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) (27 page)

1 Corinthians 11:26.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Chapter 17
.

Rebecca was thrilled that Martha was home and followed her around like a puppy. Their
daed
was overjoyed, and even their
mudder
was seen smiling when she thought that no one was looking.

Martha, however, was overcome with guilt as she considered that she had abandoned her
familye
. She had rarely visited Esther who had been ill with morning sickness or Hannah and the twins during her
rumspringa
. How could she have stayed away from her
familye
for so long? It made no sense in hindsight. When she had expressed those feelings to Moses, he had explained that this was what
rumspringa
was for, to explore the
Englisch
world, and in most cases, that did happen away from one's
familye
. Well, Martha was home now and would be baptized. She had no intention of leaving the Amish ever again.

When Martha had first tried on
Englisch
clothes, she had thought that they had given her a sense of freedom, but now she was glad to be back in Amish clothes. They gave her a sense of security, of belonging, and what's more, no one from now on would ever again look to her outward appearance, but rather, only to what was within.

Martha had fallen back into her routine easily. She felt safe at home, surrounded by the love and care of her
familye
and the community. It contrasted starkly with the isolation she had felt in the
Englisch
world. She from time to time worried about Sarah Beachy; there had been no word from her and Martha wondered what had become of her.

Martha had awoken early, even before her
mudder
, and had put on the
kaffi
to brew. She prepared a big breakfast of fried potatoes, with bacon and eggs, and buttered the toast just as her
daed
,
mudder
, and Rebecca walked into the kitchen.

"You're up early," her
mudder
said, with clear approval in her voice, and Martha smiled.

"I'll visit Hannah this morning," she said, "if that’s okay with you,
Mamm
."

Her
mudder
nodded. "
Jah
, Rebecca can do the laundry. Hannah will be pleased to see you."

Rebecca pulled a face.

After Martha washed up, she walked to Hannah's
haus
which was on the far side of the Miller property. She waved to Hannah's husband, Noah, as he drove his buggy to the Miller farm to start his day's work as a furniture maker for Martha's
daed
.

The air was pleasant and fresh, and not filled with car fumes or other disagreeable smells. There was no sound of noise or traffic, only of birds as they went about their own morning duties. The light breeze pushed some wispy clouds along the clear blue sky, and Martha sent up a silent prayer to
Gott
that, finally, she was back where she belonged.

Hannah met Martha at the door, her face beaming, with a
boppli
on each hip. "It’s great to see you again," Martha cooed to each
boppli
, while Hannah said jokingly, "What about me?"

They both laughed. "You take Rose, and I’ll take Mason."

When Martha hesitated, as both
bopplis
looked alike to her, Hannah bobbed the hip Rose was on in the direction of Martha. Martha took the
boppli
, who held out her little chubby arms to her.

"Oh she's so cute," Martha gushed.

"You'll have a
boppli
soon, Martha."

"Stop teasing me, Hannah." Martha followed Hannah into the living room where she sat Rose on the rug next to Mason. "Twins must be such hard work."

Hannah smiled. "
Jah
, they are. There are lots and lots of diapers to wash, of course, but the two of them keep each other entertained to some degree. Anyway, would you please make us
kaffi
while I watch them?"

"Sure." Martha stood up. "Don’t you want me to help with the laundry, though?"

"Katie, Noah's
mudder
, is coming to do it for me today, but you could help me later in the week."

"Of course I will. I'm so glad to be home."

"Oh Martha, would you look out the window too and make sure Annie and Sophie aren't digging up the yard?"

"Sophie? Did you get another beagle?"

Hannah sighed. "I thought after I had the twins that Annie needed a friend, so Noah brought home a little terrier. The Yoders’ dog had puppies. Anyway, Annie and Sophie get on well, but Sophie's been quite a bit of trouble; she's always digging holes."

Yes, the Yoders themselves have been quite a bit of trouble
, Martha thought,
what with Jessie Yoder trying to push Jacob and Esther apart a while back
. She kept that opinion to herself, however, and went to fetch
kaffi
and check on the dogs.

Martha soon returned and handed Hannah a mug of
kaffi
, and reported that both dogs were behaving themselves.

