Mistaken for His Amish Bride
Autorzy
Patricia Davids
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19,0K
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14
HarlequinChapter One
Inside Philadelphia’s noisy bus terminal, Mari Kemp clasped both hands to her chest, overjoyed at this unexpected turn of events in her desperate adventure. “You’re going to Fort Craig, Maine, too? This is wunderbar. Have you been there before? What’s it like? Do you have family there?”
She leaned forward eager for any information about the place and her traveling companion.
An Englisch friend had driven Mari from her home in the Amish community of Arthur, Illinois, to Champagne to catch a bus during the wee hours of the morning. Mary Kate Brenneman got on in Columbus, Ohio. Mari didn’t realize they shared the same destination until they were changing buses during a layover in Philadelphia. Now, waiting for their boarding call in the busy terminal, Mari couldn’t have been happier. Mary Kate wasn’t exactly the talkative, friendly type, but that didn’t deter Mari.
“Tell me everything you can about Fort Craig.”
“I haven’t been there,” Mary Kate said. “I have only exchanged letters with a young man who lives in the area.”
“An Amish fellow? What’s his name? What does he say it is like?”
“His name is Asher Fisher. He wrote about his family farm. Potatoes are the main crop in the area. There are many large farms.”
Mari struggled to hide her disappointment. “I thought there would be lots of wild forests to explore.”
Cornfields surrounded her home in Arthur. Nothing for miles and miles except corn and more corn. Potato fields would be different, at least.
“Mr. Fisher did not mention forests,” Mary Kate said.
Mari waited for more information, but Mary Kate wasn’t forthcoming. Mari forged ahead. “I’m going to visit my grandmother. Perhaps Mr. Fisher has mentioned Naomi Helmuth. They might belong to the same church district.” Did her grandmother still practice the Amish faith?
“There is only one Amish congregation near Fort Craig at a place called New Covenant. I don’t recall him mentioning the name Helmuth. I’m getting off the bus near the settlement. It’s about three miles from Fort Craig.”
It was too much to hope for information about the grandmother Mari had never met. She would simply stick to the plan. She hadn’t written to say she was coming. A letter could be returned unopened, as they had all been in the past, but a long-lost granddaughter standing on Naomi Helmuth’s doorstep couldn’t be ignored. At least that was Mari’s hope.
It had shocked her to learn that her father had been estranged from his mother since before Mari was born. Mari had assumed her grandparents had both passed away. When her father died recently, she discovered letters he had written to his mother over the years all returned unopened. The last one had been addressed to her in Fort Craig, Maine, a year ago. That was where Mari intended to start her search. She hadn’t heard of New Covenant until now.
Her father had been a kind and loving man, raising Mari alone after her mother died when she was barely four. She had been incredibly close to her father. Only God had been more important than family to Raymond Kemp. Finding out his mother was alive, a fact he’d never mentioned, was unfathomable to Mari. Something terrible must have happened for him to keep such a secret from her. She wouldn’t rest until she learned what had driven a wedge between mother and son and why he hid the truth. The hope of a joyful reception with her grandmother was slim, but Naomi Helmuth was the only family Mari had left in the world. She was the one person who had answers. Mari wouldn’t leave Maine without them. Her father used to say she was stubborn to a fault. She could be when something was important.
“Mary Kate? Is that you?”
“Sarah?” Mary Kate’s voice trembled with disbelief as she surged to her feet.
“Gott be praised, it is you.” A woman squealed with delight and threw her arms around Mary Kate. She wore a modest blue print dress with a small black prayer covering pinned to her hair. Mari assumed she was Old Order Mennonite, not Amish.
“Sarah, dear, dear, Sarah.” The two women clung to each other, overcome with emotion. After several long moments, Mary Kate recovered her composure and sat down beside Mari again, still holding on to Sarah’s hand. “What are you doing here?”
Sarah sank to her knees in front of Mary Kate. “My husband and I are returning from his uncle’s funeral. What are you doing here?”
Mary Kate gave a nervous laugh. “I’m on my way to Maine.”
“Maine? Whatever for? Don’t tell me Edmond is taking you on vacation.”
Looking down, Mary Kate shook her head. “Edmond passed away two years ago.”
“Dearest, cousin. I’m so sorry.”
“Gott allowed it,” Mary Kate whispered.
“We cannot comprehend His ways,” Sarah said.
Mary Kate looked up. “We can’t, but He has brought you and I together again. Oh, you don’t know how glad I am to see you. It’s been what? Ten years.”
