EPILOGUE
Two years later . . .
As daylight slipped into nightfall, Rachel’s mind drifted back to the first night Marianna and Zak had arrived. Little did she know then, her lovely daydream of Josh being a father to those two small children would become a reality. Only this time, instead of Zak in Josh’s arms, he cuddled two-year-old Marianna, her head resting drowsily on his shoulder, while five-year-old Zak clutched at his daed’s pant leg.
“Rachel?” Josh whispered as they peeked into the room.
Zak held one finger to his lips.
Josh nodded at him. “Good job, sohn. We need to be quiet, so Marianna and Caleb stay asleep.”
In the heirloom chair, Rachel rocked four-month-old Caleb in her arms, softly singing a hymn. “I didn’t hear you coming up the stairs.” She hushed her words to match Zak’s and Josh’s. “Danke for being quiet. I think they’re both asleep.”
Caleb’s slow, sighing breaths spoke of contentment and deep slumber. As Rachel tucked him into the crib, Josh lowered Marianna onto the bed that used to be Zak’s and covered her with the teddy bear quilt.
Across the room, Zak leaned sleepily against Josh’s leg. Her husband—oh, how her heart leaped each time she said that word—bent and lifted their tired sohn, who rested his head on his daed’s shoulder until his eyes drifted closed. The tenderness in Josh’s face as he glanced down at their pajama-clad little boy tugged at Rachel’s heartstrings.
She wished she could freeze this moment in time. But they’d have many such moments. And she could enjoy each one of them.
“I’ll take Zak to his room. Then . . .”
Rachel shook her head. “I’m coming with you.” She didn’t want to let her husband out of her sight. She wanted to spend every precious minute with him.
“You know,” she said as Josh pulled the blankets over Zak, “back before we married, Mrs. Vandenberg stopped me from going upstairs to help you with Zak and Marianna. She said someday you’d have to take care of both of them while I was busy. I had trouble imagining it.”
“Mrs. Vandenberg was right, as always.” Fire blazed in Josh’s eyes when he turned to face Rachel. “And as much as I love our children, my favorite part of the day is when we can be alone together.”
“It’s mine, too.” And Rachel’s heart overflowed with love for her husband.
* * *
The next morning, Rachel finished feeding Caleb and set him in his crib. Then she adjusted her Sunday dress and kapp, and headed to the kitchen to finish the breakfast dishes. After helping Zak get ready and caring for the horses before breakfast, Josh was now dressing for church. Rachel had dressed Marianna earlier, and her dochder and sohn had run across the ramp to the dawdi haus to visit with their beloved grandmother.
“Mamm,” Marianna squealed.
Rachel rushed to the back door and flung it open. Her daughter sat on her grandmother’s lap in the wheelchair. Five-year-old Zak, holding onto the side, jogged beside them.
“Look,” Marianna shouted, pointing to the two tiny braids sticking out in the air on either side of her head. “Mammi fixed my bwaids.”
Swallowing back a giggle, Rachel praised the hairstyle. Her dochder’s hair was still too short to pull back into a bob. Rachel would pull the pigtails down a bit before they headed for church, but it thrilled her Mamm had attempted the intricate motions of braiding.
“Mamm,” Rachel called as the wheelchair gained speed on the ramp Josh had built to connect the houses. “I can’t believe you managed that.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of things that will surprise you, dochder.”
“Speeding seems to be one of them.” Rachel leaped back as the wheelchair hurtled toward her.
“Whee!” Marianna chortled with glee. “Go faster, Mammi!”
“Neh, don’t,” Zak begged, panting. “I can’t . . . keep . . . up.”
To Rachel’s relief, her mother pulled on the brake and slowed.
Rachel put on a pretend frown. “I’m afraid you’re going to tip out of that chair and crush Marianna, Mamm.” Secretly, she admired her mamm’s fearlessness, but didn’t want to encourage it, especially not with the children onboard.