"Now, Martha, tell me all about your
rumspringa
. You're the first girl in the
familye
to go on
rumspringa
- well, the only one likely to now, as I doubt Rebecca will."

Martha pulled a face. "It was exciting at first, doing something different, but it was very isolating and quite scary really. It was fun to wear the different clothes at first, but I never really got used to them."

"What's television like?"

Martha shrugged. "That was exciting too at first, but a lot of it is all the same. Plus it’s full of violence, so much so that I had to look away from the screen so many times. The
Englisch
are always in a hurry when you see them outside, but when you go into their homes, they are the opposite; they sit and watch television for hours at a time. It was strange - at least to me."

Hannah nodded. "That's what Katie said."

Martha was puzzled. "Katie? You mean Katie Hostetler? Noah's and Moses'
mudder
?"

"
Jah
."

"I didn’t know she went on
rumspringa
."

Hannah giggled. "
Jah
, and she even drove a car."

Martha joined in the laughter. "Just as well
Mamm
doesn't know, but I think with you and Esther being married to Hostetler boys,
Mamm
is better about the Hostetler
familye
now."

Hannah sipped her coffee and then propped up Mason who was lurching precariously to one side to reach a little, wooden toy. "I don't think it was just the accident, with Noah running into our buggy, that made
Mamm
a bit funny over the Hostetlers; she's always seen them as too liberal."

"True." Martha nodded. "But
Datt
is from a more liberal
familye
too, and
Mamm
married him."

Hannah chuckled again. "I didn’t say it made sense."

"Oh Hannah, there's a lot I have to tell you," Martha said, abruptly changing the subject. Martha told Hannah all about her arrest, and all about securing a contract for hand made chocolates.

Hannah listened, totally engrossed by Martha's words, murmuring in dismay, amazement, or delight from time to time, while Martha poured out the whole story. "And I didn’t want to tell anyone," Martha concluded, "because I had to keep it from
Mamm
as she would've made me come straight home, and I didn’t want to put the burden of having to keep a secret from
Mamm
on any of you."

"I had no idea," Hannah said. "Well, you sure did have an exciting
rumspringa
after all. That will be something to tell your
kinskinner
in years to come."

Martha laughed, grateful that Hannah was not annoyed with her for keeping the whole secret of her arrest from her. "I don’t even have a
boppli
yet, so
kinskinner
are a long way off."

Hannah just raised her eyebrows. "And when you do have
kinner
, how will you run your chocolate business?"

"I've thought about that," Martha said truthfully. "It would be difficult, I'm sure, when they are young, but Mrs. Hostetler has her own successful quilt store."

"
Jah
," Hannah said, "but her
sohns
are grown up."

"Perhaps it will be difficult when the
kinner
are young," Martha said, "so I might have to employ a
maidel
and train her."

"
Gut
idea, and I'll help you."

Martha beamed widely. "
Denki
, Hannah." She laughed. "Look at us; we have me married and with
kinner
already."

"It won’t be long," Hannah said, with a knowing look on her face.

Psalm 19:9-10
.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Chapter 18
.

Moses
. The name shot through Martha's imagination like a star falling to the earth. He was beautiful, but not in an obvious way; he was the type of man whose winning personality shone through everything he did, illuminating both his face and the world around him. He was tall, although well muscled, and his skin, tanned to a nut-brown, looked particularly radiant on this late summer's afternoon.

It had been two days since Martha had visited Hannah and the twins; it had been not much longer since she had decided not to join the
Englisch
world, instead to stay with Moses and raise little Hostetler
sohns
and
dochders
with the tilled earth beneath their feet, the warm sun above their heads, and their
familyes
surrounding them. Not that Martha had told Moses this just yet. Moses. Just the thought of his name made her heart leap.

"Is this box coming with us?"

Martha jumped at the sound of his voice. Since she had decided to stay Amish, she needed to spend the Saturday cleaning the apartment and donating the few
Englisch
clothes she had bought to local charities. She had roped Moses into the task, promising to buy him ice cream for lunch.

