A Simple Wish

by Charlotte Hubbard

  Loretta nodded, breathless. Drew did the same.

  “Likewise to the rest of us here,” the bishop continued in a louder voice as he looked out over the crowd that filled Asa and Edith’s front room. He also turned to look briefly at Dat. “We are to honor this union and to encourage these young folks as they embark on the journey of their life together. If anyone knows of a reason that this man and this woman should not marry, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

  Loretta’s heart raced as she imagined her father rising from the preachers’ bench to protest the marriage—if only to keep Drew from living in his house.

  But Dat remained seated, exhaling impatiently.

  “All right then, we’ll proceed.” Bishop Tom’s weathered face relaxed into a smile as he led them in their vows.

  Loretta listened carefully, praying she was repeating the bishop’s words in a clear, confident voice—because for a breathless moment she felt as though she’d separated from her body and was observing the ceremony from somewhere near the ceiling.

  Was Drew experiencing the same sensation as he repeated the same vows? He faced her fearlessly, all signs of his roguish, rule-breaking side replaced by a gaze of utmost love and devotion. When she saw herself reflected in his bottomless, midnight blue eyes, Loretta fell in love all over again.

  When the bishop pronounced them husband and wife, the room filled with applause and cheers. Drew pulled Loretta close for a kiss that made her tingle all the way to her toes.

  When she came to her senses, Will had risen from the side-sitters’ bench on the men’s side and was standing before her to clasp her hands. “Loretta, I wish you and Drew all the happiness your hearts can hold,” he said as he smiled brightly at them. “Denki for enduring all that emotional stuff I put you through earlier and for standing by me as I recovered.”

  “Hey, we’re glad you made it through the valley of the shadow and could stand up with us today,” Drew said as he pumped Will’s hand. “We want all the best to happen for you, too.”

  Will’s smile suggested he knew things he wasn’t yet ready to share. “I’m working on it,” he murmured, glancing up at Luke and Nora as they came over. “I have a lot to be grateful for, and my job farming for Luke is one of them.”

  “Happy to have you, Gingerich,” Luke said as he approached and clapped Will on the shoulder.

  “And I’m glad that, for the time being, Loretta will continue working at Simple Gifts on Tuesdays and Thursdays—and that she’ll be spending her Saturdays with you now, Drew,” Nora added as she slipped her arms around Drew and Loretta’s waists. “You’re a wonderful husband to allow your bride to keep her job.”

  Drew nodded as he chuckled at Loretta. “Jah, I’m wonderful,” he teased. “And I know my wife gets a lot more than a paycheck while she’s working for you, Nora.”

  “Simple Gifts is such a fun place to work,” Rosalyn said wistfully as she, too, came to stand with them. “I’ve been thinking—if you’d want me to, Nora—that I could cover the Saturday hours Loretta used to work, and maybe another day during the week—”

  “You’re on!” Nora exclaimed. “I could really use your help as we get closer to Christmas.”

  “That’s a wonderful-gut idea,” Loretta said as she hugged her sister. She glanced around the crowd and saw their father chatting with Adam Wagler. “Does Dat know yet?”

  Rosalyn’s cheeks turned pink as she shook her head. “He won’t be happy. He’ll give me that same lecture about dutiful daughters obeying their fathers—but it’s my way of finding a little of that happiness and peace you’ve been wishing for, Loretta. If I don’t seek out my own satisfaction, how will I find any?”

  For a moment everyone who’d gathered around them gazed at Rosalyn in admiration. “Well said,” Nora put in with an emphatic nod. “Seek and ye shall find.”

  “And if Dat gives you any flack about that,” Edith put in as she joined them, with little Louisa balanced on one hip, “I’ll tell him it’s time I started bringing the twins over for visits while you’re working. How could he not be a happier man if he spent more time with his grandchildren? We could put their playpen in the shop while he tinkers with his clocks.”

