“I have no doubt.” His tone sounded almost too positive. “Tomorrow, you’ll go on an actual car tour with me,” he said as he made the righthand turn onto Route 30 to head east. “I’m booked with a family from New York City.”

“Des gut. I mean . . .”

He glanced over at her and smiled. “It’s okay to let your Pennsylvania Dutch slip now and then, especially with tourists. They’ll love it.”

It was almost as if he thought it was cute or something, but Anna didn’t mind.

At the Bird-in-Hand Bake Shop—voted for many years as having the best shoofly pie in all of Lancaster County—Mart pointed out the sugar-free and gluten-free baked goods. “A lot of your clients will be happy to know they have options,” he told Anna. “As you can see, the shop also carries craft items and homemade specialty soaps. Oh, and the cheddar cheese bread is out of this world. I’ve never had a client buy it and not rave about it.”

“Great to know.” Anna jotted this down and followed Mart outside, where they passed a food truck with Amish-made soft pretzels on their way to the petting zoo, which featured a few goats and some fancy, fluffy chickens.

Since they were close to a farm that had once served as part of the Underground Railroad, they headed there next. Anna quickly learned from Mart that, in the early 1800s, a devout Quaker named Daniel Gibbons and his wife, Hannah, had built a brick farmhouse along Mill Creek, where for more than fifty years, they had secretly assisted as many as a thousand fugitives by offering them refuge and even new identities on their journey to freedom.

Mart parked the car on the shoulder and pointed out the historic house. “As you probably know, the Underground Railroad helped many people escape all the way to Canada. The network consisted of safe houses and concealed rooms in cellars, attics, and even huts all over the free states,” he said. “In fact, this very house was the first station in Pennsylvania.”

“Wow,” she whispered, “it’s like we’re on the edge of history.” She made a note of this location, one of several stops in Lancaster County on the route to Canada. “You sound just like a tour guide, by the way!”

Mart laughed, and Anna realized she was too close to flirting, though that had never been her style.

The Log Cabin Quilt Shop and Fabrics on the west edge of Bird-in-Hand was their next stop. There, Anna enjoyed talking with the Amish manager, who pointed out a display of how to make the various crafts the store featured. She also took Anna over to one of the large bed frames, where many different quilts were neatly laid out. “Is there a particular pattern you might be interested in?” the lovely woman asked.