"Mark that one down for donation," replied Martha, wiping a hand against her damp brow. "Thanks again for helping out with the cleaning. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'd save money on ice cream," he replied, smiling. "That reminds me, it's almost lunch. We can finish up here in an hour or so. How about we walk down the street and get that ice cream you promised me?"

It was a pleasant afternoon. The sun gently shone down on the pair as they walked along the street toward the river, where the windows of a dozen or so shops glittered behind the rows of trees. Martha chose vanilla from the confectionery store, although Moses was more daring and had a salted caramel cone, before the pair crossed the road and settled by the river, watching small boys push wooden boats away from the shore.

It was weird to think that, in the not so distant future, her
kinner
with Moses might play near a river similar to the one she sprawled near now. She wondered if she ought to say something to Moses, but with the ice cream running down her face, and the sun starting to burn her nose, she decided to wait a minute or two. Martha liked the silence; she liked that Moses evidently liked the silence too, for he did not stay a thing even after demolishing his ice cream. After fifteen minutes, he turned his handsome smile on her.

"Are you excited to be home?"

Before she could answer his question, the rest of her ice cream slipped from the cone and landed on her dress. She quickly cleaned up the mess, but not quickly enough. Moses let out a roaring laugh.

"It's not funny," said Martha, although she smiled as well. "If I’d been wearing
Englisch
jeans, I suppose I could have washed them, and then donated them to charity. Oh well, no harm done, even though my poor ice cream is no more."

"If I had any left, I'd have shared it with you."

"You eat fast," replied Martha, vaguely. She reached up her hand and wiped a sweep of ice cream off his nose. "Looks like I'm not the only messy one. Hopefully our - "

There was an awkward silence. Martha was just about to mention their
kinner
before she caught herself; Moses had noticed something was amiss. Had he always been so observant? He did know there was something between them well before she did, so perhaps there was no harm in speaking up now; it was the brave thing to do.

"I've been thinking," said Moses, beating her to the punch. "Maybe there was a reason you decided not to become an
Englischer
. At least, I was hoping there was a reason you decided not to become an
Englischer
. I was hoping that reason was me."

The smile lit up Martha's face. "I've been wanting to talk to you, Moses. I should have said something earlier, only it was so pleasant sitting here with you, eating ice cream and watching the little boys play by the river."

"Does that mean-?" Moses took Martha's face in his hands and lightly kissed her on the lips. "Does that mean you love me as much as I love you?"

"More."

"It's not possible." He kissed her again. "My sweet Martha. It is not possible."

"It is," replied Martha, wanting to pinch herself to see if this was real, but not wanting to move away from Moses. "Just now I've been thinking about the
sohns
and
dochders
we will have."

"I've been thinking about that for years," he replied. It felt a little awkward being affectionate in full view of the
Englischers
, but Moses did not let go of Martha's face, and she did not want him to. "And years." He kissed her lightly again, and then he kissed her on the nose. "And years. What have you to say to that, Martha Miller?"

Martha kissed him now. He smelled wonderful, like soap and freshness, and though his hands were rugged from all his farm work over the years, she still loved the weight of them, the warmth of them, pressed against her cheeks. She reached up and brushed the hair out of his eyes, marveling at how bright and wide they were in the summer afternoon light. He truly was the most handsome man she had ever known, and she could not believe her luck that he was hers, all hers, forever more.

Suddenly he let go. Martha forced herself to not look unhappy. She glanced down at her hands just as he took them in her own.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, without hesitation.

The boys' mother had joined them by the river, and she cheered, on hearing the proposal. It made Martha blush, and Moses grin, and the small boys roll their eyes and pick up their boats, dragging their mother away from the young couple. Martha felt all warm at the notion of embarrassing her own
sohns
one day.

"Who would have thought it?" said Moses. "Three Miller
schweschders
married to three Hostetler
bruders
. I wonder if our parents ever considered this a possibility when we were all born?"

"I wonder," replied Martha. She stood now, keeping her hands entwined with Moses'. "We should go and finish packing up all my stuff. I'm ready to put this part of my life behind me now that I've found you. It's been an experience, though somehow not a terrible one, and it's led me to you."

