Would Matt decide to stay? Originally he’d said he was only here for a month or so, she’d thought. But as he settled in this place, he seemed more at home all the time. If he did decide to stay, she wasn’t sure what she felt about that.

  “Anna!” Her mother called her out of her thoughts. Mammi was already clearing away the remains of their snack and arranging her tables for selling. “Check the cashbox, please. I think there’s fifty dollars in change, but we must be sure so we know how much we raise.”

  Anna pulled the metal box out and opened it. “Yah, that’s important, ain’t so? You wouldn’t want other folks to donate more than you do.”

  “Giving is important, no matter what the amount,” Mammi said, and then she smiled. “But yah, I wouldn’t want to think we did worse than anyone else. That’s pride, I’m afraid. I should be ashamed.”

  “The fire company won’t care what you feel about the money you raise,” Anna said firmly. “It’s raising enough for the new equipment they need that’s important, ain’t so?”

  In truth, she didn’t think Mammi was being proud of her handiwork. She just wanted to give her share. Probably all of those who did direct sales felt the same way.

  Everyone knew that the bigger items, the auctioned ones, made more money for the cause. But one way or another, everyone wanted to help, and if you didn’t have anything to auction off, you could help another way.

  “It was gut to see Sam and Matthew together again,” her mother said, smiling again. “You could tell how happy Sam was by the way he was clowning. Just like he used to. He hadn’t been doing that lately, and it was nice to see it again.”

  “It doesn’t . . .” Anna hesitated, but maybe it was best to say the thought in her mind. “It doesn’t remind you that James isn’t here?”

  Still smiling, Mammi shook her head. “It reminds me that James had lots of happy times with his friends. The fact that his time here was short makes that even more important, ain’t so?”

  She hadn’t thought of it in that way, Anna realized. In fact, there was a lot she hadn’t thought of. She began to think that she had been stuck in one place since her brother died, until Matt’s return forced her to move again, one way or the other.

  Several Englisch ladies stopped by the stand. Most of them were familiar residents of Promise Glen, but one was apparently a visitor, because she was talking about buying something to take home with her.

  “What about these quilted potholders?” Anna showed her the variety that Mamm and the girls had made over the winter. Grace’s sewing had improved a lot recently, but she couldn’t say the same for Betsy’s. Betsy always had something else on her mind. Or maybe she just liked more active things than sewing.

  While the woman was sorting through them, Anna spotted one of Grace’s early efforts with stitches pulling loose, and she put it aside. She could fix it when they had a break.

  The woman was enthusiastic, picking out a half dozen to buy, and they made several more sales to her and her friends. One of them noticed the coffee cup Anna had set on a box behind her.

  “Coffee, that’s just what I need about now. Where did you find it?”

  Anna stepped out from behind the table to direct her to the coffee stand. When she turned back, Mammi was frowning.

  “That reminds me. Did you see Sally anywhere when you went for the coffee? The coffee she was supposed to get,” she added, looking exasperated.

  Anna hesitated, not wanting to be a talebearer, but unable to lie about it. “Yah, but not to speak it. She was over by the tent where they were auctioning the sheep.”

  “With Joseph, I suppose.” Her mother shook her head. “I don’t know what to do with that girl. You were never like that at her age.”

  Not sure whether the comparison was good or bad, Anna sought for a peaceful response. “When I was Sally’s age, I was already assisting the teacher at Orchard Hill School. I was so excited about the idea of becoming a teacher that I didn’t have a lot of time for boys.”

  That seemed to make her mother stop and think, and Anna was grateful. As annoying as Sally was, she really didn’t want to see her in trouble with Mamm and Daad. Surely she just had to find her way.

  “That’s true,” her mother said slowly. “Sally seems to like working with the dressmaker, but not in the same way you like teaching. If there’s something else she’d rather do, I haven’t seen it, though.”

  “She’s young yet, even though she doesn’t think so,” Anna put in.

