A prodigal homecoming...

The Brides of Lost Creek continues

Returning to his Amish community after losing his job in the Englisch world, Aaron King isn’t sure if he wants to stay. Everything’s the same, including his childhood friend Sally Stoltzfus. With an uncertain future and a big secret, Aaron has changed. But the more time he spends training a horse with Sally, the more he believes this is exactly where he’s meant to be.

A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage led MARTA PERRY to write about the Plain People, who add so much richness to her home state. Marta has seen nearly sixty of her books published, with over six million books in print. She and her husband live in a centuries-old farmhouse in a central-Pennsylvania valley. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, traveling, baking or enjoying her six beautiful grandchildren.

Also By Marta Perry

Brides of Lost Creek

Second Chance Amish Bride

The Wedding Quilt Bride

The Promised Amish Bride

An Amish Family Christmas

“Heart of Christmas”

Amish Christmas Blessings

“The Midwife’s Christmas Surprise”

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Promised Amish Bride

Marta Perry

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09475-7

THE PROMISED AMISH BRIDE

© 2019 Martha P. Johnson

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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“Are you ready to keep your promise to me?”

“Promise?” He looked at her blankly.

“You can’t have forgotten. You promised you’d wait until I grew up and then you’d marry me.”

He was appalled, until he saw her laugh. “What are you trying to do, scare me to death?”

She laughed again.

“So you don’t expect me to marry you. Anything else I can do that’s not so permanent?”

“As a matter of fact, there is. I want you to help me train my horse Star. Everyone knows that you’re the best there is with horses.”

There was no real reason he couldn’t help her out, except that it seemed like a commitment, and he didn’t intend to tie himself anywhere, not now.

“I’d like to help. But I don’t know how long I’ll be here and—”

“I’ll take whatever time you can spare. Denke, Aaron. I’m wonderful glad.”

He started to say that his words hadn’t been a yes, but before he could, Sally grabbed his hand and every thought flew right out of his head.

And he knew in that instant that he was in trouble.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the third book in the Brides of Lost Creek series, The Promised Amish Bride. Sally Stoltzfus was just a child when the neighbor she adored, Aaron King, ran away to the Englisch world. Sally was left with the memory of a lighthearted promise...that when she grew up, Aaron would marry her. When Aaron comes back, life takes unexpected turns for many people in Lost Creek.

I love stories of first loves finding fulfillment, so this story was a joy to write. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And that you’ll come back again for future stories set in Lost Creek.

Let me know if you enjoy my story. You can find me online at www.martaperry.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/martaperrybooks, or you can email me at mpjohn@ptd.net. I’ll be happy to respond with a signed bookmark and my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes.

Blessings,

Marta Perry

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

—John 15:12

To Brian, my first and only love.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

The country road was as familiar as Aaron King’s own body, even after all these years away. Here was the spot where his brother, racing a buddy in the family buggy, went into the ditch. There was the bank where they’d picked blackberries, and there the maple tree where he’d stolen a kiss from Becky Esch when they were both fifteen. The maple’s leaves were scarlet now that fall was here, but it had just been budding out that spring.

One more bend in the road, and he’d be able to see the family farm. The realization was like a rock in his stomach.

What was he doing? Did he really want to accept the role of the prodigal, returning to the Amish fold in Lost Creek after failing in the Englisch world? That was what they’d think, surely—his two brothers and his uncle. They’d assume he’d messed up, and they’d also assume he’d come back to stay.

They’d be right on the first count—he had to admit it. The memory of the scene that had destroyed his job and the tenuous place he’d made for himself still scalded.

As for coming home to stay...that he wasn’t so sure of. To give up modern life, to sink back into the restrictions he’d once left behind, to kneel before the brothers and sisters of the church and confess his wrongs...

The lead weight in his belly grew heavier. He didn’t think he could do it. But how many choices did he have left?

He rounded the bend, and the sight ahead of him chased his fruitless thoughts away. A horse reared between the shafts of a buggy, heedless of the efforts of the Amish woman struggling with the lines. Dropping his backpack to the ground, Aaron raced forward. If the horse bolted—

When he reached the animal’s head, it was making a determined effort to kick the buggy to pieces, but at least it hadn’t run. Sucking in a breath, he lunged, dangerously near the flailing hooves. He caught the leather strap of the headpiece and held on tight, all the while talking in the low, steady voice that could calm the most jittery beast.

“Get away from him before you’re hurt. I don’t want help.” The woman spoke in English, not dialect. She thought him an Englischer, and why not? That’s what he was now.

Ignoring her, he focused on the animal, watching the flicker of the ears, the shudders that rippled the skin. He kept his voice low, saying soothing, meaningless words. Slowly, very slowly, the kicks grew half-hearted. They stopped, and the gelding stood, head drooping, shivering a little, but starting to relax.

“There now,” he crooned in the still-familiar cadences of Pennsylvania Dutch. “You’re all right. Something scared you, yah?”

“Nothing more fierce than a paper cup blowing across the road. Could be he wasn’t ready to venture out of the farmyard yet.” The light amused voice startled him out of his preoccupation with the animal.

He took a cautious look, his hand still smoothing the gelding’s silky neck. The woman set the brake and secured the lines. She jumped down with a quick, agile movement that told him she wasn’t much more than a girl.

“Denke. If I’d known it was Aaron King coming to the rescue I wouldn’t have told you to go away, that’s certain sure.” A hint of laughter threaded through her voice.

