The Froggy Amish B&B was expecting its very first guest that afternoon–at least the very first guest for Amelia and George. And everyone was excited! George whistled as he worked outside, and all the pets were pacing around in expectation.
Even Polly was in rare form, blowing kisses and singing operatic renditions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
When the car turned into the drive, Amelia thought she’d just step outside and welcome her guest, but as soon as she did so, all the pets came running to join her! Well, all except Polly, who was in her cage, but she did shout out, “Who’s the prettiest bird ever? Who? Who?” at the top of her lungs.
Arnold Frost got out of his car. He was a slim little man with a fedora hat, a pointed nose, and eyeglasses that made his eyes look even smaller than they were already.
“Welcome!” Amelia called, and she nearly tripped over Ronnie the rooster who had joined all the other pets at her feet. “I’m so happy to see you!”
Arnold Frost blinked at Amelia a couple of times.
“Good day, madam,” Arnold said. “I have several allergies to dogs, cats, and prunes. I’d like a wake up call at seven in the morning promptly, and is there someone to carry my bags?”
“Oh!” Amelia’s smile faltered. “Yes, my husband is here somewhere…”
George appeared around the corner just then and he stood next to his wife on the step.
“Hello!” George said. “I just overheard. There are no prunes in the kitchen–you’ll be safe enough. As for dogs and cats, well, we’ll do our best. I’ll get your bag inside, and then I’ll hustle the pets out to the barn.”
The pets looked at George reproachfully. Amelia looked up at George with a grimace.
“We do have a parrot, though,” George said, and he lowered his voice as he picked up Arnold’s bag. “She’s got a mouth like a sailor, but if you are very polite to her, you’ll be okay.”
Amelia smothered a laugh as George and Arnold passed by her into the house. She truly hoped that Arnold loosened up, or he’d have a miserable time!
Arnold Frost, their very first guest, settled into his room and stayed there alone for two hours sniffling into his handkerchief because he was allergic to the animals.
“Are the cats and dog okay in the barn?” Amelia asked. She felt terrible relegating them there.
“Oh, they’re fine,” George said. “They have hay, and food and water, and Rosie has taken a liking to the horse, and the cats have fresh cream. We might have trouble getting them to come back inside when our guest leaves.”
A powerful sneeze resounded from above, and they both looked up at the ceiling.
“Well, maybe he’ll feel cheerier when we get that roast into the oven for dinner,” Amelia said hopefully.
“Good idea!” George said.
They turned toward the stove and stared at it. Amelia understood the basics about the stove now, thanks to her new friend Mary Lapp, but this would be her first big test.
“All right, George,” Amelia said. “Hand me some kindling, some newspaper, and the matches. Let’s get this stove going!”
George was rather impressed watching Amelia get the fire going in the stove. She worked quickly, shoving in a stick of wood once she had a flame.
“Will this work?” George asked. “I wish we had more time to figure things out before a guest!”
Amelia rose to her feet and shut the fire box with a clang. She brushed off her hands and gave George a determined look.
“I have no idea!” she said.
Overhead there was another powerful sneeze, and then a momentous nose blowing.
Amelia started to giggle, and then George started to laugh, too, and before they knew it, they were laughing so hard that tears were coming down their cheeks. Brigette who was laying on a blanket stared at them in wide-eyed surprise to see her parents laughing so hard.
“You know what?” Amelia said, wiping her eyes. “We’ll eat something! And if we absolutely must, we’ll order Arnold a pizza.”
And who knew? Maybe the roast would turn out!
Amelia and George’s very first guest thanked Amelia formally for a delicious dinner. He stood in the kitchen with his heels pressed together and his hands clasped behind his back while he told her how delicious the food was, and how grateful he was that it did not contain prunes, which he was deathly allergic to.
When the man finally turned in for the night, Amelia and George were exhausted. They cleaned up and played with Brigette, and finally they also turned in early, and then lay awake listening to Arnold’s sniffling and nose blowing through the wall.
George and Amelia finally fell asleep, and they awoke with a start when something landed on their bed and started to crow loudly.
George sat up with a start, staring through the darkness at their rooster, Ronnie.
“What time is it?” Amelia muttered.
“It’s 3 am!” George said. “Ronnie, it is not morning! And how on earth did you get inside?”
Ronnie’s answer was another long, loud cockledoodledoo.
And over head, George heard Arnold’s feet hit the floor. He heard him say, “Seven am gets earlier and earlier…” The door squeaked as it opened, and then they heard his footsteps go toward the bathroom.
“Arnold thinks that was his wake up call!” George gasped.
“He’s up?” Amelia blinked herself awake.
Water turned on. There was the sound of an electric toothbrush.
“Do we tell him?” George whispered.
“You tell him!” Amelia said.
Neither of them moved. Then Brigette started to cry, and Amelia pushed back the covers to go get their baby.
“Maybe we should just make breakfast,” George said.
“And get Ronnie back outside,” Amelia said. “We have got to get that rooster some hens!”
If you enjoy these stories about an Amish B&B, you just might enjoy my Amish romances! They don’t feature frogs, but they do feature Amish Country and the Amish people who live and love there.
Happy reading!
❤
Patricia Johns 
Your comments make me feel warm and fuzzy. Seriously!