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missing sent a chill down her spine. “B-but where could Rachel be? Did you talk with Mae and Ernest?”
    â€œYour dat did last evening.” Mamm looked pale, as well, as if she hadn’t slept. “It is mighty strange for Rachel to behave so. Your dat…Daniel is beside himself. He’s thinking he should drive to town and check at the hospital in case she had more problems with the baby. But I can’t imagine her not telling nobody, ja ? Just going off for help that way. Without her mamm knowing.”
    Ephraim patted his daughter’s arm. “The good Lord is watching over her.”
    Hannah trembled all over, shaken by the news, frightened by what it could mean. “Does Levi know?”
    â€œI expect your dat is telling him now,” her grandfather said, his voice somber and calm, the direct opposite of how Hannah now felt.
    She glanced over her shoulder at the path she had taken from the barn. The fields beyond were green, the corn stalks rippling in the breeze, and her gaze slid toward the springhouse. It held so many memories from the past year, when she had housed Akiva until she’d realized his deception. The memory burrowed deep inside her now and made her heart pulse with uncertainty.
    Could Akiva have returned? Could he have taken Rachel? Or…could he have done something similar to what he’d done to Josef? Those eyes had looked on her with vile hatred and burned in her memory. Her heart stopped as she imagined her sister…her dear sister. She’d hoped and prayed Akiva had gone away for good, but the truth was she’d always worried he’d return. But if so, why now? Why Rachel?
    It didn’t make any sense, and so she pushed the disconcerting thoughts aside. Most likely Rachel was having some difficulty with her pregnancy. She’d probably taken the buggy to town to see the doctor, who those in her district often sought when something besides home remedies were needed. Because of the problems Rachel had experienced early on the night her husband had died, she probably hadn’t taken any chances. She wouldn’t have wanted to worry Mamm either. But maybe the doctor had seen fit to place Rachel in the hospital. Maybe there hadn’t been time to drive all the way out to the farm and tell the family.
    Hannah took a deep breath and walked up the porch steps, clinging to the railing to steady herself, and offered her mother a comforting hug. Levi would know what to do. His calm demeanor would soothe all of them. “It will be all right, I reckon, Mamm. We should pray Rachel is feeling better and not experiencing…”
    But her voice trailed off at the thunk of the barn door. Levi rushed through the doorway, Toby trotting alongside him, barking and leaping. Levi pointed toward the barn and ordered the yellow lab back inside, his tone stern. Then his gaze sought hers, and an electrical spark shot through Hannah. She often experienced a similar feeling at her husband’s glance, but this time it was different. Her breath caught in her chest. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
    Levi, his movements strong and sure, his head bent with determination, rushed through the chore of hitching the horse, and Pete seemed to sense the urgency and stamped his hoof. Then Levi climbed onto the bench and grabbed the reins, turning the buggy around and driving straight toward the house.
    He pulled back on the reins as he approached the porch. Morning sunlight glinted on his burnished blond hair, but his blue eyes pierced her. She’d seen the many different shades of his eyes, the pale tenderness when he held her, the darkening of passion as he leaned in to kiss her, the light of humor as his mouth curved with a smile. Now, the flat planes of his cheeks compressed, and his lips thinned with tension. “I’m heading over to the Troyers’. Will you join me, Hannah?”
    She glanced at her mother, not wanting her to be alone. But then, her