Christmas at the Amish Market by Shelley Shepard Gray

Author:Shelley Shepard Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Published: 2022-06-27T10:16:20+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Roland’s twelve-year-old mare, Star, had been battling a fierce case of colic for two days. So much so, she had gone from acting a bit off to being in visible pain. Worried about her, Roland had gone to his English neighbors and rung up the vet, who had been able to see her within a few hours. After administering both Benamine and Phenylbutazone and then calmly chatting with the horse for an hour, Star had seemed to settle at last.

Naturally, Roland was grateful for the veterinarian’s assistance. He was also very thankful that the Lord had helped the animal doctor heal his best plow horse. He was even grateful that little Lilly had understood that the horse’s needs had taken him away from her for the best part of two days.

But even though he was grateful for those blessings, he wished the emergency hadn’t taken him so far from Lilly for the entire morning. It was getting close to Christmas, and his little girl got bored and lonely easily.

You are also wishing you could’ve been near Liesl, his conscience whispered in his ear. On another day he’d push that voice away, but he couldn’t deny the truth.

Unfortunately, his most joyous moments revolved around Liesl’s visits. After he’d called her when he’d needed to rebuild Taco’s stall, she’d started coming over again all the time. He hadn’t had the nerve—or the desire—to push her away again. When she was nearby, he felt more alive, brighter.

When Liesl was nearby, Roland felt almost like the man he used to be.

After washing up in the barn, he entered the house, presumably to check on Lilly. But of course, to his great shame, it was Liesl’s sweet, melodic voice that drew him into the living room.

And there they were, Lilly in her purple dress and Liesl in a cranberry-colored dress, black stockings, and a matching black cardigan over her shoulders. They were sitting together on the couch, Lilly holding a needle and thread in her hand. Though Liesl had told him she likely wasn’t going to get to have supper with them until after she finished the dozen bridesmaid dresses she was working on, he was still disappointed. He had allowed himself to imagine sharing a meal with Liesl more than once. And with Liesl sitting with Lilly like that, the very picture of cozy family contentment, it was easy to imagine what it would be like if he shared everything with Liesl.

Which he really shouldn’t have been doing.

“Lilly, are you sewing today?” he asked.

Liesl smiled as he approached. “She is, and she’s doing a mighty fine job, too.”

“I’ve only gotten pricked one time,” Lilly announced as she held up two fingers on her left hand.

Liesl chuckled at his frown. “Don’t you worry. The prick didn’t draw blood.”

“I didn’t know Lilly was old enough to sew,” he said. “Ain’t four years old awfully young to be working with a needle and thread?”

Some of Liesl’s bright smile faded. “The needle is one for children. It’s sharp but it’s bigger and easier to handle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.