Peach Cobbler Mystery

by Naomi Miller

  BOOKS BY NAOMI MILLER

  

  Amish Sweet Shop Mystery

  Blueberry Cupcake Mystery

  Christmas Cookie Mystery

  Lemon Tart Mystery

  Pumpkin Pie Mystery

  Chocolate Truffle Mystery

  Peach Cobbler Mystery

  Amish Sweet Shop Romance

  White Chocolate New Year

  (releasing winter 2018)

  CHILDREN'S BOOKS

  Sophie Finds A Family

  Sophie Celebrates Thanksgiving

  Sophie's New Home

  Sophie Goes For a Ride

  (releasing fall 2018)

  COPYRIGHT

  Peach Cobbler Mystery

  Copyright © 2018 by Naomi Miller

  ISBN: 978-1-948733-01-4(Paperback)

  1. Fiction / Religion & Spirituality / Christian Books & Bibles / Christian Fiction. 2. Fiction / Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Mystery / Cozy. 3. Fiction / Christian Books & Bibles / Literature & Fiction / Amish & Mennonite.

  2018903114

  S&G Publishing, Knoxville, TN

  www.sgpublish.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, without written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations in printed reviews. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible (KJV)

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental

  Cover, graphics and formatting by Expresso Designs

  First Edition 2018

  To God be the Glory…

  A NOTE FROM NAOMI MILLER

  

  Peach Cobbler Mystery was the hardest story I've ever written because it deals with something that should never happen in real life, yet it does. . . and all too frequently.

  I must warn you that this is one story that might cause more than a little of the heart-pounding, stomach-clinching reactions that I try so hard to avoid.

  Although I aim for stories that are fun to read, full of love, joy, compassion, forgiveness, friendship. . . this is a story that needs to be told.

  I didn't want to write this specific story about Bella and her past. As a matter of fact, I kept trying to make her a young widow, but God had other plans for my writing.

  I love the characters and situations found in the Amish Sweet Shop Mystery series and I hope that readers will continue to enjoy reading about Katie and all of her friends and neighbors found in this series.

  As with any work of fiction, I’ve taken license in some areas of research as a means of creating circumstances necessary to my characters or plot. I've created fictional characters in a fictional town. Any inaccuracies portrayed in this book are completely due to fictional license.

  God bless you!

  ~Naomi

  GLOSSARY

  The German/Dutch dialect spoken by the Amish is not a written language. It is solely dependent on the location and origin of each settlement. The spellings below are approximations.

  ach = oh

  aenti = aunt

  allrecht = all right

  appeditlich = delicious

  bopli/boplin = baby/babies

  bruder/bruders = brother/brothers

  buwe/buwes = boy/boys

  danki = thank you

  Dat = dad

  dochder = daughter

  du bischt daheem = you’re home

  Englischer = non-Amish person

  freind/freinden = friend/friends

  frau = wife

  froh = happy

  Gott = God

  Gudemariye = Good morning

  gut = good

  hochmut = pride

  hungrich = hungry

  in lieb = in love

  jah = yes

  kaffe = coffee

  kapp = cap

  kinner = children

  kumme = come

  maedel/maedels = girl/girls

  Mamm = mom

  naerfich = nervous

  nee = no

  onkel = uncle

  rumschpringe = running around time for youth

  schweschder/schweschders = sister/sisters

  verrickt = crazy

  Was iss letz = What's wrong

  wunderbaar = wonderful

  

  … choose you this day whom ye will serve

  ... as for me and my house,

  we will serve the Lord.

  Joshua 24:15

  

  For Macy

  — ONE —

  Friday morning began the same as most Fridays had lately, with Katie driving in to work with her Englisch boyfriend. She loved starting the day with Travis, who would usually regale her with stories of his family.

  “And Bobby declared that he was getting older and wants to be called 'Bob' from now on. Gwen told him he would always be Bobby to her.” Travis grinned as he shared the tale with her.

  “Bobby yelled and smacked his hand on the table, rattling the dishes. I thought Mom would get upset, but when I looked over at her, she was smiling.” Travis chuckled. “Then Bobby told her she can call him Bobby at home, as long as she called him Bob at school.”

  Katie laughed at his expression, and Travis shook his head a little before continuing. “Of course, then Bobby got angry and ran outside when Sam and Trevor started laughing.”

  “For sure and for certain.” Katie smiled as she thought of her own bruders. “That's so cute! I don't remember Ervin, Noah or Caleb ever doing that. Of course, their names are harder to shorten. And we have always used their legal names.” Katie laughed, then she asked, “Is Bobby's legal name Bob, then?”

  “No, it's not Bob. And it's not Robert.” Travis answered, laughing. “His legal name actually is Bobby.”

  Katie's laughter mixed with his.

  “Oh my goodness. I would never have guessed. I always thought Bobby was a nickname.” Katie said with a smile. She loved how easily they could talk about family, life at home, their work and people they knew.

