by Emma Miller
With the kapp set properly on her head, she took one last look at the small mirror over the chest of drawers where Levi had placed his things. Looking back at her, she saw the same brown-haired, brown-eyed wren of a girl whom she had seen in her father’s home. But there was one difference, she reminded herself. She was no longer a girl; she was a married woman. She was Levi’s wife. And she wanted to be the best wife she could be to him, the wife she knew she could be to such a good man. And that started today.
Despite Eve’s intentions, once she was downstairs, her confidence wavered. She didn’t know how it was possible, but the kitchen was even more hectic than it had been the night before. This morning not only were the family members who lived in the house there, but also his married siblings. The kitchen was full of men and women, all talking at once, talking over each other. With the women putting breakfast on the two kitchen tables, the men came in from outside, laughing and joking, giving each other heavy-handed nudges.
And there were children everywhere, more than just Rosemary and Benjamin’s young ones. The children climbed over benches and ran in and out of the kitchen, squealing with laughter. One of Levi’s little twin brothers Eve had met the night before chased a snow-white fluffy cat under the table and then back out. Tara, carrying a huge platter of freshly made pancakes, held the dish high as the other twin ducked under it.
“How can I help?” Eve asked Tara from the doorway.
“Oh, everything’s ready. Sit down. And be sure to save a seat next to you for Levi.” Tara giggled.
“Phillip,” called one of the women Eve didn’t know as she ducked her head under one of the tables. “Come out of there right now or I’m coming under.” The young woman had to be one of the sisters. She had Tara’s green eyes, and she was beautiful, with flaxen blond hair. She looked up. “Good morning, Eve. I’m Ginger.” She smiled and pointed across the room. “The redhead is my husband, Eli. Eli!” she shouted. “Say hello to Levi’s Eve.”
In stocking feet, a red-haired man waved from the far side of the room. “Good morning, Eve. Welcome to Hickory Grove!”
“And somewhere around here is our daughter, Lizzy, and our sons Andrew and Simon,” Ginger went on. “And under this table—” she ducked to look under again and then popped her head back up “—is our son Phillip, who will be washing dishes for a week if he doesn’t come out from under his grossmama’s table.” She threw her last few words in the direction of the boy’s hiding place.
“Ach, could you put this sausage on the table?” Tara pushed a large round plate of sausage patties into each of Eve’s hands. “The egg casserole is going to overcook if I don’t get it out of the oven.”
Eve had taken only two steps when Philip darted out from under the table right in front of her. Startled, she swayed to keep from stepping on him, and one of the plates began to tilt. “Oh no,” she cried as the sizzling patties began to slide off the edge.
A blonde woman with brown eyes snatched up one of the plates off the table and caught three of the four patties midair. “Got ’em!” The fourth hit the table and shot out into the room.
Quick as a rabbit, a boy who looked to be a brother to little Phillip snatched the sausage off the floor. “Can I eat it, Abigail?” he asked, already bringing it toward his mouth.
Abigail cut her eyes at Ginger.
“Ya, why not?” Ginger answered with a shrug. “I’m sure he’s eaten worse.”
“Boys,” the blonde agreed with amusement, then she returned her attention to Eve as she set the plate on the table. “I’m Abigail. My husband is the handsome one over there.” She pointed toward one of Levi’s brothers standing in the mudroom doorway. She put out her hands. “Here, let me take that.”
Eve gladly passed the platter to Abigail and watched as she slid the sausages she’d caught from the plate back onto the platter before setting it down.
“Ethan, right?” Eve asked. On the train, Levi had gone through his family members’ names and if they were married, along with their spouses’ names, but there were so many of them. She feared she’d never learn them all. “The schoolteacher?”
“That’s right. We live down the road with my parents. Our son, Jaimie, is around here somewhere. Up to mischief, I’m sure.”
“Let’s eat,” Rosemary announced loudly above the din. Then she came up behind Eve and murmured, “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to the hubbub when everyone is here. They were all so eager to meet you that I couldn’t tell them they weren’t welcome to join us for breakfast.”
She said it so kindly that Eve glanced up appreciatively. Rosemary was smiling at her and she smiled back.
“Go on, join your husband,” Rosemary told her, indicating an empty seat on one of the benches beside where Levi sat. “We don’t sit in any particular order around here. It’s wherever you can find a place. Except for the head of the table.” She pointed.
Eve looked over to see Benjamin taking a chair at the end of one of the tables.
“Makes him think he’s in charge,” Rosemary whispered in her ear.
Eve looked up and giggled, and Rosemary squeezed her hand, offering another kind smile. “We really are glad to have you here,” she said quietly. “Now go on, before someone else takes your seat and you’re stuck eating with the little ones.” She looked up. “Not there, Jaimie,” she ordered. “That’s Eve’s seat. Come over here with your grossmammi, where I can keep an eye on you.”
After the entire family was seated and had silent grace, everyone began talking again, firing questions at Eve. As they talked across the tables, holding multiple conversations at once, they passed around serving platters of fluffy egg-and-cheese casserole, sausage, bacon, toast, hash browns and dried apple muffins. As Eve ate, she tried to answer questions posed to her as best she could and keep up with as many conversations at once as she could manage. And she listened for names, trying to keep everyone straight, making notes to herself of questions she had for Levi later. She had so many.
