Amos accepted his root beer float from Rebekkah and watched as Lucy Beiler settled her young sister in her lap and tucked a napkin into the neck of her pink hoodie before handing her a spoon. The little girl tucked into the small dish of ice cream, and her sister smiled as she took her first taste of her milkshake. "Yum!"
"Rebekkah makes them right." He took a big sip of his float before sighing with satisfaction. "I've always loved these, ever since I was a kid and it was my grossmammi behind this counter. She always gave me extra cherries. Hey, Rebekkah, where are my extra cherries?"
"I forgot what a big kid you are, boss." Rebekkah pulled a jar from a small fridge behind the counter. "Move your glass over here so we don't get cherry juice all over the counter."
Grinning like a kid, he complied, and Rebekkah dumped several cherries and quite a bit of juice into his glass.
"Perfect."
They finished their treats in companionable silence. When they were done, Amos glanced at Millie and chuckled.
"There's as much chocolate on her face and the napkin as in her tummy, I'll bet."
"Oh, ja. Hence the napkin."
Rebekkah handed her a dampened paper towel, and Lucy cleaned her sister's face and hands before removing the makeshift bib. Amazingly, there was no chocolate on her pink hoodie.
"She's adorable. And I like her pink piggy. How old is she?"
"My sister or the pig?" Lucy's dark brown eyes twinkled mischievously, and Amos fought to catch his breath. Lucy was quietly stunning, with her chocolate eyes and hair to match, tucked up into her heart-shaped prayer kapp. He struggled to remember the question.
"I figure your sister is the elder of the two?"
"Ja, but not by much. Millie will be three on Christmas Day. The pig was a gift from our sister-in-law, Neva."
He frowned, trying to remember the various Beiler siblings. "Neva is married to Mose, ja?"
Lucy nodded. "They're much older than I am. Mose is forty-two. He and Neva have six kinner, and they live in the big house on our farm. Millie and I live in the dawdi haus."
"I don't know him well, although I do know several of your siblings—the ones who live in Shipshewana, Indiana. I just moved back from there a few months ago, when my older bruder, Sam, died."
Lucy paused to think for a moment. "Ach, ja. Sam Fisher was your bruder. I knew him from services."
He nodded. "He took over the store from our parents years ago, but he recently died of cancer. I came home to run the business when he got too sick."
"I know how hard it is to lose someone close. My parents died within a year of each other. My daed in a farming accident and then my maem when Millie was born. I'm sorry for your loss."
"It's Gott's wille."
"Ja, and that is a comfort. But I'm still sorry for your loss. Like I said, I know how hard it is."
He smiled at her. "Denki, Lucy. I appreciate it."
"But you grew up here, ja? It wonders me that I don't remember you."
"I'm considerably older than you. I'm twenty-eight. When I turned eighteen, right after I was baptized, I moved to Shipshewana and started learning the carpentry trade. To be honest, while I loved Sam, we got along better with a little distance. I didn't want to work for him. We would have banged heads about everything. So I accepted an invitation from a cousin there, and I've been there ever since."
"That explains it. I'm twenty-one. You would only have been in school for about a year after I got there, and you certainly wouldn't have had time for a little girl only six years old!"
He laughed. "I think I remember you, though. Long brown braids and big brown eyes. And I seem to recall you liked to catch bugs. The teacher didn't appreciate your scientific curiosity, as I remember."
"That was me! Poor Amber Coblentz! She hated bugs, and I was always taking one inside to show her. I still like bugs, but now my audience consists of Millie, who also thinks they're very cool."
"Lucky you!"
"Ja, and lucky Amber too. She married a shopkeeper from Ohio. I ran into her at a wedding a couple years ago. They live in his hometown above their dry goods store—fewer bugs than on the farm!"
