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Ruby watched Levi drive away in her buggy. She had never seen him so upset. He and her sister had been married a year. Surely, he was used to her erratic schedule by now. Miriam was the midwife for more than just their district. If need be, she went long distances to help people. Ruby loved Levi, but he could be a bit harsh. But then Miriam could be introverted and keep things to herself. She shook her head. They might figure out their relationship over the years.
Of course, there was the tradition of their family as Braucherei. The powwow healers. The practice became faded over the years, but the old people in the community embraced Miriam and called on her to carry on the tradition. Wart removal. Nausea relief. Depression. Miriam coddled the old folks, and they loved her for it.
Ruby sighed. Their Mammi and her sister had been so close, and the healing modality from years past had bound them. Now, Miriam was married, and she couldn’t just go off without telling Levi her intentions.
Moving from the window with her thoughts, Ruby began making kaffe, then took out the doughnuts she made for the gathering. Carly, Hannah, and she were going over the final plans for Hannah and Matthew’s wedding. In two weeks, her son would be a married man. Ruby shook her head. Matthew wearing a beard? Amazing.
So many things had changed over the past few months. Carly Laine became their long-term guest. Ruby enjoyed her company so much. Imagine. An Englischer living in the farm stay. Ruby wondered at times if Carly acted more Amish than Englisch? Smiling to herself, she watched the color of the liquid change to dark brown through the glass knob of the stovetop kaffe pot. Turning off the gas, Ruby pulled the large container toward her, grabbed a mug, and poured herself a delicious brew. She was ready for the girls to arrive.
***
Carly Laine paused and listened from her apartment at the farm stay. Her friend, Ruby, was up and working in the kitchen.
She smiled, it felt so lovely to be part of this family. If someone told her she would live with the Amish, she would laugh over the announcement. She loved living at the farm stay. Carly had booked a two-week stay which was almost five months ago, now she was a permanent renter.
She knew the new apartment was all Matthew and Hannah’s plan, and they worked so hard to make it so. Together, they changed the large rooms, hall, and bathroom at the end of the living quarters on the second floor into a beautiful apartment for her to rent. The young couple laughed through the work and proclaimed it as fun!
Three large windows looked out over the fields, which were golden in their fall colors. With the inner wall gone, the living area was extensive with one door to the private bathroom and the other entrance to the stairs leading to the kitchen. One wall separated her apartment from the guest bedrooms.
Her new quilt from Ruby’s store grazed the full bed in all its design and wintery blue colors. Miriam worked at the store nearly every day, and she was an expert at selling the items. The quilt had been expensive, but Miriam made her a good deal, and now it graced her bed.
Carly couldn’t wipe her smile away. She made sure Matthew approve her colors and wallpaper. His words “calm for the Englisch” with a wink. He and Hannah both liked how it came out. She overheard the two talking about switching to apartments in the future.
“All in the dreams of being in love and starting their lives.”
At this moment, everything was settling down in her life.
Carly felt like giggling when she heard Ruby call up the stairs for her to come down. She took a long look at her home and headed down to join Ruby and Hannah for the wedding planning.
***
“...and, the celery is kept in the large wash tubs that Matthew setup.” Hannah’s face glowed with radiance after her last announcement.
Ruby swallowed. She could not say a word. This planning was stressful as Hannah went about things differently than Ruby did. Now she understood the comments her friends made about being a mother-in-law and having to bite her tongue.
Carly caught Ruby’s eye and smiled reassuringly at her then said, “Hannah, I see you brought your notebook. How many people do you have coming?” Ruby knew Carly tried to keep it light and give her a chance to calm down.
“At least two hundred with the children, I suspect there will be more, so we should plan on two hundred fifty.”
Carly spoke up, “so we need to increase the meat a bit?”
Hannah twirled the strings on her Kapp in a nervous manner. “Ruby, I will ask Daed to buy more chickens. Do you suppose kinner will eat more of the chicken dish rather than a slice of meat?”
Ruby gave a devious smile at Carly. “I do have a huge range sitting behind us. If I gave you the recipe and instructions, do you suppose you could cook the extra casseroles here?”
Carly chimed in, “Sure, I can do the casseroles here as I’ll be cooking for the in-house guests anyway.”
Hannah agreed, and so did Ruby.
“I thought you might put up a fuss, Carly.” Ruby laughed. “You sure did when I had you cook by yourself the first time.”
“I’ve learned a lot in the last few months. Besides, I really do like to cook, and it feels good to be doing it again. You know, baking has become my true love, though.”
“It is a good thing you do with all this going on. I don’t know what I might have done without you, for sure and for certain.”
“I think we have things settled; I feel good about the food for all. Thank you both for all your help.” Hannah smiled. “I understand I’m not much of a chef. I hope to learn from both of you. How long do you think it will take me?”
Ruby and Carly’s gazes met across the table, in a warning to each other to not make the girl feel offended. They knew it would take a long time, if ever.
