A Plain and Simple Christmas by Amy Clipston Page B

lies.” He shook his head, disappointment clouding his handsome face. “What hurts the most is that you lied. In our fifteen years of marriage, I never once lied to you or went behind your back. You’ve always been the one person I’ve trusted most, the one I knew I could count on.”
    Shaking his head, he paused. “Now, I’m trying to figure out who you are. The maedel I married would have never lied to me, not like this. You knew how serious I was about this and how much I was against inviting Anna Mae home during the holidays. This is going to cause a huge blowup with my daed, and I’m not prepared to deal with that.”
    The knot forming in her throat choked off her words for a moment. She cleared her throat before she tried to speak again. “David, I’ve never lied to you before,” she began, her voice trembling with guilt. “You’re the most important person in my life, aside from our kinner. You know that and you know me.” She pointed to her chest. “You know my heart.”
    “But we talked about it over and over again. I told you more than once that it was not a gut plan. We decided that we would wait until spring. Why did you go back on your word?”
    “I never agreed to spring.” She reached for him, and he stood, backing away from her touch. “David, will you let me explain?”
    Folding his arms, he leaned back against the wall and scowled. “I’m listening.”
    She stood in front of him. “I know in my heart that what I’m doing is right. It’s God’s will that Anna Mae and Kellan are coming here.” She took his hand in hers. “God spoke to me.”
    He raised an eyebrow with curiosity. “What do you mean?”
    “I prayed about it and asked Him to give me a sign.” Hot tears spilled from her eyes. “The very next day, your mamm came to the bakery and told me she’s been thinking of Anna Mae and Kellan and wondering how they’re doing. She was near tears and said she longed to see Anna Mae again. She said she had to know if Anna Mae was happy with her life with Kellan.” She squeezed his hand. “That was the sign from God I needed. That was how I knew what I was doing was right.”
    He considered her words and his frown deepened. “A sign from God?” He snorted with disbelief. “I don’t know about that, Kathryn. God has a plan, and it’s His plan. He doesn’t need to send us signs.”
    “Ya, He does! You have to believe me. I never meant to hurt you and I don’t want to ever lose your trust in me.” More tears splattered her cheeks. “Can’t you see that? Can’t you see I did this for you and our family? This is what God wants me to do.”
    “I don’t believe God has to send us signs for us to do His work. His rules for how we should live our lives are contained in the Bible. Whether you believe He sent a sign or not doesn’t matter. You deliberately went against my wishes, and I’m angry and hurt.” His expression remained hard as stone. “Why did you keep your secret from me?”
    “I followed my heart because I didn’t want you to talk me out of it. I wanted to do it, no matter what you said.” She cleared her throat. “I wanted to do it for Mary Rose. I can’t imagine how I would feel if one of our kinner had moved away and left the community. I would worry about her too. Your mamm has a right to meet her future grandchild.”
    He shook his head. “That’s not for you to decide. Now Christmas is going to be a disaster.”
    “That’s not true.” Kathryn wiped her tears. “Vera agrees that this visit is a good idea too. She thinks it’ll be good for your parents.”
    His eyes widened. “You told Vera?” He frowned. “Who else have you told?”
    “My mother knows too,” she whispered.
    He threw his hands up. “Why don’t you just paint a sign on the side of the barn so that the whole district knows!”
    “David,” she hissed. “You’re going to wake the kinner!”
    “Why not tell them too?” he continued, his voice booming off the walls. “The