by Tricia Goyer
“Noah.” His name spouted from her lips. “I can guess…well, um.” She lifted her face to the breeze, trying to gather her thoughts. “Why don’t we talk about that…our relationship…after—”
“After the pie shop is done,” he interrupted. He nodded with determination on his face, as if trying to agree that was the right thing to do.
That wasn’t what she’d intended to say, but she couldn’t correct him. Worry filled his eyes, and she didn’t like it. She wanted to see the laughter and smiles of just moments ago. She forced a smile.
“Yes, after the pie shop is done,” she agreed, telling herself there would be plenty of time to talk about other things. The pie shop would be opened in a few weeks if everything played out right.
Still the questions nagged her. Why wouldn’t he just tell her? What was he hiding?
Noah pulled out their picnic lunch and took out two sandwiches from the bag. “My mem will be disappointed when I tell her we’re not going to be published anytime soon.”
Heat rose on her cheeks. So she wasn’t the only one who thought about that. To be published was to tell the world that a wedding was coming, but again that wasn’t something they needed to think about now. It was too soon. They had so much to learn about each other, more than their interest in the pie shop.
“There’s only one way Mem’s ever going to forgive me for telling her that we’re taking things more slowly than she’d like.”
“Oh, yes? What’s that?” Lovina asked, pulling some homemade cookies from the bag.
“If you share your recipe for shoofly pie. She’s been in search of the perfect recipe since I can remember. And Mem thinks you might have the one.”
“I do make a good shoofly. Maybe I should make it for you some time.”
“I’d like that, Lovina.” He lifted her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. “I love everything about you…and the pie is just a bonus. Remind me to write down the recipe when we get back, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Shoofly Pie
1 cup flour
⅔ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup hot water
1 cup cane molasses
1 egg
1 unbaked pie shell
Preheat oven to 400°. Mix flour, brown sugar, and butter with a fork until crumbly. Measure out half the crumbs and set aside. Dissolve soda in water. Add molasses and egg, then stir into half of the crumbs. Pour into crust and sprinkle remaining crumbs on top. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325° and bake an additional 30 minutes.
Twenty-Three
A family that works together grows together.
AMISH PROVERB
Lovina walked into the quilt shop and glanced around. She didn’t see Joy and wondered if she was early. Instead, an older woman sat behind the counter. Although Lovina had never met her before, Lovina had heard enough about Elizabeth Beiler from Joy to feel as if she had.
Elizabeth waved her forward. “You must be Lovina. I can tell. You are so pretty like your sister.”
“I—I am Lovina.” She smiled as she walked up to the woman, certain the woman needed new glasses. “But I don’t believe I look much like Joy.” Joy had a beautiful face and the same honey blonde colored hair as Hope.
“Of course you do!” the woman insisted. “You have the same large, round brown eyes. And those cheekbones.”
Lovina blushed. She opened her mouth and closed it again, not knowing what to say. Yes, she was certain now this woman needed to get her eyes checked.
“Now I know that we Plain people aren’t supposed to be prideful, but the Good Book also says we’re supposed to speak the truth. I think it’ll be a wonderful thing to have your pie shop open. It’ll draw people together, like things used to be.”
“Like things used to be?” Lovina asked.
“I’ve been coming to Pinecraft since I was just a boppli. There used to be a large boardinghouse just down the street. It was filled with small rooms and a common kitchen. I’d watch my mother and her friends cooking together and doing laundry together, but one of my favorite things was watching them make pies. Five or six women would be lined up at the long kitchen counter, rolling out the crusts. They’d be chatting with each other and chatting with all those gathered in the room watching. Joy said you were going to have an open area in your pie shop where the young women could do just that. It’ll be a true blessing not only for those enjoying the pie, but those making it. In the Amish community, ladies sew together and cook together for weddings, but something just seems right about making pies side by side.” Elizabeth’s eyes twinkled as she spoke.
The bell on the door jingled and Joy strode in. “I’m so sorry I’m late, but I stopped by the pie shop. When I was looking over my figures, one of the window measurements looked off. Gut thing I checked. Atlee helped me, and I’d written the measurements down wrong. The curtains would have been far too—”
“Atlee, is it?” Elizabeth jumped in.
“Oh dear, Lizzy.” Joy placed her notebook and pencil on the table and crossed her arms over her chest. “I know you’d like nothing more than to see me fall in love with a handsome Amish boy, but I’m afraid no one has caught my fancy yet.” Joy leaned forward, placed her hands on the counter, and smiled. “But I’m going to volunteer to work in the pie shop at least a few days a week once it opens. It seems like the perfect place to meet a bachelor. And when I meet him I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
The older women laughed, and Lovina settled down on a chair next to Elizabeth. Lovina looked up at her sister. “So, are you going to tell me what the surprise is? I almost couldn’t sleep last night from thinking about it.” That was partly the truth. The other part was replaying her day at the beach with Noah.
“Ja, as soon as Grace shows up I’ll tell you about it.” Joy looked at the clock. “She’s a little bit late. I think you’re going to like what we’ve come up with.”
