Amish Romance BOOK BUNDLE: Marian's Story: Amish Romance Boxed Set (Hollybrook Amish Romance)

by Brenda Maxfield

  “You’re welcome,” Marian said with a smile. She took a biscuit and spread it with butter and the raspberry jam Betsy had put up for the winter.

  “Marian?” A solemn look came over Thomas’s face. “Are you all right?”

  She blinked. “Whatever do you mean?” But, of course, she knew exactly what he meant. She chided herself for always wearing her emotions on her face. She knew he hadn’t been fooled the last time he’d asked her.

  “Are you happy here?”

  She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I have you, don’t I? How could I not be happy?”

  “I’m sorry about Christmas. Truly, I am.”

  She shrugged and put on a smile, knowing it probably looked false. “I respect your father’s opinion. I’m sorry that I don’t agree with him, but I respect his opinion nevertheless.”

  His eyes were intense on hers. She couldn’t hold his gaze, and she looked down at the bite of beans hovering on her fork.

  “All right, then,” he said. But the sigh escaping his lips spoke volumes.

  ****

  During the night, the snow arrived with a vengeance. In the morning, Marian padded to the front window and looked outside. Everything was covered, creating a landscape of lumpy white sculptures. And it was still coming down, lovely fluffy flakes floating slowly to the ground.

  “Ach, it’s a wonderland,” Marian whispered.

  Thomas came and stood behind her. “Officially winter now, I’d say.”

  “Do you think they’ll cancel school?”

  “Wouldn’t be surprised. It looks right deep.”

  “Maybe I can build a snowman with Deb.”

  Thomas laughed and grabbed her waist, swirling her around to him. He bent down and kissed her lips, lingering as she reached up and circled his neck with her arms.

  When they pulled apart, his eyes were darker than normal, and he wore a tender smile. “Building snowmen at your age,” he teased. “Deb will be thrilled.”

  “I like the snow. At least at first. It does get tedious as the months go by.”

  “That it does.” He stepped around her and peered outside. “I better get out there and see to the animals.”

  She tugged on his suspenders. “Do you have to?”

  He raised a brow and leaned down to kiss her again. “I have to,” he murmured. He straightened and grabbed his heavy coat from the peg by the door. He bundled up, pulling on his gloves.

  “I’ll have breakfast ready for you right quick.”

  “Shall we eat at the big house? Then you can talk to Deb.”

  Inwardly, Marian cringed, but she gave her husband a smile. “Of course. That would be fine.”

  “I’ll see you there, then,” he said, opening the door to a rush of cold air.

  She shut the door behind him and shivered, pressing her back against the smooth wood of the door. Breakfast at the big house.

  Fine. She could do that. Of course, she could.

  ****

  Marian put on her heaviest dress and her thick wool stockings. She pulled on her clunky black shoes and then got her coat and mittens. She wrapped her knitted scarf around her neck and plunged into the cold outdoors. Once off the porch, she stood for a minute and gazed up into the sky. She squinted against the brightness and stuck out her tongue for the snow. It fluttered over her face and indeed, a few snowflakes landed on her tongue, melting instantly. A pervasive silence filled the air.

  Marian had always loved the way the snow muffled the whole world. Nothing was as quiet or as peaceful as standing in the middle of a snowfall. She yearned for that kind of peace as she continued toward the big house.

  Deb was jumping up and down just inside the door as she went in.

  “No school!” she cried. “Want to play?”

  Marian laughed. “I was hoping to build a snowman with you. Would you like that?”

  Deb grabbed her in a quick hug. “Jah! Jah! I’d love to.”

  Marian pulled off her scarf and coat. “Would your sisters care to join us?”

  Deb frowned. “Do they have to? I want it to be just us.”

  Marian raised a brow. “We can’t have that now, can we? You and me off by ourselves having fun and excluding the others?”

  “I s’pose not.” She sighed and pulled Marian’s mittens off her hands for her. Then her face brightened. “Aw, they won’t want to play outside anyways. All Martha wants to do these days is read. And Esther would rather sit and pet the cat.” She giggled.

  “Maybe it will be the two of us, then,” Marian said.

