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Sarah made introductions. “Mam, this is Jedidiah—” She paused a second. “Jed—”
“Lapp,” he supplied, amused.
“Ja.” Sarah nodded and Jed saw her blush as she looked away. “We met at the Sale. He’s from Lancaster. Jed was the man I told you about—the one who grabbed the twins before they got hit by a car.” She turned to Jed. “Jed, this is Ruth Mast, my mam.”
Jed took off his hat. “Nice to meet you.”
Her mother stopped to study him more closely, making Jed slightly uncomfortable under the intensity of her regard. And then the woman smiled, and Jed relaxed. “Thank the Lord that you were there to save my sons,” she said. Unlike Sarah’s red-gold hair, Ruth’s hair was dark brown with streaks of soft gray. Sarah had inherited her mother’s features—nose, chin, smile, but not her hair or eye color. Ruth’s eyes were green, while Sarah’s gaze was a vivid shade of bright blue.
Jed glanced over to check on Ruth’s progress. Satisfied that she was managing, he held out a hand for Sarah’s cake plate. With Ruth’s basket in one arm and Sarah’s cake plate in the other, he escorted the two women to the Miller house. Mary Miller came to the door as they climbed the porch steps.
“Ruth! Sarah!” Mary greeted as she came forward to accept the family’s food offerings.
“Ruth’s,” Jed explained as he handed his cousin the basket and gave Edna Byler, a neighbor who’d followed closely behind Mary, Sarah’s cake. “I will talk with you later,” he told the two women.
“Will you sit at our table for the midday meal?” Ruth asked.
Jed smiled. “I would like that.”
“We will see you then,” Sarah’s mother said as she carefully climbed the porch steps.
Sarah nodded as Jed met her gaze before she followed her mother into the house. Jed looked back to see her standing at the screen door. She quickly moved inside and disappeared from sight.
Sons? He suddenly realized what Ruth had said.
Thank the Lord that you were there to save my sons. The twins weren’t Ruth’s grandsons, nor were they Sarah’s sons, Jed realized. They were Ruth’s sons...and Sarah’s brothers!
And now he understood why there was no husband in sight for Sarah. She wasn’t married and didn’t have children! Jed suddenly felt elated.
I’ll be eating at Sarah’s table. Jed was pleased at Ruth’s invitation. He was leaving tomorrow, but until then, he could enjoy the day, learning more about Sarah Mast. He grinned happily, buoyed by the prospect.
Soon, the community and their guests gathered for church inside the Millers’ new barn. The service began with a hymn from the Ausbund. Jed realized that his community back in Happiness, Pennsylvania, sang the same hymn during services, but the melody was different. Still, Jed was able to catch on quickly, and he sang the hymn with confidence with the rest of the congregation.
Jed saw Sarah, who was seated beside her mother and twin brothers, listen intently as Preacher Byler addressed the church members. He couldn’t help look her way from time to time until he saw her glance in his direction and then back over her shoulder as if she could tell someone was watching her.
He focused his full attention on the preacher and didn’t gaze in Sarah’s direction again...although he was conscious of her for the rest of the service.
* * *
Sarah tried not to look in Jedidiah’s direction, but a prickling along the back of her neck made her wonder if he’d been watching her. Several times she glanced his way only to see that he paid strict attention to Sunday services. Sarah realized that she must have imagined his stare. But then the feeling of being watched came back so strongly that she took a quick look behind her. If Jed wasn’t studying her, then who was?
Jed stood outside the barn door as Sarah left with her twin brothers. “May I help carry out the food?” he asked.
Sarah shook her head. “We can manage. You’d best join the men. There’s my dat. You can sit at that table. The rest of us will join you shortly.” She watched as her two older brothers sat down near her father. “There is Toby and Ervin. They are older than me.”
Jed studied the two young men who sat across from their father. “How many siblings do you have?”
“Besides the twins and the two eldest?” she asked. He nodded. “I have an older sister. Emma married and moved to Ohio with her husband, James.”
“I see.” Jed seemed thoughtful as he looked away briefly. “Then you are the only daughter at home.” He focused his eyes on her.
“Ja,” Sarah admitted. Jed’s intense regard made her quickly look away.
“Your mam...she is unwell?”
Taken off guard, Sarah flashed him a look. “She says she is fine.”
“But you don’t believe it.” His voice was soft.
Sarah sighed as she felt the warmth of his concern. “Nay. She has been tired and sick for weeks now.”
His expression filled with sympathy. “Is there anything I can do?”
His response surprised her. “I appreciate your kindness. Ja, there is something you can do...pray for her.”
“I shall keep her in my prayers,” Jed said quietly.
