Huckleberry Christmas (21 page)

With sudden insight, Beth knew what to do. Her spirit soared to the ceiling, and she laughed out loud at the pure joy of God’s tender mercies.

Isaac eyed her suspiciously. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m so happy.” The look on Isaac’s face could have curdled cottage cheese. Trying to subdue her mirth for Isaac’s sake, she pried her hand from his and laid an affectionate kiss on Treva’s forehead. She’d never done that before. The corners of Treva’s mouth drooped glumly while the irritation on Isaac’s face grew.

“I love you, Mamm Hostetler,” she said and meant it. “I don’t want you to worry. All things work together for good to those who love God. All things.” Feeling as if she’d shrugged a heavy load off her shoulders, she said, “And I really believe that now.”

Mammi had been right. She had become a better person, a stronger person, because of Amos. Her sorrows had forced her to seek God. She lifted Toby from the sofa. “I must put Toby to bed now.”

She was halfway out the door before Isaac recovered from his surprise enough to speak. “Beth, what do you say? About you and me?”

She tried to let him down easy, even though he had never wanted to accept her refusal, subtle or blunt. “You must not expect it, Isaac.”

He clenched his teeth as the anger that came naturally to him flared in his face. “You’re so ungrateful, Beth. After all we’ve done for you, and you’re still thinking of what you can get out of us. We let you stay in the dawdi house without paying rent. I painted your walls blue.”

Treva reached out and squeezed Isaac’s wrist. “Hold your tongue, Isaac. She said everything would work out for us.”

Isaac’s rage simmered to irritation as he pursed his lips and knitted his brows together. “Think about it, Beth. Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

Beth gave him a tired, indulgent smile. Too exhausted to argue with him tonight, she said, “I will give you an answer next week.”

And then she’d go home for good.

Beth lit the red pillar candle on the table and adjusted the greenery centerpiece. On Saturday, the day after she and Toby had arrived in Nappanee, she had bundled Toby in his snowsuit and taken him with her to cut pine boughs and other greenery for the house. She had dragged him on the sled behind her, and he had pointed out every bird and squirrel he saw. Four-footed animals were “dogs” or “dahs,” as Toby said it, and he had started referring to birds as “up-up.” She had cut enough pine boughs to decorate the dawdi house as well as the main house.

Beth’s mamm draped pine branches over the doorframes and around the banisters every Christmas. The smells of pine and cinnamon always reminded Beth of Christmastime spent with her family, making cookies, exchanging gifts, and attending school Christmas programs.

Treva’s house had needed a little sprucing up, and when Beth hung her boughs on Saturday afternoon, she’d hoped the smell of fresh pine would invoke good memories for Treva and inspire thoughts of the babe in a manger who had come to save His people. Perhaps the festive touches would help Treva feel more kindly towards the whole world. If there was anything the Hostetler house needed, it was some Christmas cheer.

Now, Beth glanced at the bird clock in her little kitchen in the dawdi house. She had timed Toby’s nap so that he would be asleep when Amos’s sisters came. They should be here any minute. Of course, Martha never showed up on time for anything, and all three of the sisters had acted a little suspicious when Beth had invited them to a Monday afternoon Christmas tea.

She pulled the miniature muffins out of the oven and tapped the top of one with her finger. They seemed done. She turned the tin upside-down, and the muffins tumbled into a wicker basket lined with a red napkin.

Today, everything had to be perfect. She did not want to give Amos’s sisters an opportunity to find fault with anything. She hoped for their cooperation, not their resistance. Beth lined the teacups on the counter next to the stove and placed an herbal tea bag in each one. She’d chosen peppermint. It was Christmassy and had the added benefit of clearing out the lungs if anyone had a cold.

It had been a trick to convince Isaac to take her to the store this morning, but he was still on his best behavior and more easily persuaded than usual. She was able to buy everything she needed with the sewing money she’d brought with her. Her purchases had eaten up all her Christmas budget, but that didn’t matter. The sisters had to be convinced of her resolve, and the Christmas tea seemed a wonderful-gute way to get their attention.

Beth clasped her hands together and surveyed the table. A small bowl of raspberry jam and a plate of store-bought cranberry scones sat on one side of the candle and a plate of colorful fruit sat on the other. A charming pat of butter waited on each plate, and she had accented the white stoneware with red and green plaid napkins.

She remembered the day Tyler had proposed to her. He’d worked so hard with those carefully folded napkins and the sunflower in a vase. It was a nice gesture, even if she’d practically snarled at him like a dog protecting its territory. She smiled at the memory. Tyler had been thrown completely off-kilter. She liked that she had the power to do that to him.

