Amanda Weds a Good Man Read Online Free Page A

“Your boys are growing like weeds. Has Simon started to school?”
    â€œNext fall,” Wyman replied, and then he couldn’t help smiling. “Meanwhile, he’ll be keeping Amanda Lambright busy, because she and I are getting hitched in a few weeks.”
    â€œYou don’t say!” James clapped him on the back. “That’s mighty gut news for all of you.”
    On impulse, Wyman chucked James’s clean-shaven chin. “Time for
you
to be sporting a beard, the way I see it. You and Abby have been a pair forever, haven’t you?” he teased. “Better take notes at our wedding. We’ll show you how it’s done.”
    James’s cheeks colored a bit. “Matter of fact, Abby and I are moving in that direction. We’ll tie the knot in our own gut time.”
    â€œAh. Sounds like I’d better stop kidding you about it then.”
    â€œEmma and my parents do plenty of that, jah,” James replied.
    â€œAnd your sister’s well? And how about your folks?” Wyman inquired. “Haven’t seen them for a long while, now that Carl Byler farms your dat’s ground and hauls his crops to the elevator.”
    â€œOur family’s fine, all things considered,” James replied. “And with the two Lambright weddings and yours coming up, maybe Emma will find herself a beau. She’s being a gut daughter, looking after our parents, but she deserves a home of her own with a husband and children to love her.”
    Wyman thanked James and rounded up his sons again, realizing how fortunate he was. He had a home, he had children, and soon he would have a wonderful new wife to complete the picture of domestic satisfaction James had described. Like a jigsaw puzzle, his life would again have all its pieces in place when Amanda joined her family with his.
    A sense of completion filled him. He’d set his wedding date and the Lambright family was hosting his ceremony, so maybe this exasperating morning had served a higher purpose after all.

Chapter Three
    â€œG lad you could come out with me on this fine fall afternoon,” James said as he helped Abby up into his rig. “It’s too pretty a Saturday to spend all of it in the shop.”
    When he was in the driver’s seat, Abby scooted just close enough that their arms brushed. “Jah, and I’ve had about all I can handle of working at the mercantile for the week. Three busloads of English tourists came in today, so I’ve had to straighten the shelves again and again,” she said. “Some of those folks chattered on their cell phones the whole time they were in the store. That makes for a lot of racket!”
    James lightly clapped the reins on his gelding’s back. “Jah, I see that a lot, too. Makes you wonder what-all they find to talk about.”
    He could think of several topics to discuss with Abby, however—such as asking how the preparations were going for her nephew Matt’s wedding on Thursday, or whether her niece Phoebe’s new house would be completed before she married Owen Coblentz the following week. This flurry of weddings made him very aware of the important things he wanted to say to the woman beside him.
    How fresh and vibrant Abby looked, in a butterscotch-colored dress that complemented a face made rosier by the autumn breeze. He wasn’t surprised that she’d brought along a lidded container for the Brubaker family, because no matter how busy Abby was, she always made the time and effort to share her goodness with others.
    â€œGoing to show me what’s in your pan?” James hinted.
    Abby smiled as though she’d been waiting for him to ask. When she popped off the lid, the aroma of cinnamon and other spices teased him. “When you mentioned you were delivering Wyman’s wheels,” she said, “I packed some of the pumpkin whoopie pies I’d made for the meal after church tomorrow. I don’t suppose