A Convenient Christmas Wife
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Rebecca Kertz
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19
Chapter One
Esther King took one last walk-through of the house she’d cleaned from top to bottom as a favor to her employer. Fannie’s widowed brother, Joshua, would be moving with his four children into the residence sometime this week. As she strolled from room to room, she was relieved to see that all the floors shone thanks to the thorough sweeping and mopping she’d done on the hardwood and vinyl flooring. The kitchen counters had been washed, and the bathroom scrubbed and sanitized. She’d stocked the kitchen with a few basics such as milk, butter, eggs and bread. Esther had also brought over two jars of homemade jam that she’d made last spring with her mam and sister as well as a few canned vegetables and fruit so Joshua and his children would have something to eat until he could shop for groceries.
Cleaning here was an easy job for Esther, especially since the three-bedroom, one-level home was brand-new.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Esther gathered some of her cleaning supplies and carried them to her buggy in the side yard. Jonas would show his son the house later in the day, and she wanted to be gone well before their arrival. After setting her broom and plastic carryall of cleaners in the back of her buggy, she returned inside to grab her mop and did one more quick check in the kitchen to make sure she hadn’t left anything of hers behind. Esther stepped outside with her mop in hand. She heard a squealing meow before she tripped and landed on her hands and knees. The sound of buggy wheels in the yard made her groan as she realized that someone had seen her fall.
“Esther!” she heard somebody cry out from inside the buggy and sensed someone racing to her side to help her.
Mortified, she closed her eyes and shook her head, then looked up at Preacher Jonas Miller, who gently helped her to stand. The kind man eyed her with concern. “Are you oll recht?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she assured him, “but I don’t know if the cat is.” She had scraped her knee and elbow and bruised her hip, but she wouldn’t admit that she was hurt. Embarrassed, Esther brushed off her dress and then glanced toward the vehicle as Joshua, Fannie’s brother and Jonas’s son, slowly swung his legs out of the buggy, his expression strained as if his every movement was painful. Fannie unfolded a walker for him, and Joshua grabbed hold of it for balance as he slid awkwardly from the buggy seat and onto his feet. He caught Esther’s gaze as he slowly made his way toward his father, and she felt her face heat up. She looked at Jonas instead.
“The cat ran off so I’m sure it’s okey.” Jonas picked up her mop and handed it to her. “Danki for getting the haus ready.”
Her smile for him was genuine as she took the mop. “I enjoyed it.”
“Yet you don’t clean houses anymore,” the preacher said.
Esther nodded as her heart rate increased in painful thumps. “I like working for Fannie in the restaurant.” No one, not even her family, knew the real reason she’d decided to give up her business.
One morning, she’d arrived at a housecleaning job only to leave within minutes because she’d been suffering from unbearable abdominal cramps. Esther had been able to get a doctor’s appointment that same day, especially after confessing that she’d been having cramps for over two months and these had been the worst of them. The doctor had examined her and ordered tests. When the results came back, the woman had given her bad news. Esther suffered from endometriosis, a medical condition that typically made women infertile. She would never get the chance to give birth or hold her baby in her arms. Since then, she’d had difficulty accepting she’d never have children. She still couldn’t quite accept it, as she had always longed to be a wife and mother.
“I should get home.” She turned to head toward her vehicle, then stopped at the sight of Joshua Miller, braced on his walker, standing in her way. She froze and stared at him, taken aback by how attractive he was.
“Joshua,” his father said, “this is Esther King. She got the haus ready for you.”
The man studied her through narrowed eyes for a long minute but didn’t speak.
Esther averted her gaze and, anxious to leave, moved to pass him. “I should get home. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Fannie.” She walked toward her buggy.
“Can you give me a lift to my dat’s?” Fannie asked. “Alta has the children and I want to be there to assist her. Just give me a minute.”
“Okey,” Esther said with a nod. Alta and Jonas’s house sat on the front acreage of their farm, which was on a different road. Esther knew the preacher had bought the unfinished shell of a dawdi haus from another Amish property owner who had sold the main house to Englishers. Jonas had purchased it and had it moved to this location in the rear of their property, far enough from Jonas’s house for privacy yet close enough in case Joshua needed help.
Conscious of her friend’s brother within several feet of her, Esther moved to wait near her buggy while Fannie spoke quietly with her father before heading in her direction.
“Esther.” The deep male voice was unfamiliar. Joshua’s.
Face hot, she turned, reluctantly meeting his gaze. He was a handsome man with dark hair—and with a hint of what looked like sadness in his intense brown eyes.
“Danki for what you did here,” he said. His expression hadn’t softened but he sounded sincere. She knew he suffered from loss as he recovered from the tragic accident that had killed his wife six months ago, and she wished she could ease his pain.
Esther nodded. “You’re willkomm.” Then she spun around to get into her vehicle and waited until Fannie climbed in next to her.
“Are you oll recht?” her friend asked as Esther drove toward the Jonas Miller dairy farm.
