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) (19 page)

John 14:6.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

Chapter 2
.

Martha paused outside the café, staring at the hand written
Help Wanted
sign in the window.

Help Wanted!

Short order cook to start immediately.

Must be well presented, qualified and experienced.

Apply within.

No timewasters need apply
.

Martha could barely contain herself with excitement: here, finally, a job she could apply for. She was an excellent cook, used to preparing large amounts of food. She was well qualified, to be sure, and most certainly experienced, with all the cooking she had done for as long as she could remember.

Martha peered through the windows, trying to get a sense of the café. It appeared small, and the tables and chairs were all of wood. There were metal stools alongside a bar for the coffees. Martha's heart at once sank.
I'm not a barista
, she thought, chewing her lip. Still, the advertisement had not mentioned barista duties, so Martha thought there would be no harm in applying. What's the worst that could happen?

And so, with a deep breath to steady her nerves, and a silent prayer to
Gott
to ask for His blessing, Martha walked out of the bright sunlight and into the dim brown and green interior of the little café. A barista pointed her in the direction of a door at the back of the café, but as soon as she reached it, a smiling and plump woman burst out carrying two plates of omelets which she at once handed over to the waitress and then looked up at Martha.

"I'm here about the job," Martha said, noticing the woman's eyes light up at her words.

"Come with me."

The woman ushered Martha into a back room which appeared to double as a store room and a little office. "I'm Ava, and my husband Logan and I run this store. Our cook didn’t show up for work this morning and we just found out that she's getting a divorce and moving interstate." Ava sighed. "We had no idea, so it's caused us quite some trouble. You're qualified and experienced?"

Martha nodded.

Ava clasped her hands together in delight. "Can you start at once?"

Martha nodded again. "Yes, I can start right now. I can’t make coffee though," she said, worried about the consequences of that admission.

Ava waved her hand at her. "No matter, we have baristas; it’s a cook we don't have now. I need a cook, not a barista or a waitress. Now, we do breakfasts and lunches: sandwiches, pancakes, crepes, Belgian Waffles, eggs, omelets. Oh, can you do chicken corn chowder soup? What about creamed chipped beef or scrapple?"

"Oh, yes, I do those all the time," Martha said.

Ava beamed, and continued. "We also go through a lot of cakes and pies, and we have a strong passing tourist trade. Are you experienced with red velvet cake, pumpkin pie, apple dumplings, whoopie pies and Shoo-fly pies?"

"Yes, I make them all the time," Martha said, sending a quick prayer of thanks to
Gott
for finding her what seemed like the ideal position.
And Sheryl had said that a job would be almost impossible to find
, she thought.

Ava stood up and rustled through a filing cabinet. "All right then. I'll give you a trial. Five days a week, weekdays only. Start is seventy thirty in the morning promptly, and end is at two thirty in the afternoon. Here's a slip of paper with rates of pay, and fill out this form" - she deposited the form and a pen in front of her - "and then I'll give you an apron, unless you want to go home and change and then come back?"

Martha looked down at her plain black pants and matching black blouse that Sheryl had insisted she borrow from her to wear for job searching. "No, that will be fine; I’ll start now."

Ava nodded.  "Excellent."

Martha could scarcely believe her luck, although it wasn't luck, she reminded herself, but a blessing from
Gott
. Not only that, but her apartment was only a short walk from the café.
Gott
had truly blessed her.

After her first day at work, Martha hurried home, excited that Ava seemed pleased with her on her very first day in an actual job. She wished she could tell her
daed
, her
mudder,
and her
schweschders
, but for now her new house mate Sheryl would have to do. Martha approached the apartment building, thinking it was nothing like any building she'd been used to, with so many people living so closely together, and none of them related to each other. The old building looked somewhat tired and worn from the front, with peeling paint on the cream timber walls, but the brightly colored flower gardens certainly gave the place a cheerful appearance.

Martha was surprised that she was able to afford a room here, even a small second bedroom in a renovated apartment which likely originally had one large master bedroom and was renovated for the rental market, or so she suspected. Her bedroom was tiny, but Martha was thrilled that she had finally managed to find cheap accommodation. Sheryl said that Martha had been the only suitable person to answer the newspaper advertisement, although Martha couldn’t see how that was possible. Still, she was grateful, and this new job meant that her worries were now over. She would be able to work on her chocolate business at weekends, and even afford to set up it, at least in small stages. Plus Sheryl seemed nice, although they couldn’t be more different. Besides her bright hair, Sheryl always wore a great deal of makeup, short skirts, and had an awful lot of jewelry hanging off her.