He frowned. Who was it that knew him right off the bat, even in his jeans and denim jacket? But looking did him no good. Foolish, since she recognized him, but he hadn’t the faintest notion who she was.

“Ach, you don’t know me, do you? That’s a blow to my self-esteem, all right. Here I thought you’d never forget me.” A teasing voice, a lively, animated face and laughing blue eyes confronted him. Her silky blond hair was parted in the center and drawn back under a snowy kapp, but... Then she smiled, showing the dimple in her right cheek, and he knew her.

“It’s never Sally Stoltzfus.” Aaron had to shake his head, even knowing that after nearly ten years away folks would have changed. “You grew up.”

“People do.” She patted the gelding. “Though I’m beginning to wonder about Star.”

“Your daad never picked out a flighty animal like this for you, did he? He’s always been a gut judge of horseflesh. Or is it a husband who did the choosing?”

That gave him a pang, thinking of the little girl who’d had such a crush on him when he’d been a grown-up seventeen and she barely thirteen.

“Not a chance,” Sally said, the amusement still in her expressive face. “Everyone knows I’m an old maid by this time, or so my sister-in-law says. And a schoolteacher besides. And no, Daad didn’t pick the animal. Star was a present from my onkel Simon.”

“That explains it,” he said, with half his mind still wondering how that skinny kid had grown into such a pretty woman. “Simon Stoltzfus never could seem to pick a decent buggy horse. So he passed this failure of his on to you, did he?”

It was pleasant standing here talking to Sally, letting the dialect fill his head and come more easily out of his mouth. And incidentally putting off the moment at which he’d have to face his family.

“Some things don’t improve with time,” she said. “Like Onkel Simon’s judgment of horseflesh. Too bad you weren’t around to save me from myself when I accepted Star.”

“You wouldn’t have taken my advice. The Sally I remember always went her own way.” The teasing came back to him, lightening his mood. “I don’t expect that has changed.”

“Probably not. Ach, what am I doing?” Her blue eyes turned serious, her smile slipping away. “I’m keeping you standing here talking when you must be eager to get home. And the family longing to greet you, I’m certain sure. I can get this beast home for myself now.”

“I’m not in that much of a hurry,” he said, and knew it to be true. “It’s gut to catch up a little.”

“But they’ll be looking for you, ain’t so? I’d guess Jessie has been baking half the day with you coming home.”

Jessie was his brother Caleb’s wife, and he’d never even met her. There were two young ones, his niece and nephew, that he hadn’t met either. And his brother Daniel was planning a wedding himself next month. Would there even be a place for him with the family so changed?

“Maybe so. If they knew I was coming.” He found he didn’t want to see her reaction to that.

“You didn’t tell them?” Sally’s eyes widened. “Aaron King, why ever not? Don’t you know anticipation is half the fun? Your onkel Zeb was just saying the other day how much he wanted to see you. Ever since Daniel visited with you in the spring, he’s been hoping to hear word you were coming.”

He might have known that folks would hear about his meeting up with Daniel at the racing stable where he’d been working. Nothing stayed secret long in the Amish community. Sally was a close neighbor, of course, but most likely the whole church district knew by now. They’d have had time to talk. To judge.

When he didn’t respond, Sally grasped his arm and gave it a shake. “Wake up, Aaron. Why didn’t you let them know you were coming? You are staying, aren’t you?”

He yanked away from her, suddenly irritated. He should have walked right past and let her manage that nervy horse on her own. Leave it to a woman to complicate matters.

“That’s between me and my family.” It came out as a snarl, but that was about how he felt...like a wounded animal ready to bite a helping hand.

She took a step back, her hand dropping to her side. “It is. And of course you wouldn’t want to say anything to me, knowing that I’ll spread it all over the community in the blink of an eye, being such a blabbermaul as I am.”

The tart tone and sharper sarcasm caught him off guard. This wasn’t the little Sally he’d known any longer. This was a grown woman whose clear eyes, showing every change of mood, were now sparkling with anger.

The realization startled him into a muttered apology. “Sorry. I didn’t mean...”

The ready laughter came back into her eyes again. “Yah, you did.”

Funny, that she could make him feel like smiling on a day when he’d thought he had nothing to smile about. “Were you always this annoying about being right?”

“I guess you’ll just have to strain yourself to remember that, won’t you?” She began turning the horse into the lane to the Stoltzfus place, across the road from the King farm. “Star will come along all right now that we’re moving toward home. And that’s where you need to be headed, as well. Go home, Aaron.” She hesitated as if wondering whether to say more. “It will be all right.” Her voice was soft. “Go home. You’ll see.”

* * *

Sally forced herself not to look back until she was halfway down the lane toward the farmhouse. Then a quick glance over her shoulder assured her that Aaron wasn’t looking her way.

Instead, with his backpack slung on one shoulder, he walked down the lane at the King place, headed for the house and whatever welcome awaited him. Here was the Prodigal Son returning, that was certain sure.

Sally took a deep, calming breath. It had shaken her, seeing Aaron after so many years. Not that she’d forgotten him. A girl never forgot her first crush.

She didn’t doubt that Aaron would be welcomed warmly, just as that prodigal had in the story Jesus told. The only reason Onkel Zeb wasn’t running down the lane to greet him, like the father in the parable, was that he didn’t know Aaron was coming.

Ach, how foolish Aaron was, not to realize they’d be eager to see him. After all, hadn’t Daniel traveled all that way out to Indiana just to talk to him once they’d found out where he was?