How did Ginger and Eli have four children if they’d just married? Why did Marshall, Benjamin’s eldest son, and Abigail live with her parents rather than on the family farm? And who was Benjamin calling Rosebud?
It wasn’t until after breakfast that Eve realized how quiet Levi had been through the entire meal, and how little anyone had said to him. As he rose from the table, she got up, too. All of the men were pushing back from the table and making their way out the back to go about their day. As was customary, the women would clean up. Eve didn’t mind at all, though. She had known Levi’s family less than a day, but she already knew she wanted to be a part of it. Contributing to the day-to-day running of the household was a way she felt she could do that.
Eve scooped up several dirty plates and was walking toward the sink when she caught Rosemary watching Levi. The older woman glanced at Eve, then at Levi again. “Levi, did you forget something?” the older woman said.
“Sorry?” He turned to his stepmother.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” She gestured to Eve.
Eve pulled the dirty plates closer, feeling her cheeks grow warm. She didn’t like being the center of attention, especially in this big, lively family.
Levi stared blankly at Rosemary.
“Your wife,” his stepmother said. “You didn’t say goodbye to your new wife.”
Embarrassment showed on Levi’s face and Eve felt awful for being the cause. “Ne, it’s...all right,” Eve said. “He... He has work to do.”
“Nonsense. Today is your first full day as a married couple,” Rosemary lectured. “Habits you start now, you’ll carry the rest of your days.” She eyed Levi again as she took the pile of dishes from Eve. “Your father would never leave the house without telling me goodbye, Levi.”
He looked down at the floor.
“Go on,” Rosemary urged Eve. “Spend a moment with your husband. It will be hours
before he’s back for the midday meal, which we eat at one. This time of year, supper is at six thirty.”
Not knowing what else to do, Eve met Levi halfway.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed, looking up at him. She twisted her fingers together in the folds of her apron.
“Not your fault,” he told her, his tone measured. “I’m going to help Jacob with a problem with one of the plows, then meet with my dat so we can discuss plans to expand the size of what will become my buggy shop, and I’ll see you for dinner.” Their heads together, he spoke softly so no one else in the kitchen could hear them. “Will you be all right here with Rosemary and the girls?”
Eve studied Levi’s stubbled face. This morning, Abigail had called her husband handsome, but Eve thought maybe the brother she had married was even better-looking. She smiled at him. “Ya, of course. I’ll be fine. I’ll help with the dishes and then I’m sure there’s other work to be done.”
Tara, who was walking by them with two dirty glasses in each hand, thrust her head between Levi’s and Eve’s. “Don’t worry, Levi. I’ll be here. I’m going to make strawberry jam. Do you like making jam, Eve?” She beamed. “I love making jam.”
“I do,” Eve answered.
“Thank you, Tara.” Levi clapped his hand on his sister’s shoulder and walked out of the house.
Eve immediately went back to clearing off the table, quickly finding the rhythm of Rosemary and her daughters who still lived at home. Lovey, who was obviously expecting, and her husband, Marshall, and son, Elijah, had said their goodbyes, as had Phoebe and Joshua and their two little ones. Abigail and her family had been the first to go. From what Eve had been able to gather, Abigail’s mother was poorly and she needed to get home to her. Eve would ask Levi later about Abigail’s mother’s health.
Eve was gathering another stack of dirty dishes when Bay, Ginger’s twin sister, called from the sink, “Want to wash, Eve?”
“Ya, I’ll wash.” Eve lowered the dishes into the dishwater. “I don’t mind.”
Bay looked to her mother, who was helping one of the twin boys get his socks on so he could go with his father to the barn. James—at least Eve thought it was James—lay on his back, his bare feet in the air. Rosemary was trying to slip on the sock, but the little boy was wiggling.
“Mam, Eve’s going to wash dishes. May I go? I have marigold seedlings to transplant before it gets too warm.” Bay was already backing away from the sink to give Eve room. “Mam?”
Finally, wrestling the second sock on her son’s foot, Rosemary glanced up. “Go, go,” she shooed.
Bay rushed to the laundry room to make her way outside, whipping off her everyday apron. “Danke!”
“You’re going to forget how to do household chores,” Rosemary called after her daughter. “Then what will you do when you’re married?”
“I don’t know, maybe I won’t marry at all.” Bay poked her head back into the kitchen. “Or maybe my husband will do the housework and I’ll support us running the greenhouse.”
Rosemary frowned as she helped the little boy, who she realized was Josiah, not James, to his feet. “I wouldn’t count on that, Dochter.”
The door closed loudly behind Bay, and Rosemary rolled her eyes. “That one.” She gave her son a nudge. “Go on with you. Your dat is waiting for you on the porch.”
The little boy took off, and Rosemary turned back to Eve. “If you’re going to make strawberry jam today, Eve, you best change into a different dress.”
Eve thrust her hands into the warm, soapy water and began to scrub a plate with a dish brush. “This is all I have,” she said softly, embarrassed.