  “I wish she realized it.” Mammi shook her head, smiling a little. “You four girls are all so different. I’d never have believed it before I had children of my own. And as for Micah . . . he’s different still.” A shadow crossed her face. “Sometimes I think he’s too serious about helping your daad. He forgets that he’s too small to do a grown man’s work.”

  Anna nodded. She’d noticed that, too. Apparently raising a family was even more complicated than teaching a school of eight different classes.

  “He’ll be all right.” It was the only thing she could think of to say, and once the words were out, she decided she’d seldom said anything more useless.

  “There’s Sam again,” Mammi said, glancing toward one of the auction tents. “Looks as if he’s checking out the goats.”

  Anna almost asked Mamm then. Was Sam at the party that night?

  She bit her lip, experiencing a flood of conflicting emotions. Maybe it was best not to know any more than she did. James was gone. Probing and questioning wouldn’t bring him back.

  Accept. Forgive. That was what the church said. But since Matt came back, she hadn’t been able to do either of those things.

  * * *

  * * *

  Matt hadn’t expected his return to Promise Glen to become as complicated as it had. He wove his way through the crowd to the field where a variety of farm wagons and equipment were displayed, but his thoughts were on people, not things.

  Seeing Sam again had moved him more than he could say. He’d missed him, just as he’d missed James, and once he was out in the Englisch world, they’d seemed about as far apart. He should have told Sam what he’d intended before he disappeared, but it had seemed impossible to talk about it to anyone. He’d just wanted to get away, as far and as fast as he could.

  At first it had taken all his thoughts and energy simply to make enough to eat. Then, once he had a decent job, he’d immersed himself in it, trying not even to think of the past. He’d just wanted to do good work, be accepted, belong out there.

  Now he knew the past had been here all along, still waiting for him.

  He hadn’t noticed Aunt Ella for a few minutes, so he looked around, spotting her just a few yards away, glancing through a stack of hoes and rakes.

  Before he took more than a couple of steps in her direction, someone hurtled into him from behind. He swiveled to find young Micah, his grin a replica of his brother’s at that age, hanging on to him.

  “I’m here,” he declared.

  “Hey, Micah, I didn’t know you were coming.” He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Since the day they’d worked on the brooder coop together, they’d gotten closer than had seemed possible that first day, when Micah had eyed him so cautiously.

  Micah’s spring straw hat had been pushed back by his enthusiastic greeting, so Matt settled it squarely on his head. “You weren’t with your mother and Anna. How did you get here?”

  “Grossdaadi and Grossmammi brought me. The girls, too. They’re going to help Mammi.” He looked relieved to be spared that, obviously thinking it was girls’ stuff. “Grossdaadi is fun to go places with. He tells stories while he drives.”

  Matt had to smile at that. “Yah, I remember your grandfather’s stories. I learned a lot from them.” The old man had a gift for teaching without letting on that that’s what he was doing.

  “He told us about the time James pulled you over the fence and tore your pants. And about how you and James tried to climb to the top of the barn roof and got stuck.”

  “I remember.” Actually, he remembered all of it. The scenes played through his mind vividly, as if he could step back into them again. Seemed like he and James both should have learned a little caution, but they never did.

  Micah tugged at Matt’s sleeve, encouraging him to bend closer. “Look what I have.” He opened his hand to show a crumpled and sweaty dollar bill. “Grossdaadi gave it to me to buy something.”

  He was so serious that Matt had to reply in the same way, although he didn’t think the boy would find many things he could get for a dollar.

  “What are you going to spend it on?”

  “I don’t know. Do you think anybody would have some pink lemonade? I really like that kind. Mammi only makes yellow lemonade.”

  “I’d think we could find some somewhere.” And if it cost more than a dollar, he’d make up the difference as discreetly as he could. Micah was obviously proud of having that crumpled bill to spend.

  He caught sight of Aunt Ella gesturing to him. “First I have to find a harrow for my aunt. You want to help?”

  “Sure.” Micah swung around, eyes searching the field. “I’ll find one for her. Be right back.” He darted off.

