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because she’d been infatuated with him and the idea of being his wife, so much so that she had convinced herself while they were courting to ignore how rough and demanding he had been with her when she’d caught the odor of beer on his breath. She’d accepted his excuses and his reassurances it wouldn’t happen again...even when it had. She’d been blinded by love. How much better would it be to marry with her eyes wide open? No surprises and a husband whom she counted among her friends.
    A pulse of excitement rushed up through her. She could escape, at last, from this farm, which had become a prison of pain and grief and second-guessing herself while she spun lies to protect the very person who had hurt her. She’d be a fool not to agree immediately.
    Once she would have asked for time to pray about her decision, but she’d stopped reaching out to God when He hadn’t delivered her from Lloyd’s abuse. She believed in Him, and she trusted God to take care of the great issues of the world. Those kept Him so busy He didn’t have time for small problems like hers.
    â€œAll right,” she said. “I will marry you.”
    â€œReally?” He appeared shocked, as if he hadn’t thought she’d agree quickly.
    â€œJa.” She didn’t add anything more, because there wasn’t anything more to say. They would be wed, for better and for worse. And she was sure the worse couldn’t be as bad as her marriage to Lloyd.

Chapter Three
    R ebekah straightened her son’s shirt. Even though Sammy was almost three, she continued to make his shirts with snaps at the bottom like a boppli’ s gown. They kept his shirt from popping out the back of his pants and flapping behind him.
    â€œIt’s time to go downstairs,” she said to him as she glanced at her mamm , who sat on the bed in the room that once had been Rebekah and Lloyd’s. “ Grossmammi can’t wait to have you sit with her.”
    â€œSit with Mamm .” His lower lip stuck out in a pout.
    â€œBut I have cookies.” Almina Mast smiled at her grandson. She was a tiny woman, and her hair was the same white as her kapp . With a kind heart and a generous spirit, she and her husband Uriah had hoped for more kinder , but Rebekah had been their only one. The love they had heaped on her now was offered to Sammy.
    â€œCookies? Ja, ja! ” He danced about to his tuneless song.
    Mamm put a finger to her lips. “Quiet boys get cookies.”
    Sammy stilled, and Rebekah almost smiled at his antics. If she’d smiled, it would have been the first time since Joshua had asked her to marry three weeks ago. Since then the time had sped past like the landscape outside the window when she rode in an Englischer’ s van last week while they’d gone to Lancaster to get their marriage license. Otherwise she hadn’t seen him. She understood he was busy repairing equipment damaged during last year’s harvest.
    â€œBlessings on you, Rebekah.” Mamm kissed her cheek. “May God bless you and bring you even more happiness with your second husband than he did with your first.”
    Rebekah stiffened. Did Mamm know the truth of how Lloyd had treated her? No, Mamm simply was wishing her a happy marriage.
    A shiver ached along her stiff shoulders. Nobody knew what had happened in the house she’d shared with Lloyd. And she had no idea what life was like in Joshua Stoltzfus’s home. His wife had always been cheerful when they’d been together, but so had Rebekah. Joshua showed affection for his wife and his kinder ...as Lloyd had when he was sober.
    She’d chosen the wrong man to marry once. What if she was making the same mistake? How well did she know Joshua Stoltzfus? At least she and Lloyd had courted for a while. She was walking into this marriage blind. Actually she was entering into it with her eyes wide open. She was familiar with the dark side of what