“Real nice of Sadie.” Wanita put fussy little Rogene on her lap and jostled her a bit while rocking in one of the several willow rockers there on the porch. “If you get a job in Lancaster County, would you be happy, Anna?” asked Wanita.

“I think so.” Anna glanced at Mammi, who seemed to be studying her every time Anna looked her way. “Guess what, Mammi . . . I just got back from a visit to Strasburg,” she said for her grandmother’s benefit.

Mammi nodded her head like she understood. “A perty place,” she said quietly, her stare distant now.

“All the hayfields were so green . . . ready for the second cutting.”

“Alfalfa,” Mammi said, still gazing out at something none of them could see.

“That’s right. Lots and lots of alfalfa.” Anna mentioned Luke Flaud’s turkey business and how he raised turkeys and sold them fully dressed. “Luke Flaud and his family live next door to Glen and Sadie. They live in the Dawdi Haus where Glen’s father once lived. That’s where I’ll be staying, too.”

“Oh,” Mammi said, returning her gaze to Anna. “You’re leavin’ again?”

Anna’s heart dropped. Did Mammi not want her to go?

Wanita gave a knowing nod to Anna and steered Bonnie, Bethie, and Rogene into the house to get ready for bed, leaving Anna alone with her grandmother.

“I’m going to live in Strasburg, Mammi,” Anna said. “I’d like a fresh start, and so much about it just feels welcoming to me. Lord willing, I’ll find a job there.”

“Lord willin’,” Mammi repeated with a blank stare.

“I’ll visit you as often as I can, okay?” She reached for Mammi’s gnarled hand, marked with brown age spots. “I love you very much,” she said, a lump in her throat. “I always have. You’ve taught me such important things through the years, you and Dawdi John both.” Gently she squeezed Mammi’s hand, and she felt Mammi weakly return the squeeze, doing so three times in a row.

“You’re saying ‘I love you,’ aren’t you?” she whispered, surprised.

Mammi’s face was expressionless, but her eyes glinted with tears.

“I’ll come see you again.” Anna held her Mammi’s hand, savoring this moment, as the sun sank lower in the sky.

Sadie sat in bed talking quietly with Glen, a lightweight quilt folded neatly near the footboard, the sheet covering them in their nightclothes. The green shades had been pulled down to the windowsills, but the lamp on Glen’s bedside table dimly lit the room they had made their own, setting it up with the furniture brought over from the large farmhouse—same oak bed, bureau, and blanket chest they’d always had. They even still owned the dark brown loveseat they’d sat on during their courting days at Sadie’s parents’ house more than forty-five years ago.