gott take me?”
“What made him go instead of you that day?”
“I wasn’t feeling that good, that’s all, so he said I should rest.”
The bishop shook his head. “You don’t think Gott can take His kinner home in a million different ways? He is the Almighty.”
She stared into the bishop’s light blue eyes. He had a point. “I just feel so wretched. I don’t know what to do with myself. I just don’t. How am I to go on without him?” She looked into the distance at Magda waiting next to the buggy. Magda had lost a son, but she was taking the loss much better. It was her strong faith, knowing where her son was and knowing it was all in His plan, all according to His will.
“It’ll take time,” the bishop said.
Jeanie saw Werner had reached the buggy and was now talking with his mother. “This is the second son Magda’s lost.”
“Nee, not lost, Jeanie. The second son to go home before her.”
Jeanie blinked back tears. If she thought of her husband as being with Gott in heaven surrounded by people he knew, including his older bruder, who’d been taken as a child by fever, that eased her pain. She sniffed. “I’m okay now. He’s with his bruder, isn’t he, and with his vadder?”
“He is. He’s with all those who’ve gone before. Let Gott be your comfort. Turn to Him in times of trouble.”
“He’s what’s kept me going, and being there for Magda and Werner. I know they’re devastated. Denke, Bishop Luke.”
“I’ll stop by with Ruth and see you all tomorrow.”
“Oh, you aren’t coming back to our place now?”
“We are, but we’ll also come tomorrow when there aren’t so many people around.”
“That would be nice.”
He nodded and smiled, then walked away. Jeanie looked back at the coffin and out of the corner of her eye, she saw two men with shovels waiting to fill in the grave. “Goodbye, my love. I hope you’re happy where you are. I will keep the farm for Werner and your mudder. We’ll carry on what you started.” She sniffed, swallowed hard, and walked up to Magda and Werner just as a beat-up old car slowly moved up the road. It must’ve been parked behind one of the rows of buggies. It was unusual to see a car near the graveyard shared by the Amish and Mennonites.
Once she reached Magda and noticed her pale face, there was no doubt she’d been putting on a brave front and that’s why she’d moved away from the grave. Malachi had been buried between his brother, John, and his father. Who could handle the sight of that without breaking? Magda’s cheeks were normally ruddy and full, but today, they were sunken in. She looked so much older than her fifty-nine years. Without Malachi, the three of them in their small family were all a little lost.
Chapter 2
What did Bishop Luke say to you?” Magda asked, from the front seat of the buggy as they headed home.
From the back seat, Jeanie leaned over. “He said he’s stopping by with Ruth tomorrow.” Jeanie didn’t even want to think about tomorrow. It was another day without Malachi and now every day always followed a night alone without him.
“Hmm. I’ll have to bake.”
“Chocolate cake, please,” Werner said.
Magda shook her head. “I w
as thinking of bread. We haven’t baked in days.”
Jeanie leaned forward so they could hear her better over the sounds of the horse and buggy. “Well, we do need to keep our strength up. We can’t fall apart over this. We need to keep strong hearts, bodies and minds to get us through the next few months.”
“I’ll go to see Amos with you tomorrow, Jeanie,” Werner said.
“I’ll go alone.”
Magda nodded. “Jah, she already told me I couldn’t come. She’s a bossy one.”
“Nee, Jeanie, I’m old enough. Some men my age are married, you know.”
“I know you’re an adult and everything, but I have my own way of doing things. Besides, you should stay for when the bishop and Ruth visit. It would be dreadful if there was only Mamm left at home.” Those who’d been at the funeral were heading back to their house for refreshments. Some of the ladies had stayed behind at the house to prepare the food. Things were organized so neither Jeanie nor Magda would have to lift a finger.
All the way home, Werner nagged at Jeanie, giving her one hundred and one reasons why he should go with her to see Amos. So good was he at arguing, Jeanie nearly relented a few times, but kept reminding herself to follow her instincts. Malachi had always told her to follow what felt right in her heart. It felt right to appeal to Amos one on one. Maybe Malachi’s widow standing in front of Amos would reinforce the promise he’d made to the man who had been like a brother to him.
When they arrived back at the potato farm, one of their community members was waiting to help them unhitch their buggy, but Werner insisted on doing it alone.
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