A Simple Autumn: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel (10 page)

“Come.” Emma smiled as the children filed past her on the porch.

“Think the rain will hold?” Dave asked.

“I’d like enough dry weather to make hay,” Gabe said.

Dave touched his beard as his pale eyes rose to the sky. The sun was shining, but
the west held murky clouds, like a skim floating on soup. “The way those clouds are
moving, I don’t think you’ll be doing that today.”

Gabe shrugged. “I’ll go with the weather.” He looked toward Emma, but she was already
crossing the porch, on her way into the schoolhouse.

Storms ahead
, Gabe thought. But he could wait out the rain. The sunshine on the other side of
the clouds was always worth the wait.

W
ith two lambs born that morning and Perry and Sarah about to leave, the Stoltzfus
farm was a very busy place. Annie was helping her sister pack that afternoon when
Levi announced that a carriage was coming.

“Visitors!” Sarah said cheerfully, swinging her son’s hand.

When Annie hurried out, she wasn’t surprised to see her good friend Mary King. Mary
had told her she would stop by to say good-bye to Sarah.

“Kumm,”
Mary called as she climbed out of the carriage.

Annie hurried over to help her carry the heavy basket. “You brought strawberry jam?”

“For Sarah and Perry. Pickled beets and apple butter, too. A little bit of home to
take along with them.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Sarah called from the open kitchen door. She accepted the
hamper with one arm and hugged Mary with the other.

They unloaded the colorful jars onto the table, and Levi made a
show of counting and re-sorting them. Mary had also brought a sampler with the words
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.

“It will be wonderful for your new home,” Annie told her sister as she filled the
kettle for tea.

“All the girls in our house pitched in, except for Katie,” Mary said.

“There’s so much love in the needlework.” Sarah ran her fingertips over the smooth
yarns. “Denki, Mary.”

“I wanted you to remember that your home is wherever you and Perry and little Mark
are,” Mary said. “Gott will follow you to New York.”

“I know that.” Sarah bit her lower lip. “I know this is the right thing, but it’s
a bit scary to be moving so far from my family.”

Levi looked up from the table and crossed his arms. “I don’t want you to go.”

Sarah patted his shoulder. “I know, dear, but we have an exciting trip ahead of us,
going to a new place. We want to build a wonderful good house there.”

“With horses and chickens?” Levi asked.

Sarah’s blue eyes sparkled with tears as she nodded.

“Okay, then.”

Annie had to look away as emotion welled up inside her. She was sick about her sister’s
departure, but everyone knew an Amish wife had to follow her husband’s decision. Besides,
Perry had listened to Sarah’s opinions, too. It had been wonderful having them here
in the house, but Annie understood the young couple’s desire not to live under her
parents’ roof forever.

When Sarah left the kitchen to put Mark down for his nap, Levi followed along. He
was a bit old for a nap, but sometimes he would doze off while telling his little
cousin a story.

“Poor Levi is going to be lost without his cousin.” Annie put her mug into the sink.
“He’s like a little shepherd watching over Mark.”

“I reckon it will be hard for everyone,” Mary said, her hazel eyes
shining with sympathy. “But I’m glad we have a moment, just the two of us. I wanted
to talk to you about my brother.”

“Adam?” Annie felt her cheeks grow warm.

“No … Jonah. That burst of temper you unleashed on him last night was frightful.”
Mary folded her hands on the table. “I’m saying this because I’m your friend, Annie.
I know you meant no harm, but it was cruel to put the blame on Jonah.”

“But he knocked me down,” Annie defended herself.

“It was an accident. And what happened to forgiveness, Annie? You’re not usually one
to hold a grudge. ‘Forgive us our trespasses.’ ”

A breeze pressed in from outside, stirring the curtains at the window and cooling
the kernel of annoyance that had been burning inside of Annie. How right of Mary to
remind her of the Lord’s Prayer. She’d made such a fuss about having a swollen lip.
And now, this morning, it was as if it had never happened.

