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over by his root beer stand. Why don’t you go on over and try some? Pappy gave your folks a glass for free, and I’m sure he’d give you one, too.”
    Miriam only nodded in reply, but when she left the restroom she turned in the opposite direction, away from the side of the market where the refreshments were sold. The last thing she needed was another meeting with Mary Ellen’s father.
    She didn’t have to go far before she saw a familiar face. Her sister-in-law Crystal was heading toward her, holding hands with her two-year-old twin boys, Jacob and John.
    “Aunt Mimmy,
dummle
—hurry,” Jacob squealed.
    “Aunt Mimmy, dummle,” John echoed.
    Miriam knelt next to her nephews to give them a hug, but the pain in her knee caused her to wince, so she carefully stood up again.
    “Miriam, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Crystal asked with a look of concern.
    “It’s not serious. I fell outside in the parking lot and cut my knee a little. I embarrassed myself some, too.” Miriam made no mention of the brazen young English man who had offered his assistance. Why bring more questions from Crystal?
    Crystal pointed to Miriam’s dress. “You’ve torn your skirt. Let’s go find your mamm. Maybe she has something we can mend it with. Your folks are here with you, aren’t they?”
    “Jah. I was told they’re over at Amos Hilty’s root beer stand.”
    “Let’s go find them,” Crystal suggested. “Maybe after Mom fixes your dress, she’ll watch the twins for me. Then we can go off by ourselves and do some shopping. It will be like old times for us.”
    The idea of some time alone with Crystal did sound kind of nice, but Miriam wasn’t eager to see Amos. She hesitated before answering. “Why don’t you go on? I’ll meet you over by the quilts. I’d like to look at some Karen Freisen has for sale.”
    “That’s fine, but what about your dress?”
    “It can wait until I go home.”
    “Come with us anyway, and I’ll treat you to a nice cold root beer,” Crystal prompted.
    John tugged on Miriam’s dress. “Dummle, Aunt Mimmy.”
    “Dummle, Aunt Mimmy,” echoed Jacob.
    Miriam shrugged. “Oh, all right. I can see that I’m outnumbered. Let’s get ourselves some root beer.”
I
    Amos was busy pouring a glass of frothy root beer for a young English boy when Miriam showed up with Crystal and her twins. He handed the glass to the boy and offered Miriam what he hoped was a friendly smile. “It’s good to see you again. Your folks were here a few minutes ago. You just missed them.”
    “Oh, wouldn’t you know it? I wanted Anna to watch these two for me,” Crystal said, nodding at her boys.
    “Maybe we should try to find them,” Miriam suggested.
    Jacob pulled on his mother’s skirt, and John pointed toward a jug of root beer.
    “Jah, boys, we’ll have some root beer first,” promised their mother.
    Amos lifted the jug that was already open and poured some root beer into four paper cups. He handed the two larger ones to the women and gave the twins smaller servings.
    Frothy foam covered John’s and Jacob’s noses when they simultaneously took a drink. The grown-ups laughed—even Miriam. It was the first time Amos had seen her laugh in a good long while, and it sounded real nice to his ears.
    After the drinks were finished and they’d engaged in some polite conversation, Miriam said they should be on their way. Amos nodded, feeling a sense of regret, and said he hoped to see her again soon and was sorry she had missed Mary Ellen, who had gone to the restroom.
    “I saw her in there,” Miriam said. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”
    Amos shrugged. “If she doesn’t run into someone she knows and gets to gabbing.”
    “That’s the way I was when I was Mary Ellen’s age,”Crystal put in. “My daed said I was the most talkative child in our family.”
    Miriam glanced around with an anxious expression. “Well, as I said before, I really should be on my way.”
    “That’s right,”