Bettina put her arm around Lily’s shoulders. “Aw, Lily, it seems to me it was a gut thing he lost control of his temper and left ya. Don’t you?”
“I never dreamed things would go downhill so quick.” Lily was crying now.
Hearing Eva’s sister talk about the futile relationship, Jed recalled her notes in the book. More than anything, I long for a love that makes my heart sing, she’d written on one of its final pages. He felt truly sorry for Lily. Her dreams and romantic wishes, all thought to have been found in Mark, had not been fulfilled in the least. A young woman who was sadly misguided in looking for true love—enough to give up her family and faith.
———
Jed made a call to Uncle Ervin’s shop phone and left a message on the answering machine about his sudden trip to Lancaster County tomorrow. “Depending on how it goes, I may not be back till sometime Monday.”
Later, alone in his room, Jed reread one of the highlighted passages that had popped out at him earlier in Little Women: “Love will make you show your heart someday. . . .”
He let the words flow through his mind, knowing he must return the novel to Lily tomorrow. It had been an enlightening journey in many ways, but it was winding down and coming to an end.
That Lord’s Day morning, Eva read aloud the first half of Psalm 139. “‘O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thought afar off.’” She continued through verse twelve, then passed the Bible to Frona, after which they had their silent prayers. Following their family worship, they discussed which relatives to visit today, an off-Sunday from Preaching service.
Frona mentioned two aunts they hadn’t seen in some time. “But I’d like to be home for the noon meal, even if it’s a bit later than usual,” she said. “Honestly, I’m tired, and some peace and quiet might be in order.”
Eva agreed, thinking Frona looked a bit peaked. Being apart from Lily makes us both feel off beam.
“I wouldn’t mind if we just stayed put at home resting and reading,” she said, her heart going out to Frona.
“Well, what if we made just one stop to Mamm’s aunt Rose Anna down on Groff Road? In fact,” Frona said, rising from her spot on the front room settee, “what if we took our time and walked over there?”
Eva liked the idea, considering the amount of time it would take to hitch up the horse and all. The sunshine and fresh air would feel ever so good.
“We’ll leave midmornin’, then,” Frona said.
“And I’ll take along some candies to spread cheer.”
Naomi sat outside with Abner on the front porch that late June Lord’s Day, rocking on their chairs and enjoying each other’s company. As was sometimes the case, neither said much, content as they were.
They’d had their devotions together after breakfast, and presently Naomi took her rest in the words of their Lord in the Gospel of Luke. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Closing her eyes, she prayed again for Omar. May he find his peace in Thee, O Lord.
She breathed the fragrance of nearby honeysuckle blossoms. Sweet as Eva’s candies. And, lo and behold, across the way, Frona and Eva herself were strolling down their driveway toward the road. Eva was carrying a small white box with a pretty pink bow perched on top. Must be some of her delicious concoctions, Naomi assumed, waving to them.
Abner called, “A blessed Lord’s Day to ya both!”
Frona merely nodded, but Eva smiled. “Same to you,” she answered.
“Such a thorny road they must walk,” said Naomi. “I pray the Lord God comforts their dear hearts.”
Abner reached for her hand. “’Tis my constant prayer.”
“Just look at them,” she said.
“Last year at this time, they seemed so happy, remember?” Abner remarked. “All of them . . .”
Naomi refrained from saying what was on her mind. Seeing the Esch girls, just two of them now, made her heart ache so.
“Ain’t possible to put a price tag on the love of family, jah?” Abner raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
The van was heading into the populated retail and restaurant sector of Route 30, approaching the turnoff onto Route 896 to Strasburg. Jed’s pulse beat a little faster as he recalled his first trip there by train. He reached behind him for the novel packed in his duffel bag on the seat opposite Lily but couldn’t quite get it.
“Would ya mind handing that bag to me?” he asked, leaning around the front seat. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to return.”
Lily lifted the bag forward.
“I found this book on the train to Lancaster.” He removed it from the bag and handed it to her. “It was stuck between the wall and the seat.”
She accepted it with a puzzled frown. “You found this?”
“I was on the same train you must’ve taken to Ohio.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“You left your picture in it,” he added.
“Ach no,” she muttered.
“Far as I know, Eva has the photograph now.”
Lily shook her head, clearly embarrassed. “I’m sure she destroyed it, which is all right with me.”
Jed recalled the words on the back of the picture but didn’t want to open old wounds, considering all she’d been through. But his curiosity got the best of him. “Lily, I couldn’t help noticing what you wrote: ‘The best and worst day . . .’”
Lily smiled wistfully. She was quiet for a moment, as if gathering courage. “Jah, I was giddy with happiness, eager to please Mark. . . . I thought I loved him,” Lily said softly, glancing at their driver, who didn’t flinch. “I had a strip of pictures made for my boyfriend and kept one for myself. It was an impulsive thing to do . . . and terribly wrong.”
Jed waited for her to say something about what she meant by the worst day, but he guessed it meant all that she was giving up for Mark in Ohio—her Amish life, her family, too. Besides, he didn’t want to make her feel any more self-conscious than she already was.