  “He can use Bob as a nickname, but I think he's gonna need to get over being called Bobby.” Travis looked thoughtful. “I guess Mom needs to show him his birth certificate and explain it to him before there's any trouble.”

  “By the way, how is your mamm? With Gwen working at the bakery part time, your mamm is doing most of the work at home. Is everything working out allrecht?”

  “Oh yeah, my mamm is doing great! She's fully recovered from the pneumonia and she seems to have more energy nowadays than I can remember her having in a long time. Of course, she misses Dad. . . we all do. . . but it's much easier than it used to be.” Travis squeezed her hand, seeming to draw support from her fingers gripping his.

  “Hey Travis, I kinda wanted to talk to you about something else before we get to the bakery.” Katie hesitated before continuing. “It's about Gwen.”

  “What about her?” Travis looked puzzled. “Is she not working out at the bakery? Is she not doing her job well enough or something? What's the problem?” His voice held a fierceness that surprised her; she was reminded of a long ago nacht when young Gwen had shown up at a singing with a group of older maedels who were dressed much too mature for their age.

  Especially given that they were at a singing with the plain folk in the community.

  “Nee, it's nothing like that.” Katie reassured him. “It's just. . . she's been very quiet lately. More quiet than I've ever seen her be. You know how she is. . . normally, she talks and talks and talks. But lately she comes in, does her work and leaves, without hardly saying a word to anyone.”

 
Katie waited a few moments to collect her thoughts, then dove back in. “Is she acting differently at home? Have you noticed anything different about her?”

  “Gosh, I don't know. Honestly, I've been spending more time with you, and working more hours at the cafe, so I guess I haven't spent as much time at home as I used to. As far as her job at the bakery, I just figured she was working out fine.”

  “She is working out fine, Travis. But I'm not talking about work. I'm talking about Gwen. . . her personal life. . . her feelings.” Katie thought of the young maedel who had latched on to her so strongly. It could not be an easy thing. . . to be the only young woman in a house full of men and buwes.

  “Okay, I'll see what I can find out, if I can without getting her upset. Some days she gets upset at the smallest thing.”

  “That's a girl thing.” Katie smiled to herself for the usage of his own language in the popular phrase. “I am surprised that you haven't noticed that I do the same thing at times.” Katie smiled again, but said nothing else, not certain they were ready to speak of such deeply personal issues.

  “Well, maybe I have noticed a few times, but I thought maybe you were really busy, or having a rough time with your parents or the church leaders. I figured if you wanted me to know about it, you'd say something. I didn't want to ask, in case you didn't want to talk about it or it made you sad. . . or upset.”

  Katie nodded absently as Travis pulled into the parking lot of the bakery, her mind still very much on his schweschder. After he turned off the engine, Katie took his hand, hoping Gott would give her the words to say.

  “But back to Gwen. . . it may be nothing to worry about, but I just have a feeling about it. When you pick her up this morning, don't ask her what's wrong; just talk to her. See if you can find out if she's having a problem at school, or something at home that you don't know about. I don't know what it could be. I just know she is not acting herself and I am more than a bit concerned.”

  “Okay, I'll talk to her. But for the next few minutes I want to concentrate on my girlfriend.” Travis winked at her. “Are you sure you want to go in the front door. Parking around back we will have a little more privacy.”

  A light shiver rushed through Katie at the memory. With a building between them and the street and little to no chance of anyone seeing them, she and Travis had gotten more than a little caught up in their goodbyes.

  “Ach, I am sure. The one time we parked around back, you were late picking up your sister for school.” She reminded him.

  “You're right.” Travis agreed, but the smile on his handsome face told her he was not one bit sorry about it. “I know you're right. And yeah, I forget all about the time when I'm kissing you.” Travis leaned over, planting a quick kiss on her lips before she could evade him. He smiled at her, then kissed her again before moving back. “Okay, let me take you inside and then I'll go pick up Gwen and the boys.”

  Katie laughed at the exaggerated sound of suffering in his voice. As he walked around the front of his car, she wondered if it were something that only Englischer buwes did or if all teenage buwes acted as if they were pained by the least separation from their girlfriend.

  When Travis opened her door with a flourish, she smiled up at him and took the hand he offered to help her from the low vehicle. She loved how Travis always came around and opened her car door, then escorted her into the bakery.

  She had considered telling him she had opened up the bakery for years without his help, but she enjoyed the extra time with him and the great care that he showed her. And it did not hurt one bit to hear him tell her how difficult it was for him to leave her.

  She never told him that it was easier for her because she was so busy after he left each morning, that she barely noticed his absence.

  But, if she were being totally honest, she had to admit she also felt better walking into the bakery with him by her side. Even though everything had worked out fine the one morning she had opened the door to a mess and an obvious theft, knowing everything was safe inside before he left made it much easier to open up each morning.

