A Mother's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page A

keep a house and raise her children the way she had raised her boys, Hannah did the opposite.
    Lena would be the perfect, dutiful, respectful daughter-in-law who would be certain to listen to Barbie and obey her. And Barbie was certain that if Lena did marry Joshua, Lena would never consider leaving the community and taking away Barbie’s grandchildren as Hannah had done last year. It was obvious that the young lady took her church vows seriously and was determined to be a dutiful helpmate to her future husband.
    Barbie was intent on getting Joshua married. He was nearly forty, and she longed for more grandchildren—especially since Hannah had left the community and taken two of Barbie’s precious grandchildren with her. She saw Amanda and Andrew periodically, but she missed them desperately at church.
    Lena would be the perfect wife for Joshua. She was young and pretty, and she could bake and cook. Barbie was certain Lena could keep a house too. If not, then Barbie would teach her how. She just had to point Lena out to Joshua and motivate him to leave the farm and start dating. Her son worked constantly and never attended the gatherings for the older singles in the community. She had to get him to step away from the farm and start living a full life.
    “I think the scholars would love your peanut butter kichlin ,”Anna Mary said after Lena stopped talking about recipes. “That’s a gut idea.”
    “Lena,” Barbie said, “have you gone to any of the socials for the older singles since you’ve come back?”
    Lena shook her head. “No, I haven’t gone yet.”
    “You should go,” Barbie said. “You’ll meet the bachelors in the community. I know there are some older bachelors who could use a gut fraa like you.”
    Anna Mary jabbed her sister’s ribs. “I told you that you should go. It’s the only way you’re going to meet someone. You said you want to get married.”
    Lena shrugged. “Okay. I’ll go.”
    “ Gut .” Barbie smiled as she started toward the door. She had successfully convinced Lena to go to a social gathering for the older singles in the community. Now if she could just get Joshua to go and meet Lena.

    After lunch, Joshua had said good-bye to his friends and was hitching his horse to his buggy when his father walked up behind him.
    “How was the auction?” his father asked as he began to help him.
    “It went really well.” Joshua nodded. “I sold five horses.”
    “ Gut, gut! ” Dat clapped his hands. “You’ve gotten busy. You should consider hiring more help.”
    “There was one issue at the auction. A bu threw a rock at Buck and now Buck has a gash in his rump. Cameron Wood came over last night and stitched him up.”
    “That’s awful,” Dat said. “Is Buck all right?”
    “He’s fine. I found the bu who did it. He’s going to start working for me tomorrow to repay the vet bill debt. The bu’s name is Benjamin Lapp. He’s fifteen.” Joshua gestured toward his father. “You know his daadi .”
    “I do?” Dat looked confused.
    “You went to school with him. Titus Lapp. He lives over in Gordonville.”
    “Oh ya ! Titus Lapp.” Dat fingered his beard as he spoke. “He married a maedel named Miriam, and they have two kinner .”
    Joshua shrugged. “ Ya , that sounds right.”
    Dat leaned against the buggy. “How is old Titus?”
    “ Gut , I guess.” Joshua shrugged. “Maybe he’ll come to the farm with Benjamin sometime and you can stop by and see. Benjamin is going to help out until the summer.”
    “Sounds like the bu needs to do some work. And you need the help, so it will work out perfectly,” Dat said.
    “ Ya , I hope so. The bu is small. He actually looks a lot younger than he is, but maybe working on my farm will help him develop some strength and muscles. I know it’s helped Danny fill out some.”
    “What are you two talking about?” His mother walked around from behind the buggy.
    Joshua shared the story of the boy coming to work for him, and