AMISH ROMANCE: Three Amish Sisters Box Set: PLUS NEW BONUS BOOK - Grace's Hope Renewed!

by Rebekah Fisher

  “Are you such an expert in having kinner that you know what is right for them?” Joseph said accusingly.

  Taken aback, Emma said, “I never said I was an expert, Joseph. It’s just that being a teacher, I have come to understand a few things plus I have read some books.”

  “Ach, so just because you have read these books, you know what is best?” Joseph said, turning to look at Emma. “Adam and Hannah aren’t the first kinner to have moved because of a family situation.”

  “Why are you being so defensive? It is just that I think the kinner…”

  “Enough. I am selling this farm and moving back to my home. Adam and Hannah will be just fine in their new school,” Joseph snapped. “I am their guardian now and this is the way it will be.”

  Getting up, Emma said, “Fine.” She went out the door, and got in her buggy and drove off.

  Emma wasn’t sure what to think. Perhaps the kinner are much more resilient than she thought, and perhaps Joseph is right. Gott, is this your will?

  * * *

  Back home, she found her mother sitting in the kitchen sewing some pants.

  “Emma, how was your time at Joseph’s?”

  “Not gut. One minute he is so pleasant to me and the next he is accusing me of being an expert and how I am trying to tell him what to do,” Emma said sitting down at the table. “He is a very frustrating man to deal with. He’s just a stubborn old mule. He’s planning on moving those poor kinner. He’s selling the farm and moving them away to Ohio,” Emma cried.

  “Well, Emma, he is their rightful guardian. You must respect his decision.

  “It’s just not fair for the kinner. They’ve been through so much already.”

  Thinking for a moment, her mother said, “have you thought that perhaps you have feelings for this man?”

  “Nee, mamm, not in that way. Where did you ever get that idea?”

  Marta smiled at her daughter. “Do you think I haven’t noticed how your eyes light up when you would mention his name?”

  Sighing, Emma looked at her mother.“I guess I have some feelings for him, but he is very stubborn and the way he speaks to me, it is obvious he doesn’t feel the same.”

  Marta went over to her daughter and took her hands.“Emma, did you ever stop to think that maybe he speaks to you that way because he does have feelings for you and wants to hide them, for some reason?”

  Emma looked down for a moment then back at her mother. “Do you think so, Mamm?”

  “Men can be very complicated at times, especially when they are afraid to admit they have feelings. Say extra prayers to Gott tonight. If it’s your desire, and you and Joseph are meant to be together, He will guide you and He will guide Adam. The truth will come out. It always does.”

  Emma went to bed that night and thought about what her mother had said. Could Mamm be right? Could Joseph have feelings for me and is only trying to hide them because he is afraid? Is he afraid of having a relationship with me?

  * * *

  Chapter 9

  Emma hadn’t spoke much more to Joseph the next week, but she did make arrangements with him to let her pick the children up on her way to school in the mornings. Driving toward the house this morning, she noticed there was a For Sale sign on the front lawn.

  Joseph came out of the house carrying the children’s lunch boxes. “Adam! Hannah! Emma is here.”

  The children who usually ran out the door with such great enthusiasm, slowed down climbing into the buggy. “Why so glum?” she asked.

  “We’ll probably be moving soon. The house is for sale, Adam said.

  “Emma, I don’t want to move away. I want to stay here,” Hannah cried.

  Joseph came up to the buggy and handed the lunch boxes to Emma. “Emma, would you mind bringing the kinner home after school? I have to go into town on some business and I won’t be back in time.”

  “Jah, don’t worry about them,” Emma said, nodding towards the For Sale sign. “I see you are definitely selling.”

  Nodding his head, “Jah, it went up for sale yesterday.”

  Emma frowned. “I’m sad to see you’re uprooting the kinner. But you know best what to do.”

  “Jah, I really don’t even want to discuss it,” he said as he turned and walked towards the house.

