“Ya got that right,” Jerusalem replied with a short laugh. “Truth be told, I can’t recall ever havin’ such a nice time with any of the fellas we knew as young girls. Maybe this sort of thing gets easier, once ya give up the assumption you’ll be a wife all your life.”
“Jah, there’s that.” As she drew the brush rhythmically through her hair, Nazareth pondered her options. Part of her wanted to share the exciting highlights of this fine day, yet she also wanted to savor the sweet, private moments she and Tom had shared . . .
“I’m in a bit of a tangle, though,” Jerusalem continued. “Of all things, Vernon has asked me to ride back to Cedar Creek with him. Wants me to see his place and meet the two aunts and the nephew who live with him.”
“Oh, my! That’s a big step.”
“Maybe more of a step than these short old legs can make.”
Nazareth playfully whacked her sister’s flannel-covered arm with her hairbrush. “Since when are ya admittin’ to bein’ old, Sister? I’d guess Vernon’s got ya beat by eight or ten years, but he’s prancin’ like a stallion who’s gotten wind of a mare.”
“Jah, the old gray mare!” Jerusalem protested playfully. Then her expression waxed more serious. “But what if those aunts are set in their way of runnin’ things at his place? Or what if he’s really just lookin’ for somebody to take care of them? And what if his nephew wants no part of havin’ another biddy hen cluckin’ around the—”
“Since when have ya worried over how other folks’ll feel about ya, Sister?”
“Shhh! He’ll hear us!” Jerusalem whispered as she pointed toward the floor with her brush.
Nazareth’s hand flew to her mouth, but she was ready to laugh. If Jerusalem had such a case of the jitters, it could only mean she was more backside-over-teakettle about the white-haired bishop than she cared to admit. Or was her sister concerned about something else? Something Nazareth had pondered for a while now. “Maybe you’re just nervous about sharin’ a room with somebody besides me, ain’t so? I—I’ve imagined what it might be like, havin’ a man for a roommate . . . but maybe it’s time we both found out how that works.”
Jerusalem’s jaw dropped. “You’re gonna start sleepin’ with Tom?”
“No! I—”
“Shhh!” Jerusalem pressed her finger to Nazareth’s lips and leaned closer. “Can’t let those fellas get wind that we’re talkin’ about them, or there’ll be no end to the mischief they’ll make.”
Nazareth swatted her sister’s hand away. “Why do ya think that? No doubt in my mind Tom’s got the best of intentions, because—well, we talked about that today while you were gone. And . . . and it’s only a matter of time before you’re gonna have to get yourself a different room.” She widened her eyes playfully. “If ya think folks’ll talk about how the two of us have been stayin’ here after this snowstorm, think what they’ll say if you’re still sleepin’ with me after Tom and I get hitched.”
“Nazareth Hooley! Talkin’ like that’ll lead ya straight to the Devil’s—”
“Shhh!” Clapping her hand over Jerusalem’s lips, Nazareth had to hold in her laughter. “I’m teasin’ ya, silly goose. But it’s gonna happen someday, Sister. And I’m just tickled to pieces about it, even if I’m scared about makin’ such a big change at this point of my life.”
“Jah, I’m with ya there.” Jerusalem let out a long breath. “Vernon and I talked about . . . sex today.”
“Ach, and how did that go?” Nazareth’s pulse shot up. While she and Tom had only tried kissing, he would expect more intimate relations after he married her . . .
“Well, it seems that’s another change comin’ my way, if I go along with his wild, romantic plans. Truth be told, I nearly jumped out of the sleigh when he started sayin’ how he’d teach me to . . .” Jerusalem cleared her throat nervously. “After all, you and I turn our backs real modest-like when we’re puttin’ on our clothes and nightgowns. I don’t think Vernon’ll go along with that.”
“Hmmm . . . and if ya move to Cedar Creek, it’s not like the two of us can help each other with our jitters, or—”
“Puh! It’d be like the blind leadin’ the blind, for all you and I know about bein’ with a man!”
