A Choice Between Two Brothers (Amish Romance) Read online

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One - 1

  Chapter Two - 2

  Chapter Three - 3

  Chapter Four - 4

  Chapter Five - 5

  Chapter Six - 6

  Chapter Seven - 7

  Chapter Eight - 8

  Chapter Nine - 9

  Chapter Ten - 10

  Chapter Eleven - 11

  Chapter Twelve - 12

  Chapter Thirteen - 13

  Chapter Fourteen - 14

  Chapter Fifteen - 15

  Chapter Sixteen - 16

  Chapter Seventeen - 17

  Chapter Eighteen - 18

  Chapter Nineteen - Epilogue

  CHAPTER ONE

  1

  David Lapp dragged a hand through his hair before returning his wide brim hat to his head. He still couldn’t believe his father was gone. He walked towards the haus he hadn’t lived in for more than a year now, wishing he had spent more time with his father during his last weeks.

  The funeral was held two days ago. A plain service for a plain mann. And then they had lowered his father into the hand dug grave. David was grateful that at least his father had found his final resting place beside his mother, who had passed away a little over twelve years before.

  Approaching his childhood home, he saw smoke billow up from behind the building. A heavy sigh emanated from his chest, knowing his bruder was up to something. His bruder had been the reason for David renting a dawdi haus from the neighbors rather than spending another night in the same home.

  Even now, with both their parents gone, David couldn’t understand the hatred his bruder harbored for him. There had never been a time that John didn’t pick on him just for the fun of it. As youngsters, it had been playful, but with age, their relationship had deteriorated. Sometimes when he saw other sibling and their affectionate teasing, he couldn’t help but wonder whether the rift between them might be his fault.

  Had he been too much of a bother to his bruder as a child, causing the resentment that was always clear in his bruder’s eyes? While their mother lived, it hadn’t been as bad, and she had often chastened John for being rude to his little bruder.

  David could still remember the day of his mother’s passing. A storm had blown in from the east, and with the wind whipping and the clouds darkening overhead, the heavens had opened and unleashed more rain that David had ever seen. His mother had fallen into the overflowing creek and had been swept under in a matter of minutes. She drowned before they managed to pull her out.

  David’s eyes narrowed as he neared the haus, noticing the smoke turn black. He walked around the haus, hastening his steps to find John standing over a large bonfire. Beside him lay the furniture and odds and ends that David recognized as the home’s furnishings and contents.

  “What are you doing?” David called out as John heaved a chair into the fire.

  “Making a fire,” John grunted over his shoulder as he threw sheets and curtains into the flames.

  David stepped up to his bruder, realizing he was intent on burning the entire contents of their childhood home. He touched John on the shoulder, knowing grief was driving his bruder to this extreme, “John, wait. Don’t do this,” David said quietly over the roaring flames.

  John swung around, his brown eyes almost black with indignation. He stood at least three inches taller than David. David inherited his blond hair and green eyes from his mother’s side of the familye; he was small in stature but had broad shoulders, and hands that had been hardened by years of working in the King Carpentry business.

  John was tall and lean with their father’s ink black hair and dark brown eyes. Right now those dark brown eyes shone almost black as they narrowed in on David. “Why? Is it insensible? You heard the terms of the will. Everything is to be distributed or disposed of, and the haus will be sold. Since you don’t live here anymore, I’m disposing.”

  David shook his head, taking a deep breath. He knew that when his bruder was in a foul mood it was best to keep your distance, but David wasn’t keeping his distance today. The items that John tossed so carelessly onto the fire were as much his as John’s. “John, Mamm and Daed wouldn’t have wanted this. You just burned the chair our grossdaadi made while Mamm was pregnant with you.”

  David glanced at the rocking chair turning to ash and shook his head. Before he could continue pleading, John guffawed, “Mamm and Daed aren’t here, and besides, what do you care? You don’t live here anymore.”

  David frowned. Was John upset that the haus would be sold and he would have to find another place to live? As a hand on the Yoder farm, David knew that John couldn’t afford to buy his own home. It was just like his bruder to lash out in anger when he didn’t get his way, disregarding everyone else’s feelings in the process.

  David squared his shoulders. He was no longer a little boy. He was twenty years old to John’s twenty-two and he wasn’t going to let his bruder walk over him, not this time. “John, the will said the goods were to be distributed between us.”

  John shook his head, “Fine, take what you want, but everything else is going up in smoke.”

  “I’ll come back tomorrow and bring the buggy,” David glanced at the chairs, the family bible, his mother’s favorite casserole dish; those were only a few of things he wanted to save.

  “Nee! If you want your share, you’ll take it now. I started this and I’m finishing it before the sun rests in the west.” John turned and picked up the small stool they had used for milking when they still had a cow, and tossed it into the fire.

  “Are you mad about the haus being sold?” David asked cautiously.

  “What do I care?” John said quietly. It was the first time since their father passed that David had heard the heartbreak in his bruder’s voice. He stepped forward and placed hand on John’s shoulder.

