And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4
A week later, Marlene was looking after Joy while Grace took some much needed time alone. She headed down to the creek where she used to go as a child. The more Marlene had helped look after Joy, the more Marlene’s mood had improved.
Grace sat on the creek’s edge thinking about her life and wondering if she should look for a job. Sure she could smell rain, she looked up at the gray sky. She saw dark rain clouds floating overhead and decided to set off home. When her house came into view, she also saw Adam walking towards her. He waved a hand in the air and she waved back.
“I was just looking for you and they told me you’d gone for a walk.”
“Jah. I just went to the creek. It's so nice and peaceful there and Marlene loves looking after Joy. I thought I’d give them some aunty-niece time.”
“Can I walk with you? I haven't been down to the creek in a while.”
Grace looked up at the sky. “Do you think the rain will hold off?”
“I think so,” he said. “I'm sorry I didn't come back and finish the conversation that we started days ago.”
“It's all right. I think I know what you were going to say, anyway.”
“Is it that obvious?” he chuckled.
“Marlene told me about you and Ida. You don’t have to say any more.”
“Me and Ida?” he looked confused. “Wait a minute, Grace. You’ve got things wrong.”
Grace’s heart pumped faster. She knew he liked her and she was teasing him. He took hold of her arm and turned her to face him.
“Grace Byler.”
“It’s actually Grace Stevens.”
“Grace Stevens, I wonder if I might – if you might allow me to take you out for a date.”
Grace giggled. “I’ve never heard you use the word ‘date’ before.”
“It’s a word that means you and I will make a time to go somewhere and do something together. What do you say?”
“I say jah. I’d like that.”
“Of course, you’d have to bring Joy along as our chaperone.”
“I’d have to. I can’t be away from her for too long when she’s this young. I’m missing her already just going on this walk.”
Adam was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, Grace. I lied to you.”
At that moment, her heart sank; she couldn’t cope with another man who lied. “When?”
“Just then, when I said I wanted to ask you on a date. I don’t have to date you or spend any more time with you to know that you’re the woman I want to marry.” He smiled at her.
She put her hands on her cheeks and gave a nervous giggle.
“Will you marry me, Grace Stevens?”
“Jah, Adam. I will marry you.”
He pulled her into his arms, lifted her up and swung her around in a circle. He placed her down. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”
She laughed. “Nee, not at all.”
“Shall we go and tell your parents the good news, or shall we keep it to ourselves for the moment?”
“I think we should tell them. I’ve never been able to keep secrets.”
“You kept Marlene’s secret very well – the secret that she wrecked my buggy and you didn’t. Nee, I won’t talk about that and ruin our happiness in case you’re still angry with me for all the chores I had you do.” He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go and sit down by the creek like we used to when we were young.”
Hand in hand they walked down to the creek. “It’s too cold to sit down, so lean against me.” He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him. He pointed to the tree nearby. “Did you notice our initials are still there?”
She looked over at the tree and recalled the day she stood beside him while he carved the letters into the tree with a penknife. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Now Grace had the man she’d always wanted and she’d been blessed with a baby.
Grace nestled her head into his shoulder while they looked at the icy, half-frozen-over creek. He tilted his head to rest it on top of hers. She appreciated the way he was holding her so tenderly, and she made a mental imprint of that moment so she could remember it forever.
He made the moment more special by whispering, “I’ll make you so happy you’ll never remember all the horrible things you suffered in your first marriage.”
She knew it was true. She’d always known what a good man Adam was. If Marlene hadn’t interfered all those years ago, she wouldn’t have had baby Joy. Maybe her mother was right about God’s timing.
“What are you thinking about, Grace?”
“I’m thinking that we’ve got Marlene to thank for Joy. If she hadn’t told you those lies all those years ago, we might have married back then. I wouldn’t have appreciated you as much as I do now, and there’d be no Joy.”
“That’s true, although her intentions weren’t exactly kind. But I guess that even though she had mean intentions for keeping us apart, if I’d married you back then, I wouldn’t have known how hard it was to find a woman like you.”
Peace flooded through Grace’s body, and she wished that the moment would last forever.
“You’re an amazing woman. You’ve gone through such hard times, but they haven’t pulled you down, or made you turn from Gott. The hard times made you see that Gott is the only way.”
Grace giggled. “I took a long winding road to get there, but I think my life is finally heading in the right direction.”