“Don’t be such a worrier, dochder.” Her mamm entered the kitchen, which Josh had enlarged and made wheelchair accessible.
Rachel backed up so Mamm could pass her. Then she reached for Marianna.
Before going to her mother, Marianna wound her arms around her mammi’s neck and kissed her. “Dat was fun!”
With a repentant look at Rachel, Mamm explained, “Do you know how hard it was to be confined to bed for years? Being able to move around and go where I’d like is so freeing that sometimes I just want to speed.”
“I understand. I just don’t want any accidents.”
“I’ll be more careful.”
“Give me a ride please, Mammi,” Zak pleaded.
“Let’s wait until after church,” she suggested. “I don’t want to upset your mamm any more than I already have.”
Zak’s lower lip thrust out into a pout, but Josh walked into the kitchen just then. With a joyous shout, Zak raced across the room and flung himself at his daed’s legs. Now that he was older, though, his power had increased, and Josh took a step back to steady himself.
“Careful,” Josh warned, “I have your baby brother here.” He cradled five-month-old Caleb in his arms and met Rachel’s gaze with lovelight shining in his eyes.
As always, whenever she caught sight of her husband, her pulse skipped a beat. The past two years had only brought them closer and increased their love for each other. Josh shifted Caleb to one arm and reached for Zak’s hand.
Zak stared up at his daed with admiration. “Can we give the baby to Mamm so you can hold me?”
“That was my plan.” Josh beamed down at his little boy, and Rachel’s heart flipped over.
Josh had proved to be the best daed—and husband—ever. Rachel thanked the Lord every day for blessing her with the man of her dreams.
“Here you go, liebe.” Josh leaned over to give Rachel a quick peck on the cheek.
Rachel set Marianna down and reached for the baby. Marianna tugged at Josh’s pant leg the way her brother used to when he was small.
“Mammi gived me a ride. We go fast,” Marianna told her daed.
“Uh-oh, Betty.” Josh laughed. “I hope you aren’t turning into a speed demon.”
She chuckled. “Rachel here thinks I am.”
Josh raised his eyebrows. “I trust my wife’s judgment.”
Rachel shot him a thankful smile. “We’d better hurry, so we’re not late for church.”
“I’ll hitch up the horses.” He set Zak on the ground. “You going to help me?”
“Jah.” Zak took his father’s hand, and they headed for the back door.
“Me too,” Marianna insisted, following them.
Josh reached back for her hand, and the three of them headed for the barn.
“Betty?” Barbara stood on the porch of the dawdi haus, looking around.
“She’s in the kitchen.” Josh tilted his head toward the house. “Sounds like she might need some safe driving lessons.”
Barbara laughed. “She runs circles around me.”
“I’ll hitch up your buggy too.” Josh took his two helpers into the barn while Rachel packed the diaper bag and Barbara rounded up Betty.
A short while later, both buggies waited in the driveway. Josh lifted Betty from her wheelchair and into the passenger seat of Barbara’s buggy. They kept her portable wheelchair stowed in the back.
Then, he helped Marianna and Zak into the back seat of their buggy. Once they were settled, he stowed the diaper bag, took the baby, assisted Rachel in, and handed Caleb back to her.
Rachel’s spirits lifted as they headed toward Adam and Mara’s house. Quite a change from when she dreaded going to church in the past. Back then, she’d always loved learning about God’s Word from the sermons, but before and after church had been a nightmare of cold shoulders, judgment, and gossip. So much had changed after she and Josh married. Now, she loved Sundays.
After they pulled into Adam’s driveway, Josh stopped and climbed out to lift Betty into her wheelchair. Rachel sighed in relief that the portable wheelchair had to be pushed, so Mamm couldn’t get up to any of her antics at church. Barbara took Mamm to a flatter side entrance leading to the kitchen rather than up the front steps.
