Twice Blessed. Barbara Cameron
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Other books by Barbara Cameron
Other books by Barbara Cameron
The Quilts of Lancaster County Series
A Time to Love
A Time to Heal
A Time for Peace
Annie’s Christmas Wish
The Stitches in Time Series
Her Restless Heart
The Heart’s Journey
Heart in Hand
The Quilts of Love Series
Scraps of Evidence
The Amish Road Series
A Road Unknown
Crossroads
One True Path
Title Page
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Twice Blessed
Copyright © 2015 by Barbara Cameron
Published by Abingdon Press, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., PO Box 280988, Nashville, TN 37228-0988
www.abingdonpress.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form,
stored inany retrieval system, posted on any website,
or transmitted in any form or by any means—digital,
electronic, scanning, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—
without written permission from the publisher,
except for brief quotations in printed reviews and articles.
The persons and events portrayed in this work of fiction are the
creations of the author, and any resemblance to persons
living or dead is purely coincidental.
Published in association with Books & Such Literary Agency.
Macro Editor: Teri Wilhelms
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cameron, Barbara, 1949-
Twice blessed : two Amish Christmas stories : Her sister’s shadow and His brother’s keeper / Barbara Cameron. — First edition.
1 online resource.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
ISBN 978-1-6308-8112-2 (e-pub) — ISBN 978-1-6308-8111-5 (binding: pbk.) 1. Twins—Fiction. 2. Individual differences—Fiction. 3. Self-realization—Fiction. 4. Amish—Fiction. 5. Christian fiction, American. I. Cameron, Barbara, 1949– Her sister’s shadow. II. Cameron, Barbara, 1949- His brother’s keeper. III. Title. IV. Title: Amish Christmas stories.
PS3603.A4473
813’.6—dc23
2015023800
Dedication
For
My mom and my dad
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
One of the things I love about Ramona Richards, my editor at Abingdon Press, is that she is always so open to listening to my ideas for a new book or series.
And I love her sense of humor and patience in listening to those ideas.
I guess I can get kind of wordy. One day I realized I’d gone on for a bit, and I paused and asked, “Are you still there?”
“Absolutely,” she said with a laugh in her voice. “Just waiting for you to wind down.”
I try not to call her too often and do that.
But one day I just had to call her about this idea. You see, I had kind of special parents. Both of them were twins. So, growing up, I heard a lot of stories about what it was like for them to grow up as twins.
So I called Ramona and asked her if she’d be interested in two novellas about twins. I mostly write Amish books, and the Amish have more twins than the average Englisch family because the Amish have more children. You see, women have children for more reasons than just heredity. Your chance of having twins increases the older you get and the more children you have. On average, Amish families have seven children.
Twice Blessed: Two Amish Christmas Stories was born from that conversation. I loved taking what I knew about twins and researching more about them for the collection. I was a little sorry I didn’t have more personal experience, such as having twins myself, for
the novellas, but quite frankly, I found having one baby at a time challenge enough—especially when I had my second baby just twenty-two months later!
I hope that you’ll enjoy these stories about twins and how they find their identities—and love—apart from the twins they’ve grown up with.
And I hope that you and the ones you love have a very merry and spirit-filled Christmas this year!
Blessings!
Her Sister’s Shadow
Chapter 1
1
Rosie plucked the last ripe red strawberry and dropped it into the bucket near her. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand and got to her feet. It would be gut to get out of the sun and take a brief rest on the front porch.
She glanced around the large fruit and vegetable garden she and her twin schweschder Katie had planted on the side of the house. A bounty of corn, zucchini, green beans, spinach, tomatoes, peas, and more had been planted, nurtured, and prayed over. They’d been busy harvesting them as they ripened, and their work continued as they washed, chopped, and canned them for sale.
Before she could get up she glimpsed a movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw the long black snake that lay a couple of feet from her. She smiled. “Hi, Blackie. Haven’t seen you in a while.”
The snake flicked its tongue. People might not be able to distinguish between her and her sister, but Blackie did. He never came around when Katie worked in the garden.
Rosie popped a strawberry into her mouth and savored the sweetness. “I know, I know, I have to stop eating them. But they’re so gut.”
She found a few she’d missed and tossed them into the bucket. “Well, I’d like to stay and chat some more, but I have to get going. Some of us have to work you know.”
When she climbed the steps to the porch she saw that Katie had set a tray with a pitcher of lemonade and a glass on the table between two rocking chairs. She dropped into one of the chairs and sighed, then poured herself a glass of lemonade and drank it thirstily. A light breeze ruffled the ribbons of her kapp and cooled her a little. This was a busy time, but she loved it. She and Katie had been picking and canning and cooking for weeks, and they were almost done with the summer fruits and vegetables.
Katie came out of the house and sat in the rocking chair next to her. Rosie studied her twin and knew at that moment that it was not like looking in a mirror—Katie sat there looking so cool and collected, and she was sitting here sweaty and grubby, dirt under her fingernails.
“You found one more bucket of strawberries?”