“I’m fine.” She shot Fannie a look. “How is he? Your bruder?”
Fannie frowned. “He’s hurting.”
“I can only imagine.” Unwilling to dig for more information, she drove the rest of the way to the Millers’ dairy farm in silence. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” Esther said when she stopped to drop off her friend. Then she left with a wave, her thoughts focused on Joshua Miller as she offered up a prayer for him to recover and have peace.
During the drive home from the Miller residence, she couldn’t stop thinking of the moment when she’d locked eyes with Joshua. She’d felt unsettled when faced with such a good-looking man, until he’d thanked her and the uncomfortable sensation inside her eased.
This was the first time she’d met him...and now that she had finished her work in the house, she doubted she’d have much interaction with him except for seeing him at church services here and there. Which was fine by her.
Using his walker, Joshua slowly, painfully, approached his father near the front door of the house that he and his children would be living in until he felt well enough to buy or build a bigger home. This residence was all on one level, a necessity since he was still recovering from his injuries from the car accident that had killed his pregnant wife, Anna, six months ago. He’d stayed in their home in Arthur, Illinois, all this time since the accident. He’d struggled to get well and take care of his children by himself, living in a world of hurt and grief after losing Anna and their unborn child. If not for his four motherless children, he might have given up altogether, but he loved them and needed to be there for them. After accepting the help of his former neighbors and his wife’s best friend Ruth, who had assisted with his kinner after the accident, he’d finally realized that the best thing for him to do was to call his father and return home to New Berne to be closer to his family.
“Whose property is this?” he asked as his father held open the door for him. Joshua entered the house and stepped into the kitchen.
“It’s yours,” Dat said with a small smile.
Joshua shot his father a glance. “What do you mean it’s mine?” he asked, his tone sharp.
His father placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “I’d hoped you’d call and want to come back so I bought the unfinished haus and had it moved here. With the help of our church members, you now have a new place to live with a barn for your buggy and animals. I know about your loss, soohn. It’s gut that you came. Our family can help you through this.”
He felt the weight of his grief and responsibilities. “Dat, I’ll pay you back.”
“Nay,” his dat said. “Live in it for a year or more until you know if you want a larger haus. I’ll sell it or give it to you, depending on where you want to stay. But there is no need to decide now. If you want to live elsewhere, that’s fine. Alta and I may one day want a one-level house.” He grinned. “But not yet.” He gestured around the room. “Take a look. If you don’t think this will work for you, that’s okey. I don’t want you to live somewhere you’re not comfortable.”
Studying his surroundings, Joshua awkwardly made his way farther into the kitchen. He saw beautifully built cabinets, shiny countertops...and a vase of fresh fall flowers on the kitchen table. His gaze locked on the blooms, and he suffered a pang as he recalled how much Anna had loved flowers in their home.
“The flowers are Esther’s doing. She loves growing them in her family’s greenhouse.” His vadder grinned. “You’ll find everything clean and ready for someone to move in right away.” His father opened the pantry then stepped back to show him.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, he met his parent’s gaze. “Who is she?” He had a lasting impression of blond hair beneath her kapp and green eyes set in lovely features with a small nose and nicely shaped lips.
“Esther?” his dat’s smile was soft. “She’s Adam and Lovina King’s youngest daughter. She has a sister, Linda, and three bruders.”
He blinked and looked away. “Why did she clean for us? Why her?”
“Esther used to own a housecleaning business,” Dat said as he leaned against the counter, drawing Joshua’s attention. “She gave it up and now works for your sister at her luncheonette.”
“I don’t understand why she would give it up.” Joshua moved to the vase and lightly touched the largest bloom among many, a bright red gerbera daisy. “She’s gut at it.”
“I have no idea why.” Jonas pushed off the counter until he reached his son’s side. “She seemed happy at her job until one day she told her parents she didn’t want to do it anymore. She’d been working part-time for Fannie back then whenever she had time as a side job to her business. Esther wanting full-time work turned out great for your schweschter, who had added catering to her business and needed more full-time workers.” His dat walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where he stood waiting patiently for Joshua to follow. In the living room, there was a sofa, four chairs with two matching upholstered ottomans, as well as side tables and a storage chest.
Pushing aside what he’d learned about the shy young woman, Joshua studied the large space where he and his children could enjoy a Sunday afternoon. “This is a nice-size room.”
His father nodded. “There are three bedrooms and a bathroom with a washing machine and a dryer. I bought the place from a family who sold their two-story home. The dawdi haus on the property was available, and we didn’t have to move it far from their place to this plot on the far side of ours.” He studied the living room before glancing back at him. “Let me show you everything.”
Struggling with the walker, Joshua started to trail his dat.
Dat gestured toward the contents of the first bedroom as he stepped inside, and Joshua entered behind him. There was a large bed, a dresser, two bed tables and wall hooks next to the right side of the door. “The original plans had this space as the only bedroom but the haus was never finished.”
