Samuel's Return

Book 6: Amish of Southern Maryland

by Susan Lantz Simpson

Genres: Amish & Mennonite; Christian Romance

Synopsis

With two lively daughters, an active newborn, and a huge farm to tend, Lena Troyer has no time for impossible what-ifs. She just can't let herself be distracted by Samuel Mast's unexpected return. Even though her childhood sweetheart became the man she longed to marry, Samuel never saw or wrote Lena again after his family abruptly moved away. Now a widow, Lena is determined to keep Samuel's helpful ways and irresistible good humor at arm's length—no matter how often he's there when she needs him most... A restless father with a shameful secret was the reason Samuel's many letters never got to Lena. And it's why Samuel can't bring himself to tell Lena the truth—even though he's doing everything he can to regain her trust and prove he's worthy of the resourceful woman she's become. But as a rival for his affections complicates matters, Samuel and Lena must somehow put the past to rest—and believe that faith, honesty, and rekindled love will be more than enough to finally build a family together...

Release date: April 27, 2021

Publisher: Zebra Books

Print pages: 352

Sample

She didn’t know how a house could seem so quiet with three young kinner inside it, but with Becky out enjoying an evening with her soon-to-be in-laws, silence crept through Lena Troyer’s house and wrapped around her soul. If this was a foretaste of how things would be when Becky married Atlee Stauffer and moved out for gut, Lena wasn’t sure she’d be able to endure the void.

Becky had moved into Lena’s house before Matthew was born to help Lena care for Mary, Eliza, and the house. Lena’s status had changed from fraa to widow when she was barely pregnant with Matthew, so she’d needed all the help she could get. But Becky hadn’t just moved into Lena’s house. She had moved into Lena’s heart as well. She had become family. While Lena was happy Becky had found someone to share her life with and to help raise her unborn boppli, she would surely miss the girl something fierce when she was gone.

Simply put, Lena was lonely. She loved her kinner with every fiber of her being, but they couldn’t satisfy that need for companionship. Joseph had been a gut husband, and Lena had loved him dearly. She would always love him, but the fingers of loneliness had been rippling up and down her spine and plucking her heartstrings. Seeing the love blossom between Becky and Atlee had made Lena wistful and, jah, envious. Was the Lord Gott trying to tell her it was time to move on with her life?

Lena blew out a sigh that sent her kapp strings fluttering. She grabbed an errant strand of dark brown hair and poked it back beneath the kapp. Right now, though, it was time to get everyone ready for bed. She had already nursed the boppli and tucked him into the cradle next to her own bed. Three-year-old Mary and one-and-a-half-year-old Eliza still looked at books on the rag rug near the woodstove. They must be tired, they sat so quietly. The only sound came from the slight rustle as they turned the pages. Eliza appeared ready to topple over any second.

“Kumm, girls, let’s get to bed.”

“Can’t we wait for Becky to get home? We need to tell her gut nacht.” Mary used her most cajoling voice.

“She might be late. You’ll see her in the morning. Please put your books in the basket.”

Lena could see Mary’s disappointment, but the girls were going to have to get used to not seeing Becky on a daily basis. Mary pulled Eliza to her feet. Both little girls shuffled over to the basket and dropped in their books.

“Gut girls.” Lena smiled at her precious dochders who looked so like her. There didn’t seem to be any of Joseph in them at all. Maybe Matthew would look like his daed. Already she could see a few of Joseph’s expressions on the infant’s face. It was too soon to tell much about his looks yet. Sometimes she feared Joseph’s image was fading from her memory altogether.

Ach, Joseph, you left me too soon. Our kinner will never know you except through stories I tell them. The ache in her heart had finally dulled after nearly a year. Becky’s presence had helped a lot. The girl had been a true blessing. Lena believed she and her kinner had helped Becky through a rough patch, too.