  Emma frowned and steered the buggy towards the road. What a stubborn man, she thought to herself. If he would only stop and think of others instead of himself. I will pray that Gott will make him come to his senses.

  * * *

  Emma had a hard time concentrating on her teaching. She was constantly thinking about Adam and Hannah moving. She noticed that both of them seemed not to pay as much attention in class as they normally did.

  After lunch, Emma went outside to sit in the yard. Looking around, she saw Adam and Hannah sitting quietly by themselves. Normally, they would be running around, laughing, and squealing with the other children, but today they just looked so sad.

  She went over and sat down on the grass beside them. “Do you not feel like playing with your friends?”

  Hannah looked up at her. Emma could see tears forming in her eyes. “They won’t be my friends very much longer.”

  “Joseph said we might move even before school is over,” Adam said. “We don’t want to move, Emma. Why can’t we live with you?”

  “Ach, dear kinner. Joseph is your guardian now. You must follow him.” Emma said, feeling her heart break for them.”

  “But it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair that Gott took our mamm and daed away from us and now we have to live with a stranger in a strange place. Gott is supposed to take care of us. Why doesn’t He love us?” Adam cried.

  “Adam, first of all, your onkel is not a stranger. He cares very much for you. And Gott does love you. He is leading you this way for a reason. You may not realize it right now, but very soon you will,” Emma said, standing up to get ready to go back to class. She rang the bell and tried to smile as the children came running back into the school for the afternoon. But her mind was in turmoil. She wished she could think of some way to convince Joseph to not move away; at least not yet.

  At the end of the day, she loaded the children into her buggy and brought them home. They were excited about Emma staying with them for awhile until Joseph came back home. Emma went over and sat on the porch swing, while the children played in the yard. How she wished Joseph would stay. She knew she would miss him as well when they all left. He was stubborn and they didn’t always see eye to eye, but they did have some good times, especially in the beginning. Lost in thought, she didn’t notice Joseph’s buggy pulling up in front of the house. “Thanks for watching the kinner, Emma. I really appreciate it,” he called to her.”

  She walked over to his buggy. “Ach, you’re quite welcome”. Noticing the planks of wood sticking out of the back of the buggy, she asked, “what are you building?”

  “I noticed the pantry shelves were cracked and some of the boards were rotten. I thought I would start with those repairs first.”

  “Joseph, I wanted to ask you a question,” Emma began nervously. “How are you going to care for Adam and Hannah while you work on your farm in Ohio? Not to mention the responsibilities.”

  “I have already made arrangements for a housekeeper who will also care for them,” Joseph answered, walking towards the house. “Emma, I told you I don’t want to discuss this”

  “I’m just concerned about the kinner, Joseph. You were the one who needed me to help with them because you had no idea what you were doing and now you are suddenly an expert.” She turned and went towards her buggy.

  Going to bed that night, Emma prayed that God would perform a miracle and have Joseph decide to change his mind about moving-at least until school was finished. She did not want the children to have to go through another painful experience so soon. After all, if God did a miracle for her daed and allowed him to walk again, couldn’t He work in this situation? But, Gott, only Thy will be done.

  * * *

>   Chapter 10

  Saturday morning, Emma had made arrangements to pick up Adam and Hannah and bring them into town for some shopping. Arriving at the house, Joseph met her outside.

  “Emma, I have a favor to ask. I have to run into town quickly to pick up some items to make some more repairs and will only be about a half hour but I have a couple coming to look at the house. Would you mind waiting until I get back just in case they arrive while I am gone?”

  “Sure, what type of repairs do you have to make?” “Well unfortunately, there are more repairs than I would have liked. While working on the pantry, I discovered there are mice in the kitchen, and windows that need to be replaced. That’s why some of the rooms always feel cold and I noticed upstairs that the roof was leaking and has caused some rot on the floor in the far bedroom,” Joseph said. “I also think that this house was not insulated very well, which would mean tearing apart some of the walls. I wanted to have all these repairs done before I showed the house to anyone, but this couple was persistent. Just show them around. If they want to buy, I can tell them about the repairs I’ll be making.”