  “Mamm’s cooking up pancakes for special,” Deb told her, yanking on her arm. “Come on. We got real syrup, too.”

  Marian allowed herself to be pulled into the kitchen where Betsy was spooning batter onto the griddle.

  “You comin’ in for breakfast?” she asked, glancing up at Marian.

  “Jah. If it’s all right.”

  “Course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Mamm, me and Marian are gonna build us a snowman. Can we use a carrot for the nose?” Deb skipped to her mother. “And I’m gonna wrap my black shawl around the snowman’s shoulders. What d’ya think of that?”

  Betsy looked at her youngest and smiled. “Sounds right nice,” she said. “But mind you, dress up warm. I don’t want you catchin’ your death of cold.”

  “Aw, Mamm. You know I will.” Deb gave Marian a grimace.

  Betsy put down the batter and picked up the spatula. “Marian, is Thomas coming in?”

  “Jah. He’s out with the animals.”

  “Fine. Will you pour the milk?”

  “Of course.” Marian picked up the pitcher and headed to the dining area. Martha and Esther were already there, peering through the window at the snow.

  “You’re sure there ain’t school?” asked Esther. “Nobody’s come by with the news.”

  “Last time we had this much snow, they cancelled.” Martha gazed at her sister. “Besides, if we don’t go, we don’t go. What difference does it make? I have a story book I’m wanting to finish, anyway.”

  Esther rolled her eyes. “Might as well go to school then.” She smiled at Marian. “I don’t much like school. Me and Deb are the same that way. Did you like it?”

  Marian skirted around the table, filling everyone’s glass with milk. “Actually, I did like school. I was almost sorry to finish eighth grade.”

  “I wish I could go to high school when the time comes,” Martha said, glancing furtively toward the kitchen.

  “Why ever for?” Esther said. “You don’t need more learnin’.”

  Deb came around the corner, her arms loaded with outerwear. She had a carrot in her mouth.

  “A carrot for breakfast?” asked Martha.

  “Nee.” Deb dropped it on top of the load she was carrying. “It’s for the snowman!”

  “Hey, I want to help,” Esther said.

  “Not me.” Martha folded her arms across her chest.

  Deb dumped her bundle in the corner of the room just as Betsy emerged from the kitchen. “Deborah Groft, what are you thinking? We don’t drop clothes all over the house like heathen. Pick all that up immediately.”

  Deb giggled and bent to scoop up her clothes. “I know, Mamm. Sorry. Just excited is all.”

  “Excitement has nothing to do with being neat and orderly. Now scat, and put those things back in the wash room.”

  A jumble of voices came through the house as the men returned from the barn. Marian felt a swoosh of cold air come in with them.

  “Sit down, and let’s eat,” Betsy directed.

  Thomas’s cheeks were red, and he smelled of hay and barn as he sat beside Marian. He touched her hand with his freezing fingers and she jumped.

  “Ach! You’re frozen solid!” she cried.

  He laughed. “I know. But you’re not!” He attempted to put his hands on her face, but she playfully fought him off.

  “Stop it!” she cried. “Thomas!”

  Betsy let out a big harrump
h, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “Thomas Groft, stop such foolishness at the table!”

  Thomas winked at Marian and then sobered. “Jah, Mamm. Consider it stopped.”

  Deb stifled a laugh behind her hand, and her eyes glinted at Marian.

  Isaiah rubbed his hands together over his plate. “Betsy, I do declare your pancakes are the best smelling in the whole county.”

  Betsy’s face flushed pink, and she swatted Isaiah’s arm. “What’s with everyone today? A little bit of snow and the whole family turns foolish.”

  “Not foolish, Mamm. And not a little bit of snow, neither.” Deb forked two large pancakes onto her plate. “It’s a ton of snow, and I can’t wait to get out in it!”

  Betsy shook her head, still clucking her tongue. “Foolishness, pure and simple,” she said.

  Four

  Marian helped with the clean-up. With all the girls pitching in, the kitchen was clean and ready for the noon meal in no time. Deb danced around the kitchen like a nervous hen.

  “Come on, Mari! It’s tidy enough in here.”

