Free An Amish Gift by Cynthia Keller

son and daughter. “Aunt Jennie!”
    They were both shouting her name as they hurled themselves against her. Scout barked in excitement, adding to the general chaos. Jennie knelt to embrace both children at once, remembering when her own were small enough to be hugged at the same time. Evan and Kimberly were seven and six, and Jennie had spent a great deal of time with them when they lived closer. She still sent them birthday cards but had no other contact and was looking forward to getting reacquainted.
    “How about some hugs for your old uncle?” Shep extended his arms, and the children ran to him next. There was a lot of tickling and shrieking before everyone settled down.
    “May I take your coat?” Jennie extended an arm toward Lydia and was rewarded with the impossibly soft fur coat draped across it. Lydia wore a beige cashmere dress with a narrow belt and small diamond earrings, as glamorous as if she had just lefta magazine photo shoot. Everything she had on looked frighteningly expensive.
    Michael came over to hug Jennie and kiss her cheek. “How’s my favorite sister-in-law?”
    “I’m great.” Jennie took his coat from him, observing his neatly pressed khaki pants and navy blazer. “You look terrific, Michael.” Her praise was genuine. “We’re so glad you could come.”
    “I had to see your new life. So what do you think?”
    “We have lots of time to talk about it,” Shep said. “Let’s get comfortable.”
    He threw an arm around Michael’s shoulders and led him to the living room, their heads together as they fell into conversation. Jennie was relieved to see no awkwardness between them. She turned to find Lydia just about done helping her children out of their parkas and boots.
    “Kids, go get Tim and Willa down here,” Jennie told them. She hoped her children would make some effort to be nice to their little cousins, who ran upstairs, chattering noisily.
    Lydia retrieved the contents of a large shopping bag and approached with two large gifts wrapped in glossy red paper and enormous gold bows. “Makeup for Willa,” she said conspiratorially. “Tons of stuff in one giant kit, super-cool colors of eye shadow, blush, everything. For Tim, I got a cable-knit pullover. Bright royal blue—gorgeous.”
    Jennie tried to keep her expression neutral. Willa hadn’t yet expressed the slightest interest in wearing makeup, nor would she have been allowed to even if she had. Tim wouldn’t becaught dead in a sweater like the one Lydia was describing. Somehow, though it was rude, Jennie would have to make the gifts disappear until their company had left; her children were terrible at hiding their feelings when opening a present, and their faces would instantly reveal their distaste. To be fair, Lydia and Michael didn’t have older children, so they couldn’t know how to shop for them. On the other hand, she couldn’t help thinking, if their aunt had ever bothered to find out the first thing about either one of them, she might have had an idea of what would be appropriate. What made Jennie feel worse was that she had spent more than she reasonably could afford on presents for Evan and Kimberly, yet these two gifts had probably cost five times as much.
    The tournament of humiliation was just beginning.
    Stop it, she silently commanded. Lydia had taken the time and trouble to select generous gifts. “That was very kind of you.”
    The other woman waved a manicured hand. “Nonsense. Now let’s go look at your tree.”
    She took Jennie’s arm as if they were close buddies, and they went into the living room. In the end, Jennie had done most of the tree decorating herself over a few days. She was rather proud of the total effect, with an angel Willa had made in fourth grade perched precariously but triumphantly on top. Looking at it through Lydia’s eyes, she could see it was spectacularly unimpressive.
    “Fabulous,” Lydia said. “I love the adorable homemade touches.
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