When Martha hurried through the door and told Sheryl the happy news about her new job, Sheryl's mouth fell open. "To tell you the truth, I didn't think you'd be able to find anywhere to take you on. So, what, you're doing the cooking?"

"Yes." Martha beamed. "I don't have to make coffee, serve tables, or anything, just cook."

Sheryl nodded her approval. "That's amazing, well done. I'm surprised though, with you not qualified for anything."

Martha was puzzled. "But I'm qualified for cooking."

"You are?" Sheryl raised her eyebrows. "You have a certificate or something?"

Martha bit her lip. "Um, no, but I've done a lot of cooking for as long as I can remember."

Sheryl shrugged and handed Martha a mug of coffee. "Come and sit down. I don't mean to be a wet blanket or anything. I suppose they didn't ask for qualifications?"

Martha felt sick to the stomach. "The advertisement in the window said they wanted someone experienced and qualified, as far as I can remember." She sat down in the comfortable sofa opposite Sheryl.

"That means that they wanted you to have a certificate," Sheryl explained slowly.

Martha's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, I had no idea! What have I done?"

Sheryl waved her hands at her. "Look, don't worry about it. If they didn’t ask to see any qualifications, they won’t worry. Besides, you said they were desperate. So long as they're happy with your work, I don't think they'll care."

Martha sipped her coffee and thought for a moment. "I’ll have to tell them I don't have qualifications, though."

"Are you mad?" Sheryl's voice rose in horror. "You can't do that! You won't have a job if you do that. The main thing is that they’re happy with your work. It's not being dishonest; just don't tell them and hope they don’t ask to see any certificate or anything."

Martha nodded, and settled down to watch television with Sheryl. Her stomach was churning and her discomfort was due to several reasons. She felt she was in fact being dishonest for not declaring the fact to her employers that she had no qualifications. She had no idea that they meant a certificate when she applied, but she did know now. She also was not comfortable watching so much television with Sheryl. Martha had been brought up to be busy every minute of the day, and sitting down doing nothing made her uneasy. Television had been a big novelty for the first few days, but now it just seemed a complete waste of time.

The reality of the
Englisch
world was just starting to sink in. On the one hand, it was different and exciting, but on the other hand, the
Englischers
seemed to waste a lot of time. On the downside, there was no community help or support. There was no going down to the barn to collect eggs or to milk the goat; one went to a store and bought such items. Sheryl certainly did not make her own clothes, and seemed to own more clothes than Martha had seen collectively in her lifetime. For her dinner, Sheryl always put packets of food in a microwave and they were cooked incredibly quickly. Martha did not think she would ever be able to use the microwave, although she adapted quickly to the electric oven.

Martha closed her eyes tightly during a particularly violent scene in
Game of Thrones
and sighed aloud.
The Englischers sure are funny
, she thought.
They are in such a hurry all the time, but then they sit down for hours and watch TV and do nothing
.

Romans 10:8-9.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Chapter 3
.

“Oh no, not again.” Martha arrived with the bucket just in time. She placed the bucket on the floor under Esther’s face, and held back Esther’s hair. “That was a close one.”

Esther leaned her head back into the pillow.

“I brought a wet wash cloth for your head,” Martha added.

“
Denki
.” Esther’s reply was breathless.

Martha arranged the cool cotton wash cloth on her
schweschder’s
head and walked to the window. From the second story window she could see much of the Hostetlers’ farm. There was no sign of Moses.

Martha wondered why Esther was suffering so poorly with morning sickness when Hannah had no morning sickness at all – it hardly seemed fair. At hearing her
schweschder
groan she turned around. “Do you want something, Esther?”

“
Nee
, I just don’t want to feel sick anymore.”

Martha thought being that sick day after day would be awful, but surely it would be all worth it in the end to have a
boppli
to hold in her arms. Martha shrugged. She dare not offer Esther any food; she had done that once already with disastrous results. Jacob had warned her never to mention food until lunch time and never in the morning.

Esther stirred again. “
Denki
for coming to look after me, Martha.”

