A Boy's Amish Christmas, page 7
“Eli, could I ask you a favor?” Brett paused next to the freezer.
“You can ask,” Eli said, but his playful reply didn’t match his solemn expression.
“Okay, well...” Brett eyed him for a second. “The thing is, Damian is a pretty sensitive kid.”
“Yah, I noticed. I suggested you get that boy a horse.”
“Right.” Brett smile wanly. “He lives in the city, though, and there isn’t a lot of room for horses. Anyway, he’s pretty upset about Eeyore going missing. He’s been asking me about it a lot.”
“Hmm.” Eli nodded.
“And while you and I both know that donkey probably isn’t coming back, I don’t want Damian to know that. This is already a tough Christmas for him. His parents are on the road, and he’s stuck with me for almost the whole holiday. Maybe we could just tell him that story you made up about Eeyore finding a new farm.”
“We could do that,” Eli replied. “Or you could use it as an opportunity to talk about what happens if you wander off in a blizzard.”
Brett waited for the old guy to crack a smile or show he was joking in some way, but all he got was that solemn, frank expression.
“He’s five,” Brett said.
Eli shrugged. “We teach our kinner young about consequences.”
“No judgment there. I’m sure it’s good when you raise a kid on a farm,” Brett said. “And I probably would if I was raising him on the ranch. But I don’t think my brother would appreciate me teaching him about freezing to death in blizzards this young. I’m going to play it safe there.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Eli shrugged.
“It is.”
“It’s too bad about old Eeyore, though,” Eli said, rubbing the heel of one hand over the knuckles of the other. “That donkey hated me. He thwarted me every step of the way. But I think I understand him. I mean, sometimes a guy needs someone to butt heads with in order to really feel alive.”
Brett chuckled. “Yeah, I get that.”
The constant battle he’d once had with the press had been frustrating, but it did keep life interesting. He glanced toward the stairs. His verbal sparring matches with Emaline reminded him of those battles. Was that why he was so drawn to her?
“I didn’t think the Amish were allowed to have frenemies,” Brett said.
“Frene-what?”
“It’s a made-up word that combines friend and enemy. People you keep around just to argue with.”
“Ah. Clever.” Eli chuckled. “And, no, we aren’t supposed to, but people are people, wherever you find them. Belinda and I were like that for a long time. I drove her crazy purposefully, and she told me off on a regular basis. We enjoyed it.”
“Did she?” Brett asked, squinting. Because from what he knew about women, they didn’t actually enjoy that a whole lot.
“I kept her life interesting.” Eli winked. “But I’ve decided that I’m done with that. It might have kept her talking to me, but it won’t help me in the long run.”
“No?”
“No. I intend to marry that woman,” Eli replied.
Brett stared at the old man in surprise. “You do?”
“I’ve intended it for as long as I’ve known her, but yah, that’s the plan. And seeing how driving her crazy isn’t going to endear me to her, I’ve decided not to irritate her anymore.”
“Just like that?”
“Yah.” Eli picked up a handful of greenery. “Here.” He handed it over to Brett, and he stood there as the old man loaded him up with evergreen fronds. Eli said it so matter-of-factly that Brett had to wonder about the history between those two. Did Eli have a chance with Belinda? Or was he destined to stay her frenemy?
“How will you get her to fall in love with you?” Brett asked.
Eli picked up his own two handfuls of greenery. “I’m working on that. It’s a long game.”
Eli headed up the stairs first, and Brett followed him. He hoped the old man was successful. Every guy might need someone to butt heads with to feel alive, but he also needed someone to come home to. That was probably more important.
They emerged into the kitchen, and Brett deposited his armload of evergreen boughs onto the table. Belinda had brought out pillar candles, some spools of red ribbon and a ball of twine. She smiled up at Brett.
“Thank you, that was very nice of you,” she said.
“It was very nice of me, too,” Eli quipped.
“Oh, Eli, you know I appreciate your help. But you aren’t paying to be here, are you?”
Eli muttered something in Pennsylvania Dutch, and Brett chuckled. Maybe winning Belinda over was keeping Eli’s life interesting, too. What would happen if those two stopped bickering and actually settled down together?
Emaline looked quizzically at Brett, and he just shook his head. He couldn’t explain this in front of Belinda. Although he had to wonder what Belinda would think if she knew that Eli was telling her guests he intended to marry her. Would this be good news or not?
Damian stood over by the window again, and he shaded his eyes, looking through the falling snow. He had his headphones up over his ears again. He seemed pretty fixated on this donkey, and Brett wished he wasn’t. This couldn’t end well.
“Why don’t you come help us at the table?” Brett said.
Damian didn’t move.
“Damian?” He raised his voice.
The boy turned back and pulled off his headphones. “I’m watching for Eeyore.”
“You know how they say a watched pot never boils?” Eli asked.
“No,” Damian replied.
“It means if you just wait for something, it takes forever. But if you distract yourself, the thing you were waiting for happens,” Brett said.
“Oh.” Damian sighed and moved away from the window. “I hope he comes back. I wanted to meet him.”
Emaline sat down at the table and patted the spot next to her.