It was the same with most Amish families who’d had a child jump the fence to the Englisch world. They waited, they prayed and they longed for the time when their child came home. The happy ending they wanted didn’t always come, of course. But it looked as if the King family would have their prayers answered, at least for today.

Star nuzzled her as if to ask why they’d slowed down, and Sally patted him absently. Funny that she hadn’t seen Aaron for so many years, and yet she’d known him the instant she saw his way with the horse. Aaron had always had that gift—some said he must have been born with it.

That had been what she’d recognized, rather than his face. Her steps slowed again. He’d looked older, of course. She had to expect that. But she couldn’t have anticipated those deep lines in his face—lines of bitterness, she suspected. And the golden-brown eyes that once danced with amusement or flashed with lightning anger were now wary and watchful. The charm that had once had all the girls in a tizzy was gone. Aaron had looked braced as if ready for an attack. What had happened out there in the world to change him so?

Sally gave herself a shake. She couldn’t stand here dreaming. She had things to do, and even now she saw Elizabeth, her sister-in-law, peering from the window to see what was keeping her. Suppressing any negative thoughts about her brother’s wife and her endless curiosity, she hurried on toward the barn.

When Sally entered the kitchen after tending to the horse, Elizabeth was rolling out pie dough. And lying in wait for her, it seemed, as she instantly swung around, a question on her lips.

“Here you are at last. Who was that Englischer you were talking to out on the road?”

Sally had implied to Aaron that she wouldn’t spread any rumors about him, but she could hardly deny it was he. And little though she knew the Aaron who’d returned, she could be sure he wouldn’t imagine he could keep his being here secret.

“It wasn’t an Englischer at all. It was Aaron King, on his way home.”

“Aaron King!” Elizabeth’s round face flushed with excitement, probably at being one of the first to have the news. She swung round as Ben, Sally’s brother, came in the door. “Did you hear that, Ben? Aaron King has come home. With his tail between his legs, I’ve no doubt.”

As usual, Elizabeth managed to rouse Sally’s ire in a matter of minutes. Sally took firm control of her tongue, something she’d had to learn to do since her parents went to her sister’s for an extended visit and Elizabeth and Ben moved in. School days weren’t so bad, since she was out and occupied, but weekends could be difficult.

“I wouldn’t say that, Elizabeth. You know Daniel had asked him to come, even if just for a visit. They’ll all be so happy he decided to, I’m sure.”

Ben, with his characteristic slow reaction, mused for a moment and then smiled. “Aaron finally home. That is gut news, ain’t so? It seems like just yesterday that we were walking down the road to school together.”

“I don’t know what call you have to be so happy,” Elizabeth said. “He wasn’t much of a friend, never getting in touch with you in all these years.”

By the time her parents returned from their lengthy visit and Ben and Elizabeth moved back to their own house, Sally figured her tongue would have calluses from biting it.

“He could hardly be in touch with Ben without letting his folks know where he was,” she pointed out.

“That’s so,” Ben said. “Aaron back again, think of that. Too bad tomorrow is an off Sunday for worship, or he’d have been able to see the whole church at once.”

Sally smiled. Ben couldn’t imagine that someone might not want to be confronted with the rest of the Leit all at once.

“Maybe it’s just as well he has a chance to settle in before greeting the whole community,” she suggested.

“Yah, maybe so,” Ben admitted. “I heard he was working with horses somewhere out west.”

“I don’t know about out west, but it looked as if he was giving Sally a hand with that fractious gelding. That animal’s too much for her.” Elizabeth frowned, then launched on her repeated refrain about Onkel Simon’s gift.

“Star was just a little leery of being on the road, that’s all,” Sally said, no more eager to get on to this subject of conversation than to talk about Aaron. She wasn’t about to admit how scared she’d been before Aaron came to the rescue.

“You’re making light of it, but I know what I saw.” Elizabeth gave the rolling pin a decided thump. “Ben should have refused that animal for you the minute your uncle showed up with it.”

The quick retort she’d been congratulating herself for keeping under control slipped loose. “That was not Ben’s decision. It was mine, and I’ll thank you to remember it.”

She was sorry, of course, the instant the words were out, but then it was too late. She sent up a penitent prayer. Would she ever learn to control her unruly tongue?

Elizabeth swung on her husband. “Tell her, Ben. Tell her that horse is too much for her.”

Ben, after a cautious glance at his sister’s flushed face, shook his head. Then he sent Sally a pleading look that she could hardly refuse.

She took a deep breath and fought for patience. “Don’t worry so much, Elizabeth. I won’t take any chances with Star.” She’d have to give more, if only to restore peace. “If he’s not learned to behave himself by the time Daad gets back, we’ll let him decide what to do.”

Elizabeth still looked a bit miffed, but she nodded. “I only want you to be safe,” she said.

To do her credit, that was probably true. Elizabeth had a kind heart to go with that tart tongue.

“That’s settled, then.” Relief filled Ben’s voice. Poor Ben. He only wanted peace, something he couldn’t get with two strong women after him.

But nothing was settled as far as Sally was concerned. She had no intention of giving up the liberty granted by having her own buggy horse. And she’d just had a thought that might well solve her problem.

Aaron King. If anyone could do anything with Star, it would be Aaron. Now all she had to do was convince Aaron of that.

