AMISH ROMANCE: The Amish Bakery Boxed Set: 4-Book Clean Inspirational Box Set - Includes Bonus Book Read online

  THE AMISH BAKERY SERIES

  (Including Bonus Book)

  by Rebekah Fisher

  The Amish Bakery Series - Copyright © 2016 by Rebekah Fisher. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are used fictitiously and are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locations are entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Book 1

  (Daniel’s Choice)

  Book 2

  (Previously Unpublished Bonus Book: Marianna’s Hope)

  Book 3

  (Lucinda’s Wish)

  Book 4

  (Elizabeth’s Longing)

  More Books By Rebekah Fisher

  THANK YOU!

  Book 1

  (Daniel’s Choice)

  Chapter 1

  “I appreciate all of you, and the hard work that you’ve put into the bakery over the last several years. I’m sorry to announce this, but I have decided to sell the bakery,” Roy Eicher told his employees crowded in the kitchen.

  It was the last thing Naomi Graber expected to hear. She knew that the last year had been a little tough financially for Roy, but she never expected that he’d give up the bakery. “How soon do you expect to sell it?” Naomi asked.

  “As soon as I can find a buyer.” Roy rubbed a hand across his forehead. “If it doesn’t sell fairly soon, I’m sorry to say that I’ll have to close up.” A stunned silence followed. “ I’ll be in tomorrow morning if any of you have more questions.” He took a quick look at everyone before he grabbed his coat and left.

  Naomi turned to her friend, Elizabeth Hochstetler. “I’m so surprised. I don’t know what to say.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I think that’s the most I’ve heard from Roy in the last three months combined.”

  It was the end of the day and many of the others had left as soon as Roy had finished speaking.

  “Mamm,” Elizabeth called to her mother, Kathryn, who also worked at the bakery. “Did you know anything about this?”

  “Nee, I was just as surprised as the rest of you.”

  “I thought the bakery was doing fairly well.” Elizabeth looked around the bakery. “I really enjoy working here.”

  “Jah, me too,” Naomi said.

  Kathryn slowly shook her head. “It looks like we all might be looking for jobs soon.”

  Naomi caught the worried look that passed between Elizabeth and her mother. She hated the thought of both of them losing their jobs. Elizabeth was a few years younger, but the two girls had grown up together and were close friends.

  “I’m sure he’ll find someone to buy the bakery soon,” Naomi said, wishing she could say more to comfort them. That’s how it always seemed for her, doing what she could to help and provide comfort to others.

  “Ach! No sense worrying about it until it happens.” Kathryn took off her work apron. “We’ll see what Gott’s plans are. It’s time to get home.”

  Naomi hung up her apron and put on her wool cloak. The snow that fell last night wouldn’t last long with the rain that was sure to come tonight. She stepped out of the bakery and shivered as the chilled air hit her. It was always a bit of a shock to leave the warm kitchen of the bakery into the cold winter air.

  Before she could go home, she needed to stop at the harness maker’s shop to pick up an item for her father. As she walked along, she started thinking of Paul. She automatically shook her head, as though she could somehow scatter her memories of him. It had been nearly two years since she’d gone through what had been the worst time of her life. When those memories overwhelmed her, Naomi prayed for guidance and strength.

  Her thoughts were interrupted when a large flatbed wagon entered the street and then turned the opposite way, moving past the harness makers shop and the buggy shop.

  “Hmmm, I wonder where Daniel is going so late in the day,” she thought out loud, then crossed the street to the harness makers shop.

  * * *

  Daniel Hochstetler guided the wagon into town past the carriage shed. It was his last delivery of the day and he was glad. It had been a cold day driving the wagon around for deliveries. He’d still have more chores to do once he was home, but at least wouldn’t be up on the wagon freezing to death.

  As Daniel turned down the street, he looked at the shops on the town square. He imagined what it would be like to work inside all day. Since the cold weather had set in, Daniel had to admit to himself that he was not happy delivering hay anymore. He liked the outdoors and he didn’t mind working hard but he’d grown tired of being outside in all kinds of weather from morning until night. Most of all he wanted to do something that would be more beneficial to the community overall. He knew that folks needed hay, and that it was important, but he also knew that anyone could do his job. Daniel really felt that there was something more out there for him. He just needed to find out what he wanted to do.

  He pulled around to the stable area of the buggy shop then hopped down from the front of the wagon before moving to the back to unload two bales of alfalfa hay and a bale of straw. He opened up the back door to the harness shop and stepped inside. He took a moment to enjoy the warmth before he moved towards the front of the store.

  “Isaac?” he called out.

  “Jah,” Isaac answered coming around the corner. “Daniel, hello. How are you?”

  “Gut, but cold.” Daniel moved towards the wood burning stove that sat along the brick wall. “I came in to let you know that I unloaded the hay and straw. They’re both up against the building, covered in the canvas tarp.”

  “Danke. Come sit down for a while and warm up.” Isaac drug another chair over. “I’ll sit too. I’ve gotten everything done for the day. At this point, I’m just waiting for closing time.”

