Patricia Davids - An Amish Christmas Journey

“Perhaps he will.” She tried to get a grip on her runaway emotions. He was making polite conversation and nothing more. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t the kind of woman to get silly over a man. She was practical and levelheaded. So why did she feel giddy and happy when he was close?

She stole a sidelong glance at him and found him regarding her intently.

What was he thinking? Did he find her attractive?

Foolish thought. She glanced away and saw her uncle watching them with a sour look on his face. Instantly, she was back in his house, hearing his angry voice belittle her attempts to gain his affection. Anger rose up to choke her. Shame burned like acid in her stomach.

Toby said, “I’m grateful that you have been kind to my sister and I wanted to thank you for that. Having you along is making this trip much easier on her.”

Greta gripped her hands together. If he knew the kind of person she was underneath the calm face she wore, he wouldn’t want his sister having anything to do with her.

* * *

Toby wanted to see Greta smile again. There was something about the gleam in her eyes and the delicate curve of her lips that warmed him and made him smile in return. There hadn’t been much happiness in his life in the past two months, but this woman gave him hope. Hope that he and his sister could find their way back to each other. Greta seemed to be the oil that calmed their troubled waters. Marianne responded to her in a way she hadn’t responded to the nurses or therapists she had seen in the hospital.

Maybe he was being ridiculous. He’d known Greta for less than two hours, but somehow it felt as if he had known her for a very long time. Tomorrow, they would part company. It saddened him to think he would never see her again.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

She read him too easily. “I was thinking that it’s a shame our journey will be over so soon.”

A hint of color rose in her cheeks. She focused her gaze out the window. “It has been interesting.”

“Much more interesting than I thought it would be.”

“What’s taking that doctor so long?” Morris asked, shifting in his chair and drawing Toby’s attention.

Marianne came to stand in front of him and held out a newspaper. “Would you like something to read?”

“There’s nothing else to do.” He took it from her.

“Du bishcht wilkumm,” she whispered primly and sat in the chair beside him.

Toby shot a quick grin at Greta and kept his voice low. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you’re welcome sound like a reprimand.”

Morris scowled at Marianne but nodded once. “Danki.”

“At least she got him to say thank you. That’s more than I have ever done.” The chill in Greta’s tone smothered Toby’s mirth and caused him to look at her closely.

All sign of emotion had vanished from her face. Whatever was wrong between Greta and her uncle, it wasn’t as simple as a grumpy elder making travel difficult.

She abruptly headed for the door. “I need some air.”

Chapter Seven

Toby started to follow Greta. He wanted to know what was wrong, wanted to help if he could. He opened the door, but Marianne shot out of her chair and rushed to his side, her eyes wide with fright as she clutched his arm. “Where are you going?”

Toby had his own troubles to deal with. He should be concentrating on his sister and not on a woman he’d just met. “No place. I was looking for our van, but Arles isn’t back yet.”

As he watched Greta walk out to the road, he knew he was kidding himself. He couldn’t ignore her even if he tried. Something about her touched him in a way no other woman had.

Tomorrow she will vanish from my life and there’s nothing I can do about it. We live hundreds of miles apart. How would I see her? There could be someone special in her life already. This is crazy.

Sighing heavily, he closed the door and led Marianne back to her seat. She hung on to his arm until he sat down, her worried eyes glued to his face. He tried to soothe her. “I know Aenti Linda doesn’t like dogs, but I wonder if she likes cats?”

Marianne relaxed and smiled slightly. “She had one named Boots...when she and Mamm were little.”

“Did she? I never knew that.”

“ Mamm told me. Boots was yellow with white paws.”

Morris rattled his paper as he turned the page. “They shouldn’t be made into pets. God created them to catch vermin.”

“ Mamm said Boots caught lots of mice.”

Morris huffed his displeasure and raised the paper to hide behind. Toby wondered if he could pry a little more information about Greta from her uncle. “I heard Arles say you and your niece are going to Hope Springs. Where is that exactly?”

“Between Millersburg and Sugarcreek in Holmes County.”

“Greta mentioned she had sisters. How many are there?”

Morris folded his paper and glared at Toby. “I have four ungrateful, spiteful nieces. It’s a blessing that my brother is gone. To see his daughters turn their back on their family the way they did would have broken his heart. Greta is a shrew.”

Toby was taken aback by the harshness of his words. “I’m sorry to hear that. Greta seems like a nice woman.”

“Proverbs 31:30. ‘Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.’ I tried to teach her to fear the Lord, but she did not listen. Do not be fooled by her. Do not believe what she says about me.”

Toby fell silent, reluctant to listen to anything else Morris had to say, but the old man’s words confirmed Toby’s earlier feeling. There was more wrong between Greta and her uncle than met the eye.

Marianne tugged on Toby’s sleeve. He leaned down to hear her weak whisper, “Greta is nice. I like her.”

“I like her, too. You should rest your voice now,” he said softly.

She nodded. He sat back and stared at the door, waiting for Greta to return. Everything happened for a reason. Everything was part of God’s plan. He had a purpose in sending the cat to them. There was a reason Toby and his sister had been chosen to share a ride with Greta and her uncle. Perhaps somehow they were meant to help each other. He prayed that was true.

* * *

Greta walked along the narrow roadway in front of the animal clinic with her eyes downcast and her hands clenched. She prayed for patience. She prayed for strength. She prayed to hold forgiveness in her heart. It was wrong to stay angry and bitter. She knew that. Her inability to find true forgiveness for her uncle’s transgressions made her unworthy to be a member of the Amish faith. One more thing her uncle had taken from her.

No, she couldn’t think that way.

If only her sisters were here to counsel her. She needed them now as she had always needed them. Their loving presence in her life was a true gift from God. Without each other, she had no idea how they would have endured life with their uncle.

She stopped and raised her face to the sky. “I thank You for Your mercy, Lord. Please help me. Curb my tongue so I don’t say spiteful things to him. Make me remember that he is ill and alone. Let me find the compassion to make his final days comfortable. You alone are the judge of mankind, for only You can see into our hearts. I don’t want to harbor this ill will inside me, Lord. Cast it out. Please, cast it out.”

Praying eased her agitation and helped her regain a measure of calm. She needed to remember that she was never alone. God was with her, watching her, holding her up as she dealt with every trial in her life, not just her uncle.

Although her faith in God had wavered during her years with Morris, the past few months in her grandfather’s loving home, and her acceptance by the caring community of Hope Springs, had restored and strengthened that faith. She would not doubt again, no matter how difficult life became.