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) (9 page)

2 Timothy 4:18.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Chapter 17
.

When Hannah drove up to the Hostetler's house, the first person she saw was Jacob, who was shocked to see her driving the buggy. He too stood there with his mouth open, speechless. She got out of the buggy and spoke to him. "Jacob, Noah's fallen into the pond and hit his head, and we’ve called for the
doktor
.
Daed
says he'll be all right, though. I've come to get your
mudder
."

Hannah held the horse while Jacob ran inside the
haus
. He quickly returned with his
mudder
, Katie Hostetler. "Hannah, you're driving the buggy!" she exclaimed. "What happened to Noah?"

"He tripped over and hit his head and fell in the pond," Hannah said breathlessly. "The
doktor
would likely be there with him by now. I've come to get you."

Katie clutched her throat. "How bad is he?"

"
Datt
says he'll be all right."

Katie nodded, and then sent Jacob to go find her husband. The two women drove back to the Millers'
haus
in silence. Despite her
daed's
words, Hannah was sick with worry about Noah.
I must tell him I've forgiven him
, she thought.

When Hannah eased the horse to a stop outside her
haus
, the
doktor
and Mr. Miller had Noah supported between them and were heading out of the
haus
toward the
doktor's
car. The
doktor
addressed Katie. "Mrs. Hostetler, Noah might have a mild concussion. I'm taking him to the hospital to be checked out, just to be on the safe side. There's no cause for alarm; this is regular in the case of a suspected concussion. Would you like to come too?"

"
Jah
, of course." Katie hurried over to Noah.

"Hannah?" he whispered.

Katie turned to the
doktor
. "Can Hannah come too?"

"Yes, of course; there's plenty of room."

Hannah looked questioningly at her parents. "
Jah
, you go, Hannah," her
daed
said. "I'll rub down Noah's horse and put him in the barn. Katie, when your husband gets here, I’ll tell him what's happened."

Katie nodded to Mr. Miller. "
Denki
, Abraham."

Mr. Miller and the
doktor
helped Noah into the back seat of the
doktor's
car and fastened his seat belt around him. Katie climbed into the front seat of the car leaving Hannah to sit in the back with Noah.

Noah leaned his head on Hannah’s shoulder and she held her breath. On the one hand, she enjoyed Noah's proximity to her, but on the other hand, she was so dreadfully worried about him. Noah reached out and took Hannah's hand. She clasped his hand, wondering if he knew what he was doing. Was this simply a side effect of the concussion?

When they reached the hospital, Noah was whisked away in a wheelchair by a bossy looking nurse. Hannah was left alone while Katie went outside to wait for her husband.

After some time, the nurse returned. "Are you Hannah Miller?"

"Yes I am."

"Noah Hostetler wants to see you. Come with me."

Hannah stood up and followed the nurse down a long, sterile corridor. "Is he okay?"

"See for yourself." The nurse smiled at her, and then opened the door to a tiny, private room.

Hannah walked through and saw Noah sitting up in a hospital bed, a bandage around his head.

"You drove the buggy," he said, smiling.

Hannah smiled and sat down on the chair next to his bed. "
Hullo
to you, too." She at once felt shy.

They sat for a moment in silence until Hannah said, "Oh I almost forgot. I forgive you, Noah."

Noah smiled at her, causing her heart to flutter wildly. "
Denki
, Hannah."

Hannah then realized that she hadn't yet asked after him. She still felt like she was in a dream. "What did the
doktors
say? How are you feeling?"

"I don’t even have a mild concussion, and I didn’t need any stitches in my head. They've released me already; I just signed the papers."

Hannah nodded. "
Gut
."

Noah dangled his legs over the side of the bed. "Hannah, can I ask you something?"

Hannah felt little uneasy; what would he ask? "Sure," she said.

"Jessie Yoder's been coming to our
haus
- she wants to see Jacob, no doubt, although he does his best to avoid her attentions - but she told me that you were dating her
bruder
, David."

"
Nee
!" Hannah hadn’t meant to speak so loudly, but she was shocked that Jessie would say such a thing. "
Nee
, Noah, that's not true at all."

Noah beamed from ear to ear. "
Gut
!"

Hannah looked at Noah.
He must have feelings for me after all
, she thought. A warmth filled her, from her toes right to the top of her head. Her cheeks flushed warm. "David has been pursuing me despite me never giving him any encouragement, and his
mudder
Beth has been trying to play matchmaker." Hannah sighed. "My
mudder
was part of the matchmaking too. Well, she was, until I told her…" Hannah broke off, embarrassed.