Nazareth gripped her hairbrush. She’d imagined this part of being married to Tom, but her sister was right about their lack of knowledge. Sometimes mothers advised their daughters about sexual matters before they became brides, but Mamma was long gone . . . and she’d had no occasion to discuss marital relations with them when they were young. “I’m thinkin’ most fellas have eyes that see in the dark. Or they just use their hands to—”
“Something tells me Vernon’s gonna have the lamp on. Now there’s a scary thought!”
Nazareth giggled out loud and then clamped her mouth shut. The bed shook with her mirth.
“It’s not all that funny, little sister,” Jerusalem warned. “Sounds like you’ll be facin’ the same situation. And at our age, some of those body parts don’t work the way they used to, let alone lookin’—”
“Which explains why Hiram kept marryin’ younger women as he went along.” Nazareth sat straighter, looking her sister in the eye. “But thank the gut Lord we’re not dealin’ with the likes of Hiram anymore, so why not set aside this talk that’s gonna keep us awake all night? For all we know, we’re makin’ mountains out of molehills.”
Jerusalem looked down at the chest beneath her flannel nightgown, shaking her head. “Mountains . . . molehills,” she murmured. “Whatever size Vernon’ll consider these breasts, they’re not used to anybody payin’ them any attention. He looks at them when he thinks I’m not watchin’, and I . . . I just don’t know what to make of it all.”
As Nazareth heard the concern in her sister’s voice, she tried to think of something to get Jerusalem’s mind away from her worrisome thoughts. “Could be, if Vernon wants ya to meet his family, it’s time to introduce him to our three nephews. You can bet Bennie, Luke, and Ira will cut him down to size real quick if he’s actin’ too big for his britches.”
Jerusalem’s eyes widened and she gave Nazareth a quick hug. “Oh, but that’s a fine idea, Sister!” she replied. “And havin’ them all over for supper will be a gut way to pass an evening between now and Tom’s installation at church on Sunday. That way, none of the neighbors’ll accuse us of spendin’ all this time with two fellas, livin’ in sin with only our pajamas on.”
Once again Nazareth had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing aloud at the imagery Jerusalem’s ideas inspired. “A pajama party! Now there’s a way to get better acquainted with Tom and Vernon!”
Jerusalem swatted her and then put out the bedside lamp. “You’re just full of fine ideas tonight, Sister. Better pray real hard about that.”
“Made ya laugh, though, didn’t I?”
Jerusalem’s quiet chuckle reverberated in the darkness as they settled into the bed. “Jah, ya did. And I love ya for it, too, Nazzie.”
Nazareth smiled as she turned onto her side to face the wall. Ya blessed us with a lot of new ideas today, Lord, and we thank Ya for that. Give us the grace and courage to accept Your gifts and make the best of every one of them. Especially the kisses.
Chapter Ten
Tom stepped into the kitchen and inhaled the warm, wonderful aromas of breakfast . . . sausage and freshly percolated coffee and something sweet and chocolate, he was guessing. “I���m gettin’ spoiled, Vernon,” he remarked as they stomped the snow from their boots in the mudroom. “Most days I come in from the milking to an empty house that smells like burnt toast. Havin’ the girls here has been a real treat.”
“I sometimes forget how blessed I am that Aunt Nettie’s a willing cook and Aunt Florence can keep a conversation going even when our lives change little from one day to the next.” The bishop removed his stocking cap and smoothed his snowy-white hair. “And of course Abner’s always on hand to help with the cattle chores, too. Living alone would be a real challenge for me, as I’m su
re it’s been for you, my friend. But this, too, shall pass.”
“Lookin’ forward to Naz bein’ here full-time,” Tom said as he tossed his coat onto the nearest peg by the door. “The trick will be in the timing, so’s other folks won’t think I’m jumpin’ the gun . . . or that I’ve been hidin’ my relations with her.”
“It’ll all work out, Tom. And nobody’s happier for you than I am.”
When Vernon clapped him on the back, it was like a benediction, a blessing on the marriage Tom longed for now. But that was putting the cart before the horse, as Nazareth deserved to be courted and given some say about how she wanted the house . . . how she wanted him. That thought put a smile on his face as he and Vernon stepped into the kitchen in their stocking feet, shoes in hand.
