produce a new baby, it seemed. Obvious as it was to the most casual glance, no one would mention the expected newcomer in mixed company until the babe was safe in its cradle. Things were different in the outside world, but now that he was here, it behooved him to keep Amish customs, so he kept his gaze firmly on Jessie’s face.
“Your brothers will be so happy to see you.” Seizing the bell, she gave it a few more loud clangs. “If only you’d told me, I’d have had something fancier planned than the chicken potpie we’re having.”
He grinned at the predictable words. Every Amish woman, it seemed, was born wanting to feed people. “You couldn’t have anything I’d want more than genuine Amish potpie,” he said. “There’s nothing like it where I’ve been living.”
The worry left Jessie’s face and she smiled, her hand moving probably unconsciously over her stomach. “That’s gut, then. We’ll have to feed you up now that we have a chance.”
There was a thunder of small feet behind her, and a little boy bolted onto the porch, then stopped short at the sight of a stranger. He was followed a second later by a slightly bigger girl. The boy had to be Timothy, the nephew he hadn’t met—straight, silky blond hair, blue eyes that were wide with wondering who he was. The boy was five, from what Onkel Zeb said in his letters. And Becky, at seven looking enough like her brother to be his twin, would be one of Sally’s scholars, he guessed.
“Hi, Timothy. Becky.” It sounded awkward, and that was how it felt. How did he talk to the niece and nephew he’d never met?
“Mammi?” Timothy clutched Jessie’s skirt, and both kinder looked up at her.
“It’s all right. This is your onkel Aaron, Daadi’s brother. You’ve heard us speak of him.”
The boy nodded, looking at him with those big eyes. “Onkel Aaron,” he repeated, but he didn’t let go of his mother’s skirt. The girl, a bit braver, actually came closer. “Wilkom, Onkel Aaron.”
“Wilkom.” Another voice repeated the word with a slight edge.
Aaron turned to face his oldest brother, Caleb. He was the one who’d spoken. Close behind Caleb was Daniel, beaming as if it were Christmas. It was Daniel who moved first, throwing an arm across Aaron’s shoulders.
“Ach, about time you were getting here. They were all starting to think I’d imagined finding you.” He gave Aaron a quick shake. “It’s wonderful gut to have you home. Ain’t so, Caleb?”
“Yah, for sure.” The tiniest of reservations colored Caleb’s voice. “Wilkom,” he said again. There was a small, awkward pause before he went on. “So, Aaron, tell us. Are you home to stay? Are you ready to be Amish again?”
There it was, the last question he wanted to answer, and the first one anyone asked. Are you ready to be Amish again?
He didn’t know. He just didn’t know.
For an instant, Aaron felt like heading right back to the road. But before he could frame an answer, Onkel Zeb stepped in.
“Komm, now.” He put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “We asked Aaron to visit, ain’t so? If he should be thinking of making that kind of decision—ach, it’s not one to make lightly. We will enjoy visiting for now.”
There was a hint of sternness in his words, and Caleb looked suitably abashed.
“Onkel Zeb is right, as always.” His smile warmed his face. “Wilkom back, little bruder. We’re wonderful glad you’re here.”
“Denke.”
Returning the smile, Aaron suspected his brother still wanted to hear an answer to his question, but at least he wouldn’t press. Obviously Onkel Zeb still exerted his quiet influence over the family.
Funny, now that he thought about it. Onkel Zeb never scolded or argued, not even when the three of them had been at their most obnoxious. He just had a way of looking at a person and then saying a quiet word. And somehow it always worked.
“You must be hungry,” Jessie said quickly as if to do her part to change the subject. “Let me fix you a little something to last you until supper.”
Aaron actually found himself relaxing enough to chuckle. “Not just yet, denke, Jessie. I stopped for lunch not long ago, so I’ll save myself for your chicken potpie. Maybe I can just have a look around.”
“For sure.” Daniel grabbed his backpack and tossed it on the porch. “Let’s have a look at my workshop. That’s new since you’ve been here, ain’t so?”
No one else jumped in with a different suggestion, so he figured he wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings by seeing the shop first. “Sure thing. Show me what kind of businessman you are.”
It was Caleb’s turn to chuckle. “He’s a better carpenter than a businessman, ain’t so? He loves the building and hates sending the bills.”
Daniel just grinned, his placid temperament not easily upset by teasing. “True. That’s why I’m marrying Rebecca. I figure the way she runs her quilt shop so well, she’ll turn me into a businessman pretty fast.”
“You just want her to keep the books for you,” Caleb said. “Get on with you and show off your shop. Maybe Aaron can help with the milking later, if he hasn’t forgot how.”
There might have been a question in the words. “That’s not something easy to forget,” Aaron said. “It’ll come back to me in a hurry.”
Caleb seemed satisfied with that answer. Murmuring something about work to be done in the barn, he moved off and Jessie disappeared into the house, probably thinking about supper. That left Onkel Zeb and the kids to tag along as they headed for the shop.
Before they’d gone a few steps, Aaron felt his hand grabbed by Timothy. He glanced down at the boy, a bit surprised that he’d decided to be friends so quickly. Timothy’s blue eyes were wary, but he obviously had something to say.
“We’re going to have a new cousin,” he whispered.
“You are?” The boy was soon going to have a little sister or brother, but what was this about a cousin?
Becky took his other hand, not to be outdone by her little brother. “Yah. A boy cousin.” She looked as if she’d prefer a girl cousin. “Onkel Daniel and Rebecca are getting married, so her little boy, Lige, will be our cousin.”
“That’s wonderful gut, ain’t so? You’ll get a cousin big enough to play with right away.”
Becky mused, her small forehead wrinkled. “You mean he won’t be a baby, yah? But he’s littler than me. He’s in first grade now.”
“That means you get to be the big cousin. You can help him with lots of things.” From what he remembered, little girls liked that.
She nodded gravely. “I can help him with his spelling. Teacher Sally will like it if I do.”
“I’m sure she will.” He tried to picture Sally as a teacher and failed completely. He couldn’t deny that she’d grown up, but it seemed to him she was much too pretty and lighthearted to be a teacher.
“Teacher Sally is nice,” Timothy contributed. Then he glanced at his sister. “Race you to the shop.” He took off even before he finished, and she chased after him.
Aaron glanced at Daniel. “Nope,” he said after a minute. “I don’t see you as a married man.”
“That’s what we all said until Rebecca came home next door and started her quilt shop. She hired a carpenter and ended up with a future husband.” Onkel Zeb chuckled. “Though there were days I thought he’d never make up his mind as ask her.”
“I