Church was good today, jah?” Mom asked as she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Grace. They were riding home in their buggy with Dad, Mom, and Martha sitting in front, and Grace, Ruth, and Anna in the backseat.
Grace nodded in response to her mother’s question. The truth was she’d barely heard a word that had been said during any of the sermons today. She’d been fighting waves of nausea.
“It was hard for me to see Luke at church today,” Ruth whispered to Grace.
“I can imagine. Did he say anything to you after the service?”
“He never looked my way.” Ruth sighed. “It’s probably for the best since he wants to be so close-mouthed and not share things with me.”
“Luke was late to work again on Friday; did I mention that?” Dad asked.
Ruth looked stunned, but it was no surprise to Grace that Dad had overheard their conversation. Mom often teased him about being able to hear a piece of sawdust fall if he was listening for it.
“Did he say why he was late?” The question came from Martha.
“Made some excuse about having an errand to run after he left home and it taking longer than he expected.”
“Did you believe him?” Ruth asked.
Dad shrugged. “Not sure what I believe where Luke’s concerned. He’s got a mind of his own, that’s for sure. I think he actually believes he knows more than me about working with wood.”
“I’m sure Luke’s just trying to share his ideas,” Martha put in.
Martha’s defense of Luke made Grace wonder if her sister might have more than a passing interest in Ruth’s ex-boyfriend.
“When Luke finally showed up for work on Friday, I smelled smoke on his clothes.” Dad shook his head. “Sure hope he’s not messing with cigarettes during his rumschpringe.”
“Did you question him about it?” Mom asked.
“Nope. Didn’t think it was my place to be askin’.”
Ruth’s cheeks turned pink, and she cleared her throat a couple of times. “I … uh … think it’s possible he’s doing a lot of things he shouldn’t be.”
“How do you know that?” Dad asked.
“Well, he’s got a—” She fell silent. “Never mind. It’s not my place to be saying.”
Dad gave the reins a quick snap to get the horse moving faster, as the animal had slowed considerably on the last hill. “Well, whatever Luke’s up to during his rumschpringe, my main concern is his work habits. I made up my mind last week that if he was late to work again I would fire him, and I should have done that on Friday morning.”
“Why didn’t you, Roman?”
Dad reached over and patted Mom’s arm. “Figured you would tell me I ought to give the man one more chance.”
She chuckled. “You know me well.”
Grace leaned against the seat and tried to relax. She and Anna would be moving into their new house tomorrow morning, but it would be without Cleon. She shivered. All this waiting and wondering if he would ever come home was enough to make her a nervous wreck. No wonder her stomach felt upset much of the time. If it weren’t for Anna, she would be utterly miserable.
She reached over and took her daughter’s hand, and the child smiled at her. Thank You, God. Thank You for giving my daughter back to me.
“Do we have to go?” Anna asked as Grace placed a stack of linens into a box she would be taking over to their new home. “I like it here.”
Grace smiled and nodded. “I know you do, but at the new house, you’ll have your own room. Won’t that be nice?”
The child stuck out her lower lip. “But I’ll miss Aunt Martha.”
“She won’t be far away. She’ll come over to see us, and we’ll go see her and the rest of the family, too.”
Anna’s forehead wrinkled. “Poppy never comes to see me like he promised.”
“That’s because he lives far away, and he’s still not feeling well, Anna.” Grace gently squeezed the child’s arm. “He writes you letters, though.”
Anna stared at the hardwood floor. “I miss him.”
“I know.” Grace drew Anna into her arms, but the child just stood, unmoving. One step forward and one back. If there was only something she could do to put a smile on her little girl’s face this morning.
Grace’s gaze came to rest on her cedar chest. The faceless doll! Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?
She hurried across the room, flipped open the lid, and dug into the contents of the cedar chest until she located the doll. “Look what I’ve found, Anna.”
“What’s that?” The child’s eyes opened wide, and Grace was pleased that she’d captured her interest.
“It’s the doll I made for you when you were a baby.”
Anna’s forehead wrinkled as she pursed her lips. “It’s got no mouth.” She touched the side of her nose. “No nose.” She pointed to one of her eyes. “No eyes.” She shook her head. “She ain’t no doll.”
Grace resisted the temptation to correct her daughter’s English. Instead, she got down on her knees beside Anna and cradled the doll in her arms. “It’s hard for me to explain, but Amish people make their dolls without faces.”
“How come?”
“It has to do with a verse from the Bible that talks about not making any graven images.”
Anna tipped her head and squinted. Obviously, she had no idea what Grace was talking about.
“It’s fun to pretend, don’t you think, Anna?”
The child nodded. “Last Sunday after church, me, Esta, and some of the other kids took turns pretending to be a horse pulling a buggy along the road.”
“Then let’s pretend this doll has a face.” She looked up at her daughter to get her reaction, but Anna’s expression didn’t change.
Grace tried again. “Let’s start by naming the doll.”
Still no response.
“How about if we call her Sarah?”
“I don’t like that name.”
“How about Phoebe? I had a friend named Phoebe when I was a little girl, but she moved to Wisconsin.”
Anna shook her head.
Grace released an exasperated sigh. “What would you like to call the doll?”
“Martha.”
Grace nodded. “Martha it is, then.” She touched the doll’s face again. “Let’s pretend that little Martha has eyes. What color should they be?”
“Blue. Like Aunt Martha’s.”
“Okay. What color hair should the doll have?”
“Aunt Martha has brown hair.”
“True.” She extended the doll toward Anna. “Would you like to hold her now?”
Anna reached for the doll and snuggled it against her chest. “I like the doll with no face.”
Grace smiled. She might not have completely won over Anna, but she was making a bit more headway every day. And now she could see her daughter cuddling the doll Grace had made for her when she was a baby.