The Amish Millers Get Married BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: The Way Home, The Way Forward, The Narrow Way) (Boxed Set: Amish Millers Get Married)

by Ruth Hartzler

  Martha told him the whole story. She was nervous at first, but Mr. Griffits looked up from his notes from time to time and nodded encouragingly, so she began to relax somewhat.

  "When do you intend to return home from rumspringa to your community?" was his first question when she had finished speaking.

  Of all questions, that was the one that Martha could not answer, especially not in front of Moses.

  "Um, I'm not sure," Martha said, looking away from him at the thick and aged volumes of leather-bound legal books on the overburdened bookshelves.

  "You must return home soon," the lawyer advised.

  "But I haven't finished rumspringa," Martha said, worried where this was heading.

  "No matter." Mr. Griffits waved a hand at her dismissively. "You will return home soon, and, more importantly, wear Amish clothes to all and any court hearings." Martha made to speak but Mr. Griffits waved his hand at her again. "It should not be so, but appearances do matter in a court of law. Oh, if only that were not the case. But it is," he boomed, "and so you will appear dressed in your Amish clothes in court. Is that understood?"

  Martha nodded meekly.

  "Further," he continued, "you are to have nothing to do with Sheryl Garner. If she calls, you do not accept her call. If you see her on the street, you cross it to avoid her. You do not speak to her under any circumstances. You are to move out of her apartment as soon as possible."

  "I will," Martha said in a small voice. "What do you think my chances are? My chances of being found not guilty, I mean."

  Mr. Griffits raised his eyebrows even higher than appeared possible. "Sheryl Garner has a lengthy criminal record."

  Martha and Moses both gasped at the disclosure.

  "You answered her newspaper advertisement to rent a room in her apartment, having not known her prior to that date. You, an innocent young Amish woman, naive to the ways of the world, and having no non-Amish clothes, simply borrowed clothing from Sheryl at her insistence, during your first foray out of your sheltered community." Mr. Griffits clasped his hands together with excitement. "The police have no evidence that will stand up to examination. I cannot make any promises, Miss Miller, for the law is a fickle beast, but I would not lose any sleep over this matter if I were you. I have won serious cases, and this case, although it has caused you great concern, is quite straightforward. Do not worry."

  Mr. Griffits stood up, which Martha took as their cue to leave. He opened the door for them, and they walked through. The receptionist was on the phone, and there were two people in the waiting room.

  Moses turned to Martha as soon as they were outside, on the porch. "Feel better now?"

  "Oh yes." Martha breathed a long sigh of relief. "He doesn't seem worried at all."

  "Yes, he’ll win the case for you. There's no need to worry, Martha, truly, but you must do as he says."

  As Martha lay in her bed that night, she felt relieved that her lawyer appeared confident that she would win her case, but she did not want to return home, not yet. If she went home now, she would never be sure that she did so entirely willingly. She needed to decide once and for all whether she wanted to be Amish or Englisch, as she would have to live with that decision for the rest of her life. Also, if she returned home now, her mudder would find out that she was charged with theft, and would never let her continue her rumspringa at a later date. There seemed to be no solution in sight. Martha tossed and turned, and had not a wink of sleep until she turned the whole matter over to Gott, at least for the night.

  1 John 3:1-2.

  See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

  Chapter 15 .

  Martha had been terribly stressed the past few weeks. To take Martha's mind off the charges against her pressing upon her mind at all hours of the day, Moses had suggested they get a bus out to the lake and take a scenic boat tour. When they arrived, the tour guide, a round man with a bright tan and wearing a mint, cable-knit sweater, suggested the pair of them pop down to the store and grab ice creams, for the boat would not leave until ten past.

  Now she stood by the lake, jotting down the sun reflecting off the water in her mind, so she might never forget the beautiful sight, as Moses returned with their ice creams. He ordered the flavors of chocolate chip and strawberry. Martha picked the strawberry, and now she and Moses were on the boat, pulling away from the shore with the sun on their backs.