They chatted about Joy’s newest quilting project, and a few minutes later Grace strode in. Even though Grace was the youngest of them, she always carried herself with confidence. She wore a light pink dress today, and she held a binder pressed to her chest. Lovina noticed it was filled to the brim.
“I’m sorry I’m late! I’m so excited about what I have to show you.” She settled in and flipped open the binder. “I’ve printed up a few articles about Pinecraft online at the library. The New York Times called it a time warp.” Grace cleared her throat. “ ‘White bungalows and honeybell orange trees line streets named after Amish families: Kaufman, Schrock, Yoder,’ ” she read.
Lovina nodded as she listened. She didn’t know where Grace’s mind was going with this, but her youngest sister was smart and capable. Lovina knew she’d get to the point.
“A few weeks ago, I was looking over some of the reclaimed furniture Noah is using and the plans he drew up, based on your ideas,” Grace said. “As I did, the phrase time-warp kept running through my mind. I like the simple feel of many of the Amish restaurants and bakeries I’ve been to, but this is Pinecraft. People are a little bit more free here. I don’t think you should shy away from decorations, like most Amish do. In fact, I think you should add more old items and more color. With a touch of vintage too.”
“Vintage?” Lovina asked. “Are you talking about filling my new shop with old stuff?”
“Not just any old stuff, but good old stuff, like those lovely bowls Noah got you,” Grace continued, turning to a page in her binder of vintage dishes. “I was talking to one of the librarians and I found out that Amish blue Pyrex bowls are very popular. People are collecting them, and look at the fabric we found.” Grace looked over at Joy. Her eyes sparkled as they prepared for the big reveal.
Joy moved behind the store counter and pulled out a bag with fabric. She pulled out three bolts and laid them side by side. “This first is called Pyrex butterprint. The Amish butterprint design is on bowls, butter dishes,
and all types of things. Just like on many of the dishes that Noah bought you. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Lovina looked at the unbleached fabric that was made of white and teal alternating squares. In the squares were the same images on the bowl that Noah had given her: the stalks of wheat and wheat bundles, the rooster, and the Amish couple.
Lovina smiled. It seemed just right. “You found this for the pie shop?”
Joy clapped her hands together with excitement. “Ja, I thought that would make lovely tablecloths and linens for the display tables. And we found this for curtains.”
Joy glanced over to Elizabeth as she put the second bolt on top. This one had a repeating pattern of aqua berries with teal leaves. The aqua was the same color as the Pyrex pattern. It was also the same color as the water on Siesta Key’s beach.
Lovina sucked in a breath. “I love it. It’s perfect!”
Grace nodded in agreement. “Yes, these are the same colors, but a different style. And then we’ll make cloth napkins.”
Lovina looked at Joy. “Cloth napkins?”
“Ja, doesn’t that sound homey?” Joy said. She pointed to two more similar patterns on a second bolt, one of them with a spot of pink. “Cloth napkins remind one of home, and they’re eco-friendly too.”
Lovina looked at her sisters, seeing them differently than she’d ever seen them before. She’d always seen Joy hard at work on quilts or other sewing projects, but she’d never taken much time to ask what she was working on. She hadn’t known her sister was so passionate about fabrics. She hadn’t seen how creative and artistic she was.
She had also seen Grace reading the newspapers and business books, and now it was all making sense. Grace lived within an Amish community, but she also worked hard to understand the culture beyond.
Lovina knew that Grace’s goal was to help Amish men and women get their handiwork into the larger marketplace, benefiting families—many of whom could no longer depend on farming for an income. And seeing her sister’s excitement over connecting a business with the marketplace got Lovina excited too.
“I don’t know what to say,” Lovina gushed. “I think my customers are going to love it.” Warmth filled her chest and flowed through her, and she realized again how God was providing for every one of her needs.
“Isn’t this perfect?” Grace ran her hand over the fabric. “The teal and white are so popular around Pinecraft, and it matches the Amish motif on the dishes. It perfectly unites vintage with Amish, and the colors will make the place so inviting.”
“I love how God uses all our talents for His common good,” Elizabeth said, “don’t you?”
Lovina nodded. For so long she’d dreamed alone, but not anymore. “I can’t wait to see everything when it’s done. It brings me such relief. It also makes me realize that this pie shop is so much bigger than just pie.”
“God works in mysterious ways,” Elizabeth said with joy in her voice, fingering the cloth. “God asked me to pray for that warehouse years ago. I’m thankful that He kept me around to see His good work. I’m reminded of a verse,” Elizabeth continued. “ ‘His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.’ ”
The woman paused, and then looked to them. “That was from Lamentations.”
Lovina smiled at the woman, and she couldn’t help but think of her grandmother. She suspected that God Himself had given her those words.
Pyrex Amish Butterprint Pattern
The tradition of stamping butter started in the late nineteenth century. Butter makers marked their butter with their initials or an emblem such as a sheaf of wheat, a cow, or a beehive. After butter was measured to the right amount the stamp mold was dipped in cold water to prevent its sticking to the lump and then pressed firmly upon the butter, leaving a raised impression of the stamp.
