Annie sure hadn’t expected Louisa to be dressed the way she was. She honestly wasn’t sure how she expected Louisa to look, really. She was quite sure Daed would be distressed, though, once he came in from the barn and met their English visitor.
A mite taller than Annie anticipated her to be, Louisa also looked much too skinny. Like the painfully thin catalog models in tight-fitting blue jeans and hyacinth-colored linen shirts over matching camisole tees. She knew of such descriptions and colors only from having paged through the ads at Julia’s. She had no idea why the catalogs came in the mail there, since her cousin sewed all her own clothes, as well as little Molly’s dresses and nightgowns. Still, it was interesting to see the different types of shoes and purses and whatnot. She’d even peeked at the fine jewelry section—rings, bracelets, and necklaces—knowing she’d probably never wear such things, but they were awful easy on the eyes.
‘‘Come, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping. Yonie’s out hunting, hopin’ to get his first deer this year, so you’ll have his room for the time being.’’ She started up the stairs, still holding the two pieces of luggage, the nicest-looking suitcase and tote she’d ever seen, and motioned for Louisa to follow her.
‘‘Hey, I’m not helpless,’’ Louisa said, trying to wrestle away the suitcase while still carrying Muffin.
Annie laughed. ‘‘If you want to help so much, then you can finish washing and drying all of Mamm’s dishes for tomorrow’s noon meal. We’ll feed about two hundred and fifty people, how’s that?’’
‘‘That’s a bunch.’’
‘‘Well, wait till you see how many attend our weddings.’’ She stopped at the top of the stairs and waited for Louisa to catch up. ‘‘Ach, I’m sorry to mention that right off.’’
‘‘Don’t worry, Annie. I’m not super sensitive about it.’’
‘‘Well . . . you know. I think we both need some pampering, jah?’’
‘‘For sure.’’ Louisa smiled.
‘‘By the way, breakfast comes early on Sunday mornings, ’specially when we have Preaching here.’’
‘‘I’ll be awake in plenty of time,’’ Louisa said. ‘‘Remember, I’m a morning person . . . like you.’’
‘‘But your body clock’s two hours behind us here, jah?’’
It was Louisa’s turn to laugh. ‘‘I’ll just set my Palm to go off before dawn.’’ Then she seemed to remember something. ‘‘Oh, no! That won’t work.’’
‘‘What won’t?’’
Louisa shook her head. ‘‘There’s no place to recharge, right?
No electricity here. Duh . . . I should know this!’’
‘‘Unless you want to head down to Cousin Julia’s right away. She and Irvin have electric,’’ Annie said. ‘‘But, honestly, you won’t have any trouble wakin’ up. Our peacocks have a built-in alarm clock, trust me on that.’’
She led Louisa down the hall, stopping to point out her own room. ‘‘See there? That’s the desk where I write to you.’’
‘‘Sweet.’’ Louisa hurried into Annie’s bedroom, cat carrier and all.
Annie set down the luggage and moved the desk out from the wall to show the date and initials carved into the back.
‘‘Your dad made this?’’
‘‘It was a big birthday surprise when I was twelve. I got spoiled that year.’’ Annie watched her friend sitting on the chair where she’d pondered so often what should or shouldn’t be shared in her letters to an outsider.
Just then, Louisa turned and looked up at her. ‘‘This is so wild. I’ve tried to picture you, your room . . . everything. You have no idea how terrific this is.’’
‘‘Ach, I feel the same way, havin’ you visit.’’ Annie suddenly thought of their bath routine tonight and cringed. What’ll she think when she finds out about Saturday night baths? Will she turn right around and make a beeline for home?
But she didn’t reveal the bath routine. She just kept smiling, and Louisa did, too, like they were long-lost friends; except they knew they weren’t that at all.
‘‘Come, let’s get you settled.’’
Annie was amazed at the ‘‘slide show’’ in Louisa’s Palm, as Louisa called it—one image after another of the watercolor and oil paintings in the recent exhibit. ‘‘You must be so happy ’bout your students,’’ said Annie, looking intently, and then holding the gadget when Louisa handed it to her. ‘‘What do I do with it?’’
‘‘Just watch.’’
‘‘It goes all by itself?’’
‘‘Yep.’’