“I was being silly, holding that against Jonah,” she admitted. To hold anger against
anyone was wrong, she knew that.

“You won’t find a kinder, gentler man than him.”

Annie nodded absently, not wanting to admit that she’d been edgy with Jonah because
he was Adam’s brother.

That was wrong, too.

“I’ll be sure to set things straight with Jonah,” Annie promised as she went to the
window. Was he still working on the roof? She hoped he hadn’t left for the day yet.

“I know you meant no harm.” Mary nodded. “And did you have a chance to ask your mamm
about the tea shop?”

“I did.” Annie had talked to Lovina that morning before she and Rebecca left for the
shop. “Mamm said she’d love to hire Leah and Susie. If it works out, it will be a
wonderful good apprenticeship for them, don’t you think?”

Mary’s face brightened. “It’s a good way to learn about business, and Lovina will
be a good teacher. Strict but kind.”

“Mamm is happy to take them under her wing. You know how she likes to mother young
people.”

“Denki,” Mary said. “I think the twins could use some mothering right now. There’s
a bit of worry about me leaving after Five and I get married.”

“Are they worried?” Annie pouted. “Poor dears. I wish I could sweep them all into
my arms and hug them till their eyes pop.” The desire to help Mary’s younger siblings
tugged at her. She’d been struck by that feeling a lot in the past few months … wanting
to help Hannah, wanting to hold people’s babies. Now more than ever she enjoyed her
time with Mark and Levi. She had been coaxing Rebecca to have another little one,
telling her that sometimes her arms felt so empty without a baby.

Mary laughed. “Next time Sam and Katie are misbehaving, I’ll bring them right over
for one of those hugs.”

They laughed together, but Annie stopped short of telling Mary about the deep desire
that was beginning to worry her. So far she had told no one, not even her sisters,
and she thought it might be best to keep it that way.

Sarah returned, and she talked with Mary about how the Byler Amish were different
from their district. Annie tried to listen, but her mind wandered off to Jonah King.
He was a kind person. It had been unfair of her to blame him for her feelings about
Adam. How could she make up for being mean to him?

Working the pin on her apron, she stared outside, following the dance of leaves as
the wind swirled them in a circle. Someone stood up from weeding in the garden.

Hannah.

Dear, sweet Hannah. Annie twirled the straight pin under her fingertips as an idea
popped into her head.

As soon as Mary left, Annie went outside to find Jonah. Moving away from the house,
she shielded her eyes from the sun and gazed up. There he was, still working on the
roof.

“Jonah! I’ve gotten so used to seeing you up there, like a bird perched in a tree,”
she called up to him, trying to sound friendly.

He lifted his head and tipped back his hat. “A very large bird.”

She smiled. She hadn’t realized he had a sense of humor. “I thought you might be gone.
It’s been a while since I heard hammering.”

“I’m just finishing the flashing. Your roof is almost done.”

“Oh.” She had wanted him to be around for her plan. She smoothed her apron as he came
down the ladder. “That’s good. With Perry leaving, Dat would have never been able
to make hay and get the roof fixed during this busy harvest.”

He was on the ground now, standing taller than she’d remembered—a bit taller than
Adam.

“Your lip looks much better,” he said.

“Ya.” She pressed her fingers to her mouth. “All better. I’m sorry I snapped at you
when it happened. I was wrong to be cross with you.”

“It’s all water under the bridge.” His eyes looked like Adam’s—a deep brown, like
Mamm’s chocolate fudge. “So when is the day? When are they leaving?”

“Friday. They’ve got a driver and a big van booked. I can’t imagine what it will be
like around here without Sarah and Perry and little Mark. Our dinner table will seem
empty.”

“I know Levi will miss his cousin; I’ve seen those two playing in the barn. Levi chases
little Mark like a mother hen.”