Josh’s parents were waiting for them on the porch. They were always eager to see their grandchildren. Zak took Dawdi’s hand while Josh took care of both horses with the help of Adam’s two oldest boys. Josh’s mamm hugged Rachel and begged to hold Caleb.
Marianna tugged at her other mammi’s dress. “Me too.”
Miriam bent down to give Marianna a one-armed hug. “You can sit on my lap in church.”
Marianna smiled. Rachel knelt down and held out her arms to her dochder. “I can hold you for a while. We should go into the kitchen to help Aenti Mara.”
Rachel had been over here earlier in the week and most of the day yesterday, along with Lloyd’s and Marv’s wives, helping Mara clean and bake snitz pies. Mara had pulled Rachel aside to thank her, as well as Mrs. Vandenberg, for the changes in Adam and in their marriage. Mara and Adam had never been happier, and it showed in Mara’s contented expression.
Mrs. Vandenberg had matched several couples in the past two years, and many of them attended church in this g’may. Those couples had become good friends with Rachel and Josh. Girls who used to make snide remarks about Rachel had long since apologized and now invited her to their quilting bees and Christmas cookie exchanges and young mothers’ get-togethers.
With her mother-in-law beside her carrying Caleb, Rachel entered the kitchen with Marianna in her arms. Older women, who had once looked at Rachel askance, now offered her the holy kiss they gave to the other married women and made her feel a part of the community.
“Are you making a quilt for the auction?” Caroline, who’d soon be marrying the love of her life, bubbled over with enthusiasm.
“Jah. I’m working on one.” Every year, Rachel tried to outdo the design she’d made the previous year. She’d kept the promise to herself to donate a quilt to any of the auctions Mrs. Vandenberg helped organize.
“We should make one from all the couples she’s matched.”
Rachel loved the idea. “What about a double-wedding-ring quilt?”
Caroline laughed. “It would have to be more than a double one.” She started listing all the couples.
Several of the older ladies laughed. “You’re just naming the most recent ones. She matched many of us.”
“What if we each make a square with our names and our husbands’ names and our wedding dates?” Rachel suggested. “I’ll piece it together, and we can work on it during quilting circle.”
“Great idea.” Caroline volunteered to contact all the couples Mrs. Vandenberg had matched. “It’s going to be a huge quilt—big enough for a king-sized bed—or maybe even larger.”
Within two weeks, the entire project came together. Rachel had never enjoyed a quilt as much as this one. Over the next few months, people stopped by the house to drop off squares. Each woman stayed to chat for a short while, telling the details of her courtship and how Mrs. Vandenberg had played matchmaker.
Even couples from Ohio—Gloria and Annika—and New York—Hannah and Anna Mary—participated. They sent their squares by mail, but asked to be invited when they gave Mrs. Vandenberg the final quilt.
“Let’s have a party on Valentine’s Day and present her with the quilt,” Rachel suggested as the girls from her buddy bunch gathered at her house to stitch the designs into the quilt.
As Rachel invited people, more than seventy couples accepted. Although she was thrilled about the turnout, she wasn’t sure she could fit all those people in their house if they brought their large families.
That night at dinner, she told Josh her concerns. He stroked his beard, a beard that made him even more handsome than he’d been the day they’d married.
“Why not talk to Nettie and Stephen? Maybe they could plan a party at Mrs. Vandenberg’s center in the city.”
“Ach, Josh, that’s a great idea. Mrs. Vandenberg doesn’t have to know about the quilt or the couples attending. She’ll just think it’s a center event.”
The women at the quilting circle loved the idea, and Caroline volunteered to contact everyone who’d submitted a square to let them know about the new location.
The Saturday before the party, Rachel had a sisters’ day in her kitchen with her three sisters-in-law to bake cookies. Several other friends did the same in their kitchens. Dozens and dozens of heart-shaped cookies cooled on every counter and table in Rachel’s kitchen, as well as in the dawdi haus kitchen.
“I’m so excited,” Caroline practically squealed when she stopped by with her family’s contribution to the cookie count. “I can hardly wait.”