  “Jah, no problem. I’ll wait around,” she said reluctantly.

  “Danke, I will make it very fast.”

  Soon after Joseph left, she heard a car door slam. She sighed, knowing it was the couple. She looked out the window and saw them walking towards the house. They were very young, most likely newlyweds.

  “Hello, Emma said, walking towards them.

  “Good Morning. We’re looking for Joseph Rudder.”

  “Joseph had to go into town. My name is Emma. May I help you?”

  “We were told we could come and see the house. We’re thinking of buying a home in the country,” the man answered.

  “Sure, come in and I’ll show you around,” Emma said, holding open the door.

  The couple smiled as they walked into the kitchen.

  “What a beautiful big kitchen,” the wife exclaimed.

  “Yes, it is very big. It’s—”

  Just then Hannah interrupted. “You will just need to watch out for the mice though.”

  Emma looked at Hannah in surprise, then looked at the couple. “But Joseph will—”

  “Mice! Is there mice in the house?” the wife looked shocked.

  “You’ll get used to them after a while. We just don’t leave anything open in the pantry,” Hannah continued.

  Looking at her husband, the wife did not look very impressed.

  “Come, I’ll show you the living room,” Emma said, directing them through the doorway.

  “My, this room looks so cozy with the fireplace,” the wife said, going over to the mantle. “I can see it being covered in pictures of our future family.”

  Just then Adam spoke up.“You just have to make sure you have lots of wood for the fire in the winter. This room gets very cold and you usually can’t sit in here for very long in the winter.”

  “Why does it get so cold?” the husband asked.

  “I think the windows all need to be fixed,” Adam replied.

  “That sounds like it would be very expensive,” the man said.

  “Oh, but Joseph will be fixing—” Emma started to say.

  But Adam interrupted her.“The roof also leaks upstairs and part of the floor is rotted from the water.”

  The wife gave her husband a bewildered look. “Dear, this place needs a lot of work. It’s nice, but I think we should keep looking.”

  Emma wanted to make sure the couple knew that Joseph was planning on fixing those items. She wanted to be honest, and knew God would want her to be, although it was tempting to not mention that fact.

  “You don’t have to worry, Joseph is planning on fixing those items.

  The husband looked at his wife. “Thank you, but I’m concerned there may be other problems as well. You’ve already mentioned these problems. I’m sure there’s more. We’ll move on. Thanks again, ma’am.”

  “Thank you for stopping by to look.”

  After the couple had left, Emma tried to hide her smile and looked at the children with a stern face. Why did you two tell them about the problems? You know Joseph has been buying materials to fix those things.”

  They shrugged. “We don’t want anyone to buy the house,” Hannah said, looking down.

  “Let’s leave that in Gott’s hands.” She smiled to herself and couldn’t help but wonder, Gott, was that part of Your plan?

  * * *

  Emma spent a very enjoyable time in town with Adam and Hannah, trying to keep their minds off the fact they would be moving. It broke her heart to see how upset they were. When she brought them home, she decided she would make one last attempt at convincing Joseph to change his mind. She knew she was started to get on his nerves, but she felt for the kinner’s sake, it would be so much better if he would just stay until school was finished.

  Walking into the kitchen, she said, “Adam and Hannah, would you mind going and playing by yourselves for a bit? I need to talk to Joseph.”

  Sitting down across from at the kitchen table. “Joseph, I am begging you to please reconsider waiting to move. I was also curious why you couldn’t take up your farming here and sell your other place?

  “Emma, my farm is established. I can’t start here from scratch. My life is there, not here. I have friends and family there. Here I have nothing, no one.” Standing, Joseph said, “Emma, I have said this before and I will say it again; I am not going to discuss this anymore with you. My mind has been made.” Getting up, Emma was furious.“When are you going to open your eyes, Joseph Rudder? You have no heart, because if you did you would stop and look at the big picture.”

