Leigh Bale - Her Amish Christmas Choice

She tilted her head. “Your dat?”

“ Ja , my dad.”

“Oh, your father,” she said.

“ Ja , my vadder .”

He’d swept up the sawdust and discarded nails and placed them in a large garbage can. Mamm told him that his fastidiousness was bothersome to some of the Amish girls, which was one reason they didn’t want to marry him. But instead of being irritated by his meticulous work, Julia seemed to approve. For some crazy reason, that delighted Martin like nothing else could.

She nodded with satisfaction. “I do like it very much. With a coat of paint, it’ll look perfect.”

While Julia watched, he packed his tools away in the toolbox. When he was finished, he faced her again. “We’d better get going. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yes, see you tomorrow.” She waved and turned away, going back inside.

Martin climbed into the buggy with Hank and directed the horse toward the main road. He’d worked hard today, yet he didn’t feel tired. No, not at all. Instead, he felt rejuvenated and eager to do a good job for Julia Rose.

When he pulled into the graveled driveway at home, his father was just coming from the barn, carrying two buckets of frothy white milk. His mother, sisters and other brother had just finished feeding the chickens and pigs.

“Martin! Hank! You’re finally home.” His mother waved, a huge smile on her cheery face.

Emily, Susan and Timmy came running, surrounding him and Hank as they hopped up and down with excitement.

“Did you get the job?” thirteen-year-old Emily asked, her face alight with expectation.

“You must have got the job because you’ve been gone all day,” little eight-year-old Timmy reasoned.

Martin laughed as he swung seven-year-old Susan high into the air. The girl squealed with delight. Their greeting warmed his heart. How he loved them all. He thought about Julia having only her mother to come home to. It must be so lonely for her.

“Supper’s about ready. Komm inside and tell us about your day.” His father stepped up on the porch, his words silencing the children’s incessant questions. At the age of forty-nine, David was the patriarch of the home and still strong and muscular from working long hours of manual labor.

“I’ll just put the road horse in his stall and toss him some hay,” Martin said.

Linda, his mother, waved an impatient hand. As the matriarch of the familye , she was just as confident in her role as David was. “ Ne , Timmy can do that. You and Hank komm inside now. I want to hear all about your day.”

“Ah, don’t say anything important while I’m gone,” Timmy called. But the boy obediently took hold of the horse’s halter and led him into the barn.

Once they were inside, they washed and sat down at the spacious table in the kitchen. Mamm had already laid out the plates and utensils. The room was warm and smelled of something good cooking on the stove. With six hungry children and a husband to feed, Linda always made plenty. Only Martin’s nineteen-year-old sister, Karen, was missing. She was newly married and lived back east with her husband.

“ Ach , did you get the job?” His father sat down and looked at him expectantly.

“ Ja , we got the job,” Hank answered for him. The boy beamed with eagerness and Martin didn’t have the heart to scold him for speaking out of turn. After all, the job was his, too.

Martin smiled with tolerance and purposefully waited until Timmy returned from the barn before speaking. Because they prayed before eating, they had to wait for the boy anyway.

Once everyone was assembled, David beckoned to his wife. “ Mudder , komm and sit.”

David pointed at her chair and Martin watched as his mother sat at the opposite end of the table, nearest the stove. As each member of the familye bowed their head to bless the food, he couldn’t help loving this nightly ritual. His mom was always up and buzzing around the table to see to everyone’s needs. But during evening prayer, she sat reverently with her familye for these few minutes while they gave thanks to the Lord.

When they were finished, everyone dug in and she hopped up to pull a pan of fresh-baked cornbread from the oven.

“Hank and I will be doing handyman work.” Martin speared two pork chops and laid them on his plate. The clatter of utensils and eating filled the room, but no one spoke as they waited to hear every word he said.

“What kind of handyman work?” David asked as he spread golden butter across a hot piece of cornbread.

Martin sliced off a piece of meat and popped it into his mouth. He chewed for several moments before swallowing, then explained his tasks and asked his father’s advice on how to assemble the cabinets in Julia’s workroom. The conversation bounced around various topics but kept coming back to his new job.

“Julia’s nice, too. She’s real schee .” Hank spoke with his mouth full of cooked carrots.

David’s bushy eyebrows shot up and he looked at Martin. “Julia?”

“ Ja , Julia Rose. She’s my new boss,” Martin said. “She lives with her mudder in that old building Walter Rose owned. Apparently, Julia was his granddaughter. It seems that old Walt died a couple months back and left the place to her. She’s renovating it so she can sell handmade soap.”

“Soap?” David said the word abruptly, like it didn’t make sense.

Martin shrugged and took a long drink of fresh milk. “ Ja , she sells it to stores across the nation.”

“Humph, I guess the Englisch don’t make their own so they have to buy it somewhere,” David said. “But I thought you’d be working for a man. How old is this Julia?”

Martin took a deep breath, trying to answer truthfully while not alarming his father. After all, it wasn’t seemly that an unmarried Amish man should be working for a young, attractive Englisch woman. “She’s twenty-three but she stays in the house most of the time while Hank and I work outside. The job is only for six or seven weeks, so it’ll be over with soon enough.”

His father’s gaze narrowed and rested on him like a ten-ton sledge. Martin felt as though the man were looking deep inside of him for the truth. Linda also paused in front of the counter where she was slicing big wedges of cherry pie. She didn’t say anything, waiting for her husband’s verdict on this turn of events, but Martin could tell from her expression that she was worried.

“ Ach , I guess you’ve got Hank with you all the time, so you’re not alone with this woman,” David finally said. “And once it’s done, you’ll have enough money to build your barn in the spring. But don’t forget who you are and what Gott expects from you, sohn . Always remember your faith.”

“I will,” Martin assured him.

“But she’s Englisch . Are you sure this is wise?” Linda asked, her brow furrowed in a deep frown.

“ Mamm , don’t worry,” Martin reassured her with a short laugh. “I’m a grown man and know how to handle myself. Besides, it’s only for a short time. It isn’t as if I’m going to fall in love and leave our faith or something crazy like that, so rest your fears.”

“And besides, Julia’s gonna be my maedel , not Mar-tin’s,” Hank said.

David and Linda shared a look of concern, to which Martin quickly explained the boy’s desire for Julia to be his girl. “I’ve already told Hank that Julia isn’t Amish and she’s too old for him anyway.”

Without missing a beat, Martin’s sister Emily handed him a bowl of boiled potatoes. Martin forked several onto his plate. The whole familye knew the drill, having discussed issues like this a zillion times before.