An Amish Christmas Quilt (2 page)

And what'll you do with them? Probably not a
gut
idea for them to sit in the waiting room while their
mamm
cries out with her contractions. And if the cats jumped out of the buggy and ran off—

Seth stepped outside and stopped in his tracks. Despite not being tied, the Belgian stood obediently at the hitching post. No distressed whinnies came from the trailer. At one side of the surrey, the boy and his sister were gazing at him, each of them holding a cat, under the watchful eye of the black and white dog. He'd heard border collies were herders and organizers, and he was now a believer. A very grateful believer.

He smiled at the kids, stooping to their level. “Does the Aunt Miriam you know own a bakery?” he asked on a hunch.

Their eyes lit up. “
Jah!
” the little girl said with a squeal. “I want a snickerdoodle!”

“And she makes really
gut
chocolate pie, too—that's what I had at her wedding,” the boy replied. Then his brow furrowed. “Is this Willow Ridge?”

Bingo! Thank You, Lord!
Seth thought as his smile widened. “It is, and Miriam's café is right down the road. Shall we go there, so she'll know you and your
mamm
are in town?”

“She's not our—”

“Button it up, Sol!” his sister blurted as she scrambled back into the buggy. “You didn't even know we was in the right town! And I'm too starvin' to care!”

After the kids put the cats back into their box, Seth slipped into the driver's seat. He was relieved to be delivering these kids to someone who'd know who they were . . . and what to do with them. Sol coaxed the dog into the back, and as they rolled onto the blacktop, the
clip-clop, clip-clop
of the Belgian's sturdy hooves steadied Seth's pulse. He could settle the kids at a table, let Miriam fuss over them, leave money for their lunch, and then be on his way back to the shop. By now, Aaron and Micah were probably wondering where he was and why he'd left the shop door wide open.

Seth soon realized his plan wasn't going to work out that way. When the kids burst through the door of the Sweet Seasons and spotted Miriam pouring coffee, they were oblivious to the lunch crowd.

“Aunt Miriam!” the little girl cried as she rushed between the tables.

When Miriam looked up, her eyes widened. “Lucy and Sol! I wasn't expectin' you kids so soon—and where's your
mamm
?” She set down her carafe and slipped her arms around them.

Seth squeezed between the tables as quickly as he could, nodding at the folks he knew as they ate their dinner. “She's at the clinic, havin' her baby,” he said in a low voice. “I found their buggy stopped alongside the road and—”

“Well, I'd better get myself right down there! Will ya drive me?” Miriam bustled toward the counter to set down her order pad. “Naomi, I'm off to help my niece from Bowling Green—Mose's girl, the one I told ya was comin'?”

From the cookstove in the kitchen, Seth's mother waved her off. “We'll be just fine, dearie. You go see to her—and you're takin' her, son?”

There was no way out of it now, was there? “
Jah
, tell Aaron and Micah that's where I am if they come in askin',” Seth replied.

“But I want pie!” Sol piped up. “Chocolate pie!”

“I'm starvin'! “ Lucy joined in as both kids gazed up at Miriam. “We left so early we didn't hardly have nothin' to eat.”

Seth smiled. Miriam Hooley considered it her mission to feed everyone she met, and her expression said she wasn't about to ignore these pleading children.

“Truth be told, it might be best if you kids had your lunch while I see how that baby's comin' along,” Miriam responded as she glanced at Seth over their heads.

He nodded, even as he suspected what was coming next.

“Let's sit ya right here at this table,” she said, leading them toward an empty one near the kitchen doorway. “Seth can have his lunch with ya, and then ya can find Ben and get settled in at our place. By then I'm thinkin' you'll have a baby sister or brother.”

“
Please
, not another girl,” Sol said with a roll of his eyes.

Seth chuckled as he pulled out a chair for Lucy. “I felt the same way when my little sister Hannah was born,” he said. “We had three boys who were getting along just fine, and then everything changed with a sister. But she turned out to be the best sister ever,” he added as he smiled at Lucy.

