A Husband For Mari
Back to Amish CountryStruggling single mother Mari Troyer decides to move—temporarily—to the Amish community of Seven Poplars. With a place to stay and a good job, Mari soon fits right in with the warm, welcoming Delaware residents. But when her son asks a matchmaker to find Mari a husband, Mari worries that the handsome builder who’s become the boy's father figure can never be her intended. James Hostetler requires a wife as committed to the Amish life as he is. Need brought Mari to Seven Poplars, but maybe love and renewed faith will make her stay forever.
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Back to Amish Country
Struggling single mother Mari Troyer decides to moveâtemporarilyâto the Amish community of Seven Poplars. With a place to stay and a good job, Mari soon fits right in with the warm, welcoming Delaware residents. But when her son asks a matchmaker to find Mari a husband, Mari worries that the handsome builder whoâs become the boyâs father figure can never be her intended. James Hostetler requires a wife as committed to the Amish life as he is. Need brought Mari to Seven Poplars, but maybe love and renewed faith will make her stay forever.
âAre you going to the birthday supper celebration tomorrow?â James asked.
Mari nodded. âSure am.â
âWeâd be glad to have you and Zachary ride with us.â
âAre you certain weâll all fit in your buggy?â she asked.
He grinned. âThe more the merrier. Besides, if you come along, I wonât have to drive with one of my sisterâs twins in my lap. You can hold him.â
She laughed with him. âIâd be glad to come with you.â And then she just stood there for a moment looking at him.
I think heâs the best friend Iâve ever had, she thought. Better than any man Iâve ever known. I trust him to do what he says heâll do. And heâs been such a help with Zachary.
âGood,â James said. He met her gaze and then held it.
It was a strange moment, standing there, her looking at him, him looking at her. As if there was something else to be said, but she couldnât think what it could be.
âSee you tomorrow, James,â she finally said, making herself walk away.
âSee you tomorrow, Mari.â
EMMA MILLER lives quietly in her old farmhouse in rural Delaware. Fortunate enough to be born into a family of strong faith, she grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by loving parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Emma was educated in local schools and once taught in an Amish schoolhouse. When sheâs not caring for her large family, reading and writing are her favorite pastimes.
A friend loves at all timesâ¦
âProverbs 17:17
Contents
Wisconsin
Mari rolled up her grandmother Maryannâs red-rooster salt-and-pepper shakers in a stained dish towel and stuffed them into a canvas gym bag. âWhat time is your boyfriend picking you up?â she asked her soon-to-be-ex roommate.
Darlene pulled her head out of the dark refrigerator, a carton of milk in her hand. There wasnât anything left but condiments, two eggs and the quart of chocolate milk. With the electricity shut off for the past forty-eight hours, Mari wouldnât have touched the milk. Darlene took the cap off and sniffed it. âTwenty minutes.â She wrinkled her nose and took a swig. âYou want the eggs?â
Mari shook her head. âYou take them. I can hardly carry them to Delaware, can I?â
Darlene, thin as a rake handle, features embellished by enough dollar-store makeup for all the participants in a toddlersâ beauty pageant, tucked the egg carton into a cardboard box. âSuit yourself.â She picked up a green rubber band that had once secured celery and gathered her dyed midnight-black tresses into a ponytail. âIâm gonna run next door and use the bathroom before Cassie goes to work.â
Mari nodded; theyâd been using their neighborâs bathroom since the electric was disconnected. Darlene went out the front door, inviting an arctic blast in, and Mari shivered.
She sure hoped it would be warmer in Delaware. Wisconsin winters were brutal. If it wasnât for the kerosene heater, they couldnât have stayed there the past two days. She rewrapped the wool scarf she wore and gazed around. There wasnât anything about the old single-wide trailer with its ratty carpet and water-stained walls that she was going to miss. She had very little to show for eighteen months in Friendlyâs Mobile Home Park: few belongings and no real friends. She and Darlene had become housemates only because they worked on the same assembly line at the local plant and were both single mothers. They werenât really friends, though. They were just too different.
Feeling the need to do something besides stand there and feel sorry for herself, Mari grabbed a broom and began to sweep the kitchen. She couldnât wash out the refrigerator or wipe down the cabinets, but she could sweep at least. That didnât take water or money, which was a good thing, because she didnât have either. She almost laughed out loud at the thought.
Money had been short since the plant closed and her unemployment ran out. Even shorter than it had been before. Jobs were scarce in the county. Mari had picked and sorted apples, cleaned houses and even tried to sell magazines over the phone. She read the want ads every day, but employment for a woman with an eighth-grade education and few skills was nearly impossible to find.