Sarah blinked back tears. “Danki.” She took a deep breath and pulled herself together. “I must go inside. Please...feel free to sit at our family table. I can introduce you first if you’d like.”
Jed suddenly grinned, and Sarah felt her face warm. “Go help inside. I can introduce myself.” He turned and headed toward the table.
Sarah stood a moment as she saw Jed speak with her father and brothers, watched as her father gestured for Jed to sit across from him. Her brothers shifted on the bench to make room for Jed, who then sat next to her eldest brother, Ervin. Relieved at how well her family appeared to receive him, Sarah headed toward the Miller farmhouse.
Sarah felt a lurch in her chest as she entered the house with thoughts of Jedidiah. Women filled Mary’s kitchen, working to unwrap food that had been prepared previously. She attempted to force Jed from her mind. “What can I do to help?” she asked as Mary set a casserole dish on the counter.
“You can start with those,” her mother said, gesturing toward platters of meat and bowls of salads. She uncovered a bowl of potato salad and moved to place it next to the casserole dish.
Mary gestured for her mother to sit. “Ruth Mast, don’t you overdo!” She smiled at Sarah’s mother. “We like having you here.”
Sarah was happy to see her mother take a seat. “I’ll be careful,” Mam said.
Pleased that her mother was able to join the day’s meal, Sarah made numerous trips outside as she carried platters of cold meat, bowls of homemade potato salad and coleslaw, and dried corn casserole to the food tables. She was glad that Mary refused to let her mother carry anything, happier yet to note that Ruth Mast didn’t object but remained seated in the kitchen until all of the food had been uncovered or unearthed from the gas refrigerator and brought outside. After the meal, they would take the leftovers inside and return to put out the desserts.
Men, women and children mingled, enjoying the food. Sarah set down the last dish on the food table. Where was Jed? She didn’t immediately see him at her family table. She searched the grounds until she found him standing by a tree not far from the table as if he was waiting for her. His eyes brightened as Jed watched her approach. He nodded as she drew closer.
“Hungry?” he asked.
Sarah inclined her head. “You?” His answer was a slow smile that did odd things to her insides.
The food was set up as a buffet for folks to fill their plates. Should I ask him what he wants to eat? she wondered. She needed to fix a plate for Mam. Then her thoughts centered on the brush of his hand on her arm, the touch of his arm against hers, as they walked side by side toward the buffet tables. Sarah felt her heart pumping hard and she had trouble concentrating as she followed behind Jed and they each filled plates. She was puzzled at first when she saw Jed fix a second plate, asking her opinion as he chose food. It was then that she realized that he was filling a plate for her mother. Touched by his thoughtfulness, she blinked back tears.
They went back to the table to find two seats vacant across from each other. When Jed set the plate before Mam, then took his seat, Sarah’s mother seemed as moved by Jed’s kindness as Sarah had been.
Sarah enjoyed the cold roast beef, dried-corn casserole and potato salad, while Jed, she noted, had chosen a slice of ham, sweetened green beans and a huge helping of macaroni salad. They looked at each other’s plates, saw the differences and chuckled.
“I like it all,” Jed said.
Sarah nodded, but she realized that he had chosen carefully for her mother. “I love those beans, but I get them whenever I want, since I made them using Mam’s recipe.”
Jed’s eyes flickered. “You bake and cook.”
Sarah nodded. “Ja, of course.” She didn’t want to tell him that she’d been doing all of the cooking these past few months, that Mam was too tired and feeling poorly to do much more than peel potatoes or snap the ends off store-bought fresh green beans. She saw that he’d guessed the truth by the way he studied her.
Everyone enjoyed the meal. Sarah was pleased to see how at ease Jed seemed in the company of her family, and she smiled and laughed as her father told stories of her twin brothers’ antics on their farm. For Sarah, the meal passed too quickly.
Chapter Three
“I’ll be going home tomorrow,” Jedidiah said to her family as they lingered over the remainder of their meal. “Arlin and I came to Spence’s Bazaar—the Sale, you call it?” Sarah nodded. “We had many things to sell—and we sold everything we had. My uncle is eager to head back to his family. He has five daughters, and he worries about them.”
Sarah silently wished he could stay longer.
“I understand that Arlin made Ruth’s new vegetable bin,” Daniel Mast said.
Jed paused in the act of eating potato salad. “Ja. Arlin works well with wood. Just like my vadder and my brother Noah.”
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” her mother inquired.
“Six brothers and a little sister. My mam keeps busy but she enjoys all of us. Mam grew the vegetable plants Sarah purchased in her greenhouse.”
Sarah checked her mother’s reaction. She smiled as if she enjoyed hearing about Jed’s life in Pennsylvania. Sarah didn’t like the thought of him leaving.