The poor, dear girl had arrived home in Southern Maryland alone, scared, and in the family way. She had run out of her baptismal service and headed straight for New York to experience life in the big city. Unfortunately, she had gotten taken advantage of. The marriage she believed was legal and binding turned out to be a sham. The man she thought was her husband didn’t really care about her and died of a drug overdose. Becky fled the city and returned to Maryland an entirely different person than she was when she left. The flirtatious and sometimes inconsiderate girl had grown into a caring, compassionate, loving young woman. She would make a wunderbaar fraa for Atlee and an excellent mudder for her little one.

Lena sighed again, gripped the wooden arms of the rocking chair, and pushed herself to her feet. She should climb into bed herself as soon as she had the girls settled. She needed to get rid of her gloomy thoughts and try to sneak in a few hours of sleep before her hungry son awoke. She’d leave on a propane-powered light so Becky wouldn’t have to enter a completely dark house.

This might be the last time Becky crept into Lena’s house at night, and Lena was tempted to stay up to talk to her. Becky let slip that she and Atlee would be published on Sunday and married the following Thursday. That meant there was a lot of work to get done in a short amount of time. It also meant the end of their nightly chats after the kinner had gone to bed. Lena wished Becky and Atlee every happiness. Truly she did. But oh how she was going to miss that girl!

Lena had barely reached the stairs when she heard the jiggle of the front door. She paused with one hand on the banister. “Becky?” She kept her voice soft so she wouldn’t awaken the boppli, though he probably wouldn’t have heard her even if she yelled.

“Ach, Lena! You’re still up. I thought you might have gone to bed because the light was dim.”

“I was on my way.” She headed back toward the living room.

“I don’t want to keep you up. I know you must be tired.”

Not half as tired as I’m going to be after you leave. “I want to hear all about your plans. I can tell from the sparkle in your eyes and your dreamy expression that you and Atlee and the Stauffers were planning a wedding.”

“I know we aren’t published yet, but our circumstances are a bit different. Because we’re getting married so soon, we’ve had to step up the preparations.”

“It’s so exciting! Kumm sit and tell me all about it.”

“Are you sure? You need your rest.”

“I’m sure.” Lena hooked an arm through Becky’s and propelled her to a chair in the living room. “We won’t have many more evenings to have chats. I want to take advantage of every one of them. I can sleep another time.”

Before she sat, Becky threw her arms around Lena. “I’m going to miss you.”

“And I will miss you, but you are wilkom here any time. You do know that, don’t you?”

“I know.”

“Soon you’ll be busy with your husband and boppli.”

“But never too busy to visit you. And you’ll bring the kinner to see me, too. Right?”

“Definitely. Now, tell me your plans.”

An hour later, both women yawned and rubbed their eyes, but neither seemed motivated to budge from their chairs.

“I suppose we should go to bed. I’ve kept you up long enough.” Becky was the first to stir from her comfortable position. She held out a hand to Lena.

“I should be helping you up. You’re the one in a delicate condition.”

“I’m tougher than I look.”

Lena laughed. “That you are. I am so happy for you, dear Becky.”

“Danki. And I am indebted to you for taking me into your home and under your wing.”

The women shuffled to the stairs and trudged up in single file. At the door to her room, Becky paused. “Ach, Lena, I nearly forgot to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“Atlee’s mamm said Samuel Mast has returned to St. Mary’s County. He’s buying the old Stoltzfus place. It will be gut to have that house occupied again. I always thought it was much too pretty a place to sit empty.”

Lena’s hand flew to her chest, where her heart skipped a beat before thumping in double time. She stifled a gasp. “Samuel?” The single word escaped her lips in a whisper.

“Jah. He was a few years older than me, but you knew him, ain’t so?”

Lena nodded. The hand on her chest toyed with the kapp string dangling over her shoulder. “I knew Samuel Mast.”

