Christmas in Sugarcreek Read Online Free Page A

long as that took.
    But then he’d seen Judith and felt old feelings that he had forgotten even existed. Feelings about longing and hope and happiness. Her father and cousin Tim had surprised him when they asked if he wouldn’t mind helping their family out for the two weeks before Christmas. It might make good sense, since his house was on the market anyway.
    Ben hadn’t been lying when he said he wouldn’t mind helping out. Not one little bit. So for the next nine days he was going to get to be by Judith. Much of the time alone.
    For hours at a time. Seeing her smile. Looking at her face. Talking with her.
    For a few hours a day he was going to pretend that he, too, was filled with the joy of the season. That he understood that feeling of hope and expectation that seemed to be on everyone’s mind. That he was anxiously awaiting Christmas Day.
    All that would be lies, of course.
    Because when he was sitting here at the table, sipping soup and reading, he knew the exact opposite would be true.
    He was going to wish Christmas Day would never come.

Chapter Three
     
    Nine Days Until Christmas
     
    T he minute she heard the front door open, Lilly jumped up from her laptop and hastily turned it off.
    “Lilly? Lilly, where are ya?”
    “I’m up here, Robert. I’ll be right down.”
    But instead of waiting for her to meet him in the kitchen, Robert took the stairs two at a time and scooped her up off the top of the landing. When she squealed, he laughed, the sound deep and rich and wonderful.
    “Have I managed to surprise you, wife?” he asked as he twirled her around, making the skirt of her jade green dress billow out like an umbrella.
    “Very much so.” Resting her hands on his shoulders, she looked down at him. “Robert, put me down! You’re going to hurt yourself.”
    “I’m not so old that I can’t pick my frau up whenever I want,” he said with a smile. But still, he gently set her down, letting her body glide against his as he did so, then wrapping his hands around her waist.
    Making her feel so wanted and loved. Humbled. “Why are you home so early?”
    “I closed up shop. Snow’s coming, so Daniel gave me a ride home. That, and well, I couldn’t wait to see you.”
    Before she could reply to that, he kissed her, making her remember just how much she had to be grateful for this Christmas. A little over a year ago she’d been so depressed she’d worried that she would never find her way out. She’d gone through the embarrassment of discovering she was pregnant from a high school ex-boyfriend, had suffered a miscarriage, and then had fallen head over heels in love with Robert Miller. On paper, he had seemed like her exact opposite. He was older, a widower, and was Amish.
    Because he’d also known terrible heartache, they shared a connection neither could deny. From the moment he’d kissed her in the middle of a corn maze, they both realized they’d found their perfect match. However, things hadn’t been easy. Lilly had felt that she couldn’t become Amish for Robert . . . and he loved his faith so much she couldn’t ask him to leave it. So she broke things off, loving him so much that she couldn’t bear to make him give up his faith for her. But he’d loved her just as much—and left the order. Eventually, they compromised and joined a conservative Mennonite church.
    Things for both of them changed drastically. Being Mennonite opened a whole new world to Robert. Phones and cars and electricity were available to him now. For Lilly, it had meant embracing a faith enough to give up jeans and makeup and short hair. While they couldn’t say the transition had been easy, the fact that they were both willing to go through such hardships was bringing them closer together.
    Now it was moments like this—when he looked at her as if there was no other person in the world that he wanted to see—that made her feel giddy inside.
    When Robert finally lifted his head, she smiled at him. “I’m very