“There is Arlin by the barn talking with Ned Troyer.” Jed flashed her a grin, and Sarah blushed.
“I’d better help bring out the desserts.” She stood and resisted the urge to straighten her bonnet.
“I’m eager for a slice of your pie, Sarah,” her dat said.
“Me, too.” Jed’s soft voice vibrated down her spine.
Sarah hesitated when Arlin stopped by to chat. Jed introduced Arlin to her family. “Mam likes the vegetable bin I bought for her,” she told Jed’s uncle with a smile. “Hers needed replacing, and yours is well made.”
Arlin looked pleased. “I hope it gives you many year’s of gut use.”
“I’m sure it will,” Mam said.
Soon, Arlin left to rejoin his cousin Pete at another table, and Sarah grabbed leftovers from the food table to carry inside. After the desserts were put out, she returned to her family...and Jed.
“Dessert!” Timothy exclaimed, climbing over the bench and running toward the food. Thomas jumped up and raced after him, eager to get there first.
Ervin stood and straddled the bench, watching his young brothers choose sweets from the dessert table. “Mam, Dat, want anything in particular?”
“I’d like to try one of Sally Troyer’s strawberry tarts,” her mam said.
Sarah started to rise. “I’ll get it.”
She shook her head. “Sit. Your brother will get it for me.” She flashed Ervin a smile.
Ervin rose and Toby followed. “I’m thinking of chocolate cake,” Toby said, and his older brother grinned.
Feeling Jed’s gaze, Sarah shifted uncomfortably on the bench. “Mam, can I get you some lemonade?” She wasn’t used to sitting. It made her feel guilty when she knew how much her mam needed her.
Timothy and Thomas returned to the table, each carrying plates that threatened to tip and spill. “Jedidiah!” they cried in unison, “we got cake!”
“Looks good!” Teasingly, Jed reached out as if to grab Thomas’s plate. “What is that? Carrot cake?” he asked.
Thomas nodded and cradled his plate protectively. “It tastes good. Want me to get you some?”
“It looks delicious, but I’ll go over and get some myself—when your sister Sarah is ready for dessert.”
The boys turned to Sarah. “There are lots of cakes and pies, Sissy,” Timothy said.
Hearing her name on Jed’s lips infused her with pleasure. “I’m thinking about chocolate-cream pie,” she said. She could feel Jed’s regard, and although feeling a bit shaky, she managed to smile at him. “I’m ready for dessert. Shall we go?” She stood and smoothed out her apron.
Jed grinned and rose. “Chocolate-cream pie?” he asked as they headed toward the dessert table.
“Maybe,” Sarah said with amusement, “or maybe not. I won’t know what I want until I see it.”
He chuckled. “I’m thinking I’ll have more than one thing.”
“I may, too,” she replied with a sudden feeling of gladness. The day was bright and sunny, and life was good.
The lingering memory of Jed’s answering laughter did strange things to her insides as Sarah selected a slice of chocolate-cream pie and a piece of peanut-butter fudge.
Jed, she saw, chose peach cobbler and a piece of her cherry pie. His favorite kind of pie, she remembered, pleased.
Sarah enjoyed spending the day in Jed’s company. She liked seeing him with her family. She knew her parents well enough to know when they liked someone, and they liked Jedidiah. It was too bad that he lived in Pennsylvania. She reminded herself that this was simply a day to remember. Tomorrow Jed would leave and Sarah would never see him again. It was just as well, since she needed to be near for Mam.
Soon it was afternoon and the women had begun to clean the tables and collect the leftovers. Sarah rose. “Time to help Mary in the kitchen.” And it was time to check on her mother, who had gone inside moments earlier.
“I enjoyed spending time with your family,” Jed said, his brown eyes glowing.
Sarah averted her glance from the warmth in his gaze. “It was a nice day.”
“Sarah!” Mam stood at the screen door. “Would you please bring in the rest of the desserts?”
She smiled in her mother’s direction. “Ja, Mam.”
“Please see me before you leave,” Jed said. “There is something I’d like to talk with you about.”
Warmth curled in her belly as she nodded. “Is everything all right?”
“Ja, of course. I want to talk with you about the singing here this evening.”
A singing, she thought. It had been a long time since she’d attended a singing. But thoughts of her mother’s health tamped down her joy. How could she leave Mam? She heard Jed talking with her older brothers as she headed toward the house. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend a few more hours with him before he left for home?
Later, after the women had cleaned up after the meal and put away the food, Sarah came out of the Miller house and spied Jed seated in a chair on the front porch.
He stood when he saw her. “I spoke with your brothers. They are attending the singing tonight. Will you come?”
