"A crisp and wonderful Amish Christmas Romance!"
Reviewed by Audrey Lawrence
Posted October 1, 2011
Holiday | Inspirational Amish | Romance
With Christmas fast approaching, the market was busy and
bustling with excitement. The lovely 24-year-old Naomi King
enjoyed her life in Bird-in-Hand, her Amish community in
Pennsylvania. She is a skillful quilter and wonderful
baker and enjoys working in the market as part of the
family business. As her hand smooths over the
beautifully made quilts, Naomi was approached by a lovely
and irresistible little girl and her heart went out to her,
especially when she found out the little girl's mother had
died. There is nothing worse that the feeling of having lost your
child! So, when Caleb Schmucker, finally spotted his
beloved daughter, Susie, chatting with a young Amish woman
at the quilt stand, a little of the panic and anxiety left
the sadness in his eyes. As the handsome man smiled in
thanks to the young lady, a small spark of connection
seemed to happen. While Naomi loved helping her parents by take care of her
eight younger siblings, she had always dreamed of being
married and having kinner of her own. With two failed
romances, Naomi was painfully aware of the gossiping
and scornful looks of others and she vowed she would not
make the same mistake again. Even her own mother warned
her to stay away from him when they found out that the
handsome widower was visiting his sister's family for
Christmas in their community. For her part, Caleb's
sister, Sadie, had her own plans for Caleb to stay and none
of them included Naomi. Was their little spark of
connection doomed to be extinguished with all this cold
negativity swirled around them? Amy Clipston's Christmas themed Amish romance novella
is a delightful treat that immediately pulls you into this
deceptively simple story with its skillfully woven plot and
wonderful character development. Prefaced by a short
glossary of Amish expressions, the dialogue makes you feel
as if you are right in the story and just makes you want to
find out both how it ends while still lingering on each
page to savor its wunderbaar sweetness! It is a delightful read as a stand-alone romance while
fans who love Amish based stories will be pleased that it
can also be read as part of the author's series on the
women of Kauffman Amish Bakery in Lancaster County. A
wonderful gift for yourself or others!
SUMMARY
Take a trip to Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, where you'll meet
the women of the Kauffman Amish Bakery in Lancaster County.
As each woman's story unfolds, you will share in her
heartaches, trials, joys, dreams ... and secrets. You'll
discover how the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle can clash
with the 'English' way of life---and the decisions and
consequences that follow. Most importantly, you will be
encouraged by the hope and faith of these women, and the
importance they place on their families. Naomi's Gift re-introduces twenty-four-year-old Naomi King,
who has been burned twice by love and has all but given up
on marriage and children. As Christmas approaches---a time
of family, faith, and hope for many others---Naomi is more
certain than ever her life will be spent as an old maid,
helping with the family's quilting business and taking care
of her eight siblings. Then she meets Caleb, a young widower
with a 7-year-old daughter, and her world is once again
turned upside-down. Naomi's story of romantic trial and error and youthful
insecurities has universal appeal. Author Amy Clipston
artfully paints a panorama of simple lives full of complex
relationships, and she carefully explores cultural
differences and human similarities, with inspirational results.
ExcerptCHAPTER 1Caleb sucked in a deep breath as the taxi van bounced down
Route 340 toward Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. After nearly a
decade, he'd returned to the town of his birth. He clasped
his hands together. Why was he nervous? This was supposed to
be a happy reunion with his family, and yet, his palms were
sweaty with anticipation despite the biting December wind.
"Dat!" Susie said, grabbing the sleeve of his coat and
yanking with one hand while pointing toward the indoor
farmers market with the other hand. "Dat! Can we stop there?
Can we? Please? Please?"
"Why would we stop there?" he asked. "We have a farmers
market back home that's much the same."
She blew out an exasperated sigh and glowered with
annoyance. "To get a gift for Aenti Sadie, of course.
Teacher Linda says that you should always bring a nice
dessert to dinner. Please, Dat? I'll pick something out fast
like we do at the market at home." She batted her eyelashes
and gave her prettiest and cutest smile. "Pretty please,
Dat?" She looked like a mirror of her beautiful mother, and
his heart turned over in his chest. At the tender age of
eight, Caleb Schmucker's
daughter already knew how to wrap him around her little
finger.
He gave a sigh of defeat, and Susie clapped her hands
while grinning with triumph.
"Driver?" Caleb asked. "Could we please make a quick stop
at the farmers market?"
The middle-aged man nodded and merged into the parking lot.
"We have to make this quick," Caleb said as the van
steered into a parking space. "Your aenti and onkel are
expecting us. They know that our train arrived less than an
hour ago and will worry if we don't get to their house soon."
"I'll be quick. I promise." Susie nodded, and the ties to
her black winter bonnet bobbed up and down on her black
wrap. "We should find a nice pie to bring for Aenti Sadie."
"That sounds gut." Caleb touched her nose and smiled. Oh
how he adored his little girl. There was no greater love in
his life.
