The Christmas Cat Read online

  He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Mei dat thinks it’s a gut location that will stay busy.”

  “That’s fantastic.” She placed her bottle on the table beside the swing. “How soon do you think you’ll open it?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe two months? Possibly three?” He paused. “There’s a little farm with a big haus not far from the store. Mei dat said he’d also help me buy it. I’d like you to see it and tell me what you think.”

  “Oh?”

  “Ya.” He set his bottle on the table next to his side of the swing, then turned to look into her eyes. “If you like the haus, then I was thinking it could be our haus.”

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  “Emma,” he began, taking her hands in his, “I’ve known you for a year now. You’re my best freind. You’re the most important person to me in this world. I’m so thankful I went to your youth group gathering last summer and had the confidence to ask you to play volleyball with me.” He paused as if carefully choosing his words. “Ich liebe dich. I want to build a life with you here in Bird-in-Hand. I’d be so very honored to make you mei fraa. Will you marry me?”

  “Ya, ya.” Her eyes misted. “Of course I will.”

  His hand cupped her cheek. Then, leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers, sending a shiver dancing down her spine.

  “It seems like only yesterday when Henry found this haus,” Emma told Hank as she stroked his back. “He was so excited. His dream since he’d been a teenager was to open a feed store and buy a little farm nearby. I remember the day we came to see this place. An Englisch couple had owned it, so we had to remove the electrical system and paint the walls before we could move in. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it for the price.”

  Hank lifted his head and she began to rub his chin. “You know, we heard that the Englisch couple who owned this big haus sold it because they never had any kinner to fill it. How strange that Henry and I never raised any kinner here either.”

  A knot swelled in Emma’s throat. Oh, how she and Henry had longed to have children. When they’d purchased the four-bedroom house, she had imagined their future children would fill the spacious home with love and noise. But it wasn’t to be.

  And now Henry was gone, and she was alone.

  “Looks like it will be just you and me this Christmas, Hank,” she told the cat. He looked up at her as if to make a plea. “Oh. I suppose you’d like to have something to eat.”

  Emma returned to the kitchen, where she poured a bowl of milk and then searched the cabinets until she found a can of tuna. She carried the meager feast into the family room and held up two bowls. “Are you hungry?”

  Hank sat up before smelling the air, his little pink nose resembling a rabbit’s as it worked to identify the aroma.

  “You smell the tuna, ya?” The cat scurried behind her as she carried the bowls back to the kitchen. When she set them on the floor, he went for the tuna first.

  Glancing at the clock above the refrigerator, Emma saw it was almost five. The Blank family would be expecting her to arrive for supper in thirty minutes. She should call and leave a message on their voice mail, telling them she wasn’t coming. She didn’t want to worry them.

  Emma moved to the back door window and looked out toward the barn, where her phone was. Even with the darkened sky she could tell the snow was coming down at a steady pace, now thoroughly covering the path leading to the barn and beginning to accumulate on the ground. She frowned as she imagined slipping on the porch steps and breaking a leg or hip, like another member of her community had a few weeks ago. With her bad knees, she couldn’t risk getting injured and being stranded in the snow until someone found her.

  She felt guilty about not calling the Blank family and leaving a message, but surely they would assume she’d chosen not to travel on the dangerous roads. It would be best if she stayed inside.

  She sighed. The idea of being so alone, with only a cat to keep her company during her first Christmas without Henry, sent regret settling deep into her bones.

  Chapter 2

  On the front porch of her house, Katie Ann Blank shivered and hugged her coat closer to her body. The wind blew the ties of her prayer covering, sending them fluttering over her shoulders as she stood on her tiptoes and peered down the street. Swirling snow danced to the already-white ground.

  It was six o’clock and Emma Bontrager should have arrived by now. Could the older woman have been in an accident? Or had Emma simply decided to stay home and not brave precarious road conditions? Worried, Katie Ann silently prayed it was the latter. But if Emma had decided to stay home, then why hadn’t she left a voice mail message letting them know she wasn’t coming for supper as she’d promised?

