Heart in Hand: Stitches in Time Series #3

by Barbara Cameron

  Sarah Rose had finished the treat and was looking longingly at the freezer. Did she have a hollow leg? Then he chuckled to himself. Maybe there is something of me in my daughter after all, he thought, and hustled her upstairs before she could persuade him to give her another treat.

  8

  Naomi made a beautiful bride, dressed in sky blue as she stood beside Nick at their wedding.

  Anna sat watching them exchange their vows, and she wondered if anyone else thought of their own as they watched.

  She felt a slight movement and turned to look at her grandmother in the next row of seats. Leah glanced at her as she did and smiled. When she turned to her left, she found Mary Katherine blinking back tears. Her cousin slipped her hand into Anna’s and squeezed it. Nothing was said, but the gesture spoke volumes.

  Her wedding had been the happiest day of her life. She’d lain awake for hours thinking about how she and Samuel would never be separated again. While she might have been younger than her parents wanted her to be when she married, they had been as convinced as she that Samuel was indeed the man God had set aside just for her. Kind, steady, generous. Thoughtful. He’d been the boy she’d had her first crush on and grown into the kind of man everyone loved.

  Other girls had wanted him, but Samuel had eyes only for her. She’d worn a blue dress the color of the sky at twilight, Samuel’s favorite color on her.

  Samuel had drawn her outside that day as soon as he could and whispered words of love, told her she’d never looked lovelier, and made her blush when he said he couldn’t wait to get her alone.

  He’d had to wait a long time, though. An Amish wedding day began before the sun came up with the same daily chores as any other day, followed by a quick, simple breakfast often no more than a quickly grabbed cup of coffee and a piece of bread or whatever was at hand. Guests began arriving at the house soon after, and the wedding—three hours just like a regular every-other-week church service—began at 8:30 a.m.

  No wonder Samuel had been so ready to eat. Of course, all the aromas of food that had been prepared in the house and been kept warm waiting for the ceremony to end hadn’t helped. Roast chicken with filling was one of his favorites although there were so many weddings in the fall after harvest everyone would be heartily sick of the dish by Christmas. Her mother might have suggested that Anna and Samuel wait another year before they married, but she’d been the one to quietly plant the celery that was a staple at Lancaster County weddings.

  She’d grown celery this season, too, in between some corn, so that it couldn’t be seen and start rumors there was an engagement. Naomi’s mother still had to be careful of overdoing after her heart attack.

  When those seated around her stood and voices lifted in song, Anna realized that she’d been daydreaming a bit. She stood and sang along, loving the sound of Mary Katherine’s clear soprano. Weaving wasn’t the only thing her cousin did well. That baby she’d be having would love being soothed by her lullabies.

  Naomi and Nick sat while a visiting bishop stood to tell the story they had all heard many times. Anna knew the story well and had enjoyed hearing it before. Nearly ninety and frail, he had a stern look about him until he looked out at the congregation.

  It was a story she’d heard before, but today, at the spiritual joining of two of her favorite people, the telling seemed new and fresh and caught her attention.

  “Many of you may know by now that Linda is my second wife,” he said, and almost as one being, the congregants nodded.

  “My first wife was young and died giving birth prematurely,” he said solemnly. “And my son died a day later. I thought that my life was over. But God showed me that it wasn’t, that I had to have faith in His will, and two years later, He sent the woman He created and set aside for me, my Linda. This month we celebrate fifty years together.”

  Was God sending her the message that He had a plan for her? That He had set aside another mann for her so that she would walk through the rest of her life knowing a beloved partner’s love and spiritual support?

  Several people around her shifted—three hours on a hard wooden bench weren’t easy, after all. But Anna became aware of something else that caught her attention. The hair prickled on the back of her neck . . . she thought she saw movement in the periphery of her vision. A slight turn of her head and she was staring into Gideon’s eyes.

