A Christmas Visitor Read online

  “Ya.” Caleb stood and stretched. “I’ll tuck Susie in over in the apartment, ya?”

  Sadie shook her head. “The girls want Susie to stay with them, but you’re welcome to stay in the apartment if you’d like.”

  “That sounds gut.” Caleb carried Susie’s bag up the steep stairs to the hallway lined with doors. He felt as if he’d been transported back in time since he’d climbed these stairs thousands of times during his childhood.

  He found Susie giggling on a double bed with Janie and Linda. When she spotted Caleb in the doorway, they sat up. “Girls!” Sadie bellowed, joining him in the doorway. “There’s no need for all of this noise. You know that your dat likes some quiet in the evenings. You don’t want him yelling, do you?”

  Sadie’s daughters silently shook their heads in response. “Gut,” Sadie continued. “Have you gotten your baths?” They shook their heads no.

  “It’s time.” Sadie stepped into the room and yanked nightgowns from the bureau.

  The girls moaned their disappointment.

  “Church comes early in the morning.” Sadie pointed toward the hallway. “Go get your baths and then come to bed.” She glanced at Caleb and smiled. “Let me go check on the boys. I’ll be back.”

  Caleb turned to Susie. “Let’s find your gown. You can take a bath too.” He placed her bag on the bed and rummaged through it.

  He tried to suppress his smile. “Ya, but you were also cooped up on a smelly train overnight, and we have services tomorrow. Do you want the other kinner in the district to call you the stinky girl from Ohio?”

  “No!” She laughed.

  “Here.” He pulled her bed clothes from the bag. “Now remember to keep your voice down. Your onkel doesn’t like a lot of noise. We don’t want to wear out our welcome on the first night. Go wash up.”

  Susie removed her prayer covering and unwound her long, light-brown hair from its tight bun. She started for the door and then faced him, her pretty face pensive. “Dat, I’m sorry for scaring you at the market.”

  Caleb lowered himself on the bed and sighed. “I forgive you, mei liewe. I may be a bit overprotective, but it’s my job to make sure you’re safe.” Like I failed to do with your mother . . .

  He pushed the thought away. He needed to suppress that regret and concentrate on enjoying Christmas with his sister’s family.

  “I know.” She bit her lower lip and then smiled. “Did you see that pretty lady at the quilt stand?”

  “What pretty lady?” Sadie rounded the corner with her eyes wide with excitement.

  Caleb swallowed a groan. While he loved his sister dearly, he’d learned a long time ago that she was a hopeless gossip, who enjoyed sharing the latest community news at her weekly quilting bees. Rumors of his courting Barbara spread like wildfire after Sadie caught Caleb and Barbara chatting on the porch late one night during the summer they met.

  “At the farmers market, where we got the pie,” Susie said, hugging her nightgown to her chest. “She was at a quilt stand, and she said that her mamm taught her how to make quilts when she was about my age.”

  “Quilt stand?” Sadie tilted her head in question. “That must have been Naomi King or maybe Lilly Lapp. They both work there. Naomi’s mamm owns the stand. She’s had it for years, and it does a good bit of business. I quilt for her sometimes.”

  “Really?” Susie’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Would you teach me how to quilt, Aenti Sadie?”

  “Ya.” Sadie touched Susie’s nose. “Now you run along and get your bath. We must rise early in the morning.”

  “Okay.” Susie trotted down the long hallway.

  “She needs a mamm,” Sadie said, shooting Caleb a stern look. “It’s been two years.”

  Caleb frowned. He’d expected a lecture with Sadie’s unsolicited advice, but he’d hoped she’d wait a day or two before starting in on him. “She has plenty of female role models in our community. She loves her teacher, and we have many friends at church.”

  “That’s not the same as a mamm.” Sadie’s expression softened, and she stepped toward him. “She needs someone to be there when she has questions that only a woman can discuss.”

  Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose in hopes of stopping the tension headache brewing behind his eyes. “I know you mean well, but you can’t tell me how to run my—”

  “Naomi King wouldn’t be a good match for you.” Sadie talked over him while shaking her head. “She’s a bit too eager for a husband. You know the type—always mingling with the men after service and trying to get them to go for rides with her.”