* * *

Those moments with Sally Stoltzfus had distracted Aaron from his apprehension, but it had flooded back the instant she turned away. If he’d thought the road filled with memories, it was nothing compared to the flood that threatened to overwhelm him as he walked down the lane to the farm. Every fence post, every tree, every blade of grass even, seemed to be shouting his name.

Welcoming him home? Or reminding him that he no longer had a place here? He wasn’t sure. Just as he wasn’t sure he even wanted to be here. Or to belong again.

He’d have to make up his mind soon. He could only hope no one would force an answer about his plans. Or be too curious about what had caused him to return now. His mind winced away from that thought.

The field to the left of the lane was planted in corn now. Sere and yellow, it wouldn’t be long until they cut the stalks. Behind it, the pasture was filled with the dairy herd that supported the farm. The herd was larger than it had been when he’d left, it seemed to him. The barn and the milking shed looked in good shape, tidy and freshly painted. If the place had been neglected while Caleb recovered from the injury he’d suffered a year ago, it didn’t show.

The carpentry shop his brother Daniel ran was a new addition. He only knew about it because Daniel, once he’d learned where Aaron was, had written to him faithfully, as had Onkel Zeb. His oldest brother, Caleb, was never much of a letter writer, but that wasn’t the reason for his silence. Caleb, with his high standards and even higher expectations of his younger brothers, would be the least accepting of his return, he expected.

Still, Onkel Zeb had said that Caleb and his wife, Jessie, would like to see him, and Onkel Zeb wasn’t one to say things he didn’t mean.

As if his thought had brought him, Zeb picked that moment to emerge from the back door of the house. He stared for a long moment, probably not sure who it was he saw walking down the lane. Then, with a loud shout, he ran toward Aaron, beard ruffling in the movement, arms spread wide in welcome.

Once again Aaron dropped the backpack. In the grip of an emotion too fierce to resist, he raced toward his uncle. Zeb’s strong, wiry arms went around him, his beard, gray now, brushing Aaron’s cheek. The tears in his uncle’s eyes made him ashamed—ashamed not of leaving, but of failing to let them know where he was for such a long time. Onkel Zeb, at least, would have worried and wondered.

“Ach, it’s sehr gut to see you.” Onkel Zeb took a step back, but still held him by the shoulders. “We’ve been hoping... Why didn’t you tell us you were coming? We’d have been ready to give you a fine wilkom.”

“This is a fine enough wilkom for me.” Aaron blinked rapidly, forcing down emotion. He’d learned, out in the world, not to show his feelings too quickly. It gave the other person an edge, he’d learned. “How are you, Onkel Zeb?”

“Fine, fine. Nothing keeps me down as long as there’s work to do. And there’s always work on a dairy farm.”

“I saw the herd. Looks like Caleb has been doing well.” Aaron welcomed the return to a more casual topic. “Still dealing with the same dairy?”

“Yah, that doesn’t change. Lots more rules and regulations and paperwork now, but we keep up. But komm, schnell. The others will want to see you.” He marched to the bell that hung where it always had next to the back door. Reaching up, he gave it a hearty yank, making it peal across the farm.

They’d all come running when they heard the bell at such an odd time, Aaron knew. He retrieved his backpack, just as glad to hide his face for a moment from Onkel Zeb’s keen eyes. His uncle never missed anything, and he’d know the apprehension Aaron felt about coming back.

Zeb had become more of a father than an uncle to the three of them after their mother left. Their own daad seemed to lose heart once Mamm went away, and it was Onkel Zeb who’d stepped in, Onkel Zeb who’d had the raising of them. When Daad passed away they’d grieved him, for sure, but not much had changed. Onkel Zeb was still there.

Aaron straightened. It would have been Onkel Zeb to be hurt the most when he’d run off, he felt sure. Since his uncle seemed more than ready to forgive and move on, he could indulge in the hope that the others might feel the same.

The house door opened almost immediately, and a woman emerged, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “What’s wrong? Onkel Zeb, are you—” She stopped abruptly at the sight of him. She stared for a moment, and suddenly her expression blossomed into a smile. “Ach, you must be Aaron. Wilkom home!”

“Denke. And you must be Jessie, Caleb’s wife.”

And Caleb’s wife was shortly to produce a new baby, it seemed. Obvious as it was to the most casual glance, no one would mention the expected newcomer in mixed company until the babe was safe in its cradle. Things were different in the outside world, but now that he was here, it behooved him to keep Amish customs, so he kept his gaze firmly on Jessie’s face.

“Your brothers will be so happy to see you.” Seizing the bell, she gave it a few more loud clangs. “If only you’d told me, I’d have had something fancier planned than the chicken potpie we’re having.”

He grinned at the predictable words. Every Amish woman, it seemed, was born wanting to feed people. “You couldn’t have anything I’d want more than genuine Amish potpie,” he said. “There’s nothing like it where I’ve been living.”

The worry left Jessie’s face and she smiled, her hand moving probably unconsciously over her stomach. “That’s gut, then. We’ll have to feed you up now that we have a chance.”

There was a thunder of small feet behind her, and a little boy bolted onto the porch, then stopped short at the sight of a stranger. He was followed a second later by a slightly bigger girl. The boy had to be Timothy, the nephew he hadn’t met—straight, silky blond hair, blue eyes that were wide with wondering who he was. The boy was five, from what Onkel Zeb said in his letters. And Becky, at seven looking enough like her brother to be his twin, would be one of Sally’s scholars, he guessed.