“I’m glad to be of help.” Martha was indeed glad to be of help to Esther, but she was frustrated that she could not do any work on her business while she was away looking after Esther. There were so many things that she should have been doing. She had to return calls to the wholesaler to get quotes for buying her ingredients in bulk and then there were the packaging people to deal with. She had tracked down a place in California that made the foils that she wanted for her cream centers. There were so many loose ends and so many things to do. She took a deep breath which was bordering on a sigh and sat on Esther’s bed, leaning over her to straighten the wash cloth that was threatening to slip off Esther’s face.

“That’s fine, just leave it. I like it over my eyes.” Esther’s voice was weak.

Martha knew that morning sickness was a normal part of pregnancy for many women, but she couldn’t help but worry if the baby was all right.
How will the baby get nutrients if Esther is hardly eating?
she thought.
I hope that I never have morning sickness
. It was hard for Martha to see Esther so sick. It brought back bad memories of when they had the buggy accident and all her
schweschders
were injured. That was a hard time for the whole
familye
and it was the cause of their
mudder
disliking the Hostetlers, but now, with Hannah having had twins, her
mudder
had made her peace with her in-laws, the Hostetlers.

Martha smiled as she recalled how Noah and Hannah had finally gotten married and now had two beautiful
bopplis
, a boy and a girl.

Esther's voice broke into her daydreaming. “You don’t have to sit here with me on the bed, Martha.”

“Okay, I’ll go and get the midday meal ready for when Jacob comes home.”

As soon as the word
meal
came out of Martha’s mouth, she knew she had said the word she was warned never to say – and the effect was instant.

Esther flung the wash cloth from her head and lowered her head over the bucket – again.

“I’m sorry,” Martha said in a very small voice.

Once Esther’s head was back on the pillow again, Martha said, “I’ll go now.”

Esther did not reply and Martha tiptoed out the door.

As soon as Martha entered Esther’s kitchen, she immediately felt at home. The kitchen was large and very much like the one in which she had been raised. The kitchen in Sheryl's apartment was far smaller.

There were three loaves of bread, which Jacob said had been brought over this morning freshly baked by his
mudder
, Katie Hostetler. Mrs. Hostetler was delighted to have two
kinskinner
already, with Hannah's twins, and with another on the way thanks to Esther. She had promised to bring over some beef stew the following day. Mrs. Hostetler was a kindly woman, and even more sympathetic as she herself had experienced severe morning sickness when carrying all four of her
sohns
.

Martha decided to make shoo-fly pies, and as there were plenty of apples, Martha thought she'd also make apple pies, and lots of
lattwaerig
, sweet, creamy, apple butter which would then be on hand for Jacob and Esther to spread on bread.

“How is she, Martha?”

Martha looked up to see Jacob standing in the doorway, his face white and drawn, and full of concern. “She’s sleeping now. Last time I checked on her, she said that the nausea had gone and she was exhausted.”

Jacob's face filled with relief. “
Jah
, the nausea seems to go around noon. The
doktor
said that morning sickness can last all day and night, and that the term 'morning sickness' is somewhat of a misnomer, but in Esther's case, it actually does only last the morning. That said, sometimes it does come in another wave around dinner time if she smells meat cooking.”

Martha immediately swung around to the
schnitz und knepp
on the stove. “Oh dear, I have a lot of pork in with the dried apples and dumplings.”

Jacob waved her concerns aside. “That should be okay; there’s about five or so hours in the afternoon when she's fine.”

“Thank goodness. So you must be really excited and looking forward to the
boppli
.”

Jacob's face lighted up. “
Jah
, we’re so blessed to be having a
boppli
so soon after we married. I'm so worried about Esther being sick, but
the doktor
said it happens to lots of women. Even the midwife said she'd had very bad morning sickness herself with all her
kinner
.” Jacob pulled out a chair from the dining table in the kitchen and sat down. “So how are you going, Martha?”

Martha was enjoying her busy day with Esther because she didn’t have time to think of her own problems. Although her new job meant that she didn’t have to think about trying to find a new place to live and she didn’t have to think about her savings getting lower and lower, she felt somewhat alone in the strange and bustling world of the
Englischers
. “I’m fine.” Martha laughed, but even she was aware that it was not joyous laughter; it was more of a forced cackle. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” she repeated, not too convincingly.

“You sure now? I know it can’t be easy in the
Englisch
world by yourself with no one to rely on when you’re used to having the community around.”

