One of the twins made a hand gesture Leah didn’t understand, and she walked faster behind them. When the door opened, the afternoon sunlight revealed black bras beneath the twins’ close-fitting tops—and they had matching tattoos of Tinker Bell on the backs of their left shoulders.
Leah was too startled by these discoveries to say another word as Alice and Adeline unhitched Minnie and clambered into their rig.
Pierced ears and tattoos. So much for what Margaret knows about her granddaughters, Leah thought as she mounted Mose to follow them home. Where are the girls getting money for these English clothes and jewelry and—and those colorful tattoos? How can I tell Jude what his daughters have been up to?
How can I not tell him?
Chapter 8
Jude drank deeply from his glass of cold water, preparing to sell one last lot of sheep to the crowd of area farmers gathered in the sale barn near Cedar Creek. Although the bidding had been unusually active and he’d sold more cattle, hogs, and sheep than usual for a blustery March day, his mind had occasionally wandered home . . . wondering how Leah’s day with the twins had been going. When one of the Amish barn hands opened a side gate to drive the lambs into the fenced arena in front of the elevated booth where he sat, Jude shifted the microphone into place—and then gripped it hard.
On the other side of the fence, Jeremiah was taking a seat in the bleachers. And Stevie was with him.
A prickly feeling went up Jude’s spine, but when his son waved at him, grinning widely, Jude waved back. He hadn’t seen Stevie so happy in months, so the day had to be going better than most despite the serious set to Jeremiah’s jaw.
“All right, folks, we’ve got a dozen nice Suffolk lambs,” Jude announced, allowing his amplified voice to catch the attention of the attendees as he read from the small computer screen in front of him. “They’re from Jake Sutter up in Trenton, so you know they’re good. Starting the bids at a dollar fifty, do I hear two?”
Jude eased effortlessly into his chant, acknowledging the raised cards of the three farmers who bid first. Below him in the pen, young Bram Kanagy, who owned the sale barn, was walking between the lambs to keep them moving so folks could get a good look at them. Jude focused on raising the bids until one fellow and then a second one dropped out. “Sold! Six dollars a pound to number one twenty-four. On behalf of the Kanagy brothers I want to thank you folks for coming out today,” he said cordially. “Mary, our cashier, is ready to help you settle up before Bram and Nate help you load your livestock. Have a great day and may God bless.”
Jude switched off the microphone and said a few words to redheaded Mary, who sat beside him and had been keeping track of the sale transactions for her husband, Bram. He left the booth, wondering what sort of news Jeremiah had for him—and wondering why he had Stevie in tow. By the time Jude made his way through the jovial crowd of farmers who were lining up to pay for the livestock they’d bought, he saw that Vernon Gingerich had spotted his brother as well, and had gone over to chat with him.
“Great sale today!” the white-haired bishop called over to Jude. “I picked up a fine lot of Black Angus calves to fatten up.”
“You had several to choose from,” Jude agreed. He knew that livestock was the furthest thing from Jeremiah’s mind, so he asked the obvious question. “What brings you boys to the barn today? It’s a nice surprise to see you, Stevie!” he added as his son launched himself from the bleacher.
“Leah took me to Uncle Jeremiah’s coz she went out huntin’ the girls,” Stevie blurted, landing against Jude’s shoulder.
“Apparently, Alice and Adeline believe you’re not their father—and they told Stevie the same thing this morning?” Jeremiah asked carefully. He, along with the rest of the Shetler family, had known the truth about Frieda’s babies ever since she’d confessed it, and they had agreed to honor Jude’s situation by keeping silent.
Even so, Jude’s heart shriveled. Who could’ve foreseen the consequences of entrusting the story of his past to Leah after she’d bared her soul to him? As he hugged his son—for Stevie was his boy in every way that mattered—he wondered what Bishop Vernon was thinking as he followed this conversation. When the bishop from Leah’s Cedar Creek district had counseled them about the potential pitfalls of bringing a new wife into a home with teenage twins, he hadn’t been privy to the details of Alice and Adeline’s birth. Jude figured Bishop Vernon felt even less confident about the possibility of the Shetler family coming together than he had before Jude married Leah.
“Oh, my. It’s been quite a day at your place, by the sound of it, Jude,” Vernon said. He rubbed Stevie’s back, smiling at the boy. “But I can see you’ve let God’s love and light guide your feelings about your dat, Stevie—and that’s a wonderful gift you’ve given us all.”
Jude sighed, glancing around to be sure the other sale attendees couldn’t hear their conversation. “It all started when Leah and I were pouring our hearts out in the wee hours, unaware that the twins were listening on the other side of the wall,” he said, shaking his head. “The girls were upset, of course. They said that if I’m not their father and Leah’s not their mother, they have no reason to listen to us—much less obey us. I would’ve given anything to stay home today to help Leah deal with them, but—”
“Leah seemed to be handling it pretty well, all things considered,” Jeremiah put in. “She took out on her horse to—”
“Jah, and she’s lettin’ me raise the new baby goats that was borned in the night!” Stevie crowed as he grinned at
