“And from the first, I knew him for a flirt and a flatterer. He thought it’d be a feather in his cap to land an English woman who drove a fancy car and could afford the biggest house in Willow Ridge.” Nora’s eyebrows rose as a catlike smile overtook her face. “I didn’t believe a word Luke Hooley said—and I told him that to his face. Made him prove himself every step of the way.”
Edith considered this, but the lovestruck glow remained on her face. “It’ll be that way with Asa, I just know it. He’s such a fine, sincere man—willing to take on somebody else’s kids, too.”
“But once you’re hitched, it’s forever,” Nora insisted. “For Amish couples, divorce is never an option.”
Edith sighed. “I’m so ready to have a family, Nora,” she whispered. “And ready to be out from under Dat’s roof, too. Asa’s nothing at all like him, you know.”
Nora’s heart went out to the young girl standing before her. She had her doubts about some of Cornelius Riehl’s business practices, but it wasn’t her place to pry. “Jah, I wanted to live anywhere except with my dat, too. He was a preacher—and when he found out I was pregnant, he wouldn’t have believed that a bishop from another district had taken advantage of me, so I didn’t tell him that part at first,” she explained. “I lived with an aunt until Millie was born, and then I left. I know all about having a dat who makes you follow all the Old Order rules and then casts you aside when you don’t measure up.”
Edith’s expression wavered. She appeared caught between Nora’s hard-luck story and her own rose-colored images of love and romance.
“Just think about what I’ve said, okay?” Nora asked. “If Asa’s the right man for you now—the husband God wants you to have—he’ll be all the more loving and wonderful, say, six months from now. And by then, he’ll have established his new shop so he can focus more on you and the twins.”
“You might be right,” Edith mused. When one of her father’s clocks chimed and its music box played a short melody, she waited for the song to finish. “But like that clock, my life’s ticking away, and I don’t want to miss a minute of living with Asa. I’ve got plans for freshening up the house, making it ours, and—well, I need to be going,” she added quickly. “My sisters are minding the twins, and I told them I’d be back as soon as I picked out our dress fabric at the quilt shop.”
Nora kept her sigh to herself. You can lead the horse to water . . .
“Denki for speaking your mind, and for looking after me, Nora,” Edith murmured. “Your words and friendship are such a gift to us girls now that our mamm is gone.”
“Any time I can help, let me know,” Nora insisted as her young friend headed for the door. Her warnings and advice had gone in one of Edith’s ears and out the other, but Nora had spoken her mind. She’d expressed similar doubts to her daughter Millie about marrying Ira, yet hadn’t that relationship turned out to be mature and mutually beneficial for her seventeen-year-old daughter and Luke’s brother?
I hope I’m just an old mother hen who’s clucking too much, Lord, Nora thought as she wrote out tags for Edith’s beautiful baskets. After all, I don’t know everything, the way You do.
* * *
Asa bounded up the steps to Bishop Tom’s porch and knocked exuberantly on the door. On this beautiful Friday morning he felt like a man on his way to a finer life than he’d ever imagined. As he heard footsteps inside, he couldn’t keep a wide smile off his face.
“Bishop Tom, gut morning!” he said when the door opened. “If you’ve got a minute, I’d like a word.”
“Sure I do, for a fella like you,” the bishop said as he swung the door open. “I was mighty excited yesterday, seein’ a dozer doin’ the dirt work for your new shop.”
“They’re to pour the foundation today, so I wanted to be here,” Asa said. He stepped into the large front room, removing his straw hat and jacket. “Aaron says he’s got his crew constructing the metal sides already, too, so once the concrete’s set, the main walls can go up pretty fast.”
“Those Brenneman boys are a fine team,” Tom remarked, gesturing for Asa to follow him. “If we talk in the kitchen, we can probably sample some of the goodies Nazareth’s takin’ from the oven. Ya timed this visit just right, Asa.”
“Gut morning, young man!” Nazareth said as she deftly flipped a pan of sticky buns onto an oblong tray. “I’d figured to take fresh milk over for Leroy and Louisa, so maybe you’d like to do the carrying. Bet you’re headed that direction anyway.”
