The Amish Christmas Kitchen by Kelly Long

the house before all the warm air escaped. A house heated by a woodstove couldn’t afford to lose even a trickle of warmth.
    Before coming in, Titus stomped the snow off his boots. He was always wonderful thoughtful like that. Felty helped him off with his coat and took his hat. He did indeed have a bright red beanie on underneath his straw hat. Anna recognized it immediately. It was one she had knitted for him last year.
    â€œCan I help you off with your boots?” Felty said. Anna pursed her lips. Felty had never taken Titus’s coat and hat before, and he had certainly never offered to help him with his boots. Felty was trying too hard, and for sure and certain, Titus would notice.
    Ach, du lieva, he did. His eyes darted suspiciously between Felty and Anna, and his toothpick quivered on his lip.
    She’d have to think fast if she didn’t want him to get scared off. “ Cum, ” she said, pulling a chair from under the table and motioning for Titus to sit.
    Not taking his eyes from Anna, Titus sat as if he was afraid the chair might bite him. Anna poured him a glass of milk and grabbed three cookies from the cookie jar. Maybe she could soften Titus up with a hard cookie. She and Felty created further suspicion when they sat down at the table on either side of their grandson. Anna tried to smile as if nothing was out of the ordinary, as if Titus’s entire future didn’t hang in the balance. She’d never get him to agree to anything if he was suspicious.
    Unable to relax in the face of so much attention, Titus shoved one of the cookies between his back molars and bit down hard. “Have you got a list of chores for me, Dawdi, or should I just do the regular ones?”
    â€œYour mammi has something she wants to ask you,” Felty said, pinning Anna with a significant look as if to say that if she hadn’t thought of a plan, now would be a gute time to do it.
    â€œ Ach, jah, of course,” Anna said, clearing her throat and hoping by sheer willpower that something brilliant would come to her. Titus’s happiness depended on it. “Titus, you know we love you.”
    Felty nodded eagerly, encouraging Anna with his eyes. “In the past year, you have done more work around our farm than anyone else.”
    â€œIt’s no burden,” Titus said. “You and Mammi treat me nice. Mamm says I’m scatterbrained.”
    Anna reached out and patted Titus’s hand. “You’re no such thing. You just have a lively mind, that’s all, and I need your help with something.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œI hesitate to ask, because it means you would have to come here every day. It’s a big commitment.”
    â€œI’ll do anything for you, Mammi. Just say the word. Dat says we must help the elderly any way we can.”
    Felty frowned. “I’m only eighty-six. Don’t put me in my grave just yet.”
    â€œYou see,” Anna said, fidgeting while waiting for an idea to come to her. “You see, I am going to need a great deal of help with our Christmas . . . goat.”
    Felty kept a smile plastered on his lips as his brows inched toward the sky.
    Anna stole a glance at Felty and shrugged. A Christmas goat was the only thing that had come to her. Crocheting that Vikings hat had drained her of all her creative juices.
    Titus’s mouth fell open. The toothpick balanced precariously on his bottom lip. “Christmas what?”
    â€œOur Christmas goat. It’s a family tradition.”
    â€œFamily tradition?” Titus said, scratching his head. “I don’t remember that tradition.”
    â€œWe’re starting a new one. There’s nothing like a goat to perk up the Christmas season.”
    â€œBut, Mammi, you don’t have a goat.”
    â€œWe will buy one. That’s why it’s called a Christmas goat, because we get it at Christmastime to fill our hearts with cheer.”
    Titus looked