  She looked away quickly, uncomfortable with him possibly guessing her reaction to the bishop’s story. It was, after all, her business, and she also didn’t know how she felt about seeing more of him. She just didn’t know how she felt about taking that step with him.

  There was a quiet rustling at the back of the room as Sadie carried her fussy baby into the bedroom to feed it. Anna watched Mary Katherine’s gaze follow her, watched as her cousin’s lips curved into a smile. Her gaze moved on, and as it did, Anna followed it, curious but not surprised when it landed on Jacob.

  When he smiled at her as if nothing existed but her, Anna’s heart turned over. They were going to have a boppli; she was sure of it. When Mary Katherine glanced back, Anna looked away, feeling guilty as if she’d invaded their privacy. But it was so hard not to jump for joy.

  She wondered why they hadn’t told the family yet and, in the next moment, decided it must have been because they’d just found out—or because they didn’t want to take any attention from Naomi and her wedding. Anna suspected it was the second; it was just like Mary Katherine to think of others.

  Her grandmother sat in the next row, and Anna tilted her head, studying her. Something was different. Her grandmother gazed in the direction of Naomi and Nick, but it seemed that her attention turned inward.

  Was she remembering her own wedding day? She’d shown Anna her own wedding dress—a midnight blue, darker than Anna’s. Blue was a favorite color for brides in the community, and when she held it up before her, Anna had seen how the color had favored her grandmother’s fair skin. Actually, it wasn’t the color so much as the way her skin warmed and her eyes grew gentle and far away as she talked about the day she’d married her husband.

  She heard sniffling and saw Jenny Bontrager wiping her nose with a tissue. When she realized Anna watched her, she shrugged and mouthed, “Weddings!”

  People always said that the wedding couple never looked happier, but it was true of Naomi and Nick. Their journey to walking together to stand before the congregation and take their vows hadn’t been easy, Anna thought. Naomi had fallen in love with a man who said he loved her but hurt her with his words and his hands. She had believed she had to stay with him—if God had put them together, then she needed to prove her love and keep trying to stay together.

  Her cousins, her grandmother and even Nick had tried to convince her otherwise. In the end, Naomi finally realized that love wasn’t supposed to come with battered emotions and her love being used against her to manipulate her to John’s will.

  Nick had started off being their driver and became their friend, then a close personal friend. And then slowly, showing he cared for her and not for his own selfish reasons, he’d become more . . . he’d become the man who loved her and wanted to protect her.

  Naomi and Nick were pronounced man and wife and turned to walk back down the aisle. And the journey continued.

  Tables groaned under the weight of all the food.

  Later in the month, some might complain that they were tired of roast chicken and filling after so many post-harvest weddings, but for now, they were eagerly anticipating the meal. Vegetables that many in the congregation had planted, nurtured, and harvested accompanied the chicken. Celery both raw and creamed was often served at the wedding meal here in Lancaster County.

  And desserts by the dozens scented the air with sugar and spice.

  Jenny nudged Anna as she helped serve. “Look over there.”

  Hannah’s youngest, an angelic little girl, stood in front of the cake table, gazing with wonder at the wedding cake. Anna turned to glance over at Hannah and tilted her head
at the child. Hannah’s smile became a grimace as her daughter swiped her finger through the icing at the bottom of the cake and popped it into her mouth. Just as she did, she caught sight of her mother and bolted from the room.

  With a sigh, Hannah picked up a knife and a napkin and went to repair the slight damage. Then she headed in the direction her daughter had gone.

  Anna and Mary Katherine looked at each other, and then, hard as they tried, they couldn’t keep from laughing.

  Leah walked up and wanted to know what they were laughing about. Mary Katherine was telling her, and then Anna saw that Gideon had walked into the room. Her smile faded, and she looked away before he could catch her staring.

  “Are you allrecht?” her grandmother asked quietly.

  Anna nodded, careful to keep her eyes on her.

  “Has something happened between you and Gideon?”