“You must’ve thought I was shameless to have a picture made while wearing my Kapp.”
“It was a bold move.”
She reclined against her seat with a sigh. “I have so much to make up for.”
They were deep into farmland now, whizzing past bank barns and giant silos and herds of grazing cattle. Often, Amishmen waved to them at the yield signs on the road. Everyone waves, Jed thought.
He was about to turn back in his seat when Lily spoke again. “So now I’m curious. How’d ya happen to meet Eva?” She was thumbing through the front pages of the novel. “There’s certainly no address in here.”
Jed considered that and told his story, leaving out the part about his fascination with the margin notes and underlined passages. “It was while I was in town to meet Jonas Byler that I ran into Eva at an auction. I thought she was you.”
Lily laughed a little. “Honestly? So you and Eva obviously became friends in a very short time. Have you kept in touch . . . written, perhaps?”
He hesitated, then figured she’d eventually hear the full account from Eva anyway. “Unfortunately things ended on a sour note between us. You see, I didn’t tell her about the photograph right away like I should have.” He shook his head at the memory of Eva’s shocked and befuddled expression that day. “Guess maybe she thought I was a little too taken with your photograph.”
“That’s silly.” Lily laughed again.
Jed shifted in his seat, wishing he’d sat back there so they could talk more privately. This had become a very open conversation, considering George was hearing everything. “Actually, I was impressed . . . but not by your picture, Lily.”
She placed her hand on her chin. “What do ya mean?”
“I paged through your book.”
<
br /> “Not exactly male reading material, jah?” she said.
Jed chuckled. “You’ve got that right. But honestly, I was taken with your notes and what you chose to underline.”
She grimaced. “Jed—”
“What I’m sayin’ is . . .” He paused. “Okay, I understand how foolish this might sound to you.”
“You felt a connection with the person who wrote the notes?” Lily interrupted.
“Like minds, I guess you could say.”
Lily smiled and looked at Little Women. “My sister Eva is the dearest person to me, so I’m not surprised you would be impressed with her notes. Her thoughts are all over these pages.”
Jed frowned. “What?”
Lily’s smile widened. “It’s not my book, Jed. I only brought it along so I’d have something to remind me of Eva.”
The book isn’t Lily’s? Jed could not have imagined this.
Their driver, George, burst out with a chuckle. “Well, Jed, ain’t that something?”
Jed and Lily joined in laughing at his unexpected interjection.
Moments later, Lily’s smile disappeared as she glanced out the window, wringing her hands. “Thanks for takin’ me home, Jed. But I’m so nervous.”
“They’ll be excited to see you, so don’t be,” Jed said.
Lily sighed again. “I hope so.”
Still amazed at Lily’s revelation, Jed turned to watch for the turnoff to Eden Road as they headed south through rolling hills and pastureland. “Is this the quickest way?” he asked George.
“You seem anxious, too, Jed,” said Lily with a titter.
He glanced over his shoulder. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes now that they’d shared each other’s secrets. “Do I, now?”
“After what you’ve told me, I’m not sure which of us is more keyed up.”
He chuckled. She was right. “Will ya put in a gut word for me with Eva?”
“I think you’ll do fine without my help, honestly.”
He asked to see the book again one last time. Opening at random, Jed noticed one of his favorite notes: Yearning for true love points us to the all-lovely one—the great Lover of our hearts, the Lord Jesus.
He wholeheartedly agreed. To think it was Eva all along . . . from the very start, he thought, closing the book.
———
The driver slowed to heed the speed limit on Eden Road, and as they gradually moved west, Jed spotted a line of lake willows set back beside a broad meadow covered in wild daisies—and then his eye caught something more. Can it be?
“Let’s stop here,” he instructed George. “Look there, Lily,” he said, opening his door, then getting out and opening Lily’s. “Your sisters are sittin’ over on a fence. See them?”
“I can’t believe this. It’s Eva’s and my spot,” Lily said, her eyes dancing. Then, just as suddenly, she shrank back. “What if . . .”
“Follow me,” Jed said, leading her.
Eva must have seen them; she was already running this way, her skirt tail flying. Frona was hurrying behind her, waving.
“Lily!” Eva called. “Oh, Lily, you’ve come home!”
Jed didn’t have to look to know there were happy tears; he could hear Lily’s sniffles. And then she took off toward her sisters.
Observing the heartwarming scene unfold, Jed hung back, letting Lily have the promised reunion in the grassy meadow.
“I don’t have to introduce you to Jed, do I?” he heard Lily say.
Grinning, he reached down to pick one of the daisies.
———
Eva hugged Lily repeatedly—this was so unbelievable. Yet she’d longed for this moment every single day of Lily’s absence. “God answered our prayers,” she said, reaching for Lily’s hand. “He obviously wanted you home, where you belong.”
Frona started to laugh, though she was trying to smother it as she stared at Lily. “Your hair is, well, very different, sister.”
Another curl sprung loose as Lily reached up to touch it. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done to myself.”
“Ach, it’ll grow back,” Eva said with a tug on Lily’s hand.