She’d heard of some of the womenfolk in other church districts being allowed to own cell phones, but she’d never seen anything like this. ‘‘It’s hard to believe . . . such clear pictures in a little device.’’ She looked at Louisa. ‘‘What will your students do without you while you’re here?’’
‘‘Oh, don’t worry . . . they have plenty of assignments.’’
‘‘A whole month’s worth?’’
‘‘At least.’’ Louisa turned off her Palm. ‘‘That’s enough for now,’’ she said. ‘‘Want to help me unpack?’’
‘‘Sure.’’ But as Louisa removed her colorful clothes from her suitcase, Annie was quite surprised. There were a number of outfits, and for all different occasions, it seemed—dress up, work, play, and everything in between. Foreign as anything she’d ever seen, as fancy as the catalog pages at Julia’s. There was even a separate pull-out case for Louisa’s bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.
Annie bit her lip, wishing she might persuade her friend away from such ornamentation while she was here, at least. Contemplating the potentially awkward situation, she continued helping Louisa organize her clothes.
Out of the blue, Louisa stopped what she was doing. ‘‘It’s surprising that you and your family would open your home to me. I’m really grateful.’’
Annie touched her arm. ‘‘You’re truly welcome.’’ She leaned over to line up Louisa’s shoes beneath the wooden wall pegs. ‘‘We enjoy havin’ company, believe me. My mother loves to cook . . . likes havin’ lots of feet beneath her dinner table.’’
‘‘Cooking is one of my passions, too. Sometime while I’m here, I’d like to treat all of you to one of my favorite recipes. Deal?’’
‘‘I’m sure Mamm will be more than happy to take you up on it, but we’ll help you with the wood stove, of course.’’
‘‘Oh, I didn’t think of that.’’ Louisa’s eyes were mischievous. ‘‘I might present the family with a burnt offering, which would never do.’’ She reached down and unzipped the pet carry bag. ‘‘I hope my kitty’s welcome to stay . . . here in the bedroom. Is it all right?’’
Annie wondered when Louisa might mention Muffin. ‘‘Well, since he’s a city cat he must be used to lots of pamperin’, jah?’’
Lifting out the lump of grayish-blue fur, Louisa snuggled her nose into his neck. ‘‘There’s my sweet boy. Aw, such a good traveler you are.’’
‘‘Our mouse catchers in the barn never had it this fine.’’ Annie laughed, enjoying the sight of Louisa and her cat. She’d heard so much about ‘‘precious Muffin this,’’ ‘‘darling Muffin that’’ for the past year or so, since Louisa had gotten her new place after college graduation.
Louisa set her kitty on the floor, and immediately Muffin disappeared beneath the ruffled white bed skirt.
For good measure, Annie hurried to close the door. In case he decides to make a run for it. Returning to sit on the bed, she decided now was a good time to tell Louisa about the evening’s activities. ‘‘Since we’re hosting the Preaching service tomorrow, there’ll be a group of men comin’ later this afternoon to remove some of the interior walls—to make an open space large enough for the meeting. The bench wagon will arrive soon after.’’
Louisa nodded. ‘‘I’m fascinated to see how everything is set up.’’
‘‘Well, some of Mamm’s helpers will start arriving at seven-thirty tomorrow morning. It gets awful busy round here on Preaching days.’’
‘‘I don’t want to be in the way,’’ Louisa insisted. ‘‘Just tell me what to do and when.’’
Should I say something about fitting in just yet? Annie wondered, not wanting to stare at Louisa’s shiny pink lips or her dangling earrings. Rather, she zeroed in on her thoughtful aqua blue eyes, but even they were made up too much.
Then, as though sensing her concern, Louisa said, ‘‘I brought along several skirts and dresses. Wouldn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb here.’’ Promptly Louisa held up a bright red shirtdress, a tiny flap-style pocket on the upper left bodice. The other dress she showed Annie was a solid lime green, a bit low cut, and the color shouted, ‘‘Lookee here at me!’’
Annie held her breath. The dresses, if they were Louisa’s only choices, were much too loud for Preaching service.
‘‘Knowing your people as you do, Annie, which would be best for church tomorrow?’’
Ach, neither one! She was at a terrible loss for words.
Right away, Jesse was in a quandary, seeing Annie’s friend enter the kitchen looking like Jezebel herself.
