Her mamm gave her an indulgent look.
Just then, Hannah came into the kitchen. “You wouldn’t believe!”
“What happened?” Mamm asked.
“Did you walk?” Tillie asked.
Hannah looked to Mamm. “I don’t know.” Then she turned to Tillie. “Yes. Kind of.”
Tillie shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“I started to come down the road, but that tree in front of the cabin . . .”
Mamm wiped her hands on her apron and nodded for Hannah to continue.
“. . . it was across the road completely. So I had to park the buggy and walk down from there. It wasn’t a long walk, but not a very comfortable one when it’s under forty degrees.”
“Did you tell your dat?” Mamm asked.
“Jah,” Hannah said. “I stopped by the barn first. He and Melvin and Jim are going to go up to take a look at it. Apparently David promised to paint this new shed that they’ve been building. But he painted with the opposite colors than those the customer ordered. It’s supposed to be a green house with cream shutters and he painted a cream house and green shutters. Dat’s making him redo it.”
“Well, thank heavens Melvin is here to help,” Mamm said.
Tillie murmured something she hoped sounded like a positive response. She was glad that Melvin was there to help. Wasn’t she? There were just too many other things intertwined for it to be that simple.
Mamm handed them containers of cranberry bread.
Hannah looked at it and tried to hand it back.
“We’re just going to Gracie’s.”
Mamm put her hands behind her back so she couldn’t take the bread from Hannah. “Gracie’s got growing kids. If nothing else, it’ll give the adults something to eat,” she said.
“If you say so. But don’t let Levi hear you say that,” Tillie said. “He helped make it.”
Hannah smiled. “Good for him. But I think I just lost my taste for cranberry bread. You know how it goes.”
“It used to be your favorite when you were a child.”
“I still like it,” Tillie said. But she understood. How come so many things had to change?
* * *
“Is that who I think it is?” Hannah asked as they pulled up in front of Gracie and Matthew’s.
Levi Yoder.
Tillie had forgotten that he and Matthew Byler were cousins, but what were the chances that she and Hannah would come visit when Levi was here as well?
It was as if God just kept putting him in front of her, perhaps to remind her of what she would never have.
Surely God wouldn’t be that cruel.
Tillie swung down from the buggy, and Hannah hobbled the horse. Then they gathered a basket of goodies from the back seat and made their way up the steps and onto the porch.
Gracie opened the door before they could even knock. “It’s so good to see you two today,” she gushed, as if she hadn’t just seen them yesterday. But since Gracie had spent most of her life living with the Gingeriches, Tillie supposed that the shift to married life had been a little strange.
And she wondered then where she and Melvin would live once they got married. Maybe they would build a house on the other side of David’s so they would be close to the rest of the family.
“We’re sorry to intrude,” Hannah said. “But we just wanted to bring you some goodies and see you today. And say Merry Christmas again.”
Gracie moved aside so Tillie and Hannah could step into the house. She smiled at them prettily in her so-Gracie way. “Merry Christmas,” she said in return.
“Merry Christmas,” Mims called from the living room.
When they entered the room, Levi was standing by the fireplace next to Matthew. Until that moment Tillie hadn’t realized how much they looked alike. They were both big men, broad with dark hair, crystal blue eyes, and burly beards. Standing there next to each other in almost identical outfits—blue shirt, black pants, and suspenders—they looked like a pair of bookends. Or at the very least, brothers.
Levi nodded his head and averted his gaze.
Tillie wished she hadn’t let Hannah talk her into coming over today. But how was she supposed to know Levi and Mims would be there?
“We were just about to play a game,” Gracie said. “You want to join us?”
“Jah,” Hannah said as Tillie shook her head no.
Gracie looked from Tillie to Hannah and back again, her brow puckered into a frown. “Okay.”
“We can’t stay that long,” Tillie said. She elbowed her sister. “Right, Hannah?”
“But we can be persuaded to stay long enough to have a coffee and a piece of cranberry bread. It’s cold outside,” Hannah said.
“We’ve got that too.” Gracie grinned. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll help you,” Hannah said, ever so helpful. The problem was it didn’t take three of them to get a couple of cups of coffee and saucers for the cranberry bread. That left Tillie hovering uncomfortably.
She eased around the sofa and perched on the edge. Mims sat across from her in a rocking chair looking perfectly content.
“Where’s the baby?” Mims asked.
“Mamm’s got her,” Tillie answered. “That’s one reason why we can’t stay too long.”
“May be, but you really need to warm up for the ride home,” Gracie said, coming back into the room. “Even if you won’t play a game of cards with us.” She set the tray on the coffee table next to the one already there. There was plenty of coffee and cranberry bread to go around.
“I take it you’re staying?” Mims said with a nod to Tillie.
She looked down at her Amish dress. Second day in a row she’d been dressed this way. Once again it was starting to feel so natural and yet so strange at the same time.
“Mims!” Levi and Matthew said at the same time.
The men were still standing by the fireplace.
“Come sit down,” Gracie said. “You’re blocking all the heat.”
The