“Our life – it’s our life now. Or will be, as soon as I can talk the bishop into marrying us. We’ve both been baptized, so there’s nothing to stand in our way.”
Droplets of rain fell on Grace’s head. She tilted her face to the sky. “We should head back.”
“I want to stay out here with you a little longer. Just you and me.”
As the rain fell, they huddled together under Adam’s coat.
“If I don’t go back now, they’ll be worried about me,” Grace said after a few minutes.
“Let’s go and share our good news, but I need to tell you something.”
“Go on.”
“I was scared to let you in. I’ve always felt alone, and then my parents died and it was just me. I was fearful of getting close to you and then losing you again.”
“You won’t lose me.”
Adam looked up over the water. “It’s just a fear. I struggled for a while and wondered if it might be better not to have you at all than to have you and then lose you.” He looked into her eyes. “Do you have any idea of what I’m trying to say?”
“Is that why you let me carry on thinking you thought I’d crashed the buggy?”
“That was the day we were going to spend together and I let fear overtake me. I was fearful that you might leave again and I didn’t want to go through the pain of losing you a second time. I was going to make some excuse and cancel our plans, but the buggy gave me the perfect escape.”
Grace slapped him on his chest. “You let me do all that work in your haus.”
He laughed. “Don’t make me feel worse than I already do. Anyway, it’s our haus. Yours, Joy’s, and mine.”
“I hope you know now that I’ll never leave again?”
“I do. And when we’re married do you think you’ll change Joy’s last name?”
Grace nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. Joy and I are on a journey, and now our journey is with you, so it’s only right that we have your last name.”
Adam shook his head. “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m glad you’ve agreed. I want us to be a proper familye.”
It was two months later when Adam and Grace were sitting at their wedding table as man and wife that Grace noticed Marlene crying. She hadn’t seen her cry for a long time so she left Adam and went over to talk to her.
“What’s wrong, Marlene?”
“I feel so bad. I nearly ruined things for you with Adam twice. Not once, but twice.”
“That doesn’t matter now. We’re married. This is a time for celebration, not tears.”
“It’s your day, Grace. It’s your special time and I can’t ruin it.”
Grace frowned. “How would you ruin it?”
Marlene’s face scrunched up and tears flowed down her face.
“Stop it! You must tell me. How would you ruin it?” Dark thoughts flashed through her mind. Was Jeremy alive and now she was a bigamist? Was Adam already secretly married? Or did Adam already have a child that no one knew about?
“I can’t tell you and ruin your day.”
“You must; you must tell me now.”
Marlene’s bottom lip quivered, and she whispered, “I’m pregnant. I found out this morning, but I didn’t want to tell anyone. It’s your day. I haven’t even told Matthew.”
Grace hugged her. “You silly thing. That’s wunderbaar news. You had me thinking something bad. There’s Matthew over there, why don’t you take him away in a corner somewhere and tell him?”
Marlene sniffed. “You don’t mind me telling people on your special day?”
“Mind? I don’t know why you would ever think that I would.”
Marlene looked toward Matthew. “I think I’ll go tell him now, then.”
“I think you should. He’s looking at us now and he seems quite concerned.”
Marlene gave a little giggle and wiped her eyes before she threw her arms around Grace. “Denke for being such a gut friend to me. You’re more than a friend, you’re like a schweschder, and not just a schweschder-in-law.”
Before Grace could say anything, Marlene was hurrying toward Matthew.
Grace sighed and looked over at Adam. Less than a year ago, she’d had the worst life possible. Jeremy had abused her during their four-year marriage, and then he died. She was left with no money and nothing to her name. The only thing she had was her family and God.
A Scripture she’d heard once was ‘all things work together for good.’ Now she knew that it mean that out of bad things, good things can come.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Thank you for reading The Pregnant Amish Widow.
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Blessings,
Samantha Price
Book 3 Amish Widow's Faith
Her sister is playing matchmaker.
Deborah doesn't want another husband. She's newly widowed and has found out she's pregnant. Besides, another man could never compare with her late husband.
Deborah's words to her sister fall on deaf ears. She is so absorbed in her new hobby that she takes no notice.
Will her sister be so busy matching others that she cannot see her own perfect match is right under her nose?
Could a visit from a stranger cause Deborah to believe that true love can happen twice in one lifetime?