Even though she’d been expecting it, Beth jumped when she heard the knock. She hurried to the door and found Susannah and Priscilla standing on her porch.

The eldest Hostetler sibling, Susannah, was thirty-three years old and had four children. She often wore a sensible frown that had given rise to premature wrinkles around her mouth. Susannah was tall and thin but sturdy all the same, like a woman who worked hard all day but didn’t have much time to spare in eating. Her dark auburn hair accented the myriad freckles that covered her face.

Priscilla, the sister just older than Amos and Isaac, stood almost six inches shorter than Susannah. Over the four years Beth had known her, Priscilla smiled less and less often. She’d given birth to a daughter seven years ago and hadn’t been able to conceive again. Beth studied Priscilla’s face. Bitterness had taken root there like a weed. She took pity on her sister-in-law because she understood all too well how bitterness could choke faith.

Priscilla and Susannah regarded Beth suspiciously, as if she were going to pounce on them the minute they entered her kitchen. “Cum reu,” Beth said. “I’m very glad you could make it.”

Amos’s sisters practically tiptoed into the room.

“Oh, the table looks very nice,” Susannah said. She’d always been kind, even though she kept herself fairly detached from the family.

“Jah,” Priscilla said, remembering her manners. “Like a Christmas card.”

The teakettle whistled, and Beth hurried to the stove. “Please sit down. I’ll bring the tea over.”

The two sisters looked at the chairs as if deciding where to sit was the most taxing thing they’d done all day. Oh dear, softening them up would be more difficult than Beth had imagined.

They heard a tap on the door, and Martha let herself in before Beth even had a chance to set down the teakettle.

Beth thought that Martha might have been beautiful once. Her strawberry-blond hair and shocking blue eyes combined with her silky skin for a look that should have turned the boys’ heads. But her eyes often flashed with scorn, and she pursed her lips as if she always had a bad taste in her mouth. She had an air about her that made Beth feel she was constantly being judged and found wanting.

Beth’s heart did a little flip, and she squared her shoulders. She resolved not to let Martha intimidate her today.

“Martha, it’s so gute to see you.” She placed the teacups on the table. “Please, everybody, come and sit.”

“This better not take too long,” Martha said, sliding into the chair opposite Beth. “Danny was none too happy about staying with the kinner while I went off to tea.”

“Denki for coming,” Beth said. “I know how busy everyone is this time of year.”

They said a silent prayer. Beth forgot to ask a blessing on her food. She had other, more pressing needs.

After praying, the three sisters lifted their heads and stared at Beth. She picked up the basket. “Would everyone like a muffin?”

Martha examined her knife and then polished it against her sleeve. “Are they good? You never did know how to cook well. Amos used to sneak to my house whenever we had fried chicken. He said he was losing weight being married to you.”

Beth bit her lip and let the pain subside. She tried not to give Amos’s memory the power to hurt her. She wanted to be stronger than that—at least someday.

Susannah cleared her throat and gave Martha a pointedly irritated look. Then she smiled at Beth. “This is so nice, Beth.”

Priscilla snickered. “Nice without Mamm.”

Susannah did her best to make up for both of her sisters’ behavior. “We’re so glad you’re back, Beth. We’ve missed you.”

“You ran off so fast, we didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye,” Priscilla added.

Martha smirked. “All those old men chased her away. They sure came courting once Amos died.”

Priscilla spread jam on her muffin. “You should have married Isaac. Then you wouldn’t have needed to run off. We feared you’d gone for good, but Isaac assured me you’d come back once you heard about Mamm’s cancer.”

“Jah,” said Susannah. “You always took such gute care of Mamm, even though she didn’t have a nice thing to say to you. You have a tender heart to agree to come back and care for her again.”

Priscilla nodded, a little too eagerly. “We appreciate that you would put up with her.”

“You’re an answer to our prayers,” Susannah said. She took a sip of her tea. “Peppermint. I love peppermint.”

Beth steeled herself against their reaction to what she would say next. “You prayed that I would come back so that none of you would have to take care of her.”

All three sisters froze and stared at Beth as if she had eaten her napkin.

She stared right back. “Isn’t that the truth?”

Susannah pursed her lips and gazed at her plate. Martha propped her chin in her hand and glared in Beth’s direction.