Joshua liked it. The room had hardwood floors and a lovely quilt covering the bed. “Nice quilt. One of Alta’s?”
“Nay. I don’t recognize it. I’m not sure where it came from,” his father said, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if Esther is responsible.”
After nodding in approval, Joshua left the room and waited for his father to exit.
“We added two other bedrooms and this bathroom to the main structure.” Jonas smiled as he showed him the bathroom with a tub-shower combination, toilet and sink. Towels hung on a rack between the sink and the shower. There was a solid blue shower curtain, pushed to the side and allowing a view of the inside. The new fixtures glistened as if Esther had just cleaned and polished them. Along the outer wall was a gas-generated washing machine that vented to the outside.
Joshua studied the room and noted the kerosene lamp hung over the sink.
His father urged him onward and stepped inside the next bedroom. “Two cribs for your twins.”
He experienced a pang as he saw the baby furniture. “They recently turned two. I have a feeling they won’t be able to sleep in a crib for much longer.”
“I thought of that,” his dat replied. “The cribs can be taken apart and made into toddler beds.”
“That’s gut,” Joshua said, pleased. “Did you make them?”
“Our neighbor Gabriel Fisher built them.” He beamed at Joshua. “He’s a talented woodworker. He makes toys as well as furniture. He has a couple of young ones of his own.”
Joshua hobbled with his walker behind his father as he entered the last and final bedroom. There were two single beds inside. This room, like the others, was large and left a lot of space for children to play or relax. He felt a welcoming frisson of pleasure as hope filled his heart that he and his kinner would eventually be happy here. Being close to his father and his family was the best decision he’d made since Anna’s death.
A repetitive knocking on the back door drew the two of them back into the kitchen. His dat opened it, and Joshua was startled to see Esther King outside, shifting uneasily. He felt something odd settle inside him as she entered the house, and he studied her from the other side of the room.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Preacher.” She cast a worried glance in Joshua’s direction. “I think I left something in one of the bedrooms.”
“Come in,” his father replied kindly.
“Danki.” Esther met his gaze and looked quickly away. “I’ll be but a moment.”
Joshua frowned as she scurried by him toward the bedrooms at the back of the house. She was gone only seconds.
“Found it!” She smiled. “I need to stop at Kings General Store but then I couldn’t find my change purse.” She held it up to show them. “I left it in the room with the twin beds.” To Joshua’s surprise, she met his gaze. “How do you like the haus?”
“It’s the right size for us.” He noticed her pretty features, her bright green eyes and dark blond hair. Joshua immediately felt guilty for noticing anything about her as his late wife suddenly filled his thoughts. “The quilts on the beds,” he said politely, shoving back his grief. “Did you buy them for us?”
Esther shook her head. “Nay. They are some of mine. I like to quilt from time to time. I was happy to have someplace to put them.”
“You made them?” Amazed at her skill, he raised his eyebrows.
“Ja.” She appeared amused, and the expression looked good on her.
Joshua felt a sudden headache. “How much do I owe you?”
“I don’t want money for them. My thoughts on payment are if you can use them, then you do.”
“That’s kind of you, Esther,” his father said.
The young woman seemed uncomfortable with the current topic of conversation.
“They are beautiful, Esther,” Joshua said, remorse leaving a lump in his throat and a throbbing pain in his temple. “Danki. We will certainly benefit from having them. I appreciate everything you’ve done here. The chrysanthemums and gerbera daisies are a nice touch. The haus is welcoming because of you and I appreciate it.”
To his relief, he saw her face clear. “You know flowers.” Her smile reappeared. “It was my pleasure, Joshua.” She gazed at him for a few seconds. “I’d better go. My mam is waiting for me to pick up groceries for her.” But she didn’t immediately leave. “Do you have any idea when you’ll be moving in?”
“Tomorrow,” Joshua told her. “I have trouble with stairs so living here will be a lot easier for me and my family.”
Esther nodded and then turned to his father. “Reach out if you need anything.”
“I will,” his vadder assured her.
With one last smile for each of them, she left, and Joshua watched through the window as she climbed into her buggy and drove toward the road.
“So, you’ll be ready to move in tomorrow?” his father asked.
“Ja. I think it’s best if I do.” Joshua shifted to ease the pain of standing for so long with his walker.
His dat nodded. “I’ll call your bruders. They can help with the move in the morning.”
It had been years since he’d seen DJ and Danny, his younger twin brothers. A sharp pain at his temple made him grimace. He couldn’t release a hand to soothe it because he would lose his balance and further injure himself. “I think I’m ready to head back now.”
His dat nodded again and preceded him to the kitchen door, where he propped it open. “Do you need help?” he asked, no doubt recognizing how Joshua was feeling.
“I can make it,” he said, and meant it. Falling wasn’t a healthy option with the type of injury he’d suffered. Would he ever recover and be back physically to the way he once was? His doctor at the hospital had been cautiously optimistic, but that could mean the answer was just as likely no as it was yes. Still, he would try to lean in to the optimism.
