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The Amish Christmas Sleigh

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

Present Day, Ice Mountain, December

The mountain snow was dazzling to the eyes and the senses, and thirty-four-year-old Sebastian Christner still had child enough in his heart to enjoy the brisk intake of breath that filled his big lungs and made him dig his hands deeper into the pockets of his heavy black wool coat.

"Give us a push, Herr Christner!" one of the Mast buwes called to him in ringing tones from the top of the hill. Sebastian broke into a smile. Growing up, he'd been the eldest of a whole brood of children, and sledding held wonderful memories for him.

He waded through the knee-deep snow and started up the sledding path where many of the kinner were playing, rosy-cheeked, against the background of a bright blue sky. Sebastian caught hold of the back of the big runner sled loaded with three boys in all manner of bent elbows and knees and gave an easy push. The sled was off, and exultant whoops of joy echoed back up the hill. Sebastian swept his gaze across the tilt of the land for another sled. Then he saw a single child, a young buwe, sitting on a tree stump, cheering as wildly as his feeble limbs would allow as each sled took off.

Sebastian plowed through the snow to the child's side and sank down on his haunches. He searched the pale little face that turned to him with its gap-toothed smile.

"Hiya, Herr Christner." Nine-year-old Ben Zook's voice was high and thin, but his dark brown eyes were steady.

"Be you cold, child?" Sebastian asked, noticing the faint tremor of the boy's arms and mittened hands where he held his crutches.

"Only a bit. My sister brought me up here to watch the sledding while she does the wash. She said she'd be no more than an hour." Sebastian quickly unbuttoned his coat and slung it over the child's frail shoulders. "Sisters forget sometimes."

"Ach, nee," Ben replied, visibly luxuriating in the new warmth as he snuggled deeper into the folds of the coat. "Kate never forgets me. She says I'm in her heart."

Sebastian smiled and thought of the kind girl, though he couldn't seem to bring to mind her features at that moment. Rather, he had a mental impression of quick, able-bodied movement, a sturdy build, and dark brown hair. He half-shook his head — what Kate Zook did or did not look like was of no matter to him.

"Would you like a ride?" Sebastian asked, pushing aside his idle thoughts of little Ben's sister.

The child's face flushed a rosy red and his eyes shone. "Ach, jah. But Kate said not to go down with anyone. I might get hurt."

"I'm sure she meant the bigger buwes ... I'm an auld hand at sledding, and I'll make sure you're safe." Sebastian got to his feet and easily swept Ben and his crutches up into his arms.

"Kumme, we'll borrow the runner sled." Sebastian laughed, his heart full, as the child snuggled against his chest.

He hailed the Mast buwes, who gladly loaned their sled. With Ben still in his arms, he dropped down on the solid wooden slats and carefully positioned the child between his legs, minding the crutches, and grasping the lead rope.

"Ready?" he said to Ben.

"Jah!"

Sebastian leaned his weight forward a bit and they were off, skimming down the path, until the trees became one big, thrilling blur.

Ben squealed in excitement, and Sebastian couldn't contain a hearty laugh as the sled dipped and flew. He held the lead rope easily but had to give a sudden tug to the right when a girl with her hands on her hips suddenly stepped into the path in front of them.

A spray of snow flew into the air as the runner blades cut hard. By sheer will Sebastian was able to keep the sled from tipping. Even so, he lost his black-brimmed hat in the process and was wiping snow from his eyes when a soft voice carried to him with vigor in the cold air.

"Benjamin Zook! Do you know you might have been hurt or worse? What were you thinking?"

Sebastian smiled upward as a flurry of skirt approached. "It was my fault, truly. I encouraged him to have a go."

"Jah, well ..."

Sebastian looked up as Kate Zook's voice suddenly trailed off. He froze, caught by the intensity of her jewel-blue eyes as she stared down at him.

At twenty-six, Kate Zook knew she was not only approaching spinsterhood by her community's standards, but that she had more worries to deal with than she could handle. Yet, at that moment, all she could think of was the fact that she'd never been this close to Sebastian Christner before. Sure, there'd been a time she'd served him lemonade at a summer picnic and his shoulder had accidentally grazed her breast ... her heart thumped now at the memory she'd nursed, spinning it into a fair yarn in which he'd turned, apologized, and asked her to marry him. But he'd done no such thing, and his shoulders were so broad and strong that he probably hadn't noticed the incidental touch in the first place. But I did ...

"Uh ... Kate?" Sebastian's deep voice cut into her thoughts. "I think Ben might be getting cold."

She moved with alacrity, feeling her face flush with remembrance as she bent to lift her younger bruder from the sled, the boy still clad in Sebastian's heavy black coat. She noticed the manly scent of pine soaping that clung to it, sending her senses into a slow simmer.

He rose to his feet to tower over her as she held Ben. Sebastian's auburn hair had a faint curl to it and his blue eyes seemed to glow with some secret merriment as he stood, coatless in the cold, his red shirt and black wool pants making him stand out with a cardinal's beauty against the white of the snow.

