There was a bang at the door, and Mellie jumped. The door flew open and Faith tumbled in. “What are you doing out here?” she cried.
“I left the window open.”
“Mamm’s asking for you.”
Mellie’s heart clenched. “Is she?”
“She wants you. Come on!” Faith dashed back out into the wind.
Why would her mother be asking for her? Mellie almost didn’t want to know, but she had to go to her. She slammed the door behind her and rushed to follow her sister to the daadi haus.
Chapter Seven
The wind had picked up and a flying branch nearly caught her legs. Mellie jumped over it and ran. Why hadn’t she put on a coat? It was downright freezing out there. The two sisters burst through the daadi haus door into the hot front room. Dan and Daadi stood in front of the heating stove.
“She’s asking for you,” Dan said.
“Is Old Mae in there?” Mellie asked.
He nodded and Mellie went through into her mother’s room. Old Mae cast her penetrating eyes on her. “There you are, child,” she said. Old Mae looked every bit her age, but Mellie was never fooled. The woman was sharp as a whip.
“Hello, Mae.”
“I’ll leave you two alone. I’m going to have your brother and daadi take me home.” She bustled from the room.
Mellie went to her mother. “Mamm,” she murmured, “how are you doing?”
Mamm shook her head. “Daughter, not much different.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hurt all the time anyhow, so not much different.”
Tears filled Mellie’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. Truly. What can I do for you?”
Mamm reached out her thin arm and patted the side of the bed. Mellie sank down on it.
“I know you were doing what you thought right.”
Mellie leaned close to hear her mother’s words.
“I shouldn’t have gotten so mad at you,” her mother continued.
Mellie swallowed hard. “It’s okay. I know you don’t like Englisch medicine. It was my fault.”
“You were trying to help me.”
Mellie nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“You love me.” Mamm took a long breath, and the air wheezed in her mouth. “I know that. I know you think I’m an old fool.”
“Mamm! Nee! I don’t!”
Mamm held up her hand. “It’s all right. I know you do.”
Mellie pressed her lips together to bite back a sob.
“Don’t matter. You love me, and I love you.” Her eyes rested on the quilt covering her and then lifted to meet Mellie’s. “Don’t know how much more time I have on this earth. I wanted you to know I’ve made peace with it. When I go, I go. I’m at peace with the Lord Gott.”
Mellie dropped her head onto her mother’s thin frame. “Mamm, Mamm.”
“Nee. None of that. I ain’t going right now. Maybe not for a long time. Only Gott knows. But you’ve been fighting this. Fighting me.” She took another gasping breath. “You need to know that I’m at peace. Let me live the rest of my days in Gott’s will.”
Mellie’s cries were muffled in the quilt.
“Look at me, daughter.”
Mellie raised her head.
“Just let me be. Trust Gott, Mellie. That’s all you have to do. Trust Gott.”
Mellie swiped at the tears running down her face. “I will,” she said. “I’ll trust Him.”
As she spoke the words, Mellie knew that for her mother, trusting God meant trusting in the old ways. And the old ways didn’t include doctoring by the Englisch. Mellie closed her eyes. Whether she agreed with her mother or not, her mother was right. Mellie had to allow her to live the way her faith dictated. She had to quit fighting against her. She had to love her and let her be.
Even as part of her rebelled against the idea, another part of her felt a heavy burden slip from her shoulders. She was no longer responsible to talk her mother into something she didn’t want to do. And it was more than that even, something her mother didn’t believe in. Something her mother staunchly opposed because of her faith.
Mellie blinked back her tears. All this time, years even, she’d resisted what she saw as her mother’s stubbornness. Maybe, it wasn’t stubbornness at all. Maybe it was just blind faith.
“Better now?” Mamm asked, reaching out and patting Mellie on the shoulder. Mellie sat upright.
“Better,” she said. She sniffed. “I’m sorry, Mamm.”