“Oh,” Tara said, stopping in the middle of the floor. She had been flitting around in the kitchen like a little bee since Eve had come downstairs this morning, but now the bee was very still. Tara was thinking. “Well then, you could have a couple of my dresses.” She shrugged cheerfully. “I have too many anyway.”
Eve could feel Rosemary watching her, even though her back was to the older woman. “I, uh...” Eve rinsed the plate in her hands. “I don’t think it would fit,” she managed.
“Well, why wouldn’t it fit?” Tara set her hands on her hips. “Is it because you’re too—”
“Too long,” Rosemary interrupted. “Your dresses would be too long for Eve.”
Eve didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until she exhaled. And whispered a prayer of thanks to God for steering Rosemary to such a tactful explanation. Though it had to be obvious, she thought. Tara was much thinner and taller than Eve.
“Which means,” Rosemary continued, bringing her hands together, “you and I, Eve, need to meet in my sewing room once this kitchen is ret up. I have a lot of extra fabric. I’m going to make you a dress.”
“Oh, no. You don’t need to do that,” Eve said.
“Ne, I don’t. But I want to so I don’t want to hear another word about it,” Rosemary said as she took a dish towel from a drawer and began to dry the clean dishes Eve was setting on the sideboard.
“But Eve and I are making strawberry jam,” Tara protested.
“Not until you’ve picked the strawberries,” Rosemary chastised.
And that was that.
Chapter Four
Levi lifted a couple of two-by-fours from the wagon onto his shoulder and carried them through an open bay door, sidestepping one of Jacob’s dogs. “One way or the other, Ada,” he muttered, walking out of the bright sunshine into the barn’s shade.
When his family had moved to Hickory Grove from New York after his father married Rosemary, the two-story structure with a gambrel roof had been a dairy barn. His father had cleverly added interior walls to build a storefront for his harness shop, and several more rooms to create workspaces for the harness business that was their family’s livelihood. Once they were settled in, and the shop had begun to thrive, the older man had built himself a small workshop for what had started out as a hobby but was becoming a passion. Benjamin Miller had always dreamed of building buggies, like his grandfather. The previous Christmas, Levi and his father had talked about adding space and bay doors to the buggy shop when Levi completed his apprenticeship and returned home. Now with Levi home to stay, the plans were being moved up, and construction on additional walls had begun.
Jacob followed behind Levi, carrying more lumber. Their father had put Jacob, a carpenter by trade, in charge of constructing the framework of the walls. Even though Levi had plenty of experience building interior walls, he was just his brother’s assistant.
“Ada,” Jacob called, steadying the boards on his shoulder to point into the barnyard with his free hand. “Get out from under our feet. Go chase a rabbit or something.” The Chesapeake Bay retriever took off running, and he shook his head as he lowered the wood to the stack Levi had started. “Phew, going to be another warm one.”
Setting down the wood he had carried inside, Levi removed a handkerchief from his pocket. He lifted his straw hat and wiped his brow, saying nothing. He had too much on his mind for small talk. Right now, he wanted to get the wagon of lumber unloaded and unhitch the horse because the sooner these walls went up, the sooner he could get to the business of building his first buggy. With the proceeds, he would be able to open a bank account to begin saving for the house he would build on his father’s property for him and Eve to live in.
“But better than rain, though, ya?” Jacob asked, removing his hat and fanning himself with it.
An orange barn cat rubbed against Levi’s ankle, and he pushed it away gently with his boot, hoping it got the message. He didn’t recognize the half-grown calico; it was probably one of his brother’s rescues. Jacob loved animals and was always bringing strays home. He took a particular liking to the sick and injured. Back in Upstate New York, his younger brother had once rescued a litter of kittens from a tree’s hollow after a neighbor’s mother cat had been ki
lled on the road. Jacob had insisted their mother let him keep the newborn kittens in the kitchen in a cardboard box where he had fed them cow’s milk from a tiny bottle for weeks. Every single kitten had survived.
“You know what’s for dinner?” Jacob leaned down to pet the cat Levi had shooed away. “Seems like breakfast was a long time ago. I’m starving.”
“I don’t know what we’re having.” Levi hooked his thumb in the direction of the bay door. “Let’s get the rest of this wood unloaded. I’d like to see some progress on these walls today.”
Levi started for the door, but Jacob stepped sideways, blocking his way.
“What’s going on with you?” Jacob asked.
“What do you mean?” Levi didn’t meet his gaze as he slid his handkerchief back into his pocket. “We need to get the rest of the wood so I can put the wagon away and unhitch the horse. Sassafras is old. No need to let her stand out in the sun.” He set his hat on his head.
Jacob studied him for a moment, making Levi uncomfortable.
“Ne, it’s more than that.” Jacob studied him. “You don’t seem like yourself. You seem...frustrated.”
“That’s because I am frustrated.” Levi threw out his arms. “I came home to get this business off the ground. To build buggies. I have the skill, the knowledge, and Dat’s got me mending fences, hauling wood and—and framing walls.” He swung one hand in the direction of the empty space.