“Hi, Timothy. Becky.” It sounded awkward, and that was how it felt. How did he talk to the niece and nephew he’d never met?

“Mammi?” Timothy clutched Jessie’s skirt, and both kinder looked up at her.

“It’s all right. This is your onkel Aaron, Daadi’s brother. You’ve heard us speak of him.”

The boy nodded, looking at him with those big eyes. “Onkel Aaron,” he repeated, but he didn’t let go of his mother’s skirt. The girl, a bit braver, actually came closer. “Wilkom, Onkel Aaron.”

“Wilkom.” Another voice repeated the word with a slight edge.

Aaron turned to face his oldest brother, Caleb. He was the one who’d spoken. Close behind Caleb was Daniel, beaming as if it were Christmas. It was Daniel who moved first, throwing an arm across Aaron’s shoulders.

“Ach, about time you were getting here. They were all starting to think I’d imagined finding you.” He gave Aaron a quick shake. “It’s wonderful gut to have you home. Ain’t so, Caleb?”

“Yah, for sure.” The tiniest of reservations colored Caleb’s voice. “Wilkom,” he said again. There was a small, awkward pause before he went on. “So, Aaron, tell us. Are you home to stay? Are you ready to be Amish again?”

There it was, the last question he wanted to answer, and the first one anyone asked. Are you ready to be Amish again?

He didn’t know. He just didn’t know.

Chapter Two

For an instant, Aaron felt like heading right back to the road. But before he could frame an answer, Onkel Zeb stepped in.

“Komm, now.” He put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “We asked Aaron to visit, ain’t so? If he should be thinking of making that kind of decision—ach, it’s not one to make lightly. We will enjoy visiting for now.”

There was a hint of sternness in his words, and Caleb looked suitably abashed.

“Onkel Zeb is right, as always.” His smile warmed his face. “Wilkom back, little bruder. We’re wonderful glad you’re here.”

“Denke.”

Returning the smile, Aaron suspected his brother still wanted to hear an answer to his question, but at least he wouldn’t press. Obviously Onkel Zeb still exerted his quiet influence over the family.

Funny, now that he thought about it. Onkel Zeb never scolded or argued, not even when the three of them had been at their most obnoxious. He just had a way of looking at a person and then saying a quiet word. And somehow it always worked.

“You must be hungry,” Jessie said quickly as if to do her part to change the subject. “Let me fix you a little something to last you until supper.”

Aaron actually found himself relaxing enough to chuckle. “Not just yet, denke, Jessie. I stopped for lunch not long ago, so I’ll save myself for your chicken potpie. Maybe I can just have a look around.”

“For sure.” Daniel grabbed his backpack and tossed it on the porch. “Let’s have a look at my workshop. That’s new since you’ve been here, ain’t so?”

No one else jumped in with a different suggestion, so he figured he wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings by seeing the shop first. “Sure thing. Show me what kind of businessman you are.”

It was Caleb’s turn to chuckle. “He’s a better carpenter than a businessman, ain’t so? He loves the building and hates sending the bills.”

Daniel just grinned, his placid temperament not easily upset by teasing. “True. That’s why I’m marrying Rebecca. I figure the way she runs her quilt shop so well, she’ll turn me into a businessman pretty fast.”

“You just want her to keep the books for you,” Caleb said. “Get on with you and show off your shop. Maybe Aaron can help with the milking later, if he hasn’t forgot how.”

There might have been a question in the words. “That’s not something easy to forget,” Aaron said. “It’ll come back to me in a hurry.”

Caleb seemed satisfied with that answer. Murmuring something about work to be done in the barn, he moved off and Jessie disappeared into the house, probably thinking about supper. That left Onkel Zeb and the kids to tag along as they headed for the shop.

Before they’d gone a few steps, Aaron felt his hand grabbed by Timothy. He glanced down at the boy, a bit surprised that he’d decided to be friends so quickly. Timothy’s blue eyes were wary, but he obviously had something to say.

“We’re going to have a new cousin,” he whispered.

“You are?” The boy was soon going to have a little sister or brother, but what was this about a cousin?

Becky took his other hand, not to be outdone by her little brother. “Yah. A boy cousin.” She looked as if she’d prefer a girl cousin. “Onkel Daniel and Rebecca are getting married, so her little boy, Lige, will be our cousin.”

“That’s wonderful gut, ain’t so? You’ll get a cousin big enough to play with right away.”

Becky mused, her small forehead wrinkled. “You mean he won’t be a baby, yah? But he’s littler than me. He’s in first grade now.”

“That means you get to be the big cousin. You can help him with lots of things.” From what he remembered, little girls liked that.

She nodded gravely. “I can help him with his spelling. Teacher Sally will like it if I do.”

“I’m sure she will.” He tried to picture Sally as a teacher and failed completely. He couldn’t deny that she’d grown up, but it seemed to him she was much too pretty and lighthearted to be a teacher.

“Teacher Sally is nice,” Timothy contributed. Then he glanced at his sister. “Race you to the shop.” He took off even before he finished, and she chased after him.

Aaron glanced at Daniel. “Nope,” he said after a minute. “I don’t see you as a married man.”

“That’s what we all said until Rebecca came home next door and started her quilt shop. She hired a carpenter and ended up with a future husband.” Onkel Zeb chuckled. “Though there were days I thought he’d never make up his mind as ask her.”

“I was waiting until the time was right.” Daniel pretended to be offended, but it was clear that he was pleased with himself. “You couldn’t expect me to ask her until she was settled here at home again.”

