“Nee, it was.” Taking a deep breath, Rebecca forced herself to share what she was really thinking. “Maybe teaching isn’t for me. Maybe I need to listen to my brother and be happy with what I have—a good job with our family’s business.”
Darla chuckled. “As much as I would like to say Lukas is always right, we both know that ain’t the case.”
Josephine brought Rebecca a generous slice of apple cake and coffee and freshened Darla’s cup.
Rebecca took a fortifying sip, then added two heaping spoonfuls of sugar and a liberal dose of cream. “Does Lukas know that you talk like this about him?”
She was teasing, of course. Lukas loved Darla, and pretty much always had. But as far as she knew, Darla had always been a proponent of everything Lukas said and did. So, to hear Darla offer a quip like that was a little off-putting.
“I’ve known my husband almost as long as you have, Becky. We’ve also locked horns a time or two. Or twenty. Bickering seems to work for us.”
“I know.” It was odd, but Darla and Lukas did seem to thrive on teasing each other and debating most everything.
Rebecca had never wanted a relationship like that. No, if she ever found the right man, she was sure he was going to be easygoing and calm. And kind, too.
Suddenly, she found herself thinking about Jacob Yoder again. He was tall and handsome, but didn’t come across as imposing. Instead, he had seemed like he would be easy to talk to. He had certainly been easy to look at.
Slightly appalled by the direction of her thoughts, she turned to gaze out the window. Given her track record, she wondered if she was even destined to have a relationship. So far, none of the men she’d casually dated had struck any kind of spark.
To be fair, she didn’t think the problem had as much to do with the men as with herself. Though she’d never dared admit it to anyone, Rebecca’s heart and soul had taken a tumble over the years. It wasn’t easy to lose both parents. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, her little brother, Levi, had left Charm, saying he needed a couple of months to mourn and adjust to all the changes that had taken place in their family.
She understood but she’d also taken his leaving hard. It was starting to feel like the people she loved weren’t going to stick around anymore.
Sipping her coffee, she wondered how to admit all of that, and if she even should, when she noticed Darla’s posture completely change. Honestly, it was as if a light bulb had just illuminated inside her.
“Ah, here comes Lukas,” Darla said with a smile.
On cue, the door to the café swung open and in walked Rebecca’s big brother.
Even though she was his sister, Rebecca didn’t wonder why Darla lit up when she saw him. Lukas Kinsinger was eye-catching. Over six feet tall, he was finely muscled and sported clear bluish-gray eyes, closely cropped strawberry-blond hair, and a constant tan. He was handsome, very handsome.
But what really was mesmerizing was his take-charge personality. Lukas was the type of man who led others. He was confident and cool and never let anyone tell him what to do. He was a natural-born leader, and people loved to follow him. They always had.
Except maybe petite Darla. She loved to banter with him.
“Hiya, Darla,” he murmured. “Sorry I’m late. A couple of managers were having some problems. I needed to stay around and help as much as I could.”
Darla beamed. “I understand. Plus, I got to have a moment to chat with Rebecca.”
Turning to her, Lukas nodded his head. “Hey, Becky. It’s gut to see ya . . . but I thought you were going to go back to work after you volunteered at the school?”
“I was on my way when I saw Darla through the window. I stopped in to say hello, then decided to keep her company until you got here.” Though that wasn’t really the truth, she knew Lukas wouldn’t point out that Josephine’s Café was in the opposite direction of the mill.
“I’m glad she did, too,” Darla said. “I wanted to hear about her time at the school.”
“Did it go all right?” Lukas asked.
“Jah,” Rebecca answered with a tiny wink Darla’s way. There was no way she was going to admit all the problems she had to Lukas. He’d try to make her stop volunteering. “Well enough.”
“Oh. Gut.” Turning back to his wife, Lukas softened his tone. “You ready to go home now? We should probably give Amelia a hand.” Turning to Rebecca, he said, “I think she was going to make some casseroles for the Wood family this afternoon. They have new twins, you know.”
