Jedidiah's Bride. Rebecca Kertz

holding her daughter’s glance before shifting to send the same message silently to her husband.

      “You will tell us if you’re tired?” her father asked softly.

      “Ja,” she said. “I will come to you or send someone to find you.”

      “Fair enough, then,” Sarah’s dat replied as he pulled the horse into the Millers’ barnyard and parked the vehicle within the row of family buggies on the left side of the dirt drive.

      * * *

      Dressed in his black Sunday best, Jedidiah stood on the Millers’ front porch and watched as buggies rolled down the dirt lane to the farmhouse and parked in the barnyard.

      “Do you know anyone?” Jed asked his uncle, who stood beside him.

      “A few,” Arlin said. He ran a hand over his bearded chin. “I recognize the Samuel Yoders. That’s Samuel getting out of that buggy near the barn. He has five sons and a baby on the way. He lives on the neighboring farm.”

      “Is that his oldest son?” Jedidiah asked, studying a lad of about twelve years old.

      Arlin rubbed his beard as he followed the direction of Jed’s gaze. “Ja, that’s young Abe.”

      Jedidiah instantly thought of his mother and wondered how she’d coped when he’d been that young age with four brothers not long behind him. It couldn’t have been easy for Katie Lapp, but his mam had taken joy in raising her sons. It had never occurred to him how much work Mam had endured as a mother to five sons. And since then, she’d given birth to two more sons and a daughter.

      Another vehicle pulled into the yard. Jedidiah watched casually as the driver stopped the buggy and climbed down from the carriage. The bearded older man went around to the other side to help someone out of the vehicle, while a young woman climbed from the backseat on the driver’s side, a dish in each hand.

      He felt his heart give a lurch, then pound rapidly as he noted the shock of red-gold hair peeking out from beneath her black bonnet. Sarah Mast, he thought. The young mother stood with her hands full near the buggy while her sons Thomas and Timothy scurried out after her. He saw her bend to speak briefly with the twins, watched as the boys nodded before racing toward a group of youngsters who stood waiting outside the barn for church services. He saw the driver—Sarah’s husband? Nay, her dat, he suspected—had helped someone out of the carriage. Sarah’s mother?

      Jed frowned. Where is Sarah’s husband?

      He watched Sarah pause to wait for the other woman to catch up before they headed toward the Miller farmhouse together. The older woman carried a basket. Jedidiah didn’t know what possessed him to move in her direction, but within seconds, he was reaching out to relieve the frail older woman of her burden. “Let me,” he said with a smile. The basket wasn’t heavy.

      Sarah’s mother looked up at him and responded in kind. “’Tis nice of you,” the woman gasped, out of breath.

      Jed turned toward her daughter. “Sarah,” he greeted. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

      “Jedidiah.” Sarah looked surprised to see him. Her voice was soft and slightly breathless. “I thought you would have gone home by now.”

      “Nay. We leave tomorrow.” He could sense Sarah’s mam’s curiosity. He nodded at the woman respectfully.

      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