Rachel couldn’t either. By the time Josh returned home from his construction job with Zak in tow, she’d packed most of the cookies into containers.
Josh sniffed the air. “My favorite sugar cookies?”
“Jah, but you’ll have to wait until Valentine’s Day to eat them.” She rushed over to kiss him and reveled in being in his arms.
“Well, that kiss made up for missing out on the cookies.” But despite his glowing smile, his eyes showed a hint of disappointment.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I saved a few just for you.” She pointed to the last rack of cooling cookies. “If you hurry, those are still soft and warm.”
Most of the cookies they’d made that day had been heart-shaped cut-out cookies, but Rachel had baked a few batches of the soft sugar cookies Josh loved and filled the cookie jar. And she’d timed the last batch to come out of the oven after he’d pulled in the driveway and cared for the horse.
“You’re the best.” Josh gave her an appreciative kiss before helping himself to several cookies. “Is everything ready for the party?”
“I think so. I wrapped the quilt today, all the cookies are baked, and Stephen hung brackets on the floor-to-ceiling wall in the building’s entryway for the rod you made to hang the quilt. Oh, and Hartzler’s Chicken Barbecue is donating chicken, drinks, and paper goods. And other stands at the market are donating different foods.”
“Wow, you’ve been busy.”
“All I organized were the cookies and the quilt. Caroline’s taking care of all the market donations.”
“I’d say you’ve done quite a bit. And good for Caroline.” Josh kissed the tip of Rachel’s nose. “You’ve come a long way from the girl everybody accused of being a flirt.”
“I’m not?” Rachel pouted and fluttered her eyelashes.
“You can flirt with me anytime you want, liebe. I still can’t resist you, but you did leave a lot of broken hearts behind.”
“They must not have been broken too badly. Mrs. Vandenberg has matched quite a few of them—even Martin.”
“True. But the best match she made was you and me.” Josh wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.
Rachel melted against him. “I agree.”
* * *
Two days later, all the couples assembled in the inner-city building Mrs. Vandenberg had converted to the STAR center, a facility with activities intended to keep children and teens off the streets and out of gangs. Stephen and Nettie, another couple Mrs. Vandenberg had matched and offered jobs running the center, were keeping her in their office until they got word everyone had arrived and gathered. Even the children who normally used the gyms, art rooms, library, and other activity areas joined the Amish families in the lobby or hung over the second-story railing that overlooked the entrance.
“Anyone have a cell phone?” Rachel asked when the food tables were in place in one of the gyms. “It’s time to call Stephen.” Then she and Josh hurried to the lobby.
A few minutes later, an office door opened overhead, and Mrs. Vandenberg’s voice floated down. “It’s so quiet. Why aren’t the children playing basketball? No ping-pong or air hockey?” She truly sounded puzzled.
Rachel wondered if God had kept this secret from her. She whispered that to Josh, and he laughed quietly.
“Careful,” Stephen said. “Let me take your arm.”
“Someone must have forgotten to unlock the doors downstairs.”
In the lobby, muffled laughter followed that comment.
When Mrs. Vandenberg reached the place where the third story overlooked the lobby, she stumbled to a stop. “What in the world?”
“Happy Valentine’s Day! And danke for matching us,” the couples said in unison.
Mrs. Vandenberg pressed a hand to her heart. With tears in her eyes, she announced, “I know who organized this.” She pointed directly to Rachel and Caroline, who stood beside each other. They held hands with their special men.
“Do you have any idea how many couples you’ve matched?” one older man asked.
“Well, last time I looked, I think it was one hundred.”
“We’ve gathered seventy of them, even some from out of state,” Caroline announced. “And Rachel has a gift from all of us.”
Rachel and Josh lifted the large box, wrapped in pink heart paper with a huge pink bow and heart streamers, so Mrs. Vandenberg could see it.
She looked shaken as she descended both flights of stairs with Stephen holding her elbow. “Oh, my. I can’t believe this.”