“And did the cows cooperate with ya this morning?” Jerusalem asked as she turned a loaf of dark, sweet-smelling bread out of its pan.
“Soon as these eggs cook, we’ll be ready to eat.” Nazareth’s smile radiated with contentment. “Might be a gut day to venture over to Zook’s Market for a few groceries. We’ve run you low these last couple of days.”
“Jah, we can do that,” Tom replied as he took his place at the table. The eggs were crackling in the skillet and the platter of bread Jerusalem set beside him looked like chocolate with chunks of fruit and nuts. “We can give Vernon a tour of Willow Ridge, if he’s up for that much excitement.”
“And we were thinking to invite the nephews over some night soon—along with Ben and Miriam, if they’re not out collectin’ wedding gifts,” Jerusalem said.
Tom caught the look that passed between her and Vernon and smiled to himself. Introducing this fellow from Cedar Creek to her family might be the first step toward the altar. “Maybe spendin’ some time with the bishop will convince Luke and Ira to join the church, ain’t so?”
“We live in hope of that!” Nazareth replied with a shake of her head. “Never seen such holdouts. Most fellas of twenty-eight and thirty would have jumped the fence or committed by now, but our nephews have never followed the path anybody else laid out for them.”
“Independent thinking seems to run in the Hooley family,” Vernon teased as they all sat down. After they’d bowed in silence for a moment, he reached for the plate of sausage patties in front of him. “With fellows like that, I usually see how the conversation’s going before I challenge them about church membership. I suppose I should be more insistent, more direct with folks who drag their feet about declaring their faith. But there’s no sense in driving your nephews away by hammering them with Old Order expectations, either. I imagine they’ve gotten plenty of that from their family.”
“You’re absolutely right, Vernon,” Jerusalem said with a teasing wag of her finger.
When Vernon laughed out loud, at a joke they had obviously shared before, Tom laughed, too. It was wonderful to see two of his favorite people having such a good time together. While Tom hadn’t invited the bishop to Willow Ridge specifically to get acquainted with Jerusalem Hooley, the match had been in the back of his mind . . . mostly because he sensed Nazareth would feel much freer to fall in love with him if her sister had some romance in her life, as well.
They chatted over breakfast and decided their trip into town should wait until afternoon, when the sun would be warmer. Tom chuckled because it was only six in the morning and they’d already done half a day’s work before the market would even open. While the sisters redded up the kitchen, he put more logs on the fire and spent some time carving a figure of Joseph for the Nativity set he’d been working on. Vernon was setting up the Scrabble board . . . probably setting up Jerusalem, too, the way his eyes were twinkling.
“If ya don’t mind, I think I’d enjoy sittin’ over by the fire with Naz,” Tom said as she came out of the kitchen. “You two can go at it over the game board.”
“That sounds nice,” Nazareth replied, and as she slipped her hand into his, Tom’s heart swelled. “We can figure out our list for the store.”
“Puh! Like either one of ya has shoppin’ on your mind.” Jerusalem took the chair across the table from Vernon. “Ya just can’t stand the heat of this game when the bishop and I start layin’ down seven-letter words.”
“You’re absolutely right, Jerusalem,” Vernon replied, and their chuckling started up again.
As Tom sank into the love seat, it felt so perfect to stretch his legs over the coffee table . . . to let Nazareth rest her head on his chest as he slipped his arm around her. He closed his eyes in a silent prayer of thanksgiving for such simple pleasures . . . cozy moments in a home that felt lived-in again and smelled heavenly from breakfast. The fire popped and crackled as he and Nazareth talked, vaguely aware that at the other end of the room, Vernon and Jerusalem sparred gleefully over their game. Nazareth smelled like the sausage she’d been frying, and Tom was trying to make an opportunity to kiss her—
A door banged in the kitchen.
“My gutness, would you look at all these cookies!”
“Huh! I can’t think our dat’s been doin’ all this bakin’ or cleanin’, so who do you suppose—”
“Dat! What are ya doin’ with that—that woman?”
