“Ya.” Simon looked up in surprise, so apparently, he hadn’t heard Levi enter through the front door or the banging of the back screen door as he’d come outside. Maybe his hearing was going too, but a smile spread across his face.
He was a nice old guy, terribly lonely since his wife had died the year before. Their children were in Kentucky. Levi had written to both sons before he had accepted Old Simon’s invitation to move to Goshen. He didn’t want to be the source of hard feelings in the family. The eldest son had explained that they were trying to convince Simon to move, but that so far he’d resisted. Levi didn’t share with Jonah his hopes that Simon would move to Texas with him. He didn’t lie about it. The subject just didn’t come up.
Old Simon patted the Bible. “Gotte’s word—it’s a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.”
“Is that what your sermon will be on?” Levi eased onto the floor of the porch, bracing his back against the porch column.
“Maybe,” Simon said. “As the Lord leads.”
“I met Jebediah this afternoon.”
“He’s a gut man and about your age, if I remember right.”
“Told me about the wedding tomorrow.”
Simon’s expression turned to one of concern, but then he tapped his forefinger against the arm of the rocker and said, “I knew there was something I was forgetting. We have a wedding tomorrow.”
“He said I was welcome to attend, even though I don’t know Beth and Avery.”
“Who?”
“The couple getting married.”
“Oh. That’s right. It is a gut idea for you to go. I assumed you would. Weddings are a gut place to meet people, and maybe a young lady will catch your eye.” Simon grinned and then turned his attention out to the family garden. He hadn’t put that in himself. A neighbor must have done it for him. He didn’t seem to see the last of the vegetables that waited to be gathered, though. Instead he spoke of the past. “Did I ever tell you where I met my fraa, Tabitha?”
“You didn’t.”
“It was at a local wedding. I knew the minute I saw her that she was the one.” He pressed his fingertips against his chest. “Something in my heart...just told me.”
Levi didn’t know how to answer that, so he stood and said, “I ate with the Kauffmanns. Have you had anything yet?”
Simon shook his head and turned his eyes back to the pages of his Bible. “Can’t say as I’m hungry.”
“I’ll go and fix you an egg with some of that ham we had left over. You need to eat.”
“Ya. Okay.”
Levi walked into the kitchen and set about putting together a simple meal for the old man. Working in the kitchen reminded him of Annie’s lecture about women entrepreneurs. Levi was fine with that. He didn’t see any problem with women starting businesses. In his experience, they often had excellent perspectives on what customers wanted to purchase.
He actually admired her for starting an Amish catering business, but he sensed that her passion might become a roadblock for his own plans. Alton wouldn’t want to leave unless his entire family was behind the idea. And Annie obviously was dead set against it. It wasn’t absolutely necessary to have Alton in his group, but it would help. And it might mean that Jebediah and his family would come, as well.
All he had to do was win Annie over to the idea.
Which, he knew, would be no simple task.
As he heated the cast-iron pan, fried an egg and put it on the plate with fresh bread and a slice of ham, he thought of the words of his daddi.
No dream comes true unless you wake up and go to work.
He’d known it wouldn’t be easy to start a community in Texas, but he was willing to work. He only had to convince ten more families and then they could send two men down to look for land. Goshen was a big community. Regardless what Annie said, he thought that Alton would follow through on this dream. Indiana Amish weren’t as set in their ways like Pennsylvania Amish, or at least that was how it seemed so far.
Then again, he could be merely seeing what he wanted to see. Time would tell—though he didn’t have much of that. They needed to form a group, decide on some basic rules and then send down scouts. They needed to do all of those things in the next few months. After all, planting season in Texas started early.
Levi didn’t have a chance to talk to many people before the wedding. Amish weddings started rather early in the day—on account of they were long and they needed to be finished in time for lunch. Then there were games for the young adults and children, and after that, most of the teens and young married folk stayed for dinner.
Beth and Avery’s ceremony was taking place outside, so it was fortunate that the day dawned mild and sunny. In fact, it was a perfect fall day. He watched families assemble across the benches that had been set out in the backyard of the Stutzman farm, but his mind was on Annie Kauffmann. He’d had only one glimpse of her when he and Old Simon were walking from their buggy to the house. He was thinking of how he hoped to have time to talk to Alton again when he spied Annie darting from her trailer toward the back porch.
How did she manage to move that trailer there?
When did she find the time to cook enough food for all of these people?
Did she enjoy cooking that much?
And why wasn’t she married? She was a nice-enough-looking woman and pleasant, other than her dislike of Texas. Or maybe it was him that she disliked. It was hard to tell.
He was chasing that line of thought when the hymn singing started. Old Simon led the congregation in a prayer, then there was more singing, a short sermon, and finally, the soon-to-be-married couple stood in front of everyone.
It seemed to him like they’d only been there a few minutes. He was surprised when he glanced at his watch and saw that ninety minutes had already passed.
As he watched the couple exchange their vows, his mind slipped back to Annie. Did she need help readying the wedding lunch? Probably not. No doubt she’d catered many weddings before without his help, but then again, perhaps volunteering would soften her up a little.
Before he could properly think that through, they were singing again and then the bishop—an older guy named Marcus with a beard that was more salt than pepper—reminded everyone to stay for the meal and led them in a time of silent blessing. The next thing Levi knew, Jebediah appeared at his side holding two babies in his arms and introduced him to at least a dozen people. It would take him a while to get all the names straight, but he tried to look as if he were paying attention. The names were common Amish names—Joel, Matthew, Silas, Eli, Martha, Tabitha, Naomi. He wondered how he would ever remember who was who, but then he realized he wasn’t staying in Goshen. It didn’t really matter if he remembered everyone’s name. So he smiled politely and said hello.
Finally, a woman and a young girl moved beside Jebediah. The woman said something softly to him, as the young girl clung to her dress. Jebediah laughed and turned to Levi.
“This is my wife, Nicole.”
“Oh, ya? Gut to meet you.”
“Jebediah told me all about you.”
He could see the family resemblance, now that he studied her closely. She had the same warm eyes as Annie, but her hair was blonder and she had her father’s height. Annie was shorter with hair that reminded him of the color of autumn wheat. The word prettier popped into his mind, but