She prepared for bed by rote. Only after she crawled beneath the covers did she realize she had hung her purple dress on a peg and pulled on her nightgown. She reached up to pat her head. Jah. She’d removed the kapp and plaited her hair into one long braid. She lay on her back and stared at dark shapes in the room illuminated only by a thin moon beam from the window on the opposite wall. Becky’s innocent question echoed through the chambers of her brain. “You knew him, ain’t so?”

Lena knew Samuel Mast all right. She’d spent a gut two years trying to forget Samuel Mast. What was he doing back here? And he was buying property? That meant he planned to stay. She rubbed one hand across her furrowed forehead and patted her suddenly queasy belly with the other. Her breath came in short pants and her heart tried to fly out of her chest.

Calm down. You’re an adult now. You aren’t the fifteen-year-old girl with a king-sized crush on the older bu. You are a grown woman, a mudder with three kinner. Get hold of yourself. Lena forced a few slow, deep breaths to go along with her pep talk.

Gradually her taut muscles relaxed and her heart rate approached a normal speed. She needed to think rationally. She needed to go to sleep and not think at all, but that was about as likely to happen as cows were to fly. Maybe she wouldn’t run into Samuel anywhere. She’d see him at church, of course, because the old Stoltzfus place was in her same district, but they would sit on opposite sides of the room. They wouldn’t have to mingle at all.

Lena rolled onto her side. She’d think of something else. Something happy, like Becky’s wedding. That would be such a joyous occasion. Ten years ago Lena dreamed of marrying Samuel Mast. Ugh! Lena threw off the covers and bolted upright. Get out of my head, Samuel, just like you got out of my life!

A faint rustle and smacking sound from the cradle on the other side of her bed alerted Lena to Matthew’s awakening. If she could get to him before he began to fuss or cry, he’d probably drift right back to sleep after nursing. Maybe then she’d be relaxed—or fatigued—enough to close her own eyes and give her weary body a few minutes of rest.

Lena stumbled into the kitchen a few hours later with heavy footsteps and bleary eyes.

The teakettle already sang on the back burner of the wood cook stove. She had a gas stove, too, but the kettle always sat on the wood one. A perky Becky sat at the table as close as possible to the propane-powered lamp because the sun had not yet cast much light in the window. Her thread box sat beside the blue fabric she concentrated on.

“Your wedding dress?”

Becky glanced toward the doorway. “Jah. Not many brides have to worry about their dresses being too tight in the midsection, I don’t imagine. I’ve made it as loose as possible, but I can tighten it later.”

“It looks like you’re about finished with it.”

“I am. I’m hemming it now.” Becky looked up again and squinted. “You look terrible.”

“Danki. Nice of you to notice.”

Becky giggled. “I didn’t mean anything bad. You’re as lovely as ever, but you look exhausted.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t try to smooth things over now.” Lena shuffled to the cupboard to pull out a mug. “A little tea should help.”

“A little sleep might be a bigger help.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that now. Matthew will be hungry again soon.”

“Why don’t you go back to bed after you nurse him? I can take care of the girls.”

“Nee. You have plenty to do. Besides, I have to get used to being on my own again.”

“I feel bad for deserting you.”

Lena laughed. “You aren’t deserting me, silly girl. You’re beginning a brand-new life of your own. A new adventure. A new chapter in the Rebecca Zook story.”

Becky raised her eyebrows. “You should be a writer, Lena. Those are pretty poetic words.”

“It’s a wonder I can get a sensible thought to kumm out, as tired as I am.” Lena hoped the whistling teakettle made enough noise to cover that little slip of the tongue. She didn’t want Becky to feel guilty for leading her own life.

“Ach, Lena! I still hate leaving you to take care of the house and the kinner and everything else all by yourself. It’s so much for one person to do, especially one small woman.”

“Women have been taking care of all those things since time began. I might be scrawny, but I’m pretty strong. Don’t you worry about me.”

“I will, though. I want to help you.”