“Eleven. I can’t believe I’ve run into you here, of all places. You must come meet my children. I have a son and two daughters. They’ve gone out to the van that is taking us back to Bird-in-Hand. I stopped to get something to drink for on the way. If I hadn’t, I would have missed seeing you. Gott ist goot. Who is this with you?”
Mari held out her hand. “A complete stranger who happens to be going to Maine on the same bus. I’m Mari Kemp.” She prayed her meeting with her grandmother was half as joy filled as the reunion of these two women.
“I’m pleased to meet you. My wits are scattered to the wind. Oh, Mary Kate, we should never have lost touch. I should have tried harder. We were closer than sisters once.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Edmond forbade it, and he was set in his ways.”
“It’s not right to speak ill of him, but he caused us both so much pain. I wasn’t baptized into the Amish faith when I jumped the fence to marry. Edmond should have allowed us to remain friends. Tell me, why are you going to Maine of all places?”
“To get married.”
“You have met someone new and fallen in love. Oh, Mary Kate, I’m so happy for you.” Sarah hugged her again.
Mary Kate pulled away from her cousin. “Not exactly. Mr. Fisher and I haven’t actually met.”
Mari frowned. “I thought you said you were getting married.”
“That is my plan. We’ve been corresponding.”
“I don’t understand,” Sarah said. “You’re planning to marry someone you haven’t met?”
“I am.”
Sarah looked stunned. “Why?”
Mary Kate gripped her hands together. “Things have become too difficult to remain at home. I couldn’t stay there any longer. I took a chance and answered an ad placed by a bishop looking for Amish individuals willing to join a new community in northern Maine. He put me in touch with Asher Fisher, a very kind man. We, how do I say it, we connected in our letters. This is my only chance of getting my son back, Sarah.”
“What on earth do you mean?”
“I’m ashamed to say after Ed died, I fell to pieces. I could barely function. Our son was only three. Ed’s sister and her husband took him in until I could get back on my feet. I saw him often, but the business was in trouble, and it took so much of my time. Ed dreamed our son would run it one day. I thought I needed to save it, but the cost was too high. I was horribly unhappy. I missed Matthew, but I truly thought for a time that he was better off with Ed’s sister. To make a long story short, I eventually sold the business. There was a terrible family row over it, and my in-laws refused to relinquish my son. They said the boy needed a father.”
“How unfair to you and your child,” Sarah declared. “Surely your bishop intervened?”
“He agreed with them. But he said if I married again that would change things.”
Sarah clasped Mary Kate’s hands. “You poor dear, but is marrying a stranger halfway across the country the answer? Isn’t there a man in your community you could turn to?”
Mary Kate looked away. “That wasn’t possible.”
Mari’s heart ached for the young mother. How awful to be kept from her child.
Sighing deeply, Mary Kate gazed at her cousin. “Now that I’m on my way, I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing. Even if it’s for the right reason.”
The PA system came on to announce Mari’s bus was boarding now. She picked up her suitcase. “That’s us.”
Sarah gripped Mary Kate’s hand. “I can’t be parted from you so soon.”
“We’ll write. Give me your address.”
“Nee. You must come and stay with me. You need time to consider this decision. Mr. Fisher can wait a week or two. I’ll buy you another ticket to Maine when you’re tired of my company. Please, dear cousin, say you’ll stay with me for a little while. I’ll help you sort this out.”
Mary Kate’s eyes filled with tears. “I wish I could, but Asher is meeting this bus.”
Mari wanted to help. “I’m going to the same destination. I can deliver a message to Mr. Fisher in person and explain you’ve been delayed by family matters.”
Hope filled Mary Kate’s eyes, then quickly faded. “I can’t do that to Asher. It wouldn’t be fair to stand him up.”
Sarah gripped Mary Kate’s shoulders. “Mari will make him understand. Gott brought us together after all these years for a reason.”
Mary Kate bit her lower lip. “I don’t know what to do.”
The final boarding call for their bus came over the PA system. Mari hooked her black purse over her shoulder and smiled at Mary Kate. “I find it is always best to do what your heart tells you.”
Ash Fisher clenched and opened his icy fingers repeatedly as his three brothers inspected him from all angles, smoothed his vest across his chest and brushed imaginary lint from his shoulder. He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d gotten himself into this situation.
That wasn’t true. One impulsive moment and a stamp had sealed his fate.
Gabe, the oldest, took a step back. “You’ll do.”
Moses, the youngest Fisher brother, lifted Ash’s black hat from the pegs by the door. “You’re not nervous, are you?”