Twenty-Four
To grow old gracefully you must start when you are young.
AMISH PROVERB
The lights were dim when Lovina got to the warehouse the next morning—not the bright work lights she was used to. It was quiet too. Much too quiet. Her head tilted, and she hurried to the door.
Everything was clean. The sawdust and scraps of lumber had been picked up. The wooden pot rack for the kitchen that Noah had been working on leaned against the far wall. And there, in the middle of the floor, an old quilt was laid out, but no one was in sight.
“Noah?” she called out. She stepped closer to the blanket and noticed a picnic basket sitting beside a wooden box. A bow was on the top of the box, and suddenly she knew.
A smile curled on her lips. Somebody had spilled the beans on what today was.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Lovina turned as Noah hurried through the doorway. He held two forks in his right hand.
“I almost made it.” He chuckled and held up the forks. “I almost remembered everything.”
She twirled one of her kapp strings around her finger. “Everything?”
“Everything for your birthday breakfast.” He stepped forward and reached for her hand. She placed her right hand in his left one. He gently squeezed it. “Happy birthday, Lovina.”
Outside a gentle rain began to fall, splattering on the windows and on the sidewalk, but it just made the inside seem cozier. Noah moved to the quilt and sat cross-legged. He patted the blanket beside him.
Lovina walked to the quilt and sank to her knees. A sweet, yeasty aroma met her. “Is that what I think it is?”
He reached into a paper bag. “If you’re thinking it’s hot cinnamon rolls from Yoder’s restaurant, you’re right.” He opened the bag and placed it before her. “And a little birdie told me your favorite drink is the raspberry sweet tea.”
He handed her a Styrofoam cup, and she reached for it. “Ja, and I’ll have to thank my sister Faith. It helps to have someone on the inside.”
His smiled faded as she said those words. She laughed to let him know she was telling a joke.
“I was talking about inside Yoder’s. Not inside like prison or anything.”
“I didn’t think you were talking about that…well, not completely.” He opened his mouth as if to tell her something, and then he closed it again. “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about…but later. Not today.”
She studied his face. The smile was still there, but he wore a guarded expression. She could tell something was bothering him, but she didn’t want to press.
Her stomach growled and she looked to the bag. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He reached into the bag, and she thought how this was the first birthday gift she’d ever received, other than homemade cards or small tokens from her family. She liked the thought of celebrating her birthdays with Noah. Of growing old together. In her mind’s eye she pictured him older, but with the same wide, excited smile she saw now, and she liked the idea of that.
He took a napkin from the pile and placed a large cinnamon roll on it. It smelled heavenly. He lowered his head to say a silent prayer, and she followed his lead. She thanked God for this man sitting in front of her. Thanked Him for this chance to feel so special, so cared for.
She ate the roll with flourish and was licking off her fingers when she looked up to see Noah watching her.
“There’s something else too, Lovina.” He reached into the bag of cinnamon rolls and pulled out a small white box with a bow, handing it to her. “There are smudges of frosting on it. I hope you don’t mind.”
She wiped off the biggest clump of frosting with a swipe of her finger. “Not at all.”
Gingerly she opened the box. Her breath caught as she noticed the small conch shell inside. She took it out and placed it on her open palm, holding it up.
“Do you remember where we got that?”
“Of course. At the beach.”
“Ja, and then you tossed it aside. I rescued it because I wanted to remember.”
“Remember?”
“Th
e moment I realized I loved you.”
She swallowed down her emotion and dared to look into his eyes. “You do?”
His gaze stayed on hers, and the slightest blush colored his cheeks. “In spite of what you think, Lovina, I’m doing this for more than just the pie. Even more than just a place to put these teens to good use and to show them the value of being part of a community.” He shrugged. “Of course it didn’t start that way.”
She wagged a finger at him. “I know, I know. You saw me enter this place and knew you wanted to spend your life with me from the start.” She let that word love swirl around in her mind and knew he meant it. All this—all he’d done for her on this picnic basket and in this place showed it. No, Noah wasn’t just here for the pie.
She considered telling him that she loved him too. Or at least that was what her pounding heart and swirling thoughts told her. Still, she hesitated. How could she claim to love someone she didn’t know completely? She wanted to confess her love, but Noah Yoder had some confessing to do first.
When is he going to tell me what’s burdening his heart? And will it change things? Will it change us?
Noah rose up on his knees, and she was certain he was going to kiss her. He scooted forward and his arms wrapped around her, snuggling her close. His arms were strong, muscular around her, and tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. Tears of happiness. Tears of being accepted by him. She didn’t even know that was possible. She expected this for her sisters, but never herself.
In a way, being held like this was even more powerful than a kiss. Her whole life she’d wondered what kissing a man would be like. She’d never realized how special it would be to be held in a loving embrace. His love was more than just a physical attraction. He was protecting her, holding her up. She snuggled closer and placed her cheek against his chest, hearing his heartbeat. The moment was intimate in a way she hadn’t expected, and Lovina closed her eyes, taking it all in.