After a time, she eased back onto the pillow, her heart still pounding as she took deep breaths and tried to calm herself so she could return to sleep. But sleep was far from her now.

Hours later, all wrung out, Susie stood in her room, staring at the farmland calendar and at today’s date, March twenty-sixth. One month till the anniversary of Eli’s passing, she thought, brushing away a tear. “I miss ya so,” she murmured. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you, Bruder.”

She often wondered how different her life might have been if Eli—and Dat, too—were still alive. Yet there was no sense in pondering that right now. Lest her sadness get the best of her, she began to brush her hair and make a fresh bun for market day with Mamma and Britta. It wouldn’t be good for her to have puffy red eyes, so she tried to dismiss the nightmare and set her mind on positive things, like the wonderful years she’d had with Eli—very special ones, indeed.

One summer getaway came to mind, their family trip to Cape May, New Jersey, where Dat had rented a small cottage by the sea for a full week. Oh, the sight of the morning mist rising off the waves, and six-year-old Eli standing on the beach beside her, carrying his plastic spade and bucket. “I wanna live here!” he’d declared. And off he had gone to find the perfect spot to dig and build another sandy structure.

Susie smiled at the memory as she finished dressing for the day.

After breakfast, she rode with Mamma and Britta to the local market with Rachelle Good, a young woman driver who had recently met Mamma while purchasing goat cheese from the shop. Susie could scarcely suppress her rising feelings of delight for Mamma, who sat up front with Rachelle, talking cordially while Susie and Britta sat in the seat behind them. Susie couldn’t help noticing the brown leather New Testament on the console.

Rachelle mentioned that she and her husband had been brought up in the Old German Baptist Brethren church but were no longer members. They did, however, continue to embrace much of the Plain life, which was apparent from Rachelle’s conservative attire. Not many Englischer women Susie knew wore skirts with hems at mid-calf or blouses with high necklines.

She’s so pleasant and conscientious, Mamma will want to ask her to drive us again, Susie thought as Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market came into view on the south side of Route 340.