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his stomach responded. What time was it?
    Thad sat up on the side of the bed and stretched some more. He left his room and headed for the kitchen. Maybe his socks didn’t smell as ripe as he thought they did.
    Mammi would probably smile and shake her head. Mammi , the one who never seemed to mind when he pestered her to let him help in the kitchen when he was small. He didn’t know if she’d be ashamed of his chosen profession. She likely knew about it, if his parents had told her.
    He hadn’t been baptized into the Order, but he’d also never been back.
    Thad entered the snug kitchen to find his mammi at the stove in front of a pan of something frying.
    “ Mammi , I’ve slept too long. What time is it?”
    “A little after five.” She smiled at him. “You were tired.”
    He nodded.
    “So, what brings you to my doorstep?”
    “I, uh . . .” He didn’t want to lie, but didn’t want to tell her the truth. He thought of the simplest explanation. “I need somewhere to stay, for a little while, if you have room for me. I can help out.”
    “You’re not in trouble with the law, are you?” Her expression narrowed for a millisecond, then she turned to pull the fillets from the hot oil.
    “No, no. I’m not in trouble with the law.” As far as he knew, the authorities didn’t suspect him of any wrongdoing, although he couldn’t say the same for anyone at Dish and Spoon.
    He waited for several long, drawn-out seconds for her response.
    “Well, you can stay. You’d do well to see about getting a job.”
    “I plan on it. My job in Ohio—well, the restaurant closed.” That was true enough. “I did bring some cash with me. If you need errands run, or a hand with the lawn, I can help.”
    She nodded. “I’m busy, Thaddeus. There’s much going on here in the village, and I’ll only get busier once the snowbirds begin arriving. I do have a neighbor to help with the lawn, though.”
    “Do you still have your job at Yoder’s?”
    “One day a week. I want to keep working for as long as I can.”
    “ Gut, gut .” He’d switched to Dietsch , the sound like foreign musical notes to his ears, words he’d thought long forgotten, now spilled from his tongue.
    “You remember your speech?” She stepped over to the cabinet for some plates, but not before he saw moisture in her eyes.
    “Yes, Mammi , I do remember.”
    “Do you remember Gotte , and your Ordnung ?”
    Thad swallowed hard. “I don’t remember in the same way I do the language.” He bit back more words. The constricting rules, the no questions asked, the all-knowing, all-powerful deity who must be appeased, the never knowing if he was good enough for anyone in the district, let alone Gotte.
    He’d reached a point long ago, where he didn’t care to know. Life was much easier and his way seemed to work well for the rest of the world he immersed himself in. Still, the sense of right, wrong, of looking over his shoulder never left.
    “No smoking in this haus , no alcoholic beverages. A very few number of Plain people might imbibe, but not me.”
    “Yes, Mammi .” He’d quit the cigarettes cold turkey a few months ago after he threw his back out and the doctor had given him a good lecture. And, the smokes were expensive. No drinking in the house didn’t bother him, either.
    “I would prefer if you went to services at a good local church.”
    “Prefer?”
    “I cannot supervise your conscience while I listen to my own, but you need to be in fellowship.”
    Fellowship. Sunday had long been his sleeping-in day, when he wasn’t at the restaurant before dawn, working on pastries and baking.
    “To be honest, I can’t promise I’ll go to church. But, I’ll think about it.”
    “Well, thank you for being honest.” She dished up spoonfuls of steamed vegetables, some onto each plate.
    He grabbed the chance to change the subject. “You steamed these?”
    “Yes, it’s healthier. I bought these fresh yesterday at the market.”
    “I saw the