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  Which meant more than playing volleyball tonight.

  Josiah must have overheard because he laughed good-naturedly, which turned her face the color of red beets. She kept her head down, wondering if she was nothing more than Josiah’s latest conquest. But what a horrible thought! She decided to banish it from her mind forever.

  The game began with the ball flying back and forth across the net. The other men from Lancaster were also great volleyball players. They spiked and set up with abandon, and Josiah outdid the others with ease. He even gave Mary some chances to play. She managed to hit the ball back over the net each time and avoid total embarrassment.

  “You’re goot at this,” Josiah said as they caught their breath.

  Mary stilled her protest and kept her gaze straight ahead.

  “Can I take you home on Sunday evening after the hymn singing?” Josiah asked in a low tone.

  Mary nodded as the ball arched in the air high above them.

  TWO

  On Sunday evening Mary drove into Deacon Stoltzfus’s driveway with the buggy seat empty beside her. She stopped by the barn with a flourish and then hopped out as several Amish men loitering nearby hurried forward to help unhitch the buggy. Josiah was not among them, so she assumed he hadn’t arrived at the hymn singing yet. At the church service this morning, he had sent warm smiles her way for the whole three hours. Her face had remained one solid flame of red, but no one had objected to the new couple’s behavior. Rather, several of the older women had whispered kind words into Mary’s ear while she served tables afterward.

  Rachel, Deacon Stoltzfus’s frau, had said, “The Lord has blessed you with a handsome young man.”

  “We wish you nothing but the best,” another woman had added.

  “You are such an encouragement to our young girls,” said Annie, Bishop Miller’s frau. “The Lord is smiling on you indeed.”

  Mary smiled now when Enos walked up to her buggy with Ronald Troyer, his new friend from Lancaster, by his side. “I see I started quite the thing,” Enos teased. “Happy to see you settling down so early, Mary. But then, we expected that of you.”

  Ronald chuckled. “I didn’t know Josiah was looking for a girlfriend, so you must have taken him right off his feet.”

  Mary bowed her head and scurried toward the house. She had heard enough compliments for the moment. The thought of her first date with Josiah had sent her heart pounding since the volleyball game on Friday evening. The only dark cloud over the occasion had been Betsy’s reaction.

  “You shouldn’t have said yes to that man,” Betsy had scolded on the way home. “Ronald Troyer would have been a much better choice.”

  “Please don’t be so negative,” Mary had begged. “If you were so impressed with Ronald, maybe he will remember you in the future.”

  Betsy had glared at Mary and fallen silent. They both knew that the pain in Betsy’s heart was real, even if few in the community could understand.

  Mary paused at the front door of Deacon Stoltzfus’s house to catch her breath. The buzz of conversation inside grew louder when she opened the door. Mary made a beeline for the kitchen, which was filled with women. “Is there anything I can do to help with supper?” she asked Rachel.

  “Give the mashed potatoes another whirl, and check them for seasoning,” Rachel suggested. “We’ll be ready to serve in a moment. With the Lancaster load here tonight, I’m running a little behind.”

  Mary nodded and grabbed the bowl of potatoes to stir them vigorously with a wooden spoon. That she was given this task was a great honor. Mashed potatoes were a staple in Amish meals and must be prepared to perfection, especially with the Lancaster visitors present.

  “Here’s the sample spoon,” Rachel said in her ear.

  Mary dropped a small glob of potatoes from the wooden spoon into a smaller utensil and tasted a bite. More salt was needed. She added a small amount plus two pinches of pepper from the cupboard.

  Mary whipped the potatoes again, and Rachel appeared at her side. Mary handed her the spoon for another test.

  “Perfect,” Rachel pronounced.

  Two women behind Rachel descended on the bowl of potatoes to fill smaller dishes. Then they disappeared in the direction of the dining room.

  “We’re ready to serve,” Rachel told Mary. “Thanks for the help. You are the best.”

