by Mindy Steele
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
About the Author
Bee Sting Cake for Two
An Amish Flower Farm
Copyright @ 2021 Mindy Steele
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Print: 978-1-952210-36-5
eBook: 978-1-952210-37-2
www.hallmarkpublishing.com
To my family
Acknowledgments
Thank you, Julie and Stacey, for giving me a chance to write this story.
To Elizabeth, my editor, for making this an unforgettable experience.
To Sharon, Erica, and Jacqui, for inviting me to their farms and apiaries. Without your knowledge, this book could have never been written.
To Mirim, for giving me a glimpse inside your world.
Glossary
Ach: Oh
Aenti: Aunt
Ausbund: Amish hymnal book
Bopplin: babies
Bruder: brother
Bwue or Bu: boys or boy
Daed: dad
Danki: Thank you
Dawdi: grandfather
Dochdern: daughters
Englisch: Non-Amish person(s)
Fraa: wife
Froh: happy
Gmay: The Amish church community as a whole
Grosskinner: grandchildren
Gute mariye: good morning
Gut nacht: good night
Hund: A dog, hound
Jah: yes
Kaffi: coffee
Kapp: prayer covering
Kichlin: cookies
Kind or Kinner: child or children
Nix: nothing
Maedel: young woman
Mamm or Mudder: mom or mother
Mammi: grandmother
Mei: me or my
Nee: no
Nix: nothing
Onkel: uncle
Ordnung: the written and unwritten rules of the Amish; behavior by which the Amish are expected to live; passes down from generation to generation.
Schee: pretty
Schwesters: sisters
Seltsam: strange
Wunderbaar: wonderful
Yer: your
Chapter One
Belinda Graber wiped her damp face with her short blue sleeve and stepped out onto the porch with her family. The blue van that had come to transport her parents skidded to a stop in front of them, stirring up a plume of white gravelly dust into the air.
On any normal Saturday evening, Belinda would’ve been in her flower garden, singing old hymns or daydreaming about a life far different than the one she had been given. But since they’d heard the answering machine message with Aenti Irene’s pleas for help, nothing about this day was normal.
Belinda had wanted to go with her parents to Kentucky to tend to her grandfather, Saul Graber. Dawdi was losing his battle with cancer...but her presence was needed here at home, in Havenlee, Indiana. Without their parents, each of the three siblings would have their hands full managing the family greenhouse business at the peak of the season.
Belinda would make hanging baskets and tend to the family’s large gardens alone. Tabitha would continue selling their goods at the Amish market in town five days a week without Mamm to help her. And Mica would handle the farm and produce auctions, without Daed to guide him.
Belinda glanced over her shoulder as their mammi, Mollie Bender, limped outside to join them. Even her maternal grandmother would have to do more managing the house, despite the way her hip troubled her.
A short, pudgy man exited the van and began helping Daed load his and their mother’s things. Belinda ducked into the shadow of her lofty brother, Mica, becoming invisible—a maneuver she had mastered in her growing years anytime unfamiliar faces drew near. He barely noticed her using him as a human shield anymore.
Her childhood unease—shyness, Mamm called it—stemmed from the port wine birthmark on her left cheek. She’d been stared at and heckled over it far too many times over the years. While she was no child anymore, interactions with strangers could make that unease surge again. The man offered a hello to each of them, sending a shudder through her.
Mamm offered up the last suitcase as they all joined her at the van. Belinda knew her mother would not be at ease until she was at Dawdi’s side, willing him to defeat the odds. And Mamm’s will was nothing to scoff at. At fifty, Hattie Graber had hardly a grey hair marring her auburn locks, but Belinda could see a prominent one doing its best to slip out from under her kapp. She reached over and tucked the wandering strand back into submission. Hattie took a breath, forced a smile, and gazed over her children.
“Is Dawdi really giving up on taking treatments?” Belinda whispered to Mamm. She was unsure how she’d feel about the answer, whatever it might be. She’d heard Mica and his friend Ivan whispering days ago that the treatments only prolonged the inevitable, that they made their grandfather sicker too. How could medicine make one feel worse than the disease? She didn’t want him to feel worse, but neither did she want him to go on to glory.
Mamm took in an irritable breath. “Stubborn, that’s what Saul Graber is. He thinks he can tell Gott when. Well, I have a thing to say about that.” Belinda didn’t doubt that for one minute. Her mother was certainly the most stubborn of the Graber and Bender lot.
“Your dawdi should not give up and refuse the help the doctors are trying to give,” Mamm continued. “Where is his faith now?” She shook her head and knuckled away her tears.
