The Stolen Amish Wedding (PAPERBACK)

Chapter 1.
Cherish washed the dishes at the kitchen sink, looking out the window at Levi. He hadn’t been well these past couple of years. Everyone was worried about how lethargic and pale he was. It was as though he’d aged fifteen years in the past three. 
It was because of Levi’s health that Cherish couldn’t leave the orchard and move to her farm. The timing was off and, lately, Cherish had been wondering if the timing would ever be right. 
It’d been three whole years since Cherish had been to the farm. It wasn’t fair. 
The last time she’d been there was when Simon and his parents had visited. That visit had only served to bring Favor and Simon together—so much together that they were getting married in just one month. 
Cherish didn’t really mind that Favor had stolen Simon away. It had annoyed her at the time though, especially when Favor had flirted with him even before Cherish had admitted to Favor that she was no longer interested. 
Somehow, Mamm knew how Cherish had felt and often reminded her that she had done the very same thing with Jonathon before he married Honor. Cherish accepted that, but she’d been young and silly back then so that was her excuse. Favor was much older, so she had no reason to behave like that. 
Simon and Favor’s courtship had lasted two and a half years. It was a long time and Cherish figured Simon had been waiting for his mother’s approval before he asked Favor to wed. Simon never did anything without his mother’s say-so. Simon’s mother was just one of the reasons Cherish knew she could never marry into that family. 
As Cherish washed the breakfast dishes, she saw Samuel had joined Levi outside and they were both doing something with the horses in the yard. Her mind wandered back to the time Simon and his family had visited the farm. 
Simon and she had no alone time between Favor inviting herself places, and Simon’s parents doing the same. It was so rude of Favor, but Favor didn’t care. She was too in love with Simon to care about her sister’s feelings, and she even loved Simon’s parents. Just as well because they’d be in her life forever once Simon and Favor married. 
Ada walked into the kitchen. “What are you doing, Cherish? Daydreaming again? That’s all you ever do these days.”
“I was just thinking about Favor and Simon.”
“So the answer to my question is yes. I’ve never seen a girl daydream as much as you do.” Ada gave a small chuckle. “I knew Simon would be good for either you or Favor. It’s wonderful. I hope you’re not upset that he chose her.”
Cherish turned away from the sink, trying to hold in her laughter. That wasn’t how it had happened, but who cared how Ada saw things? It didn’t bother Cherish one bit. “I’m just happy for Favor.”
Ada sat down at the table. “I know you say that, but deep down you must feel odd being the only one out of your sisters that isn’t married or who has plans to marry. You’re twenty one now.” 
“Hmm. Thanks for reminding me. It’s fine. I’m okay with it. I’m not in a rush. I might not marry at all.”
“Oh, that wouldn’t do.”
Cherish giggled at Ada’s horrified expression. 
“Do you even like anyone?” Ada asked with her eyes bugging out.
“Not at the moment. Why’s it awful to be unmarried? I think it’s a good choice.” Cherish wasn’t going to share her feelings with Ada. She pulled out the plug, shook the water off her hands and sat down with Ada. “I just want to get to the farm.”
“Get to the farm, get to the farm,” Timmy said, parroting her.
Ada and Cherish looked at each other, then looked at the two budgies in the cage and laughed. 
Cherish covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I didn’t realize I say it that much that Timmy has learned to say that.”
“You do, so there you go. He is a clever bird.”
Cherish stared at Ada. “Do you like Timmy now?”
“I never said I didn’t. It’s your mother who doesn’t take kindly to pets.”
“Oh.”
“Your mother and I don’t need to agree with everything, but I do agree with her feelings about the fact that you can’t leave your family now. Everyone needs you—everyone.”
Cherish sighed. “That’s the problem. I can’t go, can I? Levi’s too sick. He says he’s okay, but everyone knows he’s not.”
“Do you mean to just visit the farm or to go there for good?”
Cherish sighed. “I guess just to visit for now would be wunderbaar. I know Mamm would be too upset if I left for good. Especially with Favor already being at the Koppels’ house.”
“It’s your duty to stay here.”
“Is it, Ada? Or is it my duty to live my own life?” Cherish could no longer hold in her frustration. “They’ve had their lives. My life is and always has been the farm. It’s calling out to me. I can hear it whispering to me, telling me to come home.”
Ada put her hand on Cherish’s arm. “I know how hard this is for you, but that’s the way things have to be for now. We’ll be visiting your farm very shortly when we go to Favor’s wedding.” Ada turned her gaze to the ceiling. “It’s so odd that she’s already moved to the Koppels’ farm. And so odd that she’s agreed to have the wedding there rather than here, her childhood home.”
“I know. The whole situation is very weird.” Cherish slumped into her chair. The place wasn’t the same without Favor. Even though they didn’t always get along, she’d grown up with Favor. They’d been each other’s special friend when they were growing up.