  Concern continued to plague Katie Ann as she stepped back into the house, removed her snow boots, and crossed the family room.

  “Katie Ann?” Mamm called from the kitchen. “Is Emma with you?”

  “Nee, she’s still not here.” Katie Ann stepped into the kitchen, where her mother was bringing a chicken casserole to the table. “I wonder if she changed her mind and decided to stay home. The roads look like they could be getting bad.”

  “Did you check voice mail?” Mamm asked.

  “Ya, I did, but she didn’t leave a message.” Katie Ann shucked her coat and brushed off the snow before hanging it on a peg in the mudroom. She stepped back into the kitchen and folded her arms across her black apron. “I’m worried about her. Do you think she was in an accident?”

  “Who was in an accident?” Her older brother, Ephraim, appeared in the doorway. At twenty-three, two years older than Katie Ann, he stood six feet tall and had the same blond hair and honey-brown eyes she’d inherited from their mother.

  “I don’t know if she was in an accident, but I am worried about Emma Bontrager.” Katie Ann gestured toward the window. “The snow is still falling, and the roads are probably already slick. She was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. You know she lives alone now.”

  Ephraim leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “Oh. That’s not gut. Maybe we should go check on her.”

  Mamm considered that idea. “She most likely decided to stay home. Maybe she didn’t even want to risk walking out to her barn to call us if her porch steps are slick. Still, I don’t want her to be alone at Christmas, and I want to be certain she’s safe. So, ya, why don’t you go see her? I haven’t heard any predictions that make me think this storm will get too much worse. Just be careful. And take her some of this food too.”

  “Food is a gut idea. I’ll get the horse hitched up to the buggy.” Ephraim retrieved his coat from the mudroom and then walked back into the kitchen as he pulled it on. “Do you have anything for me to carry out now?”

  Mamm pointed to the tins of cookies on the counter. “Not yet. I’ll put together a basket with some of those kichlin along with supper.” She turned to her daughter. “Find a gift for her, Katie Ann. And take some candles too. Before she left town this week, Ella Glick told me Emma hasn’t decorated at all. She’s trying to keep her grief to herself, but I have a feeling she could be overcome this time of year. That’s why I was so froh when she agreed to come for dinner tonight.”

  She turned back to her son. “Ephraim, why don’t you cut some greenery for her mantel?”

  Katie Ann nodded and smiled. “I think that’s all a wunderbaar idea, Mamm. Nee one should be alone on Christmas Eve, and maybe we can still cheer her up.”

  “You’re right. She must be very lonely,” Ephraim said. He paused as if contemplating something. “Maybe we should take someone else with us too. We can stop at Mandy’s haus and see if she wants to go.”

  Katie Ann couldn’t help but gape at her brother. This was a first. Why would Ephraim want to ask her best friend to go with them to see Emma? Does Ephraim like Mandy?

  Her brother frowned. “What?”

  “Nothing. I’m just surprised you want Mandy to go with us, bu
t I know she’d love to be a part of this.”

  Katie Ann let her concerns go. She couldn’t wait to help Emma Bontrager have a merry Christmas. She rubbed her hands together and turned toward her mother.

  “Would you and Dat mind if we pack up enough for us to eat supper with Emma?”

  “Do you like bacon, Hank?” Emma removed two bacon strips from a frying pan and looked down at the cat as he rubbed his side on her leg. Hank had finished the tuna, and when he continued to beg, she remembered she’d bought bacon that day. “I thought you might enjoy this.”

  She blotted the grease off the bacon with a paper towel and then crumbled it into small pieces onto a plate. She set the plate on the floor next to a bowl of water, and Hank dove in.

  As Emma sat at the kitchen table and watched her guest happily munching away, she realized how grateful she was she’d unhitched her mare before coming inside. She’d left plenty of feed and water for her too—almost as if she’d already known she wouldn’t need her again that night.

  Perhaps the Lord had prompted her to do that. After all, he would have known.

