Katie didn’t offer any comment when Jesse paused.
“I believe that the love your mamm and I have for each other is a sign of Da Hah’s grace and favor. He wants us to go on with life and live in acceptance of His will. With that in mind, Katie, I want to tell you what a great delight it will be for me to have you living at my house. Not only living at my house, but living there as my daughter. I will love you, Katie, just as much as I love Mabel and Carolyn and my boys.”
Katie lowered her eyes, grateful to hear such words from a man who desired to fill the empty hole in her heart. “Thank you for that,” she whispered.
“I know not much has changed yet,” Jesse continued. “Mabel, and even Carolyn, still struggle with accepting Emma as their mamm. Such things take time. I’m confident that once they see the love your mamm and I have for each other, they will also be much affected. That is the way love works, Katie. And I hope that someday an Amish boy will ask to bring you home to our house. That will be a great day for me, Katie. I will rejoice because much joy will come into your mamm’s and my hearts. It will be a day of great honor, for me equal to the honor when an Amish boy brings Mabel home for the first time.”
Mamm had tears in her eyes, and Katie caught her breath, sliding down the side of the rail to sit on the floor of the porch.
Jesse continued. “Our faith is a great one, Katie. It goes back hundreds of years to a time of persecution and testing. Over the years our faith has been tried against the world and the devil and the weaknesses of our own flesh. It has stood the test of time. I will count it a great joy to raise and protect you in our faith. Someday I will joyfully give your hand in marriage to a young man who shares our faith and who is worthy of you.”
Mamm held on to Jesse’s arm. Tears sprang to Katie’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Jesse said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, Katie.”
“Her tears aren’t from sorrow, Jesse. You’ve touched her heart. Isn’t that right, Katie?”
“Yah, Mamm. Jesse, I don’t know what to say. My heart is overflowing. I have much to think about.” Katie’s mind raced as she thought of her love for her Mennonite friends and, at the same time, her lack of Amish friends her own age. Would Jesse’s words ever come true? Would a young Amish man ever come to love her? Would Ben Stoll be the one?
Jesse stood and offered his hand to help Katie to her feet. As she stood, he gave her a hug.
“Thank you,” Katie said. That was all she could muster as she returned his hug.
Mamm looked to Jesse and then to Katie. “Katie, you can go in now. And don’t worry about the rest of the dishes. I’ll finish them later. Jesse and I have more to talk about.”
Katie nodded and went into the house and up to her room. She walked over to the window as she wiped away tears. Mamm and Jesse’s voices rose and fell in the air below her. They were so happy, Katie thought. And Jesse spoke of such happiness for herself. He spoke words that had gripped her heart. Could he be right? It was almost too much to even hear, let alone believe. If it were true, living with Jesse as her daett would really be like heaven on earth. Maybe Da Hah had greater miracles than she knew planned for her.
Chapter Forty-Four
Katie worked at the kitchen sink as the house lay silent around her. This was Mamm’s wedding day. The early morning darkness still covered the fields. Aunt Betsy and Darrell, as well as Mamm’s two oldest brothers and their wives, were asleep upstairs with their smaller children. A bunch of their boys were sleeping in the barn loft, and their girls were set up in the basement. From behind her, Mamm’s footsteps came out of the bedroom. When Katie turned around, the light from the kerosene lamp flickered on Mamm’s face.
“You shouldn’t be here in your chore clothes,” Katie said, surprised. “It’s your wedding day. There are plenty of people for doing chores…”
“Yah, there are,” Mamm agreed, as if she’d just realized that fact.
Katie stepped closer and took one of Mamm’s hands in hers. “Are you sick?”
Mamm shook her head. “It’s nothing to worry about. I’m just a little nervous.”
When Katie didn’t move away, Mamm continued. “I think it’s a gut sign. With your daett I was so worried on the morning of our wedding I couldn’t see straight.”
Katie squeezed her Mamm’s hand. “Oh, Mamm…”
“Don’t worry,” Mamm assured her daughter and smiled. “I’ll be okay. I’ll be as calm as a cucumber by the time the service arrives.”
