by Emma Miller
He shook his head, taking a step closer to her. He was smiling. “Nothing, I just... It’s all I can do to talk when you’re standing so close because I...” He reddened. “I keep thinking that I’d like to kiss you, Eve.”
She blushed and looked down at her bare feet that had gotten dusty on the walk over. Suddenly her heart was pounding. “I... I’ve never kissed a man,” she heard herself say.
Levi took another step and stood in front of her. “I don’t want to be forward.” His voice had become husky.
Realizing he was as nervous as she was, Eve relaxed and giggled. “We’re married, Levi. You have a right to kiss me.”
He lifted his gaze. Held hers. “Would you like to kiss me, Wife?”
Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded. Then she closed her eyes and waited.
Eve didn’t know what she expected, but when he wrapped his arms around her and brushed his lips ever so gently across hers, she felt enveloped in a warmth she had never felt before. In his embrace, she felt safe and content and...and cared for, if not loved.
Levi kissed her and she opened her eyes to see him studying her. “How was that?” he asked.
She raised her hand to touch her lips. “Warm and tingly,” she told him with a shy smile. “How was it for you?”
Still holding her in his arms, he chuckled. “Goot. You smell like vanilla.”
She stepped back. “Probably spilled some on myself,” she told him, laughing as she ran her hand over her apron.
He was still studying her. “I don’t think so.”
“Ach, I should get back to the house,” she said, feeling awkward. And excited. She would never have believed it could happen, that a handsome, smart, capable man like Levi could fall in love with a plain wren like her, but suddenly, she saw that possibility. And all she could think was God is good. “Tara will wonder what happened to me.”
“Ya, you’d best go. We wouldn’t want her coming down here looking for you and finding us kissing.” He raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing.
“Ya... I mean, ne!” She shook her head, vehemently. “We wouldn’t want that.”
They stood looking at each other for a long moment and then Levi said softly, “Wife, you best get going, else I’m liable to kiss you again.”
She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle another giggle and turned and hurried out of the barn, grabbing her basket with the fabric as she went.
“Eve!” Levi called after her. “You forgot the cookies.”
“They’re all for you!” she called over her shoulder. Then she hurried back up the lane to the house, feeling as if she might burst with joy.
* * *
On a Sunday morning, Eve walked beside Levi along the road, headed toward his brother Ethan’s home. They were both in their Sunday best, her in her black dress, crossed cape and bonnet, him in black pants, a white shirt and black vest, his wide-brimmed black felt hat on his head. His beard was coming in nicely, making him all the more handsome. Some husbands let their beards grow without trimming them, leaving them to look unkempt, but not Levi. For a man who worked with his hands, he was fastidious about cleanliness. No matter what he did on the farm, whether it was muck horse stalls or work in the buggy shop, when he came to the supper table, his hands and nails were meticulously scrubbed, and his face was freshly washed.
Pride swelled in her chest. With every passing day, she was surer of her impulsive decision to marry Levi. They were still getting to know each other, but as July slipped into August, she became more assured of her choice. As she began to feel more confident in their growing relationship, she was finding the desire in her heart to forgive Jemuel for what he had done. She prayed for him every day now because it was the right thing to do. But also because, had he not done what he had, maybe she would never have ended up where she was now, safe and happy.
“I hope you baked plenty of brownies.” Levi touched his hand to her shoulder as they moved farther off the road to allow a motorcycle to fly by.
“I made three pans. They’re in the wagon with Bay, and the girls took them to Marshall and Abigail’s this morning.” They had left early, with the children, to help their sister-in-law with last-minute preparations to host church. Eve had been invited to go with them, but she had stayed behind to clean up the breakfast dishes. Her offer hadn’t been entirely selfless. She had remained so that she could walk with Levi to church. While bad weather or distance required families to take buggies to Sunday services, Benjamin preferred his family walk when possible. Which was just fine with Eve because it gave her time alone with Levi. Rather than walking with the family, they had fallen into the habit of making the trek alone together, as Benjamin and Rosemary often did.
“We made three pans of scalloped potatoes, too,” she went on. “And four dozen buttermilk biscuits.”
“Buttermilk biscuits!” Levi exclaimed as they moved closer to the road so they didn’t have to walk in the tall weeds. “I love buttermilk biscuits. They’re my favorite.”
Eve looked at him quizzically. “Yesterday you said cheddar was your favorite.”
“Can’t I have two favorites?”
She rolled her eyes. The amount of food her husband could eat in a day astounded her. And yet he never gained a pound. She looked at a buttermilk biscuit and could feel it going to her hips. “Why are you worried about how much food we brought? There’s always more than enough to go around when we break for the midday meal on Sundays.”
“It’s going to be a long day,” he told her, walking slowly so she could keep up. “I heard Dat discussing it with Ethan last night. He didn’t say anything to me about it,” he added quietly.
Eve took his hand and squeezed it, knowing it pained him that his relationship with his father remained strained. She was still shy about their physical affection for each other, but she found it easier out of sight of anyone else. And she wanted to comfort him.
“We’ll be talking today about splitting up our district after the first service. After we eat, the afternoon service will be shortened, and the plan will be announced, then discussed.”