Sol considered what Seth had said, but didn't comment as he took his place at the table. Instead, the boy looked at Miriam. “So, how long do we have to stay here with
him
?” he asked as he pointed at Seth. “We've got our cats and Rowdy in the rig, and our miniature pony, Clarabelle, in the trailer.”

“
Jah
, we couldn't leave 'em at the farm all by theirselves,” Lucy said with an emphatic nod.

Seth took his seat. He wasn't sure how to respond to Sol, who had a chip on his shoulder about the size of his head. When Miriam glanced at Seth, as though asking if there was a problem she hadn't yet heard about, he shrugged. “I think Rowdy'll keep watch over the cats while we eat, and the horses'll be fine,” he replied as he reached for a laminated menu.

“You'll have to ask Ben about makin' a place in the barn for the pets,” Miriam said, as though she hadn't expected such a menagerie to arrive with this family. “I'll go check on your
mamm
now, and when I get back—”

“She's not our
mamm
,” Sol muttered. “I wish people would stop—”

Before Sol could utter another word, Miriam clapped her hands on either side of his face. The boy had no choice but to look her in the eye.

“
You
, young fella, had better change your tune,” Miriam said in a low, no-nonsense tone. “I know ya miss your
dat
, and I know you've been missin' your
mamm
even longer. But God's made sure ya had another parent to take care of ya—not to mention bringin' Seth to your rig to look after ya today,” she added with a rise of her eyebrows. “You're gonna be stayin' with Ben and me, and at our house we have an attitude of gratitude. I'll be askin' Seth how ya behaved while I was gone, and I'll hear a
gut
report, ain't so?”

Sol nodded reluctantly. When Miriam released him, he looked down at his lap.

“Order anything ya want for lunch,” Miriam said in a lighter tone, smiling gently at Lucy. “You kids've had a long trip today. Ya must be real tired. I'll see ya at the house—and before I go to the clinic, I'll tell Ben you're here.”

The kids watched Miriam stop in the kitchen to talk with Naomi for a moment before she went out the back kitchen door. When they looked at Seth again, he smiled and pointed to the menu. “They make really
gut
hamburgers here, or ya could have grilled cheese—or we can see what's on the buffet,” he said, pointing toward the steam table.

Sol and Lucy seemed frozen in place, looking at him as though they'd forgotten how to talk. It was the same expression they'd worn in the rig when he'd first gotten in. Was he really so scary? Or were these kids just tired and shy?

Seth hoped Ben Hooley would come sooner rather than later, or he and these two kids might be sitting here for a long, long while. Miriam's daughter, Rhoda, was waiting tables and seemed to sense his desperation—and by the time she'd coaxed the kids' orders from them, Ben showed up. He was a fellow who could talk to anybody, and as he engaged Lucy and Sol in chatter about their animals, relief washed over Seth. He really should be getting back to the shop....

And yet, something compelled him to stop by the clinic on his way back to work. Perhaps it was the memory of the young woman's dead weight in his arms, her utter helplessness as she slumped unconscious in the rig while her kids and their pets had no idea where they were or what to do. When he entered the clinic, Seth was glad no one was sitting in the lobby, for the heart-rending cries coming from the exam room made the hairs on his neck prickle. How could one slender, weak body endure such wrenching pain?

He didn't realize he was staring at the doorway when Miriam peeked out of it. “Seth!” she said in an urgent whisper. “Come hold her shoulders—”

Before he could refuse, Miriam was gripping his hand, leading him into the little room.

“Mary's havin' trouble—too weak to push much. If you'll prop her up from behind, I think we can get this wee one born.”

Seth's objections and fear stuck in his throat. It was highly improper for him, an unmarried man, to be in this room while someone else's wife was having a baby, but when Andy Leitner tented a sheet over the girl's bent knees, he didn't argue.