  “It’s—not going to start,” she said finally.

  “Let’s have something to eat,” Leah said.

  “But I’m helping—”

  “There’s plenty of help, and there’ll be more opportunities all day.”

  Anna sighed and nodded. They got their plates and then sat at a table that had been set up after the ceremony was over.

  “You looked like you were lost in thought during part of the wedding,” Anna said, hoping to start the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go. Couples kept matters of the heart private. Not that she and Gideon were a couple . . .

  “I did think about something else for a few moments,” Leah admitted. “Mmm, try the green beans that Ruth brought.”

  “The wedding made me think of my grandfather. Your Ben, I mean.”

  Leah set down her fork. “Really? You weren’t at our wedding.”

  Anna laughed and then she sobered. “Of course not. It just made me think of how you’ve never married again.”

  “Nee. I haven’t.” Leah stared off into the distance again. “God never sent me another mann. He—” she stopped and shook her head.

  “He?”

  Leah shook her head. “Nothing.”

  Thoughtful, Anna stirred her mashed potatoes. “Are you sorry?”

  “Sorry? I wasn’t happy at first,” Leah admitted. “But I grew to be content.” She eyed Anna. “But it hasn’t happened for you yet, has it, kind? It doesn’t take the same amount of time for everyone, does it?”

  “I’m fine,” Anna assured her quickly.

  “More coffee?” one of the servers asked her.

  “Danki,” she replied and held up her cup.

  “No more for me,” Anna said. “Danki.”

  Leah smiled at the server and watched her move on. “You were thinking about your grandfather Ben because you wondered if I missed him? Or because we both lost our husbands at a young age?”

  It wasn’t a surprising question since Anna had wondered if others thought of their own weddings or the weddings of someone dear to them. “I did think of Samuel. Who wouldn’t at a time like that?”

  She straightened. “But I thought about him today because—” she stopped, biting her lower lip.

  “You don’t have to be careful of what you say to me,” Leah told her. “You know that.”

  Anna looked at Naomi and Nick sitting at the eck, the corner of the table reserved for the bride and groom.

  “I just wondered what might have happened if he hadn’t died. You know, how different life might have been for you.”

  She took a deep breath. “And for Mary Katherine and Naomi and me.”

  “How so?”

  “I guess I wondered whether you hadn’t needed to support yourself if Mary Katherine, Naomi, and I would have ended up helping you with the shop. If we’d ended up doing the things we do—the weaving, the quilting, the knitting in the shop.”

  “Interesting thought, eh?” Leah asked, and Anna watched as a smile bloomed on her face. “I’ve often wondered myself. I think I might still have done so. He always encouraged me in what I wanted to do. I’d like to think that he would have urged me to do more after our kinner were grown.”

  Anna wanted to talk to her more but now wasn’t the time. The usual games and activities were about to start.

  “You didn’t eat much,” Leah remarked as she looked at Anna’s plate.

  “Don’t worry. All we’ll do today is eat.”

  “True. Oh, there’s Fannie. I think I’ll go see how her mother’s doing in the hospital if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. Leave your plate. I’m going to take yours and mine to the kitchen and help with cleaning up.”

  Before she could rise, someone walked up to her and stood there. She looked up . . . and up . . . Gideon was staring at her intently.

  “Are you enjoying the day?” he asked politely.

  “Very much,” she responded just as politely, wondering if men did the same thing. “You?”

  Gideon glanced at Naomi and Nick receiving hugs from their friends. Some of the newhockers, the single attendants, were laughing and gathering around the bride and groom.

  He turned back to look at her, and in his eyes she didn’t see the past, with memories of his wedding to his late wife, but the present, and a question about the future with her. He obviously wanted an answer to the question he’d asked the other day: if she would be interested in seeing him.

  Terror was the last thing she’d have imagined she’d feel.

