Read Last Bride, The (Home to Hickory Hollow Book #5) for Free Online

brown hair blowing in the breeze, a straw hat on the front seat beside him. “Ain’t the Lord’s Day, is it?” he teased.
    She couldn’t help but laugh, though she hoped he wouldn’t ask more questions.
    By now the two boys with him were waving and grinning, as well. And young Joey pushed his little hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a small black coin purse. “I’ve got my money from shelling peas,” the darling boy said, blue eyes blinking as he looked down at her, jingling his coins.
    “ Gut for you!” Tessie said, unable to keep from smiling.
    “Mamma gave us five cents a cup this summer.”
    “You saved it all this time?”
    Levi spoke up. “This one’s a penny pincher, let me tell ya. Schpaarsam —frugal.” He reached up and tousled Joey’s twin’s hair. “Ain’t so, Jake?”
    Both boys chuckled.
    “Well, have yourself a wunnerbaar-gut mornin’,” Levi said, a twinkle in his hazel eyes.
    “Denki, and you, too.”
    Levi nodded and urged the horse onward.
    For pity’s sake, she thought, wondering how many more folks she’d encounter. Still, she had to smile at Levi’s comical reaction to her nice dress and apron. He had always been one of the more amiable, easygoing young men at the Singings and other youth gatherings, yet work always found its way to his door—both attributes must have attracted Tessie’s father’s enthusiasm. Even so, Tessie didn’t have an iota of regret about not letting Levi date her back when, though she had felt a bit sorry for him when she’d heard months ago that he was no longer courting Preacher Yoder’s vivacious granddaughter.
    The Lord will surely bring someone along for him. Without Dat’ s help!
    Tessie hastened her steps, lest Marcus wonder if she was dawdling, having second thoughts.

    As they walked up the courthouse steps in West Chester, Tessie looked at Marcus for reassurance and welcomed his confident gaze. We’re actually doing this— we’re going to be married!
    Pleased though she was, it was impossible later for her not to compare this so-called ceremony to the Amish wedding shewas sacrificing. Nor could she stop thinking about the worry her parents and sisters would experience once the truth about this moment was known. They’ll come around, she thought.
    Providentially, they’d met another couple, Englischers at least several years older than Marcus and Tessie, who also needed witnesses to fulfill the legal requirement for the union. So they agreed to take turns with them, and presently this affectionate couple stood back behind a roped-off area as witnesses for her and Marcus while she and her soon-to-be husband sat with their right hands in the air and their left hands resting on Marcus’s Bible, vowing that the information on the marriage license was indeed correct.
    Marcus smiled endearingly at her, and she smiled back. Yet it wasn’t until they were declared husband and wife and the appropriate papers were signed that Tessie began to feel somewhat relieved. All they lacked was the final prayer, which Marcus would surely offer later, after they left the courthouse. The tension concerning what she’d done without her parents’ permission began to diminish, as well. She was thankful for the familiar sense of security she always felt with Marcus, who had attended to every detail. She wondered how he’d managed to line up the appointment with the judge, for instance, but it wasn’t her place to ask. Nor to question.
    The fact was, they were wed now in accordance with the law of the land. Yet what about the Lord God’s approval? Oh, she so longed for that, too. Had Marcus been right that this was the answer to his many prayers?
    They took time to politely thank the other newly married couple before heading outside to wait for the Mennonite van driver. “I love my beautiful bride,” Marcus whispered in herear once they were sitting behind the somewhat inquisitive driver who would drive them to the restaurant where Marcus