Seasons in Paradise by Cameron Barbara;

Author:Cameron, Barbara;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2016-06-16T04:00:00+00:00

13

Mary Elizabeth heard the knock on the door and went to answer it. She said a silent prayer hoping it was Sam.

The last thing she needed was Ben stopping by unannounced.

Schur enough it was Sam carrying a bunch of daisies. “I brought these for your mudder.”

“Why, Sam, that was so sweet!” Linda said behind Mary Elizabeth.

“Just a thank-you for all the meals you’ve cooked and invited me to share over the years,” he told her as he stepped inside.

“Actually, Mary Elizabeth cooked tonight, but I’ll share,” her mudder said.

Jacob stood and dropped his copy of The Budget, the Amish newspaper, into his recliner, shook Sam’s hand, and followed them into the kitchen.

Grossdaadi was already seated at the table, and his grin was wide when he saw Sam. “There you are!”

“Good to see you,” Sam told him as he rounded the table to shake his hand. “I hear you want a game of checkers.”

“Ya. You think you can beat me?”

“I schur do.”

“We’ll see about that. I trounced Jacob here in both games today.”

“He cheats,” Jacob mouthed behind the old man’s head.

Linda beamed at Sam as she arranged the daisies in a white ceramic pitcher and set it in the middle of the table.

Sam took a seat after the women did. Jacob asked Abe to bless the meal, and Sam thought about how he had faltered for a time, thinking God had turned His back on him when he had to leave his home.

Rose Anna peppered him with questions about his life outside the community until her dat frowned at her.

“I missed this!” Sam exclaimed when he realized what they were having for supper. Haystacks were an Amish favorite at all sorts of gatherings, especially fundraisers. A bowl of crushed soda crackers made its way around the table. Each person dumped a handful or two on his or her plate, then a mound of browned hamburger mixed with taco seasoning, chopped lettuce and tomato, and green pepper and onion fresh from the garden. A couple spoonsful of rice, grated cheddar cheese, and Sam’s favorite—homemade salsa—and it was a haystack of edible delight.

He sighed happily as he dug into it. What could have been better on a hot summer night than this dish he remembered eating at so many special occasions in his youth?

His dat had growled at his mudder once when she served it. “Man doesn’t want a salad after working all day in the fields,” he’d complained. But the dish was hearty enough with all the ground beef and such. And his mudder had helped them harvesting in the fields and had hardly had time to come inside and slave over a hot stove afterward.

“Is it allrecht?” Mary Elizabeth asked him, and he realized he’d been frowning.

“Perfect,” he said, looking up and smiling at her. “I remember having this at so many youth gatherings. Remember when Naomi Rose’s mudder added too much taco seasoning in the hamburger?”

She laughed and nodded. “We drained two pitchers of lemonade that day.”

Their gazes locked, held as they both remembered that day.

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