“I didn’t realize Rebecca had been married. Was it someone local?” The man had obviously died. There wasn’t another option in the Amish community.

“No. She met him when she went out to Ohio on a visit.” Daniel’s eyes clouded, as if there were things he didn’t want to say. Maybe he regretted not having courted Rebecca before she went away.

But Daniel had been just as cautious when it came to marriage as his brothers had been. They’d lived through the trauma caused by a broken marriage when their mother left. That had been reason enough to take it slowly.

But now that he’d made the decision, Daniel seemed happy. Contented—that was it. He acted like a person who’d found what he wanted.

“So now you’re going to be an instant daadi to her little boy. Are you sure you’re ready for that?” He said it teasingly, trusting that Daniel still knew him well enough to tell when he was serious or joking.

“Ach, he’s already gone a long way in that direction,” Onkel Zeb said. “Little Lige was hanging on him in chust a day or two. I’m thinking Lige had a place in his heart that needed filling, and Daniel fit just right.”

“I guess it was meant to be, then.”

Apparently that was the right thing to say, because Daniel’s face lit up. “That’s it, for sure. When it’s the real thing, you know it’s meant to be. I’m thankful to the gut Lord to have a woman like Rebecca and a son like Lige.”

Aaron couldn’t help but be impressed. It seemed his brother had done a lot of growing up while he was away. “I wish you happiness, all three of you. Now you can use all the things you learned about raising kinder when you practiced on me.”

He meant it as a joke, but Daniel gave him a serious look in return. “Seems to me I didn’t do that gut a job with you. If I had, you wouldn’t have run off without a word to me about it. I’ve carried the guilt of that ever since.”

For a moment he could only stare at his brother. “That’s foolishness,” he said, wanting to be rid of the uneasy feeling the words gave him. “You couldn’t have known. Anyway, when a boy’s thinking of jumping the fence, he’s not likely to talk to anyone about it. And it wasn’t your responsibility.”

He half expected Onkel Zeb to say something—to agree with him, at least, that it hadn’t been Daniel’s fault that he’d run off. Instead they both just looked at him.

“It was my doing,” he said, his voice sharper than he meant it to be. “No one else was responsible.”

Daniel shook his head. “It was different for Caleb. He had the farm to run. I was the one who was closer to you in age. I should have known. I should have helped you.”

Aaron didn’t want this conversation—didn’t want to know any of it. But he didn’t have a choice. When he’d left, he’d told himself it was his decision. Nothing to do with anyone else. But he’d been wrong. He’d hurt people, and he didn’t see that there was anything he could do to make it right.

* * *

Sally settled into the privacy of her bedroom with Aaron King still on her mind. She glanced around, thinking as she always did how fortunate she was in so many ways.

When she’d expressed her desire to become a teacher, Daadi had insisted on setting up her bedroom accordingly. She had a desk in front of the window with a comfortable chair and a long bookcase that still wasn’t quite big enough for all of her books. The file boxes she used for teaching materials were stacked next to the desk.

Each time she walked into the room, she felt a wave of gratitude toward her father. He hadn’t waited until she’d obtained the job as a teacher. He’d shown the family’s confidence in her even before that happened. Somehow knowing other people believed she could do it had made her believe it, too.

She settled at her desk, trying to focus on her lesson plans for the coming week, but her thoughts kept straying. The arithmetic lesson for her second graders slipped away as she stared out the window and across the road to the King farm. Aaron would be past the initial reactions to his homecoming by now, and she could only pray they’d been everything they should be.

And maybe she ought also to pray about how he’d respond to them. Aaron had always been hard to predict, like a minnow in the creek slipping this way and that, always out of her grasp. Sally smiled at herself, thinking of Aaron’s probable response to being compared to a minnow.

Still, even her brief encounter with him was enough to convince her that the Aaron who’d returned wasn’t the Aaron who’d left. He’d had a quick temper back then, but it had been as quickly gone, leaving sunshine behind it. Now—well, now he looked like a man with a chip on his shoulder, daring someone to knock it off.

Maybe he’d found that attitude necessary in the Englisch world, but it would be very out of place here. He’d have to get used to the give-and-take of Amish family life in order to get along. To say nothing of the sheer noise with so many people in the house—two kinder and a new boppli soon to arrive. If he’d been living a solitary bachelor existence among the Englisch, he’d find this very different.

And the King household was more than usually wound up at the moment, with Daniel’s wedding approaching as fast as Jessie and Caleb’s baby. Some days she thought it was turning into a race to see which would be first. But they’d cope, however it turned out. Everyone from the church would pitch in to help, and as neighbors, they’d expect to be called on.

Sally gave herself a little shake and firmly removed her attention from the house across the road. The upper grades needed some extra map work—she’d been appalled at how much they’d forgotten over the summer vacation. Still, it was always the way, and—

Sally’s pencil dropped to the desk as she swung around. That sound...what was it? A soft cry? She shot from her chair when it came again...a half-choked sob. Elizabeth? Hurrying to the door, Sally rushed into the hall. The door to Ben and Elizabeth’s bedroom was closed, but it couldn’t muffle the noise of Elizabeth’s crying.

Tapping at the door, she called out. “Elizabeth? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

A moment’s silence. “No, I...I’m... It’s nothing. It...” The words dissolved in tears. Her heart twisting, Sally turned the knob, murmured a prayer for help and walked in.

