by Reid, Ruth
She had spent a lot of time alone this week, praying and preparing for the fall feast and communion service.
“Well, nau that your mood has lifted, I have some news to share.”
“Oh?” Joy expected with the way Meredith was smiling that she was about to share engagement news. Her friend and Walter had courted almost as long as she and Henry. Only, she and Henry hadn’t spent much time together since she started going into the bakery at four a.m. to prepare the daily specials. Lately it seemed whenever Henry would stop at the house to sit on the porch swing with her, she either had already gone to bed or would fall asleep sitting on the swing with him.
“Your Henry must be ready to propose,” Meredith blurted. “I overheard him talking with mei bruder about the acreage for sale across the pasture from us.” Her voice rose with enthusiasm.
“He did?” Joy covered her mouth to catch her gasp.
“You and I both know when a man is looking for property to build a haus—he’s looking to wed.” Meredith opened the cabinet next to the sink and removed a glass.
That certainly was the case with her sister. Matthew put a down payment on the farm the same day he proposed to Lois.
“I’ve got so many goose bumps, mei arms feel like a plucked turkey.” Joy rubbed her arm. “Henry’s been acting a little strange lately. Even tonight he avoided direct eye contact with me.”
Meredith refilled the glass with water and handed it to Joy. “He was watching you all right, the entire time you were washing mei feet.”
“Danki.” Joy sipped the drink.
Henry hadn’t always understood why Joy spent so many hours at the bakery. Occasionally he even accused her of preferring to spend time at the bakery over being with him. But learning the ins and outs of running Sugarcreek’s only bakery left her feeling like she had been stuffed into a pressure cooker and was about to blow. And even though she was a proficient baker, she had to learn how to manage a business. Things her parents did every day, like maintaining the proper amount of inventory on the shelves and knowing when and how many supplies to order.
“Maybe he’ll ask you tonight? He’s driving you home, jah?”
Joy shook her head. “I waited for him to ask all week but he didn’t. Sarah and I drove together, but she’s already secured a ride home with Abram.” Joy smiled. “Maybe if I leave nau, Henry will follow to make sure I arrive home safely.”
“You be sure to share the news with me tomorrow.”
“Jah, I will.” Joy hand-pressed a damp crease in her dress. It hadn’t fully dried since she sloshed water on it earlier. Vain. Here she was concerned about her appearance when the foot-washing ceremony had ended only minutes ago, but she worked out the wrinkles as best she could. “I look all rumpled, don’t I?”
“Nay, you look fine.” Meredith placed her hand on Joy’s back and nudged her toward the sitting room.
The bishop’s wife, Martha Byler, stopped Joy on her way to the door. “How are you doing?” She frowned. “I sure miss your mamm.”
“I do too.” Joy looked away from Martha’s tearful eyes.
Lois approached, cradling Stephen in her arms. “Are you going home so soon?”
“Jah, I have to open the bakery in the morning.”
“I was just telling Joy how much I miss your mamm.”
“Excuse me,” Joy said, reaching for the door handle. She stepped outside into the cool breeze and pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. She should have thought to bring her cloak instead. The sun was fading into the horizon and the temperature was plummeting.
Joy meandered toward the buggies while keeping an eye out for Henry. He wasn’t with the unmarried men who were grouped near the barn. She proceeded down the row of buggies where she had tethered Candy.
She located Henry’s horse tied one horse over on the opposite side of the rail. Drawing closer, she recognized his voice coming from the passenger side of his buggy.
“You can lean on me,” he said.
Joy shot under the railing, startling the horses nearby.
A woman’s giggle stifled.
Joy reached them as Henry was helping Priscilla Byler into his buggy. Joy clamped her teeth over her bottom lip and whirled around.
Henry’s footsteps tromped at her heels. They reached Candy at the same time.
“It’s nett what it looks like. She twisted her ankle.”
Joy untied her mare from the post and boarded the buggy. She would regret anything she said right now.
“Her bruder asked if I would see her home.”
Without a chaperone? Joy bit back voicing her thought and reined Candy away from the other buggies. Once she rounded the tree-lined bend in the country road, she looked back as the Detweilers’ farm disappeared behind the crimson canopy of low-hanging maple leaves.
The road ahead blurred. Joy was still sobbing two miles down the road when she reached the house. She unharnessed and fed Candy, then trudged across the yard to the house. At least she was alone. But Lois and Matthew wouldn’t be long—baby Stephen had been coughing most of the evening. Joy went upstairs to the room she shared with Sarah and pitched herself on the bed. If it wouldn’t raise questions with her sisters at this late hour, she would bake. Instead, she pulled out a pen and pad of paper from the lamp table drawer and wrote a letter to her cousin. Even though Emily couldn’t offer much support ten miles away, Joy still poured out her heart into the letter, which was the next best thing to baking.
She finished and extinguished the lamp flame before her family returned. When Sarah entered their shared room, Joy pretended to be asleep. As much as she hated to admit it, she hoped Henry would appear outside her window. She lay awake half the night waiting for the tap of pebbles against the glass, his way of beckoning her outside so they could talk.
The story continues in Her Christmas Pen Pal by Ruth Reid, found in An Amish Second Christmas
About the Author
AUTHOR PHOTO BY LEXIE REID
Ruth Reid is a full-time pharmacist who lives in Florida with her husband and three children. When attending the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Michigan, she lived on the outskirts of an Amish community and had several occasions to visit the Amish farms. Her interest grew into love as she saw the beauty in living a simple life.