“
Jah
, I’m noticing now that I’ve left, just how
gut
it is to have the community; they’re like one big
familye
.”

Jacob smiled at her, but his face looked worn and worried. “If you need anything at all - anything, you know Esther and I are here to help you, don’t you?”

“
Jah
,
denki
, Jacob.”

Jacob gave the table a slap with his hand. “Now I’d better go and see how my
fraa
is doing.”

“Lunch won’t be long. Sorry I didn’t have it ready in time.”

“You’re doing a
wunderbaar
job, Martha.”

Martha smiled to herself as Jacob hurried up the stairs to see Esther.
They are truly a gut match
, she thought.
Esther is very blessed
.

Both her
schweschders
had been blessed to marry such
wunderbaar
menner
and they were both Hostetlers, and
bruders
at that. Her friend, Mary, had teased her that she would marry another of the Hostetler boys. Martha considered Mary a little cruel, and at any rate, her
mudder
might not be happy if another of her
dochders
married a Hostetler. Her
mudder
did appear to be fine with the Hostetler
familye
now, and Martha did not want to do anything to jeopardize that.

Martha always knew she would get married some day, but getting married and being sick in a bed like Esther was for most of the day, was not something she wanted to do anytime soon. Besides, unlike her
schweschders
, she had career goals. Her chocolate business was going to become a global brand; she was sure of that. Then after she achieved success, she would think of marriage and
bopplis
, but not before then.

As Martha stirred the gravy on the gas stove, she compared the Amish life to the
Englisch
life she’d known so far. The
Englisch
life was fast paced and exciting, whereas the Amish life was slow, and seemed to be the same everyday. Martha was glad to have some color in her life at last.

Martha served the mashed potatoes with noodles and vegetables on the table and just as she had laid it all out, Jacob came down the stairs.

“That was
gut
timing; it’s ready.”

“
Denki
, Martha.”

“Is Esther well enough to eat?”

Jacob shrugged. “She said she would try to eat a little.
Mamm
says it’s best if she tries to eat.”

“Excellent, I’ll take some up to her.”

As Jacob ate his food, Martha fixed Esther some food on a tray.

“Lemonade too – she likes lemonade," Jacob said. "There’s some in the cooler.”

“Oh
gut
, she needs to keep her fluids up. She said that’s what the midwife told her.” Martha poured the lemonade into a glass, placed it carefully on the tray with the food and carried it upstairs.

“How are you now?”

Esther was sitting up a little higher propped up by pillows. “Oh, I’m sorry to be such a bother. This reminds me when we were all hurt from that buggy accident.”

Martha placed the tray carefully on her lap and placed the lemonade on the nightstand. “I know.” Martha giggled. “I was just thinking that myself.”

“I don’t like to be a bother.”

“Nonsense, it’s no bother at all. Besides you might come and help me if I am like this in a few years.”

Esther smiled and said, “Of course I will.”

Martha did not add that it would be a great many more years before she would have
bopplis
. She was sure that she was the only girl in the community who did not want lots of
bopplis
.
Nee
, she was a career woman and two
bopplis
were as many as she wanted. She might even have an
Englisch
husband and he would definitely not be a Hostetler. Martha wanted to chuckle at her thoughts, but held her laughter in.

Moses Hostetler was a
gut
friend and if she wanted to marry an Amish
mann
, he would make a fine husband, but Martha wanted more out of life than any other Amish girl she knew.

“Is Jacob still here?” Esther asked.

“
Jah
, he’s downstairs eating.” Martha picked up the cold wash cloth off the bed to take downstairs. “Do you want me to go get him?”

“
Nee
, he’ll come and see me before he goes back to work.”

Martha nodded. “Do you want me to stay for a few days?”

“
Nee
, I’ve got
Mamm
coming tomorrow. She's staying until I feel better.
Mamm
said that she had morning sickness just like I have, and when she got to fourteen weeks - bam! She woke up one morning and it was gone, and never came back. It was like that with all four of us, although
Mamm
said her morning sickness wasn't as bad as mine.”

"I didn’t know that." Martha was surprised to hear. Their
mudder
rarely talked about anything personal. Nevertheless, Martha was relieved, relieved that her
mudder
was going to look after Esther and relieved that she could finally get back to the huge pile of work that was waiting for her. She was even looking forward to seeing Gary Wright.