Katie took a deep breath. By noon today she would have a new daett and Mamm would have her new husband.
Footsteps came down the stairs behind them. Katie returned to her work at the sink, and Mamm sat down at the kitchen table. Aunt Betsy stepped into the kitchen moments later, her hair askew under her kapp.
“My, you two are up early for a wedding day!” Betsy exclaimed.
Katie smiled as Betsy clucked her tongue. “I know this is probably hard for you, Katie. But look at how much better life will be for both you and your mamm. No more living with just the two of you for company. And you’ll have a daett and brothers and sisters.”
Katie smiled. “I’m not worried really. It’s a wunderbah day! I’m very happy for Mamm…and for me.”
Betsy was still smiling. “Why, before you know it, you’ll be part of a great big, wunderbah family. You’ll have forgotten all about living as an only child.”
“Yah,” Katie said hesitantly.
Betsy turned to Mamm. “And now you, Emma. You’re not going out to chore on the morning of your wedding. I don’t care what you say about it. I’ll go with Katie and help like I did last night.”
“But…”
Betsy silenced Mamm with a shake of her finger.
Katie almost laughed aloud. Betsy had been a delight to have around ever since she’d arrived last week. She took charge when necessary and ran the household without hurting Mamm’s feelings. They would never have finished the wedding preparations—small though it was to be—without her.
“Come now,” Betsy was saying. “You just sit here and wait. The others will be up shortly, and they can make breakfast.”
“But there are so many people. We need to start right now,” Mamm declared and then set her mouth in a thin, determined line.
“Then I’m getting the others up to help!” Betsy headed toward the stair door. Before she got there, Clara, the wife of Mamm’s oldest brother, Lonnie, stepped out, looking chirpy and fresh for this time of the morning.
“We’re going out to chore,” Betsy told her without even saying gut morning. “And don’t let Emma work herself half to death on her wedding day. The woman needs at least one day off.”
“Okay,” Clara agreed. “But the boys can do the chores for you. There’s no sense in them lying around doing nothing.”
“It would take longer to explain what to do than to just do the chores myself,” Katie said. “In fact, I can handle them by myself, Aunt Betsy.”
“You will do nothing of the sort!” Betsy pointed toward the washroom. “Let’s go. We’ll see about getting the boys up once we get out there.”
The first streaks of dawn were on the horizon as Betsy and Katie walked across the front yard. Katie pushed open the barn door and felt around until she found the lantern. The matches she discovered on the bench close to the front door. Moments later light flooded the barn.
Molly and Bossy were standing by the back barn door. When she let them in, they almost ran to the stanchions where Betsy had already poured their feed and was ready with the milk buckets.
This will be Molly and Bossy’s last day in this barn, Katie thought. Jesse’s two boys were coming to take all the animals over to their place this afternoon. Mamm had insisted the marriage vows be said before anything changed on the farm. That wasn’t because she had doubts about the marriage. Mamm was just being her usual stubborn self. Some things would never change. Any other widow who was getting married would have moved the livestock a week ago.
Katie closed the outside barn door, and joined Betsy by the two cows. She closed the stanchions.
Leather boots and denim pant legs appeared on the wooden ladder coming from the hay loft, followed by the rest of a boy. James, Clara’s oldest boy, climbed down and moments later his brother Carl appeared. Both paused at the bottom of the chute to brush straw out of their clothing.
“Gut morning!” Katie greeted them, smiling.
They’d arrived last night after supper with Darrell and his van-load of visitors. There had been no room left in the house, so the boys ended up in the haymow with blankets. It had been so gut to see everyone again.
“Gut morning!” they said together.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” James asked.
“We like to work up an appetite before breakfast,” Carl added. “Traveling sure leaves the muscles out of shape.”
“There aren’t that many chores,” Katie told them.
Betsy interrupted her. “Go ahead and show them what needs to be done, Katie. I can milk both cows if I need to.”
“Okay.” Katie led the two boys around to the horse stalls. They didn’t ask many questions, but they did pay attention to what she told them. Betsy was just completing milking Bossy when Katie got back.