“They are good together,” Annie said, turning to glance over at the clothes flapping
in the breeze. She could see Hannah’s shoes and the bottom of her dress beneath a
row of clothes. Perfect.

“Levi reminds me of my brother Sam. They’re around the same age. And he takes care
of his little sister that way.”

“I keep telling Rebecca that Levi needs a little brother or sister to take care of,”
she said.

“You’re right. A child learns a lot from taking care of his brothers and sisters.”

She started backing away. “Do you think the roof will hold up through the winter?”
she asked, trying to lure him toward the clothesline.

“It should.” He pushed his hat back. “Where are you going?”

“Just over to help my sister take in the clothes,” she said, “but I have some more
questions about that roof. Why don’t you come over and talk?”

He squinted at her, but nodded.

Annie grinned as she turned toward the clothesline. He’d gone for the bait!

She asked him a few more silly questions about how he’d repaired the roof, and Jonah
answered them patiently as she began to take down shirts and dresses.

Hannah peeked around a bedsheet, her blue eyes round with curiosity. Annie flashed
a look that said:
Kumm, now!
But Hannah didn’t seem to catch it.

My younger sister is going to need some lessons tonight when the lights are out
, Annie thought as she dropped a folded dress into the laundry basket.
She should be right here beside me, chatting merrily
.

“Now, look at this over here.” Annie led Jonah over to a quilt hanging on its own.
“Isn’t that nice? It was hand-stitched by my sisters and me.”

“Beautiful. A Sunshine and Shadow quilt, isn’t it?”

“You know your quilts.”

“My sisters have taught me well. There’s always quilting going on at our house, but
then you know that. You’ve been to our quilting bees.”

“I have.” Annie ran her hand over the fold in the quilt. “Just about dry. You know
my sister Hannah, don’t you?”

The sheet dropped from the line into Hannah’s arms, and Annie hurried over to take
two corners.

“Hannah is handy with a needle and thread,” Annie said. “And she’s not so bad in the
kitchen either.”

Jonah nodded. “I know that you make a delicious pie, Annie. What’s your favorite thing
to make, Hannah?”

And just like that, the two of them were talking. Annie folded a shirt and watched
with satisfaction as her sister answered politely that she liked to make stews. “Everything
in one pot,” Hannah said.

“Mmm. You’re making me hungry,” Jonah said, and they all shared a laugh.

Ya, this was a good match she was making. Who’d have thought it would be so easy?

When Jonah carried the laundry basket back to the house for them, Annie could barely
contain the big, bright smile that started from inside her.

Once she and Hannah got into the house, she nudged her sister. “So, what do you think?”

“I think you’re verhuddelt.” Hannah rubbed her arm. “Why do you keep poking me?”

“Didn’t you notice how Jonah King just came alive out there? It’s because he’s sweet
on you. I can tell,” Annie insisted.

Hannah’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Do you really think so?”

“I know it. He carried the laundry basket. That’s the action of a fella who likes
a girl.”

Hannah blinked in astonishment. “He’s a nice enough fella, but a little old for me,
don’t you think?”

Annie waved off Hannah’s concerns. “Wise and handsome, I’d say.”

And probably ready to marry
.

Annie bit her lower lip at the prospect of her sister marrying before her. That would
be hard to watch, especially with the tug of motherhood she’d been feeling lately.
How she craved the feel and smell of a little baby in her arms!

But really … it was foolish to think of such things when neither she nor Hannah had
a beau yet. And she couldn’t begrudge Hannah her happiness. Jonah King was a fine
suitor … even if he did look a lot like his brother Adam.

Annie would get past that, for Hannah’s sake.

There was no stopping her now.

T
he flock of birds that crossed the sky, heading south for warmer weather, reminded
Jonah of his dat. He whistled his father’s favorite song, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,”
as he walked the path to the Stoltzfus barn. Dat had loved wildlife—birds and insects
and frogs and even the deer who chewed plants in the garden down to bare nubs.