  Mary’s face burned again, and she tried to hide behind the warm stove. Why did everyone draw attention to her this evening? Thankfully, Deacon Stoltzfus called for the prayer of thanks from the kitchen doorway, occupying everyone for a moment.

  “And now, gracious heavenly Father,” Deacon Stoltzfus prayed. “Let this evening be pleasing in Your sight. We give thanks for the bounty You have blessed us with and from which we are about to eat…”

  Mary listened as Deacon Stoltzfus gave thanks for the visitors from Lancaster and prayed for their safe travels home. Would Josiah be staying for another week? Did she dare hope? Their first date hadn’t even begun. She had prepared coconut ruffles for their evening snack, and a party mix made with pretzels, Cheerios, and Cheetos. If Josiah stayed another week, she could bake a cherry pie for him, plus a few extra pies to pacify the family. Gerald would eat a whole pie by himself if Mamm didn’t keep an eye on the boy.

  “Amen,” Deacon Stoltzfus pronounced, and Mary lifted her head as the buzz of conversation resumed.

  With the visitors present, supper was served cafeteria-style at the dining room table, with a line on each side—one for the men and one for the women.

  “Go!” Rachel ordered, and Mary fell in with the other unmarried girls who streamed into the dining room. Betsy should have come tonight, but she had refused. Enos was here, so there was no rumspringa gathering to attend. Instead, Betsy was probably brooding in her room, which wasn’t goot for anyone. They would have to pray even harder for Betsy’s full healing now that Mary was dating Josiah—or, at least, was going on one date with him.

  Mary glanced up and caught Josiah’s clear blue eyes fixed on her from across the food-laden table. The plate in her hand almost slipped out of her fingers. She had never been in love, but if this was what love felt like, they should be married in a few years. Mary took a deep breath and dared to glance across the table again. Josiah’s smile was still there, and it dazzled her. The food dishes became blurry, and she had no idea what she put on her plate.

  Josiah leaned toward her to whisper, “Can I sit beside you?”

  Mary nodded, and they found chairs toward the back along the living room wall.

  “Perfect!” Josiah declared.

  He clearly referred to their secluded position in the room, but from his smile he could have been speaking of her too.

  Mary’s heart pounded in her ears.

  Several of the girls with their boyfriends in tow gave them pleased glances as they walked past to find seats together. It seemed that everyone approved of Josiah Beiler and Mary Yoder. The only person with a scowl on his face was Stephen Overholt, a bachelor who rarely came to the hymn singings. Where had Stephen come from? Why would he choose tonight to attend the young folks’ gathering? Likely he knew someone who had come in from Lancaster, but that didn’t supply a full explanation. Was there a girl who had sparked his interest? If Stephen had spoken with her earlier in the evening, a rejection would explain his fallen face.

  “Is that Stephen Overholt over there?” Josiah asked, his spoon moving just slightly in Stephen’s direction.

  Mary kept her voice low. “Yah. How do you know him?”

  “My cousin Linda…” Josiah motioned with his spoon again.

  Mary nodded. She’d met Linda Friday night after the volleyball game, but Josiah’s face was all she recalled clearly from that evening.

  “Linda came to me, but not for advice.” Josiah grinned. “She already had her answer, and now I can see why. She said this Stephen Overholt talked with her outside the mudroom door after the church services and asked her for a date this evening. When Linda said no, he wo
uldn’t back down. He prattled on and on about the Lord’s will, and how Linda should think long and hard before risking going against what the Lord wanted. I guess the man still hasn’t given up.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Mary whispered. “I guess Stephen must be desperate.”

  Josiah grunted as if he totally agreed. “I’m thinking the man should ask some widow for a date. Don’t you have any of those? Someone who would fit the man better than my cousin Linda?”

  “I’m sure we do,” Mary managed. “There’s Sadie, for one, and Lavina has two small children.”

  “There you go.” Josiah appeared satisfied with himself.

  “I didn’t know Stephen acted like that,” Mary told him. “I knew he was a little strange.”

  “I thought you might know from experience,” Josiah teased with a wicked grin.

  Heat flamed into Mary’s face, and she quickly took a bite of food.

