Right away, Anna was reminded of how jovial Luke Flaud was. As he and his wife came into the house, he removed his straw hat, exposing a head full of curly brown hair. Then, reaching to shake Anna’s hand, he grinned. “Nice to see ya again, Anna. And willkumm to the Flaud turkey farm, small as it is,” he said, putting little Sally down on the floor.

“Denki. My, your family’s grown since I was last here,” Anna said, watching Sally head straight for her Dawdi Glen’s open arms, jabbering to him about the cloth dolly her Mamma had made, and holding it up close to Glen’s face.

Strawberry-blond Marianna smiled as she handed Baby Jimmy to Sadie, then shook Anna’s hand, too, her green eyes sparkling. “You’re a long ways from home, jah?”

“Well, not so far by car,” Anna said.

Sadie invited them to sit at the table, where she handed Jimmy to Anna before going across the room to get out the ice cream to dish up. “He’s so cuddly . . . just precious,” Anna said, taking her spot at the table with the wiggly infant. She gazed down at his little face. “He looks like you, Marianna.”

Marianna smiled. “Actually, I see a lot of Luke in him.”

“’Tis a gut blend of the two of yous,” Sadie said, her ears attuned to the table conversation as she removed the cover from the ice cream and began to scoop.

Wide-eyed Sally scooted down from Glen’s lap and wandered around the table, stopping at Anna’s chair. “Hullo.” Sally stroked her baby brother’s plump arm while looking up at Anna. “Aendi?” she asked in Deitsch.

Sadie tittered, her hand over her mouth, and then Marianna began to explain to Sally that she and Anna were cousins. Wee Sally seemed to take the information in stride, then held up her faceless doll to Anna, its matching blue dress and apron the same as Sally’s own.

It wasn’t long before Sally tried to climb up on Anna’s lap. Anna made room for her by moving the baby over slightly, nestling him in her left arm.

“Well now,” Glen said at the head of the table, “I haven’t seen Sally warm up to someone new so quickly before.”

Marianna nodded. “I daresay Sally likes her cousin Anna.”

“I should say so,” Luke replied, his eyes brightening as Sadie brought over his big bowl of ice cream.

“You have a special way with children, jah?” Marianna said, taking Baby Jimmy from Anna so she could eat.

“I have many nephews and nieces back home, so I’ve had lots of practice.” Anna smiled down at Sally, who’d snuggled with her dolly and leaned her head against Anna.