Darla immediately got to her feet. “Of course. Maybe we can even deliver the casseroles for her, or I can work on supper so she can get some time out of the house.”
“Either option sounds good, Darla. Whatever you and Amelia want to do.” Glancing in Rebecca’s direction, his voice turned no-nonsense again. “Becky, I left a stack of invoices and letters. Could you take care of the most urgent ones before you go home?”
“Sure. I’ll ask Josephine to wrap my snack to go.”
“Danke. Don’t worry about paying. I’ll take care of it.”
After claiming a white paper bag and to-go cup from Jo, Rebecca was on her way. “See you later.” She took two steps toward the door before she turned around. “Hey, Luke? Who’s in charge this afternoon?” She hated asking that. A year ago, their father had always been in charge. More recently, Levi had been in charge when Lukas left for the day. Now other men outside the family had started to step in.
“Simon.” His voice was noticeably cooler, illustrating that he, too, was having just as hard a time with their brother’s abrupt departure from Charm.
“Danke. All right, then. I’m off to the mill,” she called out as she rushed through the door.
There was a very good possibility that she was going to be working late tonight. She didn’t mind, though. Actually, she was starting to think that maybe she needed the reminder of what was constant in her life.
Her parents might have died far too young, her brother might have taken off with little notice for parts unknown, and she might not necessarily like being around men who worked for her brother and were therefore undatable—but she could count on her job. And that, she was discovering in her upside-down life, meant a whole lot.
Chapter 2
That same day
Jacob’s father greeted him and Lilly at the door with a bright smile. “So, how did your visit to your new school go?”
Before Jacob could give his perspective, Lilly shrugged. “It went fine. We filled out some paperwork and answered some questions. I start tomorrow.”
His daed’s smile dimmed. “Well, how was your teacher?”
“Fine.”
The smile completely vanished. “That tells me nothing, Lilly.”
“I know, but that’s because there wasn’t much to tell. It was just school, Dawdi.”
“Just school? You used to love school.”
“I used to be a lot younger, too.”
His daed folded his arms across his chest and pretended to look put out. “Lilly Yoder, you start talking this minute. Fill me in.”
Hearing his father’s gruff voice made Jacob feel like grinning. Both the tone and the words were classic traits of his busy, inquisitive father. He liked to talk, ask questions, and listen to answers. He also was bossy, but all bark and no bite. People who didn’t know him were a bit afraid of him, but not his children. Or his grandchildren. Lilly—who was usually shy and reserved with most people—became just as bossy whenever she was around him.
Still, though Jacob knew his father’s questions and mannerisms were based in love, he feared that his niece might not feel that way. She had recently lost her parents and been relocated to Charm. For her grandfather to demand answers about something she didn’t want to discuss was a mistake.
“Daed, Lilly is right; there really isn’t too much to share. All the other kids were gone when we got there.”
“That’s too bad. Well, tomorrow will surely be a great day. A wonderful-gut one.”
Lilly shook her head. “Not really, Dawdi. I won’t know anyone. All my friends are back in Berlin.”
“I’m sure in no time you will have made some good friends here, too,” Jacob said. “At least your teacher seems nice.”
“I suppose.” Lilly shifted from one foot to the other. It was obvious she couldn’t wait to escape their company. “I’m going to go to my room now.”
“Not so fast,” Daed ordered.
Jacob inhaled, ready to intervene if his father pushed much harder—or if Lilly’s withdrawn manner veered toward rude. “You’re all grown-up now, but I haven’t seen you all day. Give your poor old grandfather a quick hug before you disappear.”
“You ain’t old, Dawdi,” she said as she gave him a quick hug—and her first real smile since walking in. “You’re perfect.”
“I feel old today,” he said gruffly. “All right then. Go say hello to your mommi before you go hide in your room. She made you cookies.”