  Louisa’s loud squawk of laughter made everyone else join in her merriment. As Loretta hugged more of the guests and accepted their congratulations, she felt pleased that Rosalyn had decided to spend some time in Nora’s store, where her efforts and the wreaths she made would be appreciated. If she and Rosalyn alternated their work days, one of them would be at home with Dat, so it wasn’t as though he’d go without his noon meal or be otherwise inconvenienced.

  Josiah and Savilla worked their way through the crowd to shake Drew’s hand and hug Loretta. “We’re on our way over to set up the steam tables,” he said so everyone could hear him. “Give us about ten minutes, and we’ll be ready for you.”

  Lots of folks applauded and expressed their readiness to feast at the Grill N Skillet. Bishop Tom returned from chatting with Drew’s parents, a wide smile on his face.

  “If you newlyweds and side-sitters will sign the marriage certificate that’s on the kitchen table, we’ll have the formalities taken care of, and the rest of the day is a party,” he suggested as he handed Drew a pen. “Does my heart gut to be performing so many weddings of late and to have so many folks your age deciding to settle in Willow Ridge.”

  “Asa and I are pleased to be here,” Drew remarked as he led the wedding party toward the kitchen. “I’m not sure how much longer our furniture business could’ve been profitable in Clifford.”

  “And we met up with some mighty fine women here,” Asa chimed in, elbowing his brother. “Our lives have been Riehl happy since we came.”

  Loretta couldn’t stop smiling as she watched Drew sign his full name on the certificate. When he handed her the pen, she paused, considering her words. “If you’ve signed but I don’t,” she teased, “will that mean I’m not bound by our marriage vows?”

  Drew’s lips curved as he gazed at her with shining eyes. “It means I will have all the say, and you’ll not be getting any of those marital privileges you’ve been so eager for,” he murmured playfully. “Such as sleeping in that bed I refurbished for our room.”

  As their side-sitters and the bishop chuckled, Loretta felt her cheeks prickle with heat. It was a bit embarrassing that Drew was hinting about private passionate encounters in front of other folks—but only a bit. She snatched the pen from him and signed her name with a flourish before handing it to Edith. “Sleeping,” she said under her breath, “is highly overrated.”

  A few minutes later, when she and Drew were headed toward the Grill N Skillet, the cool October breeze felt good after spending the entire morning in a crowded house. A few orange and yellow leaves drifted from the maple trees in Asa and Edith’s front yard, the first signs that autumn was coming to Willow Ridge. Their friends and family members ambled down the lane and along the road ahead of them, flowing like a lazy stream to the meal everyone would linger over for most of the afternoon. The sight filled Loretta with a rare excitement, because this time the Witmers’ bountiful buffet table was serving the dinner to honor her and Drew—to celebrate their union, their future together.

  “We’re going to take a little detour about now,” Drew whispered as he steered her toward the Detweiler Furniture Works building. “Nobody will even notice we’re not at the café yet—unless you make us late, sugar.”

  Loretta felt a rush of goose bumps. “Why are we going to your shop? You surely don’t intend to work on our wedding day.”

  “Trust me. You’ll like this detour.”

  Loretta couldn’t miss the mischievous glint in his eyes as he opened the metal building’s back door. The stairway was too narrow for them to climb it side by side, so Drew gestured for her to go first. As her footsteps echoed in the stairwell, they masked the pounding of her pulse, for Drew’s apartment had been forbidden territory when she’d been a single girl. Now that she was his wif
e, however, a whole new world awaited her—and after she opened the door at the top of the steps, she paused to take it in.

  “It’s nothing fancy,” Drew said as he entered the simple kitchen behind her. “As a bachelor, I didn’t require much—just a basic fridge, an apartment-sized stove, and a sink. But I thought you and I could transform it into our . . . little hideaway. A more private place when we’d like some time alone.”

  Loretta’s eyes widened with comprehension. “That’s a fine idea,” she whispered. “I really love the bedroom set you and Asa refurbished for our room at home, but when I slept there last night, I noticed a lot of creaks and noises.”

  “It’s old. Probably dates back to the nineteen twenties,” he said with a nod. “But I can tighten it up and wax some of the joints to make it quieter. I um, thought of you sleeping there last night and couldn’t seem to fall asleep myself.”