“You have helped me more than you know. You supported me through some rough spots and toiled harder than any workhorse. It’s time for you to make your own home with Atlee.” Lena dunked a tea bag in her mug of steaming water. “Would you like some tea?” When she turned around she saw tears shimmering in Becky’s eyes. “I hope I see tears of happiness in those green eyes and not tears of sadness.”

Lena carried her mug to the table and dropped onto a chair beside Becky. She reached over to lay a hand on her freind’s arm. “Don’t you remember we agreed to be roommates, so to speak, until one of us married? And I told you that would most likely be you. I saw how much Atlee cared for you even then. I knew it would only be a matter of time before you both admitted your feelings and did something about it. I truly am very, very happy for you.”

“Danki, Lena.” Becky sniffed. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I will still be right here. And wild horses won’t keep me from your house when that boppli arrives. I’m going to be his or her honorary doting aenti.”

“I’m counting on that.” Becky jabbed her needle into the little tomato-shaped pincushion. “There. It’s done.” She gathered all the straight pins and dropped them into a plastic box. “Lena?”

“Hmm?” Lena blew on her tea before taking a sip.

“Did thoughts of Samuel Mast keep you awake last night?”

Lena coughed as the tea slid down the wrong way. Her eyes watered and her nose ran. She patted her chest where the scalding liquid seemed to have stalled. “Whatever made you ask that?”

“I saw your reaction last night when I mentioned his return. You looked like you’d seen a ghost, as the Englisch say.”

“I-I was surprised to hear he’d moved back here, that’s all.”

“Shocked is more like it, I’m thinking.”

“Maybe.”

“Any particular reason why?”

“He’s been gone a long time. I assumed it was a permanent thing. Who would ever have guessed he would return to Maryland from wherever he’s been all these years?” Lena paused but couldn’t resist asking, “I-is he alone, or did he bring family with him?”

“He’s alone, I believe.”

“Oh.”

“He was special to you at one time, ain’t so?”

Lena hoped the heat she felt creeping up her neck and onto her face didn’t make her cheeks glow as bright as the moon on a starless night. She hurried to raise the mug to her lips and take a sip to stall for time. Any other day, one of the girls would interrupt such an important conversation. Where were they now? Lena raised her eyes only enough to see Becky still staring at her expectantly. “Special?” she croaked. “We were kinner when he moved away.”

“You weren’t so young. You were out of school, ain’t so?”

“Fifteen,” Lena whispered. She coughed to clear her throat that suddenly became so clogged she could scarcely get air to flow, never mind her voice. She jumped when Becky laid a hand on her arm.

“You cared about him. I can tell.”

“It was a silly teenage thing. I hadn’t even begun my rumspringa yet.”

“That doesn’t mean you couldn’t have feelings for someone. Do you still care?”

“Ach, Becky. I’ve lived a whole lifetime since those days. I’m a widow with three kinner now. And I loved Joseph.”

“I know you did. But a lot of people love more than one person. They don’t always marry their first love.”

“At fifteen and seventeen we certainly weren’t planning any wedding.” Lena forced a nervous laugh. “Did you love any of the fellows you stepped out with before Atlee?”

This time Becky’s face flushed crimson. “Not at all. That was all foolish flirting.”

“The bu in New York?”

Becky’s hand scrunched her blue wedding dress until Lena’s hand covered it and stopped the motion. “I only thought I loved him because I was alone and scared. I was too naïve. I believed his pretty words. Now that I have Atlee and really understand what love is, I know the feeling for Vinny wasn’t love at all.”

“Are you absolutely sure it’s love with Atlee?”

“Completely.”

“I thought so, but I wanted you to be sure without any doubts.”

“I don’t have a single doubt.” Becky slapped the table. “How did you do that, Lena Troyer? We were talking about you and Samuel Mast. How did we end up talking about me?”

Lena smiled and shrugged. “It’s more interesting to talk about you. How are the wedding plans kumming along?”

“Fine. I’ll need to do lots of baking.”

“I’ll help. Will your folks be arriving soon?”