“I am, and I’d be happy to take it,” Asa replied. His eyes widened as the bishop’s wife plated two large, pecan-crusted rolls and carried them to the table. “It’s the least I can do if you’re going to feed me this way—and denki so much for providing the milk that’s making those babies grow so well. How much do I owe you for that?”
Nazareth waved him off. “My little goats are tickled to help out. Truth be told, they give more milk than I have time to make into cheese for the mill store anyway,” she admitted. “Think of it as labor you’re saving me.”
Asa was speechless for a moment. Where else had he ever experienced such generosity? Although he got along fine with the folks in Clifford and the neighbors near his parents’ farm, he couldn’t imagine them donating milk on a regular basis for babies who weren’t even local. “Well, again, denki from Edith and Will and me,” he said as he loosened the outer layer of his sticky bun with his fork. “You’re a lifesaver, Nazareth—literally.”
“Jah, she’s a keeper,” Tom remarked. When he smiled at his wife, his face glowed, and his crow’s-feet deepened. “And it was a fine sight, as well, watchin’ Will work the field nearest the road with a team of Percheron mules. We had him over for dinner yesterday. Nice young fella.”
“He’s pleased to be farming for Luke and Ira. Ready for a fresh start—and oh my word,” Asa blurted. “This sticky bun is the best, Nazareth.”
She beamed at him from the kitchen counter. “I enjoy watching you young men tuck away so much food. Tom and I are of an age we have to cut back some, if we’re to squeeze through the doorways.”
The bishop laughed along with Asa, and then looked at him intently. “But ya didn’t come here to discuss us gettin’ old and tubby,” he remarked as he cut into his roll. “Ya looked like a man on a mission when I answered the door.”
Asa pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to the bishop. “It’s a letter from my bishop back home, telling you I’m a member in gut standing—because I want you to publish my plans to marry Edith at your next church service.”
Bishop Tom’s mouth fell open. “I’m all for young folks gettin’ hitched,” he finally managed to say. “But this is feelin’ rather sudden, son—”
“Why, it was the day of the Hooley wedding—just a couple weeks ago—when Jerusalem and I found you on the side of the road,” Nazareth recalled. “Are you sure you and Edith are ready for this? Some folks’ll wonder if you’re not healed from that hit you took on the head.”
Asa chuckled. He’d figured his announcement would cause a stir. “I am back in town partly for a follow-up visit with Andy Leitner about my concussion,” he replied. “But otherwise, it’s just a case of two hearts beating as one from the moment they met.”
Bishop Tom read the brief letter and set it away from his plate. As he cleared his throat, he focused intently on Asa. “I hope you’re not gonna tell me ya got carried away, so now you’re savin’ Edith from any embarrassment nine months down the road.”
Asa’s fork clattered to his plate. He had not expected the bishop to hint about that. “Absolutely not,” he insisted. “Edith’s not that kind of girl, and I wouldn’t turn her into one.”
Tom let out a relieved sigh. “All the same, it’s feelin’ a bit rushed.”
“We haven’t set a date yet,” Asa pointed out. “I just want everyone here—especially her dat—to know my intentions are honorable. Long-term.”
“Jah, it’s forever,” the bishop insisted as he glanced a
t Nazareth. “I’d not wish my previous humiliation on anybody, after my first wife left me for an English fella. When the marriage vow’s broken, it stirs up turmoil God never intended His children to suffer.” Tom looked away, as though recalling this event still caused him pain. “Lettie’s leavin’ shattered our family, even though our kids were grown and married,” he murmured. “Had Nazareth not come along, I’d still be a desolate man today.”
Asa’s eyes widened. He thought carefully about how to word the question that came to mind. “You . . . you remarried, Bishop? I didn’t think the Old Order allowed—”
“We got word that Lettie was killed in a car accident with her English husband,” Nazareth explained as she came to stand beside Tom. “Even so, folks looked askance on our relationship for a while. We’re just saying, Asa, that you’d better search your soul long and hard before you take Edith as your wife. It’s a noble idea, raising those babies together, but it’ll bring challenges you can’t foresee. I’ll go milk the goats now and let you fellows talk.”
