A Hope Springs Christmas. Patricia Davids

wanted to marry him or not.”

      “Marry? Grace?”

      Levi looked astonished by the idea. It was almost comical. Sarah struggled to hold back a smile. “That’s what young people do when they’ve been courting.”

      “She’s too young to marry.” He turned to his tool chest and grabbed a second wrench.

      “She’s the same age I was when Jonas and I married. I was twenty and he was twenty-seven.”

      “That was different.” Levi didn’t look at her.

      “How?”

      “It just was. Grace Ann is a child.” He returned to his position under the buggy.

      “Nee, Levi, your shveshtah is a grown woman. You must be prepared for her to marry and start a family of her own.”

      A second grunt was her reply.

      If Levi hadn’t considered where his sister’s courtship was leading, then Sarah really had her work cut out for her. Not only did she need to find a woman who could put up with his stoic ways, she needed to help him see that Grace was an adult. This could certainly make the coming winter months more interesting.

      Sarah stared at Levi’s worn-out footwear. First things first, who did she know that might be ready for a husband?

      Several women came to mind. There was the current schoolteacher, Leah Belier, a sweet-tempered woman in her late twenties. But having had the twins in school until two years ago, would she be willing to take them on a permanent basis? It would take a brave woman to do that.

      It was too bad Susan Lapp had married Daniel Hershberger last month. While it was an excellent match for both of them, Susan would have been perfect for Levi. Big-boned and strong with a no-nonsense attitude, Susan was a woman who could keep Levi and the twins in line with one hand tied behind her back. Yes, it was too bad she was already taken.

      There was Joann Yoder, but she was a year older than Levi. Sarah couldn’t see them together. Joann was nearly as shy as he was.

      Mary Beth Zook was also a possibility. Sarah wondered how the bishop and his wife would feel about two of their children marrying into the Beachy family. Perhaps Mary Beth wasn’t the best choice, but Sarah didn’t rule her out.

      Another woman who came to mind was Fannie Nissley, the niece of David and Martha Nissley. She had come to Hope Springs to help the family when Martha had been injured by an overturned wagon a few years before. Martha was fully recovered, but Fannie stayed on because she liked the area.

      Sarah guessed her age to be twenty-five or -six. As far as she knew, Fannie wasn’t seeing anyone. This coming Sunday after the prayer service would be a good time to find out for sure. Aunt Emma would know if any of the single women in the area had already made a commitment.

      Sarah suddenly thought of Sally Yoder. Sally currently worked for Elam Sutter in his basket-weaving business. Sally was only in her early twenties, but she might be ready to settle down. She had a good head on her shoulders and could help Levi manage the business.

      Sarah looked around the building and remembered the many hours she and Jonas had spent poring over the company books and inventory, trying to stretch a nickel into a dollar to make ends meet. They hadn’t seemed like good times back then, but now she cherished every moment she and her husband had spent working and struggling together.

      God took him too soon.

      Memories, both good and not so good, filled her mind. As she looked around, it was easy to see traces of Jonas everywhere. The chair where he sat as he ordered supplies was still waiting at the counter, as though he might return at any minute. Of course, Levi used it now.

      The workbench Jonas made from scrap lumber had stood the test of time, but it had been shifted from its original position. So had the boxes of parts that once lined the wall above it. Now, they stood along the west wall, closer to where the bulk of the woodwork for the buggies took place. It was a better spot, and she could see why Levi had done it.

      She said, “You have made many changes in here. I see you moved the workbench to beneath the south windows. Was that for better light?”

      He didn’t answer. Sarah crossed to the workbench Jonas had fashioned and laid her hand on the worn wood. She could almost feel him here beside her. Looking out the window, she realized that Levi had an unobstructed view of the narrow street outside and of her kitchen window across the way.

      How many times had she sat at that table and cried, worried and prayed since Jonas’s passing. Had Levi seen it all?

      She glanced toward the buggy frame. He was no longer underneath it. He stood, wrenches in each hand, watching her with a guarded expression on his face.

      * * *

      Levi wondered if she realized how pretty she was with the early morning sunshine streaming through the window, bathing her face in golden light. Her features were as delicate as the frost that etched the corners of the glass behind her.

      Her white kapp glowed brightly, almost like a halo around her heart-shaped face. Her blond hair, carefully parted in the middle and all but hidden beneath her bonnet gave only a hint of the luxurious beauty her uncut tresses must hold. Only a husband and God should view a woman’s crowing glory. For a second, Levi envied Jonas’s right to behold Sarah’s hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back.

      The ribbons of her kapp were untied and drew Levi’s attention to the curve of her jaw and the slenderness of her neck. To his eyes, she grew more beautiful with each passing year. It was no wonder Jonas had fallen in love with her.

      Levi dropped his gaze to his feet, afraid what he was thinking would somehow show in his eyes. She was his best friend’s wife. It was wrong of him to think of her as beautiful.

      “Do you mind?” he asked.

      When she didn’t answer, he looked up. She glanced out the window and then at him.

      “Do I mind what?” she asked with an odd inflection in her tone.

      He waved his arm to indicate the shop. “The changes?”

      “Nee, it is your workspace,” she said quickly.

      “Goot.” He returned his tools to the wooden tray and carried it to the workbench, sliding it into its place on the end of the counter where Jonas had kept it.

      Levi hadn’t been much younger than the twins were now when the local sheriff brought word that their parents were dead. They had both drowned when their buggy was overturned and swept away while they had been trying to cross a flooded roadway.

      Jonas had come to the house and offered Levi a job when he was ready. Levi never forgot Jonas’s kindness in treating him like an adult, like a man with responsibilities instead of like a boy who needed someone to look after him and his siblings.

      As Jonas taught Levi the buggy-building trade, Levi had quickly realized Jonas would have been smarter to hire someone who already knew the business rather than an untried teenager.

      When he mentioned his thoughts on the subject, Jonas had laid a hand on Levi’s shoulder and said, “I want to work with someone I respect and enjoy being around. You and I are a good fit. Besides, if I teach you how to do a thing, I know it will be done right.”

      Levi never forgot that moment. He became determined to learn everything Jonas had to teach so that his respect was not misplaced. In that, Levi believed he had succeeded.

      Sarah had followed Levi to the counter. She asked, “Do you mind my helping out until Grace returns?”

      “Not much choice,” he conceded gruffly.

      “I’m sorry that my advice to Grace sent her racing off so quickly. I honestly thought she would talk it over with you and the two of you could decide when a good time for her visit would be. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

      “Grace can be impulsive.” To his surprise, it