Mamm shook her head and raised her thin arm in a dismissing wave. “Nee. No need.”
Mellie laid her head again on Mamm’s thin body. They were both silent, just being in each other’s company. Minutes slipped by. Mellie couldn’t remember a time when she and her mother had passed such peaceful moments together. It felt good. Right. She closed her eyes and thanked God.
“Mellie!” Faith screamed, rushing to the bedroom door. “Mellie!”
Mellie jerked upright. “What?”
“Come here!”
She flew from the bed and raced to the front of the daadi haus after her sister. “What? What is it?”
“Your shop!” Faith stood at the open door and pointed.
Orange flames leapt from the side windows of the shop. Even in the darkness, Mellie could see the black smoke billowing from the small building.
“Nee!” she cried. “Nee!”
Mellie tore outside toward her shop. Dan was already racing ahead of her. As was Gabe.
“Get the hose!” Dan hollered.
Gabe changed course, running toward the barn, where Old Mae stood next to the buggy, transfixed.
“Nee!” Mellie cried again. She ran to the front of the shop as Dan was throwing open the door. A loud whoosh threw him back, almost into her.
“Mellie! It’s too far gone!” he yelled. “Get back!”
“Nee! I won’t!” she screamed. She tried to push past him, but he grabbed her around the waist and held on.
“Let me go!” she cried. “Let me go!” She pounded on his arms, but they held fast. He backed up with her until they stood nearly on the road, staring at the blazing building. The violent wind from earlier had died down, but it was still enough to stretch the flames into long contortions.
Gabe raced toward them. “It won’t reach!” he hollered, coming closer. “It ain’t long enough!”
Tears poured down Mellie’s face. She stopped fighting Dan, and he let go of her.
“Mellie!” Faith said. “Oh, Mellie!” She reached over to grab her sister’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”
The window on the other side of the shop exploded, and Mellie cringed. “My shop,” she cried.
“Get shovels!” Dan said. “Come on, Gabe. We’ll get shovels.”
Mellie took off ahead of them, running toward the barn. She plunged inside, feeling her way to the pile of tools. She found a shovel immediately and raced back to her shop. She dug into the dirt and began throwing soil on the fire.
“It’s too late,” Faith said. “Mellie! It’s too late!”
“It isn’t!” Mellie threw another shovelful of dirt on the fire. Her face was hot even in the blinding cold of the evening. She stomped on the shovel, willing it deeper into the frozen ground. Her hands had a death grip on the handle. She got another chunk of dirt loose and threw it onto the fire.
Dan and Gabe rushed up next to her and frantically started jumping on the blades of their shovels, trying to free up some dirt.
Mellie heard voices behind her, recognizing some of their neighbors. Mr. Troyer had brought a shovel, too.
“I called the fire department,” he shouted above the din and then began digging along with them. Mellie’s hair came loose from her bun and fell into her face, but she ignored it. Her hands hurt as she tried to loosen more dirt.
Minutes passed, and with a splinting roar, the roof caved in. A siren was heard and everyone backed away from the fire. Except Mellie. She couldn’t stop. She could feel the blood on her hands, but she kept
stomping her shovel into the dirt, trying to get some free.
“Mellie! Stop.” A voice close to her ear said. “Just stop.” Two strong arms guided her back from the front of her shop. She allowed herself to be drug away, tears streaming down her dirty face.
The Hollybrook firemen were quick and efficient. The shop was small, and it wasn’t but minutes before the fire was out. Mellie collapsed against the trunk of a tree.
“Mellie.” The voice finally registered in Mellie’s mind.
She looked up through her tears. “Caleb?”
He squatted beside her. “I’m so sorry.”
“My shop, Caleb,” she said, her sobs increasing. “It’s gone.”
“We’ll build you another one,” he said. He touched her arm. “I know what this means to you.”
“It’s the middle of the winter, Caleb. Hardly time for building,” she said.
