LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One

      Shipshewana, Indiana

      April 1937

      “I’m so glad we aren’t late,” Aunt Sadie said as Mary turned the buggy into the farm lane.

      Mary Hochstetter looked ahead, clutching the reins with damp hands. At least twenty buggies lined up along the barn like a flock of blackbirds on a telegraph wire and the lines of people moving toward the house were long.

      So many strangers! But she must face them for Ida Mae’s sake. She straightened her shoulders and glanced into the back seat to give her sister a reassuring smile. There was nothing frightening about attending the Sabbath meeting.

      Ida Mae gave her a weak smile in return. “I’ll be all right. After all, we already know the ladies we met at the quilting last week. The rest will soon become friends, too.”

      A boy stepped forward and grasped the horse’s bridle. “I’ll take care of Chester for you, Aunt Sadie.”

      “Denki, Stephen.” Sadie climbed out of the buggy. Mary joined her, with Ida Mae right behind. “You’re growing up so fast. I remember when your mother had to pull you out of mud puddles at Sunday meeting.”

      Stephen laughed, his voice slipping down to a deep bass and back up again. “That was a long time ago.”

      “Not to me, young man. The older I get, the faster time flies. You’re a fine man, just like your father.”

      Sadie grasped Mary’s arm to make sure she had her attention. “Here come the Lapp sisters, Judith and Esther, who you met at the quilting last week,” she said. “That’s their brother, Samuel, driving. They’re our next-door neighbors.” She leaned closer, dropping her voice. “And Mary, Samuel is a bachelor.”

      Mary shook her head. “I’m not looking for a husband.”

      “You never know what the Good Lord has planned.”

      Mary knew what the Good Lord had planned, and it was clear to her that marriage had no part of whatever He had in mind.

      The Lapps’ dusty buggy pulled up next to theirs and two young women jumped out. The man who was driving barely waited until they had stepped down before he started his horse forward to the buggy parking area. But just then Aunt Sadie’s horse stepped sideways into his path.

      Mutters and growls came from the buggy as it rocked under the weight of the man who jumped to the ground from the driver’s seat, nearly landing on Sadie. He caught the older woman’s arm to steady her.

      “Sorry, Aunt Sadie.” He waited until the older woman was stable again, then grasped his horse’s bridle. “If someone hadn’t left your buggy in the middle of the drive, I could have been out of the way by now.”

      “We just got here ourselves, Samuel,” Aunt Sadie said. “There’s no need to be in such a hurry.” She turned to Mary with a satisfied smile. “I’m sure you and Mary will be able to straighten out the horses.” She took Ida Mae’s arm. “Let’s go inside. I’ll need your help.”

      Ida Mae gave Mary a helpless look.

      “Go on in.” Mary lifted her chin with confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll be right there.”

      “It’s going to take hours to get this mess straightened out.” Samuel gestured toward the road where a buggy had just turned in, with another close behind it. “It’s becoming a real log jam.”

      “Once I get Chester off to the side, things will clear up.” Stephen took the horse’s bridle and led him down the drive toward the barn, patting his brown neck.

      As the buggy moved out of the way, Mary found herself face-to-face with Samuel Lapp. She felt her cheeks heat as he stared at her with dark blue eyes.

      She leveled her gaze, focusing on the front of his coat. He was a solid wall in front of her, a man a couple years older than her own twenty-three years. His closeness sent her heart racing and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. He wasn’t Harvey Anderson. She bit her lip, forcing that thought out of her mind. Samuel was only an Amishman driving his sisters to Sunday meeting. There was nothing threatening about him.

      Mary stepped to the side of the driveway so he could move past her.

      “I think you can follow Stephen now.”

      He didn’t budge.

      “The way is clear.”

      Ignoring three more buggies that had driven into the barnyard, he still stared at her. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up as if he had gotten a flash of insight. “You’re that Mary Hochstetter that Sadie’s been expecting.”

      “Ja, I am.”

      “From Ohio.”

      “Ja.”

      He ran his hand down his short beard. “You’re not what I imagined when Sadie said you were coming. I thought you’d be older, being her niece.”

      “Sadie is actually my mother’s aunt.” Mary glanced behind Samuel’s buggy. Families walked toward the house, voices hushed as they separated into women’s and men’s lines. Stephen and two or three other boys had lined up the buggies in order and were unhitching the horses. The log jam had cleared.

      She looked back at Samuel. “I should go in. Meeting is about to begin.”

      The corner of his mouth, visible above his short beard, quirked up.

      “You’re anxious to be rid of me?”

      Now he was laughing at her, maybe even flirting with her. She drew herself up to her full height and looked him in the eyes, lowering her brow in the expression that always sent her younger brothers hurrying to do their chores.

      He stepped forward to grasp his horse’s bridle. “You’re not only younger than I expected, but you’re prettier, too.”

      Then he winked at her.

      Mary stared at him, her fists clenched. What an infuriating man! Gruff and blustery until he found out who she was, as if any new woman he met would fall at his feet. As if she needed a man to run her life.

      “Like I said, meeting is about to begin.” She fought to keep her voice even.

      “Go ahead,” he said, gesturing toward the house. “I’ll be in shortly.”

      But under her irritation, another feeling rose. That familiar twisting in her stomach that stole her breath. She swallowed, glancing around. The only other people in the barnyard were a few women on their way into the house. She would soon be alone in the yard with this man.

      She shot another look in his direction, one that she reserved for her brothers’ worst crimes, and hurried into the house.

      She found a place on a bench next to Aunt Sadie and Ida Mae and took a deep breath, trying to forget that wink. No wonder he wasn’t married. His beard only confirmed that he had given up looking for a wife. Only married men and old bachelors wore beards.

      The worship began with a low, soft note sung by a man sitting on the front row. As the tune continued, she recognized the hymn from the Ausbund and joined in the singing with the rest of the community, settling into the familiar worship.

      After the service ended, Mary followed Judith and Esther Lapp to the kitchen to help serve the meal.

      “I can introduce you to the others,” Esther said as she led the way through the lines of benches that the young men were already converting to tables for dinner.

      “I’ll never remember everyone’s names.”

      Esther took her arm. “Don’t worry. They don’t expect you to. You’ll learn them all eventually.”

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