Love's Abundant Harvest Read Free Page B

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pick her up, and take her to his home, but from the way Sam stared after them, he
decided that wouldn’t be a smart thing to do.
    He glanced back at Caleb. “Is she sick?”
    “Could be—with morning sickness.”

T he scent of cinnamon lingered in the air as Lucy walked through her mammi ’s family
room and in to the kitchen. “Sticky buns?”
    Three sets of eyes turned her way as she stepped into the large room with too many
chairs in disarray around an oak table. Steam sputtered up through a boiling pot,
warming Lucy’s cheeks.
    Frieda, her mamm’s mother, nodded her head, fuzzy gray strands popping out of her kapp . She hiked up her black dress and walked over with a bowl of chopped walnuts.
“Just in time to spread the nuts.”
    “Come over and give us a hug.” Nellie, the oldest of the three widows, wiggled her
white eyebrows as she strolled over with a smile stretched across her face. Her embrace
warmed the broken places in Lucy’s heart. When they released their hug, the feeling
of security lingered.
    Rosanna, or Rosy for short, seemed like a youngster compared to the other two women,
with rosy cheeks to match her name. She took Lucy’s hand and guided her to the counter
where the dough to make homemade noodles was ready to cut. “You have to make them
with just the right thickness. Too thick, and they’re doughy; too thin, and they
look like shriveled-up worms.” She lifted her nose.
    “I’ll need more flour.” Lucy jumped right in with the others and was soon in rhythm
with the hum and glow of the room. Here she found peace, acceptance, and unconditional
love with these beautiful women. It wasn’t physical beauty but a certain way of living
and thinking that kept their eyes lifted up to the Lord and their hands never idle.
    “These are going to be great.” Nellie came closer with her hooked cane, which she
wagged toward the noodle dough.
    “You all know how to talk me into something.” Lucy grinned, knowing they were glad
for her presence and appreciated her help just as much. Cooking was their life, always
keeping them busy, and the tourists appreciated their mouthwatering meals, pastries,
and preserves. This was what they did, along with a good bit of chatting. The exception
was Nellie, whose quilting took up a good part of her days.
    “How are you feeling, Luce?” Frieda asked without taking her eyes off the knife she
was using to chop more walnuts.
    “Oh, yes, the baby.” Nellie’s memory wasn’t what it used to be, and Lucy, like the
rest of them, gave her pardon for forgetting even the most important events.
    Lucy looked into Frieda’s soft, wrinkled face and smiled. “He’s just fine. Kicking
up a storm, though.” She knew what was next and relished the coming conversation.
She felt sure that no one cared more about this babe than these three ladies. Not
even her own husband.
    “You stand firm that it’s a boy, yet you told us when you first found out you were
pregnant that you wanted a girl.” Frieda stopped chopping long enough to glance at
Lucy.
    Lucy shrugged. “As long as the baby is in good health, I don’t care which.” But she
did care very deeply, as she knew Sam wanted a boy. Pleasing him was most important,
and Sam wanted a son to help with the farm and carry on his legacy. There were times
Lucy wished she weren’t pregnant . . . at least not now . . . not with Sam.
    Rosy set a glass of milk on the counter where Lucy was cutting the dough. “I’d like
to be auntie to a cute little girl with a button nose just like yours, Lucy.” She
tapped Lucy’s nose and smiled.
    “And if she had Lucy’s pretty red hair . . . ” Nellie looked at the strands of auburn
curls that had escaped her kapp . “You just don’t see that color very often.”
    Frieda waved a hand. “What’s that matter when it’ll be stuffed up in her kapp ?” Then
she grinned. “But what a cute little kapp that would be.”
    The three of them stopped and glanced at Frieda, as it