Katie’s eyes softened with sympathy. “It must have been terrible.”
“Ja. It was a dark time, but I had the Lord to guide me until the darkness lifted.” If it hadn’t been for her faith in God, she would never have survived her injuries and the time that followed.
“And Abraham?” Katie waited as if she already knew but wanted to hear Rachel’s version.
“He decided that I was not the girl for him. He began courting Emma Mast, my best friend, before I even got out of the hospital. They were married in September.” Only six months after he’d asked to court her...and not Emma. They hadn’t even waited until the time most couples married in their Ohio Amish community.
“It must have been awful for you,” Katie said. “But I can see that you are well and doing fine. You are a schoolteacher and in our village of Happiness! I think you will like it here, Rachel. The Lord works in ways we can’t always understand, but I have a feeling that you were meant to come here...that Happiness was God’s plan for you all along.”
Rachel could only nod. “Katie—”
“I will tell no one of what happened to you in Millersburg, Rachel. Your secret is safe with me.” She gestured toward the door to the kitchen. “Let’s have a cup of tea. If we don’t stand watch, there may be no pies and cakes for Sunday. My sons are big eaters.”
Relieved at the change of subject, Rachel gladly accompanied Katie Lapp into the kitchen, where two neighbor women were rearranging Sunday’s desserts.
“Shall we put this in the refrigerator?” Agnes Troyer asked of Rachel’s chocolate-cream pie.
“Ja, it will keep better,” Katie said.
“I’ll take it,” Rachel offered, eager for a few moments alone after her heart-to-heart talk with her aunt’s friend Katie. She picked up the pie and went into the other room, where a gas refrigerator and separate gas freezer were located. She opened the refrigerator door, her hands shaking slightly as she rearranged a few items to make room for the pie. When the pie had its own place, she shut the refrigerator door and leaned against it. Her heart was beating rapidly. There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t like to remember the accident that had changed her life and taken away her sweetheart.
Thank You, Lord. I praise You, Lord, for all Your goodness and grace. Thank You for not allowing anyone to realize just how much the accident changed me. Thank You for being there whenever I need You.
She stood for a moment, fighting tears, reining in her emotions. Upon hearing laughter from within the kitchen, Rachel straightened. She wiped her eyes, pulled herself together and went back to rejoin the others to ask what she could do to help.
Chapter Four
Noah stood on the front porch of the Lapp family farmhouse, watching as neighbors and friends drove their horses into the yard and parked in line with the other gray family buggies. All of the male Samuel Lapps—from their father Samuel to his youngest son, Joseph—were dressed in their black Sunday best. They stood, offering greetings and handshakes as the Amish men from other households joined them on the porch, while the women bustled into the house to join Katie in the kitchen.
The Kings’ gelding trotted down the lane and turned into the yard. Noah felt an odd sensation in the pit of his stomach as the family alighted from the buggy and crossed toward the house.
He nodded to Charlotte’s father as Amos climbed the porch steps and joined them. “Fair weather this day,” he said, and the man agreed. Conscious of the women, especially Rachel, who got out of the buggy last, he turned his attention first to little Joshua, who had run up to the house. “Have any ice cream lately?”
“Nay.” Joshua scowled. His eyes suddenly lit up. “Can we go this week?”
“If there is time for a trip into town.”
“Joshua!” Charlotte scolded as she climbed up the stairs. “What did I tell you about bothering Noah?”
“I wasn’t bothering him.” He looked up at Noah with big eyes. “Was I?”
“Nay, Joshua,” Noah replied and then grinned at Charlotte. “What’s that you’re carrying?” he asked her. “Could it be chocolate cake?”
Charlotte’s eyes twinkled. “Shoofly pie.”
Noah knew the exact moment when Rachel climbed the first step of his family home. She was wearing a blue dress with black apron and cape. This day her bonnet and the prayer kapp covering her dark hair were both black. She was lovely, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her sweet face. “And what do you have there?” he asked, casually, forcing himself to study the pie in her arms. “Another chocolate-cream pie?”
“Ja.” She met his gaze but then quickly glanced away.
“I think I’d like some of that pie,” he murmured softly for her ears only as she hurried past, following in her cousin’s footsteps.
“That was the new schoolteacher?” Jedidiah said.
Noah narrowed his gaze on his older brother. “I thought you saw her when she came to help Mam.”
Jedidiah, watching the arrival of another buggy, shook his head. “Dat and I were finishing up at the schuulhaus.” His attention fixed on Abram Peachy as he climbed out of his buggy and helped his five children to alight. “I heard you got your fields planted,” he called to Abram.
Abram waved his children into the house. “The weather held, thanks be to God.”
“You meet the new schoolteacher yet?” Jedidiah asked, and Noah glanced at his brother sharply before turning to gauge Abram’s response.
“Nay,” Abram said. “I hear she’s a King cousin from Ohio.” He seemed to exhibit only polite interest.
Noah felt himself relax. “Ja. Rachel Hostetler.”
“Nice girl,” Noah’s father said.
Jedidiah elbowed his brother. “I hear you were the great rescuer the other day.”
Noah shrugged. “’Twas nothing.”
“Not from what my daughter tells me,” Amos King said.
Abram suddenly looked interested. “Something happen in town?”
“Ja,” little Joshua piped up, as he returned from inside to stand with the men. “Aaron Troyer’s horse spooked, and Noah saved cousin Rachel from crashing.”
Abram smiled. “From crashing what?”
Joshua pulled himself up and tugged on the bottom of his small black coat. At seven, he was a miniature version of his father. “The buggy! The horse was galloping right down the middle of the road, and he took Rachel and the buggy with him. Noah had to jump onto the horse’s back while he was still running to stop him. The horse’s eyes were rolled back in his head, all big and white, and he was sweaty. Aaron Troyer came running up to take care of his horse Josef and to see if Rachel hurt herself!”
Noah felt himself the object of several male gazes. He was uncomfortable with this particular discussion and being the center of attention. “It wasn’t anything one of you wouldn’t do.”
“That’s not what cousin Rachel said,” Joshua replied. “She said she could have been killed if Noah hadn’t come to save her.”
“Ja.” Abram removed his hat, pushed his hair back, and then settled his wide-brimmed black-felt hat back on his head. “Could have been. One of Obadiah Fisher’s daughters out in Missouri—she got killed last summer when her horse ran away. Terrible thing for the family, and her just fifteen. Lucky for the new teacher you were there.”
The