Rachel helped Mrs. Vandenberg into a chair, and Josh held the box as she unwrapped the gift with trembling hands.
Several people held it and spread it out so Mrs. Vandenberg could see all the squares. Rachel had pieced a large heart in the center and embroidered the words: Matches made in Heaven. Thank you, Lord, for Liesel Vandenberg. Each corner had a heart design, and she’d added heart blocks between some of the one hundred squares with couples’ names.
Tears trickled down Mrs. Vandenberg’s cheeks as she fingered each square. After she’d examined every one, Josh threaded the pole through the loops Rachel had sewn to the top, and Stephen and a maintenance worker climbed ladders to hang it on the brackets they’d installed.
Everyone stepped back to ooo and ahh. Then Rachel invited everyone upstairs to the gym for refreshments.
“You can stay here,” she told Mrs. Vandenberg. “We’ll bring some refreshments to you.”
Fourteen-year-old Joline, Nettie and Stephen’s daughter, hurried over. “I can get you a plate, Mrs. V.”
“Thank you, dear. That would be wonderful. You’re really growing up to be quite a helpful young lady. It won’t be long before I’ll have to match you up.” Mrs. Vandenberg chuckled.
“I’m not baptized yet,” Joline reminded Mrs. V.
“I know, but when you’re my age, the years go by in a blink of the eye. It’ll happen sooner than you think.”
Joline leaned closer. “Just in case you want to be ready ahead of time, there is this boy I’m interested in.” She whispered a name.
“Hmm . . . I’ll pray about that and see what heavenly guidance I get.”
With a skip to her step, Joline rushed to the gym and returned with a plate of cookies and a bottled water. “I can get some for you too,” she said to Rachel and Josh.
As couples swarmed around Mrs. Vandenberg, Rachel smiled at Joline. “Danke for offering, but we’re heading to the gym.”
“I’ll see if anyone else needs help.” Joline headed off.
It was hard to believe that Stephen and Nettie had despaired about their daughter two and half years ago. Joline had turned out to be a loving older sister and a wonderful help to her parents, although some of her old rebellious spirit still twinkled in her eyes.
Josh lowered his voice. “I’d like some of your cookies. Any chance we can figure out which ones they are?”
“You’re in luck. Gideon and Fern are supervising the tables. I put a small container back and asked them to save those for you. Let’s go get them.”
“I love having you all to myself.” Josh’s husky whisper tickled the hairs on the back of Rachel’s neck.
Her pulse galloped. Mamm and Barbara were watching the three children, so Rachel and Josh could have time alone together. Josh had promised they’d take the long way home. She couldn’t wait.
Josh paused at the second-floor railing to take in the quilt. “It looked beautiful while you worked on it, but seeing the whole thing at once is breathtaking.” Then he pointed to one square. “I love all of it, but that’s my favorite.”
“Mine too.” She’d put their square right under the central heart.
Rachel retrieved the small container she’d put aside behind the table, and filled a paper plate with pink-iced hearts, and hid a special one behind her back.
“Mmm . . . sugar cookies always remind me of your loving heart.” He handed her a pink heart. “And this reminds me how much I love you and that I married the most wunderbar woman in the world.”
“You still think so?”
“I do, and I always will.”
“Ach, Josh, you say the sweetest things.”
“That’s because I have the sweetest wife.” He lifted a teasing brow. “One who bakes the best sugar cookies I’ve ever eaten.”
Rachel pulled the large, soft sugar cookie heart from behind her back. “I know you like these the best.” She put on her flirtiest look. “For the sweetest husband. Will you be my Valentine?”
“Forever and always.”
And Rachel thanked God He had blessed her with the sweetest, most wunderbar husband ever. And she repeated her gratitude as they stopped in a secluded spot on their way home to gaze at the moon and spend precious time alone together. She prayed for many more of these star-spangled nights together along with love-filled days spent with their growing family.