Amish Days: Coming Home: A Hollybrook Amish Romance (Rhoda's Story Book 3) by Brenda Maxfield

Amish Days: Coming Home: A Hollybrook Amish Romance (Rhoda's Story Book 3) by Brenda Maxfield

Author:Brenda Maxfield [Maxfield, Brenda]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Tica House Publishing LLC
Published: 2017-01-12T05:00:00+00:00


Chapter Nine

Rhoda wasn’t sure how long she lay there. She only knew that when Bart returned and came into the daadi haus, he found her on their mother’s chest.

“Rhoda?” Bart stopped short.

Rhoda sat up and wiped her face with her apron. “She’s gone.”

“What?” Bart rushed forward. “What do you mean?”

“She’s gone,” Rhoda repeated. She got up stiffly and backed away from the bed.

“Mamm!” Bart cried. He bent over her and let out a moan. “Nee! Nee!” He looked at Rhoda. “What happened?”

“She told me that she loves you,” Rhoda said, her voice quivering.

“But how did this happen?”

“She just stopped breathing. She said she wanted to go home. She said Dat was waiting for her.”

“But I thought she might last longer.”

“So did I.”

Bart’s face crumpled, and Rhoda could see he was trying not to break down.

She stepped forward and clasped his arm. “She was happy to go,” she whispered. “She wanted to see Gott. And Dat.”

Bart shook his head back and forth. “Nee. It wasn’t time.”

Rhoda squeezed his arm. He broke free and began pacing. “You were right,” he said. “You were right.”

Rhoda looked at him.

“You said she’d die if we moved her from her home. You were right.” A panicked look covered his face. “This is my fault.”

“Nee! It isn’t. She told me we had no choice but to move her here. She told me. She understood.”

Bart looked at her through his tears. “What do you mean?”

Rhoda told him their mother’s last words. As she spoke, she could see Bart begin to relax, his regret lessen.

He glanced at Winnie’s still form. “I need to tell Evelyn and the kinner.”

“And Donna. And Martha.” Rhoda felt a surge of dread cover her. They would be upset that they hadn’t been here with her. And Donna? How would she deal with this?

“Jah. Martha and Donna,” Bart said. He wiped his eyes and left the room. But before he could leave the daadi haus, Evelyn came in.

“Bart? I heard you come back.”

Rhoda could easily hear her from the bedroom.

“What is it? What’s happened?”

Bart mumbled something. There was a cry and then weeping. Evelyn came into the bedroom slowly. She looked at Winnie with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“So, she’s gone?”

Rhoda nodded. “She was happy to go.”

Evelyn went to the bed and took Winnie’s hand in hers. “Good-bye Mama,” she said softly. “We love you.”

She placed Winnie’s hand gently to her side. “Old Mae was right. She was ready to go. But I never thought…” she paused and swallowed hard. “I never thought she’d go this soon.”

“It was time.” Rhoda felt strange, almost as if she wasn’t really there in the room. More like she was observing it from afar. It didn’t seem real. She knew it was, but it felt more like a dream.

“Bart has gone to fetch Martha and Donna,” Evelyn told her. She glanced back at Winnie. “We’ll have to dress her in white.”

Winnie was wearing her dark brown cape dress. It was one of her favorites; although, it wasn’t her nicest dress.



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