Eve’s eyes widened. Hickory Grove had been abuzz with the topic for weeks. Everywhere she went, to Byler’s store, to Ginger’s quilting circle, to Spence’s Bazaar, the women were talking about it and what it would mean to each family, the positives and the negatives. “So we’re definitely splitting the district?”
“Ya. The elders have decided it’s time. Past time. We’ve gotten so big that we can only meet in the larger homes. A church isn’t meant to get so big that we can’t meet in any member’s home. We each have to take our turn and share the responsibility.”
“So we’ll have a new bishop?” she asked, thinking how much she liked Bishop Simon.
“Ne, Bishop Simon offered to take the new district, but we’ll be choosing men to become preachers and deacons from the new congregation.” He took her hand, threading his fingers through hers. “The older district will choose a new bishop from our preachers.”
“I see,” Eve said.
“I talked to Ethan after Dat left for home. Ethan said Dat was the first from the oldest, most established families to offer to join the new district. The division is sort of based on where we live, but it’s important that families who have been here a while join the new district, too. Ethan thought he and Abigail would be going with us, as well as Joshua and Phoebe and Ginger and Eli, but Lovey and Marshall will be staying with our old district. Just because of where they live.”
“Will Rosemary be upset, not getting to see her daughter and grandchildren on Sundays?”
“Both districts will be on the same schedule, so even though we meet in different places for services, visiting Sundays will be the same.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “And how will the preachers and deacons be chosen for the new church?” Her whole life, she had belonged to the same distric
t she had been born into, so she didn’t know how it was done.
“The new congregation’s baptized men and women will nominate whoever they feel is being called as a leader. Any man who receives three votes or more is placed in a pool. The two new preachers will be chosen from the pool.”
“That means it could be anyone?” she asked, enjoying the feel of her husband’s hand in hers.
“Any man who’s been baptized, is married and is in good standing in the church, ya.”
“But how do you know you’ve chosen the right men?” she asked.
He looked down at her. “God chooses through us. God always chooses well.”
“And you truly believe that?” she asked, appreciating what a man of faith her husband was.
He thought over her question for a moment and looked at her. “I do.”
The sound of hoofbeats reverberated on the pavement, and they both looked over their shoulders to see an open wagon headed in the same direction they were going. As the wagon moved closer, Eve realized it was Eli and Ginger. Eli was easy to spot from a distance because of his bright red hair. Ginger, her first pregnancy now obvious to everyone, waved, and Eve waved back. Then she realized she was still holding Levi’s hand and she tried to pull away.
“Ne,” Levi told her, holding on. “A man has a right to his wife’s hand.”
“But it’s the Sabbath,” she whispered as his sister and her family grew closer.
“The Sabbath is a gift from God, and so is a wife,” he told her.
Eli slowed the wagon and called out to them with a grin. “I’d offer you a ride to Ethan and Abigail’s, but my wife says I’m to let the newlyweds be.”
Levi smiled as they rolled by. “A wise woman, your wife.”
Eli glanced at Ginger and called back to them good-naturedly, “Don’t I know it.”
As they drove away, Eve studied their four little ones in the back of the wagon, all clean and neatly dressed for church, and she couldn’t help wondering if someday she and Levi would be driving to church with their own children. Was it too much to hope for?
She felt the warmth of Levi’s hand and prayed it wasn’t.
Chapter Ten
Excited to be going on another date with her husband, Eve walked out of the house on a Saturday morning, smoothing the fresh apron she wore over her new blue dress. The fabric Levi had ordered by mail, both sturdy and easy to wash and hang on the line, was perfect for an everyday dress. And it was so beautiful. She had a feeling Rosemary had picked out the fabric because Levi knew nothing about women’s clothing, but it didn’t matter because it had been his idea that she should have another blue dress.
Eve was so excited for the morning’s adventure. Levi was taking her over to Seven Poplars to see Albert Hartman’s alpacas. There, she’d also get to meet Rosemary’s friend Hannah, whom she’d heard so much about. And after visiting with the Hartmans, they were going to stop at Gideon Esch’s shop on the way home to pick up fresh sausage and scrapple.
As Eve followed the oyster shell lane toward the harness shop where she would meet Levi, Jacob’s dogs rushed past her. The Chesapeake Bay retrievers crisscrossed in front of her, nipping at each other playfully. She smiled at their antics as they cut behind her and raced toward the house again.
It was going to be another hot August day, with barely a breeze, but the heat wasn’t going to bother Eve. She’d cross a desert in a buggy just to sit beside Levi and hear him talk about disc versus drum brakes and the newfangled shocks he wanted to add to his buggy design. She didn’t even know what shocks were, but she didn’t care. She just liked to hear the sound of Levi’s voice.
As she grew closer to the harness shop, her gaze settled on Levi and his father standing in the parking area. There were two buggies and an old blue pickup in the lot, and a white car was coming up the lane. Saturdays were so busy at the shop that Tara was going to be working the cash register every Saturday morning for the foreseeable future.
