A Widow's Hope (42 page)

And grow only stronger under God’s tender grace.

W
elcome home!” A chorus of voices greeted Seth and Hannah as their buggy rolled up Simon’s driveway. Henry and Matthew ran from the horse paddock as Julia and Emma stepped out the back door onto the porch.

“Leah!” Phoebe cried from her spot wedged between the new bride and groom. Leah had emerged from the henhouse carrying a full basket of eggs. As soon as Seth set the brake, Hannah let her jump down. “Go see your cousin,” Hannah said. Phoebe and Leah ran toward each other at full speed while Leah’s basket swung wildly.

“I believe Julia will find those eggs already scrambled,” Seth said, helping his wife step down. “Now remember, we’re staying only for dinner and to get caught up with the news. No sneaking up to your old room at the end of the evening and falling asleep. You’re coming home with me,
fraa.
” He brushed a kiss across her forehead and strode off toward his
bruder.

Simon walked from the barn practically covered with sawdust. “Welcome home,” he called, slapping Seth on the back.

Hannah took a minute to glance around the yard. The last of the construction debris was gone from around the barn, and the oaks had turned a deep crimson red. They had been gone for less than two weeks, yet the farm looked somehow different. They had spent their
wedding night in Hannah’s old bedroom in the Amish tradition and then helped clean up after the wedding festivities. After arranging for Emma and Matthew to manage their chores, Hannah and Seth had left on a honeymoon trip back to Pennsylvania.

Life marches on with a relentless progression of small changes that one overlooks from day to day. Hannah wanted to capture this autumn of happiness in a locket so she might open it in old age for a tender reminiscence.

“Come on,” Julia hollered. “Have you forgotten your way to the house? We’re eager for some news.”

Julia…some things never changed.

Hannah hurried to her sister’s open arms and accepted the warm embrace. “How’s the arthritis?” Hannah asked.

“Better. I may be able to postpone surgery for a while. Those pills and therapies are working.” Truly, her face looked younger, without the weight of chronic pain.

“I’m so happy to hear it,” Hannah said, kissing Julia’s cheek as they entered the kitchen arm in arm. Emma followed behind them, hanging back with uncharacteristic shyness.

In the kitchen the propane stove had been retired for the season in favor of the cozy woodburner. The room smelled of apples and cinnamon as Hannah spotted two pies cooling on the counter and a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies on the table. She sat down in her old chair and reached for a cookie.

Julia slapped her hand. “Not before dinner. We’re having your favorite—chicken and dumplings with corn on the cob. It’s the last of it—all the rest has been canned. So enjoy.”

“Another day of having others cook for me? I’ve really enjoyed my honeymoon trip, but poor Seth—he’ll suffer while I relearn how to fix a meal.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll all come back to you, just like riding a bicycle. You’ll be burning biscuits and overcooking noodles in no time at all.” Julia threw her head back and laughed.

Hannah felt her face blush, but she didn’t mind her sister’s teasing. It was one of the things she had missed. “Who did you pick on while I was staying in Lancaster?” she asked, turning toward Emma. “I hope she didn’t turn her mischief on you, dear niece.” Hannah reached out to grasp Emma’s hand.

Emma had been sitting as quietly as the proverbial church mouse. “No, aunt, don’t worry. I hid from her up in my new workroom, just like you used to do.”

The three women broke into peals of laughter.

“You’ve ruined her,” Julia said to Hannah. “You took a perfectly fine child and turned her into an adult. Or at least that’s what she thinks she is!” Julia slanted Emma a frosty glare that Hannah couldn’t help but notice.

“
Mamm
stills thinks I’m a
boppli,
” Emma said, rolling her eyes, “but wait till you see what
daed
brought me—I mean us…a loom!” Her voice conveyed plenty of passion. “Wait till you see what a beauty it is. Shall we go now?” Emma started to rise from the table.

“No, dear,” Julia said. “It’s time for supper. Please go call the men and boys and then find Phoebe and Leah. The loom can wait.”

As the young woman left the room, Julia shook her head.

“Has she gotten taller in only two weeks?” asked Hannah. “Something about her is different.”

“Maybe. She’s growing up all at once now that she’s done with school.” Briefly an expression of concern crossed Julia’s face, but she shook it off. “I want to hear all about home. How are
mamm
and
daed?
Have Thomas and Catherine set their wedding date?

Hannah opened her mouth to answer, but Simon beat her to it. “Take it easy, wife. You’re like a runaway freight train headed downhill. Hannah and Seth have just gotten home.”

Julia blushed as she rose from the table. “Welcome, Seth. Sit by your bride, and I’ll put supper out. I can’t help being excited. It’s been too long since Simon and I took a trip anywhere!” She patted her husband’s shoulder as he lowered himself gingerly into the chair.

Hannah thought his back much worse than it had been.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Didn’t I just take you to Mount Hope last week?” His eyes sparkled with good humor.

Julia rolled her eyes for the second time in fifteen minutes as she set bowls and platters on the table. “I can hardly wait for the wedding. We’ll have to stay a full two weeks so I can visit all my relatives and old friends.” She passed the platter of chicken to Simon.

He helped himself to a hearty portion. “Then you’ll have to come back on the train. I can’t expect my neighbors to feed my animals and milk cows for that long.”

Phoebe and Leah ran into the kitchen from the back hallway.

“It’s about time,” Julia scolded. “Now get washed.”

As soon as the little girls took their seats, everyone bowed their heads for prayers and then began to eat without restraint.

The touch of Seth’s hand on one side and Phoebe’s on the other warmed Hannah’s heart—almost as much as Julia’s delicious chicken and dumplings. “Eat hearty, husband,” Hannah instructed Seth. “Starting tomorrow, you’ll be stuck with my cooking.”

