As Mark had hoped, his uncle had been pleased with the success of his trip. He had omitted telling him about the woman on the bus, although he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been successful in that endeavor. He kept going over their conversations trying to pinpoint what he’d done wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Time to close up shop, Mark. Ah, I see you’re almost done with the mantel. This is goot work. If you decide not to open your own business, I’d be happy to keep you on here. You have a rare God-given talent.”
“Danki, but I will stick to my plan.”
“I felt sure you would say that. Don’t let your supper get cold.”
“I’ll be along in a few minutes.” Mark ran his hand along the surface of his project, satisfied with the way it had turned out. All that was left was to stain the oak wood the color the customer wanted. It was one of his better pieces, although he was a long way from being a master carver the way his cousin Samuel and coworker Adam Knepp were.
A short time later, he entered the front door of his uncle’s home and saw his brother, Paul, waiting with a big grin on his face.
“Your fair Angela has written you another love letter, bruder. Will you read it aloud to us tonight?”
Mark ignored his brother and picked up the letter addressed to him from the top of the mail piled on the end of the kitchen counter. Despite his foolish younger brother’s suggestion, Mark knew it wasn’t a love letter. Angela was too practical for such nonsense. Their relationship was based on respect and the knowledge that their marriage would be mutually beneficial to both their families.
He slipped the letter into his pocket to read later and hung his straw hat on one of the pegs by the kitchen door. Seven identical Amish hats were already lined up. His uncle, his five cousins and his brother had come in earlier. Mark had lingered behind making sure the lights were off in the workshop, checking on the orders for the next workday and making certain the generator had enough fuel to start up again when they needed it. His uncle had placed Mark in charge of the business for the last three months of his apprenticeship. He was determined to show his uncle his faith wasn’t misplaced.
“Leave off teasing Mark and sit down for supper,” Anna Bowman said, carrying a steaming pot of roast beef and vegetables to the kitchen table using her folded black apron as a hot pad for her hands.
“I can’t leave off teasing him, Aenti Anna. It’s Gott’s will that I annoy my big brother since Mark annoys the rest of us. He has become a tyrant.”
“I never ask anyone to do more than I can do myself.” Mark pulled out a chair and took his place at the long table. His uncle Isaac sat at the head of the table with his oldest son, Samuel, at his right hand. The rest of Isaac’s sons were arranged according to age down the length of the table with Mark and Paul taking up the last two chairs. The wives and daughters of Mark’s cousins were seated on the opposite side, all in plain Amish dresses with their black work aprons and white prayer kapps. It made a big family gathering when everyone was home. The room was filled with chatter and the clinking of dishes along with the pleasant aromas of the stew, cornbread muffins and hot coffee.
Anna surveyed the table and then took her place at the foot. The noise died away. Isaac bowed his head, and everyone did the same, reciting the blessing in silence. When Isaac raised his head, signaling the prayer was finished, the business turned to eating. The talk was minimal until the meal was over.
After finishing his peach cobbler, Isaac leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. “It was a goot meal.”
“Danki, husband. What time do you expect to start the frolic in the morning?”
“I imagine most workers will be here by eight o’clock as long as the rain holds off.”
All the members of the Bowman family had arrived to help with the work party set for the following day. The women had spent the day cooking and cleaning since Isaac and Anna were hosting the party. Most of their Amish community would come to help clear the logjam beneath the only bridge into and out of the valley on the far side of the river. While the men worked, the women would usually visit then serve coffee and a hearty lunch, but tomorrow there was to be a quilting party for the women, too. As the rest of the men went into the living room, leaving the women to clean up, Mark went upstairs to his room at the back of the house.
His window was open, and the evening breeze fluttered the simple white curtains his aunt had in all the upstairs bedrooms. Outside, the spreading branches of a huge ancient silver maple tree kept the room cool, but it obstructed the view of the river from this room. Mark didn’t mind. It was more practical to have a cool place to sleep in the summer than a view.
His uncle had been talking about cutting the tree down. The old thing was past its prime, having as many dead limbs as live ones branching off its enormous trunk. Silver maples were notorious for breaking in wind storms. Two large limbs had come down in the last storm, fortunately on the side away from the house, but it was only a matter of time before one fell on the roof. Mark’s aunt was the reason the tree hadn’t been taken down already. She had an irrational, sentimental attachment to it because Isaac’s parents had planted it the year Isaac was born.
Mark pulled out his letter and sat on the edge of his bed. Angela’s letters came like clockwork every Tuesday, and today was no exception. She normally wrote about the weather and the people back home, about her father’s lumber milling business and about what changes she hoped to make to the farm when she and Mark were married. Unlike with the overly emotional woman on the bus, he knew exactly what to expect from Angela.
His letters to her were about his work and the ways he saw he could incorporate his uncle’s teachings into the business he would own one day. The day was fast approaching when he could put his plan into effect.
It had been her father’s business and the location of their farm that first gave Mark the idea to build his future workshop there. Otis Yoder’s small farm had poor, rocky soil, but it fronted a busy road in an area where tourists flocked to gawk at Amish folks and buy Amish-made goods. The fact that Otis could supply almost all the raw lumber Mark would need cinched the plan in his mind.
When Mark had approached Otis about buying some of his land, Otis wasn’t interested. He saw value in Mark’s idea but wanted his farm and business to go to Angela, his only child. Mark persisted, and eventually Otis made a surprising counteroffer. If Mark would marry Angela, then Otis would enter a partnership with him. Angela was a widow a few years older than Mark. She was quiet, hardworking and practical. To his amazement, she agreed with her father’s proposal.
Getting a wife along with the land was a bonus in Mark’s eyes. He’d never had the time or the inclination to date women, but he did want a family one day. He wanted sons to carry on the business he would build. The idea of romance and falling in love to achieve that didn’t make sense. Why base one of the most important decisions a man could make on something as flimsy as a feeling? In his mind, it was much better to base it on mutual respect and shared goals than love.
He and Angela had settled on a long-distance courtship while Mark apprenticed with his uncle. Mark sent her a portion of his paychecks each month as a down payment on the land.
Little by little he had been accumulating the machinery and tools he would need and had them stored in his father’s barn not far from the Yoder farm. Isaac had put him in contact with people who were interested in purchasing Pennsylvania Amish–made furniture. Things were almost ready for him to open his business.
He slipped his finger under the envelope flap and tore it open. He quickly skimmed through her short letter. It didn’t contain any of the usual news. Mark couldn’t believe his eyes. He read the note again. Angela wanted to end their engagement.
For almost