But she couldn't focus on Sebastian, although she wished she could let her gaze linger on his fine form a little longer. She needed to get Ben inside, and she gave Sebastian a brief nod as she turned to go, almost staggering in the snow under the additional weight of the man's coat that swallowed her brother's thin frame.

Sebastian stepped in front of her, his arms — strong arms, she noticed — outstretched. "Here, let me carry him inside, sei se gut."

She turned slowly as Sebastian reached out large hands to scoop Ben from her arms. It was a relief in more ways than one, she thought ruefully. She'd been both literally and figuratively carrying Ben since the buggy accident that took their parents' lives — leaving her unscathed but Ben permanently disabled at the age of two. She hadn't known what to do until her cousin Daniel and his wife had invited her to come and live on their property on Ice Mountain in a small abandoned cabin. But even now, with the community's help, she often found she had little money to plan for Ben's future ... Yet, still, surely Gott had a plan ...

"Your thoughts run deep this morning?"

Kate snapped her head up at the question from the tall man beside her who was moving easily through the snow.

"Kate's always thinking hard," Ben explained.

"Ben, I ..." She swallowed, unsure how to respond.

"Don't tease your sister," Sebastian whispered sotto voce with a sidelong glance at her that set her heart thumping.

"I wasn't." Ben smiled. "Kate's smart."

Sebastian nodded politely. "I'm sure she is."

Kate longed for some clever retort to come to her tongue or some flirting manner to suddenly enchant her, but she was what she was and she could only mumble a vague invitation for tea and cookies. To her immense surprise, Sebastian accepted.

He wondered vaguely why he'd agreed to sit at the small table and drink lukewarm tea, but then she served giant sugar cookies and the moment was redeemed for him. He loved cookies — plain and simple.

"Herr Christner, do you want to see my marble run?" Ben asked when they'd finished eating. Kate continued to putter about the tiny kitchen.

Sebastian glanced at her. He was probably interfering with her housework and should leave, but he couldn't resist a look at Ben's toy. Everyone on the mountain knew Sebastian was a renowned toy maker. Bishop Umble had even allowed him a computer and Internet access in a shed near his haus so that he might take orders from all over the region, not just locally on Ice Mountain. Sebastian had been surprised, but the bishop said that bringing joy to a child's face was worth a little bending of the Ordnung.

"Sure, Ben." He smiled. "I'll look for a minute. Then I've got to go."

Ben swung ably across the floor on his crutches and gestured to a carved wooden series of levels in a rectangular frame that sat in a place of honor on a small side table.

"Watch!" Ben called, then dropped a single marble into the top of the run. The marble made its way quickly down the simple slats and shoots, then shot out the bottom in seconds.

Sebastian crossed the room and picked up the simple toy. It was obviously inexpensive and meant to hold a younger child's interest but he held it with gentle hands. "Where did you get it, Ben? It's a beauty."

Ben pointed with his crutch across the room. "Kate got it for me a long time ago when we lived in Lancaster."

Sebastian glanced over at Kate as she was doing the dishes, then let his gaze sweep the corners of the neat but relatively bare room. "Then it's surely special, seeing as it was a gift from your schwester. Is it one of your favorite toys, Ben?"

The child shrugged matter-of-factly. "It's my only one."

Sebastian hid his surprise. Only one toy?

"But that's okay. I'm getting older now. I don't need another toy."

Sebastian nodded as he carefully replaced the marble run, making sure to keep his tone even, although his heart ached for the child. "True, you are growing up. But we never are too auld for toys, sohn."

"Please don't give him ideas, Herr Christner," Kate said, moving to stand nearby as she dried her hands on her apron. "I — uh — mean no disrespect to you, but Ben knows that money is short and we can't always afford — "

Sebastian held up a placating hand. "I understand. Please forgive me. I meant no harm."

She nodded, and he was about to leave when an idea came to him. He paused, and dismissed the thought. But it had hit him so hard, his head hurt. He looked at Ben's lone toy, at the clean but nearly empty cabin, and Kate's insistence on being independent. Could he walk out of this house and not extend help?

Yet to do so would put everything he'd built at risk ...

He shook his head. Nee, he couldn't do it. He turned to Ben and was about to tell him good-bye when different words came out of his mouth, words that nearly horrified him with their simple intensity. "I've been thinking lately that I'm in need of two people in my life — an apprentice for my toy making and a hauskeeper." Have I completely lost my mind? What is she going to think I want, and worse yet, how can I have someone nosing about the place on a regular basis? But even those doubts didn't stop him from uttering the question. "What would you and Ben say to helping fill those roles?"

He froze, wondering what he'd done. He looked from Ben's excited face to Kate's shocked one, and couldn't begin to understand how he'd gotten himself into such a painful predicament.

"Say jah, Kate! Sei se gut, Katie?" Ben was pulling at her skirt and balancing on one crutch while Sebastian stood, looking flushed and anxious, and still impossibly handsome, all at the same time.