"Told her what?" Noah asked, leaning forward in his bed. "Hannah?" he prompted.

"Until I told her that David tried to kiss me in his barn, in the dark too."

Noah gasped, and Hannah saw that his fists were clenched.

"But I slammed my crutches into his foot, and ran back to the
haus
," Hannah added. She saw that Noah was doing his best to keep a smile from his face at that piece of news. Then a thought occurred to Hannah. "Noah, I was helping out Mrs. Yoder at the schoolhouse one day, and she implied you were dating someone, perhaps an
Englisch
girl," she said.

It was Noah's turn to look affronted. "
Nee
, that's not true either. I haven’t ever dated anyone. I certainly would never date an
Englisch
girl. Anyway, I've only ever had eyes for one girl."

Hannah looked away, unable to meet his gaze. She was overtaken by a surge of shyness.
Does he mean me?
she wondered.
Who else could he mean; he must mean me
. Hannah wanted so hard for Noah to mean that he had only ever had eyes for her, that she could not quite believe it.

"It seems you are over your fear of buggies now; is that right?"

Hannah looked into Noah's face. "
Jah
, I am." She smiled at him.

"Then you won’t be afraid to come on a buggy ride with me?"

His meaning escaped Hannah for the moment. "
Nee
," she said thoughtfully. "I am truly over my fear of buggies now." Then it dawned on her; Noah was asking her to date him. She looked up into Noah's twinkling eyes and smiling face, barely able to contain her excitement. "Noah! Do you mean…, do you mean..?"

Noah didn’t answer her question, but simply smiled and got out of the bed. "Hannah, come over to the window with me? There's something I want to show you."

Hannah followed Noah to the window which overlooked a beautiful park. The park was in the shadows of the hospital and Hannah could see a children's playground with a jungle gym and a set of swings. Although it was near the end of winter, ribbons of silver mist wound their way around the swings.

"Mist always reminds me of that morning," said Noah, softly. "The morning I ran into your buggy. I think the memories will haunt me until the end of my days."

"And yet," Hannah said, pulling her heavy woolen cloak tight around her shoulders, even though she was indoors, "what happened on that morning is what has truly brought us together now. I know the accident wasn't your fault, Noah. I do see that now. I do know what a careful person you are, and that what happened that morning could have happened to anyone."

Just as she finished speaking, Noah moved closer to Hannah. Suddenly his eyes were directly in front of Hannah's, and then he lowered his face toward hers, so that their foreheads pressed together. 

"Are you certain you are okay, Hannah?"

Hannah wrapped her fingers around the nape of his neck. "I am," she assured him. Then she closed her eyes and kissed him on the nose. "How can I not be, with you here?"

"And your younger
schweschders
," Noah said, after taking in a deep breath, "are you certain Martha, Esther and Rebecca are okay? 

"
Jah
, they will be, Noah."

The mist pressed in on the hospital window. Hannah pulled back from Noah and looked searchingly around for the park, which had vanished under the haze of silver. The only thing visible in her world now was Noah, though she wondered if that had not always been the case. Noah pressed his lips against Hannah's and she melted into his kindness and warmth, certain had she never felt such peace before in her whole entire life, though knowing this peace was hers to feel everyday for the rest of her life with Noah.  

The End

Book 2. The Way Forward
.

Romans 2:15-16.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them, on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Chapter 1
.

Esther tucked a loose curl under her prayer
kapp
, turning her gaze onto the pleasant summer afternoon. Laughing children sat among the bluebells, the faint breeze ruffling their dark and simple clothes. The older boys worked with their fathers in the great barns strung along the blue horizon, while the older girls worked in the gardens with their kind and honest mothers. The sight sent a shiver along Esther's spine. Since the accident, when a car had driven into their
familye
buggy, she had not been able to help her mother as much as she had wished.

"Lost in thought?" Esther jumped as Jacob Hostetler settled on the warm grass next to her, placing a string of wheat between his lips and stretching out his golden limbs. "Where do you go, Esther, when your mind drifts, I wonder?"

"I was thinking of my
familye
," Esther replied, honestly.

"Ah." Jacob took the wheat from his mouth. His smile was crooked, and Esther had always found it charming. "You mean, you were thinking about
our
familye
?"