Belinda closed her eyes and squeezed Mamm’s shoulders. Her mother was the strongest person she knew, and here she was breaking down. They had all seen their share of loss, but it was one of those things a person never adjusted to. Death was cruel and robbing, and certain.
“Hattie. It’s time.” Mollie’s voice broke the building tension.
Hattie nodded, straightening out any wrinkles of her dress that a few wayward emotions might have caused, regaining her composure. Belinda wished she could do more. But if Dawdi decided he was done with treatments, tired from trips to the clinic and the weakness that ravaged him...then, sadly, al
l she could do was pray.
Mamm and Daed explained to each sibling what they expected in their absence. Meanwhile, Mammi shuffled behind them to the open side van door. Her limp was growing more painful-looking every day. Stubborn ran as thick as winter sap in her bloodline; a new hip would have given her less grief than this old one, but she refused to consider it.
Belinda buried herself in the farewell hug her father offered. His pale blue eyes were rimmed in red, but his arms were as strong and safe as they had been all her life, and he stood upright with a bearing that said he never doubted himself. Belinda had inherited Melvin Graber’s eyes, but none of his self-assurance.
A damp late May breeze tickled the hairs on her lower arms, stirring a shiver. Rain-scented air mingled with the fragrance of a moist earth that would give her flower gardens the nourishment they needed to spring forth. Even thinking about her flowers and the joy they always brought her couldn’t make this dreadful evening any better. She understood plenty about life and death at twenty-three, and the possibility she might never see her dawdi again, or hear his raspy voice sharing stories, broke her heart.
“We will call each afternoon and leave a message on the phone machine, if...” Daed began, his voice choked with emotion. Mica stepped forward and touched his shoulder. They no longer stood eye to eye, Mica having long ago surpassed Daed’s height. In the absence of their parents, Mica would be head of the household, so Belinda knew Daed would worry little as he faced what the days ahead would require of him. Mica was responsible, levelheaded, and always did what needed done.
“Don’t worry, Daed. Have faith and trust His will,” Mica said solemnly. Daed looked up at Mica, visibly grateful that his teachings hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.
“Take care of your Mammi and your schwesters,” Melvin instructed, as if it needed to be said.
Tabitha threw two willowy arms around him tightly. They were very close, Daed and Tabitha, alike in many ways. Belinda didn’t envy them that, for her parents loved them equally, but it was clear, the nearness between them; just as clear as it was that her brother and mother shared something tight-knit, too, which always made her feel like the fifth wheel. Belinda was the quiet one, and in a house with so many talkers, it often separated her from the pack.
Mammi Mollie patted her arm again, as if reading Belinda’s mind. Her parents loved her, but it was her grandmother who evened out the unbalance. Mammi didn’t pity her, like Daed, nor push her, like Mamm.
Her parents climbed into the middle seats of the van. “We cannot know how long we will be.” Mamm poked her head out to see each of them clearly. Crickets chimed in, as if only now remembering they had a duty to perform. “Remember the things I have told you.” Her mossy green eyes arrowed into Belinda’s. “You have worked hard; don’t waste all that effort. I know those gardens are going to be beautiful.” She was speaking of the extra garden rows Daed had gifted his daughter to grow more flowers to sell, adding extra income for her family and herself. Belinda nodded, her face turning red.
She never should’ve told her family about her hope to have a flower farm someday. Mamm thought selling her flowers, freshly cut, was such a grand idea that they spent all winter planning for the right seeds to add market value to what had once been Belinda’s hobby.
“Now Hattie, be on with ya. I’ll see to them,” Mammi Mollie said. “I might have all three married off before you return,” she added, never one to let things get overly serious.
Tabitha chuckled at Mammi’s playfulness. Mica suppressed a grin. Talk of marriage was never far from their mother’s thoughts. It must be hard having three kinner full grown, and not a one even contemplating courting while all her friends were already bouncing bopplin on their knees. In this, the three siblings were equal. Having two stubborn children was just as much a burden as having one who feared speaking to others.
After a final farewell, Belinda and her siblings watched the van speed down the drive and onto the pavement. Across the street, Belinda caught a movement, and noticed Adam Hostetler, their neighbor, exiting his barn. He cast a long shadow across the field. At this hour on a Saturday night, Belinda would’ve expected him to be out courting Susanne Zook, as he usually did. She hoped all was well on his side of the road.
“She’s gonna drag Dawdi into treatments against his will,” Tabitha said to no one in particular, eyes fixed on the van racing down the asphalt.
“Jah,” Mammi Mollie agreed. “Hattie always was a determined one.”
“And we’ll have at least four messages a day on our answering machine,” Belinda added, pulling her gaze away from the barn across the way and the man who, oddly enough, was still standing there, gawking at them.
Mammi chuckled. “Mei dochder is thorough. She gets that from her daed.”