  “Denki so much for doing this,” she said to Moses, “I’ve just been so stressed with everything that's been going on. I can't believe how silly I've been, how I failed to even properly consider where Sheryl was finding all the clothes and jewelry she gave me to wear. In hindsight, it's so obvious now.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Moses replied, wiping the crumbs from the ice cream cone off his hands, pants, and the collar of his shirt. “You trust people easily, Martha. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it's a very good thing. I'm sure the charges will be dropped in time, and so the worst thing to come out of this is just a tough lesson for you to take on board and consider.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  Martha shivered as the cool lake breeze pressed into her bare arms. She missed the heavy cloak all Amish girls wore in the autumn and winter seasons, missed the feel of sturdy wool to protect her against the elements. Moses must have noticed her trembling, for he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tight. His body felt so strong; Martha supposed all the farm work he did could not be for nothing, and she could not help but let a blush spread over her cheeks.

  “How is - err, what is his name again?” said Moses.

  “Gary?” replied Martha, as a stern expression crept over Moses’ face. She wondered why her reply would annoy him, when he asked the question in the first place. Although, she thought, I did say Gary’s name very quickly; perhaps Moses was expecting me to take more time. “Gary is really the only mann I know who you don't know too well," she added, awkwardly.

  Before Moses could reply, the scenic tour guide in the cable-knit sweater appeared, to ask if everything was okay. “And you are sure there is nothing I can get for the beautiful young couple?” he finished.

  “Oh,” replied Martha, feeling the blush on her cheeks deepen, “We're not a couple.” That only made Moses frown more, and she felt like nothing was going right for her of late. “But thank you for asking.”

  “You never answered my question,” said Moses, removing his hand from Martha’s shoulder and fiddling with the cuffs on his plain white shirt.

  “He's fine, I believe. Although I think he was very shocked to hear about Sheryl. He said if he'd known what she was doing, he would have stepped in and told her to not involve me.”

  “How kind of him.”

  “Is anything the matter?”

  “No, no.” Moses smiled now. “I'm sorry, Martha. I brought you out here to distract you from Sheryl and the charges, not to bring them up again and again.”

  “I don’t mind all that much. It does help to talk about it, and I wouldn't want to involve anybody else in my mess.”

  “Just involve me?”

  “I’m sorry,” said Martha, wishing even more for her heavy woolen cloak now. She felt so warm and safe in that coat, but here, with Moses and the lake stretching before her, she felt terribly exposed.

  “Nee! I’m glad you involved me, Martha. You know I'm always there for you, no matter what. I feel like I'm making a complete mess of this.”

  “That's exactly how I feel,” Martha said, and the pair of them laughed. “What a sorry sight we make today, Moses. At least we had ice cream. A day is never truly bad if you get to eat ice cream.”

  “Ah, wise words from Martha Miller. Do you have any more w
isdom to impart to me? I best learn all I can before you -”

  “Before I?”

  “Marry, I suppose.” Now it was Moses’ turn to blush. “I don’t know. Despite what you said the other day, I just thought you might be thinking of Gary as a - here I go messing it all up again. Have you heard from Hannah or Esther or Rebecca? I bet you miss your schweschders a lot.”

  Martha did not reply for a minute or so. She looked searchingly across the lake, to the vegetation growing on the damp shore. The bushes rustled in the lake breeze, while the sunlight filtered through the trees, dancing across the rippling water. She felt so bad for poor Moses, as her head felt all over the place today, and now she missed her schweschders terribly. She wondered where they were at this exact moment, and if they felt as well and happy as she currently felt scared and confused. Her two older schweschders, Hannah and Esther, were always the most sensible of the four, so she supposed they were fine. Her little schweschder, Rebecca, was still at home, and would no doubt be helping their mother with the chores, and not accepting stolen goods from a thieving house mate. She sighed.