  “I’m the judge of that,” stated Betsy. She hung up the dishtowel and smiled at her daughter. “But go on with you. Just don’t come cryin’ to me when you turn into a popsicle.”

  “A popsicle! Aw, Mamm,” Deb whined, but she was laughing.

  “I’m getting my coat and hat,” Esther said and dashed off to the wash room.

  Within minutes, the three of them trundled out into the snow. Deb bent down and scooped up a nice chunk for her first snowball. She let it fly toward her sister, hitting Esther square on the shoulder.

  “Deb! I thought we were building a snowman. Stop that throwing!”

  But it was too late. Deb had already armed herself with another snowball, and she threw it at Esther, this time catching her on the back.

  “You rotten girl!” Esther cried, grabbing her own ammunition.

  Marian laughed and moved to the middle of the yard. She leaned over and started rolling a chunk of snow into a large ball. It was about a yardstick in diameter when Deb and Esther wandered over, having called a temporary truce to their snow fight.

  “Mari! What a great bottom!”

  Esther slapped her sleeve. “Mamm will catch you for saying bottom!”

  “Ach, what’s wrong with saying bottom?”

  Esther’s cheeks, already flushed from the cold, turned a deeper shade of red. “Marian! Do you hear what Deb is sayin’?”

  Marian adjusted the huge snowball more firmly so they could easily balance the second ball on top. “I did hear her.” She gave Deb a shake of her head. “Deb, be nice and talk sweet.”

  “Sometimes I get sick of being sweet,” Deb muttered.

  “More like all the time, if you ask me,” Esther countered.

  “I didn’t ask you.”

  “All right, girls. Enough now. Let’s get the second ball rolling, shall we?” Marian packed a decent sized snowball, and then dropped it on the ground. She bent over and inched it through the snow, where it became bigger and bigger.

  “Snow’s perfect for a snowman this time, don’t you think? Not too wet,” Deb said, leaning back on her heels and looking mighty pleased.

  “Jah. For sure and for certain.” Marian looked at Esther. “Why don’t you start making the head? Deb and I will finish up this second part.”

  Esther obliged, and started up the third ball.

  “I think it’s big enough,” Marian said to Deb.

  She and Deb surveyed their ball.

  “Gonna be kinda hard to get it up on top the first one.”

  “Let’s give it a go. Come on.”

  The two of them grunted and groaned and finally got the second ball rolled up atop the first. Deb picked up handfuls of snow to pack it hard where the two balls met, making it sturdier.

  “Good job,” Marian said. “That ought to hold it.”

  “You done, Esther?”

  Esther rolled the head over to them. The three of them picked it up and placed it on top of the first two balls. Then Deb reached in her pocket and pulled out the carrot. She stuck it in the middle of the snowman’s face.

  Esther ran to the side of the porch and started to scoop the snow from the flower beds. She squatted and with the cry of triumph, she raised her mittened hand in the air. “I’ve got them!”

  “Got what?” Deb asked.

  “The eyeballs!” She ran over with two small rocks and pressed them into the face. The right eye fell off, but Esther grabbed it up and tried again. Within twenty seconds, she had both eyeballs shoved in place.

  “Here,” said Deb, peeling off her scarf. She wound it around the snowman’s neck and then stood back to observe their handiwork.

  “We did a good job,” Marian said. “Looks like it could come alive any minute.” She laughed.

  Thomas came around the house and beheld the girls and their work. “I’ve never seen such a fine looking snowman,” he exclaimed.

  He grinned at Marian, and she grinned back.

  “I’m going in to the Feed and Supply shortly. Do you want to go?”

  “In this snow?” Marian asked.

  Thomas craned his head and looked down the drive. “I think the roads are pretty much cleared.”

  “You know they don’t clear the shoulders for the horses,” Marian said. “Usually, they pile the snow right where we need to drive our wagons.”

  “Jah. But I need to get some chicken feed, so I’ll be going.”

  Deb pulled on Marian’s arm. “Don’t go. Stay with me. Maybe we can go sledding.”

  Marian squinted up into the sky. Even with the gray tinge, it was bright. “Looks like more snow to me.”

