saw them walking together after church last Sunday.”
“There’s always Amos Beiler,” Maummi said as she set the plate of tomatoes on the table.
Rebecca didn’t bother to hide her eye-roll this time, nor did she suppress a loud groan, which made Maummi cackle.
Tenderhearted Emma’s brow creased with compassion. “Poor Amos, raising those children on his own. They need a mother, and he needs a wife.”
“He isn’t raising them on his own. Mrs. Keim tends them while he works the farm, and his sister-in-law is teaching the girls to cook and keep house.” Truth be told, the oldest Beiler girl was already a better cook than Rebecca, but she saw no reason to say so.
“I know, but that’s not the same as having a mother.” Emma’s gaze slid toward Maummi. “Or a grandmother.”
Their mother had died when Rebecca was a baby, and Maummi was already living with them, having moved to Apple Grove with Papa and Mama and young Emma to help establish the farm. Rebecca tried for a moment to imagine what her life would have been like without Maummi. The idea wasn’t worth considering. With a rush of emotion, she crossed the room to stand beside the older woman, and smiled as she touched her sleeve with a gentle gesture.
“You’re right. It’s not the same.”
Maummi grunted in acknowledgment of the rare display of affection. As a rule, the Amish showed their care for one another through hard work and service, not through physical gestures, but Maummi prolonged the contact by lingering a moment before moving away to pick up a bowl of sauerkraut salad from the counter.
“Well, perhaps Amos will find a wife soon.” Emma cast an anxious gaze over the table. “Everything is ready. I hope Papa will like my beef-and-noodles casserole.”
Emma tried so hard to please Papa, as though food could overcome the pain of having his oldest daughter leave the Amish way of life. Not that he ever said a word, but Rebecca had seen the hurt in his eyes when he watched his grandson at play, and she knew he deeply regretted the fact that Lucas was being raised in a different faith.
“At least they are Christian,” Maummi had said more than once.
“I’m sure he will,” Rebecca assured her sister. “Do you want me to call them in?”
Emma nodded and bent over the table to lift the cover from the butter dish. “Oh, Maummi, I am supposed to pass along a greeting. Mr. McCann stopped by last week.”
Rebecca stopped halfway to the door. McCann was the cook on the cattle drive where Emma had met Luke and she had met Jesse.
“Him. The man didn’t know a spice from a weed until I taught him.” Maummi waved a hand in feigned dismissal, though Rebecca saw a spark of interest in her hooded eyes. “Happened to be nearby, did he?”
“He was on his way south to join a cattle drive. He’d been cooking for a restaurant over in Abilene, but he said he missed the trail.” Emma removed another lid, this one covering a dish of apple butter. “He stayed for supper and entertained us with tales of life in town and news of some of the old team. Remember Charlie? He married and bought a place down in Arizona territory last year. And Griff moved down there to help him get set up.”
Excitement sparked along Rebecca’s spine. These men were all friends of Jesse’s.
She adopted a casual expression. “Did he mention anyone else? Like…” She swallowed, and schooled her voice. “Like Jesse Montgomery, maybe?”
Emma looked up. “Yes, he did. Luke asked, of course, and Mr. McCann said he’d heard that Jesse had settled over near Lawrence. He wasn’t sure what he was doing there.” She shook her head, disbelief on her features. “Luke could hardly believe it. He thought Jesse would never leave the trail.”
Lawrence! Rebecca’s pulse kicked into a gallop and her head went light. Jesse, her one true love, was in Kansas. On the other side of the state from Apple Grove, true, but Lawrence was a far sight closer than Texas.
A nagging thought tugged at her soaring heart. If he lived in the same state as she, then why hadn’t he come to her? He knew where she lived. Not a day in the past four years had passed without her thinking of him. Had he forgotten her?
She set her jaw and tilted her chin. Well, if he had, then maybe he needed a reminder...
“Rebecca?”
Emma’s voice drew Rebecca from her ruminations. She realized her