“I have reservations for your family staying here, Hannah.” Ruby avoided answering Hannah’s question and hoped the girl did not notice.
“I’m so glad you are offering the farm stay free to them, Ruby. They must travel a long way to come to the wedding. Daed will have families with children at our house. And thank you too, Carly, for offering to share your room with me the night before. That way I can give my room to our family.”
“Is your father’s new barn done and ready for your wedding service?” Carly asked.
“Yes, it is ready to be set up for the service and then the food. Daed even has the big heater coming this week. He is excited. I think it is more for the coming winter when he has to work in the cold barn rather than for the wedding.” She laughed easily.
“How long did you say the service lasted?” Carly looked at Hannah.
Ruby filled in the answer when Hannah looked lost. “Three hours for the service, then the vows are spoken. Then we set up to eat.” She reached over and closed her hand over Hannah’s nervous movement.
“It will be fine, dear,” Ruby said, “All brides get nervous over all the planning, not to mention the thoughts of being married and all the responsibilities that it brings to you. You will do well.”
“I love you both,” Hannah spoke softly. “With my mother gone to heaven, my daed couldn’t do all of this for me. You two will be grandmothers to our children.”
“Grandmother, hmm, how about Auntie?” They all laughed over Carly’s declaration.
***
The nip in the air made Carly pull her sweater tighter around her. She looked at the darkening clouds and knew snow was coming soon. Worrying about the wedding, she spoke under her breath, “All those people are going to freeze before they eat.”
She wanted to laugh over the meeting they all just finished at Ruby’s. Carly could feel the dilemma flowing through her friend, Ruby. It wasn’t easy to watch your child grow away from you. She had a feeling the babies from Matthew and Hannah would fill the emptiness in her friend.
Carly examined her own status with Asher. Could they make it work again? He began the new job of Chief of Police in Paradise Wells and asked her to be his deputy. Carly realized she hadn’t seen him in over a week. It was a big job and very demanding, even in a small area.
She knew Asher well enough to understand he had a lot on his mind. No. I won’t take the job, heck we wouldn’t see each other if I did.
Carly admitted the decision she reached came from a lot more than seeing Asher. For the first time in her life, she felt at peace. The thought of going back to police or private investigating left her feeling cold. To experience this field of work again would wipe out all she came to be, here, here in this beautiful country setting with the Amish.
She bit her lip knowing Asher gave her more time than he did anyone else for the deputy job. She had to provide him with her final decision. Carly told him last night on the phone that she would give him an answer today. She made the decision and felt as if she could breathe again. Carly hoped this was the right thing to do, and he would understand her reasoning.
She kicked at a mound of dirt and laughed softly. This worry had to be pushed aside because the wedding came first. What a huge affair. She didn’t see how they did it all.
Carly decided the two of them, Hannah and Ruby, were both a wreck over this wedding and all that goes with it. She had never seen so much celery as there was in the basement cellar.
It felt good to laugh over it. One of the perks of living here was all this openness. She could walk in the open air and let herself work things out without someone seeing. This is an excellent place to live.
***
Her finger punched at the phone’s buttons. “Come on, Asher, pick up the phone! Twenty-eight chickens, who cooks so many chickens!” she took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but it was useless. “Why won’t he answer? I need to know what to do.”
She’d never touched the slimy things like livers. How in the world could she get all this made?
Finally, she disconnected the call and jammed the cell phone into her back pocket. Why hadn’t she told Ruby her misgivings in the first place instead of blindly agreeing to cook extra casseroles? Ruby thought she was onboard, but heck, she was scared to death. All she could imagine was a cover of a book she’d read when she was a kid. It had a picture of a witch on the front cover stirring this big cauldron. Yes, that was how she felt.
Carly went in the laundry room to wash the linens. There on top of the dryer set four huge pans. She shook her head; this was a disaster. She needed someone to tell her what to do.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She snatched it out and saw it was Ash calling her back.
“Ash! Where have you been, I need help.”
“Hey girl, calm down and tell me what happened.”
“Chickens. Twenty-eight to be exact, and five dozen eggs and all those awful innards stuffed inside!”
She could hear him laughing and wanted to reach through the line and shake him silly. “It isn’t funny, Asher. I don’t know how to cook like this.”
“It is the wedding casserole. It is okay, Carly. You don’t have to cook it all, the other ladies will help and do a pan a piece, and then you will do some. The chickens and other ingredients will begin to show up for you to make your pans.”
“Really? Don’t try to fool me, Ash. Just tell me how to get it done.”
“I just did. I used to watch my mom cook it for weddings.”
“Maybe I’ll give you a call when all this begins arriving!”
“I don’t think so...I’m sure to be busy and on a call,”
She could hear Asher snorting in the background as she pulled the phone away from her ear.
“You are really pushing it, mister.”
He only laughed harder on the other end.
She could hear him start... “Livers, and gizzards and hearts, oh my!”