“I’ll finish,” Katie said. She grabbed the other bucket before Betsy could and waved her hand toward the barn door. “Mamm doesn’t have family around that often. Why not go in and talk with her?”
“You’re as stubborn as your mamm,” Betsy said with a laugh, giving in at once.
When her aunt had left, an image of Mabel’s disgruntled face rose in Katie’s mind. She shivered. Mamm and Jesse would have several days alone, until after Thanksgiving, but then she would be living in the same house with Mabel. Would this really work? No doubts on Mamm’s wedding day! Katie reminded herself. She would think only about her mamm and Jesse and how much they loved each other. And she would concentrate on the words of support Jesse had spoken to her. That had been wunderbah to hear and filled her with hope. Da Hah had not forsaken them.
Katie concentrated on milking as fast as she could. Margaret and Sharon were coming today. She’d seen to it that they were invited even though Mamm had raised her eyebrows. Esther was also coming. It was gut of all three of them to attend. They surely had to go out of their way to find time for an Amish wedding. If she had any doubts before, she knew for sure now that these girls were her friends indeed. She would always hold them close to her heart.
Behind her James and Carl came out of the horse stalls, laughing as their flashlight beams bounced around the barn walls. Katie stood up with her bucket of milk. She called to them, “You should get the rest of the boys up now. I’m sure breakfast is about ready.”
That produced a yelp from Carl and a rush up the haymow ladder. Shouts from above were soon followed by loud groans.
“The washbasin is in the washroom at the house,” Katie hollered up to the boys as she went out the door. She walked across the lawn. The sun’s first rays were peeking above the horizon; dawn was well on the way. It would be a perfect day from the looks of things. Only thin clouds hung in the sky, but they should melt away soon. Mamm deserves this kind of day after all she’s gone through, Katie thought. This was no doubt another sign of Da Hah’s approval.
Katie hugged herself in the chill of the morning air. She stepped inside the washroom and washed her face and hands in the basin before drying herself with a towel. She heard loud voices coming from the lawn behind her, and she hurriedly disappeared into the kitchen before the boys arrived. Katie paused just inside the kitchen door. Women were rushing all over the place. Breakfast was spread on the table—fried eggs, hash browns, ham, bacon, and a big bowl of steaming oatmeal.
“When will breakfast be ready?” one of the men shouted from the living room.
“Always hungry!” Betsy said with a laugh as she counted the places available at the table. Then she closed her eyes and reviewed the number of people in the house.
“There won’t be enough room,” Clara announced before Betsy was done figuring. “The adults can eat in here, and the children can eat in the living room. That’s what I say, anyway.”
“Sounds good to me,” Betsy agreed, abandoning her counting.
Katie looked around for Mamm and found her standing by the stove, her face glowing. It must be coming from joy and the temperature in the room, Katie figured. The heat was rising steadily to the ceiling from all the cooking.
Katie gave Mamm a smile before stepping over to the kitchen window to push it open. Betsy grunted her approval as she rushed past. Katie went to stand beside Mamm, staying there until the aunts had brought order out of the chaos. Then Katie joined the children in the living room, taking a place on the couch. The adults filled the kitchen table, and Lonnie led out in prayer. After the amen, the children waited for Betsy to call them into the kitchen to fill their plates.
Mary, Lonnie’s oldest girl, was around sixteen, Katie remembered. She was a quiet one and hadn’t said much since they’d arrived last night. At least she smiled and offered a few comments now and then. The children ate their meal in silence. Then Lonnie announced the closing prayer from the kitchen. When they finished praying, the children scattered. The boys had the first use of the limited number of bedrooms upstairs to change, after which the girls had their turn. The men came next. By that time, the women were done with the dishes and took their turn to change.
Katie changed in Mamm’s bedroom. This was her special privilege of the day as daughter of the bride. Mamm slipped in after Katie was finished and it was a long time before Mamm came out.
Betsy saw Mamm first and gasped in delight.
