Going Home (31 page)

Melinda sniffed deeply. “You’re not leaving then?”

“No, I’m certainly not. My place is here with you.”

“And you won’t be telling jokes and yodeling no more?”

Before Faith had a chance to answer, Noah cut in. “I think it would be fine if your mamm told funny stories and jokes right here with her family, don’t you?”

Melinda nodded and swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks. “Will you still be able to yodel, Mama? I love it when you do, and I want to yodel, too.”

Faith smiled through her tears. “Most folks in our community don’t see yodeling as wrong, but I probably won’t do it when Grandpa Stutzman’s around. He says it bothers his ears.”

Noah chuckled and motioned to Faith. “Well, he’s not here now, so why don’t you do a little yodeling for your own private audience?”

Faith squeezed Melinda’s hand. “How about if you help me yodel?”

Melinda leaned her head back and opened her mouth. “Oh—lee—dee–ee—oh—lee—dee—tee!”

Noah did his best to join them, but he finally gave up. Suddenly, his expression turned serious, and Faith wondered if something was wrong.

“What is it, Noah?”

He leaned over and looked deeply into her eyes. “I love you, Faith Andrews, and if you think you could learn to love me, I’d like the chance to court you.”

Melinda jumped up and down. “Yippee! I knew it!”

Faith swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, Noah, I don’t have to
learn
to love you, for I already do. Thanks to God’s love and to Him showing me what’s really important, I know I can have the best of both worlds—the love of a wonderful man; my family and friends; and most of all, a closeness to my heavenly Father that I’ve never had before.”

Two years later

F
aith brushed Noah’s arm with her elbow as she squeezed past him to get to the stove. Two more lemon sponge cakes were ready to take from the oven. These would be given to Barbara and David Zook in honor of their son, Zachary, who had been born the week before.

“I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for almost two years,” Noah said as he nuzzled Faith’s neck with the tip of his nose.

Faith glanced down at the floor, where their one-year-old son, Isaiah, was being entertained by his big sister, Melinda. “God has been good and blessed our marriage,” she said.

“That’s so true.”

“What scripture verse have you decided to use?”

“I was thinking maybe Luke 16:10: ‘He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.’”

“Sounds like a good one.” Faith grabbed a pen and paper
off the counter. “I think I’ll add a couple of funny quips on one side, and you can put the Bible verse on the other.”

Noah nodded. “We make a good team,
fraa
. I’m sure glad you decided to marry me.”

Faith wrapped her arms around Noah’s neck and kissed his cheek. A few tears slipped under her lashes and splashed onto Noah’s blue cotton shirt. “I thank the Lord for bringing me back here to Webster County. Home is where my heart is. Home is where I belong.”

 R
ECIPE FOR
N
OAH’S
L
EMON
S
PONGE
C
AKE

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold water

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

2 egg yolks, beaten

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs whites, beaten

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together four times. In a separate bowl, add the water and lemon rind to the egg yolks and beat them until they are lemon-colored. Add ¾ cup of sugar a little at a time, beating after each addition. Then add the sifted ingredients, slowly stirring to blend them in. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs whites until they form peaks, then add the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of sugar, beating until they are well blended. Fold this mixture into the rest of the batter, and pour into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Turn pan upside-down with tube over the neck of a funnel or bottle. Cool thoroughly; remove from pan.

W
ANDA
E. B
RUNSTETTER
enjoys writing about the Amish because they live a peaceful, simple life. Wanda’s interest in the Amish and other Plain communities began when she married her husband, Richard, who grew up in a Mennonite church in Pennsylvania. Wanda has made numerous trips to Lancaster County and has several friends and family members living near that area. She and her husband have also traveled to other parts of the country, meeting various Amish families and getting to know them personally. She hopes her readers will learn to love the wonderful Amish people as much as she does.

Wanda and her husband, Richard, have been married forty-four years. They have two grown children and six grandchildren. In her spare time, Wanda enjoys reading, ventriloquism, gardening, stamping, and having fun with her family.

In addition to Wanda’s novels, she has written several novellas, stories, articles, poems, and puppet scripts.