Tom’s mouth went dry. As Nazareth sprang away from him on the love seat, he searched frantically for the right words to stop the storm that was about to cut loose. “Sarah, Lavinia,” he began in a strained voice. “Nice of ya to come over and—”
“Nice is not my word for it,” younger Lavinia retorted as she stalked toward them.
“Here we came over to see how you were doing after you got that letter about Mamm,” Sarah retorted. “And we find you hanging all over this total stranger, as though—”
“As though you’ve been seeing her for quite some time now!” Lavinia finished. His daughters stood together, crossing their arms exactly the way their mother used to do.
Tom felt his face go six shades of red as he stood up. His girls resembled Lettie to the point that his ex-wife might as well be standing alongside them, joining in their accusations.
“This is Nazareth Hooley,” he stammered. “She and her sister came over to—”
“Jah, we can see that!”
“And here Sarah and I have been coming all this way each week to cook and keep up with your laundry—”
“Feeling bad about you being here all alone—”
Something inside him snapped: this insolence toward Nazareth was something he refused to tolerate. “Well, you two can stop feelin’ sorry now—”
“Jah, as of this minute I don’t feel much of anything but angry, Dat!”
“And shocked!” Sarah spat. “And ashamed—”
“Ladies, I’m Vernon Gingerich, from Cedar Creek,” the bishop said in a quiet but purposeful voice. He came to stand beside Tom while Jerusalem joined her sister. “We had a meeting of the bishops from nearby districts here, and these two sisters, Jerusalem and Nazareth Hooley, made our meals for us. When the snow closed all the roads—”
“Jerusalem? Nazareth?” Lavinia repeated in a voice that rose even higher than her eyebrows. “Those are two made-up names if I ever heard any!”
“Jah,” Sarah chimed in. “These two—ladies—do they keep ya company all the time, Dat? Sounds like what Hiram used to—”
“That’s enough. From the both of ya.” As Tom took each of his girls by the shoulder, it required all of his strength not to shake some sense into them. “Your mamm and I taught ya to respect your elders, and I’ll not have ya lippin’ off to the bishop that way. Understand me?”
Sarah and Lavinia shut their mouths in surprise, but it was clear they weren’t finished speaking their minds. They shrugged out of his grasp.
“And I’ll thank you to take control of your loose talk, too.” Vernon gazed sternly at the two younger women, allowing a few moments of silence for his words to sink in. “Nothing sinful or contrary to God’s law has gone on here, and you needn’t drag these ladies’ reputations through the gutter simply because your own he
arts and minds seem to be there right now. They are indeed ladies in the finest sense of the word.”
When had Tom ever felt more embarrassed? His heart ached for Nazareth and her sister even as he wished his daughters hadn’t walked in to find him in such a . . . compromising position. But there was nothing to do now except clarify what his daughters had seen—not that he figured they’d keep this juicy information to themselves once they got home.
“As a matter of fact, those other bishops and I have determined that your dat should be the next bishop of Willow Ridge,” Vernon went on. His voice remained low and deceptively calm as he drove his point home. “You and your brothers are welcome to join us on Sunday as your father takes on his additional responsibilities.”
Lavinia, always quicker with a retort, rolled her eyes. “Jah, Dat’ll be responsible, all right.”
“Rudy and Pete will see to that when we tell them what we walked in on,” Sarah said with a nod.
Nazareth clasped her hands in front of her and stepped closer. “You—you girls are welcome to join us for some coffee in the kitchen so we can talk about these misunderstandings—”
“Oh, we understand, all right,” Lavinia said. “Our mamm’s barely dead and buried and here you are. Thanks, but I’ll be heading home all the same.”
“Jah, seeing is believing,” her sister agreed as they both turned toward the kitchen to go.
“And do you recall how our Lord Jesus reminded Doubting Thomas that it was more blessed to believe without having to see?” Vernon asked quietly. “It would seem a more proper attitude to at least give your father the benefit of the doubt. After all, he forgave you both many times while you were growing up, just as he forgave your mother for divorcing him.”
Sarah turned in the doorway for one last glance at them. “Whatever you say, bishop.”
“I’ll have to think on that for a gut long while,” her sister replied.
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