Harvest of Blessings (2 page)

Luke halted in his tracks, thunderstruck. With her catlike hazel eyes—
tigress eyes
—and that red hair and stunning body, his new English neighbor could pass for Millie Glick’s twin.

But Millie was sixteen. This gal was
his
age.

And she’d come racing out of the Glick place as though she’d done something she didn’t want to get caught at.

Very interesting. Very,
very
interesting.

Millie Glick grinned as Ira Hooley winked at her from the pew bench directly across from hers. They were serving as side-sitters for Annie Mae and Adam, so only about twelve feet of hardwood floor separated them—as well as Preacher Ben, Bishop Tom, and her grandfather, who’d been conducting the church service.

As the wedding began, the couple rose to repeat their wedding vows. Millie’s heart thumped so hard she barely noticed all the folks crowded into Bishop Tom’s home. Nor did she pay any mind when her grandfather scowled at her from the preachers’ bench. Of
course
Preacher Gabe Glick was frowning at her for flirting with Ira—that’s all he knew how to do, it seemed. But this wedding was such a welcome morning away from caring for her grandmother, Millie didn’t care.

Soon she’d have to return to that stifling house—unless she dared to accept the invitation to adventure that sparkled in Ira’s eyes. She’d catch a lecture when she got back, but so what? The monotony of caring for a grandmother who drifted farther away with each passing day made Millie almost welcome her grandfather’s tirade. It was a sign he was still breathing.

“Adam and Annie Mae, as ya repeat your marriage vows,” Bishop Tom was saying, “you’re not to forget, in the intense love ya share for each other at this moment, that the promises ya make today bind ya together as man and wife
forever
. Other than the vows ya made when ya joined the church last month, these promises are the most important words you’ll say in your entire lives.”

Despite the bishop’s solemn warning, Annie Mae’s face radiated a joy Millie envied. As best friends, they’d shared many exhilarating, life-altering moments, but their relationship wouldn’t be the same now that Annie Mae was marrying Adam. Millie sighed. Her circle of girlfriends was shrinking, and living with her grandparents hadn’t exactly improved her social life.
Rumspringa
was feeling like a huge letdown.

Ira blew her a kiss and Millie choked on a laugh. When Preacher Ben and her grandfather glanced her way, she gazed demurely at her lap. Oh, but she was going to catch it after the wedding let out. She forced herself to listen to the same questions and answers Old Order brides and grooms had exchanged for centuries.

Will
you
ever get the chance to marry ? Will Ira keep comin’ around, or will he lose interest while ya live under an old preacher’s watchful eye? He’s twenty-nine. Handsome. Plenty of other gals would jump into his buggy without bein’ asked twice.

Millie stole another glance at Ira. His mop of rich brown hair glimmered in the sunlight that poured through the windows, and he looked very much like a groom in his black trousers and white shirt. But would he ever settle down? Ira’s aversion to joining the church was no secret, so maybe he and his older brother Luke would remain bachelors together in their apartment above the gristmill. Or maybe they’d jump the fence and live English, despite the way their older brother, Preacher Ben, kept after them to commit to the Plain faith.

Millie’s morose thoughts vanished the moment Bishop Tom gave the benediction. As everyone stood up, Ira strode over to grab her hand.

“Let’s sign the marriage certificate and make ourselves scarce,” he murmured. “I can think of better ways to spend this summer day than hangin’ around with all these folks watchin’ us.”

Millie’s eyes widened as he bussed her cheek. “What about the dinner? We can’t leave our places beside Annie Mae and Adam empty, or people will—”

“
Can’t
we?”

As Ira gazed playfully into her eyes, Millie’s heart danced. He
did
want to spend time with her, private time like they hadn’t enjoyed for weeks! Yet the idea of skipping Annie Mae’s wedding feast seemed like a betrayal—not to mention a missed opportunity to eat a delicious meal she didn’t have to cook.

“Can we eat and
then
leave?” she pleaded. “I’m starved half out of my mind.”

Ira’s sigh sounded impatient. He led her through the crowd that had gathered around Adam and Annie Mae, to the small table where the certificate awaited them. Bishop Tom was signing it. He smiled as he handed Ira the pen.

“Well, it’s another happy day in Willow Ridge,” he remarked. “It means Annie Mae’s younger brothers and sisters have a stable home with a man in their lives. And another fine young couple’s stayin’ here in town to make our district stronger.”