  Thoughts about blessings from the Lord sent her mind wandering to her wedding day. She smiled.

  “Henry was so naerfich he looked like he was going to pass out,” Emma said to Hank as she leaned back in her chair. “I actually saw beads of sweat on his brow as he sat next to me.”

  Emma glanced at the cat, who looked up as he licked his chops. But then she lost herself in the memory. She wanted to remember every moment.

  Emma glanced over at her mother, who sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Mamm smiled, and Emma’s heart fluttered with happiness. She was sitting at the front of her father’s barn, and today she was marrying the love of her life, Henry Bontrager!

  It was a brisk November day, but her excitement kept her warm. She and her mother had worked hard creating the matching purple dresses she and Sally wore. The preparations had taken months, but the day had finally arrived!

  The service had begun with Emma and Henry meeting with the minister while the congregation sang hymns from the Ausbund. After the singing, Emma and Henry had returned to the congregation and sat with their attendants—Sally and Henry’s best friend, Urie Glick.

  Now the two women sat facing the two men, who were clad in their traditional Sunday black-and-white clothing. Though he looked nervous, Henry smiled at her, and her pulse took flight as if on the wings of a thousand hummingbirds.

  Emma tried her best to concentrate as the minister delivered his first sermon, but her thoughts spun with excitement over the new life chapter she was about to begin.

  Urie and his new wife, Ella, had helped them move Henry’s belongings into her parents’ house because the farmhouse they’d purchased with his father’s help wasn’t ready yet. But they hoped to move in a couple of months, when all the renovations were done. Henry had also opened his store a couple of months earlier.

  Their future seemed bright, and Emma was eager to begin their marriage. She wanted to fill their home with love, laughter, and children. Neither she nor Henry had any siblings, and Emma dreamed of having as many as six children. She’d already thought of both first and middle name possibilities for the first baby who came along.

  Soon it was time to kneel for the silent prayer. Emma closed her eyes and opened her heart to God as a prayer poured from the very depths of her soul.

  Danki, God, for bringing Henry into my life. Danki for mei wunderbaar family and community. Please bless our marriage, and help us to live a life together that is acceptable in your eyes. In Jesus’ holy name, amen.

  After the silent prayer, everyone rose for the minister’s reading of Matthew 19:1–12. Then when they returned to their seats, the bishop began the main sermon, continuing with the book of Genesis, including the story of Abraham and the other patriarchs in the book.

  Emma’s thoughts again wandered as she considered what her new life would be like. It seemed like only yesterday she was wondering if she would ever fall in love and get married.

  She snapped to attention when she realized the bishop was instructing her and Henry on how to run a godly household. Then he moved on to a forty-five-minute sermon on the story of Sarah and Tobias from the intertestamental book of Tobit, and she did her best to stay alert.

  When the sermon was over, the bishop divided his gaze between Emma and Henry. “Now here are two in one faith, Emma Mae Zook and Henry Robert Bontrager.” He asked the congregation if they knew any scriptural reason for the couple not to be married. Hearing no response, he continued. “If it is your desire to be married, you may in the name of the Lord come forth.”

  Emma’s pulse zinged as Henry took her hand in his and they stood before the bishop to take their vows.

  This is really happening! I’m going to be Henry’s fraa!

  Her heart continued to thump as the bishop read “A Prayer for Those About to Be Married” from an Amish prayer book called the Christenpflict.

  After the prayer, Emma and Henry returned to their seats, and the bishop began another sermon. Emma and Henry stole glances at each other as often as they dared, and Emma noted Henry seemed much calmer.

  The sermon ended, and the congregation knelt as the bishop again read from the Christenpflict. After he recited the Lord’s Prayer, everyone stood, and the three-hour service ended with another hymn.

  Emma and Henry were immediately surrounded by friends and family who wanted to congratulate them, and Emma grinned as she shook hands and accepted hugs from the well-wishers.