The red spinning lights of the firetruck flashed rhythmically over Caleb’s face. “I’ll head up the work myself if I have to,” he said.
Her breath caught. His face was close to hers, and his expression was intent. She wiped at her tears, feeling the dirt smear across her face.
Dan came to stand over both of them. “What happened, Mellie?”
Mellie shook her head and then a horrible realization came to her. “The candles! I left candles burning when I went to see Mamm.”
The truth hit her straight on. The fire had been her fault. She covered her mouth with her hand.
“It was an accident, Mellie,” Caleb said. “An accident.”
“I’ll tell the firemen,” Dan said, turning on his heel and leaving them.
It wasn’t long before the firemen left, the neighbors cleared out, and Mellie’s family trudged back toward the house. Only Mellie and Caleb hesitated at the site. Mellie couldn’t take her eyes from the smoldering heap that had been her dream.
“I wasn’t joking, Mellie,” Caleb said. “About rebuilding.”
She looked at him in the dim moonlight. The wind had come up again and whipped at his hair. His usual straw hat was nowhere to be seen.
“I’ll head up the work frolic myself.”
Mellie stared into his eyes. In the shadows, they looked black instead of blue. “Why?” she asked. “Why would you do that?”
“Because it’s for you.” His words were simple. Nothing flowery. Nothing special. But Mellie heard the affection in his simple response, and her brow creased in confusion.
“But you like Beth!” she cried. She gasped at her own outburst. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Feeling like a complete fool, she turned to flee toward the house, but Caleb grabbed her arm, stopping her. He whirled her back toward him, and they faced each other. Mellie thought she would sink straight through the earth, she was so mortified. Her heart raced, and she began to shake. She was aware of the cold then, and it sank deep into her chest.
“I did like Beth,” Caleb said.
“But you still ask about her. All the time. I know you aren’t over her.” Mellie’s lips trembled.
“Nee. Think, Mellie. You tell me about her. You always tell me about her. Before I even ask or whether I was even going to ask or not.”
“Nee, nee.” Mellie shook her head. But was he right? Had she been the one to continually bring her sister’s name up? Her mind spun as she tried to think back.
“I stopped wondering about Beth quite some time ago.”
“But when I told you she was being courted, you looked sad.”
Caleb shook his head. “Mellie. It was finished with me and Beth the minute she chose teaching over me. Did I hurt? Jah. Of course. I’d planned to marry her. But as time went on, I realized she wasn’t the one for me.”
Mellie gaped at him. “But … but, your face. You were sad.”
“I was. At first.”
“But I thought you still loved her.”
“I know you thought that. You kept thinking that. And then you started dating Obadiah.”
She gave a quick intake of breath.
Caleb leaned closer. “I knew you were seeing him. I knew he took you home in his courting buggy.”
“But—”
“He’s sweet on you, Mellie. And maybe you’re sweet on him.”
She was shaking violently now. With the freezing cold and the rush of emotion roaring through her, she could barely remain still. “I’m not!” she cried. “I’m not! I’m sweet on you!”
Again, she nearly died at her own admission. What was she thinking to blurt everything out?
“I’m sorry,” she said swiftly. “I’m sorry. I need to go in now.”
Again, she turned to flee. And again, he grabbed her arm. “Mellie. You’re blind.”
“But I’m not! I’ve been watching you! I hardly take my eyes from you!”
“Mellie. Mellie.” He stepped so close, she could feel his breath. Even with the wind, she could feel his warm breath on her. “You’re blind.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips over her smeared cheek. And then he laughed. “You taste like dirt, Mellie.”
She blinked. Her cheek burned, not from the fire but from his searing kiss. “Dirt?” she asked blankly.
He laughed again and hugged her. Releasing her quickly, he stepped back. “Next youth singing, you’ll ride home with me, right?”
She nodded, scarcely daring to believe what he was saying.
“You’re nodding, right? It’s a bit dark out here.”