Ira pressed his lips together, considering his reply. “Adam’s a better man than I am, takin’ on four little kids and a sixteen-year-old sister-in-law.” He signed his name with a flourish and then handed the pen to Millie. “Let’s hope this’ll keep Hiram in Higher Ground and out of our hair.”

Millie winced at Ira’s choice of words. Poor Annie Mae had suffered the ultimate humiliation when her father had whacked off her long, braided hair last spring. Although the excommunicated bishop of Willow Ridge had started a new colony—under dubious circumstances—no one really believed that Hiram Knepp would mind his own business, even if he had a new home and a new woman.

“We don’t know who’s bought his house,” she remarked. “Let’s hope it’s not somebody who got the place because of some sort of crooked connection to Hiram.”

“Let’s think positive,” Bishop Tom insisted. “All our speculatin’ won’t change God’s will for us, so I’m for sittin’ down to a feast with our families and friends.”

“And did ya make ice cream to go with the wedding cake, Bishop?” Ira asked. “
That’s
a treat worth lookin’ forward to.”

Millie chuckled at the way Ira had changed the subject—but Bishop Tom did make the best ice cream ever. “And Miriam baked the wedding cake, so we know there’ll be none better.”

“Ya got that right,” Tom agreed. “While a white cake’s not my favorite, Miriam bakes it up moister than anybody else. It’ll be perfect with the peppermint stick and chocolate ice cream I made. I’ll see ya there.”

As the bishop went over to greet other folks, Millie elbowed Ira. “See? We don’t want to miss the meal—”

“But the cake and ice cream won’t be served until suppertime,” Ira reminded her. “If we hang around that long, we’ll miss out on a
sweeter
way to spend the afternoon, ain’t so?”

Millie smiled. “So we can have the kind of sweets you’re talkin’ about after dinner, and then come back later for cake and ice cream? Like havin’ our cake and eatin’ it, too,
jah
?”

When Ira laughed, Millie’s heart danced to the music in his voice. This day was shaping up to be one of the best she’d had in a long time, and she was determined to enjoy every moment of it.

 

 

“And where do you think
you’re
going, Millie? Your grandmother’s home alone and she’ll be needing a bite to eat by now.”

At the sound of her
dat
’s voice, Millie bit back a retort. She waved Ira ahead to hitch the horse to his buggy. They’d eaten their wedding dinner quickly and then mingled with folks while they’d inched toward the back door, but her watchful father had caught them. It wouldn’t be a good idea to smart off, so Millie worded her request carefully.

“Dat, would ya mind too much takin’ a plate over?
Please?
” she asked. “It’s been
weeks
since I’ve gotten out to—”

“If you want to be treated like an adult, you’ve got to put your responsibilities to others first, young lady.” Her father’s hazel eyes hardened like marbles. “When you agreed to take care of your grandmother—”

“I had no choice!” Millie blurted, even though it was the wrong thing to say to this man who constantly reminded her of her duty.

“Life doesn’t usually let us
choose
,” her father replied stiffly. “We must learn to bear our burdens, and the burdens of others—”

“And besides,” Millie continued in a rush, “Mammi would be glad to see somebody besides
me
. She’s been askin’ where you and Mamm have been keepin’ yourselves, and—”

“That’ll be enough of your sass.” Dat’s face was getting nearly as red as his hair. “You
know
I don’t approve of you seeing Ira, because he’s nearly twice your age. Now fix your grandmother a plate and—”

“Miriam’s packed your parents enough food to last several days,” Millie’s mother interrupted as she joined them. As she shifted year-old Ella on her hip, she pointed to a cardboard box on the table where women were cutting pies. “I told her I’d take it over while it was still warm. But I’d be glad to let you carry it, Atlee.”

“That’s not the point,” Dat stated in a rising voice. “If you keep covering for Millie every time she falls short, and condoning the company she keeps—”

“Why is it such a chore for you to visit your mother? She’s only a block away—and she always perks up when she sees Ella.” Mamm flashed Millie a tense smile. “Go have your fun, honey-bug. I know you’ll be back to get your grandparents ready for bed.”

