Read Online A Husband For Mari (The Amish Matchmaker 2) by Emma Miller - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Emma Miller
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Spirituality, Animals, Religious, Christian, German language, Inspirational, Single Mother, Bachelor, matchmaker, Amish, Traditional, Faith, clean romance, farming, boy, Forever Love, Single Woman, Mennonite, Amish Country, Hearts Desire, Love Inspired, Pennylvania Dutch, Simple Living, Plain Clothing, Buggy Travel, Courting, Old Fashion Ways, Struggling, Seven Poplars, Delaware, Young Child, Builder, Father Figure
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scent of burning hickory mixing with one of Sara’s cinnamon-and-clove potpourris bubbling on the back of one of the stoves.
The space was a beehive of activity. Men and boys were setting up long tables and arranging chairs while women in Amish kapps and starched white aprons carried in large stainless-steel containers and placed them on counters along one wall.
“Mari!” Sara waved to her from the food area. “What do you think of my hospitality barn?”
She laughed. “You can hardly call it a barn. It’s beautiful.”
This building was nothing like the barns Mari remembered from her childhood; some had smelled of hay and animal feed, but others were not so pleasant. She shivered involuntarily, remembering her uncle’s dank and forbidding stable, all shadows, cobwebs and sagging doors and windows. She had spent many mornings and evenings there milking the cows in the semidarkness, and it wasn’t a memory that she cared to linger over.
She walked over to where Sara was standing. “When you said you were having dinner in a barn, I wasn’t thinking of anything like this. This is terrific.” In her memories, her uncle’s barn had always been damp and drafty, even in summer. This, in contrast, was a cheerful place, clean and welcoming.
“I’m pleased with how it came together,” Sara said, planting her hands on her hips. “If you’re looking for Zachary, I saw him just a few minutes ago. If I know Ellie, she’s pressed him into service back in the kitchen. Tacos tonight, so there’s a lot of prep work.”
“There’s a kitchen in your barn?” Mari asked.
“Right through that doorway.” She pointed. “Every hospitality barn needs a kitchen, don’t you think? You can go help if you like. I know Ellie needed someone to start the salsa.”
“What exactly is a hospitality barn?” Mari hung her coat on a hook on the wall. More Amish were coming into the building now, and two teenage girls were spreading the tables with white tablecloths. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Made it up myself. I wanted someplace larger than my home where I could get young people together,” Sara explained. “For my matchmaking, so that men and women of courting age could meet. Also, our church community needed a safe place to hold youth meetings, singings and frolics. This barn was an answer to our prayers, and it practically fell into my lap. It’s more than a hundred years old and is in wonderful shape.”
“But the expense of moving the structure.” Mari looked around, still in awe. “It couldn’t have been cheap.”
“A bargain at any price. A lot of Amish communities have problems with their kids being lured into bad habits by the free ways of the English. Even Amish kids need somewhere away from adults to let down their hair, so to speak.”
Mari nodded in agreement.
“On Wednesday evenings our local youth group, the Gleaners , meet here. They do game nights, birthday parties and work frolics here, as well. It’s good that Amish children learn the value of work and responsibility, but boys have a lot of energy. If we can channel that energy in a positive way, the entire community benefits.”
“I didn’t realize you were involved in so many projects,” Mari said. “You haven’t lived here in Seven Poplars that long.”
“ Ne , I haven’t, but ours is a close-knit and caring community. I feel like I was called to come here.”
“Sure seems nice.” Mari smoothed her skirt. “Not anything like where I grew up. I don’t think anything had changed in our town in a century.”
“Tradition is good.” Sara nodded thoughtfully. “It’s served our faith well for hundreds of years, but as I see it, we don’t live in a vacuum. We have to be open to change when it can be done without endangering our way of life.”
Mari had known that Sara, who never had children of her own, had always been interested in kids, but she hadn’t realized that her concern went so deep. “And you did
The space was a beehive of activity. Men and boys were setting up long tables and arranging chairs while women in Amish kapps and starched white aprons carried in large stainless-steel containers and placed them on counters along one wall.
“Mari!” Sara waved to her from the food area. “What do you think of my hospitality barn?”
She laughed. “You can hardly call it a barn. It’s beautiful.”
This building was nothing like the barns Mari remembered from her childhood; some had smelled of hay and animal feed, but others were not so pleasant. She shivered involuntarily, remembering her uncle’s dank and forbidding stable, all shadows, cobwebs and sagging doors and windows. She had spent many mornings and evenings there milking the cows in the semidarkness, and it wasn’t a memory that she cared to linger over.
She walked over to where Sara was standing. “When you said you were having dinner in a barn, I wasn’t thinking of anything like this. This is terrific.” In her memories, her uncle’s barn had always been damp and drafty, even in summer. This, in contrast, was a cheerful place, clean and welcoming.
“I’m pleased with how it came together,” Sara said, planting her hands on her hips. “If you’re looking for Zachary, I saw him just a few minutes ago. If I know Ellie, she’s pressed him into service back in the kitchen. Tacos tonight, so there’s a lot of prep work.”
“There’s a kitchen in your barn?” Mari asked.
“Right through that doorway.” She pointed. “Every hospitality barn needs a kitchen, don’t you think? You can go help if you like. I know Ellie needed someone to start the salsa.”
“What exactly is a hospitality barn?” Mari hung her coat on a hook on the wall. More Amish were coming into the building now, and two teenage girls were spreading the tables with white tablecloths. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Made it up myself. I wanted someplace larger than my home where I could get young people together,” Sara explained. “For my matchmaking, so that men and women of courting age could meet. Also, our church community needed a safe place to hold youth meetings, singings and frolics. This barn was an answer to our prayers, and it practically fell into my lap. It’s more than a hundred years old and is in wonderful shape.”
“But the expense of moving the structure.” Mari looked around, still in awe. “It couldn’t have been cheap.”
“A bargain at any price. A lot of Amish communities have problems with their kids being lured into bad habits by the free ways of the English. Even Amish kids need somewhere away from adults to let down their hair, so to speak.”
Mari nodded in agreement.
“On Wednesday evenings our local youth group, the Gleaners , meet here. They do game nights, birthday parties and work frolics here, as well. It’s good that Amish children learn the value of work and responsibility, but boys have a lot of energy. If we can channel that energy in a positive way, the entire community benefits.”
“I didn’t realize you were involved in so many projects,” Mari said. “You haven’t lived here in Seven Poplars that long.”
“ Ne , I haven’t, but ours is a close-knit and caring community. I feel like I was called to come here.”
“Sure seems nice.” Mari smoothed her skirt. “Not anything like where I grew up. I don’t think anything had changed in our town in a century.”
“Tradition is good.” Sara nodded thoughtfully. “It’s served our faith well for hundreds of years, but as I see it, we don’t live in a vacuum. We have to be open to change when it can be done without endangering our way of life.”
Mari had known that Sara, who never had children of her own, had always been interested in kids, but she hadn’t realized that her concern went so deep. “And you did
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