“I’m sure he knows better,” Lyle said as he helped. “I mean, the church takes a firm stand on bein’ connected in any way to the military. Even burials are off-limits.” Lyle clenched his jaw. “Honestly, I suspected Evan was runnin’ round with Englischers, comin’ home all hours as he does sometimes. Once when I bumped into him while returning from checking on ailin’ Nelly, he smelled of cigarette smoke, too.”

A time or two he’d wondered if Jack and Evan had exchanged letters during the nearly two years Jack was overseas, but he’d never seen any evidence of that. He pulled on his beard. “I have big plans for Evan, so I can’t let this slide.”

Jonah grimaced. “Evan’s of age, Dat, and makin’ his own decisions. Under God, you’ve done your part as a father.”

“Yet I wonder where I failed,” he said softly.

“Plenty-a fellas did far worse than this during Rumschpringe and later got themselves straightened out. I don’t think you have to worry ’bout Evan too much.”

The sound of a tractor in an English farmer’s field down the way caught Lyle’s attention as he removed his blue paisley kerchief from his pants pocket to mop his brow. He was mighty disturbed by Evan’s apparent interest in fancy folk. How much had they influenced him? Truth be told, Lyle disliked the very idea of Rumschpringe, though the running-around years were a coming-of-age tradition for their Amish youth.

Only the Good Lord knows my son’s heart, Lyle thought, stuffing his kerchief back into his pocket.

“Has Evan talked yet of bein’ baptized?” Jonah asked suddenly, as if he’d been thinking along the same lines.

“Not to me he hasn’t.” Lyle wasn’t too surprised Jonah brought this up. His eldest son had wasted no time joining the church at eighteen, a year before marrying sweet-spirited Priscilla from their local church district.

Inhaling deeply, Lyle tried to reassure himself. Evan had always been devout in the faith, never questioning his upbringing. Once he’s a little older, surely he’ll settle down again.

After supper dishes were done, Ellie strode out to the barn to check on the livestock’s water levels. Inside, she could see the large lantern lit on the table Dat and Jonah used for a desk in the office around the corner from the feed bin, and she heard her father talking to someone. Was it Evan?

Her brother had been nowhere to be seen following Mamm’s supper of tender pork chops and scalloped potatoes. He hadn’t even made an appearance when Rudy, paid to farm the homestead for Dat, had dropped by with feed invoices. And when Mamm told Rudy that Dat was “quite occupied at the moment,” Ellie thought something was up. Then Rudy said he was in too big a hurry to stick around, so Dat couldn’t be talking to him.