Runaway Amish Bride. Leigh Bale

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ hands of her father and elder brother, Simon. Desperate to escape, she had agreed to come to Colorado. Naomi had been childhood friends with her mother. Fourth cousins, to be exact. Abby had been a girl when they’d left Ohio, but she still remembered them.

      Naomi lifted her head, her eyes shimmering with moisture. “Susan is gone, but your children still need a mamm. Perhaps that is why your vadder contacted Abby and told her to come here.”

      “My children have you to mother them. They don’t need anyone else. And it wasn’t Daed’s place to find me a wife,” Jakob said.

      Naomi nodded. “You are right, of course. But Reuben is so angry all the time. He’s becoming uncontrollable. Yesterday, his schoolteacher told me he put a frog in her desk drawer. It jumped out and nearly scared her to death. And he’s constantly teasing Ruby and making her cry.”

      Abby listened intently. He had children, too! Reuben and Ruby. Those must be their names. And knowing that Reuben was picking on Ruby made Abby’s defenses go up like a kite flying high. She couldn’t help feeling instantly protective of the girl.

      Jakob released a heavy sigh of frustration. “I will speak with him again.”

      “That’s just it. He won’t listen. He needs a mamm. So does Ruby. They need a complete familye,” Naomi said.

      Sitting next to the bishop wearing a black traveling bonnet, Sarah Yoder nodded her agreement.

      A sick feeling settled in Abby’s stomach. She hadn’t known any of this information. That Jakob had been married before and had two children. That was more than she’d bargained for.

      “I didn’t know.” She spoke in a quiet voice, needing to understand exactly what she was getting herself into. At his father’s urging, she had agreed to marry Jakob, not become an instant mother.

      Jakob turned, his eyes widening, as if he’d forgotten she was here. “What didn’t you know?”

      She swallowed, gathering her courage. “That you were married before and have kinder.”

      “Ach, it’s true.” He looked away, his gestures filled with impatience.

      A dark, heavy silence followed.

      “Jakob is a widower. Susan died in childbirth sixteen months ago,” Naomi explained in a gentle tone.

      Oh, dear. Jakob’s father had neglected to mention that in his letters. Abby couldn’t help wondering what the man had been playing at. Had he hoped to get her here and then convince her to become a stepmother to Jakob’s children? Why hadn’t he told her the truth before she traveled across the country? Since the man had died suddenly a few weeks earlier, she would never know. It had taken her all that time to convince her brother to let her come here, and now it seemed a wasted effort.

      “How old are your kinder?” she asked.

      Jakob raked a hand through his short hair, showing his annoyance. “Reuben is seven and Ruby is five.”

      “I didn’t know anything about them,” she said.

      Now what? She hadn’t expected this. No, not at all.

      The Western United States seemed strange and isolated to Abby, but it offered a chance at freedom. To begin a new life of peace and happiness. At the age of twenty-four, she should have already wed. But frankly, her father and brother had soured her toward all men.

      Except one.

      A rush of memory filled Abby’s mind. She’d been twelve years old when Simon was beating her with a heavy stick...doing what he’d seen their father do so many times before. Up until then, Jakob had been friends with Simon. The two boys were both fifteen years old. Jakob had been working with his daed in a nearby field. When he’d seen what was happening, he’d marched through the tall wheat, jerked the stick out of Simon’s hand and broken it over his bended knee. Simon had been furious that Jakob would interfere, but he hadn’t dared challenge him. Jakob was bigger, stronger and fiercer. He’d shielded Abby, giving her time to flee.

      When Jakob’s familye had migrated to Colorado a year later, Abby never forgot his kindness. And every time her father or brother beat her, she thought about Jakob and his compassion. It was the only reason she had agreed to marry him. But now, she had a dilemma. If she returned to Ohio, she’d be forced to live in Simon’s household, where she had no doubt the abuse would continue. And she couldn’t stand that. No, not ever again. But maybe there was another option.

      “I understand a marriage will not work between us.” She spoke softly, her hands trembling.

      Jakob tilted his head to the side. “What did you say?”

      She forced herself to meet his dark, angry eyes and repeated herself. “There has obviously been a horrible misunderstanding. But now that I am here, is it possible that I might work for you? Surely you need help on the farm. I am eager not to return to Ohio. Please. Don’t send me back there. Let me stay and work here.”

      She hated that she must resort to begging, but life was harsh for an Amish woman alone in the world. She didn’t want to return to the misery waiting for her in Ohio, but neither did she want to abandon her faith for a life among the Englisch. She could work to make her way, if only Jakob would agree.

      “I see no reason why you must leave, especially when you just got here,” Bishop Yoder said. “Our district is anxious to bring new members into its fold, to increase our settlement. There are not enough women of our faith to marry our young men. You would be a great asset to our congregation.”

      Abby understood the implication of his words. If Jakob wouldn’t marry her, then someone else would because they were in short supply of Amish women. But what they didn’t know was that Abby would never agree to marry any of them. The fact that Jakob’s father had misguided her only confirmed her belief that most men could not be trusted and they used women only to get what they wanted.

      Naomi nodded eagerly. “Of course, you must stay. We can find room for you here. There’s always work to be done, and we really could use more help. The bishop’s wife runs a bakery in town, and we contribute baked goods on consignment. In fact, I have to make a delivery in town tomorrow morning.”

      Sarah nodded eagerly. “Ja, that is true.”

      “You could also assist me with keeping an eye on the kinder,” Naomi continued.

      Abby didn’t mind looking after children, but she felt a little odd tending Jakob’s kids. It was preferable to returning to Ohio. Everyone seemed eager for her to remain here. Everyone except Jakob.

      “I would like that very much,” Abby said.

      In unison, they all turned to look at Jakob. Their eyes were filled with hope as they silently awaited his verdict. For the first time in Abby’s life, it felt good to be wanted for a change, even if it was just Naomi, the bishop and Sarah who wanted her.

      Jakob blinked, regarding them all as if he were a cornered rabbit facing a pride of mountain lions. Panicked and desperate. Abby held her breath, silently praying he agreed to let her stay.

      * * *

      Jakob took a deep breath, then released it slowly. СКАЧАТЬ