Cherish & Amish Redemption by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-01-23T13:31:56+00:00

* * *

“Mary, I have just the mann for you.”

Resisting the urge to bang her head on the cupboard door in front of her, Mary Kaufman continued mixing the lemon cake batter in the bowl she held. “I don’t want a man, Ada.”

Don’t want one. Don’t need one. How many ways can I say it before you believe me?

Except for her adopted father, Nick Bradley, most of the men in Mary’s life had brought her pain and grief. However, the prospect of finding her a husband was her adopted grandmother’s favorite subject. As much as Mary loved Ada, this got old.

“Balderdish! Every Amish woman needs a goot Amish husband.” Ada opened the oven door.

“The word is balderdash.”

Ada pulled a cake out using the folded corner of her black apron and dropped it on the stove top with a clatter. “Mein Englisch is goot. Do not change the subject. You will be nineteen in a few weeks. Do you want people to call you an alt maedel?”

“I’ll be twenty, and I don’t care if people call me an old maid or not.”

Ada frowned at her. “Zvansich?”

“Ja. Hannah just turned four. That means I’ll be twenty.” Mary smiled at her daughter playing with an empty bowl and wooden spoon on the floor. She was showing her dog, Bella, how to make a cake. The yellow Lab lay watching intently, her big head resting on her paws. Mary could almost believe the dog was memorizing the instructions.

Ada turned to the child. “Hannah, how old are you?”

Grinning at her great-grandmother, Hannah held up four fingers. “This many.”

Patting her chest rapidly, Ada faced Mary. “Ach! Then there is no time to lose. Delbert Miller is coming the day after tomorrow to fix the chicken haus. You must be nice to him.”

Mary slapped one hand to her cheek. “You’re right. There’s no time to lose. I’ll marry him straightaway. If he doesn’t fall through that rickety roof and squish all our chickens.”

She shook her head and began stirring again. “Go out with Delbert Miller? Not in a hundred years.”

“I know he is en adlichah grohsah mann, but you should not hold that against him.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “A fairly big man? Nee, he is a very big man.”

“And are you such a prize that you can judge him harshly?”

Mary stopped stirring and stared at the cuffs of her long sleeves. No matter how hot it got in the summer, she never rolled them up. They covered the scars on her wrists. The jagged white lines in her flesh were indisputable evidence that she had attempted suicide, the ultimate sin. Shame washed over her. “Nee, I’m not a prize.”

A second later, she was smothered in a hug that threatened to coat her in batter. “Forgive me, child. That is not what I meant. You know that. You are the light in this old woman’s heart and your dear dochder is the sun and the stars.”

Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

God spared my life. He has forgiven my sins.

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