Eve slowed her pace to study the two men who were obviously father and son. Levi’s head was bowed slightly, and Benjamin was staring out in the direction of the hay feed that ran along the side of the oyster shell lane. She didn’t have to be there to know that it was another tense conversation between father and son.
She sighed, her heart going out to her husband. She wished there was something she could do to help bridge the gap between the two of them, but Levi had been adamant that it wasn’t her concern. He had told her on multiple occasions that his trouble with his father was not her fault, and he had made it plain that he wanted her to stay out of it.
She watched Levi shake his head in disagreement and wondered what they were discussing. She debated whether she should go to her husband or wait there in the driveway for him. She saw no sign of the buggy they were taking, which meant Levi hadn’t made it to the barn yet.
“Eve! Eve!” a voice called from behind.
Eve turned around to see Rosemary hurrying down the lane after her. In her hand was a piece of white paper. Behind her, her and Benjamin’s toddlers trailed, both barefoot, and one was carrying a stick. When she’d first arrived, she’d been embarrassed to admit that she couldn’t tell the difference between the little boys. However, after James fell off a fence and had to have stitches, it had been easy for her to identify him because of the tiny red scar on his forehead. They were adorable little boys, full of vim and vinegar, as her mother used to say.
“Glad I caught you before you left,” Rosemary said, flapping the paper in her hand. She was out of breath by the time she reached Eve. “I completely forgot that Eli asked me yesterday when we’d be picking up an order of scrapple again from Gideon’s shop. Would you mind picking up a couple of things for Ginger? Her ankles are swelling up in this heat and the midwife insists she stay off her feet at least a few hours a day.” She shook her head as she caught her breath. “Eli’s about to come undone. He fusses over her as if he were a mother hen.”
Eve smiled, wondering, if God were to bless her and Levi with children someday, if he would be the same. She could imagine how frustrated Ginger probably was with Eli fretting over her, but how good it had to feel to have a husband who cared so much.
“We can do that.” Eve accepted the white envelope with the list on the back. Rosemary liked using junk mail to keep her lists. She said envelopes fit nicely in her apron pocket and it was a good way to save on paper. “Levi said he’s going to put a cooler in the buggy with some ice.”
“Good idea.” Rosemary wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Going to be another hot one.” Her gaze strayed to her little ones, who had wandered off into the grass. They were trying to get one of the dogs to fetch, but so far, it appeared that the dogs were watching the twins play the game.
Eve smiled as she watched James throw the stick and then Josiah run to get it and take it back to his brother. She returned her gaze to Rosemary. “I’m meeting Levi at the harness shop, but—” She exhaled, not sure what to say, so she just looked in that direction.
Rosemary’s gaze followed Eve’s and settled on the two men in the parking lot. “Ach,” she muttered. “Those two, at it again. They’re too much alike, I say. They butt heads like two billy goats.”
Eve looked at Rosemary. “But it hasn’t always been that way, has it? Not before I arrived.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. Levi didn’t want her talking to his stepmother about him and his father. And her husband certainly didn’t want Eve bringing up the suspicious circumstances of their marriage with anyone. Not even in an offhand way.
Rosemary’s gaze shifted to Eve and she settled her hands on her hips. In her late forties, she certainly didn’t look like she had given birth to eight children in twenty-five years. She was still slender and had barely a gray hair beneath her starched white kapp.
“Relationships between a father and son ar
e complicated,” Rosemary said. “Especially when the son becomes a man and the father isn’t quite ready for that. And sons forget that their fathers aren’t always right or fair.”
Eve pressed her lips together, running her finger along the edge of the envelope in her hand. It was all she could do not to blurt out how guilty she felt because even though Levi denied it, she knew the trouble between him and his father was all her fault.
Rosemary reached out and stroked Eve’s arm. “Both of them are so stubborn. The father thinks he has the right to certain details and the son doesn’t. And neither wants to give in.”
Eve knew very well Levi’s stepmother was referring to their marriage. “And what do you think?” she said softly, not looking at Rosemary.
The older woman sighed. “I think the details Benjamin is seeking no longer matter.” She hesitated and then went on. “While I agree that Benjamin had good reason to be concerned when you and Levi arrived in June, it’s plain to see you two are finding your stride in your marriage. And I think in time, my husband will see that and let go of whatever anger or disappointment he’s still holding on to.”
Eve looked up, fighting tears that she could feel working their way out. She didn’t know what to say. Her heart was so filled by Rosemary’s kindness that she couldn’t find the words to thank her.
“Marriage isn’t easy, not for anyone,” Rosemary went on. “Benjamin and I hit a couple bumps on the path in our early days before moving here.” She smiled, seeming lost in memory. “And I can tell you that Levi’s father, my first husband, and I went head-to-head in the beginning. We were so young and headstrong and selfish sometimes, I think. But, with time, we found our way. Together. As God intended.”
Rosemary glanced over to where her boys were playing. They were now using the stick to dig a hole. She returned her attention to Eve. “I guess what I’m trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that I’m not worried about you and Levi anymore. I was at first. I could tell the two of you weren’t in harmony. But I see the changes, and my heart is glad for you both. And Benjamin will get there, too. Levi just needs to be patient.”