What have we done? Even as he thought this, he scooted his chair back from the head of the table. He felt strongly the importance of showing respect to their guest even though she was bejeweled, made up to kingdom come, and wearing fancy clothes . . . a man’s pair of trousers, in all truth.
‘‘Welcome to our house.’’ He extended his hand.
‘‘Thank you, uh . . . Mr. Zook. Well, Preacher Zook is better, isn’t it?’’ She shook his hand and smiled.
He could see she was trying hard to be polite, though he was also mighty sure she was terribly uncomfortable. Still, he recalled the curious words spoken by Preacher Moses regarding Annie and her visitor and hoped that just maybe Louisa’s coming might prove to be providential indeed.
Annie insisted on Louisa sitting next to where Mamm always sat at the table. Louisa offered repeatedly to carry over the serving platters, but Mamm was adamant about her being ‘‘waited on’’ for the first meal with the family.
Meanwhile, Dawdi and Mammi Zook came over from the Dawdi Haus, the connecting addition to the main house, Mammi leaning on both her cane and Dawdi’s arm. ‘‘Well, who do we have here?’’ she asked, eyes bright as she leaned forward, wobbling a bit.
‘‘Louisa Stratford has come to stay awhile,’’ Daed spoke up.
‘‘Well, it’s very nice to meet you, young lady,’’ Mammi said, nodding her head and smiling.
‘‘Where’d you come from?’’ asked Dawdi, his pure white beard touching his chest.
Before Louisa could answer, Annie volunteered. ‘‘She’s all the way from Denver, Colorado.’’ Not from Mars!
‘‘Well, now, I hope ya didn’t walk,’’ said Dawdi, a twinkle in his eye.
Louisa shook her head, smiling. ‘‘Two thousand miles is a long way.’’
‘‘She flew on a plane,’’ Mamm spoke up. The comment put a slight damper on things until Luke and Omar wandered in from the barn, looking disheveled. Annie waited till both had washed up at the sink, and then she introduced them to Louisa, as well.
Luke blushed and muttered ‘‘hullo,’’ as though he ought not to be looking at such a fancy woman.
But Omar stuck his hand out and smiled big, his brown eyes shining. ‘‘Nice to meet ya.’’
‘‘And you, too,’’ said Louisa, smiling back.
When they were all seated, following Daed’s silent mealtime prayer, Mamm carried the conversation, asking Louisa about her family. To this Louisa summed up her father’s work, saying merely that he was a busy attorney and that her mother kept occupied with her social groups, including a monthly book club.
‘‘Oh, a book club, you say?’’ Omar’s eyes shone. ‘‘I’m curious ’bout that.’’
Mamm clammed up quickly, casting a glance at Annie, a question mark on her face.
Louisa continued on. ‘‘Last count, there were eight bookworms in the group. Two men, the rest women. They choose a book to read each month, then meet for coffee and dessert at someone’s house and talk about it.’’
‘‘Sounds interesting,’’ Daed spoke up suddenly. ‘‘What sort of books?’’
Here we go, thought Annie.
Louisa shrugged. ‘‘Oh, all kinds. This month it’s Grisham’s latest novel.’’
‘‘Who’s that?’’ Omar asked, his left suspender drooping off his shoulder.
‘‘The author, John Grisham, writes courtroom thrillers, for the most part.’’ Louisa said this with such certainty that Annie was sure Louisa had also read them. ‘‘My mother’s book club reads everything from CIA suspense to alternate reality,’’ Louisa added.
Daed frowned, clearly mystified. ‘‘I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this alternate reality. What do you mean by it?’’
Louisa paused, reaching for her water glass. She looked so peculiar with her eyelashes long and dark, as showy as the English tourists who visited the quilt shops and the many roadside stands up and down Harvest Road. ‘‘What if you could wake up and discover the dreams you have at night are actually real— your true life? So you’re walking around in your dream, but it’s really your life.’’
Luke chuckled and put his head down quickly, but Omar latched right on to Louisa’s comment. ‘‘I could go for a book like that, really!’’
Everyone laughed, including Daed.
‘‘I could go for ’bout any book if I could see the print,’’ Dawdi added.
Mammi wore a sly grin. ‘‘Oh, go on with ya, Pop.’’
Annie felt herself relaxing a bit. Her family was attempting to make Louisa feel comfortable. Still, a downright awkward predicament, to be sure.