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the rest of them act as generously? She had no idea.
    She glanced at Samuel, his big hands steady on the lines, and looked away as quickly. It seemed that as Joseph’s partner and Myra’s brother, Samuel was automatically included in family events. She’d feel a bit less stressed about this meeting if he weren’t there looking on.
    Or maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe there was nothing that would lower her tension except getting this over with.
    She cradled Gracie in her arms. The baby had been lulled to sleep by the movement of the buggy within minutes of starting the trip.
    Samuel tilted his head to smile at Gracie. “Sarah always used to fall asleep like that in the buggy. I guess little ones like the rocking.”
    “I just hope Gracie doesn’t wake up cross. She has a lot of relatives to meet. I want her to make a good impression.” She touched a small, relaxed hand with her fingertip.
    “Cranky? Myra says she’s the best behaved boppli she’s seen, including her own.”
    So he and Myra had been talking about Gracie, and, by extension, about her probably. Her cheeks warmed. She’d better get used to that. Her return would be the source of plenty of gossip in the valley, just as her leaving had been.
    Then she’d just gone away, slamming the door on Pleasant Valley and its opinions. Now she had to find a way to bear the results of her actions.
    “You should have been around when she was teething.” It took an effort to sound relaxed. “We were both up most of the night, and me struggling to stay awake at work the next day.”
    “You had a hard time of it.” He said it matter-of-factly, but she thought she caught an undertone of pity in his deep voice.
    She shrugged, the sense of his pity making her want to squirm. But she wouldn’t let him know that. “Not worse than a lot of other people, I guess.”
    She’d made her choices. She would live with the consequences.
    The buggy slowed as Samuel followed Joseph into the lane at the farm. Now memories crowded in upon her, whispering relentlessly in her ear. There was the apple tree and the little seat hanging from a low branch that Daadi had fixed for her. Levi and Barbara’s children probably used it these days.
    Her gaze went to the window of her bedroom on the second floor of the neat white farmhouse. Who slept there now?
    She’d been lucky, her brothers had always said, getting a room of her own. But Mamm had declared that with ten years between her and Leah, they shouldn’t have to share.
    Her stomach tightened even more at the thought of her sister. What was Leah thinking about her return? Anna hadn’t been kind to her that last summer, yet Leah had been the only one who’d seemed to understand. Even when Anna lay in the hospital, to blame for the accident that had put her there, Leah had been by her side.
    Anna cleared her throat. “How are they—What is everyone saying about my coming back, do you know?”
    Samuel’s broad shoulders moved slightly, as if he started to shrug but thought better of it. “There hasn’t been much time for me to hear anything, now has there?”
    “That sounds pretty evasive. You may as well tell me, whatever it is.”
    “Your brother Mahlon’s eager to see you,” he offered, as if that might make up for something. “You know he and Esther Miller married, don’t you?”
    “Ja.” Thanks to Myra, she did. That had happened after she’d lost touch with Leah.
    Not lost touch . The voice of her conscience was stern. You broke off contact, because you didn’t want to tell her what was going on in your life. Be honest with yourself, at least.
    “What about Levi?”
    Her oldest brother had taken over the farm when it got to be too much for Daadi after Mamm’s first bout with cancer. Levi was close to Daad—would that make his attitude toward her better or worse?
    Now Samuel did shrug. “I haven’t talked to him. No point crossing bridges before you get to them, is there?”
    “This bridge is only a few feet