Jude gripped his fingers. “Mark my words, Jeremiah. This is one of those conversations we’ll look back on years from now and chuckle about, after Leah and I are established and deliriously happy,” he said with a boyish smile.
“I hope you’re right. I’ll pray you’re right,” Jeremiah added purposefully.
After his brother had closed the door behind him, the silence of the house weighed heavily on Jeremiah. Once again, he felt acutely aware of Priscilla’s absence, just as he knew that tomorrow’s wedding would be an occasion for the men in his Morning Star church district to tease him about when he planned to court and marry somebody. As the bishop, he was expected to follow the pattern of the families in his congregation—to find another wife and to raise children.
For reasons only God knew, He hadn’t granted Jeremiah and Priscilla any kids during their eighteen years of marriage, and Jeremiah secretly wondered if he could find it in his heart to marry a widow who already had a family. He knew of a few Amish women around Morning Star and Cedar Creek who fit that description—as well as a few who’d remained maidels because no man had felt compelled to court them. When Jeremiah saw their earnest faces in his mind, he still didn’t feel ready to replace his dear Priscilla. Who would ever measure up to the love of his life?
“I’ll say this for you, Leah,” he murmured, “you have guts enough—faith enough—to take on Jude’s three kids, even if I suspect you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
Jeremiah shook his head when he realized he was talking to himself again. Living alone in so much silence did funny things to a man’s mind.
Without lighting a lamp, he made his way upstairs to his bedroom, thinking about what positive points he might make during his sermon before he led Jude and Leah in their vows. He hoped God would whisper encouraging words in his ear—words that would support the newlyweds and persuade folks in the congregation to believe the best about them.
I’m asking for a lot, Lord, Jeremiah thought as he climbed into bed. But I believe You have a plan and You’re working it out even as we humans doubt You.
Chapter 2
After Bishop Vernon preached the wedding sermon, Leah rose from the front pew bench on the women’s side, praying she wouldn’t trip over her stiff high-top bridal shoes as she joined Jude in front of Bishop Jeremiah. Beneath the calf-length teal dress and white apron Mama had sewn for her wedding day, Leah’s legs were shaking and her mouth felt so dry, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to repeat her vows. She knew every person who sat in the front room of her lifelong home, which had been enlarged by removing a couple of interior partitions, yet being the center of their attention made her feel so nervous that she might as well have been naked. More than once during the church service that had preceded the wedding, Leah had realized that showing contrary livestock in a crowded auction barn was much easier than standing before these family members and friends to make the biggest promise of her lifetime—second only to the vow she’d made to God when she’d joined the Old Order Amish church.
Yet when Jude smiled at her, Leah forgot to be afraid.
He’d trimmed the black beard that framed his handsome face, and he’d gotten his hair cut, too. Beneath his dark brows, his warm brown eyes sparkled as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. Leah felt his strength seeping into her as she held his muscled arm, and she suddenly believed she could fly to the moon if it were required—and if Jude flew with her. Leah realized then that her thoughts were wandering and that folks would be laughing at her behind their hands if she didn’t focus on the words Bishop Jeremiah was saying.
“Jude and Leah, your time of courtship and exploring each other’s personalities and intentions has led you to this moment of truth—this sacrament from which there will be no retraction or retreat, once you’ve taken your marriage vows,” the bishop intoned gently. His dark eyes, very similar to Jude’s but set in a slightly older face, held each of their gazes. “You have completed your time of premarital instruction, and it behooves me to ask you one final time if you’re certain you wish to move forward into this marriage. If so, say ‘I am.’ ”
Leah swallowed hard. Was Jude’s brother giving them one last chance to back out of a marriage about which he and some other folks had expressed doubts? Or did every bishop ask this question before beginning the ceremony, and she hadn’t noticed it at the weddings she’d attended?
Answer the question—before Jude thinks you don’t love him!
“I—I am,” Leah stammered at the same moment Jude replied.
“I most certainly am,” he said firmly. Jude smiled at Leah again, and her heart fluttered with nervous joy.
Bishop Jeremiah nodded before gazing at the men seated at his left and then at the women who sat facing them. “If anyone here knows of any reason why this man and this woman should not be united in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace,” he said in his sonorous voice.
Leah felt her pulse pound in her ears four times as she waited for someone—Mama maybe, or Margaret—to protest their union. On the front bench, her side-sitters, Adeline and Alice, looked around as though to spot any potential naysayers. Leah wished the twins would meet her gaze and smile—or at least look at their dat—but they seemed more interested in peering at the young men on the other side of the room.
“Hearing no response,” the bishop continued smoothly, “I will remind you all that once