Elizabeth sat on the side of the bed, her apron askew, a pillow from the bed held against her lips as if to muffle her sobs. Horrified, Sally rushed to her, sitting so that she could wrap her arms around Elizabeth.

“Komm, now, tell me. Something is wrong. Let me help you,” she coaxed, keeping her voice soft even as her thoughts tumbled. Should she run to find Ben? This weeping was unheard of for practical, controlling Elizabeth.

“Please, Elizabeth. Tell me why you’re crying. I want to help.”

“I’m not...not crying.” Elizabeth mopped at her eyes ineffectively. “I never cry. I...I just thought for sure I was expecting at last. But I’m not.” Tears overflowed again. “Maybe I never will be.”

“Ach, no, don’t think that.” She patted her sister-in-law, hoping that was the right thing to say. “Surely it will happen for you and Ben.”

Elizabeth turned her face away, and Sally realized she didn’t want anyone to see her like this. But what could she do? She couldn’t just go away and pretend it hadn’t happened. If only Mammi were here. Mammi would know what to say. She felt very young and very useless for all that she was supposed to be a grown woman.

“Maybe...maybe it’s just not time yet,” she said. It sounded stupid to her own ears, but after all, some women did take longer to start a family than others. “Or maybe there’s some little thing wrong that the doctor can fix. Did you talk to a doctor?”

Elizabeth shook her head, wiping the last of the tears away with her fingers like a child would. “I asked the midwife. She wants me to see a doctor—she gave me the name of someone. A woman doctor, a specialist. But I don’t know. Maybe it’s not God’s will, doing that. Maybe I should just be waiting and praying.”

Sally rubbed her back gently, the way Mammi always did when she was hurting. “Surely it can’t be wrong just to talk to the doctor.” She took a breath. “Why don’t you let me call and make the appointment for you? Then I’ll go with you, so you won’t be alone.”

Elizabeth stiffened, drawing away. “Ach, I couldn’t even think of letting you do such a thing. What would your mamm say, and you not even a married woman?”

It seemed Sally had gone a step too far, but at least Elizabeth’s tears had stopped.

“Mamm would say I should do what she would if she were here, ain’t so? Let me do this for you.” And forgive me for all the times my quick tongue let me snap at you.

Why hadn’t she seen or even suspected that this was tormenting her sister-in-law? Was she really so self-centered she couldn’t look past her own wants? If she could help now, maybe it would make up for her failures.

“Please, Elizabeth.” She clasped Elizabeth’s hand.

Elizabeth got up so quickly the mattress bounced. She pulled her hand free and shook out her wrinkled skirt. “What am I doing, sitting here being silly when there’s work to be done? Don’t you say a word about it. It was foolishness.”

“Elizabeth...”

“Forget it. You must get back to your schoolwork. You can’t let those scholars get ahead of you, ain’t so?”

“That’s certain sure.” She knew what was happening. Elizabeth had shown weakness, and it embarrassed her. More than that, she didn’t consider Sally capable of helping her.

Well, they were agreed on that. She didn’t feel capable either.

* * *

Aaron had been relieved to learn that the next day wasn’t a church Sunday—he’d be spared the task of seeing the entire Amish community until the following week. If he stayed that long.

But he hadn’t gotten off entirely. By noon the neighbors were arriving for a picnic, and there was no getting out of it. After all, these were people who’d known him all his life, and they expected to celebrate his return.

Visit, he kept telling himself. Visit, not return.

Wondering if Caleb had any chores for him in the barn, he headed out of the house, only to meet Sally, arriving from across the road with a basket in one hand and a bowl in the other.

“Aaron. Just what I need—an extra pair of hands. Grab the potato salad, will you? It’s slipping.”

Assuming she meant the bowl, he took it from her. “Can I take the basket, as well?” It was only common courtesy to help her, after all.

“I’ve got it.” She looked up at him, her blue eyes dancing. “I can tell you’re thrilled to have all the neighbors coming in to have a look at you.”

Apparently there was no hiding anything from this grown-up Sally, so he managed a smile. “I guess I can stand it if they can. Is Ben coming?”

“Yah, he and Elizabeth will be along in a minute. She was putting the finishing touches on her salad.”

“Judging by the food Jessie has been producing all morning, I’d say there’s going to be plenty to eat.” He fell into step with her as they headed into the kitchen.

“Did you ever know an Amish meal where there wasn’t? Or have you forgotten what it’s like in all these years away? Maybe you lived on frozen dinners and fast food out there.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “Unless I’ve forgotten a lot, it seems to me I used to be the one doing all the teasing, not you.”

“You’d best hurry and catch up, then,” she said, giving him a pert look over her shoulder as she went through the door ahead of him.

Aaron stopped for a second. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that Sally was flirting with him. Worse, that he felt like flirting right back.

Oh, no. He sure wasn’t going there. A few quick strides took him into the kitchen and to the counter, where he deposited the bowl. “I’ll help Caleb with the tables,” he muttered, and scooted out without meeting Sally’s glance again.

Caleb and Onkel Zeb were setting up tables on the grass, and he hurried to grab one end before his uncle could reach it. “I’ll get it.” He glanced across the field. “Looks like some more company on their way.”

“Yah, the Fisher family are eager to see you, that’s certain sure.” Onkel Zeb grinned. “And Daniel is twice as eager to see Rebecca. He’s that excited about getting married you’d think no one had ever done it before.”