  “How long until you lock up? ”Daniel was hoping that he’d have some time to sit.

  “A little over an hour.”

  Daniel let out a sigh of relief. He’d been outside since early that morning, except for the short time he’d stopped to eat lunch. He’d been home for less than an hour and the rest of his deliveries had been small orders. Folks were stocking up on hay and straw before the storm rolled in. He felt frozen through and through—it would take longer than a few minutes for him to warm up.

  “I heard Paul Zook is back. He’s staying at his father’s farm, ” Isaac said.

  Daniel nodded. “He’s been gone for good while. I’m sure they’re glad to see him.”

  Daniel’s thoughts were elsewhere and he barely heard what Isaac said next. He was wondering if now that Paul Zook was back he’d want to court Naomi Graber again. Daniel had wanted to ask her out, but the timing never seemed right.

  A moment later the front door opened. Isaac jumped up. “Well hello, Naomi!”

  “Hello, Isaac,” Naomi said as she walked in, carefully closing the door behind her. That’s when she caught sight of Daniel. “Daniel, hello.”

  Daniel nearly knocked the chair down in his haste to stand up. “Hi there, Naomi. How are you?”

  “I’m gut. Danke.” She gave him a warm smile. “I saw you drive by and wondered where you were going.”

  “I was delivering som
e bales of hay and straw to the buggy shop,” Daniel said, but she looked more confused than before.

  Isaac spoke up from behind the counter. “There’s a small corral in the back that we share with the buggy shop. If a buggy or a saddle is in for repair they can leave their horse here until the repair is completed.”

  “Really? How did I not know that?” she asked, looking at both of them as though they had kept it from her on purpose.

  Isaac smiled and shook his head. “Not a lot of people know that it’s there.”

  “The corral is hidden behind the shops. Unless you’ve been back there, there’s no way to see it.” Daniel added, trying not to stumble over his words.

  “Well, I guess that proves that you do learn something new every day.” Naomi said with a big smile to Daniel before she turned back to the counter.

  “Isaac, my daed asked me to stop by and see if that halter was ready.”

  “Jah, I have it in the workroom. I’ll be right back,” Isaac said, before disappearing into the back.

  Naomi turned to Daniel. “You look cold. Do you still have more deliveries today?”

  “Nee, this was my last one. I came in to let Isaac know that I had made the delivery and then decided to sit for a minute.” Daniel started to feel a little uneasy. He’d liked Naomi for so long. They had always been friendly, but it seemed that there was always something that kept them from spending time together. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever had any feelings for him in all the time they’d known each other.

  “I can imagine it must be hard driving that wagon around in the cold all day.”

  “Jah, it definitely gets cold. There are some days that even with my heavy coat, a scarf, and a buggy blanket that I still feel the cold.” He gestured toward the stove. “I was thankful for the fire, so I thought I’d stay and warm up a bit.”

  “It does feel very gut in here.” She walked closer to the stove. “It’s always such a shock when I leave the bakery. The ovens keep it so warm and toasty inside that it’s hard to step outside.”

  “Working indoors sounds nice.” He gave her a wide grin. “Maybe I should get a job at the bakery too.”

  Naomi nodded, but her expression grew solemn.

  “Is something wrong, Naomi?” He knew it may not be any of his business, but he could tell she had a lot on her mind, and was hoping he could help in some way.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything because I figured you would hear from your mamm and Elizabeth when you got home, but Roy is selling the bakery.”

  Daniel frowned. “I had no idea.” He couldn’t believe it. He thought about how his mother and sister were handling the news. “What a shock for all of you. Who is he selling it to? An Englischer?”

  “He said he just made the decision to sell this week. He told us today.” She clasped her hands together. “Roy said that if he can’t sell it soon, then he’ll just have to shut the bakery down.”

  “I’m sure he’ll find someone to buy it.” Daniel searched for something else to say. “Mamm said that the bakery sells to different places all around this area. It would be a great business investment for someone.”

  “You’re right. Thank you for reminding me of that, Daniel.” She smiled at him again and Daniel couldn’t help but smile back. She was so pretty and her smile was like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. “I’m always glad to help.” Paul is quite the lucky guy, he thought.

  * * *

  Chapter 2

  Daniel had barely walked into the house when his father, Simon called to him. “Daniel, did you remember to put the wagon in the barn?”

  “Jah, I did.” He shook his head. He’d left the wagon out of the barn one time, over a year ago. Now, at least once a week, his father would remind him or ask him if he’d remembered to put the wagon in the barn.

  He had started working with his father five years ago and his father still treated him as though he’d just gotten out of school. When he started, he’d worked along with his older brother, Matthew. Two years ago, Matthew married and moved away to take over another farm. No matter how hard Daniel worked, it seemed that his father was always comparing him to Matthew.

  Exhausted, Daniel plopped down at the kitchen table. “Mamm, I saw Naomi when I stopped in town this afternoon. She mentioned the bakery wasn’t doing well.”