  Smiling in spite of himself, Matt made his way to where his aunt waited. After a shy beginning, Micah had certainly come out of his shell with him.

  “What is young Micah up to?” Aunt Ella was watching Micah, who by now was jumping up and down and waving his arms, then pointing to something on the ground behind a clump of dead grass.

  “Helping,” he said. “Looks like he’s found a harrow for you.”

  “We’d best get over there, then.” She sounded as gruff as usual, but her face crinkled in a smile. “He reminds me of someone.”

  “Yah, I know. He’s like James at that age.” Funny that he could say it out loud and find it didn’t hurt.

  Aunt Ella’s smile extended to him. And then they walked over to Micah.

  “Look, Matt.” Micah stood between two different harrows. “There’s a small one and a big one.”

  Matt knelt to examine the finds more closely. “This is a double one.” He indicated what the boy had called the big one. “This is like your father has.”

  “The single harrow is best for me.” Aunt Ella stepped a bit nearer. “I’ll just use it for the garden. Maisy can pull this easily.”

  Tipping it up on edge, Matt brushed off the accumulated mud. “What do you think? It’s in pretty good shape, yah?”

  Micah mimicked Matt’s gesture, brushing the mud off the other side of the prongs. “Yah, pretty good,” he said.

  Aunt Ella’s lips twitched. “What do you think it will go for?”

  “I’m out of the habit of auctions,” Matt said. “Twenty? Maybe more if someone really needs it, but I don’t really know.”

  “It’s worth a try, anyway,” she said. She consulted the list in her hand. “An hour until they auction this batch. We may as well get something to drink.”

  “Lemonade,” Micah said quickly.

  “Pink lemonade,” Matt added, laughing. “Let’s go look for some.”

  As they walked back to the circling crowds, Matt found himself wondering what Anna might think if she saw her little brother hanging out with him. If she didn’t like it, he wouldn’t be surprised.

  Still, he wasn’t going to rebuff the child. And whether Anna liked it or not, he wished he could find a chance to be a help to the boy.

  But it wasn’t Anna who caught his gaze just then. It was Carl Burkhardt, walking toward them with his two children. Not surprising that he’d come to the mud sale. But what was surprising was that Carl actually looked relaxed and smiling as he pointed something out to Rebecca.

  As if he sensed someone was watching him, Carl turned until he was looking at Matt. Considering their last encounter, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carl took his children and headed in the opposite direction. Instead, he came right toward them, holding his daughter’s hand, his smile still lingering.

  “Gut day for a mud sale, yah?” He spoke to Ella, nodding to Matt and Micah. “I brought the young ones along to see the sights.”

  “Your wife didn’t care to come?” Aunt Ella probed a bit.

  A shadow came over his face. “No, she didn’t feel like going out. She was going to take a nap.” He brightened again as he looked at the children. “We’ll take her a treat when we go home, yah, kids?”

  “Funnel cakes,” Thomas said. “That’s Mamm’s favorite.”

  Aunt Ella began to give him directions to the funnel cake stand while Matt watched them, bemused. It was unusual, to say the least, for a relatively young Amish woman to go to bed during the day unless she was sick. Maybe all the odd things they’d noticed had that simple an explanation.

  Had Anna’s imagination been running amok, to say nothing of his?

  It was possible that they’d misinterpreted their limited conversations with Carl and his wife, but he didn’t think Anna could be wrong about the children and their problems. He’d like to see them together, just to find out what she made of this version of Carl Burkhardt.

  * * *

  * * *

  Anna finally persuaded her mother to take a break, leaving Anna in charge of the handwork stand while she checked out the other stands and got something to eat. Grace stayed to help Anna while Betsy took advantage of the moment to decide she should go and get lunch.

  Grace lined the array of potholders up neatly. “People mess them up when they look at them,” she complained.

  “True, but they look through them to find the color or the kind they want, and then they buy. So cleaning up afterward is part of the job.”