  “You do care, we both do. Perhaps too much,” David said quietly, looking into the flames. It tore him apart to see their parents’ possessions go up in smoke. Was this John’s way of dealing with grief?

  John nodded without turning around. “He wasn’t even sick,” John sighed, shaking his head.

  David sighed. John had been much closer to their father than David had ever been. John and his father had shared the same love for the land; they had the same stubborn streak and outlook on life. Ever since their mother’s passing, David had always felt like an outsider. He could see that their father’s death had affected John a lot more than he let on.

  David glanced over the few acres of land on which their father had always sowed corn. It wasn’t big enough to support both John and their father, but it was big enough to make a decent living. David knew that John loved this land just as much as their father had. Just one more thing in which David hadn’t shared.

  Since he could remember, he was fascinated by wood, and he had taken up an apprenticeship at King Carpentry as soon as he left school. He had been a carpenter ever since.

  “He’s with Mamm now,” David offered.

  John didn’t answer, didn’t even turn to acknowledge that he had heard his bruder.

  Knowing he didn’t have much of a choice since his bruder was beyond reason, David shook his head and headed into the haus.

  CHAPTER TWO

  2

  The roar of the fire eating away at the familye’s furniture was the only sound as neither John nor David spoke another word.

  David rummaged through the pile destined for the bonfire for those items he wanted to save. He took the family bible, a wooden train that he had played with as a child and the lamp that had always stood beside his father’s bed.

  Setting the items in a small pile, David headed into the haus. As he walked through his childhood home, memories of his parents came rushing back. His mother’s laugh, his father’s frown and of course John’s permanent scowl whenever he looked at him.

  He collected a quilt his mother had made and headed to the kitchen from which John had already removed most of the furniture. A quick glance around the kitchen confirmed nothing in there he wished to save.

  Having arrived there on foot, he had to keep in mind that he could only take whatever he could carry. He remembered a small wagon that he had played with as a child which was now in the shed, and decided to use it to transport the items he had chosen.

  With this is mind, he now moved into the living room and noticed the two chairs beside the window. He picked up both chairs and headed outside, setting them down along with his selection. He carefully folded the quilt and placed it on top before going back into the haus.

  He noticed John’s stern look before casting another item into the fire. David sighed and headed to the shed to retrieve the small wagon. When he returned outside it was to see John adding the dining room table to the ill-fated items.

  David hadn’t realized how much this home and its contents had meant to him until that moment. He knew that any attempts to stop John would only cause an argument. The last thing he wanted was for another dispute to drive them even further apart now that their parents had passed away.

  For a moment he wished he and John had a relationship which allowed them the opportunity to talk about their parents and share their grief instead of keeping it all bottled up. He glanced longingly at his bruder and knew that would never happen.

  John despised him, always had, always would. After his father’s will was carried out, he doubted his bruder would ever speak to him again. It fe
lt like a vice clamping down on his heart as he realized that he had not only lost his father this week, but probably also his bruder.

  David headed into the haus for the last time and slowly walked through, selecting those smaller items he could carry, and cherishing whatever he was unable to rescue before he left. He took his time piling the chairs and the smaller items onto the wagon. The wagon was too small for everything he would have wanted to take, but at least he got the most important things. He secured the chairs onto the wagon with a length of rope he had found in the barn, before loading the remaining items into a small wooden tool chest that he would carry.

  “I’ll be taking this,” he called out to John who was sitting beside the bonfire, staring into the flames. His bruder’s hunched shoulders told of his immense suffering. He wished he could help him work through the grief, but he knew his intervention would not be welcome. He knew too that when this was all over, his bruder would return to work at the Yoder farm pretending that this had never happened.

  Needing to do something to assure himself he hadn’t completely lost his bruder, David walked over to John. He stood beside him, staring into the flames. “He was proud of you, you know. He always used to tell me how much you were like him. A strong mann with a gut head on his shoulders. I think if he were here it would sadden him to see you like this. Turn to Gott, bruder, turn your grief to Gott.”

  John turned to David and the grief in his bruder’s eyes stabbed at him like a knife to the heart.

  David held his gaze for a moment before walking away. He took the wagon in one hand and the wooden toolbox in another, realizing that he didn’t have another hand for the quilt. Setting down the wagon’s handle, he set the quilt on top of the wooden toolbox and glanced at John one last time before taking the wagon’s handle and starting for home.

  Walking away he heard his bruder cry out, it sounded like the gut-wrenching cry of an injured animal as he heaved the kitchen table onto the bonfire.

  David turned to see all the memories of dining and praying as a familye go up in flames. The flames were hungry, licking at the table before threatening to engulf it completely. He heard the loud snap of wood beneath the scorching flames and felt tears burn the back of his eyes. He knew everyone had their own way of dealing with grief, he just wished John had found another way that didn’t entail destroying their memories.

  Despite David’s childhood not being especially filled with happy memories since John had made it particularly unhappy, it was still his home, his roots. His strides lengthened, extending the distance between him and the bruder he prayed Gott would guide and relieve of the burden of his grief.