  Soon a flurry of activity erupted around them as the men began rearranging furniture so the women could serve the wedding dinner. Chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, pepper cabbage, and creamed celery would be followed by bountiful desserts—cookies, pies, fruit, and Jell-O salad.

  Henry took Emma’s hands, and his blue eyes locked with hers as he pulled her to one side and leaned down to speak into her ear. “Emma, I’m not perfect,” he told her. “I’m just a humble man who happened to win the most schee and amazing maedel in the community. I’m certain I’ll make mistakes. But I promise you I will always work hard to be the husband you deserve.”

  Emma leaned back and raised one hand to stroke Henry’s cheek. “You are the answer to my prayers, Henry, and I couldn’t be more froh to be your fraa. I will do my best to always make you froh too. Ich liebe dich.”

  As he squeezed her other hand, Henry whispered, “I will love and cherish you for the rest of my life.”

  Emma sniffed as the memory crashed over her. She felt as though their wedding had taken place only months ago, not forty-five years.

  If only their life together had lasted a little longer.

  Katie Ann stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat as she followed Ephraim, who was jogging up the front steps of Mandy Bender’s house despite their being so slick. After he knocked on the front door, it soon swung open to reveal Mandy herself.

  Katie Ann smiled. Mandy had been Katie Ann’s best friend since they started first grade together, and she’d always been a pretty girl. Tonight she was clad in a blue dress Katie Ann always thought complemented her cornflower-blue eyes, and a matching blue scarf covered her light-blond hair. Failing to keep up with Katie Ann as they grew into young women, Mandy was petite at five foot two, five inches shorter than Katie Ann.

  And, Katie Ann noted for the first time, that made her nearly a foot shorter than Ephraim.

  “Hi.” Mandy blinked as she looked back and forth between Ephraim and Katie Ann, then quickly invited them in out of the cold and snow.

  Ephraim leaned against the closed door. “Frehlicher Grischtdaag!”

  Mandy smiled up at him, and her cheeks flushed as she repeated the greeting. Katie Ann managed not to gape again as the question she’d had earlier echoed in her mind. Did Ephraim like Mandy? Then another thought occurred to her. Did her brother and best friend like each other?

  Her thoughts reeled with the implications of t
hat possibility. What if her brother started dating her best friend? How would her relationship with Mandy change if she and Ephraim became girlfriend and boyfriend?

  “It’s great to see you both, but it’s a little unusual for you to come this late on Christmas Eve. What are you doing here?” Mandy asked, bringing Katie Ann’s thoughts back to the conversation.

  Katie Ann opened her mouth to respond, but Ephraim cut her off.

  “We were wondering if you’d like to go with us to visit one of the older members of our church district.” Ephraim jammed his thumb toward his waiting horse and buggy. “We’re going to visit Emma Bontrager and take her some Christmas cheer.”

  “Emma Bontrager?” Mandy asked.

  “Ya,” Katie Ann chimed in. “She was supposed to join us for supper, but she didn’t come. We’re going to take her some food and make sure she’s okay.”

  Mandy’s pretty face contorted with a frown. “Oh, ya. Her husband died in July.” She clicked her tongue. “I imagine she’s lonely.”

  “We’ve got food, a gift, and some decorations for her too.”

  Mandy’s face brightened. “That sounds wunderbaar. Mei schweschder and I made peanut-butter brownies today. We can take some of those to her too.” She motioned for them to stay where they were. “Let me just tell mei mamm I’m leaving.”

  Katie Ann breathed in the air of excitement as she enjoyed the warmth of the Bender house.

  “We could stop and get Wayne on our way too,” Ephraim said nonchalantly as he sidled up to her.

  “Okay. Why not?”

  Noticing Ephraim’s tone, she wondered what this was about. Wayne was her brother’s best friend, and they all liked him. Normally she wouldn’t think anything of Ephraim inviting him along, but . . .

  Wait a minute. Did Ephraim hope Wayne would keep her busy so Mandy could focus all her attention on him?

  Chapter 3

  The sound of knocking made Emma turn toward the mudroom.