After she walked to the kitchen, Daed looked at Jacob. “Sounds like today was tough on Lilly.”
Jacob nodded. “I think it was. I don’t know why she’s not excited about school anymore. She used to love going, but today she looked like she wished she was anywhere else.”
“She’s probably missing her old friends.”
“Maybe, or maybe not. It didn’t feel as if she was only missing friends.” Thinking back to Lilly’s behavior, he said, “It seemed like she didn’t really care about school. Maybe something happened at her old one?”
“Who knows?” Daed frowned. “If something did, Marc and Anne never told me.”
Yet again, Jacob wished he’d stayed in better contact with his older brother. They hadn’t had discussions about anything of worth in years. Then, just two months ago, Marc and Anne had died suddenly in an accident. That had set off a chain of events everyone was still trying to come to terms with. Now, here was Jacob, trying to parent a thirteen-year-old girl whom he’d not only never spent much time with, but had never really gotten to know.
After darting a quick look toward the kitchen, Daed said, “Tell me about the teacher. Who is at the school now?”
“Rachel Mast. Do you know her?”
“Nee. Well, what was she like? Did she seem nice?”
Thinking about Rachel’s sweet personality and white-blond hair, Jacob blurted, “She seemed kind. Young, too. Probably no more than twenty or twenty-one years old. She’s married already.”
Daed smiled. “Sounds like she was snapped up. I married your mamm at eighteen.”
Jacob didn’t even want to go down that road. If he did, his father would take care to remind him that he was twenty-eight. At least once a week, his parents reminded him that it was time to take a wife. Past time. “Anyway, Rachel had a friend who was there volunteering.”
“Oh? And who was that?”
“Rebecca Kinsinger,” he said with a smile. She was a fetching thing, so earnest and wholesome looking, with a tad amount of mischief in her eyes. And that dimple. He never thought he’d be the type of man to notice such things, but he had hardly been able to look away.
His father grinned. “Now, I do know Rebecca. She’s always been a pretty girl. Not as pretty as her sister, of course, but she’s always had a way about her that I’ve found appealing.”
Jacob had thought she was mighty appealing, too. “I thought she was real pretty. And nice.”
“I hope she is nice. After all, my granddaughter needs as many caring people in her life as possible right now.”
Forcing his thoughts back on Lilly, Jacob nodded. “I agree. To be honest, I’m a little worried about her. Lilly hardly said five words to me the whole way here.”
“She’ll come around.” After a moment, he cocked his head and smiled. “Don’t you hear her chatting with your mother? Lilly just needs time and care.”
Jacob crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know how you do it, Daed, but you make parenting look so easy.”
As he always did whenever Jacob gave him a compliment, his father flushed with pleasure while brushing off his words. “Parenting is easy, Jacob. All you have to do is listen, be available, and remain positive.”
Jacob was learning that his father’s simple advice was easier said than done. So far, raising a thirteen-year-old was proving to be anything but easy.
After Marc and Anne’s deaths, Jacob had known he needed to do something. His parents were too old to care for a thirteen-year-old girl. At least, that had been Jacob and his sister Mary’s opinions. Mary had six children of her own with her husband, Bill, and she worried that suddenly being around loud children all the time might be too much for Lilly. She was, after all, an only child.
After talking about it with Mary, Jacob made the decision to move from Pinecraft, Florida, to Charm, Ohio, to help with his parents’ farm and become Lilly’s new guardian. But he soon discovered that good intentions and grand ideas didn’t always lend themselves to successful enterprises. Lilly was still mourning her parents’ deaths, and moving to a new place wasn’t easy.
His parents had given Lilly time to settle into her new room at the farm. She’d been so down about starting at the new school, they’d let her sit out the first few days before enrolling her. But none of those activities had seemed to lift the girl’s spirits.