“Of course he is,” Seth declared. “He’s about to meet the woman he intends to marry for the first time. Who wouldn’t be nervous?”
Ash snatched his hat from his little brother’s hands. “I’m not nervous. I’m on my way to meet a woman who has been kind enough to correspond with me for the past three months and has simply agreed to visit for a few weeks.”
He jammed his hat on his head. “That’s it. She’s coming for a visit and nothing else.”
If only that were the whole truth.
Those around him smothered their chuckles. He glanced up at his brim and turned his hat the right way around.
Gabe and Seth exchanged knowing looks as they leaned against each other. They were identical tall blond men who took after their father. Ash and Moses had inherited their mother’s dark hair and eyes. Most people assumed Gabe and Seth were twins, but they were actually two parts of the Fisher triplets. Ash was the third.
“He’s lying,” Seth said.
Gabe nodded. “He’s scared to death.”
“Being the most sensible of this lot entitles me to a little more respect,” Ash said between gritted teeth. His brothers laughed.
“You mean most stodgy,” Gabe said. He was the jokester. Seth was the tenderhearted fellow. Moses was the baby brother who liked to mimic Gabe. That left Ash as the practical and meticulous one. Something his brothers seldom appreciated.
“He’s the dull one.” Seth shook his head sadly. He was normally sympathetic, but he enjoyed teasing Ash as much as the others did.
“Dull as ditchwater,” Moses added, making a long face. The others laughed again.
Ash wasn’t amused by his brothers’ humor this a.m. He stared at the yawning front door standing open to a beautiful spring morning and took a deep breath. There was no going back now. He had to meet the bus.
Only, what if Mary Kate wasn’t like he had imagined from her letters? What if they weren’t compatible? She could hate Maine. Maybe she would turn around and head home as soon as he opened his mouth to speak and nothing witty came out. Talking to women made him nervous. They all seemed to want things he didn’t understand. Would she be the same?
No. He chided himself for his lack of faith in her. Mary Kate was a practical woman. She would see his fine qualities, his head for business, his faith and his steady character. She wasn’t expecting a love match. She believed mutual affection could grow over time. Her purpose for this trip was to get to know him.
That certainly had been his original plan. Nothing good ever came of impulsive actions. Why had he posted that last letter?
He glanced at his brothers. Because he was lonely, and he wanted what they had. This was a sensible way to accomplish that.
Seth and Gabe were married. Happily so. The evenings spent with his brothers and their new, loving wives made Ash feel like an outsider, separated from the brothers he had done everything with since the day they were born. He’d never felt that way before. He and his brothers had always been close. Now, inside his family’s boisterous home, he was lonely.
At twenty-five, he was ready to start a family. He ran a finger underneath his tight collar. It was expected. An Amish fellow wasn’t complete without a wife and family. He believed that. What he hated was the idea of wasting time looking for the right woman. The local maidens Moses wanted to impress didn’t interest Ash. They were young and immature. They had nothing in common with him. Trying to talk to them made his words stick in his throat.
It hadn’t been that way when he was writing to Mary Kate. Pouring out his thoughts on paper was easy. She understood. She wasn’t happy in her current situation. Neither was he. It seemed fated that they should get together.
He squared his shoulders. This was the right thing to do. He wouldn’t let a few minor worries stop him from following through with his plan.
Gabe straightened. “We should stop gabbing, or Ash is going to be late meeting the bride. Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you? We can help break the ice.”
“I would rather have all my teeth yanked out by a team of horses.” Ash forced himself to walk out the door to the waiting black buggy he had carefully washed from top to bottom. The ebony paint and brass fittings gleamed in the early May sunshine. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Frisky harnessed to it.
The lively black mare was a showy high stepper that belonged to Moses. His little brother had only recently purchased the horse for his courting buggy, planning to impress some of the newly arrived young women in the community. Frisky tossed her head and pranced in place, eager to be off.
Furious, Ash turned to Moses. The last thing he needed was to look like a ridiculous teenager going courting. “I told you to hitch Dottie.”
“She seemed a tad lame this morning.” Moses hid his mouth with one hand, unable to keep a smirk off his face.
Seth pushed Ash toward the buggy door. “It will take too long to change horses. You don’t want to be late. Frisky will make a fine impression. No fellow who drives a horse like her is dull.”
Ash’s need to be punctual warred with his desire to look respectable and dignified. Punctuality won. He didn’t want to leave Mary Kate standing at the bus stop.