  “Am I right or not?” Josiah persisted. He was obviously drawing the wrong conclusions.

  “Stephen has hardly ever spoken to me, let alone asked me for a date,” she told him.

  He tilted his head sideways. “Okay. Just sympathizing with you, that’s all.”

  “Thank you,” she told him.

  What he said didn’t make sense to her, but little did at the moment. Josiah couldn’t be jealous, could he? Or did he think her the kind of girl whom Stephen would ask for a date?

  “I’ve been waiting all day to spend time with you,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

  Was Josiah still teasing?

  “I was,” he insisted, as if he read her thoughts. “I wasn’t expecting to find someone like you in the valley.”

  “Josiah, please,” she managed. “I’m embarrassed enough. I am quite thrilled to say the least. I’ve…it’s…” Words failed her.

  “Did you think no goot could come out of Lancaster?”

  She met his teasing look. “It sounds like you expected no goot to come out of the valley.”

  “That would be right,” he agreed. “But look what I’ve found: a diamond at the foothills of the Adirondacks.”

  “Josiah…I…stop it, please,” Mary sputtered.

  His smile only grew. He obviously enjoyed her discomfort.

  “Are you ready for dessert?” he asked.

  She cleared the last of her plate and nodded. Thankfully Josiah knew when to break up an embarrassing conversation.

  They stood, and he whispered, “You first.”

  Mary made her way through the crowd with Josiah at her shoulder. The smiles and nods sent their way were plentiful and sincere, and Mary noticed that Stephen Overholt appeared to have vanished.

  “You have a nice community here,” Josiah told her as he filled his plate with chocolate cake, rice pudding, and shoofly pie. “You even have Lancaster’s best food.” He bent his head low to draw a deep breath over the pie on his plate. “Ah, the smells of home!”

  “Most of the people moved here from Lancaster,” she reminded him. “We know how to make shoofly pie.”

  He grinned. “I know. Just making sure they still know how to bake.”

  Mary took a piece of pie for herself. Shoofly pie would be a staple in their home if Josiah and she were to wed. Lancaster might be miles to the south, but they were connected in so many ways by community, by the generations who had gone before, and by their desire to live a life that was pleasing to the Lord.

  Josiah took a bite of his pie as they walked back to their seats. “I should have taken a second piece!” he declared. “This is amazing. Exactly like home.”

  “You can have mine,” she offered.

  “Thanks, but I have to watch the pounds.” He patted his flat stomach.

  They laughed together, the sound muffled by the voices that rose and fell around them. Already she felt right with this man, so comfortable, so at home.

  “Can I see you again next Sunday?” he asked in between bites of pie.

  “You haven’t even taken me home yet,” she retorted. “How do you know you’ll want to see me again?”

  “I know,” he said. “Can I stay over the week?”

  Mary nodded, not trusting her voice. Josiah wanted to continue their relationship. She couldn’t believe he wanted another date before he had eaten the food she had prepared for him.

  “I hope I’m not being too forward,” he said. “I know we only met each other Friday night, but rarely have I been so certain of anything, Mary. I would like to see a lot more of you this week. Maybe we could sneak in an extra evening at your place, considering the circumstances. I’m not very good at letter writing.”

  Mary’s voice trembled. “I’m sure Mamm and Daett would not object. Mamm wasn’t totally sure this morning which one of you Lancaster men was Josiah, but she said you all seemed decent.”

  “Then we will have to work on your mamm’s poor impression of me,” Josiah said with a broad smile.

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” Mary protested. “Mamm just…well, she couldn’t—”

  “I understand,” Josiah interrupted. “I will do my best to get your mamm on my side.”

  And he would. Josiah would succeed. He should be able to charm any woman he wished to impress. Mary was so grateful that Josiah had chosen her, and she wondered if maybe this was the answer to their prayers for Betsy. Her relationship with Josiah might bring healing to her sister’s heart, if only Betsy would withhold her quick judgments.

