Read Online Huckleberry Hill by Jennifer Beckstrand - Free Book Online Page B

a pious family, preferably with a gute piece of land of his own. No Wautoma boys measured up.
    After Rachel had turned down her third marriage proposal and despaired of ever finding the perfect husband, they joked that maybe Lia would be the first Shetler girl to marry after all. She and Rachel had a good laugh about that.
    “Lia, would you get the cheese from the shelf?” Dat said.
    Thomas swung his feet back and forth. “Can I have cheese?”
    Lia found a small wheel of white cheese and sliced away the wax before she studied the label and caught her breath. “Where did you get this cheese?”
    Mamm glanced in her direction. “I gave it to your dat for his birthday. It came in a gift basket.”
    “This is Moses’s cheese!”
    “Who is Moses?” Dat asked.
    “The Helmuths’ grandson, Moses Zimmerman. He runs a cheese factory in Bonduel.”
    “Do you know him?”
    “Jah, he comes to Huckleberry Hill to help with chores. He bought me some of his baby swiss at auction. It is delicious.”
    Dat held out his hand. “Let’s have a try.”
    Lia quickly cut seven slices and passed them out to her family.
    “This is yummy,” Mamm said. “I hoped it would be gute. I bought it at the T&M market.”
    “Very gute, very gute,” Dat said. “We’ll have to keep an eye out for more from Zimmerman Cheese. It is a gute thing to buy from other Amish.”
    Lia almost burst with pride for Moses. She put more slices on a plate and brought them to the table. “He bought the cheese factory from an Englischer five years ago when he was only twenty-one. He has worked hard. A man in Green Bay will buy all the cheese Moses can make, and for a gute price too.”
    Mamm took another piece and broke it into her stew. “Have you met his wife and children?”
    “Oh, he’s not married. Though, heaven knows, such a fine young man could be.”
    Rachel served herself another piece of corn bread. “He is probably homely.”
    Linda Rose and Susie Lynn giggled behind their hands.
    Lia teasingly scolded Rachel with her eyes. “Nae. He is pleasant to look at.” She grinned and poked Susie Lynn lightly in the ribs. “He is handsomer than Floyd Weaver.”
    Susie’s laughter sounded like water tripping over the rocks. “He is not.”
    Dat laid down his spoon and propped an elbow on the table. “Is he a gute man of the Church?”
    “As gute as they come, to be sure.”
    Leaning back in his chair, Dat folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head to the side in deep thought. “Just the thing for our Rachel.”
    “What do you mean, Dat?” Rachel said.
    “We’ve gone through all the boys in Wautoma. Maybe your husband has been waiting in Bonduel all this time.”
    Rachel knit her brows together. “You mean the one who makes cheese?”
    “Jah. I’m sure of it. If he is everything Lia says, he would make a fine husband for you.”
    Lia’s heart sank to her toes, but she managed a weak smile. “Too bad he lives in Bonduel.”
    Dat’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, and he leaned forward. “Bonduel is only an hour by car. You could take Rachel with you for a visit.”
    “That is a fine idea,” Mamm chimed in. “He will be thrilled to meet our Rachel.”
    Rachel seemed mildly curious. “I might want to see for myself if he is so handsome.”
    Lia felt as if a buggy full of church benches had parked itself on her chest. She didn’t want Rachel to come to Bonduel. Huckleberry Hill and the Helmuths belonged to Lia. Even if it was a silly notion, they felt like her own private family. She didn’t want to share them with Rachel. And she knew what would happen. Once they met Rachel, Lia would cease to be important to them.
    “He doesn’t want to get married,” Lia said.
    Dat frowned. “He told you this?”
    “Jah. He said he is not looking for a wife.”
    Dat laced his fingers together. “Of course he would tell you that, Lia. He does not want to marry you. But he has not met our Rachel. He’ll change his mind when he lays