  “It is a little strange, isn’t it? You grow up with someone, spend all your time with them, laughing and working and all the rest, and suddenly they're gone and you can't even feel sorry about it, because both Hannah and Esther are blissfully married. To your bruders, no less! I wonder if our parents ever saw that coming.”

  “Parents usually do.”

  “That's true. Although, I think my mudder wanted both Hannah and Esther to marry other menner. Not that she was upset about them marrying your bruders, of course,” Martha hastened to add.

  Martha looked over to Moses now. He was very handsome, even more so in the golden sunlight, with the lake twinkling in the background. She knew her schweschders married his bruders for their kindness and their warmth, and not for their looks, but their bronzed skin and crooked smiles no doubt sweetened the deal. Martha smiled guiltily at the very thought; she felt very wicked thinking such things.

  “So your mudder now approves of my familye?” inquired Moses, his face beaming at the thought. “I suppose our familyes must now like each other a great deal, if two of my bruders have married two of your schweschders. I wonder what they'd all say if they could see us today, out here on this beautiful lake, in this beautiful boat, with the sun rising above us.”

  Martha laughed. “They'd probably say: ‘Here we go again! Another Miller schweschder is going to marry another Hostetler bruder.’ That’s quite the thought, isn’t it?”

  “That is,” replied Moses, a large grin spreading over his handsome face.

  Deuteronomy 20:4.

  For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.

  Chapter 16 .

  "Did you say Mr. Griffiths?" Gary had just called in with six brownie batter donuts, which he proceeded to stuff in his mouth rather quickly after Martha refused one.

  "His name is Mr. Griffits actually. Have you heard of him?"

  "Oh, I thought his name was Griffiths, but yes, I've heard of him - if he's elderly and kind of stooped over, and has a very loud voice and huge, bushy eyebrows?" Gary attempted to mime bushy eyebrows.

  Martha smiled. "That's him."

  "He's famous!" Gary exclaimed. "He gets those really bad criminals off their charges. How on earth did you afford him?"

  Marta's smile at once turned into a frown. "He's expensive?"

  Gary nodded and pointed to his mouth to indicate that he couldn't speak as it was full of donuts. He finally spoke when his mouth was half empty. "Well, he's pretty famous; he's on TV all the time," he managed to say.

  Martha's stomach clenched. How much was Moses paying this man? She felt horribly guilty for placing such a burden on Moses.

  "So that's why you’re moving out then, is it?" Gary asked.

  Martha moved across to the sofas and sat down on one. Gary followed and sat opposite her. "Yes, Mr. Griffits advised me to avoid Sheryl - not that I think she’ll ever come back - and he said I should move back home soon."

  "Hey, if you have to avoid Sheryl, you can rent my spare room."

  Martha gasped. "Oh thank you for the kind thought, Gary, but that wouldn't be right."

  Gary looked offended. "It would all be above board and all that, no funny business." His offended expression changed to one of hurt. "We Englischers, or whatever you call us, do that all the time, boys and girls renting together. They don't even have to be friends."

  Martha forced a smile. "You're a good friend, Gary, but I couldn’t."

  Gary pouted. "You're not Amish anymore."

  "But I am Amish; I've just been just on rumspringa." Martha gasped at her own disclosure; the fact that she had said that surprised her.

  Gary pulled a long face. "But we'll still be friends, won't we? You'll come back and see me - and Laura too?"

  "Of course I will. Actually, I gave notice at work this morning, but Laura wasn't there. I have to tell her what’s happening, too."

  "I'll tell her if you like," Gary said. "We're having dinner tonight." No sooner than his words were out, than his face went beet red, and he stood up and shuffled over to the window.

  Martha followed him. "Gary, are you and Laura dating?"

  Gary nodded, and smiled shyly.

  "Gary, that’s wunderbaar, err, wonderful! I'm so pleased for both of you." Martha felt a little guilty that part of her pleasure was for the fact that Laura had clearly given up her previous little crush on Moses.