Seth patted his midsection with a grin. “Good. I need to lose a few pounds anyway after that trip to Lancaster County. All your kin ever wanted to do was eat.”

Hannah pinched his leg under the table as she addressed her sister. “Our parents are fine.
Mamm
’s eyesight is a little worse, so I bought her a chain to string her glasses around her neck.
Daed
is glad he’s finally retiring once everything is harvested. Thomas will run his farm along with his own. Two of Catherine’s cousins want to farm and don’t have their own land, so they will work for Thomas.”

“Thomas said he misses Hannah’s sheep and is thinking of adding his own next spring,” Seth said, scooping more dumplings onto his plate.

“That’s what I keep hearing from my eldest daughter,” said Simon, “but I can’t see her stomping through a muddy pasture like Hannah does.”

Emma frowned. For a moment, the adults had almost forgotten the children were there—they had been so quiet. “Just a few lambs,” Emma said. “Maybe Aunt Hannah will part with some of hers come the spring.”

“I would love to if your
daed
says it’s all right. It’ll be payment for tending my flock while we were on our honeymoon trip,” Hannah said, “
Danki
very much for that. You did a good job. We stopped at the pasture before coming here, and they all looked healthy.”

Emma blushed as she smiled. With her sea blue eyes and wheat-colored hair, the girl was becoming quite pretty, Hannah thought.

Seth slapped Matthew on the back. “I had in mind cash for you, nephew, for your hard work tending my cows and horses,” he said. “Is that all right with you?”

The boy nodded as Simon said, “Not too much, Seth. Family doesn’t need to pay other family members.”

Leah began squirming in her chair. Seth pretended not to notice. “Let’s see…that ought to do it. I wonder what Julia has for dessert.” He grinned at Hannah while Leah cleared her throat, twice.

“Aren’t you forgetting who fed our chickens while we were gone?” Hannah asked. She thought the girl might fall off her chair.

Seth’s gaze finally landed on his youngest niece. “Oh, my, that’s right.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten-dollar bill. “Did you feed those chickens every day?” he asked.

“I did, Uncle Seth,” Leah answered with a grin.

“Did you gather the eggs and take them back to your
mamm?
”

“
Jah,
I didn’t break a single one.”

Seth nodded sagely. “Well, that calls for a bonus.” He pulled a bag of blue gummy worms from his pocket. Leah looked positively ecstatic.

Julia cut the pies on the counter and began passing around the slices.

“None for me,” Hannah said. “I’m afraid I filled up on your delicious chicken and dumplings, plus I ate two ears of corn.”

“Sort of one last meal?” Seth teased.

Hannah pinched his leg again under the table.

“I don’t have room for dessert either, Aunt Hannah. Can we go to barn loft now?” Emma asked.

Hannah glanced at Simon and Julia. They both rolled their eyes but said nothing. “Okay, but just for a little while since it’ll be dark soon. Then we’ll come back and clean up the kitchen. Why don’t you come too, Julia, so you’re not tempted to start the dishes.”

All three women and two little girls left the kitchen for the brisk autumn evening. Emma talked about the dried flowers, tree bark, roots, and berries she’d been experimenting with for natural dyes. Hannah tried to listen, but mainly she enjoyed the companionship of her family again. The inside of the barn had recently been painted yet still retained the smell of freshly cut lumber.

Hannah stopped short when she spotted the new loom in the center of Emma’s workroom. It was indeed a beauty. Emma clapped her hands when she saw her aunt’s reaction. “I knew you would love it!” she exclaimed. “And it collapses down easily, so it’s more movable than your last one.”

“Which is a good thing, since it’s about to be moved,” Julia said.

Emma’s sunny expression slipped a notch.

“Why so?” Hannah asked. “It looks right at home here.”

“Simon bought this replacement loom for
you,
sister, with his money and the money donated by the ladies during the barn raising. It will be moved to your new home tomorrow.” Julia lifted her chin, furrowed her brow, and all but dared Emma to argue with her.

The young woman did not; she only crossed her arms over her apron.

“When Emma earns enough money from her dyes and her wool profits, she can buy her own loom. That is how business works in the world.” Julia crossed her arms too, and the mother and daughter seemed to be squaring off like two bulls in a spring pasture.

Hannah suppressed a grin. “Why tomorrow? There’s no hurry. I
just returned from Lancaster today. I’ve got enough laundry to keep me busy for a few days.”

Julia’s head snapped around. “I almost forgot the best part of my news. Laura Stoddard has organized the ladies into a work frolic. About ten women will meet here at nine o’clock.”

Hannah lifted her brows questioningly.

“A frolic to help you get the rest of your stuff moved to Seth’s— your house now—and caught up with your laundry, cleaning, and baking once we get over there.” Julia looked as pleased as a cat in the cream. “Seth and Simon will be available to help, we’ll have at least five wagons here, so it’ll be a good time to move the loom. By day’s end you’ll be all set up and caught up in your new life.”

“
Danki,
Julia,” Hannah croaked in a hushed tone. The friendly gesture from the women had left her almost speechless.

Her better half did not suffer from the same affliction, however. “Looks like I’ve gotten a governor’s reprieve with the other ladies comin’ over…one is bound to fix us supper,” Seth said, stepping into the loft.

Hannah perched her fists on her hips and opened her mouth to howl, but Seth swooped in for a kiss instead. He kissed her until Hannah forgot what she was irritated about.

“I think it’s time for you two lovebirds to go home,” Julia said.

“My sentiments exactly.” Seth swept Hannah into his arms and carried her down the stairs.

“Good night,” Hannah called over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow at nine. And
danki
for everything.”

Her last words were lost in the crisp night air as Seth had already hauled her out the door.

Julia and Emma stood watching them go, both with tears in their eyes.