Rosanna couldn’t stop herself. She slid off the swing and stepped forward. Before she could rethink her plan, she pulled Kandi into a hug. “I’m sure this is very hard for you. I’m happy to be Mollie’s mudder. I love her as my own. We all do.” Rosanna paused. Her eyes locked with Paul’s. He nodded and smiled. “It took a lot of courage for you to kumm here today to tell me this.”
“I didn’t want you to get another letter from the lawyer. I wanted to explain. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused.”
“I don’t hold any grudges.”
“You really don’t, do you?”
“Of course not. All is forgiven.” Rosanna flicked away a tear that escaped from her own eye. “I want you to know I will be the best possible mamm I can be.”
“I know you will. Thank you for being here for Jane and for Mollie.” Kandi’s voice cracked again. “C-can I visit Mollie sometimes? I’ll try to make arrangements with you before I come.”
“Of course you can visit. Did you want to hold her or play with her now?” Rosanna signaled for Paul to bring Mollie closer.
“I’ll talk to her for a few minutes, but then I need to get back for a rehearsal.”
“They have rehearsals on Sundays?” Rosanna mentally smacked her forehead. Englischers shopped and worked and did everything else on Sundays, so why wouldn’t Kandi have a rehearsal? She much preferred their way of keeping Sundays special days, set apart for Gott and family. They only did necessary chores, like feeding the animals or putting wood in the stove. It would never occur to an Amish person to hitch up and drive to the grocery store. They might take a ride to visit or even go on an outing to the river, but Sundays were reserved for worship and fellowship.
Kandi ran a hand through her bristly hair. “The closer we get to opening night of the play, the more rehearsals we have, even on Sundays.”
Rosanna bobbed her head as if she understood. Poor Kandi. She rushed from place to place and never seemed to take time to enjoy where she actually was. “You must get very tired.”
“Yeah, but I try not to think about that.” She laughed. “It’s the life I chose, so I really can’t complain.”
Rosanna was glad she chose to join the Amish church. Her life was pretty much mapped out for her, and she liked it that way. “I’m sure you are very gut at what you do, Kandi.”
“I’m trying. It’s taken me a long time to get this far, but this play is a big step in the right direction. I don’t want to dance in clubs all my life.”
Rosanna suppressed a shiver. She would hate that herself.
“Do you want to hold her?” Paul held Mollie closer to Kandi.
“Well, okay.” She took Mollie into her arms but didn’t look terribly comfortable. “Hi, Mollie.” She jiggled the little girl up and down. “Sorry, my experience with babies is practically zero.”
“You’re doing fine.” Rosanna could afford to be more encouraging now that she knew Mollie would be staying with her.
Kandi babbled to Mollie for a few minutes before handing her to Rosanna. “I have to go. Be good, Mollie.” Kandi kissed Mollie’s pink cheek. When she looked, Rosanna saw the tears in her eyes. “The lawyer knows I’ve changed my mind. I know I would make a terrible mother. And I don’t have the kind of life that leaves much room for kids.” Kandi brushed at the tears that smeared the dark makeup. “Y-you can go ahead with the adoption, Rosanna. You are a great mother. Bye.” Kandi whipped around and strutted to the car without a backward glance.
Rosanna hugged Mollie tight. Could she be dreaming? She searched Paul’s face. His expression mirrored her own astonishment. “D-did she really say Mollie is mine?”
“Jah, Rosanna. She gave up her plan for custody. She gave Mollie to you.”
Rosanna smiled through her tears. “To us.”
Paul pulled Rosanna and Mollie into his arms. He kissed the top of each of their heads even though they were standing in the yard in broad daylight with Rosanna’s younger siblings running around. “Jah, to us.”
“The Lord Gott is so gut.” Rosanna pulled back only far enough to look into Paul’s loving eyes. “He has given me you and Mollie—the most wunderbaar gifts ever.”
Epilogue
“Are you nervous?” Emma whispered as she squeezed Rosanna’s hand.
“Not in the least. I am absolutely certain I am doing the right thing.” Rosanna raised a hand to make sure her kapp was straight. She ran her hands down her sides to smooth any nonexistent wrinkles from her royal blue wedding dress. The nip in the November air, the smell of wood smoke curling from the chimney, the assorted freinden and family members who had arrived in a parade of gray buggies all imprinted themselves in Rosanna’s memory. But her most cherished memory had yet to be made—joining hands with the most wunderbaar man ever and taking vows to love and care for each other for the rest of their lives.
Rosanna thanked the Lord Gott daily that Paul Hertzler had patiently waited for her to kumm to her senses. He offered friendship, hope, help, and even love when she needed it. He loved her boppli as much as she did. She couldn’t have found a better man anywhere. Thank goodness she had abandoned any notion that Henry Zook would be a match for her. Even Frannie Hostetler had wised up and figured out Henry would never do for a husband. Rosanna hadn’t had to say a word about that awful conversation she and Henry had had in the store. Frannie had faced that reality all on her own.