“Damian, why don’t you come sit with me?” she said. “This will be fun.”
Damian moved over to the spot next to Emaline. She seemed to soften even more when Damian was close by her. And Damian responded to her. Maybe he sensed that Emaline sincerely liked him. He’d been struggling with making friends. The kid with the headphones didn’t get asked to many birthday parties.
Suddenly Emaline’s eyes widened and she pointed. Brett looked over his shoulder in the direction she was gesturing, and his heart hammered to a stop.
A large snowy donkey’s nose pressed up against the window. What Brett could see of the donkey was covered in snow, and he blinked a snowflake off his long lashes.
“Eeyore!” Damian shouted, and Brett shook his head in wonder.
That donkey had survived the night and made his way home.
CHAPTER FIVE
EMALINE STOOD UP at the same time that Belinda did, and suddenly the house burst into excited confusion. Eli headed for the mudroom to put on his boots, and Belinda started dashing around the kitchen muttering about finding that halter, although why a halter would be in the kitchen, Emaline had no idea. Damian ran to the window, and by some miracle didn’t startle the donkey away. Eeyore must be happy to have found his home again, because he was waiting patiently by the window. Belinda came up with an actual rope halter from a kitchen drawer—there had been a halter in the kitchen!—and dashed over to the mudroom after Eli. Brett followed her, and the door opened, letting in a swirl of frigid air, boots thunked against the steps, and then the door slammed shut.
It all happened so fast that Emaline wasn’t even sure she knew what was going on. She stood there for a moment, then hurried across the kitchen to the window next to Damian. She pulled out her phone and started to record, doing her best to keep from filming Eli’s or Belinda’s faces, but maybe she could blur them out later.
Outside, Eli had the halter over the donkey’s head, and Belinda was brushing snow off his back. The snow was deep, and Brett was lifting his knees high to get through it as he walked into the veil of blurring snow toward the stable. Emaline stopped filming.
“I think that counts as a Christmas miracle, Damian,” Emaline said.
“Santa did this,” Damian said soberly.
“I think he did.” Emaline smiled. It was sweet to see that Christmas faith in little kids.
“I gave up my Christmas wish,” Damian said.
“What?” Emaline looked down at him.
“I gave it up. I wished on a star last night—even though I couldn’t see any stars, but they’re still up there, you know.”
“Yes, they are.”
“So I wished on a star that I could undo my Christmas wish and have Eeyore come back instead,” Damian said.
“Oh, sweetie, that was very selfless of you.” Emotion tightened her throat. “What was your Christmas wish before?”
“I wanted a hoverboard. My dad said he’d help me learn how to ride it. He said it’s probably harder than a bike, but I can ride a bike already.”
“Good for you!”
“So I won’t get the hoverboard now,” Damian concluded. “And I don’t mind. Maybe Santa will give it to me next year. I’m glad Eeyore is home again.”
He honestly thought he’d given up any hope of getting the toy he’d been yearning for, and he’d done it so willingly. His sacrifice was so sweet.
“You are a very good kid, you know that?” Emaline said.
Damian smiled bashfully, and just then the door opened again, and Belinda came inside, stamping her boots on the mat.
“No, no, no!” Belinda said. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t another way,” Eli said from behind her.
There was more stamping, and then Belinda appeared in the kitchen, her cheeks wind-reddened.
“I have guests!” Belinda waved a gloved hand toward Emaline and Damian. “There are hygienic issues and food preparation laws, and...and...and online reviews!”
“What’s going on?” Emaline asked.
“There’s a snow bank in front of the stable door,” Belinda said. “And the rolling door at the back is frozen shut. There was a leak of some sort that made an icy chunk right in front of the wheel—” She gestured a couple of times futilely. “Anyway, it won’t open, and we can’t dig through a snow bank that big in the storm.”
“And the only solution I can see is bringing the donkey inside the house,” Eli said.
“Bringing him in here?” Damian’s whole face lit up.
“We cannot bring a donkey into the house!” Belinda retorted. “It’s not done!”
“It’s only getting colder out there...” Eli murmured.
“It’s not done!” she repeated. “I have food in here and guests, and we cannot have a donkey wandering around my clean floor!”
“Belinda, I’m not wanting to argue with you or make you miserable,” Eli said. “I told myself I wouldn’t do that anymore. You are absolutely right that this isn’t done. It’s like living in a barn—you’ve told me that a hundred times. I know it’s uncivilized and wrong and goes against the better instinct of any good woman, but there’s a storm blowing out there, and Eeyore, by some miracle, is back. And alive! But he won’t stay that way if we don’t warm him up. While I think he’s a cantankerous old beast and he loves nothing more than pitting himself against me, I would very much like to see that donkey live to fight another day.”
Belinda’s eyes misted and she seemed to deflate a little. “Oh, Eli...”
“I wouldn’t breathe a word of it to anyone,” he said. “It’ll be our secret.”
“I do have a reputation to protect.” A smile touched her lips, and she looked over at Emaline. “I fear that Eli is right. Eeyore will die if we don’t take him inside. Would you be okay with that?”