“Wash your hands, and then if you'll sit behind her—hold her at a better angle,” Andy instructed, “maybe we won't have to use forceps or do a C-section. This is Mary's first child, and she's awfully small.”

Seth quickly did as he was told. He mounted the table so he could straddle it, and when the young woman was settled against his chest, he again wondered what he'd gotten himself into. Mary was conscious but weak, exhausted from the stress of the day's drive, so the least he could do was sit behind her and put his height and bulk to use. She felt so tiny, like his sister Hannah when she'd been a kid—

Mary sucked in her breath, seeming to gather herself for another effort. Her shoulders fit easily between Seth's and with her head angled to one side, she seemed to be offering up her neck for him to kiss it, or—

“Give a good push now, Mary,” Andy instructed in a calm voice. “The baby's head's right here and—”

“
Jah
, we're waitin' to catch this wee one,” Miriam encouraged her. “Give us a
gut
, big push—harder now—”

Seth found himself mentally pushing with Mary, gently grasping her forearms as her body tensed with an effort he could only imagine. It was a good thing God had made childbearing a female function, because he was quite certain he couldn't endure what this waif was going through.

With a gasp, Mary strained and pushed back against his chest. Andy and Miriam were intent on whatever was happening on their side of the sheet, and then a startled little wail filled the room.

“And here he is, a beautiful little boy!” Andy exclaimed. “While Miriam bathes him, I'll stitch you up, Mary, and then you can hold him. You did a fine job.”

But Mary had gone limp in Seth's arms. Considering the size of the blood-smeared infant Miriam was carrying to the countertop, he wondered how the baby had made its way through such a slender young woman. Until now he hadn't realized what a harrowing experience giving birth must be—especially for a first-time mother.

Seth sat patiently, silently coaxing Mary to breathe with him . . . holding her while Andy repaired the damage done to her body. But who would fix the other things that had obviously gone wrong in this poor woman's life? If Lucy and Sol's
dat
had died, how was Mary going to support this little family?

“What do you think?” Miriam asked as she walked up beside him. “He looks to be a fine, healthy little fella, and there's no doubt he's Elmer Kauffman's boy. Got his
dat
's long face and square chin.”

Seth's breath caught. The baby was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen, with a wrinkled face and red skin—
but that's all right, because he's Elmer Kauffman's boy. Nobody you have to be concerned about.

And yet Seth's heart thumped in his chest. “He looks fat and sassy. A lot better than his poor
mamm
does.” His voice sounded funny and tight, and he couldn't seem to look away from the little balled fists and the tiny rosebud mouth that opened and shut.

“Mary'll come around,” Miriam said softly. “She's my brother Mose's daughter, from Bowling Green. Lost her Elmer to a fire in his sawmill a month ago, and was wantin' a change of scenery, plus folks to help when the baby came,” she explained. “Her parents weren't wild about Mary leavin' town, in her condition—just like they weren't wild about her hitchin' up with Elmer and his two kids so soon after Elmer's wife passed.”

“Ah. Family squabbles,” Seth murmured.

“
Jah
, you said it. Mose bein' a preacher, he gets a little overbearin' when other folks don't do things the way he wants. Especially after those things don't go quite right.” Miriam touched the tip of the baby's nose with her finger, grinning. “But it's all turnin' out just fine now. God got Mary on the road with the kids somehow, and when they ran into trouble, He convinced you to check on her, Seth.
Denki
for that.”

Seth chuckled. “Their border collie was mighty insistent.”

“But Rowdy did what needed to be done. That's all the Lord asks of anybody.”

Seth tried not to read too much into what Miriam had said. She—and his mother, Naomi, her partner at the Sweet Seasons—dropped plenty of hints about him being twenty-four and single. He'd joined the church, and he'd established a successful woodworking business with his brothers. With several of his buddies getting married recently, that made him one of Willow Ridge's most eligible bachelors.