  “Sadie,” Caleb said, attempting to interrupt her, but she continued her monologue as if she’d never heard him.

  “Naomi ran after Luke Troyer, who married Sarah Rose, Robert’s youngest sister, a couple of months ago.” Sadie frowned. “Then she enticed Timothy Kauffman, but they broke up.” She smiled. “I have just the maedel for you. There haven’t been any rumors about her, and she’s very sweet.”

  “Sadie,” he repeated, standing.

  Her grin widened with excitement. “Her name is Irene, and her daed owns a carriage shop. She’d be a wunderbaar mamm for Susie. You could move back here and go to work for her daed and—”

  “Sadie!” His booming voice caused her to jump. “I’m sorry for startling you, but you’re not listening to me. I’m not looking for a mamm for Susie just yet. Barbara was the love of my life, and I’m not ready to try to replace her.”

  “You won’t ever replace her, Caleb.” Sadie touched his arm. “You’ll find a new liewe, who will help ease the pain and give Susie the guidance that only a mamm can give her. I know it’s hard, but it’s time to move on.”

  What do you know about loss? He swallowed the thought and glanced toward the door. “I think I’m going to go get ready for bed. Will you call me when the girls are ready to be tucked in?” He started for the door.

  “Ya,” Sadie said. “Caleb.”

  He faced her, hoping she wouldn’t lecture him again. “Ya?”

  “Please think about what I said.” She stepped toward the door with a hopeful expression. “You and Susie are more than welcome to stay with us. You can move into the apartment, and Susie would love to go to school with her cousins. She needs her family, Caleb. Barbara was an only child, and her parents are gone. Who do you really have in Ohio?”

  Caleb folded his arms in defiance. “We have family. Barbara had cousins, and our church district is wunderbaar. We’re not alone.”

  “Think about it.” She clasped her hands together. “I want you to meet Irene and consider my offer.”

  He nodded, knowing she wasn’t going to let this issue die until he agreed. “Fine. I’ll consider it.”

  “Gut!” She hugged him. “I’ll call you when it’s time to kiss Susie goodnight.”

  As Caleb descended the stairs, he hoped Sadie wouldn’t spend his entire visit trying to play matchmaker. He wasn’t ready for another relationship, and he believed Susie was receiving all the female guidance she needed. While Sadie had the best intentions, her meddling was misguided. He was a grown man and capable of making the best decisions for his child; Sadie needed to concentrate on her own family.

  Caleb plucked his bag from the family-room floor, then stepped through the doorway and into the apartment at the back of the house.

  He moved through the small sitting room to the bedroom. As he placed the bag on the bed, he thought of the young woman at the farmers market. While he didn’t know her name, he’d noticed her beautiful face and captivating brown eyes. She seemed to have made an impression on Susie. He wondered if he would run into her again d
uring his visit.

  Deep in his heart, he hoped he would.

  The story continues in Naomi's Gift by Amy Clipston.

  OTHER NOVELS BY THE KELLY IRVIN

  THE AMISH OF BEE COUNTY NOVELS

  The Beekeeper’s Son

  The Bishop’s Son

  The Saddle Maker's Son (Available June 2016)

  NOVELLAS

  Sweeter than Honey found in An Amish Market (Available February 2016)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kelly Irvin is the author of the Amish of Bee County series, the Bliss Creek Amish series, and the New Hope Amish series. She has also penned two romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine. The Kansas native is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism. She has been writing nonfiction professionally for thirty years, including ten years as a newspaper reporter, mostly in Texas-Mexico border towns. She has worked in public relations for the City of San Antonio for twenty years. Kelly has been married to photographer Tim Irvin for twenty-seven years. They have two young adult children, two cats, and a tank full of fish. In her spare time, she likes to write short stories and read books by her favorite authors.

  Follow her on Twitter: @Kelly_S_Irvin

  Facebook: Kelly.Irvin.Author