“I don’t see a way around it, either,” Emaline said. “And getting that donkey home cost a great deal.” For Damian, it had cost a full Christmas wish. She looked down at the boy who was holding his breath. “I’m fine with it. Let’s get that donkey warmed up.”
“Then it’s settled?” Eli eyed Belinda.
“It’s settled.” She sighed. “Bring him in.”
Eli had a little hop in his step as he headed back outside, and Belinda shook her head.
“You don’t understand,” Belinda said, stepping out of her boots and carrying them back into the mudroom, her voice echoing back until she reemerged again. “Eli and I have disagreed for decades over his tendency to bring farm animals into his house. Decades! He’s had everything from chickens to calves to goats to...” she shook her head “...I’m sure there are more than I’m forgetting. But never in all those years of that man living like he was raised by wolves has he ever brought a donkey into his house. And what do I do? I bring in a donkey!”
Emaline burst out laughing. “You’re losing a lot of high ground today, aren’t you?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Belinda started to laugh. “If you’d be so kind as to not mention this in any online reviews, I will personally promise you that I will never again allow a farm animal into this home, and I’ll give you a free stay at a later date.”
“This would actually make a really good vlog post,” she said. “What if I made it clear that this was a life-or-death situation and expressed awe for your deep cleaning afterward? This is a Christmas miracle with a donkey who has to come inside to warm up or die in the elements. That’s ideal for me.”
“Is it?” Belinda frowned.
“It’s gold.”
Not quite the gold that George insisted she was sitting on, but gold nonetheless.
The door opened again, and this time the sound of Brett’s voice mingled with Eli’s as they encouraged the donkey to climb the stairs. The sound of scrambling hooves and one loud bray echoed through the house, and then Eeyore was inside, hooves clopping against the wooden floorboards. He stepped into the kitchen looking as surprised to be there as everyone else was to see him.
“Eeyore!” Damian rushed forward and put a hand up toward the donkey’s nose. Brett moved to stop him, but Eeyore lowered his head to greet the boy as gently as a lamb. Belinda had a mop in hand and she was looking forlornly at the mud and snow on her floor.
“Would you help me get his feed? There’s some under the buggy shelter,” Eli said to Brett.
“You bet.”
The men clomped back outside, and Belinda began to mop behind the donkey. Eeyore plodded farther into the kitchen, putting his nose up to Emaline’s mug of hot coffee on the table and snuffling at it.
“Not for you, Eeyore,” Emaline said, picking up the mug. “But we’re glad to see you, all the same.”
Eeyore moved on to the evergreen branches, snuffled at them, and took one small nibble at the needles, and then carried on forward toward the kitchen sink. Damian followed behind, his face glowing.
“He might be thirsty.” Emaline looked over to where Belinda stood with an entirely defeated look on her face. “Can I put some water in the sink for him?”
“Might as well,” Belinda said. “He’s been in snow all night—I doubt he got anything liquid into him.”
Emaline put the stopper in the sink and turned on the water. Once she got a couple of inches in the bottom of the sink, she turned it off and Eeyore moved forward and started to drink thirstily.
“Belinda, would you mind if I recorded some of this?”
“You’ll express deep and abiding awe in my ability to deep clean afterward?” Belinda asked.
She chuckled. “That’s a promise.”
“You can’t have me or Eli in it,” Belinda said.
“I know. I’ll be careful. I’ll show you all the footage when I’m done so you can be sure of it. But this would be perfect. It’s about heart. It’s about visiting somewhere different from the city life that people are used to—different priorities, different challenges.”
“I wonder what my niece would say about having my Amish Butternut Bed and Breakfast mentioned in it...” Belinda murmured.
“Ask her!” Emaline said. “But what would you say if I took a little bit of video of Eeyore with my phone, and I wrote up a script that included all the things I promised? You could take a look, and I wouldn’t post it unless you specifically gave me permission to do so.”
“Eeyore does make a good story, I’ll give you that,” Belinda said thoughtfully. “All right.”
“That’s a deal.” Emaline pulled out her phone and framed a shot of Eeyore drinking water out of the kitchen sink. She moved around the donkey, getting a view of him from all sides as he drank. Then she backed up to get more of the kitchen in the shot.
The side door opened, and the men came back in with a bale that they put on the floor next to the mudroom door. There was a rustle of coats and boots being removed, and then Brett came into the kitchen first. Emaline whipped the phone out of sight before he caught her eye.
“I had no problem with having Eeyore inside,” he said. “Did you?”
“None.” She grinned back. “This is great for me.”
“These are not the sorts of memories I want to leave my guests with,” Belinda said. “But since there’s no avoiding it, Brett, would you be so kind as to use the broom and get the snow off Eeyore’s back? I might as well mop it all up now.”
Belinda grabbed a straw broom from the corner and passed it over.
“Can I get some video of you sweeping off the donkey?” she asked with a grin.
Brett paused. “Can you keep my face out of it?”
Was he really agreeing to this? She nodded. “Of course.”
“And I think we can put down some newspaper once we figure out where Eeyore wants to stand,” Eli said, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully. “Trying to force him into one corner isn’t going to work. Eeyore is too opinionated. Let’s figure out where he wants to be, and put newspaper down behind him for...the inevitable.”
