Merry's Christmas: Two Book Set (Amish) by Susan Rohrer

enjoying Christmas ran out a while ago. You could always ease your way back into it. Don’t want to crack anything. Start with a warm-fuzzy, barely there,” Merry playfully demonstrated as she spoke. “Then, a sort of botoxed upper lip smile.”
    Hayden bit her lip, but Merry still spotted it.
    “Busted!” Merry teased. “You’re such a little cheater!”
    Losing the battle, Hayden clamped her lips with her fingers.
    Merry pointed at Hayden with glee. “Flag on the play! No lip biting or finger clamping!”
    Despite Hayden’s concerted efforts to prevent it, a grin popped out.
    “Ring-a-ling! Somebody get a camera!” Merry exuded.
    “Cut it out!” Hayden protested. “You’re as bad as mom!”
    Merry tipped her head a little. “Well, thanks, Hayden. That was a very nice thing to say.”
    “Yeah, well you... She...” Tears sprang to Hayden’s eyes.
    Immediately, Merry’s heart went out to her. She put a hand on her arm. “Oh, Hayden. I’m sorry.”
    Hayden quickly shook Merry’s hand off. “Forget it, all right?”
    “You know it’s okay to—”
    “No, it’s not okay,” Hayden broke in, her emotions clearly rising. “I hate this. All of it! All it does is remind me what I can’t ever have again. You know what I want for Christmas? I want my mom back. Can you get me that?”
    Merry held Hayden’s demanding gaze. “Sweetie, I wish I could.”
    Hayden jerked away. “And don’t call me that!” she cried. “That’s what she called me. Nobody calls me that.”
    “Maybe they should,” Merry persisted. “Maybe she’d want them to. Like she’d want to know you found a way, well, not to forget her, but to enjoy the life she gave you.”
    Hayden wiped her face. It was a long while before she finally spoke. “I don’t know how to do that.”
    Tears brimmed in Merry’s eyes as she searched Hayden’s. “I just know, every day you had with your mom—every time you get another day with your dad, your sister, Ollie, your grandmom—it’s a incredible gift. I don’t know much, Hayden. But I know that.”
    Hayden sat silently, irony playing on her face. “Funny that you’d mention gifts. I know exactly what to give Tara for Christmas. It’s just really hard to give it. I don’t know if I can.”
    Merry nodded thoughtfully. “You know, I always thought that the gifts that are hardest to give, well...they can be the best gifts of all.”
    Christmas music wafted from an old-fashioned turntable, filling the Bell’s garage. Familiar tunes from a by-gone era scratched out, sung by crooners of long ago holidays, the kind that set a person swaying, no matter the task they accompanied.
    Ollie helped Merry stow attic overflow in the unoccupied half of the garage. Ollie was a good helper, Merry observed. He’d taken to her from the start, something she dearly appreciated. He needed a mother as much as Hayden did, she realized. He just showed it in different ways.
    Ollie’s face lit up as the garage door began to open and Daniel’s headlights shone into the garage. “Daddy’s home!” Ollie exuded. Ollie ran to greet his dad as the car idled outside.
    Merry hustled to move a few items aside. “Just a sec. I’ll get this out of your way. Sorry. I had thought you’d park out front.”
    Daniel pulled into his parking space in the garage. “Well, the forecast says we might get some snow, so...  What’s all this?” he wondered, turning his car off.
    Merry glanced around. “Attic overflow.”
    “Don’t tell Hayden,” Ollie added urgently.
    “Right,” Daniel agreed. “Hey, Buddy, why don’t you go wash up for dinner. I’ll get this.”
    Obediently, Ollie ran toward the townhouse. Daniel began to help Merry stow things they haven’t used in years—a cradle, the twins’ double stroller, Ollie’s tricycle.
    “That was my dad’s old turntable over there,” Daniel recalled. “Obsolete now, I guess. Amazing that it still works. Looks like we’re way overdue for a purge.”
    Merry