LITMIR.BIZ

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watched as Dat steered the plow to the end of a field before Isaac grabbed hold of the gear to lead the horses in the opposite direction. He should be working with them today, but Noah had asked for assistance with his furniture business, and Dat said Eli could go because he had enough help for the day’s planned work.

      His father acknowledged him with a nod when he saw him. Eli waved as Samuel Lapp slowed the horses to within a few yards of where he stood. The large draft horses halted on command, and Dat turned to him with a smile.

      “Dat, I’ll be leaving now. Are you sure you don’t need me to stay?”

      Samuel took off his straw hat and wiped his brow with his shirtsleeve. “Ja, but I’ll need your help tomorrow.”

      “I wouldn’t go today, but Noah is eager to catch up with his work orders.”

      His father settled his hat back onto his head. “You’re becoming skilled as a cabinetmaker in your own right,” he said, sounding pleased.

      Eli smiled. He enjoyed working with his hands, and he was thankful that his brother had given him the opportunity to craft a few wooden chairs and a number of tables. “The only things I’ll be making for him today are deliveries.”

      Noah and his wife, Rachel, had recently welcomed a baby girl—Katherine, named after his mother, the baby’s grandmother. Little Katy was the joy of her parents’ lives. Since her miscarriage two years ago, his sister-in-law had feared that she’d never be able to carry a child to full term. But everything had gone smoothly with Katy’s birth. A proud father, his brother Noah hoped to finish his deliveries early so that he could spend time with Rachel and their infant daughter.

      “Ever think of joining Noah as a cabinetmaker?” Dat asked.

      “Nay. I want a business of my own.” Eli had been saving most of what he’d been allowed to keep from his earnings since he was eleven. Soon he’d have enough money to finance his own carriage shop. He’d known what he wanted to do ever since he’d been given an old courting buggy that shopkeeper Bob Whittier discovered in an outbuilding on his new property. Eli took work wherever he could, whether it was helping in the furniture shop or working on a construction crew for the company who occasionally employed his eldest brother, Jedidiah.

      “I want to make and fix buggies and wagons.” Lapp’s Buggy Shop was his dream, and Eli wasn’t about to give it up.

      “Opening a business is not easy, soohn. You should consider working with Noah,” Dat said. “Now that he has a family, your bruder may want to take on a partner. There will come a day when you will want to settle down.”

      “Someday,” Eli said. But not now. There was no one special in his life. While he enjoyed the company of several girls at singings and church gatherings, he hadn’t found the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And until he had a successful business, which he hoped would be sooner rather than later, he wasn’t going to get serious with any girl. “I should go. Noah will be wondering why I’m late, and Jacob asked me to stop by on my way.” He started toward the barnyard, then halted and turned when his father spoke.

      “Think about what I said.” Samuel rubbed his whiskered chin.

      “I will.” He would think about partnering with Noah because his father had asked him to, but he doubted he’d change his mind. “I’ll see you later, Dat.”

      With a nod, his father returned to his plow, and Eli climbed into the family’s open market wagon and headed toward his brother’s house, a small cottage on the edge of Horseshoe Joe’s property. He slowed his vehicle as he approached Jacob’s driveway. He wondered why his twin had asked him to come. Joe Zook, Jacob’s mentor, had invited Jacob into his blacksmith business two years ago after Jacob had stepped in to run Zook’s Blacksmithy while Joe recuperated from a serious leg injury. Since then he’d married the woman he’d always loved, Joe’s daughter Annie. His brother was blessed, and Eli was happy for him.

      Jacob exited the house as Eli parked the buggy close to his brother’s cottage. “Jacob! Hallo!” He climbed out of his vehicle.

      “Right on time.” His brother smiled as he approached. “I appreciate you stopping. Annie wants to visit Martha King with EJ. I have to work at the shop. I don’t want her out and about alone. I thought you could bring her since you’re headed that way.”

      Martha’s farm was located between their house and Noah’s home and business. “I’d be happy to take her.” He understood Jacob’s concern. In the last trimester of her pregnancy, Annie was carrying their second child. EJ, Eli’s namesake and Jacob and Annie’s firstborn, was a toddler, and Eli realized that his brother didn’t want his pregnant wife driving their buggy while trying to manage their extremely active twelve-month-old son. “Do you need me to bring her home?”

      “Nay. She’ll only be there a few hours. I should be able to slip away after I finish up with Amos’s mare and William Mast’s gelding. If I can’t get away, I’ll send Peter to bring her home.”

      Annie came out of the house, holding her young son’s hand. “Eli! I’m surprised to see you here. Anything wrong?”

      “Nay.” Jacob spoke up before Eli could answer. “Eli came to drive you to Martha’s.”

      She scowled at her husband, but her loving look said that his concern pleased her. “Jacob, you worry too much.”

      Jacob regarded her with warmth. “You’re my wife. I’ll always be concerned about you.”

      She heaved a sigh. “If you insist, I’ll go with your bruder.” She addressed Eli. “Would you mind holding your nephew while I fetch a plate of brownies?”

      “With pleasure.” Eli beamed as he lifted the little boy into his arms. “Hallo there, Elijah John.” He bounced the child until EJ gurgled with laughter. He recalled how pleased he’d been when Annie and Jacob had chosen to name their firstborn son after him. The fact that EJ had his coloring, blond hair and blue eyes, gave him cause to frequently tease his brother and sister-in-law. While he and Jacob were twin brothers, they looked nothing alike. They were fraternal twins. Jacob’s hair was as dark as his was golden. His brother had brown eyes while his were blue. Of course, EJ’s coloring might have been inherited from his fair-haired, blue-eyed mother and not his uncle. But it wouldn’t be any fun if he couldn’t tease his brother. “He’s growing so fast.”

      “Ja, soon he’ll be as big as you,” Jacob joked, and Eli laughed.

      Annie returned seconds later with the wrapped brownies. Jacob took the plate from her and set it in the back of the vehicle. He helped her up onto the bench seat of the wagon while Eli carried EJ around to the other side. He set his nephew in the middle of the seat beside Annie. He then slid in next to the boy and picked up the leathers.

      “Be careful,” Jacob warned.

      Annie shot him an irritated look. “He’s only driving us down the road, Jacob. I could have walked.”

      Eli looked at her. “With EJ?” It would have been too far for her to walk with EJ.

      Jacob eyed his wife with patience. “I want you to be safe,” he said, his expression tender.

      “I know you do.” Annie blinked rapidly as if fighting tears. “You will come for me later?”

      “Ja.” Jacob leaned closer to her through the open window. “If I can’t get away, I’ll send Peter,” he told her, referring to Annie’s younger sibling. He eyed Eli from across the vehicle. “Danki, bruder.”

      “You’re willkomm, Jacob.” Eli waited as Jacob straightened before he flicked the leathers and drove off. Annie was quiet beside him as they left, but his nephew babbled incessantly in what sounded like baby Pennsylvania Deitsch, the language spoken within the Amish household. He shot them a glance as he steered his family’s mare toward the King farm. As if sensing his attention, his sister-in-law turned from the window and met his gaze. She smiled, and he grinned back, his right hand reaching out

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