“You an’ Susie have been in my prayers,” Ella Mae said, dressed today in a dark green dress and black cape and apron. She led her into the cheery kitchen, where Britta was told to sit wherever she liked at the small table laid with placemats in fall colors and a small pumpkin centerpiece.

“You’ve been prayin’ for us since Mamma left?” Britta asked, admiring the lovely setting and Ella Mae’s special way of making her feel at home.

Ella Mae nodded. “An’ for your Mamma, too.”

“You two have been friends for a long time, ain’t so?” Britta asked.

“For all of your Mamma’s adult life.” Ella Mae’s eyes squinted nearly shut with her big smile. “We’ve shared life’s ups an’ downs, for certain.”

Britta rubbed her forehead, thinking this might be her lead-in to reveal what was burning a hole in her heart. Hesitating, she inhaled deeply, then let it out. “I’ve been, uh, thinking ’bout that recently.”

Ella Mae smiled. “Life’s ups an’ downs?”

“S’pose ya might say that.”

“Well, I’m here to listen,” Ella Mae said, pouring tea into their cups.

Britta sat quietly with her hands in her lap while the dear woman brought over a plate of buttered toast and a little glass bowl of strawberry jam. Britta’s mouth watered at the sight, and when Ella Mae asked the silent blessing, Britta quickly bowed her head.

Afterward, she settled into enjoying the tasty treat, delighted she’d come.

It may have been the calming effect of the peppermint tea or the sweetness of the jam, but she began to feel so comfortable with Ella Mae that she asked, “Would ya happen to know how I became my Mamma’s adopted daughter?”

Ella Mae smiled brightly. “Well now, I’ll always remember the day you arrived. The young woman who birthed ya needed help . . . wasn’t able to take care of ya for a while. Your Mamma offered to keep you till the woman could get on her feet.”

Britta let this sink into her mind. “Was it because she wasn’t married?”

Eyes fluttering, Ella Mae looked surprised. “You know somethin’ ’bout her, then?”

Britta shared what she’d learned from Susie.

“Seems you’ve been seekin’ some answers for yourself, dearie.”

Pausing for a moment, Britta finally admitted, “I’ve wondered nearly my whole life ’bout my birth Mamma. Guess it started ’cause my name ain’t one any Amish family would give their child . . . and it’s honestly bothered me a whole lot.”

“Well, it’s sure a perty name.”

At her thoughtfulness, Britta gave a little smile. “And when I first brought this up to Mamma—I was thirteen at the time—she said she planned to tell me about it when I was of age.”

Ella Mae’s kindhearted gaze seemed to indicate she agreed with that line of thinking. “Might be wise.”