“Oh, believe me, I’ve told her that in my letters.”

Blushing, Anna had suspected that Sadie and Mamm were exchanging frequent letters. Maybe Sadie and Glen feel responsible for me since I’m staying with them.

“Well, we’d better head out pretty soon,” she said, aware of a sudden flutter of nerves. Had Barbara invited any other women besides Dottie and Katie?

The coffee get-together looked to be just the four of them, much as Barbara had indicated last weekend. Not far ahead of Anna’s car, Dottie and Katie were parking their buggies on the side yard, north of the driveway. Anna held back a smile; once again, she was parking her car amidst Amish carriages.

Just then, Anna saw Gabe and Emmie standing over near the stable, playing with a white cat with black paws. Anna felt her body tighten.

Do they live here? she wondered, still sitting behind the wheel as though in a daze. Are they coming to coffee, too?

A tap came at her window, and startled, she turned to see Dottie standing there, grinning. “Ach, sorry,” she said and grabbed her purse, embarrassed.

Dottie stepped back so Anna could open the car door. “Guder Mariye, Anna.”

“Good morning to you, too,” Anna replied, falling into step with Dottie. She hoped her expression hadn’t let on how surprised she was to see Gabe and his daughter there. “It’s one of those hot and humid August days, jah?” Anna commented.

Dottie chuckled. “You can say that again. Our watchdog somehow managed to get himself clear under the back porch. He was peekin’ out between the slats when I left, poor thing. Must be cooler there. We’re definitely into the dog days of summer now.”

“I wonder where that saying comes from.” Anna noticed that Dottie had on a brown bandanna instead of her usual prayer Kapp.

“Never really thought ’bout it.” Dottie glanced at her as they walked toward the back stoop. “I daresay you’re a thinker, Anna.”

“Sometimes.”

Dottie turned to wave Katie over to join them. “My ol’ Dawdi used to say that too much thinkin’ gets a body in trouble.”

And too little thinking gets people in still more trouble! Anna thought, amused, as she followed Dottie up the steps and in the back door. They proceeded through the tidy screened-in porch into the large kitchen without Dottie announcing their arrival. She didn’t need to, for there at a trestle table laid with pretty mint green crocheted placemats and small white dessert plates sat Barbara, fanning herself with the hem of her long black apron.

“Willkumm,” Barbara said, getting up and greeting them, her brow beaded with perspiration.

“You look all in,” Dottie said, then urged Barbara to sit back down.

“Are ya sickly?” Katie asked, looking concerned as she and Dottie hovered near her.

“Nee . . . just didn’t sleep much at all last night. Neither did Aden,” said Barbara.