Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two (39 page)

For more heartwarming Amish romance,
look for Book Three in the Home at Cedar Creek series,
available in trade paperback and
e-book in November 2013.

In the meantime,
have you read Book One in the series?
An excerpt follows of

Abby Finds Her Calling

It’s available from New American Library
wherever paperbacks and e-books are sold.

J
ames Graber inhaled the crisp October air and grinned up at the rising sun. It was
his wedding day! All his life he’d lived in anticipation of something grand, something
beyond the immense satisfaction of his carriage-making trade, and finally, in about
an hour, he would achieve that dream when Suzanna Lambright became his wife.

As he gazed across the road, at the lane where horse-drawn carriages were entering
in a steady stream, the Lambright place took on a new glow in his eyes. There was
the Cedar Creek Mercantile, where Zanna’s elder brother, Sam, sold groceries and dry
goods and where her sister, Abby, ran her sewing business. Beside it, Treva Lambright,
Zanna’s mamm, had a glass greenhouse where she raised and sold a variety of vegetables
and flowers. Down the long drive stood the tall white farmhouse where Treva lived
with Sam’s family—his wife, Barbara, and their four children, Matt, Phoebe, Ruth,
and Gail. And farther up the lane was the little home Abby had built for herself this
past spring. These places, surrounded by sheep sheds, the barn, and acres of rolling
green pasture, felt more special to James today, even though he saw them every time
he stepped off his own front porch.

And who could believe all these wedding guests? Nearly four hundred family and friends—some
from as far away as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana—were arriving to celebrate with
the Grabers and the Lambrights, families who had moved here to Missouri generations
ago. The
clip-clop! clip-clop!
of the horses’ hooves made his heart sing to their ageless rhythm.

ZAN-na! ZAN-na!
James heard in that beat. Silly, the things he thought of when he envisioned her
pretty face as she gazed at him in that playful way she had.
Lord, please help me make her happy every single day of our lives!

James was glad to be marrying on a perfect autumn day, after the harvest was in but
before the traditional marriage month, because it meant these folks from back East
had a chance to celebrate with them. Here in Missouri, Old Order Amish married anytime
during the year, not just in November, when the many weddings meant that folks had
to pick and choose which ones they attended. And what a backdrop the countryside provided:
the sweet gum and maple trees blazed in their red and orange glory, with a hint of
frost to make them sparkle in the sunrise.

James’s younger sister, Emma, joined him in front of the house, smoothing her new
purple dress. “That’s a mighty fine smile you’re wearing, brother. I hope to see it
gracing your ugly face every day from here on out,” she said, her brown eyes sparkling.

James cocked an eyebrow. “And what would you have to make fun of if I were a handsome
man, Emma?” he countered with a laugh. “Zanna thinks I’m downright perfect, you know.”

“Gut thing, too. Old as you’re getting, none of the other girls would have you.”

“We’ll see what you say about that when
you’re
within spitting distance of thirty,” James shot back. Then, with a welling up of
love for this young woman who kept their household running as well as anyone could
now that their parents were aging, he slipped his arm around her. “Denki for keeping
Mamm’s head from spinning off
these last couple weeks, getting ready for this wedding,” he murmured. “A lot of the
weight falls on your shoulders, taking care of her and Dat.”

“They’re our parents, James. They’ve been taking care of
us
all our lives.”

“Of course they have, Emmie, but…” James sighed, focusing on the window of Zanna’s
upstairs room in the white farmhouse across the road. He couldn’t see inside, of course,
but he liked to imagine her there…putting on her new blue dress and white apron about
now, with Treva and Abby helping her get ready. “Not my place to ask Mamm and Dat
to move into the dawdi haus, but I can’t help wondering…Do you think it’ll go all
right, when Zanna comes to live with us?” he asked quietly. “Mamm’s tongue wags pretty
constant and cuts pretty sharp, and we all know how Dat’s hearing gets worse, and
his brain a little fuzzier, when he doesn’t want to listen to all her carrying-on.
And neither of them is able to handle anywhere near as much as they used to.”

“Zanna’s known them all her life, same as everybody hereabouts. It’s not like she’s
walking in blind,” Emma replied, resting her head on his shoulder. It was a rare moment
of physical affection from this girl who was usually busy at the stove or the sink
or the washer, or looking after their parents, while he built custom carriages in
his shop beside the house. “Truth be told, brother, Zanna’s all grins and giggles
when she talks about you. Her eyes light up, and she’s been a different girl since
you asked for her hand. I’m real happy for the both of you.”

James smiled. His sister hadn’t been as generous with her praise for other young women
he’d courted over the years. Maybe he was making up things to worry about—wondering
how Zanna would adjust to the Graber household—which wasn’t normally his way. All
in all, his times with Zanna had been among the happiest he’d known. He looked forward
to a long life with her and many children to bless them.

Even Sam, James’s good friend and Zanna’s older brother, had remarked what a fine
couple they made—and had thanked James for asking to court Zanna rather than keeping
his intentions secret, as was the custom. James had felt that the passing last spring
of Leroy Lambright, Sam and Zanna’s dat and the head of the Lambright household, was
an important reason to get Sam’s blessing early on, out of respect for Leroy and the
family’s feelings. Sam had said right out that he thought James would be the steadying
influence his youngest sister needed now that their father was gone.

