Three days had passed with no word from Evan. Lyle hadn’t really expected any, but as each day ticked by, the silence began to weigh on him. How was Evan holding up? What was he experiencing?

Curious, Lyle had visited the library a few days ago to read about what took place during army basic training. Getting into physical shape was one priority, and Evan was certainly already that. But the tactical and survival skills, the marching and rappelling, the military customs, and the shooting—it would all be foreign to his son. Really, Lyle would rather not ponder any of it for long.

He hadn’t checked the book out to bring home lest Elisabeth fret when she saw it. Sometimes what a person didn’t know was easier, he’d decided. Especially when, in the case of his wife, certain concerns tended to play over and over in the deep of night, causing sleeplessness—something she’d been struggling with for too long. So Lyle had read as much as he could at the library—a stop while in town to pick up more bushel baskets for this harvest season and next year’s.

No one need know how heavyhearted he felt, most of all his precious wife.

Ellie was thankful her time was taken up with the autumn apple harvest, including helping to wash apples and jug cider with Mamm and Rudy and sometimes Dat, too. They wanted to have plenty of gallons in the cold cellar for their store customers.

But Evan’s leaving remained heavy on her mind, and when she found a letter in the mailbox from him addressed to Dat and Mamm, she ran up the long driveway and into the house.

A big smile spread across Mamm’s rosy cheeks when Ellie handed it to her, and she quickly opened the envelope, standing right there at the sink to read the few lines he’d written.

“Evan says he arrived and is just fine,” Mamm finally told her. “Says he’ll write more later . . . and he thanks you for your thoughtful send-off note.”

At this news, Ellie was eager to write to Evan, grateful to now have his return address. Truth be known, she was still pondering the strangeness of his final words to her, when he suddenly wondered how he’d fit in with the other men.

Ellie hadn’t told anyone about her and Evan’s private good-bye, although there had been an opportunity to share it with Cousin Ruthann. She’d dropped by the evening of Evan’s departure, bringing an angel food cake with strawberry preserves for the topping. Ellie had also talked briefly with Sol earlier that evening, after he’d brought in the spring wagon filled with ladders and empty crates. Sol had asked how she was doing, but he never mentioned Evan’s parting.

That was implied, she thought as she looked back to their conversation now.