"For that," he replied, "I will always be thankful." He lifted up her hands and kissed each one; it made Martha smile more than she ever could have ever thought possible.

"You know," she replied, "I never answered your question."

"And what question was that, my little love?"

"Yes." A shy smile swept over her face as they walked hand in hand back to her apartment, where boxes upon boxes awaited them both. "I am excited to be home. After all, I have come home to you."

The End

* * * * * * * *

Also available for a short time is a 99c Boxed Set of Books: Books 4 and 5 in this series.

The Amish Millers Get Married BOXED SET Books 4-5 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: The Only Way, Finding the Way)

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4. The Only Way
.

Rebecca has started work at a B&B which has opened next door to the Millers. Sarah Beachy, an Amish girl from another community, has moved in with the Miller family. Rebecca is determined not to be the fourth Miller girl to marry the fourth Hostetler brother, so why is she so upset that Sarah spends all her free time with Elijah Hostetler? How will the arrival of the mysterious Amish man, Benjamin Shetler, change their lives forever?

5. Finding The Way
. (The last book in the series.)

You might also like the
#1 Best-selling series
,
The Amish Buggy Horse
, by Ruth Hartzler.

1. Faith
.
Click here for the Kindle book
.

For years, Nettie looked after her aged mother Elma, a demanding woman who did not want any involvement with the community.

Now that her mother has died, Nettie is alone. She is regarded with suspicion by the local townspeople, and has had no visitors from her community for some years.

Nettie's buggy horse has gone lame and has had to be retired, but Nettie cannot afford a new horse. Just as Nettie is despairing about not having any means of transport, a lost horse appears in her driveway, bringing with him far-reaching consequences.

Daniel Glick is drawn to the lonely figure of Nettie, but Nettie wants to be left alone.

However, when Jebediah Sprinkler tries to force Nettie to hand over her house, Daniel springs to the rescue.

As Nettie's struggles mount, she has to decide whether to take the law into her own hands.

And what will Daniel do when he discovers the secret that Nettie is hiding from him?

2. Hope.

3. Charity.

4. Patience.

5. Kindness
.

Also by Ruth Hartzler: The
Amish Safe House
Series. (Amish Christian Romantic Suspense.)

This new series is a little different from Ruth's other books, as it has suspense as well as romance.

1:
Off The Grid
.
Click here for the Kindle book
.

Kate Briggs is a U.S. Marshal who works in WITSEC, the federal witness protection program. After an attempt on her life, her boss sends her to live in a small Amish community until the mole in the agency is found. Will Kate, who is used to the ways of the world, be convincing as a sweet Amish woman?
When a murder is committed in the community, how will Kate assist the handsome police officer heading up the case without revealing her true identity?
And will Kate be able to leave behind her English ways as she finds herself off the grid in more ways than one?

2.
In Plain View
- coming soon!

About the Author.

Ruth Hartzler's father was from generations of what people refer to as "Closed Open" or "Gospel Hall" Brethren. Ruth's mother, a Southern Baptist, had years of struggle adapting to the cultural differences, and always cut her hair, which was a continual concern to Ruth's father's family. Ruth was raised strictly Brethren and from birth attended three meetings every Sunday at the Gospel Hall, the Wednesday night meeting, and the yearly "Conference," until she left the Brethren at the age of twenty one. Ruth still has close friends in the Brethren, as well as the Amish, both groups descending from Anabaptists. Ruth's family had electricity, but not television, radio, or magazines, and they had plain cars. Make up, bright or fashionable clothes, and hair cutting were not permitted for women. Women had to wear hats in meetings (what others would call church meetings) but not elsewhere. The word "church" was never used and there were no bishops or ministers. All baptized men were able to speak (preach, or give out a hymn) spontaneously at meetings. Musical instruments were forbidden, with the exception of the traditional pump organ which was allowed only if played in the home for hymn music. Even so, singing of hymns in accompaniment was forbidden.

Ruth Hartzler is a widow with one adult child and two grandchildren. She lives alone with her Yorkshire Terrier and two cats. She is a retired middle school teacher and enjoys quilting, reading, and writing.

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Here is the link to the Kindle page for review
. Thank you!