The Amish Widow's Christmas Hope by Carrie Lighte

Author:Carrie Lighte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-07-06T20:26:35+00:00

Chapter Seven

Once they arrived at the schoolyard, the children rushed off so Jane could introduce Patience and Phillip to her friends before the program started, but Fern waited for Walker to hitch the horse. Standing just beyond the foot of the buggy, she balanced her container of peanut brittle atop two containers of sugar cookies Louisa had prepared. There was just enough moonlight to see the faces of other parents and children, and whether she recognized them from when she lived there or not, Fern exchanged warm greetings as they passed on their way into the building.

One man said hello and then stopped short and swung around. “Fern Troyer?” he asked incredulously.

“Jah,” she said, answering to her maiden name.

He pulled his scarf away from his chin. “It’s me, Stephen Hertig.”

“Hello, Stephen, how are you?” Fern stalled. He obviously knew her when she lived in Serenity Ridge, but she hadn’t seen him in church on Sunday and she couldn’t immediately place him in her memory. Stephen must have noticed her hesitance because he chuckled.

“You’ve forgotten the first man to court you when you moved to Serenity Ridge?”

Fern instantly remembered—Stephen had only taken Fern out twice but that was enough for her to know he was charming, but he came on too strong for her taste. Judging from how openly he’d referred to their courtship just now, he was still as audacious as ever.

“My apologies. I didn’t recognize you with a beard. Is your wife inside? I’d like to meet her,” she said emphatically, hoping to embarrass him into demonstrating more discretion.

“Neh.” Stephen tugged the brim of his hat lower. “She died last year from cancer.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Fern felt horrible. She softened her voice to confide, “My husband died from cancer, too.”

She shifted the goodies to one arm so she could reach out and give his hand a sympathetic squeeze, but the containers slid across one another. Stephen grabbed the top two before they fell and Fern managed to keep her grasp on the bottom one.

“I can carry these in for you,” he offered. “So, are you visiting or have you moved back to Serenity Ridge for gut?”

“Neh. I’m only here until Samschdaag. I, um, had some family business to take care of after my onkel Roman passed away.”

“I was sorry to hear about that, although sometimes Gott works in mysterious ways. You never know what else He might have in mind by bringing you back to Serenity Ridge.” It was too dark to be certain, but Fern thought he winked at her.

Unsettled, she simply thanked Stephen for his condolences. What’s taking Walker so long? she wondered, just as she saw movement in her peripheral vision. Walker took a step forward and Fern noticed his hands were clenched.

“Hello, Stephen,” he said curtly.

“Hi, Walker,” Stephen replied with a grin. “Don’t tell me you’re the man responsible for keeping Fern waiting out here in the cold with her arms full?”

Walker’s voice was so low it sounded like a growl. “Fern came with

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