Seeing that her sisters weren’t inclined to say anything, Priscilla defended herself. “I can’t care for Mamm. I have my own family, and Perry’s sewing machine business is just getting off the ground. I help him keep his books.”

Beth shouldn’t have put them on the defensive. That wasn’t how she wanted to win their cooperation. She smiled. “That is wonderful about Perry’s business. I love sewing machines. I too have a family to care for and a business to run.”

Martha shook her finger as if scolding a child. “You’re making that up. You don’t have any way to support yourself. You care for Mamm, and she pays for a roof over your head and food on your table.”

“You should marry Isaac,” Susannah said, sincerely trying to be helpful. “It’s plain he loves you. Then you wouldn’t feel like you’re a burden on anyone.”

Priscilla raised her eyebrows. “That’s a gute idea. You can’t just live here for free.”

Beth sighed in exasperation. “I don’t want to live here for free. I don’t want to live here at all. I want to go back to Wisconsin, where people love me.”

Another prolonged silence.

“We love you,” Susannah murmured, not all that convincingly.

Beth didn’t want them to feel defensive or guilty. “It’s all right. I’m not upset about it anymore. We don’t really know each other. After I married Amos, the three of you didn’t come around very often.”

“Because Amos and Isaac are Mamm’s favorites. She doesn’t want to see us,” said Martha. “And we don’t want to see her. She’s grumpy and bitter, and we can’t stand her.” Beth wondered if Martha ever looked in the mirror.

“I know how she is,” Beth said. “I took care of her for a whole year.”

Susannah dunked her tea bag up and down in her water. “We thought you didn’t mind.”

Beth laid a hand over Susannah’s forearm. “You never asked.”

“But . . . but you were married to Amos,” Priscilla protested, as if this were the most convincing argument of all.

Martha wasn’t above using guilt as a weapon. “Amos was Mamm’s favorite. It’s your Christian duty to take care of her now that Amos is gone.”

Beth met Martha’s eyes with a determined gaze. “Why isn’t it yours?”

The tea turned cold and the muffins sat uneaten. At this point, none of the sisters would look Beth in the eye.

Beth broke the silence. “She is your mother. The woman who gave you life.”

“She gave Amos life too,” Priscilla said weakly.

Beth’s throat constricted when she thought of Tyler. “There is a boy in Wisconsin,” she whispered. Her relationship with Tyler felt too precious to share with her sisters-in-law, but she wanted them to know. “I love him. He is everything that Amos wasn’t. Do you understand how unhappy I was here before and after Amos died?”

Susannah finally quit studying her plate and looked Beth in the eye. “Amos was a hard man.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for how he treated you. And for how Mamm treated you.”

The tears sneaked up on Beth. “I want to be happy again, and I believe that God wants me to be happy. Will you begrudge me that?”

The lines deepened around Martha’s eyes, but she wasn’t scowling anymore. Priscilla looked genuinely worried, as if she were being forced to surrender the best years of her life.

Susannah breathed out a long sigh as if resigned to her fate. “Mamm has made herself so unpleasant, none of us want to take care of her.”

Martha crossed her arms over her chest. “She’s made her bed. We should make her lie in it.”

“She is our
mater
,” Susannah said. “The good Lord has commanded us to honor her.”

Priscilla’s high-pitched voice confirmed her distress. “But I have Rosie to take care of and all the sewing machines.”

Beth took Priscilla’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “I have been doing a lot of praying about this, and I believe your mamm does not want to be a burden to anyone.”

“She likes to complain enough about it.”

“Yes, she wants to be a burden,” Martha insisted. “When she suffers, she thinks everyone else should suffer with her.”

“Do you remember what the good Samaritan did when he found the man beaten alongside the road?” Beth asked. “He bound up his wounds, put him on his own beast, and took him to an inn. But the Samaritan did not stay at the inn. The next day, he went on his way and paid the host at the inn to care for the injured man.”

“So, you’re saying we should pay someone to care for Mamm?”

“I’m saying that there are many ways to make sure Mamm gets the care she needs, and we don’t have to feel guilty because we look at other options.” She turned to Priscilla. “You wouldn’t want guilt to be the reason your daughter cares for you when you get older, would you?”

“Nae.”

“I want to help her,” Beth said. “Will you help me?”

Priscilla nodded.

“Yes,” Susannah said. “Of course.”

“I’ll help,” Martha said. “But not cheerfully.”

“We wouldn’t have expected that,” Susannah said.

Feeling generous, Beth served each of her sisters-in-law a scone. She gave Martha two scones.

“Denki,” Beth said. “I have a plan.”