“Nee. Mamm wrote and said Grossmammi took a turn for the worse. They won’t leave her.”

“I’m sorry, Becky. I know you miss them. I had so hoped they would make it here for your wedding.”

“Me, too, but my bruders’ fraas will help. Atlee’s mamm and schweschder will help, too.”

“And I will help. We’ll get everything done up just right, so don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried. The important thing is that Atlee and I are ready. The other stuff is just fluff—nice, of course, but not necessary.”

That dreamy expression that crossed Becky’s face made Lena feel wistful, almost envious. She chased those emotions away. She would not be melancholy. This was a happy time. She wouldn’t do anything to spoil Becky’s day. “You have a gut attitude. Let’s plan what food we need to prepare and make sure we have all the ingredients.”

“Okay, but you have time to finish your tea and eat breakfast.”

Fussy little sounds reached them before either woman could rise to concoct breakfast. “Maybe I don’t!” Lena pushed back from the table.

“I’ll get breakfast thrown together while you tend to the boppli.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Lena?”

“Hmm?”

“What happened between you and Samuel?”

“That’s another story.”

“I’m a gut listener.”

Lena offered a wobbly smile. “I know you are, dear one. I’ll keep that in mind. Now I’d better go tend to that fussy fellow.”

“I’ll help the girls, too, while you nurse Matthew.”

Lena opened her mouth to protest. She had to get back into the routine of doing everything herself. Becky spoke before she could utter the first syllable. They’d become so close that Becky could correctly guess her thoughts.

“I know you can do everything for yourself, and soon you won’t have me here every day. So let me do all I can while I’m here. Let me have a few more days to help the girls. I love them, too, you know.”

A lump rose like a boulder in Lena’s throat. Tears blurred her vision. All she could do was nod and scurry from the room before sobs overtook her. She surely would miss Becky. She had grown to rely on her, not just as a helper, but also as a close freind.

Lena changed and dressed Matthew, answering his little coos with babbles of her own. He was so much more alert and active now, and could even wait a few moments for his feeding. Lena heard the girls giggling with Becky in their room down the hall. She smiled as she settled herself with Matthew in the oak rocking chair she’d used for each of her bopplin. Nursing always helped her relax and did today as well, until unbidden snippets of a long-ago conversation played out in her mind.

“I’ll be back for you, Lena. You’ll be grown up, and I will have some work skills under my belt. We’ll be ready to plan a future then.”

“Nee, you’ll probably find another girl wherever it is that you’re going.”

“I won’t even be looking. There isn’t a girl anywhere out there who could compare to you.” He reached out to tuck a dark strand of hair under her kapp and then stopped a tear in its tracks with his thumb as it traveled down her cheek. “Please don’t cry, Lena. You’re the only girl for me. I promise.”

“I don’t know what to do without you, Samuel. I’ll be ready to start my rumspringa soon. I had hoped . . .” Embarrassed by the words that almost leaped from her tongue, she clamped her lips together.

“I had hopes, too. Our hopes don’t have to die. I have to go with my family right now. I’m only seventeen, so I have to do what my daed says. But that will change soon.”

“It will seem like forever to me.”

“Me, too. I have your address, though, and I’ll write to you.”

“Will you? Promise?”

“Of course. Everything will work out all right. You’ll see.”

But Samuel Mast kept none of his promises. He didn’t return for Lena. He didn’t even write a single letter. Promises evidently meant nothing to him.

Matthew stopped nursing and looked into Lena’s face. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’ll slow down my rocking. I about threw us out of the chair, ain’t so?” She rocked at a more moderate pace so Matthew would resume nursing. Lena stroked the soft cheek. Samuel had been right in one respect. Things had worked out—just not as she’d originally planned.