  Josiah finished the last piece of his shoofly pie and sighed deeply. “Wunderbah!” he said. “Absolutely, wunderbah!”

  Mary leaped to her feet to hide another rush of heat up her neck. “Time to help with the dishes,” she tossed over her shoulder.

  As she approached the dining room table, the girls in the kitchen began singing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” Mary gathered up a handful of dishes and joined in the song. How could she praise the Lord enough for the blessing He had brought into her life since Friday evening? There seemed no way to fully express her joy, but the words of the song helped. Mary sang with her heart full. She deposited the dirty plates on the kitchen counter and returned to the dining room, where Josiah gave her a wink from across the table.

  THREE

  A year passed, and spring arrived in the valley once again. Mary sat on the front porch swing with a letter from Josiah on her lap. So much had happened in the past twelve months—the beginnings of Josiah’s attentions, the letters that flew to and from Lancaster, her baptism, and now her new job at the food co-op in downtown Fort Plain. With her rumspringa in the past, her mamm had raised no objections to this increased exposure to the Englisha world. Mary’s future in the community was secure. Even her friendship with Mrs. Gabert, the widow whose house was on her route to the co-op, raised no eyebrows. Mrs. Gabert was a sweet and spry grandmother who lived alone, and Mary stopped by often to check on her. Most of the time, Mrs. Gabert’s conversations centered on her grandson Willard, who had recently begun work overseas at a mission in Kenya.

  “Willard is such a brave, sweet boy,” Mrs. Gabert had declared. “He always was. He left for Kenya as he’d planned, even after Carlene broke his heart. They were engaged, the two of them. A perfect couple bound for the Lord’s work.”

  Mary nodded and listened. Kenya was a world away from the community and a place she knew little about. Her attention was fixed on places closer to home.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” she had commiserated with Mrs. Gabert. “I hope things work out for your grandson.”

  “Oh, they will,” Mrs. Gabert had assured her. “I have prayed long and hard, and the Lord will answer in His own sweet time.”

  “Yah,” Mary had agreed. “The Lord does all things right.”

  Like sending me Josiah’s love. But she had not said as much to Mrs. Gabert, other than to say that she did have a boyfriend. There were some things not meant for Englisha ears. Mary smiled at the thought, and her gaze dropped to the letter again.

  “My de
arest, sweet Mary,” Josiah had written. “How I long to see you again. Your smile lights up my whole life in the brief moments when I am with you. Your memory keeps my heart warm in the months when we are apart. I go upstairs after the evening chores and supper are over, and I think of you. I can hardly wait until the next time I am able to make the trip up to the valley and spend a few blissful hours in your presence.”

  A wistful smile lingered on Mary’s face. How blessed she was with such a love. Her faith had been rewarded to the fullest. As the letters passed each other between the valley and Lancaster, the only cloud that hung over the Yoder family was Betsy’s continued determination to jump the fence into the Englisha world. From time to time, Betsy mentioned being impressed with Ronald Troyer, but there was no hope in her heart that such a man would give her attention. She went out with Cousin Enos almost every Friday night, and Gerald wasn’t old enough to join in the rumspringa activities, which was just as well. Betsy’s attitude didn’t seem to affect Enos, who had firm plans to settle down in a year or so—but Gerald was young and easily influenced.

  Mary pulled her gaze back to the written pages. Josiah might propose soon, perhaps in time to plan a wedding this fall? Betsy could serve as the witness for the Yoder side of the family, and Mary would ask Josiah if they could approach Ronald to sit with Betsy. If Ronald could give Betsy a goot time on such a wunderbah day of joy and happiness, surely she would see the error of her ways and soften her heart.

  Mary turned over the last page of the letter. There she had written some words that had bubbled up from her heart. Poetry had always come easily to her, but the fountain had opened since Josiah starting showering her with love and affection. Someday she would show him his letters with the poems on the back, but she didn’t dare now. They were not yet husband and wife, and some things could only be shared once the sacred vows had been exchanged. She was a serious woman by nature, but love made everyone silly. At least that’s how she had been feeling for the last year.