  She’d felt indecision, some trepidation, maybe even some awkwardness about once again being involved with a man who wasn’t her childhood sweetheart. But terror? Never.

  She got to her feet so quickly that she bumped the table, and he quickly reached out to steady it.

  “I have to get to the kitchen to help,” she said, gathering the dishes and flatware. “Nice to see you again.”

  “But—” she heard him begin as she rushed to the kitchen.

  “Everything all right?”

  Mary Katherine had been standing at the kitchen door, and her gaze went past Anna’s shoulder.

  “Fine,” Anna said.

  Apparently, she denied it too quickly because Mary Katherine’s eyes narrowed.

  “Did Gideon say something upsetting?” she asked, her hands on her hips.

  “What, are you going to be a mama tiger and go after him for me?”

  Laughing, Mary Katherine shook her head. “I can’t imagine Gideon doing or saying anything that you need protection from.”

  Just my heart, Anna thought, and surprised herself.

  “On the other hand, I found it hard to believe at first that John could hurt Naomi,” she heard Mary Katherine mutter before looking back at Anna.

  Her emotions about what Gideon had said were too new, too private to share even with her cousin who had always felt like a sister to her. She wanted to go home, think about that startling emotion that she’d never felt before. Life with Samuel had been one of joy and happiness but also of contentment and serenity.

  Gideon and terror. That seemed cause for backing away.

  Running, even.

  She was grateful for the time in the kitchen. She didn’t have to think. She didn’t have to feel. The other women were chatting around her, with her. Weddings were joyful, daylong occasions where the whole community got involved helping with cooking and cleaning and sharing the joy of the day.

  “I love weddings here,” Jenny told her as she handed Anna a dish to dry. “It’s like the forever thing is expected, not hoped for.”

  “The what?” Anna asked, puzzled.

  “You know, that you expect to be together forever.”

  “Don’t the Englisch expect that?”

  “Well, yes, but I don’t think these days they believe it so much.” Jenny stopped, and her forehead crinkled in thought. “They even toss around this supposed statistic that half of all marriages end in divorce. I looked it up. One out of eight isn’t as good as I’d like to see it, but it sure isn’t half end in divorce.”

  She shook her head and glanc
ed around. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t even be talking like this on such a day.”

  “Mamm? Daedi said please come look at Johnny. He says his tummy hurts.”

  Jenny wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Probably just ate too much cake. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Emma moved into place at the sink and began washing dishes, rinsing them, and handing them to Anna to dry.

  “She’s something else,” said Emma.

  “Excuse me?”

  “That Jenny.” Emma rubbed at something stuck on the plate until Anna thought she’d rub off a hole in it. “Did you see what she brought today? The mashed potatoes were lumpy, and the cake was lopsided.”

  “Well, to be fair, that’s how you know the potatoes aren’t from a box,” Anna told her, drying a plate and putting it into the cupboard. “The lumps tell you that the potatoes are fresh, not flakes from a box.”

  “You’d think she’d be better by now,” Emma responded. She glanced at Waneta, who nodded. “Maybe if she didn’t spend so much time writing—”

  “Did you ever think maybe she’s doing the best she can?”

  Everyone turned to see Sarah Rose standing in the doorway, arms folded across her chest, a scowl on her face.

  “And she writes good stories, about kids who need people to help them. I read one of them. I liked it.”

  She spun on her heel and ran from them.

  “Well, wait until I tell her father about that behavior!” Emma huffed.

  Anna set the plate she’d been drying on the counter and tossed the dishcloth on top of it. “I’m going to go talk to her.”

  “Oh?” Emma perked up, her eyes avid on Anna. “So you’re seeing her father?”

  Her breath caught in her throat. Anna started to respond sharply, and then she remembered her manners. Even if Emma had none. She took a deep breath and counted to ten, and when she thought she could be polite, she smiled at her.

  “No,” she said. “Although that sort of thing is private, Emma.”

  She left the room and went in search of Sarah Rose.