Amish Triplets For Christmas. Carrie Lighte

bricks in our bellies, so this morning we were unable to eat breakfast. What we wouldn’t do for a piece of bread and strawberry preserves...”

      Cocking her head to one side, Hannah narrowed her eyes at him for what seemed an interminable pause. Rather than speaking, she again removed the jar of preserves from the cooler and pulled the bread apart in chunks. After spooning a dollop onto each piece, she directed the triplets to eat theirs at their desks. She gave the biggest piece to Sawyer, who stood next to her while he devoured it.

      When he was finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I must apologize,” he began. “I fear I misjudged you.”

      “Say no more. I accept your apology.” She smiled readily. Then she asked, “Are your onkel’s meals really like bricks in your bellies?”

      “Unfortunately, they are. In fact, I have a hunch Simon dropped their lunch bag on purpose. I know I would have, if it meant I’d get to eat a piece of your sweet bread instead.”

      Hannah’s giggle reminded him of a wind chime. “It tastes alright, then?”

      “Better than a dream,” Sawyer replied.

      Hannah’s face again flushed. “That’s a kind thing for you to say,” she replied modestly and busied herself putting the lid on the jar before meeting his eyes again.

      “I want you to know I do understand and respect your concerns about your kinner’s health,” she said somberly. “I have noticed they are thin, but it’s possible they’re going through a growth spurt, and their width hasn’t caught up with their height yet. In any case, in Willow Creek, we like to think our gut farm air has a way of working up healthy appetites, and I’ll feed those appetites with wholesome, hearty suppers.”

      Sawyer blinked and ran his hands over his head, pushing back his curls. Until that instant, he hadn’t realized how much he’d needed reassurance that the children would be alright. He was so often in the position of instructing and comforting his children, encouraging Gertrude and guiding his crew at work that he rarely received a word of consolation himself. Her sentiment was as heartening as something Eliza may have said, and he was touched. His silence allowed Hannah to continue speaking.

      “My intention is to help relieve your concerns, Sawyer, not to add to them. I hope you won’t worry about Simon, Sarah and Samuel while they’re under my care. But if you have a concern, please tell me—I promise not to have another tantrum like a kind myself, as I did yesterday.”

      Sawyer broke into a huge grin. “Hannah Lantz,” he replied, “you may be slight in stature, but you most certainly are no child!”

      When Hannah looked perplexed, he rushed to explain, “I mean that you’re every bit a woman.”

      Her forehead and cheeks went pink and her eyes widened. Clearly he was embarrassing her.

      “An adult, that is,” Sawyer clarified. “Someone I wholeheartedly trust to mind my kinner.”

      As he stood there feeling every bit the fool, two boys shuffled up the stairs into the classroom.

      “Guder mariye, Caleb and Eli,” Hannah greeted them. To Sawyer she said, “Those are friends of Samuel and Simon’s.”

      “Ah, Caleb, whose bloody mouth you tended to—the kinner told me about it.”

      “High drama in the school yard,” Hannah said with a giggle, and Sawyer knew any awkwardness between them had passed. “It’s all in a day’s work.”

      “Speaking of work,” Sawyer remembered, “I should be going now.”

      “Me, too.” Hannah nodded. “I hope you have a pleasant day.”

      The day was already far more pleasant than Sawyer could have hoped for himself.