  Loretta’s heartbeat raced as Drew took her in his arms. “You’ll probably be so tired you’ll have to leave the wedding party to take a nap this afternoon,” she teased.

  “Will you come with me?” He pulled her close against him, gazing intently at her. His mouth found hers for a thorough kiss that hinted at anything but an afternoon snooze.

  Loretta’s cheeks tingled. “But everyone will know what we’re doing if—”

  “So?”

  Her thoughts whirled wildly. More than once she’d made her desire known to him, yet now that Drew was tempting her, daring her to respond to his brazen idea, she felt pulled between behaving like a proper bride and flaunting her wayward desires in front of their guests.

  “We wouldn’t be the first newlyweds to slip away from their festivities, you know,” he murmured alluringly.

  Loretta nipped her lip. “We’ll see.”

  Drew smiled and kissed her temple. “All right, we will. And before I get so carried away that we don’t show up for dinner at all, I’ll give you a quick tour of the rest of the place.”

  Loretta loved the way his large hand enveloped hers as he gestured toward the sofa and coffee table before leading her down a short hallway and past a basic bathroom. The other end of the apartment was a large bedroom with simple furnishings. She was impressed with how neat and tidy the apartment appeared as she gazed at a low bed in a style she’d never seen.

  “That’s a king-size platform bed with a water mattress. Found it at an estate sale,” Drew explained. “It’s a lot easier to make because once the fitted sheet’s on, you don’t have to tuck anything under the mattress. I hope you’ll like it.”

  Curious, Loretta walked over to the bed and pressed her hand into it. Beneath the simple quilt, she felt the mattress shift slightly under her palm. “There’s water in there?”

  “Yup. It’s kind of like floating on an air mattress on a pond—except you can’t roll off and fall in,” Drew added with a laugh.

  “Oh my,” Loretta whispered as she pressed harder and felt the movement beneath her hand. “That might take some getting used to.”

  “Stretch out on it,” Drew suggested playfully.

  Loretta turned away from the large, low bed to challenge him with a direct gaze. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she challenged him. “But we’re leaving for the Grill N Skillet right now, before everyone speculates about where we’ve gone and what we’re doing.”

  Drew shot her a knowing smile. “We should fortify ourselves. For what comes later,” he added quickly as he held out his hand. “I hope you won’t make me wait much longer, Loretta.”

  As they descended the stairway from the apartment and stepped outside again, Loretta felt a surge of powerful happiness. She felt blessed to be married to a man who respected her wish to work a while longer and whose sense of humor and keen desire complemented hers. Sometimes at work frolics she’d heard hints from married women who felt they’d forfeited their innermost emotional needs or who seemed burdened by always submitting to their husbands’ wills.

  Mamm lived such a life, Loretta thought suddenly. But you don’t have to.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Drew murmured as they reached the road. “I hope I haven’t pushed you past your comfort zone or—”

  “Oh, no,” Loretta assured him. Seeing that they would soon be inside the noisy café, surrounded by well-wishers, she stopped at the side of the road to face him. “I was just thinking how lucky I am—how very blessed—that you consider what I’d like, and that you want to make me happy, Drew,” she said, caressing his cheek. “I feel like all my heart’s desires—all the birthday wishes I’ve ever made—have come true today because you’ve married me.”

  Drew blinked. “Wow.”

  “Jah, wow,” Loretta murmured as she smiled up at him. “We’ll share a fine life forever if we aim for wow every day.”

  Please turn the page for an excerpt from a very special new Amish romance by Charlotte Hubbard!

  A Mother’s Gift

  As Lenore Otto sat on the bed with Leah, wistfully watching the November dusk fill her daughter’s room, her heart was torn. The two of them had shared this evening ritual of talking and praying since Lenore’s husband, Raymond, had died last year. It had always brought her a comforting sense of peace, along with the certainty that she and her daughter would move forward with the plans God had for them. After all the cleaning they’d done and the preparations they’d made to host Leah’s wedding festivities the next day, she was ready to relax—but she needed to speak the words that weighed so heavily on her heart.