Except for Barbara.
Pushing the thought from his mind, he took Susie's little
hand in his and they climbed from the van. He glanced across
the parking lot toward the highway, and his eyes fell on the
Kauffman & Yoder Amish Furniture Store, owned by an old
family friend, Eli Kauffman. Caleb's elder sister, Sadie,
had married Robert, the oldest of the Kauffman sons, while
the youngest Kauffman son, Timothy, had been Caleb's best
school friend. He wondered how his old friend was doing
these days. He would have to stop by and visit him before he
and Susie returned to Ohio.
"Dat!" Susie yanked Caleb toward the entrance to the
farmers market. "Let's go."
Caleb stifled a laugh. The little girl had her mother's
impatience too. "I'm coming, mei liewe."
They stepped through the double doors and the holiday
smells of freshly baked cookies and breads, spices, and pine
assaulted Caleb's senses. The market bustled with customers,
English and Amish, rushing to the many booths. Scanning the
area, Caleb spotted booths for baked goods, jellies and
jams, crafts and gifts, and paintings. A sea of shoppers
pushed past Caleb and he dropped his hold of Susie's hand as
he approached the baked goods counter.
"What kind of pie did you want to get, Susie?" Caleb
asked. "Do you think a pumpkin pie or apple?" When his
daughter didn't answer, he turned around and found a group
of English customers pushing toward the counter.
"Susie?" he called. "Susie?" He glanced through the
crowd, finding only unfamiliar faces. "Susan? Susan?"
Caleb's heart raced as he pushed through the knot of holiday
shoppers, searching for his only child. "Susan!"
Naomi King straightened a king-size Lone Star patterned
quilt and glanced at her best friend Lilly Lapp, who was
glancing through the order book. "I can't believe Christmas
is next week. Where has the year gone?"
Lilly shook her head. "I don't know. That's a very good
question." An English customer approached and began asking
Lilly questions about custom ordering a queen-size quilt as
a gift.
Turning her back to the counter, Naomi hummed to herself
while mentally listing all she had to do before Christmas.
She still needed to shop for her parents and her eight
siblings. And then there was the baking for the cookie
exchange. And she had to?—?
"Excuse me," a little voice asked, interrupting her
mental tirade.
Naomi spun to find a little girl leaning over the counter
and pointing toward the king-size Lone Star quilt Naomi was
draping over a wooden dowel. "May I help you?"
The girl adjusted the black bonnet on her head. "Did you
make that?"
Naomi nodded. "Ya, I did."
"It's schee." The girl studied the quilt, her eyebrows
knitting together in concentration. "My mamm made a quilt
like this once, only she used blues and creams instead of
maroons."
Naomi smiled. "I bet that was schee."
"Can I touch it?"
"Of course." Naomi held the quilt out, and the girl ran
her hand over it.
The girl studied the quilt, her eyes trained on the
intricate star pattern. "My mamm promised she would teach me
how to quilt someday."
"I bet she will. I think I was about your age when my
mamm started teaching me."
The girl looked up, and Naomi was struck by her deep
green eyes. They reminded Naomi of the deep green the
pasture turned every spring.
"My mamm is gone," the girl said, her expression serious.
"Gone?" Naomi set the dowel in the rack and leaned over
the counter. "What do you mean?"
"She's in heaven with -Jesus." The girl ran her fingers
over the counter.
Naomi gasped, cupping a hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry.
You must miss her."
"I do. I was only?—?" she began.
"Susan!" A man rushed over, his expression full of fear.
He placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and angled her
to face him. He crouched down and met her at eye level. "I
turned my head for a moment and you took off. Do you know
how much you scared me? I thought I'd lost you. What were
you thinking?"
"I'm sorry, Dat." The girl shook her head, tears filling
her striking eyes. "I saw the quilt stand, and I wanted to
come see the quilts."
The man sighed and closed his eyes for a split second.
Standing, he took her hand in his. "Don't do that ever
again." His voice pleaded with her. "Promise me?"
"Ya." A tear trickled down her rosy cheek, and she sniffed.
His expression became tender, and Naomi's heart swelled.
"Don't cry, Susie," he said, brushing her tears away with
his fingertip. "It's okay, mei liewe. You're all right, and
that's all that matters." He glanced toward the clock on the
wall. "We need to get going. Your aenti is expecting us." He
turned to Naomi. "I'm sorry for creating such a scene. My
dochder took off and scared me so."
Naomi opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was stuck
in her throat for a moment. Her eyes were lost in his, which
were the same deep shade of emerald as the girl's.
"It was no bother," Naomi finally said. "We were having a
nice discussion about quilts. I'm sorry she scared you."
"Danki." He glanced at his daughter. "We must be going."
He turned back to Naomi. "Frehlicher Grischtdaag." He
smiled, and his handsome face was kind. Yet, there was
something sad in his gorgeous eyes. Naomi surmised it was
the loss of his wife. Her heart ached for him.
