Chapter 1.
Emma sniffed the air; it smelled as though the chocolate chip cookies she was baking were ready. She had burned the first batch that morning by talking too much, so she hurried to save this batch. Even though a wave of heat enveloped her when she opened the oven, she still managed to listen to what Silvie had to say.
“My mudder sat me down when I first started being interested in boys. I could have been fifteen or sixteen. I’ll never forget what she said to me.” Silvie swallowed hard, and her fragile complexion turned another shade of pale. “She said that there is no such thing as ‘hearts and flowers’ love between a man and a woman, then I said, ‘What about true love?’ And, do you know what she said?”
Emma nibbled on the end of her fingernail, hoping that this batch hadn’t been in for too long as well. “What did she say?”
“She said ‘love shmuv’ and then said, ‘humpf.’ What do you think of that?”
Emma shook her head. She was pleased that she and Silvie were growing closer as friends. “Some people do find true love; I found it twice.”
“Jah, but John and I were never in love because I never expected to find true love like you had with Levi and now you have with Wil. John might have been in love with me, in his own way. My mudder insisted that things would go better for me if I weren’t deerich, foolish, about love from the start and didn’t expect too much.” John, Silvie’s husband, had died many years before.
“I guess some people don’t find that special love, but a lot of people do. My mamm and daed are still very much in love; I’m sure of that,” Emma said.
“I hope I find someone to love. It must feel good. Well, I mean I did love John in the end; I grew to love him as I would love any member of my familye.”
“You’re still young, Silvie. Why don’t you ask Gott for a special mann to come into your life?” Emma studied Silvie’s pretty face. She had the loveliest, pale creamy skin, which enhanced her pure blue eyes. She was truly an attractive woman.
“Do you think I should do that? It has always seemed selfish to me, to pray for something for myself instead of pray for someone else.”
“I’m sure that Gott wants to hear about everything we care deeply about; He loves us so much.”
Emma glanced at Silvie and saw a smile float across her face.
“Are you two still talking?”
The girls looked up to see Wil standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Since Wil and Emma had started courting, Wil forgot about the need to knock, and waltzed into the haus as he pleased.
Surely he could knock before he entered, Emma thought.
Wil took a seat at the kitchen table, reached out and took a sugar cookie. “Why did the conversation stop when I came in?”
The two girls smirked at each other.
Emma said, “We were talking about you.”
Wil laughed and turned to Silvie. “Was Emma telling you how she couldn’t wait to marry me?”
“Hush, Wil,” Emma said quickly.
A look of delight crossed Silvie’s delicate features. “Are you two getting married soon?”
“Eventually, but not right away.” Emma was annoyed with Wil for saying such a thing to Silvie. Everyone they knew most likely suspected that they were courting, but it was only six months since Levi’s death, which was far too soon for a wedding. It was most likely far too soon to court and Emma struggled daily with the guilt of having feelings for another mann so soon. Emma often wondered why she loved Wil so much when she spent half her time being annoyed with him.
Wil laughed. “You know how I like to tease. Emma, do you have a cup of tea for me, or is this a ladies only meeting?” Without drawing a breath, he added, “Are those chocolate chip cookies I smell?”
“Jah and I’ll get you a cup of tea as soon as I put these cookies on a cooling rack.”
While Emma tended to the cookies and got the tea, Wil bit into another sugar cookie and continued to speak to Silvie. “So, how have you been?”
“I’ve been fine. Busy at work that’s all.”
“I see.”
Emma placed the tea in front of Wil, a little irritated that he had interrupted her girl-talk with Silvie.
Wil looked around to talk to Emma. “Since you won’t marry me straight away, I’ve decided to take the bishop up on his offer.”
“What offer?” Emma frowned. If they had private and important decisions to make, she would rather do that in private.
“There’s a young man who wants to become Amish and the bishop has asked if he can stay with me for a time. His name is Bailey Abler.”
“That’s odd,” Emma said. “Don’t they usually place people with a familye before they join?”
Wil shrugged his shoulders. “They normally do. He’s been staying with the bishop for the past few days.”
Given their conversation before Wil walked in, the girls shot each other a look of amazement. Was this new man Gott’s answer so quickly, before Silvie had even had a chance to ask Him?
“How old is he?” Silvie asked, trying to keep the smile from her face.
“I haven’t met him yet, but from what the bishop said, I’d guess him to be around thirty.”
Emma put some of the warm chocolate chip cookies on a plate and placed it in the middle of the table before she sat down again. “What do you know about him?”
Wil wasted no time in taking one of the warm cookies. “Not much at all; the bishop hardly told me anything about him. He’s alone in the world and used to work in the restaurant business. That’s all I know.”
“Well, I’m on the late shift at the bakery. I’d better get going.” Silvie said.
“Late shift? I thought bakeries started around three in the mornings,” Wil said before he took another bite of cookie.
“We’ve got a café attached now. We do light meals eight in the evenings and I stay there and clean up afterwards too.”
Wil wiped some crumbs from his mouth. “I see.”
“You and Emma should come in and have dinner there one time,” Silvie said.
Wil smiled at Emma. “Maybe we will.”
After Silvie left, Wil said, “I’ve invited Frank to dinner on Saturday night.”
Frank was an elderly man who lived on his own in one of the Amish housing settlements. Wil was one of the many Amish people who cared about him.
“So, does that include me?” Emma asked.
“Of course it does.”
Emma giggled. “So, I do the cooking?”
Wil chuckled. “Jah. You cook much better than I do.”
Emma had guessed that he wanted her to cook. She mostly cooked when he had guests for dinner, but he never asked her straight out, she always offered. “Who else is coming then?”
“That’s all. Just you and me, and Bailey will be here by then. I thought it would be gut for Bailey to get to know a couple of people to ease him into the community slowly.”
“Why don’t we have dinner here at my place instead of yours? I know my way around this kitchen so much better.”
“Jah, okay. I’ll stop over and tell Frank that I’ve changed the dinner to your place. I can’t do it today I’ve got too much to do. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“I’ve got to go into town later. I’ll stop by and tell him if you like. I also think it wouldn’t hurt to have Silvie over to meet Bailey. What do you think?”
“Jah, that will be fine, but don’t you think you should meet Bailey first before you start planning to marry him off to someone?”
“I’ve just got a feeling about the two of them. Besides, if he’s made the decision to become Amish, he must have a gut heart toward Gott.”
“And what is your feeling about you and me?” Wil moved next to Emma and pushed his shoulder against hers.
Emma giggled. “You know how I feel about you, Wil.”
“Just checking, wouldn’t want you to change your mind or anything.” Wil stood up. “Well, I’ve got work to do.
Emma admired his strong, tanned arms as he reached for more cookies. “Another invention?”
Wil smiled. “I’ll see you later on.” He took two cookies off the plate, gave Emma a quick kiss on the forehead and walked out the door.
Emma wondered if she would have as much time with Wil when his haus guest arrived. She walked outside to bring the washing in off the line.
While she unpinned the washing, Emma’s mind was drawn to the time when, as a young girl, she used to unpin the familye washing. She would pretend that her bruders’ shirts were her sons’ shirts. Emma had expected to marry and have many kinner. Emma knew that death was a part of life, and her grieving was eased by knowing where Levi was. But what of her plans of kinner? For so long she had dreamed of having children with Levi and now she had to switch her thinking to having children with Wil one day. Why did she struggle so much with that?