  A few yards out, David stopped and swapped the tool chest into his other hand before taking up the wagon’s handle again. The wagon was hopelessly overloaded. It was barely the size of a wheelbarrow, loaded with bits and bobs with the two chairs topping it all.

  His arms were burning from the exertion of pulling the wagon and carrying the tool chest, but David kept moving one step at a time. Every step was one step closer to home, one step away from his bruder’s wrath. He kept his eyes on the horizon and bit back the tears that burned the back of his eyes.

  He might not have been as close to his father as John had been, but he had loved his father. He had loved his father like any son would love a father, even if he was stubborn and strict and had turned a blind eye to John’s bullying.

  CHAPTER THREE

  3

  The morning clouds had shifted, leaving a clear blue sky above the Lancaster Hills. David had been walking for almost thirty minutes and he wasn’t even half way home. He had to stop often to rest his arms and to readjust the chairs that kept slipping within the ropes `to the side of the wagon.

  David stopped again and took in a deep breath. The scent of wildflowers and rain hung in the air and he knew they would have a shower before sunset. Lifting the handle of the wagon, he started forward again, and that is when he noticed someone walking towards him.

  “Hullo, David.”

  Mary King’s voice was as sweet as the smile she offered. A smile lifted the corners of David’s mouth. Mary King was two years younger than him. Her father owned King Carpentry, where David had been working for years.

  Her hair always reminded David of kaffe. It wasn’t dark brown, but more a coffee brown. Her eyes were as blue as sapphires, David imagined, although he’d only seen the precious jewels in the window of the jewelry store in town. Her skin was like fresh cream, smooth and blemish free.

  Her heart shaped face was dominated by large eyes. Her mouth had a perfect cupid’s bow and was the color of ripe cherries. High cheek bones were rosy with health and a cute pert little nose complemented her face perfectly.

  He had liked Mary since the first day he had met her, but needing the job, he kept his distance for fear of her father firing him. After Mary’s baptism a year before, following her return from rumspringa, David had considered courting her. Unfortunately his courage had abandoned him. Every day he waited, it just become harder to ask her out on a buggy ride. She was the girl David dreamed of spending his future with. Even though she barely acknowledged his existence at work, David couldn’t help but dream of the day they went on their first buggy ride together.

  “Hullo, Mary,” David responded, setting the wooden toolbox down before drawing a deep breath. She looked as fresh as a daisy, her plain clothes wafted of spring and sunshine as she smiled at him. David felt his heart skip a beat but cleared his throat to hide his joy at seeing her.

  “What’s all this?” Mary asked, glancing at the piled wagon and the wooden tool kit.

  David shrugged, “Just collecting a few things of my daed’s.” He didn’t tell her that he took only what he could carry to save it from being burnt by John. Mary was a sweet girl, the last thing she needed to know was that his bruder had turned psychopathic after his father’s death.

  “I’m very sorry about your father. He was well liked within the community.” Mary’s smile softened as she touched David’s arm. She was right, David thought. His father had always been eager to help wherever he could, except when it came to discord between his sons.

  David nodded, swallowing back the grief. “Denke. Your father has been very kind in giving me a few days off to deal with my daed’s affairs.”

  “He says you’re a gut worker. A gut carpenter,” Mary admitted, tucking a stray strand of her coffee brown hair beneath her prayer kapp.

  “I learnt from the best,” David said with a shrug, uncomfortable at the compliment.

  “Would you like me to help you carry?” Mary offered, glancing at the wagon piled high.

  David shrugged, “Nee, it’s all right, I’ll manage. No need to exert yourself.”

  Mary laughed, shaking her head, “David, don’t be ferhoodled. Your arms must be killing you from dragging and carrying at the same time. At least give me the quilt. It will be a shame if it were to fall in the dirt.” She cocked a brow, holding out her hands, making it clear he didn’t really have a choice but to accept her offer of help.

  David considered for a moment. It felt wrong to ask a girl to help him carry but at the rate he was moving, he wouldn’t get home for hours. “If you’re sure?” Secretly he was happy at the prospect of spending a little more time with her.

  Mary’s eyes softened as she smiled at him, “Of course I’m sure. Here, give it to me. You know what, give me the tool box.”

  “Nee, it’s heavy,” David withheld it from her.

  “David, I might look small but I’m strong,” Mary narrowed her eyes, holding out her hands. “Come on, give it over.”

  David handed her the toolbox with some hesitation. When Mary almost dropped it, David quickly grabbed for it, but she held it away from her with a chuckle. “I was kidding. Come on, let’s go.” Her smile was as sweet as her eyes were bright with laughter.

  David grinned, “Funny girl.”

  Mary shrugged and started walking. David was able to move much faster, pulling only the wagon without the added burden of the toolbox.

  “How have you been doing? I mean, with your father and everything?” Mary glanced at him with a concerned smile.

  David pursed his lips, wondering what he should tell her, deciding on the truth. “I’m doing better than John. He’s taking it very hard. He’s always been closer to Daed. Still, it’s hard knowing I won’t see Daed again.”