Lily glanced back at Jed, standing yards away. “Someone came a long way . . . and not just to accompany me home,” she whispered.
Eva’s glance followed her sister’s, and she was struck again by how handsome Jed was. But she wasn’t surprised to see him with Lily. “I’m so glad Jed finally found you.” The thought was bittersweet, but she was too happy to see Lily again to let anything interfere with her joy. “He must’ve been awfully determined to manage to track ya down once he got back to Ohio.”
Lily broke free, her eyes alight with mischief. “Jah, I’ll say he’s determined. But the girl he was searchin’ for was right here all along.”
Eva was confused. “I don’t understand.”
Lily gazed earnestly into her face and gently held her by the shoulders. “Jed only came back with me to see you, Eva.”
“Are ya ever so sure?” she whispered, guarding her heart.
“Come, Frona, let’s head for the van,” Lily said with a grin back at Eva. “We should leave the two lovebirds alone.”
Looking toward Jed, Eva walked to him, her heart in her throat. Does Lily know what she’s talking about?
“Hullo again,” Jed said, offering a yellow daisy.
“Denki for bringin’ my sister back to us. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“It was the Lord’s doing, but I have to admit I asked Him for a hand. S’pose you didn’t expect to see me again so soon.”
She sniffed the flower, then looked up—his eyes were fixed on hers. “Seein’ you is sure a welcome surprise, Jed.” She couldn’t help but recall the times she’d prayed for peace in the midst of her bewilderment. And to think Lily was home again, and here Jed was, standing before her, too.
Frona said he’d be back for more of my truffles, she thought, letting a smile take over her face.
They went to the van, where Jed asked George to take Frona and Lily home. “We’re going to walk awhile.”
George nodded. “At your service.”
Lily let out a little giggle, and Frona shushed her before Jed closed their door.
“I want to tell you a little story,” Jed said as he fell into step with Eva on the dirt shoulder.
“Sounds nice. I like a gut story.” Especially love stories, she thought, wondering what was up his sleeve.
“This one’s about a fella who was a little sweet on a girl he’d never met,” Jed began. “And then when he naïvely thought he’d met her, he knew he was a goner—she was better than he’d imagined.” He stooped to pick another flower and gave it to Eva. “Of course, he really confused things by not being straightforward with the girl—a mistake he’s regretted ever since,” he added. “But then there was a twist he wasn’t expecting.”
“Sounds like a mystery.” Eva liked this.
“One with a startling surprise at the end.”
“Jah?”
Jed nodded. “When the fella finally figures it all out.”
“And does the story end happily?”
“Well, that part’s unfinished,” Jed said, catching her eye.
“Maybe we could finish it together,” Eva suggested.
They walked along slowly, the breeze warm on their faces. Birds twittered high overhead, flapping their wings as they soared against the wind. Eva noticed the run-in shed the neighbors had recently built for their horses, and the way the trees moved gracefully, as if somehow swaying to a heavenly melody.
At last Jed said, “I was wondering if I could borrow your copy of Little Women.”
Startled, Eva turned her head quickly but saw the twinkle in his eye. She played along. “I’m afraid that book’s just for women, Jed.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’ve already read a good portion of it. Besides, it’s where I found Lily’s photograph.”
Jed told her the full story, and her eyes widened.
> “So you’ve been reading my secrets, have ya?”
Jed slowed his stride. “Can you forgive me?”
“Absolutely not.” Then she began to laugh.
He was grinning now and stopped walking to face her. “I said it before: I want to get to know you, Eva.”
She smiled. “Honestly, I think you already do.”
Eva couldn’t help it—her heart sang as Jed reached for her hand and raised it slowly to his lips this shining Lord’s Day afternoon.
Epilogue
IF SOMEONE HAD SAID even a month ago that I’d be courted long-distance by a serious beau, I wouldn’t have believed it. In addition to Jed’s frequent letters, he visits me every other weekend. Abner and Naomi have opened their home to him when he’s here, welcoming him as warmly as Dat and Mamma would have—they’re sure Jed Stutzman was hand-picked by God for me. It’s hard not to blush when Naomi privately tells me such things.
As for Lily, her longing for the fancy world is a thing of the past, and she has been cheerfully received back by the People. Our neighbors have gone out of their way to drop by to visit, some bearing red and pink bleeding hearts picked from their flower beds. Lily has fully embraced the Old Ways and even plans to join church come mid-September. She revealed this recently when we wandered out to our old playhouse together, where she confessed to having taken the Little Women quote jotted down decades ago.
“When I left home, I needed something of my early roots,” Lily explained. “That’s why I took your book, too.” While we were there, Lily also made a point of explaining why she hadn’t written for so long after her disappearance. “And even then, I had someone mail my one and only letter from Wooster, in case ya noticed the postmark. I was awful selfish, not wanting you to come lookin’ for me.”
Together, we slipped the quote back into its narrow quarters along the window frame. It was a meaningful moment, and we decided that, perhaps in the future, one of our own little girls might discover the words hidden in the playhouse, since Menno has promised not to turn it into firewood. Thanks to Frona!
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