“But Judith, just because Luke’s family has a good farm doesn’t mean he would be a better husband than anyone else.”
“Don’t you think it’s worth getting to know him better?”
Annie shook her head. “He’s broken more than one heart already.”
Judith let Annie’s comment settle in her mind. She didn’t have enough experience to tell what kind of man was the right one to marry, but Annie and Matthew seemed happy together.
She sat down at the table again, next to her sister. “How did you know Matthew was the right man for you to marry?”
Annie smiled. “First of all, he made me laugh.”
Judith grinned, remembering nearly falling off her chair the evening before.
“But most important, he showed me how much he loved me.”
“You mean he whispered mushy poems in your ear?” Judith wrinkled her nose at the thought of some boy’s moist lips next to her ear, breathing words of love.
“Ne, nothing like that,” Annie said, laughing. She sat back in her chair and looked at the ceiling as she went back in her memories. “He remembered that I like the piece of cake from the very middle of the pan and always made sure I got that one. He let me win when we played games with his brothers and sisters. He always gave me his hand to help me in and out of the buggy.”
Annie leaned forward, cupping the top of Eli’s head in a loving caress. “Matthew has always put my needs and our family’s needs before his own comfort. He works hard to provide for us and never complains.”
They sat together for a few minutes while Judith thought about Annie’s description of her husband. A swelling rose in her throat...a longing for someone to cherish her in that same way.
A cry from one of the babies drifted from the bedroom. “I think someone is hungry again.” Annie started toward the kitchen door, then turned back to Judith. “Don’t go chasing Luke. He’s not the man I’d want my baby sister to marry.”
Judith smiled, hoping to reassure her sister. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
She let the pieces of the grinder soak in warm, soapy water while she chopped onion, celery and pickles to mix into the ham spread.
“Me?” Eli said, tugging on her skirt.
“For sure.” Judith lifted him into his chair at the table and spread some of the ground ham on a bit of cracker. “What do you think?”
Eli opened his mouth and she popped the bite in, then he scrunched up his face into a smile. He nodded and patted his tummy as he swallowed. “More? Eli more?”
Judith prepared another cracker for him, grinning as he opened his mouth like a little bird.
“You love ham spread as much as your daed does, don’t you?”
“Da?” Eli held his hands up. “Da here?”
“He’s working now, but he’ll be in for dinner.”
Eli kicked his feet against the chair. “Go Da. Down. Go Da.”
Judith glanced out the window. The weather was cold and cloudy, but it hadn’t started snowing yet.
“After I finish my work, we’ll go out and see what Daed is doing.” She wiped off the little boy’s hands and put him back down with his blocks, then started washing the dishes.
As the suds swirled around the parts of the meat grinder, she considered Annie’s words. She thought Matthew was the perfect husband. Guy seemed to come close to that ideal, the way he made her laugh. But he was only a hired hand with no prospects, and she wasn’t about to live the rest of her life as the destitute wife of a man who wasn’t even Amish.
Guy shifted his feet, waiting just inside the kitchen door for Verna to get ready. She had asked him to carry a basket to the Beacheys’ this morning for the quilting, but first she had taken her time putting the donuts in the lined basket and covering them with a towel. Then she had disappeared into the back bedroom. He finished his second donut and reached for a third, careful to replace the towel covering the warm treats.
Leaning against the doorframe, he savored the donut as he thought about Judith. After a week of Penn Dutch lessons, Guy felt a bit overwhelmed. Too many words sounded the same, and even though she tried not to, Judith often giggled at his mistakes. But she was a good teacher, and he was learning little by little.
Even Verna was in on the game. She had stopped talking to him in English as soon as she had learned about the lessons. That was frustrating, but no matter how much he pretended he didn’t understand her, he had to admit that he knew more now than he had that first evening. At breakfast, Verna had asked what he wanted on his toast, and he had been able to ask for and get apple butter. A few days ago, he thought he had asked for apple butter, but Verna had given him a dish of applesauce.
Was his Dutch good enough to ask Judith to go with him to the next Singing?
“Are you ready to go?” Verna asked as she came back to the kitchen, setting her bonnet in place. She wore her thick black cape and her heavy winter shoes.
Guy missed some of the words in her question, but caught the meaning. “Ja, for sure.”
Still munching on his donut, he took the heavy basket in his other hand and followed her out of the house and down the lane toward the road.
“Even with that sharp north wind, you can tell spring is coming,” Verna said, lifting her face toward the sunshine.
“It smells...” Guy struggled to come up with the word he wanted. It was one of the new ones on the vocabulary list Judith had given him the night before. He made a guess. “Frish?”
“Ja, fresh.” Verna took a deep breath. She pulled her cape closer around her and hurried down the lane. “But chilly.”
Stuffing the last bite of the donut into his mouth, Guy pulled his chin down into his coat and followed her.
Buggies were coming from both directions on the road, all heading toward the Beacheys’ house.
“This is the first quilting at Annie’s since the twins were born,” Verna said as he caught up with her. “Everyone is coming to see the babies, so there will be a crowd.” She lifted her hand and waved to a buggy full of women coming from the north. “There is Annie’s sister Esther with the ladies from Shipshewana. Judith will be glad to see them.”
Guy walked behind Verna as she headed toward the door and followed her in, holding his hat in his hand. As he set the basket on the kitchen table, he searched for Judith in the crowd of women. When he finally found her, she gave him a quick wave and headed in his direction.
She said something, but he couldn’t catch the words. He shook his head and pointed to his ears, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute as he realized he was the only man in the entire house.
Judith grabbed his sleeve and led him out to the washing porch. It was sheltered from the breeze but not heated.
She shivered. “You can’t stay here.”
“Ja, I know.” He licked his lips. “I wanted to ask you if—” Now that it came to it, he found his knees shaking. “If I could take you to the Singing on Sunday night. I don’t have a courting buggy, but we could walk. It’s only at Deacon Beachey’s, in the next mile.” He cringed as his sentence drifted from Dutch to English.
Judith’s face took on a slight frown. “I will walk there with you, but this doesn’t mean we’re going together.”
Guy