“So Daniel is becoming a daadi. That’s still hard to imagine.” Aaron was still having trouble just picturing his brother married, let alone being an instant father.

“Like I said, he’s gut with little Lige, Rebecca’s boy. The child loves him already, and Rebecca... Well, you’ll see the way they look at each other.” Onkel Zeb gave him a sly glance. “Seems to me it’s become a tradition, the King boys getting married.”

“Count me out,” he said quickly. “It’s not for me.” Sally’s lively face appeared in his mind’s eye, and he chased it away.

“More work, less talk,” Caleb said. “There’s still the benches to set up.”

“Right.” Aaron picked up one of the benches and carried it to its proper place. He’d be just as happy to have enough jobs to keep him from needless conversation with the neighbors, but he didn’t guess that was possible.

In any event, meeting and greeting wasn’t as difficult as Aaron had expected, even though he felt foolishly awkward at times. Mostly people hadn’t changed much—just gotten older. There was Sam Fisher from next door, who was Caleb’s age and had a flock of kids already. He and his Leah must have married early, since their oldest boy was a gangly youth entering his teens and looking much as Sam had at that age.

Daniel’s Rebecca had grown up into a beauty, that was for sure. Not lively, like Sally, but with a serene calm that turned into joy each time her eyes met Daniel’s. It was oddly disturbing to see that flare of love returned by his easygoing brother. Lige, the little boy, seemed attached to Daniel’s pant leg most of the time, chattering away a mile a minute.

Onkel Zeb caught him watching Daniel and Rebecca. “They’re gut together, yah? It’s a wonder to see Daniel so happy, and Rebecca, too.”

“I’m still trying to get used to Caleb being married and having a family. Now Daniel.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what kind of an uncle I’m going to be, but I’m certain sure I won’t do as gut a job as you did with us.”

“It’ll come to you,” his uncle said. “Most things are natural when it’s family.”

He wasn’t so convinced of that, but he could hardly argue with his uncle after all Zeb had done for them. His gaze strayed to Sally’s brother, Ben, and his wife.

“Ben hasn’t changed,” he said. “His wife...”

Onkel Zeb grinned. “Tried to get your whole life story out of you, did she? Ach, Elizabeth’s a gut woman, but she has an opinion on everything. I expect she and Sally are butting heads plenty these days. Elizabeth and Ben are staying in the farmhouse with Sally while her and Ben’s folks are away.”

“Sally said something about it.” And based on his brief encounter with Elizabeth, he could understand if she got on Sally’s nerves.

“Speaking of Sally, here she is,” Zeb said. “Are you looking for me or for my handsome nephew, Teacher Sally?”

Sally smiled, squeezing his arm. “You’re my sweetheart, Zeb. But it’s Aaron I need to see at the moment.”

Still trying to get used to the grown-up Sally, he couldn’t find a response for a second or two—long enough for Onkel Zeb to move off. “I’ll leave you to talk about it, then.”

“I’m not sure what...” he began, but Sally plunged right in.

“Komm, now, Aaron. I thought you might be ready to keep your promise to me.”

“Promise?” He looked at her blankly.

“You can’t have forgotten. You promised you’d wait until I grew up and then you’d marry me.”

He stared at her, appalled for what seemed forever until he saw the laughter in her eyes. “Sally Stoltzfus, you’ve turned into a threat to my sanity. What are you trying to do, scare me to death?”

She gave a gurgle of laughter. “You looked a little bored with the picnic. I thought I’d wake you up.”

“Not bored,” he said quickly. “Just...trying to find my way. So you don’t expect me to marry you. Anything else I can do that’s not so permanent?”

“As a matter of fact, there is. I want you to help me train Star.”

So that was it. He frowned, trying to think of a way to refuse that wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

“You saw what Star is like,” she went on without waiting for an answer. “I’ve got to get him trained, and soon. And everyone knows that you’re the best there is with horses.”

“I don’t think everyone believes any such thing,” he retorted. “They don’t know me well enough anymore.”

She waved that away. “You’ve been working with horses while you were gone. And Zeb always says you were born with the gift.”

“Onkel Zeb might be a little bit prejudiced,” he said, trying to organize his thoughts. There was no real reason he couldn’t help her out, except that it seemed like a commitment, and he didn’t intend to tie himself anywhere, not now.

“You can’t deny that Star needs help, can you?” Her laughing gaze invited him to share her memory of the previous day.

“He needs help all right, but I don’t quite see the point. Can’t you use the family buggy when you need it?” He suspected that if he didn’t come up with a good reason, he’d find himself working with that flighty gelding.

Her face grew serious suddenly. “As long as I do that, I’m depending on someone else. I want to make my own decisions about when and where I’m going. I’d like to be a bit independent, at least in that. I thought you were the one person who might understand.”

That hit him right where he lived. He did understand—that was the trouble. He understood too well, and it made him vulnerable where Sally was concerned. He fumbled for words. “I’d like to help. But I don’t know how long I’ll be here and—”

“That doesn’t matter.” Seeing her face change was like watching the sun come out. “I’ll take whatever time you can spare. Denke, Aaron. I’m wonderful glad.”

He started to say that his words hadn’t been a yes, but before he could, Sally had grabbed his hand and every thought flew right out of his head.

It was just like her catching hold of Onkel Zeb’s arm, he tried to tell himself. But it didn’t work. When she touched him, something seemed to light between them like a spark arcing from one terminal to another. He felt it right down to his toes, and he knew in that instant that he was in trouble.

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