  “Better to sled,” Deb said. “Can we?”

  “I’ll need to talk to your mamm,” Marian told her.

  Thomas sloughed through the snow across the lawn to her. “Thank you,” he said close to her ear.

  She glanced up at him. “For what?”

  “Playing with my sisters.”

  She gazed at Deb and Esther. “They’re my sisters, too,” was all she said.

  Thomas brushed a kiss on her forehead and headed toward the barn.

  Marian and the two girls trudged around to the side door and burst through into the wash room. They all stomped on the braided rug to loosen the snow from their shoes before pulling them off.

  “It’s too cold to go sledding,” Esther said. “I don’t want to go.”

  “It’s not too cold,” said Deb. “I’m gonna ask Mamm.”

  Marian went with her.

  “Sledding where?” Betsy questioned, after Deb asked permission.

  “That hill by the Miller’s old place,” Deb said.

  Betsy glimpsed out the window. “Nee. I don’t think so right now. I’m ready to make bread for the week, and I could do with your help.”

  Marian could see Deb wanted to protest, but the young girl dutifully pressed her lips together and nodded.

  “Well, I’m off then back to the daadi haus,” Marian stated. “Thank you for breakfast, Betsy.”

  “Will you be in for the noon meal?” Betsy asked.

  “Nee. Not today.” Marian wanted to work on embroidery that afternoon and besides, she was ready for some quiet time in her own home.

  “Make something good and hot for Thomas,” Betsy called out as Marian left the room. “It’s becoming mighty cold out there.”

  Marian flinched. Why, of course she’d prepare something hot for her husband. And she knew exactly how cold it was out there.

  ****

  Marian put another log on the fire and poked it with a stick. She sat back on her haunches and stared into the flames as they revived and took on the fresh log. A burst of heat flushed over her, and she closed her eyes for a moment, letting it sink deep inside. Nothing was more delightful than a good fire on a winter day.

  She got up and fetched her embroidery work, pulling a rocker close to the flames. She sat down and got to work with the fine stit
ching she hoped to master soon. Marian was only too aware that most of her talents lay in her writing, not in her domestic abilities. But she was determined to learn and to better herself.

  After all, God gave her two good hands, and it was her responsibility to develop them both in homemaking skills. She poked herself with the needle and let out a gentle yelp. She pulled her finger back just in time to keep a drop of blood from the muslin pillowcase. She stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked on it.

  A rapping on the door startled her. She jumped up and rushed to answer it, her embroidery falling to the floor.

  “Mamm!” she exclaimed. “You don’t need to knock.”

  Mamm held Lizzie in her arms. “Not my house,” she said, pursing her lips.

  “Come on in. Did you drive the wagon over?”

  “Nee. The little ‘un and I walked.” She glanced around the room as if checking for others. Her eyes came to rest on Marian’s embroidery work, strewn across the floor.

  Marian saw where she was looking and scurried over to retrieve the pillowcase and thread from the floor.

  “’Twas thinking on the Christmas issue,” Mamm said.

  Marian rolled her eyes. “Please don’t. It won’t do any good.”

  “Maybe if your father talked to Thomas. Maybe then, you could join us for Christmas dinner.”

  Marian stared at her mother. “Nee. Don’t have Dat do any such thing. That would be meddling of the worst sort. Please, Mamm. You’ll make it worse for me.” She clamped her mouth shut, aware she’d already said too much.

  “Worse?” Mamm’s eyes narrowed. “It’s that Betsy woman, isn’t it?”

  Marian went to the kitchen counter and took out two cups and the tea. “I won’t talk about my mother-in-law with you. It isn’t right.”

  “Course it ain’t. Forget I said a thing. Forget I even have a voice.”

  Marian’s gaze flew to her mother. Was she getting surly now? Marian took a huge breath and chose to ignore the comment.

  “I’ll have some tea ready in a jiffy. Sit down, Mamm. Izzie, would you like a cookie?”

  Mamm sat in Thomas’s rocker and set Izzie on the floor. The little girl trundled over to her big sister with her hand out.

  “Cookie?” she said with a huge grin.

  Marian put one in her hand. “There you are.”