Read Online A Plain and Simple Christmas by Amy Clipston - Free Book Online

rest of the district already knows.” He started toward the door. “I’ll go tell my father now.”
    “David!” Kathryn rushed after him and pulled him back. “Now you’re acting narrisch!”
    “I’m narrisch?” He snorted with sarcasm. “I’m not seeing signs from God involving everyone but my spouse in secret plans.” He shook his head. “I especially don’t like that you involved Amanda. I don’t want you to teach our dochdern to defy their future husbands.”
    Kathryn shook her head. He didn’t comprehend her motive, and she couldn’t think of anything else to say to try toget through to him. “You don’t understand why I did this at all, do you?”
    “No, I don’t.” He folded his arms across his wide chest. “What will this visit entail? I know she’s arriving Wednesday and staying in Paradise. What else have you planned without my knowledge?”
    “We’re hosting them for supper Wednesday. Thursday night we’ll also invite your parents.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure your mother supports all of this.”
    “She also believes it’s God’s will for our family to heal.” She reached for his arm, but he stepped away from her touch. “I truly believe that, David. That’s why I did it. My best intentions were for our family. I didn’t want to cause you to be upset with me.”
    “You know my daed.” He frowned. “He won’t be as eiferich as the rest of the Beilers.”
    “We can all pray for his heart to be opened and warmed by the sight of his youngest dochder and his future grandchild.”
    “This is going to be a huge mistake.” He shook his head and started for the door.
    “Where are you going?” she asked.
    “Downstairs to read my Bible and think,” he said.
    “But it’s after nine,” she said.
    “I’m not ready to sleep. You go ahead to bed,” he said.
    She watched him disappear into the hallway and close the door behind him. Sighing, she climbed into bed. For the first time in their sixteen years of marriage, she was going to bed alone. Ironically, Kathryn’s plans for bringing the family together had seemed to tear David and her apart. Tears filledher eyes at the thought of the chasm she’d put between herself and her husband.
    Shivering, she pulled the quilt up to her chin and closed her eyes, hoping somehow Christmas would turn out better than David expected.

CHAPTER 7
    A nna Mae’s stomach fluttered as their burgundy Chevrolet Equinox took another winding hill. She gripped the door handle as more snow flurries peppered the windshield.
    “You okay?” Kellan reached over and covered her hand with his warm palm.
    “Don’t you think you should slow down?” she asked. “The snow is picking up.”
    “We’re fine,” he said with a confident smile. “I know how to drive in snow. You forget I went to college in Maine. This is nothing compared to the blizzards I saw up there.”
    “I hear it’s going to snow most of the week and may be pretty bad on Christmas.” Anna Mae turned to him. “Now, you remember that Amish Christmases are different from English Christmases. They don’t put up a tree or include Santa. They may do a little bit of decorating with poinsettias and candles, but you won’t see any Christmas lights. To the Amish, it’s more about family and Jesus’ birth, not Santa and gifts.”
    Kellan nodded. “I remember that. You’ve explained it to me before.”
    “And they have First Christmas and Second Christmas,”she reminisced. “In our family, we received our gifts on Christmas morning. My mother set up the table especially for the kids, and it was called the Christmas table. She put our names by each place setting and placed our gifts on the plate. We visited our extended family on Second Christmas, which was the twenty-sixth, and shared a huge meal. It was so much fun playing with all of our cousins. My grandparents would give each of us a little gift, like candy.”
    “Sounds like a lot of visiting,” Kellan