“I’m trying to be positive, but it’s hard. Most of the time Lilly barely listens to me. I wish she’d try to meet me halfway sometimes.” Of course, the moment those words left his mouth, he regretted them. “Forget I said that. I didn’t mean to sound so uncaring, Daed. I know Lilly is struggling. I’ll get better and learn to be more patient with her.”
His father brushed off his apology with a wave of his hand. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t say anything wrong. You are simply being honest.”
There was honesty, and then there was being a little too harsh with a young girl who had lost so much. “I shouldn’t even be thinking things like that. I know better.”
“Jake. Stop fretting so much. You’re right, the girl has a heap on her plate, but she will bear it. The Lord will make sure of it.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“It’s only been two months. Grief takes time. Always does.”
When he said things like that, it reminded Jacob of just how much he’d missed his parents. He’d missed their wisdom and kindness, and especially the way they easily put everything into perspective. “I know you are right.”
“Nee, we hope and pray I am right. The Lord will help and guide us . . . if we remember to give Him a chance, jah?”
“Jah. I hope and pray Lilly will adjust to her new life soon.”
But instead of receiving more encouragement, this time, his father merely slapped him on the back with a gruff laugh. “Listen to you, son. You are sounding more and more like a father with each passing day. One day our Lilly will realize how much you care about her. Don’t despair; she doesn’t have to like you all the time, she just has to know that you love her.”
“I do love her.” In spite of his doubt about ever being the father his brother was, Jacob smiled. “I’ve told her that, too. So, that’s gut, right?”
“It is good, indeed. Wonderful-gut. As long as that girl knows she’s loved, anything can be overcome.”
Though the words were beautiful, Jacob wondered if they were a bit too simplistic. Lilly had lost both of her parents, been forced to change schools for her final year, and now had only her uncle and a pair of elderly grandparents to rely on. Any one of those things would be hard enough for her to bear. Combined? It would give even the most well-adjusted teenager a difficult time.
However, he wasn’t about to say a word about that. “Danke, Daed. Those are wise words.”
“Of course they are. I’m a wise man,” he said with a wink before shuffling off to the kitchen.
Standing alone in the foyer, Jacob grinned. His father was a wise man, but, it seemed, he was also quite full of himself. He hadn’t changed much, if at
all. Jacob realized suddenly that he wouldn’t want it any other way.
It was good to be home.
Chapter 3
That same day
Alone at last.
After closing the schoolhouse door, Rachel Mast walked back down the row of desks, running a hand along the surface of the wood as she did so. All in all, everything was fairly neat and organized. She already had her lesson plans for the next day neatly written out. All she had to do was record some grades and write the morning activity on the chalkboard. If she hurried, she could grab her tote and purse and start her walk home within the next twenty minutes.
But she wasn’t in a hurry.
Instead, she walked to the gliding rocker in the corner of the room, sat, and leaned back with a smile. At last, she could finally let Agnes’s words settle into her heart. She was going to have a baby.
Rachel had been almost certain that was the case, but today’s appointment with the midwife had confirmed it. In a little less than nine months, she and Marcus were going to have their own family.
Thinking about her husband, she sighed with happiness. Marcus was going to be so happy. Overjoyed.
Though they’d only been married a little more than a year, he’d been open about how much he hoped they’d start their family soon. This wasn’t a surprise. He was ten years older than she was. He’d been courting her ever since her father had given him permission when she was seventeen. It had been a slow courtship, too. For months, she spent only a few hours with him every week. Though she’d been flattered by his attention, she hadn’t been sure that she’d wanted a husband who was so much older than she.
But over three years, he’d proven himself to be everything she ever wanted. He was easy to talk to, handsome and strong, and had a good job. A really good one—he was a team leader over at Kinsinger’s Lumber. He’d also been supportive with her dreams. She’d always wanted to be a schoolteacher. When the position at Charm Amish School opened up, Rachel had jumped at it.
She’d soon discovered that the job was everything she’d ever hoped it would be. She loved her students and loved being with them all day. But now it seemed that things were changing again.
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