Lester hung around and talked for quite a while, even offering to get more popcorn for Anna, but there were a number of other young adults present who stopped to talk with them, as well, and Anna was grateful not to be singled out too much.

Back at Glen and Sadie’s, the house was quiet and the lamps were dark, except for the one directly over the kitchen table. Anna walked quietly to her room, wanting to write another letter to Wanita. She sat at the little corner desk to write, thanking her for calling, then asking how Mammi Eliza had seemed after the surprising phone conversation. Anna also described tonight’s after-church party and mentioned that Heidi and Eleanor’s brother seemed to be familiar with Peaceful Meadows. What a coincidence, right?

She also told about Glen and Sadie and their thoughtfulness toward her, then gave a little more information about Martin Nolt, too—that she liked him, but that she didn’t want to jump into a dating relationship too quickly. If that’s where this is heading . . . I’m not even sure at this point, she wrote.

Anna signed off, then knelt beside the bed and repeated her plea for God to make the way before her plain. “Please make me a blessing to Glen and Sadie,” she added, “wherever I’m needed. Look into my heart and know my thoughts.”

She got ready for bed, still mulling over Mammi Eliza’s words: “He wanted to meet me there.”

Shadows from the moon played across the far wall as Anna sat on the bed in the darkness. Was he a beau? she wondered, lying on top of the sheets, the house still warm from the heat of the day. And why is this on Mammi’s mind all these years later?

From the bed, Anna could make out the dresser, the small desk, and a tall bookcase on the opposite wall. And as she rested, she pondered many things. How had Mammi Eliza felt those first nights away from home? Had she missed her family as Anna did at this moment? Had she also said her nighttime prayers, not so different from those of her Old Order Amish cousins?

The latter thought prompted a memory. When Anna was younger, her Mammi had kept a daybook of prayer requests and answers. How long ago did she start doing that? Anna wondered.

Maybe, if any of those were still around in an old trunk or chest somewhere, they might fill in more of the story. . . .

———

Down the hall, Sadie was wide-awake next to Glen, who was already asleep. It had been a long but pleasant day visiting her husband’s three eldest siblings—two brothers, a sister, and their families. Bubbly Lillian had suggested that Sadie think about making more of her little encouragement cards to sell at market, offering to handle the sales at Lillian’s own soy candle booth.