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mother was right. But really, this stranger was going down roads she didn’t want to travel. And he was taking her with him.
    That didn’t change things. And Mamm’s expression promised Becky an earful along with a tongue-lashing if she didn’t answer, and quickly. Becky acquiesced, with only the briefest of glances at Jacob. “I haven’t been to a singing for a long time. I’m sure they’ll be having them. I can find out tomorrow.” Since tomorrow would be a non-church Sunday, they would visit family around the area. Even if no one asked Becky to join the singing, she knew they would ask Jacob.
    He was, as the Englisch girls say, hot.
    Becky’s face heated just thinking that word.
    But she wasn’t blind. Just—unwanted.
    Poison.
    ***
    Last night’s letter to sweet Susie lay crumpled in Jacob’s back pocket. He needed to run it to the mailbox right quick. After all, she needed to know his address. And he wanted to beg her to give up her music so they could be together. Not that the music would stop Jacob. But it would make a difference whether Daed accepted her. Whether they would wed with his blessing, or with Jacob ending up being shunned. Besides, there was the rather large issue of the Ordnung not allowing instruments. And he didn’t want to leave the Amish church. Though he would, for Susie.
    A wave of homesickness hit. He yearned for the scent of apple blossoms, though it would be early for that, as he worked with his brothers and Daed in the apple orchard. Yearned to enjoy the same orchard later that night as he strolled with Susie. He needed to get home, sooner rather than later.
    At the end of the meal, Jacob and Daniel each had a second cup of coffee and another serving of blueberry cobbler. While they ate, Jacob watched Becky move alongside her sisters as they made quick work of the dishes. Comparing her with Susie. He studied the brightness of her blonde hair under her white kapp and the sway of her reddish-colored skirt as she moved around. The trimness of her ankles when her skirt shifted enough for them to come into view. The curve of her neck.
    The two women were so different.
    After she finished, she grabbed a coat from the closet and pulled it on, then lifted her boppli out of the cradle, wrapped her in a thick pink blanket, and placed her into a sling. “I’m going over to Annie’s now.”
    Already started on her baking, her mother raised a hand in acknowledgment.
    “Ready to get to work, Jacob?” Daniel pushed his chair back with a smirk. Unsaid but implied was, “Since you won’t have anything to watch in here.”
    Jacob shot Daniel a look that his daed would have considered disrespectful, and his face warmed as he stood. “Jah. Let me run this out to the mailbox first.” He pulled the letter from his pocket. But whether he needed to remind Daniel or himself that he had a girlfriend, he couldn’t have said.
    Jacob bolted out the door after Becky, leaving Daniel and his frau to come to whatever conclusion they would.
    “Bex! Wait up.”
    He slipped a little on the ice as he scampered after her, catching up halfway down the driveway. She had turned with eyebrows raised, shifted the sling holding the boppli, and watched him approach.
    “I need to mail a letter.”
    One eyebrow quirked higher. “The mailbox is right there.” She pointed toward the black box not even a hundred feet away.
    “Jah. Danki.” Even without looking, Jacob knew where it sat.
    She turned to go, but he grabbed her elbow, stopping her. He didn’t let go, even when unexpected sparks shot up his arm.
    Becky jerked her head up to stare at Jacob, her eyes wide. She pulled back enough to dislodge his hand. “What?” Her voice sounded strangled.
    “Why’d you quit going to the singings?” Ach, talk about blunt. Jacob hadn’t meant to ask so plainly. But there it was. Laid out in the open.
    She stared at him, his shock mirrored on her expression. She just stood there, not answering. But he could read the