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

she might have reacted differently, but clearly, this was an engagement ring.
    Despite everything that seemed to have been happening between them, and as much as Merry wished she could believe otherwise, something told her that she must have completely misunderstood. It was far too much, and far too soon. Merry’s heart sank as she realized the crushing truth:
    This gift was for Catherine.
    With everything in her, Merry fought the tears that threatened. The last thing she wanted Daniel to see was how distraught she was, or how mortified she felt at having read more into his notes than he seemed to have intended.
    “Well... What do you think? Will she like it?” Daniel asked. He handed the ring to Merry for a closer look.
    Merry gazed at the ring, doing her best to form a response, to find some honest way to be happy for him. She couldn’t say how broken-hearted she was. She couldn’t speak to his now-obvious interest in Catherine. She could only focus her answer on the ring itself. “Daniel, it’s...it’s completely stunning. She’ll love it,” Merry said. “It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”
    “Would you mind trying it on for her?” Daniel inquired.
    Reflexively, Merry handed the ring back to Daniel. “No... No, I couldn’t. “
    “Sure. That’s why I called you,” Daniel protested. “I’m dying to see how it would look.”
    Before she could stop him, Daniel took her left hand in his. He slid the ring onto Merry’s finger. It was almost more than she could bear. Merry gazed at the ring on her hand, both dazzled and devastated. “We’ll probably have to get it sized,” she noted.
    “It fits you amazingly,” Daniel observed. “I wonder how close you are to Catherine’s size.”
    Through her pain, Merry willed a bittersweet smile. “I don’t know,” she said. “My hand versus Catherine’s—it probably doesn’t compare.”
    Merry approached Joan’s pottery shop on foot, barely holding it together. She had no idea who else to turn to at that moment, no one who would understand like Daniel’s mother.
    As she opened the door, she saw Joan, gliding through a class of senior women as they beat the air bubbles out of balls of clay, slamming them against a canvas-covered table. Merry’s eyes brimmed at just the sight of Joan. “Could I come in?”
    Joan turned from her pottery students. “Sure, we were....” Joan immediately read the distress on Merry’s face. “Merry, what’s wrong?”
    The quiver on Merry’s lips quickly gave way to open sobs. Joan rushed to her side. “Baby, what is it?”
    “He’s buying the china!” Merry blurted, tears coursing down her cheeks.
    Joan embraced Merry, patting her back as she wept. The women in Joan’s class couldn’t help but notice, so Joan attempted an explanation.
    “She’s a purist.”
    With that, Joan guided Merry out back. She grabbed a wad of tissue along the way and handed it to Merry. “There you go.”
    Merry wiped her face. She blew her reddened nose. “Thanks for letting me come here. I didn’t know where else to—”
    “You can come here anytime,” Joan assured.
    “No matter what dishes he buys?”
    “No matter what,” Joan replied. “Always. You hear me?”
    Merry stepped away, out of the class’s earshot. “I really thought we were connecting, but I...I must have read him all wrong,” she rued. “Guess I just got caught up in this ridiculous hope that he could actually love me, that I could somehow be part of this family.”
    Joan took Merry’s face in her hands and looked her square in the eyes. “You are part of this family,” she insisted. “Just a couple of weeks and... Look at this.” Joan showed Merry a shelf of freshly thrown plates, drying on a nearby rack.
    Merry looked on, amazed. “You made those?”
    “That’s right. I made them because of you,” Joan replied. “And there’s a piece of you in every one they’ll eat off, every single Christmas from now on. China or no china,