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Flaud do a few days ago.”
    â€œYou don’t know how blessed you are to have her just a few steps away.” Martie felt she ought to say it. “I miss seein’ Mammi as often as when I was still next door.”
    â€œYou’re busy with your boys, though. So I’m sure she understands. Things change when you get married and start your family.” Suddenly Lucy looked glum.
    â€œYou all right?” Martie paused from washing the pint jars in the sink.
    â€œJust thinkin’, is all.”
    Lucy turned back to the gas range to stir the cooking apples. “Do ya need anything at market?”
    â€œ Denki, I did my shopping already.”
    â€œYou’re schmaert to buy store-boughten items way ahead. Learned that from Mamm, no doubt.”
    Martie listened, curious as to what was really going through Lucy’s mind. This sister had always been a riddle and a half, funny and smart and thoughtful, yet sometimes so troubled. And for good reason, she thought. And yet, so much could have been avoided if Lucy had ignored her heart and done the right thing. Jah, Lucy was one of a kind in the Flaud family, with her constant activity, which annoyed Lettie and Faye to no end. But Martie guessed the twins still knew little about Lucy’s deeds that terrible year, other than that she’d dated an outsider.
    They never knew she was engaged and planning a fancy wedding. . . .
    â€œWhen have ya seen our brothers last?” Martie asked as she stood the sterilized canning jars on end on the drain board.
    Lucy turned quickly. “Not sure.” She smiled faintly. “Does Preachin’ count?”
    Martie overlooked that, tempted to say something about Lucy’s busy life, but held her peace.
    â€œHere, let me dry off the pints,” Lucy offered as the boys behind them began to giggle.
    Martie went over to them at the table, hoping to see some block building, but what she saw made her join in the amusement. Jesse had several blocks balanced on top of his truck like miniature cargo. “You think that little truck can hold all those blocks, do ya?”
    Jesse giggled again as Josh tried to knock them off the bed of the pickup, and Martie just let them be.
    Later, when the apples were soft, Lucy helped Martie press them through a sieve and discard the skins, returning the pulp to a pan and adding sugar.
    When they were finished with the sauce and Martie was cleaning up, she glanced at Lucy, who was staring out the window with the oddest expression. She looked lost, even pained.
    â€œ Ach , what is it?” asked Martie.
    â€œI enjoy our times together so much,” Lucy said simply before turning back to her work.
    It gave Martie pause. After all this time, she’s still suffering.

Chapter 5

    T HAT AFTERNOON L UCY SET OUT walking toward the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market, past Hannah’s Quilts and Crafts at the corner of Witmer Road and the Old Philadelphia Pike. She was careful not to lose her balance on the visibly deep ruts in the road caused by horses’ hooves. The weather had turned warmer than in recent days, so much so that Lucy actually considered walking all the way, but when Danny and Rose Anna Yoder, a young couple from her church district, waved her down and offered a ride, Lucy gladly hopped aboard.
    She noticed the seat had been newly upholstered and wondered how long it would be before Dat might have theirs redone. Mamm had been making enough hints here lately to get Dat’s attention, especially after one of the little grandsons had wiggled his finger into a small hole where the fabric had been accidentally cut, making the opening bigger.
    â€œAin’t surprised to see you out and about,” Danny Yoder remarked, angling forward to look her way.
    Lucy smiled. “I’m runnin’ errands for Mamm.”
    â€œOff to market?” Danny asked, already wearing his black felt hat, which surprised her because it wasn’t