Mica stepped in line with them as the van turned the bend from Mulberry Lane onto Whitley.
“What did she whisper to you?” Tabitha elbowed Mica gently. His smile came easily.
“She told me to find a worthy maedel before she gets back,” Mica said, as the red of the van’s brake lights disappeared. Belinda smiled. That wasn’t a lot of time for Mica to find a suitable young woman. “Even with so much going on, she is still trying to get us married off.”
“She asked me to please smile at Colby Plank next time he smiles at me.” Tabitha shook her head. Belinda knew Colby Plank would not be receiving any smiles from her sister. Despite his owning his own cabinet shop, little about him appealed to Tabitha.
“The good Lord sends what is needed when it’s time, Mica. And”—Mammi Mollie turned to Tabitha—“don’t be smiling at a Plank if you can help it, dear. I don’t want kinner running around here looking starved. Those Planks can eat all day and never gain a pound. You will work your fingers to the bone for nothing.” Tabitha laughed and promised she would never smile at Colby Plank, not ever.
It was a wonder their mother hadn’t taken on full matchmaking meddling to ensure a marriage in the family. Well, she’d have to depend on Mica and Tabitha for that. If God wanted Belinda to have a family of her own, then he wouldn’t have marked her as he had. Belinda sighed—and then set aside the care. Life was what it was, and who was she to challenge it?
“She told me to sell my flowers,” Belinda muttered. Going to town, facing strangers, and striking deals was out of the question. When it appeared Adam was strolling their way, Belinda reached for her cheek. The ugly mark had driven her to live in the shadows, keeping her head down, careful to never draw attention to herself. It was the perfect defense to protect her heart...and maybe, if she was being totally honest, her pride, too.
She wasn’t naïve. She knew that some thought her strange, given her quiet nature and timidity. But she couldn’t change who she was or how she reacted. Talking to others meant letting them focus on her ugliness, and just the thought of that nauseated her.
Adam reached the pavement separating their family farms, locking eyes with her. At this distance she couldn’t tell if he looked concerned or simply nosy, and she didn’t care. She wanted no part of his curiosity, and skedaddled off toward her gardens.
Belinda wanted to be alone in the one place she always found solace. She didn’t want to be stared at by her neighbor...and no one needed to see her cry for the grandfather she might never speak to again.
Adam Hostetler could tell something was wrong this evening when he returned home. As soon as his horse was settled into pasture, he’d glanced across the road and witnessed Hattie and Melvin Graber climbing into a van. It was awfully late in the day to need a driver for something simple like shopping in the next town over, so it must be something more urgent. Everyone knew Belinda’s grandfather from Kentucky had been ill for some time. Since Adam’s father had been in a terrible accident a month ago, he knew what it was like to worry over family. Adam whispered a quick prayer for the neighbor family before stepping out of the shadows.
If there was one thing his recent breakup had taught him, it was that he needed to be more present in the lives of others and less consumed with his own—currently disheveled—life. And that meant reaching out to those around him. The Grabers had been his neighbors for years. A normal man would walk over to offer comfort or concern. See that all was well. When he walked toward them, he didn’t fail to notice how Belinda—just a couple of years younger than his own age of twenty-five—made a quick retreat, tucking herself under the shadow of her brother. Mica had always shielded her like a faithful dog standing guard over a kitten with no mudder.
When Adam reached the pavement, his gaze locked with Belinda’s. For more years than Adam wanted to admit, she’d been the secret object of his affection. At one time, he’d hoped she would grow out of her shyness and finally welcome his attentions. He’d waited for years and watched for subtle signs from her, but she never gave them. Just as well, really. All that foolish hoping was behind him, now that he knew the female species better. He would steer clear, never to be made a fool of again.
Adam hadn’t given Belinda a close look in years, and the distance between them was preventing him from getting a closer look now. But that habit of hers still lingered: She jerked her hand up and covered her cheek. Her eyes widened as he closed the distance. Before Adam made it to the gravel drive, she pivoted and scurried from the lawn, around the house, and out of sight.
Yes, change was inevitable; his current life was proof of that. Still, some things never changed. Belinda Graber would always be the girl who ran from him. Proof she was still as smart as she had been in school.
Mica ushered his remaining family indoors, not noticing Adam’s quiet approach. Just as well. Adam shook his head and turned back to his own house and the late supper he knew awaited him. He hoped all on that side of the road was all right. If not, tomorrow was Church Sunday. If news was to be learned, he would know then. Nothing went unnoticed in Havenlee.
Chapter Two
After a long winter of biweekly church gatherings in cramped houses, Adam knew he wasn’t the only one who appreciated the airy barn of the local minister today despite the dreary weather.