Millie didn’t wait to be told twice. “
Denki
so much, Mamm. Mammi’s been sleepin’ a lot lately, so don’t be surprised if she won’t eat much. Bye, honey-bun,” she added as she kissed her baby sister’s chubby cheek.

As Millie scurried away from the wedding crowd, she tamped down her rising distress. Was it her imagination, or was Dat’s fuse getting shorter? Or was
she,
being a teenager, to blame for his moods? She hoped her mother wouldn’t catch a lecture from Dat—and that she wouldn’t have to load the heavy box into the rig by herself. Millie paused in the yard. Maybe she should offer to deliver that food.

But Ira’s wave made Millie jog faster, until she was springing up into the rig beside him. “Sorry,” she murmured.

Ira clapped the lines lightly across his horse’s back. “Hope your
dat
didn’t give ya too much grief,” he said. “I figured I’d best get out of the way, or I’d only provoke him.”

It occurred to Millie that a different sort of man might’ve stuck around to help her, but she’d known all along that Ira Hooley was only out for a good time. “It’s behind us now. Mamm sidetracked him.”

“Is it just me he doesn’t like? Or does he have a burr up his butt, in general?”

Ira’s imagery made Millie laugh, although he’d hit upon a subject that wasn’t funny. As the
clip-clop, clip-clop
of the horse’s hooves took them away from Willow Ridge, she relaxed into the arm he’d slung around her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “He must’ve had his reasons for buildin’ his house practically in the Morning Star district—away from the rest of the family—back when he married Mamm. I suppose it’s closer to the sale barn he runs with Zeb Schrock—”

“And far enough from his folks’ place to keep the peace,” Ira remarked. “Can’t say I’d like havin’ a preacher for a dat.”

“
Jah
, the way I understand it, Preacher Gabe was none too happy when Dat partnered with Mennonites to become an auctioneer. But that’s history,” Millie said with a lift in her voice. She smiled at Ira, hoping to change the topic of conversation.

Ira kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s that redhead thing,” he teased. “You and your
dat
are too much alike, both of ya wantin’ to have your way. It’s a fight you’ll never win, Millie, goin’ up against an Amishman. They’ve got to be
right
, ya know.”

Millie looked away. She didn’t need to be reminded that Atlee Glick, as the head of the household, did indeed have the upper hand. And what did it say about Ira, that he spoke of Amishmen as though they were a breed apart . . . as though he didn’t consider himself one of them?

“So why’re we talkin’ about my
dat
?” she muttered. It wouldn’t do to let Ira know she was upset, so she started a different topic. “Couldn’t help but notice your brother wasn’t at the wedding.”

Ira let out a grunt. “Luke wasn’t wild about watchin’ his old girlfriend get hitched. They had a tiff when Annie Mae wanted some things out of the Knepp house a while back, so he wrote her off.”

Millie rolled her eyes. Annie Mae had told her, in no uncertain terms, that
she
had been the one to end that relationship. Millie was glad her best friend had found a much better man than Luke Hooley to hook up with. Even knowing that Hiram Knepp would probably use his youngest kids as an excuse to cause more trouble, Adam Wagler had willingly taken in the four children, not yet in school, as well as Nellie, who’d just graduated from eighth grade. Adam was head-over-heels for Annie Mae.

Once again Millie felt a rush of yearning, wondering if such a wonderful fellow would ever court her. How long would she have to live in her grandparents’ home, hidden away from potential boyfriends as her
rumspringa
passed her by?

A few moments later they were rolling past Millie’s house, where the treetops swayed gently in the breeze and the porch swing rocked as though someone invisible sat in it. It wasn’t a large house by Amish standards, but there’d been no need to add on to it after she’d been born because nearly fourteen years had passed before baby Ella came along a couple of years ago.

Millie blinked. For a moment, she’d been looking at her home with a sense of utter detachment, as though she’d never been inside it. She’d lived in this place on the far edge of Willow Ridge forever, yet the windows gazed back at her like empty eyes, devoid of feeling.

“Ya got quiet on me,” Ira remarked. “Need to go inside for anything? Or for a little smoochin’?”

“
No
, let’s—well—” Millie flushed, wondering how to give him the answer he wanted. She craved the kisses Ira was hinting at, yet the scrap she’d had with Dat had set her on edge. “Who knows when my parents might come home? They weren’t exactly enjoying the wedding celebration when I left.”