As his wife left the kitchen, Tom’s gaze followed her with a gratefulness that touched Asa’s heart. “I haven’t heard that you’re any closer to knowin’ who their father is,” the bishop continued. “That revelation alone could upset your apple cart in a major way.”
“Will and I have talked about that,” Asa murmured. “We figure his wife took that secret to her grave—especially if she never told the man responsible that she was in the family way.”
“Will’s a case in point. The way Vernon Gingerich understands it, he and Molly married pretty quick,” Tom continued. “And ya can see how that disaster might’ve been avoided had they taken more time to court. Sad to say, but Will’s folks suspect Molly and her parents knew of her condition and were understandably eager to get her married off.”
Asa’s eyes widened. He’d talked at length with Will, but Gingerich had never hinted that he’d suspected Molly’s condition when they’d married. Maybe that’s why her parents had provided the couple with a home and a farm, such as it was . . .
“Well,” Asa finally replied, “we’re not worried about that being the case with Edith and me. When I saw the way she put the twins’ welfare ahead of everything else, I had to stand by her. It was the sort of commitment that made me love and respect Edith completely.”
The bishop nodded. He went over to the calendar on the kitchen wall. “All right then, I’ll announce your engagement on our next church Sunday—which’ll be May third,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean ya have to set your date right away.”
Asa nodded, sensing it was best to leave the subject as it stood. He and Tom visited about Asa’s furniture business until Nazareth came in through the back door with two large pails. She opened the freezer and stuck two bottles of frozen water into each bucket. “We cool this fresh milk down immediately, so it doesn’t smell so goatsy,” she explained. “If you’ll take this on over to Riehls’, the girls will know to refrigerate it right away.”
Seeing that as his cue, Asa put on his hat and took his leave. He walked carefully along the gravel road so he wouldn’t slosh the milk, gazing at the tall white house where Edith and the twins lived. He’d accomplished the first of his missions—the one he’d anticipated as the biggest challenge—so he could relax and look forward to seeing Edith . . . hopefully take her along when he went to deliver the two large checks he’d brought with him.
When Edith opened the door, her smile was further proof that his plans with her were right on track. “Milkman, making a home delivery,” he quipped. “Tom and Nazareth send along their best.”
“They are the best,” Edith replied as she escorted him to the kitchen. “We keep this milk in the extra fridge in the mudroom. I’ll return those bottles and pails later. Right now I’m tickled to see you, Asa!”
“Hi there!” Rosalyn piped up as Loretta grinned at him. They were stirring something together on the stove, probably for the noon meal.
“Happy to be here. It’s a big day,” he said as he leaned over the side of the playpen. “And you kids make every day seem like a big day. Come here and see me.”
He gently lifted the twins into his arms. When both Louisa and Leroy began laughing, smacking their hands on the sides of his face as though they recognized him, Asa felt ten feet tall. He reveled in their downy cheeks, bright eyes, and cheerful dispositions, anticipating the day when he could live with the twins . . . as their father.
He looked at Edith. “How about we take these two on a stroll? I’ll be stopping to talk with Aaron, Andy, and Luke this morning, and I’d like you to come along.”
“We can put them in the double stroller Annie Mae Wagler loaned me,” she said as she went back into the mudroom to fetch it. “It dates back to when her brothers Josh and Joey were wee ones. She’ll want it back when her own twins are born this summer, but meanwhile, we enjoy having it.”
“Jah, they already love it,” Loretta remarked as she chopped an onion into the pot on the stove. “We took them for a ride yesterday to watch the big dozers dig the hole for your shop foundation.”
“While I’m here, I want to check on the concrete the crew’s to be pouring today.” Asa held the twins lower so Edith could position each of them in a stroller seat. “Aaron said his Mennonite buddies would be helping with some of the heavy equipment, so the shop will get built a lot faster.” When he heard footsteps on the basement staircase, Asa turned. “Gut morning, Cornelius! Anything you need us to do for you while we’re running our errands around town?”