  * * *

  Knowing she needed to get to her baking before the others arrived, Travis always tried to be respectful of her job duties and to not take up too much of her time while at work. Once he had checked around the bakery, he turned to her.

  “I'm glad you were ready to leave earlier than usual. Now for a proper goodbye, Miss Chupp.” Travis smiled at Katie, before pulling her into his arms.

  They shared a few kisses and Travis did try to keep the time in mind. She had to get to work and he had to pick up Gwen and his brothers, but all of that just seemed to fly out of his head when he had Katie in his arms.

  After what felt like only a few seconds to him, Katie pulled away, swatting at him playfully. “Travis, you are going to be late again.”

  “I don't care.” He pulled her back to him and kissed her again. She gave in for a few more seconds before pulling away again, putting a hand on his chest and shoving lightly; it was no delicate little push either. His Katie was no delicate flower. All the stirring and rolling and whipping must really build up her muscles.

  He laughed as she pushed against his attempt to pull her against him again. “Can I help it if your kisses make it difficult to leave you?”

  When she only laughed, Travis twirled her around and planted a quick kiss on her cheek before spinning her away from him with a laugh of his own. “I will be back soon. Lock up behind me, Katie-girl.”

  “Jah, I will. Then I have a long list of baking to get started on.” Katie laughed again and waved as he went out the front door and headed to his car.

  * * *

  Locking the door, she turned towards the kitchen, taking a moment to lean against the counter. She did not want to admit to him just how his kisses affected her, but there were times she wanted to go right on kissing him forever.

  It was those times that worried her. They were both much too young to be thinking of a thing like marriage. Especially with him not being plain.

  And they were both much too old to be taking chances with being alone with nothing but their passion for each other. She had heard stories of what could happen when a buwe and maedel let themselves get carried away by passion.

  Shaking the thoughts away, she pushed away from the counter and headed toward the kitchen, thinking a hot cup of kaffe might help to clear her head before she started her baking.

  * * *

  — TWO —

  Katie looked up when Freida walked into the kitchen with a swish of the swinging door. “I don't know what to think anymore. I was sure that Bella, or at least Mrs. Mueller, would say something about the father. . . or what happened. But I've learned nothing. . . nothing at all.” Freida sounded put out by the lack of information.

  Katie nodded at her freind. Lately, Bella had been on everyone's mind. Since her unexpected news, at least to most of the community, about expecting a baby, Katie and Freida had both been watching for the baby's father to show up.

  Whenever Freida dropped by, she would chat with Bella or Gwen for a few minutes before heading into the kitchen for a long chat with Katie. And lately it had mostly been about how frustrated she was to be out of the loop about Bella.

  Katie sighed before answering Freida. “Jah. I know we shouldn't ask her about it, but it is such a puzzle. She has been here almost seven months and we hardly know anything more about her than we did the day she started working here.” Katie shrugged before adding. “And I do not know how we can find out anything without offending her.”

  “I just wish she would talk to us about it.” Freida picked up a peach that Katie had discarded and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully for a minute before going on. “I mean, what happened eight or so months ago? Why did she leave everything and everybody she knew and move here, where she didn't know anybody?”

  Freida was getting worked up now. “And where is the father of her baby? Why hasn't he shown up here? What is going to happen when the bab
y is born?”

  “Shh. Do not get too loud, Freida. Maybe we should not be talking about Bella when she's in the other room.” Katie glanced over in the direction of the swinging double doors, halfway expecting to see Bella push through them and catch them talking about her.

  “Allrecht, Katie. I will be quiet, but I won't stop talking.” Freida seemed determined. “What do you think. . . really think. . . about it?”

  “Honestly, I do not know what to think, Freida. All I can think to do is pray. I have prayed that Gott will guide her thoughts and decisions, whatever those may need to be.” She shrugged again and then continued. “I can only hope that Bella will listen. . . and make wise decisions in the next few months, but I have no idea if she will ever confide in you or me.” Katie paused for a moment before going on.

  “If she has told Mrs. O'Neal or Mrs. Mueller or anyone else in Abbott Creek anything about her situation, no one has said anything to me and I've not heard one single bit of gossip.”

  “And what do you think about her living all this time with Mrs. Mueller? Why hasn't Mrs. Mueller said anything about her to anyone?” She looked over her shoulder and then, when she turned back, Freida did lower her voice. “This is the strangest thing to happen here in a long time. It might even BE the strangest thing to happen here.”

  And then, only a moment later, she paused and placed a hand on top of her baby mound and when she spoke again, it was as if she had completely forgotten their previous subject. “Do you have any more peach cobbler?”

  Laughing, Katie walked over to the big cooler. Pulling out a large rectangular cake pan, she placed it on the counter in front of Freida before taking bowls and spoons out of a nearby cabinet. “Go on. Help yourself. Since both you and Bella have been craving peach cobbler, I try to make certain I have some on hand every day.”