Amanda Weds a Good Man by Naomi King Page B

glass. Amid the cries of alarm and scurrying to clean up the untimely mess, Wyman grabbed his youngest son by the back of his suspenders and steered him outside.
    Amanda sat speechless, stunned at the chaos Simon had created in mere seconds. She was his mamm now, so it was her place to clean up after him, but Abby held up her hand when Amanda stood up to help.
    â€œDon’t you worry about a thing,” Abby said with a wave of her dustpan. “No sense in any more of us stepping in this glass.”
    â€œSeems to me we should just pick up the corners of the tablecloth and let everything fall to the middle of it,” Barbara suggested. “Treva, if you and Lois could fetch twelve place settings from the house and a couple of tablecloths out of my buffet, we’ll be set up again in no time.”
    Twelve place settings . . . two whole pies wasted . . . potting soil and mums mixed in with all the broken glasses and silverware that would have to be sorted out later. While indeed, the dinner plates were stacked on the buffet table, and the glasses and pie plates had come from a wedding wagon that circulated among families in the district, rather than from the Lambrights’ kitchen, those items would need to be replaced. In the blink of an eye, her wedding had turned into a disaster. . . .
    â€œMy stars, but that Brubaker boy came through like a tornado,” she heard one of the Cedar Creek helpers remark. “A boy that age should know better.”
    â€œHe’s had no mamm to train him up,” Lois Yutzy replied. “He wasn’t but three when Viola died.”
    â€œGoing to be another sort of storm altogether when all those kids get thrown together at Wyman’s place.” Beulah Mae Nissley lifted her corner of the tablecloth as the women heaved the heavy, wet mess into a wagon Abby had wheeled over.
    The women’s voices sounded an ominous warning. . . .
    But the sight of twin kapps and purple dresses near the buffet table brought Amanda out of her momentary daze. Maybe she didn’t need to help with the cleanup, but it
was
her place to discuss this situation with Cora and Dora. Carefully stepping around Emma and the Lambright women, who were resetting the table, Amanda strode to the other end of the room where her three daughters stood beside Jemima.
    â€œSo what’s the story here?” Amanda asked in a low, purposeful voice. She crouched so she was at eye level with her twins. “You said you knew better than to let Simon get you in trouble.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Mamm. I should’ve been paying closer attention,” Lizzie gushed, while Dora and Cora burst into tears and grabbed each other’s hands.
    â€œLet this be a lesson learned,” their grandmother remarked. “You girls don’t know all these folks, but they certainly know who
you
are. And they’ll be
watching
you now. So will you follow your new brother’s bad example? Or will you lead Simon to behave the way your mamm has raised you?”
    Wiping their faces on their sleeves, the twins looked from Jemima to Amanda with wide, solemn eyes. “We’ll be gut now,” Cora said with a loud sniffle.
    â€œJah, we don’t want no more of Simon’s trouble.” Dora gazed toward the back door. “Did he get a
spankin’
?”
    Amanda bit back a smile. Her girls had been easy to discipline with warnings and stern looks, so the prospect of getting their backsides warmed seemed like the ultimate threat. “You’ll have to ask him. Meanwhile, your new dat and I must sit up front with the wedding party. It’s your job to be perfect girls for Lizzie and your mammi now.”
    â€œJah, we will,” they said, bobbing their heads. They each reached for Jemima’s hands, the picture of contrition.
    Amanda rose to her full height again when she saw Wyman coming inside, alone. Guests were forming a line at the