“Cup of tea?” Ada asked.
“No thanks.” Cherish shook her head. “I don’t feel like one. I’ve just had kaffe.”
“I mean for me. I’d like a cup of hot tea when you’re ready.”
“Oh, sure.” 
Ada would come in for tea when she’d just finished cleaning the kitchen. 
There was no use complaining. No one would listen. As Cherish made the tea, she continued thinking about the farm. “Debbie’s here so Mamm and Levi wouldn’t be alone.”
“Debbie is busy with her stall at the market. Anytime now, she’ll be off marrying Peter. I’ll guarantee it. No man courts a woman for that long if he doesn’t want to marry her.”
Cherish filled the teakettle with water. “Why is Debbie’s market stall more important than me moving to my farm?” Cherish popped the kettle on the lit stove. 
“Because Debbie’s older and she has a child. Besides, Levi and Wilma aren’t her parents. A person has a duty to the people who raised them.”
“I know.” Cherish shook some tea leaves into the pot, thinking that she’d raised herself for the most part. She wasn't about to say that aloud and risk a lecture from Ada.
Ada looked on in horror at what she was doing with the tea leaves. “I’ve given up telling you to use a spoon for that.”
“Spoons are all different sizes anyway. I’ve never heard you complain before.”
“You never listen, that’s why.” Ada smiled. “Don’t worry. You’ll get to live on your farm.”
Cherish took a deep breath and sat down. At this stage, she couldn’t see how. If Levi got worse and died, then Mamm would fall apart and then she’d never get away from the orchard. Unless she took Mamm to the farm when that day came. No. Mamm would never be that far away from Ada or the home that held so many memories. Wilma had lived at the orchard for most of her life, and she’d been friends with Ada for even longer. That wasn’t the answer. 
Cherish was trapped there forever. 
She put a cup and saucer down in front of Ada, then poured the hot water into the teapot.
“I feel like I’m never getting away from here.”
Ada’s eyes bugged open. “Oh, you poor thing. Never getting away from this beautiful large house with the most luscious apple trees at your door, with food always on your table, surrounded by a loving family.” Ada paused to draw a quick breath and then continued, “Open your eyes and see the beauty that surrounds you every day. Anyone would love to be standing in your stockinged feet, Cherish. You’ve got a lovely family. You have everything you should want and need at your stubby fingertips.”
Cherish frowned and looked down at her fingers. “They’re not stubby. I just know I need to be at the farm—to live there. That’s my real home, not here.”
“Don’t let your mother hear you say that. She’d be heart broken,” Ada whispered, even though there was no one to overhear them.
“She knows how I feel, but I’ve kept quiet about it since Levi’s been sick. I haven’t mentioned the farm once. Well, maybe once or possibly twice.” The worst thing for Cherish was seeing no way out. Since Aunt Dagmar had left the farm to her, she’d visited it once each year, with the exception of the past three years. Every day of those past three years, Cherish had remembered with longing the brief shared moment between Malachi and herself when their lips had touched. 
Did he ever think about it too?
He never mentioned it in all the letters he wrote or the calls he made to her from the phone in the barn. 
“It’s been quiet here since Favor left,” Ada said. 
“I know, and we’ll notice one person less when it gets busier around harvest time.” 
“But when you eventually get to your farm to live permanently, Favor will live close by. That’s good for you.”
“That’ll be great, but it’ll be too far for her to go there and back in the same day with the horse and buggy. She’ll have to come and stay for a couple of days. She’ll be married by then so she can bring Simon with her.” 
Ada shook her head and looked down. 
“What did I say? Oh, you mean I should’ve realized that Favor and Simon won’t be allowed to go anywhere without Melvin and Harriet? Favor will never be able to shake the in-laws off. They’ll be stuck to her like glue.” Cherish giggled. “She knew what they were like before she agreed to marry him. That’s one reason I changed my mind about him.”
Ada shook her head and her cheeks wobbled. “That’s not nice. Harriet is my dear friend and that was unkind. That’s the problem with you.”
Cherish frowned. “I’m just saying the truth. Is that a bad thing?” The truth was that Cherish used humor to cover up how depressing it was being trapped. What she really wanted to do was spread her wings and fly. Fly away from the orchard, away from feeling like a child, and away from people who smothered her. Why couldn’t she say what was on her mind without being judged for it?
Ada continued, “You need to adjust your attitude about Simon’s parents. They’re some of the loveliest people I know. And yes, they’re close to their son and why wouldn’t they be? He’s all they have. Harriet wasn’t blessed with loads of kinner like your mudder and I were. We could spread our love among our kinner. Their love is concentrated on Simon.”
