Chapter 38
The temptation to peek at the crowd gathered in the Hershbergers’ barn gripped Bonnie. She gritted her teeth. Nope. Not doing
it. Acting as one of Sophia’s witnesses was an important, somber responsibility. Bonnie needed to focus on the matter at hand.
She wasn’t a moony-eyed teenager with a crush.
One of the witnesses stood at an angle between Bart and Matthew. He signed the vows, even though the groom was wearing his
new hearing aids. Bart had said he wanted to make sure that there was no misunderstanding or not hearing these lifelong vows.
Not that every Plain couple who got this far didn’t know the vows by heart, having heard them hundreds of times during a lifetime
of attending weddings.
Bart’s voice droned on. Last night’s cooling bath was a distant memory. The temperature approached ninety without a hint of
a breeze. The air in the barn hung heavy with humidity. A baby whimpered. Sophia’s great-grandfather snored gently from his
bench seat on the front row. Sophia’s cheeks were bright pink; the blue dress Bonnie and Carol had helped her sew made her
cornflower-blue eyes all the more brilliant. She seemed on the verge of bursting with happiness.
This day couldn’t get any better. A best friend marrying. Danki, Gott, what a blessing. Danki for giving Sophia the desire of her heart.
Dare Bonnie add a selfish PS to the prayer? Not today. After a fitful night with troubled dreams, she still couldn’t see through
the fog to her future. She shook a mental finger at herself. This was Sophia’s long-awaited day.
Whatever Your plan is for me, Gott, I will do my best to accept it. Even if this is as good as my days get in the future.
The merest hint of a breeze found its way through the barn slats and touched Bonnie’s face. Bits of dust and hay danced in
the sunlight that entered the mammoth building by the same means. Light in the darkness.
Bow to God’s will. He didn’t ask so very much. Bonnie bit back a sigh. God was good. Scripture told her so. He could bring
good from all circumstances. Even from SMA. Even from a car accident that left her best friend paralyzed. Even from spina
bifida.
She sneaked a glimpse at Carol. Her friend beamed so hard that her cheeks surely hurt. Carol was as excited for Sophia as
she would’ve been had it been her own wedding day. She was a good friend. They hadn’t said so aloud, but they’d acknowledged
that life would be different now. Sophia was the first to marry. Until she and Matthew decided to adopt, she would keep working
at the store. Another blessing in a day of many.
Help me keep an attitude of gratitude, Gott, sei so gut.
Finally the last of the vows were spoken. Bart joined Sophia’s small hands with Matthew’s oversized, calloused hands and said
the final words. A tall man who could use a few more pounds on his lanky body, Matthew pushed Sophia’s chair back to the women’s
side. Wearing a grin that was his best feature, he joined his father and brothers on the men’s side. Bonnie rolled to the
third row, where her mom sat next to Aunt Frannie and her girls.
Just a quick gander. Bonnie cast her gaze across the crowded barn. More than one hundred fifty guests would attend the reception. Only about seventy-five fit in the barn for the church service.
Elijah was one of them. He sat toward the middle between Emmett and Declan. The rest of the Miller men filled the fourth row,
a series of cookie-cutter faces with blue eyes and dimples, a bit of blond hair visible under their black hats, some with
beards, others not.
Elijah’s head came up. His gaze connected with Bonnie’s. A hint of a smile. A soft throat clearing.
Bonnie dragged her gaze from Elijah’s. Mom’s eyebrows got a workout. “Jah, jah,” Bonnie whispered. She sat at the end of the
row and left the rollator by her side in the aisle.
“What are you looking at?” Mom whispered.
“Nothing.”
“Didn’t look like nothing.”
They knelt for the benediction. Rose for a final hymn.
Then it was over.
“I’m to help with serving.” Mom stood. “What are you doing?”
“Washing dishes for the lunch.” Others would have shifts for the evening meal, which would be even more elaborate.
“After you eat at the eck , of course.”