  With that, she left and headed towards her buggy. Joseph followed her out the door, and said angrily, “You say I have no heart, Emma Miller. You are wrong. I do have a heart. I feel for Adam and Hannah. I really do. I want nothing more than to make a life for them and I’m truly confident that I can make a good life for them, but I can’t stay here and see you every day, knowing how much you dislike me. And knowing that you want nothing to do with me is too much to bear.”

  Emma stopped and looked at him in shock.

  Joseph took a deep breath. “There, I have said it. I have feelings for you, Emma Miller, but you don’t share them. I know you think I’m a terrible person, but I am not. I need to do what is best for me and the kinner.”

  Emma just looked at him. “Joseph…I don’t think you’re a terrible person. I have never thought that. And…I didn’t know you had feelings for me. You’ve never let it show.

  “I do have feelings for you. I have since the first day I met you, but soon after you made it perfectly clear that you disliked me. And every time I see you, my heart breaks a bit more knowing that you don’t share my feelings. That’s why I sent you away, why I didn’t want you to come around anymore. Not because I felt it was best for the kinner, but it was too hard to be near you knowing how you felt about me. I’ve never felt the way about any person as I have about you.”

  Emma just stood there staring at him.

  “Emma, say something,” Joseph said with a pleading look.

  Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at him, “You are wrong, Joseph. I don’t dislike you. As a matter of fact I have feelings for you as well. I have for a while. I think deep down, that is one reason why I have been so upset about your leaving. The kinner of course is the main reason, but I also wanted you to stay.

  But I figured you had no interest in me. I didn’t want to get hurt so I hid my feelings. This is all so complicated.”

  He went over to her and gave her a hug. “Ach, Emma, we are two fools.”

  “Jah. And I apologize for telling you so often that you’re stubborn. I guess I was being just as stubborn as you.”

  “I must admit, you can be quite stubborn,” he said with a smile.

  Emma looked up at him and smiled.“Jah, I think you’re right. She sighed. “I wish I could stay, but right now I do have to get home. I promised my
mamm I would help her. Next week is my shveshtah’s wedding so there is lots to do.”

  “Alright, Emma. Please come for a visit tomorrow, we have lots to talk about.”

  On the drive home, Emma was still in shock over what just happened. He actually had feelings for me this entire time? She was relieved that her feelings were finally out in the open as well. It was now up to Gott to guide both her and Joseph.

  She walked into the kitchen where her mother was kneading bread dough. “Mamm, Joseph does have feelings for me.”

  Her mother smiled. “Gott works in mysterious ways.”

  “Jah, He does, Mamm. Emma went over to her mother and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be going over to Joseph’s house tomorrow after church. We have a lot to discuss.”

  * * *

  Emma turned into the driveway of Joseph’s house and noticed that the For Sale sign was gone. She began to panic. Did he sell the farm? Pulling in front of the house, Adam and Hannah came running out to meet her. “Emma!” they cried, and hugged her as she stepped out of the buggy. Joseph came out of the house smiling as he walked towards Emma. “They have been waiting for you all morning.”

  “Where is the For Sale sign?”

  Grinning from ear to ear, Joseph said, “gone.”

  “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

  Joseph shrugged. “Seemed silly to have a sign up for a house that isn’t for sale.”

  “Really?” Emma cried. “You’re not going to sell?”

  Joseph took her hand. “Let’s go in and have a cup of tea. We can talk about plans and the future.”

  Sitting down at the kitchen table, Emma could see a change in Adam and Hannah already. They were smiling and laughing and couldn’t stop hugging Emma.

  “Joseph said you are going to be our new Mamm,” Hannah blurted out.

  Emma looked over at Joseph in shock.“He did, did he.”

  Joseph looked over at Hannah. “I said she may. That is a decision only Emma can make in the near future.”

  Joseph handed Emma a cup of tea, then sat down across from her. “I thought we could start from scratch seeing as our relationship started going downhill. We need to take some time to get to know the real ‘us’…that is, if you’re interested.”