Katie jumped to her feet to look. She’d seen Mamm’s wedding dress hanging in the closet, but not on Mamm. The dark-blue material glowed in the soft, morning sunlight pouring through the hall window.
“Oh, you’re beautiful, Emma!” Betsy gushed. “Oh my! I shouldn’t be making such a fuss, but this is simply wunderbah.”
“It’s really nothing,” Mamm said, but her face was beaming.
Katie didn’t dare breathe for a moment as the reality hit her. Mamm really was going to marry Jesse Mast, and they really were going to be one big family. Even Mabel couldn’t stop it now.
Betsy grabbed Mamm’s hand. “Come! We have to get to the wedding right away before very many people see you. It’s late enough already. Quick, James, hitch up the buggy. I’m driving Emma over, and the others can come later.”
James smiled as if he were pleased with himself. “I harnessed the horse before I came in for breakfast, so it won’t be long.” He disappeared out the door.
Mamm grabbed her shawl and bonnet, and Katie did the same, following Mamm and Betsy outside. James had the buggy ready and stood waiting by the horse’s head, his hand on the bridle and his smile wide.
Katie climbed in the back, and Emma and Betsy climbed into the front seat. James slapped the horse on the neck, and they were off, heading to Bishop Miller’s place where the ceremony would be held and the noon meal served. Mamm had debated long and hard about having the wedding ceremony at the home place. But everything would have been cramped in either the barn or the house, so she had finally decided against the plan. There would simply not be enough room even though it was to be a small wedding.
Mamm didn’t say anything on the drive over, and Betsy concentrated on driving. When they arrived at Bishop Miller’s place, Mamm said, “I’m going to faint, I think.”
“No you’re not!” Betsy asserted, patting Mamm’s arm. Betsy smiled as heads turned toward them. She continued to drive past the sidewalk and out to the barn. There one of the boys came running.
“Gut morning!” he greeted them.
“Gut morning,” Katie and Mamm replied together as they climbed out of the buggy. The boy took the horse’s reins and motioned toward the house. “Go on in. I’ll take care of your horse and buggy.”
“Thank you!” Betsy sa
id climbing down. Mamm, Betsy, and Katie walked to the house. Mamm immediately disappeared upstairs. Ten minutes later Jesse arrived in a new black suit. He too vanished up the stairs. Katie kept watch by the kitchen window, and when Margaret and Sharon arrived with Esther, she met them at the front door to make sure they felt welcome.
The line of men beside the barn moved toward the bishop’s pole barn a few minutes before nine, when the service was scheduled to begin. Katie followed the women when they filed out. She was just sitting down when Mamm and Jesse walked out of the house. Katie held her breath for a moment, soaking in the sight of Mamm and Jesse coming toward them. Even Mabel, seated in the second row of girls, watched the couple with a hint of a smile on her face.
Mamm and Jesse moved with slow steps and took their seats in chairs up front. The singing began. At the second line of the first stanza, the ministers all stood. Bishop Miller led the way to the house. Mamm and Jesse followed them to receive their last-minute marriage instructions. What instructions Mamm and Jesse needed was hard to imagine since they’d both been happily married. But perhaps the ministers would offer advice on how to help all the children get along.
Katie closed her eyes and sang along with the rest as they waited for Mamm and Jesse’s return. When they came back, Katie kept her eyes glued on Mamm and Jesse for a long time, and then she turned her attention to the preacher as the service progressed. The minutes ticked past, the hands seeming to turn slowly on the face of the clock hung on the pole barn wall. Suddenly ten minutes of twelve arrived! Mamm and Jesse stood up and answered yah to the marriage vows when Bishop Miller indicated.
Katie pressed back her tears as the bishop joined the newlyweds’ hands and said they were now husband and wife before the eyes of God and man. Katie glanced down the row of girls and caught a glimpse of Mabel’s face. She was actually smiling! What a miracle! Katie bowed her head and whispered a quick prayer. “Thank You, dear Hah, for this moment. Thank You for being so gut to us. I want to trust You for what lies ahead—even with Mabel and her feelings about Mamm and me.”
Katie Opens Her Heart Page 26