  Tomorrow, when Leah got married, their lives would follow separate paths. Lenore knew she would be fine remaining on the small farm alone, making and selling her specialty quilts. She supposed some of the qualms she had about her daughter’s marriage plagued every mother . . .

  Lord, I wish I could be sure my Leah is reaching toward happiness rather than heartache.

  Before God’s still, small voice could respond to Lenore, Leah let out an ecstatic sigh. “Oh, Mama, it’s a dream come true,” she murmured. “Starting tomorrow, when I marry Jude, my life will finally be the way I’ve always wanted it. My waiting is over!”

  Not for the first time, Lenore sighed inwardly at her daughter’s fantasy. As she returned Leah’s hug, savoring these precious moments in the room where her little girl had matured into a woman of twenty-eight, she didn’t have it in her to shatter Leah’s dreams. No mother wanted her daughter to forever remain a maidel, yet during these final hours before the wedding, Lenore thought she should try once again to point out the realities of marrying Jude Shetler. Jude was a fine, upstanding man any parent would be pleased to welcome as a son-in-law, but as a widower, he carried a certain amount of... baggage.

  “Leah, when you marry, your life will change in ways you can’t anticipate,” Lenore began softly. She rested her head against the headboard, grasping her daughter’s hand. “When you move into a man’s home—”

  “Oh, Mama, you’ve already told me what to expect in the bedroom,” Leah interrupted with a nervous giggle. “It’s not as though I haven’t seen the deer and the horses mating.”

  Lenore closed her eyes, praying for words that would gently pierce the balloon of maidenly naïveté in which Leah seemed to live. “There’s more to marriage than mating,” she whispered earnestly. “You’ll be moving into a home where Jude and his kids have established their routine. We’ve both heard the rumors about how young Alice and Adeline might be behaving inappropriately during their rumspringa—”

  “They’re sixteen, and they’re very pretty,” Leah quickly pointed out. “Twins are inclined to get into double trouble as part of their nature at that age. I certainly found mischief during my running-around years.”

  Lenore sighed again. She wished Raymond were here to help her with this difficult discussion. “Sweetheart, I doubt you were ever out of your dat’s or my sight for more than an hour at a time. The pranks you used to pull at sale barns when you were helping Dat with the livestock were nothing compared to the way I’ve heard Alice and A
deline run the roads with English boys in their cars.”

  “I rode in a few cars—and pickups—you didn’t know about,” Leah shot back. “It’s not as though I spent my time hanging around with girls at the auction barns, you know.”

  Squeezing Leah’s fingers so she’d focus on the matters at hand, Lenore held her daughter’s gaze in the dimness. “I probably should’ve insisted that you learn to cook and sew and keep house instead of tending the animals with your Dat,” she murmured. “But you were a tremendous help to him—and you were the only child God blessed us with. More than anything, I’ve wanted you to spend your life doing what makes you happy.”

  “And I am happy, Mama!” Leah said blissfully. “I make a gut income selling my dressed chickens and ducks, my goat’s milk, and raising deer—the same way Dat did. If I hadn’t spent so much time in the sale barns around Jude, he would never have come to know me—or love me.”

  Lenore paused, searching for another conversational path. She had no doubt that her daughter’s love for Jude was sincere, and that Jude loved Leah, too, but it took more than shared affection to make a marriage work and keep a household running smoothly.

  “And, Mama, if your quilts don’t sell—or if you want to stop working so hard on them,” Leah said tenderly, “you know I’ll help you out with money so you can stay here at home. I know how much you and Dat have always loved this place.”

  Tears sprang to Lenore’s eyes. Once again her daughter spoke with the utmost sincerity, unaware that Jude might have different ideas about Leah’s income—or that he might insist that she give up raising and selling her chickens, ducks, and goats. He might also be reluctant for his wife to raise deer that were destined to stock hunting lodges, even if he admired Leah’s way with those animals.