  Gary was still blushing furiously, so Martha figured he must really like Laura. After his disclosure, Gary for once seemed at a loss for words, so made his way to the door, after putting the last brownie batter donut in his mouth.

  After she showed him out, Martha made her way to the kitchen, but was only half way there when there was a knock at the door. Figuring Gary had forgotten to tell her something, Martha hurried back to the door and opened it.

  To her dismay, a man and a woman were standing outside the door, looking quite serious. Martha's stomach twisted. Were these plain-clothes police officers coming to take her in for more questioning?

  "Martha Miller?" the man said.

  "Yes," Martha said in small, frightened voice, and tried not to burst into tears.

  "We're Sheryl Graber's parents," the man said. "May we come in and talk to you please?"

  Martha hesitated a moment, being somewhat in shock. Her sense of relief that they were not police officers was fleeting, for Mr. Griffits had said she must have no contact with Sheryl - but surely that would not extend to Sheryl's parents?

  "Is Sheryl with you?" she asked, standing in the doorway.

  "No, she isn’t," the woman said.

  Martha stood aside. "Please come in." She showed them to the sofa. "Please sit down. Would you like a cup of coffee, or hot tea?"

  Mrs. Garner, who was wringing her hands nervously, spoke up. "I’d like a hot tea please, with sugar. My husband would like coffee. Thank you." Mr. Garner nodded his agreement.

  Martha's thoughts were tumbling one after the other as she made the coffee and tea. Why were Sheryl's parents here?

  Martha carried out the hot drinks and set them on the coffee table, and then sat down. She had not made herself a drink as she was too nervous. "Is Sheryl okay?" she asked, suddenly anxious.

  "Yes," Mr. Garner said, before taking a sip of coffee. "She's in rehab."

  "Rehab?" Martha thought rehab was for drug addicts and alcoholics. "Did Sheryl have a drug problem?"

  Mrs. Garner shook her head and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, but Mr. Garner was the one to speak. "I'll explain everything. We're so sorry you got mixed up in this. Sheryl is a kleptomaniac; do you know what that is?"

  Martha thought for a moment. "Someone who steals things, but can’t help it, isn’t it?"

  "Yes," he said. "We’ve had trouble with Sheryl stealing for years, and finally had her booked in to see a specialist in this type of thing, but she d
idn’t turn up for her first appointment and we didn't see her again for some time."

  "Until she called to tell us she'd been arrested for theft - again," Mrs. Garner said between tears.

  "Martha - if I may call you Martha?" Mr. Garner asked. Martha nodded, so he continued. "Martha, Sheryl was very upset that the police had arrested you, so she's made a full statement to them that you had nothing to do with it. We've also spoken to the police and they’re now aware of the full extent of Sheryl's problem, including the fact that she's always worked alone."

  Martha was shocked. The room seemed to spin and she wondered if she were about to faint. The sense of relief was overpowering, so much so, that she didn't know how she'd cope with it.

  "So then, it's all straightened out," he added. "The charges against you have been dropped. We'll pay your legal expenses to date." Martha made to speak, but he held up his hand. "We insist. We're quite wealthy people, which makes Sheryl's behavior even harder to understand, although we've always been told that it’s a psychiatric disorder. We couldn't have it on our conscience if you paid for a lawyer."

  Martha thanked them, but Mr. Garner wouldn’t hear of it. "Now, we also don't want you out of pocket with this apartment. Sheryl had paid in advance before her arrest, but we'll pay her share for another month if you want to continue with the apartment, but then you'll have to get the lease transferred out of her name and into yours."

  "That's very kind," Martha said, waving their protestations aside, "but I've actually decided to go home. I'm Amish, as Sheryl's likely told you, and I've been on rumspringa. I'm going to go home." And Martha meant every word.

  1 Corinthians 11:26.

  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

  Chapter 17 .

  Rebecca was thrilled that Martha was home and followed her around like a puppy. Their daed was overjoyed, and even their mudder was seen smiling when she thought that no one was looking.