Rosanna couldn’t suppress a smile when she followed Emma’s gaze straight to Tobias. Her bruder couldn’t possibly do better than Emma Kurtz, and vice versa. She would be as happy to add Emma to their family as she was to join Paul’s family. She already loved Mary Hertzler as a second mudder and wouldn’t mind one bit living in the Hertzler home while their own house was being built on the back of the family’s property. Rosanna squeezed Emma’s hand and winked. “You’re perfect for each other.”
Emma’s pale cheeks took on a rosy hue. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
“Certainly you don’t expect me to believe that.”
Muffled giggling captured Rosanna’s attention. Frannie and some of the other unmarried girls stood in the distance chattering and looking toward a group of eligible young men. Henry, she noticed, was not among that gathering. Rosanna hoped Frannie found a nice fellow who could endure her idiosyncrasies, like infernally fiddling with the glasses that crept down her nose.
At the bishop’s nod, Rosanna slipped away from Emma and followed the church leader toward the room where she and Paul would meet with him and the ministers before the service. The guests would take their seats in the big, clean-as-a-whistle barn and sing until the service began, the same as they did on church days. From the corner of her eye, she caught her mamm’s big smile and nod. Even little Mollie looked excited, as if she knew she was about to acquire a daed.
Paul and Rosanna had visited the lawyer several times to make sure all the paperwork was in order so they could drive to the courthouse tomorrow to officially become Mollie’s parents. Rosanna pinched herself several times to ensure she wasn’t dreaming. On this lovely fall Thursday, she and Paul would become husband and wife. On an equally happy Friday, they would legally adopt Mollie. Rosanna had been blessed indeed. Tears welled in her eyes. Happy tears. Just the same, she blinked hard to keep them in check. There would not be any tears on this joyous day.
A sputtering engine and tires crunching on gravel caused Rosanna to whip around to identify who could possibly be speeding up the driveway on her wedding day. Please, Lord Gott, don’t let there be some legal hitch that will prevent finalization of the adoption. She held her breath, heart pounding like thunder booming during a July thunderstorm. She sighed with relief when she recognized the wheezing little green car.
The vehicle squealed to a halt. The driver leaped out before the engine died. Wild, platinum blonde hair, whipped by a sudden gust of wind, wrapped around the woman’s face. Rosanna was sure she heard the snap of chewing gum.
“I’m. Not. Too. Late.
Am. I?” A gasp punctuated each word.
Rosanna smiled and shook her head. Kandi had made it after all. She didn’t think the aspiring actress would be able to fit a humble Amish wedding into her busy schedule, but somehow she managed to do so. Since Kandi didn’t present a threat to the adoption plans any longer but, rather, embraced the idea, Rosanna could rejoice that Mollie’s aenti was able to share this happy day with them. Kandi would probably leave as soon as she could, as usual, but Rosanna was touched by her effort. She smiled. Kandi wouldn’t be leaving too soon, though, since Amish weddings lasted three hours, the same as a church service.
Kandi gave a thumbs-up sign and wobbled across the uneven ground in her black, pointy-toed, high-heeled boots. Rosanna nearly chuckled when she saw Kandi tug at her too-short skirt as she headed into the barn. She turned away from the other woman and hurried to catch up with the bishop.
* * *
Rosanna feared her mouth would be forever set in a wide smile. She couldn’t force her lips downward even if she wanted to. Here she stood in the crook of her new husband’s arm and hugging her little girl to her breast.
“I’d take a picture of you if I could, but I read you folks didn’t go for that.” Kandi somehow got the words out between crackles of her gum.
“We’ll remember and cherish the day even without pictures,” Rosanna assured her. “I’m glad you were able to attend our wedding.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything—actually, I almost did miss it, didn’t I?” Kandi laughed at herself. “That has to be the longest wedding service I’ve ever been to. Whew! I thought my backside had grown to that hard, wooden bench.”
Rosanna smiled. “Our church services are the same.”
“You don’t have to invite me to one of those, then.” Kandi massaged her lower back with a red-nailed hand. “Well, I have to run. Rehearsals, you know.”
Rosanna nodded. She’d figured as much. Kandi didn’t ask to hold Mollie, but she didn’t flinch and pull away when the little girl tugged at a strand of her coarse hair as she leaned close to greet her niece. That was some progress, anyway. Kandi hobbled back to her car, waved, and exited in a cloud of dust.
Paul leaned down to brush his lips across first Mollie’s cheek and then Rosanna’s. “What are you thinking, Fraa?”
“I’m thinking that must be the sweetest word in all the world and that the Lord Gott couldn’t have given me a more wunderbaar husband and dochder.”
Paul’s arm tightened around Rosanna and Mollie. “He always gives us the best gifts, ain’t so?”
“For sure and for certain.”
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