Asa liked it that Edith’s dat appeared surprised at his offer. At least for a moment, he’d caught the dour man off guard.
“It’s the last Friday of the month. You can see if Nora’s got any checks for us,” Cornelius replied.
“Will do. See you all later.” Asa walked ahead of Edith to open the door for her, and once he’d lowered the front end of the stroller down the porch steps to the ground, they headed toward the road.
“Oh, but this is fun! It’s so gut to see you, Asa,” Edith exclaimed. “What with all the activity across the road, you and your brother will be able to move in pretty soon.”
Asa gazed down at her. Once they reached the gravel road, he took over pushing the stroller, keeping it to the side where the grass was mowed shorter. If this was how it felt to be a family, he couldn’t wait to be doing it full-time. Forever.
“I gave Tom a letter from my bishop, saying I’m in gut standing with the Old Order church. He’s going to announce our intention to marry on your next church Sunday,” Asa blurted. Then he wanted to kick himself. “I—I guess I got so excited I forgot the obvious, and now I’m not going to do it as romantically as I’d intended to.”
He stopped on the roadside, grasping Edith’s slender shoulder. “Will you marry me, Edith? When you agreed that we were courting, I assumed—”
“Oh, yes! Yes, Asa, I will!” she cried out as she grabbed him in a hug.
Asa savored the warmth of her embrace, the immediate joy she’d shared with him. This roadside moment would live in his memory forever, scented by lilacs and lit by the morning sunshine. He would have to think of a fitting engagement gift—ways to show her he truly loved her, and to compensate for his oversight.
“Truth be told, I sewed my wedding dress yesterday,” Edith admitted as she smiled up at him. “And Loretta and Rosalyn have agreed to be my newehockers. So you’re not the only one who’s been making assumptions.”
Asa chuckled with relief. “Just another way we seem to be on the same page, aware of what the other one’s hoping for and dreaming about,” he murmured. “I—I love you so much, Edith.”
“And I can’t think straight for being so in love with you, Asa,” she replied.
The rest of the morning went by in a haze of happiness. Asa gave Aaron Brenneman a large deposit on the shop building, and his examination with Andy Leitner went well, and then Asa handed Luke a down payment for the house and the land that would soon be Detweiler property
. He and Edith chatted briefly with Nora and picked up the checks for the clocks, rugs, and baskets she’d sold. Then Asa, Edith, and the twins—the four of them—were on their way.
The four of us. The sweetness of their togetherness made Asa an ecstatically happy man. He was aware of discussing the erection of the exterior shop walls on Monday, and talking about the final details of his property arrangement with the Hooleys, but he was mostly focused on Edith’s happy smile, her lilting voice, and the way her love for Leroy and Louisa shone every time she spoke to them or touched them.
On their way back to the Riehl place, Asa waved his arm high above his head when he saw Will driving the mule team with the planter behind it. Will waved back, looking exultant even from across the field.
“What a glorious sight those Percheron mules make,” Asa remarked, shading his face to get a better view. “They’re so tall. And they step in time with one another, even while making the turn at the end of a row.”
“Will’s happy to be working with them, and to be farming for the Hooleys,” Edith remarked with a nod. “He’s a different man from the fellow who argued with you about fathering the twins awhile back.”
A different man. As Asa gazed at Edith’s dear face, he loved the way her dark brown bun was so neatly tucked up under her white kapp as its strings fluttered in the breeze. He knew all about the way a man’s life could change the moment one important person believed in him.
Chapter Fifteen
During the following week, Edith considered the rainy days a blessing. She and her sisters couldn’t work in the garden, so they spent most of their time painting at the house where she and Asa would make their home. With the windows open, a cool breeze kept the paint fumes to a minimum. The babies entertained themselves with little stuffed animals and the mobile Edith had attached to the playpen.
“The kitchen looks so much better now,” Rosalyn said as she poured the paint from her roller pan back into the can. “I’ve never understood some of the odd colors English folks use in their rooms.”
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