Imagine that—Sam Lambright, a stickler for the proper order of things, thought he,
James Graber, could fashion Suzanna into a fine wife and mother. James suspected that
might take some doing. Zanna wasn’t one who took to being molded into anyone else’s
ideal. But what a happy challenge it presented. And what a fine-looking woman she’d
grown to be. Truth be told, James secretly admired her tendency to think and speak
for herself rather than to automatically submit to the men in her life.

“Over the next several weekends you’ll spend visiting kin and collecting your wedding
presents, we’ll all have time to adjust to Zanna’s being in the family,” his sister
continued. “It’s the same kind of change every family goes through after a wedding.”

“Change has never been Dat’s favorite thing. And he hasn’t been the same since his
stroke.”

“And Mamm’s gotten crankier, keeping after him. There’s that,” Emma agreed with a
sigh. “But Lord love them, they’re getting by as best they can. I’ll work on them
while you and Zanna make your family calls these coming weeks. They may as well get
used to the fact that their last two kids have lives of their own.”

And what would they do when Emma married? James wondered. Would she move away like
their two elder sisters, Iva and Sharon, had? James breathed in deeply and then exhaled,
consciously relaxing the tightness this thought caused in his belly. Inevitably, the
day
would come when his sweet, capable sister would cleave to her own husband and start
a home…which would leave him, as the only son, and Zanna, as his wife, to care for
his parents. As well they should.

But this was no time for such concerns. His bride was waiting for him. James lightly
kissed Emma’s temple and then released her. “I’d best go over to help Sam with the
last-minute details. See you in a few. Or would you rather I took Dat over to—”

“Get out of here! What with Daniel and Amos, our big, burly brothers-in-law, staying
with us last night, I’ve got lots of help with Dat this morning. And Sharon and Iva
are in there helping him dress.” Emma shook her white apron at him to send him on
his way. “If you dare to poke your face into that Lambright kitchen full of women,
you might see how Mamm’s doing. Tell her I’ll be there directly.”

James hurried down his family’s gravel lane, pleased to see the pie pumpkins that
remained in Emma’s garden. He stopped beside his shop to wave at Zeke and Eva Detweiler
in one buggy, and the two buggies full of Detweiler children that followed them—including
the carriage he’d designed to accommodate young Joel’s wheelchair. Then he crossed
the road and strode alongside the mercantile, which was closed on this Thursday so
the Lambrights could celebrate this special day.

It struck James how many of the tipped-up buggies behind the Lambright barn had come
from Graber Custom Carriages—how every family in Cedar Creek depended upon his vehicles
and repair work. It was a blessing, indeed, to live among the friends he served and
to be entrusted with getting their families where they needed to go. And today it
seemed every man, woman, and child for miles around was showing up to wish him and
Zanna well. Fellows in their black hats and suits stood chatting in clusters outside
the house while their wives gathered in the kitchen to finish preparing the wedding
feast.

He gazed again at Zanna’s upstairs bedroom window. As he recalled tossing pebbles
against it those first Saturday nights he’d courted her, James grinned like a kid.
She’d looked so pretty in the moonlight, smiling down at him before she’d let him
into the kitchen. She’d seemed tickled that a successful, established fellow she knew
so well wanted to win her heart.

Had Zanna come downstairs for the wedding yet? Did she feel as frisky and excited
as a new foal, the way he did? In his black vest, trousers, and high-topped shoes,
with a radiant white shirt, James was filled with an excitement he’d never known.
He greeted Matt’s border collies, Panda and Pearl, with exuberant pats on their black
and white heads. “Dressed for the wedding, I see,” he teased.

In less than an hour, Zanna would be seated with him and their four newehockers. It
might be difficult to sit through most of the long wedding service, and Bishop Gingerich’s
lengthy sermon, before they were at last called to stand before this gathering of
family and friends.

James paused when a familiar figure stepped out the Lambrights’ front door. Ordinarily
folks came and went through the kitchen entry, but something about Abby Lambright’s
expression announced that she was on no ordinary mission. She glanced across the yard,
where their many male guests stood visiting, and then she headed straight for him.

“Gut morning, Abby!” he called out, hoping to dispel her gloomy frown as she pulled
her shawl tighter around her shoulders. Abby was a maidel, a few years older than
he, and in his entire life he’d never known her to raise her voice or lose her temper.

“James,” she replied with a stiff nod. Her eyes looked puffy, but her gaze didn’t
waver as she stopped a few feet in front of him. “There’s something we’ve got to tell
you, James. And since Sam’s talking with the bishop, he’s asked me to let you know
that…Well, there’s no easy way to say it.”

Frowning, he stepped closer. “Did somebody fall sick? Or get hurt carrying all those
tables and pews and—”

“I wish it were as simple as that,” Abby interrupted. She bit her lip and took a deep
breath. “James, Zanna is nowhere to be found. As far as we can tell, she didn’t sleep
in her bed last night…and we have no idea where she might have gone.”