She wet her lips. It's like a dream ... But then her practicality took over — there were no such things as dreams, not real ones anyway. Yet maybe Gott ...

"Ben, hold on. I need to talk with Herr Christner a moment about this. Will you go to our room and read for a bit — with the door closed, please."

She waited anxiously while her bruder hobbled away, casting one last pleading look over his shoulder before he went into the bedroom and closed the door.

She indicated the table with a quick gesture of her hand. "May we sit again?"

"Of course." He moved past her to resume the seat he had been in earlier.

Kate did the same, trying to think of what to say.

"You wonder how this came up so suddenly, maybe?" he asked.

She grabbed on to his words like a lifeline. "Jah — I — have you been thinking about it?"

She watched him exhale slowly, then he shrugged and gave her a quick smile, a flash of even, white teeth. He's so handsome ... She quickly refocused when he cleared his throat.

"I — um — you may not know it, but I fear I'm the object of ... talk ... in the community at times — among the womenfolk." He flushed a bit and she hid a smile.

Ach, do I know ... Sebastian Christner was one of the most eligible bachelors on Ice Mountain, and he was often the subject of giggling chatter by women both young and auld ... especially the single ones, but she was surprised that he knew of it.

"And?" she asked, wondering where he was headed with the conversation.

He bent his head a bit so that his thick lashes lay against his high cheekbones for a moment, and she shifted in her chair.

"I — I think, Kate Zook, that you might — keep the women at bay — as it were, especially now." He looked up and spread his hands helplessly. "The holiday season is very busy for a toy maker."

She felt her heart sink. So I'm a guard dog, a tough auld bird who will ...

He reached across the table and brushed at her hand with the whisper of a touch. She stilled her thoughts and looked at him.

"Forgive me," he said slowly. "I put that badly. I need help and perhaps you do, too. And Ben — he has a gut mind and could learn a trade despite his disability."

She nodded. "That's true — but the, um, hauskeeping ... how often would that be? Only for December?"

She told herself that she imagined the relief in his sky-blue eyes when he nodded his head. "Jah ... for December, say, every weekday and then maybe once a week after that. And Ben can kumme as often as school allows."

Then he named a sum for wages that made her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I'd be able to save something for the first time in years and maybe get a few gifts for Ben for Second Christmas.

"When would I, er, we start?" she asked, trying to rein in her excitement at the possibility of actually being in his home on a brief, though regular basis.

"How about Monday?" he asked, and she thought he suddenly seemed restless. No doubt having made his decision, he wanted to be gone, so she got to her feet and extended her hand.

"Danki, Herr Christner. I accept."

He slid back his chair and got to his feet, his hand immediately engulfing hers. "Sebastian, sei se gut. Just call me Sebastian."

She nodded, secretly savoring the taste of his given name on the tip of her tongue while she watched him put on his coat and hat. Then she saw him to the door with a tentative smile. She realized she was watching the play of his lean hips beneath his long coat as he descended the snow-dusted steps, when he half-turned to wave a hand good-bye. She quickly closed the door and turned to press against it for a moment as she closed her eyes in a brief prayer of thanksgiving for the provision of work. Then she opened her eyes and set her chin. If she was going to be a good hauskeeper, she might as well start with keeping herself away from him, along with every other interested woman on the mountain ...

"No siree, I got plenty of time ta sit and listen 'bout how you're screwin' up yer life."

Sebastian sighed and leaned a hip against a workbench full of tools and wood shavings. He probably shouldn't have told his Englischer best friend, Tim Garland, about hiring Kate, but as he glanced around the workshop, he grimaced at the mess. He was a master toymaker, but lousy at cleaning up.

He frowned at his best friend and knew the older man wasn't likely to let the matter go easily. Tim Garland was as irascible as a timber rattler, but he was a gut man who saw that Sebastian's toys never failed to reach the post on time.

"She fed me cookies."

"Lord, have mercy ... I know yer weakness for cookies."

"Tim, kumme on. If you think this workshop is cluttered, you must not have seen inside my cabin lately — it's a mess, to say the least." Sebastian picked up a small lathe and ran a practiced finger down its length.

"The mess never bothered you before." Tim harrumphed. "You're woman-hungry, boy, that's what." He squared his spry shoulders. "I knows it when I see it."

Sebastian snorted. "You don't know a shirt from a skirt, my friend. I simply saw an opportunity to help a family, and I did it — that's what Gott expects of us."

"Aw, don't go gettin' all Amisch on me, Seb ... I've knowed you too long." Tim laughed, revealing a gap of missing front teeth, and Sebastian had to smile.

"All right — I'll admit she's got pretty eyes. She's also got a hurt buwe ... And a too-small house and not enough toys ... or happiness — I couldn't let it go."

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Excerpted from The Amish Christmas Sleigh by Kelly Long, Amy Lillard, Molly Jebber. Copyright © 2015 Kensington Publishing Corp.. Excerpted by permission of KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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