Read The Lopsided Christmas Cake Online
Authors: Wanda E. Brunstetter
The Lopsided Christmas Cake
© 2015 by Wanda E. Brunstetter and Jean Brunstetter
ISBN 978-1-63058-286-9
eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-63409-603-4
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-63409-604-1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.
All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
Cover design © Müllerhaus Publishing Arts, Inc.,
www.Mullerhaus.net
Cover photography © Richard Brunstetter III
Published by Shiloh Run Press, an imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683,
www.shilohrunpress.com
Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.
Printed in Canada.
To our husbands, Richard Sr. and Richard Jr.
We appreciate your love and support.
A special thanks to Mary Alice Yoder for your friendship and helpfulness.
He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the L
ORD
, happy is he.
P
ROVERBS
16:20
Prologue
Sullivan, Illinois
E
lma Hochstetler sat quietly beside her twin sister, Thelma, as their somber father read his parents’ will. He’d found it last week after the funeral but had waited until now to read it to them.
Dad leaned forward, looking right at the twins. “Girls, it appears that you two have inherited my folks’ house, as well as their store.”
The twins gasped in unison.
“Once your
daed
has talked to a lawyer and the paperwork has been finalized, you can sell both places,” Mom interjected.
Dad touched Mom’s arm. “Kathryn, I think this is something we ought to let the girls decide.”
Tears threatened to spill from Elma’s eyes as she allowed Dad’s words to sink in. It had been difficult to accept that her grandparents had been killed when their horse and buggy were hit by a truck. Hearing this news was an even greater shock. Elma had assumed that Dad, being their only son, would inherit their estate. Why would Grandma and Grandpa want her and Thelma to have it?
Full of questions, Elma squeezed her sister’s hand. “What do you think we should do about this?”
Tears glistened in Thelma’s blue eyes. She drew in a quick breath. “If Grandma and Grandpa wanted us to have their house and store, I think we should honor their wishes.”
“But you can’t move all the way to Indiana. We rely on you both to help at our store here.” Mom’s forehead wrinkled. “Besides, your grandparents didn’t run things the way we do.”
“You worry too much, Kathryn.” Dad removed his glasses. “We’ll hire a couple of girls to work in our store. The twins can run my folks’ business however they want.” He looked at Elma and Thelma. “In fact, I think you ought to go there as soon as possible.”
Mom’s brown eyes widened. “Why, Jacob? What’s the rush? This is a big decision.”
“It’s not good to leave my parents’ house sitting empty too long. And my folks’ store needs to be up and running again. Their community relies on it.” Dad rose to his feet. “I’m going out to the phone shack and call one of our drivers. Thelma and Elma, you need to get packed.”
Drying her tears, Thelma smiled. “This could be an adventure. I don’t know about you, Elma, but it feels right to me.”
Elma nodded slowly, although she felt overwhelmed. Looking around their parents’ living room, a lump formed in her throat. This was the only home she and her sister had ever known. Taking over their grandparents’ place in Topeka meant she and Thelma would have to move three hundred miles away. Fortunately, they had experience running a store, since they’d been helping at their parents’ general store from the time they were girls. But they weren’t girls anymore. Although they looked much younger, Elma and Thelma had turned thirty-two last month. They still lived at home, and neither of them was married or even had a serious boyfriend. There really was nothing keeping them here. The question was, would they be able to take on such a monumental task by themselves?
Topeka, Indiana
Three days later
S
tanding in the front yard, while gazing at their grandparents’ rambling old two-story house, all Elma Hochstetler could do was shake her head in disbelief. Glancing toward the road as their driver disappeared, Elma bit her lip.
This is it. There’s no going back.
Overcome with emotion, she turned to face Thelma. “I can’t believe this place is really ours.”
Holding the orange-and-white cat that had sauntered up to them, Thelma nodded.
Everything from the weeds choking out the garden to the sagging front porch and peeling paint spoke of one thing—work. The barn and other outbuildings were run-down, too. Since this was the first week of September, Elma knew they would have to get some of the outside chores done before the harsh winter set in.
How quiet it was. She hadn’t noticed that before when they’d visited Grandpa and Grandma. Their grandparents’ home was on a side road, with farms on both sides of it. The home across the street had a F
OR
S
ALE
sign out front.
As they stepped onto the porch, Thelma paused and tipped her head. “Listen to the tinkle of Grandma’s wind chimes.”
Barely noticing the chimes, Elma pointed to the eaves above the porch. “Oh my. There’s an ugly brown spider up there.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll take care of it later.” Thelma stroked the cat’s head. “I think it’ll be fun to fix this place up.”
Elma shook her head. “Fun? You think all the effort it will take to get this place livable is going to be fun? I’d call it work. And some of it will take money we don’t have.”
“You’re right, but we can have fun in the process.” Thelma’s exuberance was almost contagious. But then, even when the twins were children Thelma hadn’t worried about things. “Free-spirited.” That’s what Dad called Thelma, while he’d labeled Elma as “the serious one.” While the physically identical twins shared the same petite frame, blue eyes, and chestnut brown hair, their personalities didn’t always mesh.
I suppose I am too serious,
Elma thought ruefully.
But someone has to stay focused. It takes organization to keep things running smoothly. If I followed my twin sister’s path, we’d spend every day looking through rose-colored glasses.
Thelma released the cat and slipped her arm around Elma’s waist. “We’ve always done everything together, right?”
Elma could only nod, watching a clump of cat hair float through the air.
“Together, we’ll turn this place back into what it used to be before Grandma and Grandpa got too old to keep everything up.”
Thelma smiled. “We’ll make this a
glicklich
adventure.”
Elma knew her sister had good intentions and was thinking positively. Even though the situation looked overwhelming, perhaps Thelma was right. “
Jah,
we’ll make it successful,” Elma said. “The first thing we should do is go grocery shopping, because I’m sure there’s not much fresh food in Grandma’s kitchen.”
“I think we should’ve accepted Mom’s offer to help us organize this place,” Thelma said as she mopped the kitchen floor the following day.
“This is
our
project.” After disposing of some out-of-date canned fruit and vegetables they’d found in a cupboard, Elma placed the empty jars in the sink. “Besides, Mom has plenty to do at home, taking care of the house and helping Dad at the store. They’ll be coming here in a few weeks to visit. I want to surprise them with all we’ve gotten done.”
Thelma grimaced. “They’ll be surprised all right. Mom will wonder why we don’t sell this place and move back home.”
“Hey, where’s that positive attitude you had yesterday? This is our home now,” Elma reminded. “Grandma and Grandpa’s store is our only source of income.” She opened another jar and dumped the contents into the garbage can. “Can you believe all the green beans Grandma canned two summers ago? It’s a shame to waste all this food.”
“It is a waste, but it’s not safe to eat something that old.” Thelma plugged her nose. “Smell that musty odor?” She drew the curtain aside that hid the items under the sink. “Uh-oh. It looks like the pipe’s been leaking for some time. Grandma must have tied this old thin rag around it to stifle the dripping. Eww… it’s soaking wet.” Thelma rubbed her hands over her apron and pointed to something else. “There’s a coffee can under the pipe to catch the water. It’s nearly full.”
“You’d better dump it. We should get that fixed as soon as possible, but for now we should find a thicker piece of material to secure around the leak.” Elma pushed her dress sleeves up. “I’ve started a list of things that need to be done. It would be good if you started a list, too, in case I miss anything.”
Thelma scrunched her nose. “Oh no. Not more lists!”