“Relax.” Seth patted Ash’s shoulder. “You’ll love wedded bliss as much as we do.”
“Will you men leave Ash alone and get in here? There’s work to be done,” Seth’s wife yelled from the kitchen door.
“Coming, Pamela.” Seth gave Ash a sheepish grin. “She’s bossy, but she’s a fine cook and a better kisser.” He jogged toward the door.
Gabe stepped close to Ash. “You told Mary Kate that my Esther is deaf, right? I don’t want their meeting to be awkward.”
Ash shared a reassuring smile with his brother. “I did. She wrote she has been studying sign language. We’ll make sure Esther feels included.”
Gabe nodded. “I know you will. We look forward to meeting her. Now get going and hurry back. We have two new buggy orders to fill.”
“Right.” The Fisher family buggy business was expanding steadily, allowing all the sons to live and work on the farm, something that had been in doubt just a year ago.
Ash stepped into the buggy. It would take him twenty-five minutes to reach the bus stop on the other side of New Covenant. He didn’t want to be late, but there was no point in being early. He picked up the lines and slapped them gently against the mare’s rump. “Frisky, walk on.”
Mary Kate had seemed nice in her letters, but there was no guarantee she’d like him in person. The closer he got to his destination, the more he wondered if courting a woman by mail was a sound plan.
When the village of New Covenant came into view, his palms started sweating. He rubbed them on his pant legs. This was ridiculous. He and Mary Kate had corresponded for months. He knew what to expect. She was the perfect woman for him. Sensible, practical, willing to work alongside him and his family. What more could he ask? Still, he kept Frisky to a walk, although she was eager to go faster.
On the other side of New Covenant, the county road sloped a curving half mile toward the main highway. Ash saw the flashing red lights and heard the wail of sirens as he approached the intersection. Police cars were blocking the road. An ambulance was pulling away. There must have been an accident. He stopped his buggy well back from the activity and looked for the bus. He didn’t see it.
Should he go down and offer to help? He was debating when he caught sight of a State Police officer walking in his direction. The fellow stopped beside the buggy. “Morning. I’m Officer Melvin Peaks of the Maine State Police. You’re one of the Amish folks that live in this area, right?”
“I am. What has happened?”
“There’s been a hit-and-run accident. An Amish woman has been injured.”
“Is it serious?” It had to be someone he knew. Their community had only two dozen families in total.
“I’m afraid she’s badly hurt. We’re trying to locate her next of kin.”
“Who is she?”
The officer pushed his trooper’s hat up with one finger. “She didn’t have any identification on her, but she was clutching this.”
Officer Peak held out an envelope. “It’s addressed to Mary Kate Brenneman of Bounty, Ohio, from Asher Fisher. Do you know either of these people?”
“I’m Asher Fisher.” His voice seemed to come from a long way off. He held out his hand for the envelope with his handwriting on it. “Mary Kate was coming to see me.”
“Mary Kate, open your eyes. Can you hear me? Mary Kate? Squeeze my fingers if you can hear me.”
She only wanted to sink back into the painless oblivion. It hurt too much to listen to the voice. Everything hurt. Even breathing.
“Open your eyes, Mary Kate.” The insistent voice belonged to a woman.
Stop talking. Let me go back to sleep. Why do I hurt so much?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Fisher. Perhaps if you spoke to her, she might recognize your voice.”
“She’s never heard me speak.” It was a man who answered. “It’s been two days. How long before she wakes up?”
“It’s hard to say with an injury like this. Sit with her for a while and talk to her. Patients can sometimes hear even if they can’t respond.”
“What should I say?”
Nothing. Go away. A soft beeping sound penetrated the quiet she craved.
Something scraped across the floor. A chair maybe? She heard a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry I was late, Mary Kate. The bus was early, but I could have been there sooner. I have no excuse. I wasn’t there. You were hurt because of me. Please forgive me.”
Thankfully, he fell silent. She sank toward the blessed darkness again.
“I’m not one for small talk. I’m sure I mentioned that in my letters. Your letters were nice. I looked forward to them. Nurse, I don’t think she hears me.”
“You’re doing fine. Tell her about your family. She was coming to visit them, right?”
Why was that woman encouraging him? She just wanted silence and sleep.
“My parents are here waiting to meet you.”
“Please go away,” she croaked, not recognizing her own weak voice but feeling the strain of it.
“Nurse! She spoke.”
A hand touched her forehead. “Open your eyes,” the woman said again.
She forced her eyes open, but only her left one seemed to work. The light was too bright. She squeezed her eye shut and turned away from the brightness.