  Grace nodded, her expression serious. “I’ll remember. When I get bigger, I’ll make things to sell for the fire company, too.”

  “You already have.” Anna pulled out the quilted potholder, its loose stitches repaired. “You made this, didn’t you?”

  Grace examined it carefully. “I guess. But those stitches look smaller than mine.” She eyed Anna, who laughed.

  “I had to fix it a little bit, but otherwise it’s fine. You used pretty colors, and I’m sure someone will buy it. Let’s put it on top, where people will notice it.”

  Smiling, Grace nodded and arranged it carefully on top of similar colored ones.

  This was the nice part of being a big sister, Anna reflected. Doing things with the younger ones. Teaching them. Too bad that little sisters grew up to be troublesome teenagers. Although Grace, with her calm attitude and core of common sense, seemed unlikely to go floating on a cloud as Sally did. Or to flatly refuse to move on, like Betsy.

  “There’s Micah,” Grace said a few minutes later. “Look, he has Rebecca Burkhardt with him.”

  Anna blinked, wondering if Grace was imagining it, but sure enough, Micah and Rebecca came up to the table, hand in hand.

  “Rebecca’s daadi is talking to Matt and Ella about harrows, and Rebecca wanted to see you. So he said she could come with me to find you. Is it okay?”

  “Of course it is.” Surprising, but okay. She gestured for them to come around the table. “I’m glad to see you. Do the two of you want to help us for a while?”

  Micah looked at Rebecca and then nodded, seeming to appoint himself her spokesperson. “Yah, Rebecca would like to do that. I’d rather go see what Grossdaadi is doing.”

  “Fine.” Anna smiled at him, brushing the fringe of corn silk–fine hair out of his blue eyes. “Do you know where Grossdaadi is?”

  Micah took a shortcut by scrambling under the table and emerging on the other side like a jack-in-the-box. “Grossdaadi is helping with the harrow, too.”

  Waving, he hurried away, almost, but not quite, breaking into a run. He knew that would earn him a scolding from someone. It sounded as if he enjoyed being involved in grown-up kinds of things. Or maybe he was enjoying being with Matt. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him seeking out Matt’s presence.

  It troubled her, and she didn’t quite know why. Aside from her own prejudice against Matt, her parents and grandparents had accepted him. Daadi had even asked Matt to teach Micah how to do certain work, and to work alongside him. That was how Amish children learned, working alongside someone who already knew how.

  She glanced at Rebecca, who looked up at her and smiled. She was arranging dishcloths by color.

  “I like that, Rebecca. It looks like a rainbow.” Rebecca nodded, a small, secret smile on her face.

  Maybe this was a good time and place to get the child talking a little. “Did you come to the mud sale with your daadi?”

  Rebecca nodded, so Anna smiled, tipping her head to one side and cupping her ear.

  That got a giggle out of her. “Yah,” Rebecca said. “And Thomas.”

  “Gut.” Anna gave an encouraging smile. “Did Mammi come, too?”

  Her good fortune came to an abrupt end. Rebecca’s small face shut down, and her lips formed a firm line. She shook her head.

  “Ach, well, it doesn’t matter. Maybe she’ll come next time.”

  That didn’t seem to warm the child up any. She returned her gaze to the dishcloths, her little hands deft and quick as she arranged them.

  A shadow fell across the table. “What’s going on over here?”

  Matt’s voice gave her a jolt. She looked up to see him standing on the other side of the table, smiling at them.

  “I have a new helper,” she said, indicating Rebecca.

  “So I see.” He bent over the dishcloths, and Rebecca spread them out for him to see as if she were an experienced saleswoman. “Maybe I should buy some of these for my aunt Ella. I think hers are looking a little shabby.”

  “You’re using the dishcloths a lot, are you?” She implied doubt, laughing at him.

  “I’ll have you know I’ve been helping with the dishes every night. If someone’s good enough to cook for me, the least I can do is wash dishes, right, Rebecca?”

 

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