“It’s okay if we don’t always agree. You have your opinion and I have mine. My idea is that you raise your children and there comes a time when you have to let them go. Let them make their own mistakes, and let them be who they’re meant to be. I think that’s the best way to be a good parent.” When Cherish saw Ada was unconvinced, she went on. “Look at birds, they push their baby birds out of the nest when it’s time. They don’t follow them around checking on them until they have babies of their own.”
“Then that’s what you can do when you have your babies. You can push yours out of the nest to fend for themselves and never give them another thought.”
“I will.” Cherish sighed. 
“Did I say something that upsetting?” Ada asked.
“No, why?”
“You sighed. You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize. I’ll try not to sigh.”
“Exactly. In everything give thanks. That’s what we’re told to do.”
Cherish nodded. “I’ll give it a go. I am grateful I’ll be at the farm soon. And I’m grateful you’ll be there with me. You’ve been so kind over the years accompanying me to the farm. I’m thankful for that.”
“I do what I can.” Ada chuckled. “Now you can pour. I can tell you this, Cherish, sometimes in life things don’t go as planned. You have to ride out the storms. It’ll be good for you to have some hardships. I’m not saying that the orchard and living here is a hardship, it’s anything but.”
“You’re right about things not going as planned. Look at Favor and Simon. Who would ever have thought that would’ve happened? Well, it hasn’t happened yet I suppose. There’s still time for Favor to change her mind.”
“Sour grapes.” Ada picked up the teapot and swirled it. “You missed out. You had your chance with him. I know you said you didn’t like him anymore, but maybe you only said that because you knew he was going to choose Favor.”
“That’s okay if you want to think that.” Cherish smiled. She'd had a lucky escape from Simon and his clinging parents. They reminded her of a vine that grew up and covered a tree. The vine covered the tree so much that the tree withered because the vine was cutting off the light and the air. If that’s what Favor wanted, she was welcome to them. Everyone had warned her, everyone but Ada, who saw nothing wrong with Simon being attached to his folks.
“Nothing to say?” Ada asked.
“I’ll have to be quicker next time when a man shows me the slightest bit of interest.”
“Yes, you will.” Ada poured herself a cup of tea. “You’re not having a cup?”
“No. I’ve got to get the room ready for Miriam and Earl, and two more rooms for the children. Then I’ve got to clean the house.”
“Just sit and talk with me until Wilma gets back from visiting Joy. She won’t be long. There’s plenty of time. They’re not due here till just on dark. I hope they can stay a long time.”
“I’m not sure. They said maybe a day or two. I think they’re visiting all their relatives and staying a day or so at each place.” Cherish was eager to see Earl, her older half brother, and his family. As much as she was keen to get her work over and done with, it seemed Ada wanted to talk. She felt a bit sorry for her for some reason. “I hope Joy feels better.”
“We’ll soon find out. If she hasn’t recovered from her cold, Wilma will have to stay there longer.” Ada took a sip of tea. “Who would’ve thought Miriam would’ve had twins, and then triplets a year later?” 
“I know. It’s amazing. Just as well we’ve got a big house for when they visit. I wonder if they’ll have any more.”
“They very well could. They have five children now and your mother and I were worried about her having none. We thought Earl and she would be childless, given Miriam’s age.”
Cherish couldn’t help smiling. “How does that make you feel?”
“Well, it’s not nice to be wrong. I’m happy to be wrong this time though. Five children in three years is pretty good.”
Cherish laughed. “I know. It’s a miracle. I can’t wait to see them all.” Then Cherish heard the phone ringing from the barn. She looked out the window and saw that Samuel’s buggy was gone and Levi was nowhere to be seen. They’d probably gone somewhere together. They often did that without telling anyone. 
“You’d better run if you want to get that,” Ada told her.
Cherish left Ada and ran out, hoping it would be Malachi. He called her at least once a week. Cherish picked up the receiver just as it rang one more time. “Hello, Baker Apple Orchard.”
“Cherish, where’s Favor?” It was Krystal.
Cherish was disappointed. “You know where she is. She’s staying with the Koppels.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say where’s Favor. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. My head’s all of a muddle and I’m going mad. I wanted you and I need to see you now. Can you meet me at the quilt shop?”
“Well, we’ve got Earl and Miriam coming later today and—”
“Please, Cherish? I need to talk with someone.”
Cherish knew Krystal must’ve been hugely upset by something if she’d reached out to her. She sounded awfully shaken up about something. “Would it be possible that you could come here?”
“Oh. Yes. I didn’t think of that. I can come before the shop opens. I’ll see you soon.”
Before Cherish could answer, Krystal had ended the call. The dial tone hummed in Cherish’s ear.