Lena had mourned for Samuel the same as if death had claimed him, but after a long, long while, her heart gradually mended. And Joseph Troyer was there when the wound had scabbed over. He had been a loving, gentle husband and a gut provider. He gave her three beautiful little ones who she loved with all her heart. And she had loved Joseph, too, maybe not with the same passion she had loved Samuel, but in a somehow softer, more subtle manner. That other love was only some silly emotion teenagers experienced, wasn’t it? She’d missed Joseph terribly since he had been gone. Only recently had she begun to crawl from beneath her grief. Becky had been instrumental in helping her return to life.

Mary and Eliza rushed into the room to give their mudder a hug. Their clatter didn’t faze Matthew one bit. He had grown used to their noise. He continued to nurse as if he and Lena were the only people in the room.

“We’re going to help Becky make pancakes!” Mary jumped up and down while clapping her hands. Eliza attempted to mimic her older schswechder and would have fallen flat on her face if Becky, who had followed the girls into the room, hadn’t reached out a hand to steady her.

“Are you sure you want these two to make pancakes?” She tried to look serious, but the edges of her lips curved upward.

Becky smiled and nodded. “We’ll have fun, and I know the girls will be a big help.”

“Without a doubt.”

“We’ll make some pancakes for you, too, Mamm.”

“Great! I’m as hungry as a bear.” With the hand that wasn’t supporting Matthew, Lena reached out to tickle each girl. They were still giggling when they trooped downstairs with Becky. Mary and Eliza were going to miss Becky as much as she would. Lena vowed to spend extra time doing something fun with them. Surely she could carve a little time out of her busy routine for that. In a minute she would tiptoe downstairs to peek into the kitchen. She was certain she would be met by a cloud of flour as soon as she poked her head in the door.

Samuel rubbed his eyes as he stumbled into the cold kitchen. It might be spring outside, but winter still reigned inside the drafty, two-story house that had sat empty for too long. Some pancakes or eggs would sure be great about now, but without wood or propane, hot food would be out of the question, as would refrigerated food. He needed to weatherproof the house, buy propane, buy groceries— once he got the propane to power the refrigerator—and eventually cut and split wood. He’d better make a list of all the chores so he didn’t forget anything. He had a feeling he would be adding more and more items to that list.

A rumble from his stomach reminded Samuel he’d have to eat whatever he had on hand to hold him over until he could purchase an assortment of food. A half-stale, convenience-store powdered doughnut or an equally unappetizing semisquished granola bar? The rumble grew louder and more ferocious. Maybe both. He’d compose that combination to-do-and-grocery list while he choked down his meager breakfast. There must be a scrap of paper and a pencil nub around here somewhere.

Samuel fought his way through a maze of cobwebs to a small desk in the corner of the kitchen. That would be the logical location of writing paraphernalia. He grabbed his lower back when he bent to yank open a drawer. First order of business was to pay a visit to Bishop Menno Lapp, who’d said he had a spare bed. Sleeping on the cold, hard, wood floor another night and worrying about being run over by mice or whatever other critters might have taken up residence in the abandoned house were not at all conducive to restful slumber.

For all the disarray of the rest of the house, the desk was surprisingly tidy. The fact that its contents were rather scant helped with that, for sure. A spiral notepad and an assortment of pencils ranging in size from full length to barely graspable, tooth-marked to smooth, rolled around in the middle drawer. In the bottom drawer—once he wrenched it open—Samuel found empty hanging file folders still in excellent condition. These would kumm in handy once his business got up and running. If it got up and running.

When he’d contacted Bishop Menno before making the move back to Southern Maryland, the bishop assured him the skills of a blacksmith and toolmaker would be in demand. Samuel’s experience working as a builder for a construction company would be useful as well. It had been the bishop, in fact, who had connected him with the person handling the sale of the Stoltzfus property, now to be known as the Mast property. Hard to believe he was owner of this twenty-acre farm with its barns and silo. Owner of this sturdy, two-story farmhouse. His gaze swept the room, prompting him to amend that last thought to “owner of this mess”!

Samuel sighed. He reached way down inside himself to pluck up a positive attitude. He would get this farm prod. . .