Before she could respond to his Christmas greetings, the
man and the girl were gone. He held the girl's hand as they
turned the corner. The girl waved at Naomi, and Naomi waved
back, her heart touched by the sweet gesture.
The customer who had been chatting with Lilly walked away
from the stand.
"What happened?" Lilly asked, leaning over to Naomi.
"What?" Naomi asked, searching the crowd for the man and
girl.
"What was all the commotion with the man and the girl?"
Lilly closed the order book.
"The girl wandered off from her father, and he was
worried about her." Naomi leaned against the counter. "She
told me that her mother made quilts."
"Oh, that's sweet."
"Ya, it is." Naomi lifted a twin-size quilt from the bag
below the counter and began to fold it. "But she also said
her mother had died."
Lilly frowned and shook her head. "How bedauerlich."
"Ya, I know." Naomi glanced toward the door, wishing she
could see the girl just one more time. "There was such
sadness in her eyes. I saw it in her father's eyes too."
"I can imagine that the sadness was from losing her." Lilly
straightened the pens by the register. "I know how hard
it was to lose my mamm, and I'm much older than she is."
Naomi touched Lilly's arm. "I know. There was just
something .?.?." She let her voice trail off and pushed the
thought away. She'd been burned more than once by misreading
her own thoughts and feelings. It was silly to even consider
she'd felt something for the man and the girl, but the
feeling was strong, deep in her gut. She'd wanted to hug the
girl and ask her how long her mother had been gone, to take
away some of the pain in her eyes.
But that wasn't Naomi's business. She didn't even know
the girl or her father. She'd never seen them before. She
wondered which district they belonged to. Were they from
Lancaster County or were they visiting for the holidays? Now
she would never know. The moment was gone and so were the
girl and her father.
"What is it?" Lilly asked, a grin splitting her pretty
face. She jammed a hand on the hip of her purple frock.
"You're scheming something, Naomi King."
"Don't be gegisch." Naomi draped the quilt over a dowel.
"I was just thinking about that poor little girl without a
mother. My heart goes out to her."
"Is that it? Or were you thinking about her father who
misses his wife?"
Naomi frowned. "Please, Lilly. I don't know his name or
even what district he's a member of. There's no such thing
as love at first sight. Love is a feeling that grows over
time. It can't just appear out of thin air."
Lilly's expression was pensive. "You're different than
you were when you were seeing Timothy Kauffman."
Naomi shrugged. "No, I'm not different. I just matured.
My mamm told me I was boy crazy and made a fool of myself
the way I ran after Luke Troyer and then Timothy."
Lilly touched Naomi's shoulder. "That's not true. You
were never a fool."
"Ya, I was." Naomi cleared her throat to prevent a lump
from swelling in her throat as the humiliation rained down
on her. She could still feel the sting of her mother's harsh
words after she and Timothy broke up. "My mamm told me that
I need to concentrate on my family and stop worrying about
finding a husband. So, my focus now is my siblings. If I'm
meant to find love, God will bring it into my life. But
honestly, I think God wants me to help my mamm raise my
eight siblings."
Lilly shook her head. "You don't honestly believe that,
Naomi. God wants us to get married and have kinner."
Naomi busied herself with hanging the quilt onto the rack
in order to avoid Lilly's probing stare. "Ya, I do believe
it. I tried love twice and failed. That was the sign that I
wasn't meant to find true love, if there even is a true love
for me."
"Naomi." Lilly took Naomi's hand and gave her a gentle
smile. "Listen to me. I didn't think there was a true love
for me, but I was wrong."
Naomi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You found love?"
Lilly's cheeks flushed a bright pink.
"Why haven't you told me?" Naomi asked. "I thought I was
your best friend."
"You are." Lilly sighed and sat on a stool. "We were
going to keep it a secret until we get published next year."
Naomi gasped. "You're getting married?"
Lilly smiled, and Naomi shrieked and hugged her.
"Is it Zach Fisher?" Naomi asked.
Lilly nodded. "I wanted to tell you, but we're trying to
keep it a secret."
Naomi smiled. "That's wunderbaar. You deserve to be froh."
Lilly touched Naomi's arm. "You do too. God will lead you
to the path He wants, and I believe He wants you to find
true love. You've been hurt in the past, but that doesn't
mean you're meant to be alone." She gave a gentle smile.
"Just remember this verse from Corinthians: ‘And our hope
for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in
our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.'?"
Naomi nodded in agreement, but she struggled to believe
she was meant to be with someone.
"Excuse me," an English customer said, approaching the
counter. "I would like to pick up a -couple of quilts for my
kids for Christmas. Do you have any queen-size quilts
available that are Christmassy?"
"Yes, ma'am, we do," Lilly said, moving to the rack. "Let
me show you what I have here."
As Lilly pulled out two quilts, Naomi glanced toward the
market exit and wondered where the handsome widower and his
daughter were headed when they left.
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