  “Jah, Roy gathered us all together to tell us that he needs to sell the bakery,” Kathryn answered.

  Simon shook his head. “I wonder if the new owner will keep everyone employed.”

  “We don’t know. He doesn’t have a buyer yet.”

  “I hope the next owner does a better job running it,” Simon said as he left the kitchen.”

  Daniel thought about Naomi—he knew that her family depended on her job at the bakery. He hated to think that she and her family would have to go through more hardships. “Do you think he’ll have a hard time finding a new owner?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Kathryn answered softly.

  “He said he’d have to shut the bakery down if he wasn’t able to sell it soon,” his younger sister Elizabeth added as she stirred the soup on the stove.

  “It’s sad that he’d just walk away from it.” Daniel couldn’t imagine the impact it would have on so many people—the employees that worked there, as well as the businesses that ordered from them.

  “I’m sure it won’t be difficult to find a buyer,” Kathryn said, as she placed the soup bowls on the table. “Making it a success wouldn’t be that difficult either.”

  “What do you mean?” Daniel agreed that it probably wouldn’t be difficult to find a buyer but he wondered about making it a success.

  “Roy opened the bakery not really knowing what it took. He relied on the employees at first. Then he did things on his own.” She shook her head. “I’ve been there so long, I could even run the bakery.”

  Daniel gave her a curious look. “So whoever buys it wouldn’t necessarily need to know all that much about running a bakery?”

  “Not necessarily. Kathryn ladled soup into the bowls and sat down at the table. “I plan on letting Roy know that I, as well as the others could train whoever buys it.”

  “Mamm is right,” Elizabeth said as she brought a basket of bread to the table and sat down. “There are so many of us that have been there a while. We could keep the bakery going pretty easily no matter who owned it.”

  Kathryn nodded. “Roy was having a hard time with the bakery because he didn’t put any profits back into the business. He increased the orders, but didn’t hire any more people or update the equipment.”

  Simon joined them at the table. “It would be nice if the new owner had some different ideas, though.”

  “Jah, Roy just wanted to keep things the same,” Elizabeth added. “Mamm, you were there before me— did he ever change the baking list?”

  She didn’t even hesitate. “Not at all. He didn’t have any ideas to make it better. His idea of change was to make more rolls if we ran out before the end of the day. He wouldn’t consider any of our suggestions.”

  “Well, hopefully someone will think it’s a good investment,” Daniel said.

  With that, Simon prayed a blessing over the meal, and prayed a special prayer for Roy to find a buyer quickly.

  After dinner, Daniel went to the living room and picked up the delivery list that his father always left for him. There were six deliveries scheduled for tomorrow. One was a fairly big delivery close to town and one was on the other side of the valley. He looked out the window and saw the clouds moving in. Tomorrow was going to be a long wet day. At least he would have a chance to stop in town for a little while to rest the horse.

  He began thinking about the bakery again. Suddenly a thought came to mind. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too difficult to buy the bakery. Why don’t I try? He’d saved the money his father had paid him over the years in hopes of buying a house when he married, but that seemed far off at this point.

  * * *

  “Marianna,
I’m sorry, what can I do to help?” Naomi asked her younger sister, hurrying into the kitchen. “Two more chickens escaped and it took me forever to get them back into the coop.”

  Marianna laughed. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t laugh. I had to chase a few of them yesterday morning. I don’t know why they’re so ornery sometimes.”

  “It is pretty funny.” Naomi admitted. “If it were summer I’d just leave them out overnight. They’d always come back when I put out seed for them in the morning. This time of year though, it’s too cold to leave them out overnight.”

  “Jah.” Marianna set a bowl of corn on the counter. “Everything is done. I just have to mash the potatoes.”

  “Alright, I suppose I’ll work on setting the table then.”

  “Ach, except the bread. It’s still in the oven,” Marianna said, as she mashed the potatoes.

  Naomi picked up the potholder from the counter and stepped past her sister. She opened the oven door to pull the bread from the oven. The kitchen was soon filled with the smell of fresh baked bread.

  “Mmm…” She breathed in the aroma as the loaves slid off the baking sheet and into a basket.

  Marianna laughed. “You would think that working in a bakery all day, you’d grow tired of the smell of baking bread.”

  “I’ve always loved baking, though.” Naomi smiled at a memory. “I remember learning with Mamm. At first, I just liked baking with her, then later I did it to help her out when she wasn’t feeling well.”

  “Jah, I remember.” Marianna said quietly.

  At the time, it had been a comfort to her mother knowing that the baking would be done for the meals. Naomi had loved being able to help, hoping that if her mother had less to do, she’d start feeling better. They hadn’t known then that their mother was suffering from a serious heart condition.

  “I love it when people come into the bakery and comment on how good it smells.” Naomi started pulling plates from the cupboard.

  “It’s a nice little affirmation that people like what you are doing.” Marianna smiled. “Like when Daed would come in every night and tell Mamm that he could smell the roast chicken while he was working and knew it was time to come in for dinner.”