She laughed then. “I’m nodding, Caleb. I’m nodding hard.”
“You’d better go on in. Or we’re going to start some major gossip,” he said.
“I’m going.” She started back toward the house, and despite the cold air, a warm glow spread through her entire body. A delicious sensation that she wanted to feel forever and ever. She paused and looked back. “Caleb?”
“Jah?”
“I’m still nodding.”
And then she left him, running back to the big house and her family. But not before she heard him chuckle behind her.
The End
Byler’s Bed & Breakfast
by Brenda Maxfield
Chapter One
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:10 KJV
Naomi Byler stared at the ledger book, praying the numbers would magically morph into something with promise. Maybe if she squeezed her hazel eyes closed and then fluttered them open again, the minus sign would become a plus, and all would be well. But she knew it was hopeless. She blinked twice. It was no use.
She worked to keep her thin shoulders from slumping. She spent too much of each day curled in on herself, shielding her heart. As if that would help.
“Mama!” Katy cried as she rushed into the front room where Naomi sat at the heavy oak desk. “Ben’s awake.”
Naomi gazed at her eleven-year-old daughter. Katy stood before her, panting slightly. As usual, strands of auburn hair had escaped her kapp and wisped about her face as if she were standing in a continual breeze. Her large blue eyes, looking as if they held a thousand mysteries, stared back at her mother.
“Is he up, then?” Naomi asked.
“Nee. He’s rustling about, though, and should be down in a minute. Should I pour the milk?”
“Jah. I’ll be right in.”
Katy ran off to the kitchen, and Naomi rose from the desk. Looking at the books so early in the morning did her no favors. The mood was now set for the day. She knew it wasn’t wise to sit and figure the numbers over and over, but they plagued her mind in the wee hours of the night, and nearly every morning saw her sitting at the desk her brother-in-law had made for her husband, Isaac. Her dead husband, Isaac. Naomi sucked in air and hesitated before joining her daughter. She couldn’t let Katy see her again with tears in her eyes. The poor child had witnessed her mother crying too many times of late.
/> She squared her shoulders and walked with determination into the kitchen. Katy had lit the lamp in the early morning darkness and was busy pouring the milk. “Mama, didn’t you make the eggs yet?”
Why, of course, she had. Naomi glanced at the stove. It sat there, pristinely clean, with nary a skillet in sight. She swallowed hard and realized that once again, she’d neglected her basic duties. Not only neglected them, but didn’t even remember that she hadn’t done them. What was happening to her? Did Isaac take her mind with him when he passed?
“I thought we could make the eggs together,” Naomi said, as if that had been her plan all along.
Katy gave her mother a questioning look but then smiled. “I like cooking eggs with you.”
Bless you, child. Naomi knew her daughter was wiser than her years, and thanked God for her. Katy took the bowl of eggs from the fridge and carried them to the counter. “I’ll collect today’s eggs later this morning, Mama. Don’t you worry.”
Naomi gave her a grateful smile. “I’m not worried, Katy girl.” A flash of guilt swept through her. More and more often, Naomi felt their roles were reversed and Katy had become the adult, and Naomi had become the child. It wasn’t good. Or right. But Naomi hardly had the energy to turn it around.
Lately, she hadn’t the energy for much of anything. Except worry. Somehow, she always managed to have energy for that.
“Morning, Mama,” Ben said from the doorway. His sandy blond hair was tussled, and he had sleep in his eyes. Naomi opened her arms to him, and he ran to her, squeezing her around the waist.
“Did you sleep well, little man?”
Ben nodded and let her go. “I’m hungry.”
“We’re cooking eggs,” Katy said, breaking the last two into the skillet. A pleasant sizzle filled the air. “I’m gonna fry them this time.” She held the spatula up like a banner. “Mama, I’m not gonna break any of the yolks. You just watch and see.”
Amish Romance Box Set: Finding Home Page 19