THE AMISH BONNET SISTERS

Book 1 Amish Mercy

Book 2 Amish Honor

Book 3 A Simple Kiss

Book 4 Amish Joy

Book 5 Amish Family Secrets

Book 6 The Englisher

Book 7 Missing Florence

Book 8 Their Amish Stepfather

Book 9 A Baby For Florence

Book 10 Amish Bliss

Book 11 Amish Apple Harvest

Book 12 Amish Mayhem

Book 13 The Cost of Lies

Book 14 Amish Winter of Hope

Book 15 A Baby For Joy

Book 16 The Amish Meddler

Book 17 The Unsuitable Amish Bride

Book 18 Her Amish Farm

Book 19 The Unsuitable Amish Wedding

Book 20 Her Amish Secret

Book 21 Amish Harvest Mayhem

Book 22 Amish Family Quilt

Book 23 Hope's Amish Wedding

Book 24 A Heart of Hope

Book 25 A Season for Change

Book 26 Amish Farm Mayhem

Book 27 The Stolen Amish Wedding

Book 28 A Season for Second Chances

Book 29 A Change of Heart

Book 30 The Last Wedding

Book 31 Starting Over

Book 32 Love and Cherish

Book 33 Amish Neighbors

Book 34 Her Amish Quilt

Book 35 A Home of Their Own

Book 36 A Chance for Love

Book 37 Her Amish Wish

Book 38 Amish Harvest Time

Book 39 Whispers of Change

Book 40 Her Hopeful Heart

Book 41 Return to Love's Promise

Book 42 Amish Circle of Blessings