“Hello. Welcome back. How are you feeling?” the woman asked.
“Awful.” Her throat was parched.
“I’m not surprised. You’ve been in an accident. You’re in the hospital. I’m Mandy Brown. I’m your nurse.”
“You were hit by a car. I’m Asher Fisher. I’m the fellow you were coming to meet.”
She cracked her eye open and tried to focus on his face. He was a young man in his mid-twenties. He had on a white shirt with suspenders over his brawny shoulders and dark pants. His brown hair was cut short, but it curled enough that it didn’t look austere on him. Dark eyes filled with concern gazed at her. There was nothing familiar about him. “I don’t recognize you.”
“We’ve only written to each other. We haven’t met in person.”
“It’s time for your pain medication,” the nurse said. “Now that you’re awake, I need you to tell me your name and date of birth.”
“It’s...” What was her name? Why couldn’t she think of it?
She started to tremble. “I don’t know. Why can’t I remember my name? What’s wrong with me?” She struggled to sit up, but a sharp pain in her chest made her fall back with a moan.
“Your name is Mary Kate Brenneman,” Asher said gently. “You’re from Bounty, Ohio.”
She tried again to focus on his face. She had to believe him. “You know me, right?”
“Mr. Fisher, you should step out,” the nurse insisted. “I’m going to get the doctor.”
Fear sent her heart pounding faster. “Nee, don’t go. You know who I am.” She wanted to reach for him, but she couldn’t move her right arm. Something weighed it down.
“I won’t go. I’ll stay right here.” His voice was calm and reassuring.
Her panic receded. “My name is Mary?”
“Mary Kate Brenneman,” he said again.
The nurse injected something into the IV in Mary’s arm. “This will help with your pain, Mary Kate. I’m going to inform the doctor you’re awake. I’ll be right back.”
Why didn’t her name sound familiar? How could she forget her own name? “I’m Mary Kate Brenneman.” If she said it enough, would it feel like it belonged to her? “I’m Mary.”
“I’ve always known you as Mary Kate.”
“Can I be plain Mary?” That sounded better somehow.
“All right. You were on your way to stay with my family in New Covenant, Maine when a pickup struck you.”
“Maine? That’s a long way from Ohio.” How could she know that and not remember where she was from?
“It is a long way. You must have been glad to get off the bus.”
She didn’t remember riding a bus. His face came into focus. She searched it for some shred of familiarity. “You weren’t there to meet me.”
His expression brightened. “You remember?”
“I heard you say that.”
“Oh. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Mary. I should have been.”
The door opened and the nurse came back. “The doctor will be in soon. If you want Mr. Fisher to stay, I need your consent to share your medical information. I understand you can’t sign this but if you give me your verbal okay that will be enough.”
“I guess it’s fine.” She looked at Ash. He nodded encouragingly.
“Is there anyone we can contact for you? Family? Friends?” the nurse asked.
“I don’t know.” Who were they? She desperately wanted to see a familiar face.
“I’ll be back with the doctor shortly.” The nurse left the room.
“Would you like a drink of water?” Ash picked up a foam cup from the table beside her bed.
She nodded and took a sip. “Danki.” She looked at Ash. “Is that right? That means thank you.”
“Ja.” Ash smiled. “You speak Deitsh—Pennsylvania Dutch the Englisch call it.”
“I speak Deitsh because I’m Amish.” Relief made her light-headed. Or maybe it was the pain medicine. “I’m Amish. I remember that.”
“Sell ist goot.” He squeezed her fingers.
“You said, ‘That is good.’ I understand the language but why can’t I remember my name or where I’m from?”
“It will come back,” he said soothingly.
“Are you sure?”
“If Gott wills it. I pray it happens soon.”
“I can’t seem to move my right arm.”
“Because of the cast,” Ash said. “Your arm is broken in two places. You have a cracked rib, too.”
That explained the pain when she tried to sit up or breathe. Ash gently laid his hand over hers. “You should rest now.”
Sleep pulled her toward the darkness. She clutched his hand. “I have so many questions.”
“They will keep.” His hand slipped from beneath hers.
She missed his touch and struggled to stay awake. “Why was I coming to see you?”
If he replied, she didn’t hear.
The welcome darkness wasn’t the same this time. Bits and pieces flashed and floated around her. Faces, places. Someone laughing. The sound of weeping. Letters tied together with a ribbon. She struggled to see the flashes more closely, but they drifted away, leaving her alone and frightened in the dark.