That was true. Esther's older
schweschder
, Hannah, had married Jacob's older
bruder
, Noah, only recently. Hannah had beamed that morning, as she slipped on her blue linen dress, before she had married her best friend. After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed a feast of roast chicken, mashed potatoes and creamed celery and coleslaw, lemonade and ice cream and cherry pie. The celebration, the Singing, and the square dancing, had gone on well into the night.

"That's true. Anyway, what are you doing, Jacob? I thought you'd be helping your
vadder
and
bruders
with the farming at this time of the afternoon?"

"
Jah
, they do need my help, but
Mamm
sent me to check on you and your
schweschders
. How is everyone? I must say, it's nice to see you up and about again, Esther. I missed my little friend."

"I'm well,
denki
. I can even start to help with all the chores soon." The thought made Esther very happy indeed. "It'll be good to help
Mamm
around the
haus
and garden, since Martha and Rebecca aren't ready to do a lot of the chores. We're all looking forward to the day we can get back into our routine."

Esther gazed searchingly at the lake, where the early summer breeze played among the weeds, and ducks struck across the glimmering surface. She remembered the winter morning when Noah Hostetler had struck her
familye
buggy with his borrowed, ancient car when on his
rumspringa
. The accident was not his fault, given that the road was icy and the morning full of mist, and Hannah, who was the least injured of the four Miller
schweschders
, had not only finally forgiven him, but had married him. Still, Noah's
familye
had felt quite protective over the Miller
schweschders
since; perhaps that was why Jacob's
mudder
had sent him to check up on her, Martha and Rebecca.

"I'm glad to hear it," drawled Jacob.

Esther turned her attention back to Jacob. "How are your two younger
bruders
, Moses and Elijah?"

Jacob laughed. "We're as loud as ever.
Mamm's
always talking about the noise. She likes that about us, though I do think she's glad to have a
dochder
in the
familye
now. Did you ever think Noah and Hannah would marry?'

"In a way," Esther replied, "I suppose I always did."

"
Jah
." Jacob lay down on his back, letting the warm sunlight press into his handsome face. He truly was handsome, Esther thought, but then again all of the Hostetler brothers were. They were also compassionate and hardworking. All the girls in the community melted at the sight of them. Now that she thought about it, Jacob would probably be the next to marry. Esther wondered which of the lucky girls it would be.

Suddenly Jacob sat up, frowning. "What?" he said.

"I never said a thing," Esther said, defensively.

"I know you, Esther Miller." He ran a large hand through his sweep of golden hair. "You were thinking something about me, and I'm sure it's something I wouldn't approve of."

Esther pouted at him. "Was not!"

"Hmm," Jacob said, furrowing his brows. There was a cheeky twinkle in his eyes. "You're marrying me off!" he cried, all of a sudden. "Can't a
mann
sit by the lake with his oldest friend, without her plotting out his entire future? Go on, then. Who are you setting me up with in that romantic mind of yours, Esther?" 

"I hadn't picked anyone specifically," she conceded. "I just thought you might be the next
bruder
to marry, seeing as Noah's happily married to my
schweschder
."

"I knew it." Jacob sighed. "At the very least, can you set me up with someone who's kind? Perhaps you could pick someone with a lot of siblings. I love all my
bruders
, so it would be nice to marry a girl who understood how important siblings are."

Esther bit her lip. "Who has a lot of siblings?" she wondered out loud. "Oh, I know; there's Sarah Hilty. She has three
bruders
and a
schweschder
. I can actually see you married to her. You'd make a very fine couple."

"Sarah Hilty's very nice," said Jacob, scrunching up his nose.

"But?"

"She must have more than just siblings. I also want a woman who's sweet, who thinks about her
familye
, and who would always see it in her heart to forgive those might have made a mistake."

"What about Jane Graber?"

"Jane!" Jacob sat up again with a startled expression on his face. "Why on earth would you think of Jane Graber?" 

Esther grinned. "You seem a little too against Jane Graber. Do you have a secret crush on someone else, Jacob? Look, you're blushing now. I've never seen you blush before."

"
Nee
,
nee
," said Jacob, scratching his chin. "It's just that I also want a girl who has a good imagination."

"But Jane's ideal then," Esther exclaimed, with a triumphant cry. She startled the ducks in the lake; they flapped their wings and vanished into the line of trees. "She's a very imaginative person."

Jacob sighed. "
Nee
," he replied. Now he turned the full brilliance of his eyes onto Esther. "I wasn't thinking of Jane at all."