“Is that right?” Sadie seemed to study her for a moment, then resumed her work, completing a teddy bear with a fabric bow tie. “Have ya told your parents of this fella’s interest?”

“No. Anyway, Mart and I are just getting to know each other. Not dating.”

“I see.” Sadie gave her a smile. “The more fellas you get acquainted with, the more you’ll know what qualities you’d appreciate in a mate.”

Anna supposed she was right. “I enjoy talking to you, Sadie,” she said. “’Specially with Mamm and Wanita so far away.”

“I’m glad ya do, and just know that what you tell me goes nowhere else.” Sadie pressed her pointer finger against her thin lips.

“Denki,” Anna said and picked up some card stock with a cutout in the shape of a small wicker basket. “I kind of thought so.”

They worked in silence for a while; the only sound was of the day clock’s measured ticking on the wall above them.

A while later, Sadie said, “My sister-in-law thinks I should have at least fifty finished cards before she’ll take them to Saturday market to sell.”

“Has she suggested a price?”

“I’ll ask her,” Sadie said, shaking her head, “since I’m really not sure what to charge.”

“Well, you make them much faster than I can. How long does it take?”

“Gut point.” Sadie scrunched up her face and thought. “Maybe twenty minutes per card, give or take a few minutes.”

Anna picked up one of Sadie’s finished ones and admired it. “It’s not just a card, though. It’s more like a keepsake.”

“Do ya think so?” Sadie looked surprised as she glanced at the card in Anna’s hand.

“I do. Which might raise the price a bit in customers’ minds.”

Sadie laughed softly. “Well, I’ll ask Glen’s opinion on that.”

Anna smiled and wondered if she would think that way, too, once she was married. Would she make her decisions only after talking to her husband?

Mamm doesn’t always, Anna realized. Sometimes she makes up her mind, then tells Dat what she’s decided. So, am I more like Mamm or like Sadie?

Chapter 21

The whole next week, whenever she had free time, Anna helped Sadie make the wonderfully creative cards, one of which she sent to Mammi Eliza. When she wasn’t doing that or working around the house, Anna was studying the side-walking instructions Dottie Stoltzfus had given her or reviewing the information she had for tours, making sure she was ready for each new set of clients, of which there were more than a handful, as it turned out. Anna even met a family from Germany who wanted to introduce their two school-age children to some of their Pennsylvania German relatives there in Lancaster. They especially enjoyed hearing Anna tell about the origins of the original Amish settlers.