Bonnie would rather not. The tradition of the newlyweds reserving seats at their corner wedding table for their unmarried
friends in order to pair up existing couples or matchmake new couples had long been a thorn in Bonnie’s side. “We’ll see.
I’m not very hungry.”
God’s plan. God’s timing. Bonnie almost groaned. Sorry, Gott, I didn’t mean to forget so quickly. Really.
“Walk with us up to the house?”
Bonnie turned. With Matthew behind her and Carol at her side, Sophia beamed up at Bonnie. The question was delivered in a tremulous voice, but out of sheer joy, not tears. As brides went, Sophia was by far the most beautiful Bonnie had ever seen. And the happiest. She was so sure of herself, of her love for Matthew, and his for her. So positive, she was willing to take lifetime vows. In sickness and in health. Come what may for her and for Matthew. To be so certain. To have so much faith—not only in God, but in herself and in Matthew. “Of course.”
Sophia reached out her hand. Bonnie took it. Sophia’s fingers were cold. Bonnie rubbed them between her hands. “Congratulations.”
She glanced up at Matthew. “To both of you.”
His grin stretching across his whiskerless face, Matthew nodded hard. “Danki.”
He was a man of few words, but the joy inscribed on his plain face spoke for him.
Together they joined the stream of people chattering, laughing, and jostling their way from the barn into the blinding sunlight.
Person after person stopped them to offer their congratulations. People from Lee’s Gulch, but many who’d come from Lancaster
County for the festivities. Many people Bonnie hadn’t seen since the last wedding brought them to Virginia. Last fall? Or
maybe in the spring.
Slowly they made their way up the paved road between the barn and the house. The hum of dozens of conversations and the high-pitched
laughter of kids thrilled to race around after a three-hour service filled the air. The teenagers were already setting up
the volleyball net.
Mom trotted ahead with Frannie and their friends. Bonnie and her group took their time wheeling over the road that the Hershbergers had paved from the barn to the house to accommodate Sophia’s wheelchair. Within seconds, sweat slid down Bonnie’s back, tickling her spine. Her hands were slick on the rollator handles. Perspiration dampened her face. They rolled up the ramp and stopped on the porch so Matthew could open the door.
“Matthew, you go ahead, I’m right behind you.” Sophia signed the words even as she spoke them aloud. “I want to talk to my
friends for a second.”
Again Matthew nodded, but he signed a few words. Bonnie didn’t know much American Sign Language, but she recognized the signs
for I love you .
Sophia shot him a smile. “Right behind you.”
He slipped inside.
“I want to thank you for being my friends.” Sophia’s face was damp with more than perspiration. This time her voice quavered
through tears. “These past few years at the store have been so happy. If I’d never met Matthew, I could’ve gone on forever,
content. Working with you two. You’re like schweschdre. I have loved every minute of it.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Carol leaned a crutch against the railing so she could duck down for a hug. “But we’re not going anywhere.
This isn’t farewell.”
“Nee, but it does feel like the end of a season.” Sophia patted her face with a handkerchief. “I feel like I ran ahead—I know
how ridiculous that sounds. You can be this happy where you are. If anyone knows that, I do. But this is something so special.
I want you to have it too. To have it all. Don’t doubt it for a minute. Don’t doubt yourself. That’s it. That’s all I wanted
to say.”
Wiping at her cheeks with the crumpled handkerchief, Sophia ducked her head and hiccupped a sob. “Don’t mind me, I’m just
a little emotional today.”
“I can’t imagine why.” Laughing, Bonnie wheeled her rollator around so she could sit down to talk to Sophia without towering over her. “We promise to be happy, no matter what happens. You just said you would’ve been content with life as it was before you met Matthew. So can I. Marriage and a family would be icing on the cake, for sure and for certain, but I love my life right now.”
Maybe if she said it enough, she would believe it. She’d been happy, content at least, until Elijah Miller stood at the shop’s
door, a box of toys in his arms, upending her world.
“Sure you do, but don’t sell yourself short. You have the possibility of a wunderbarr life shared with another person you
love so much, you can’t imagine life without him. It fills you up until you could burst with happiness. I’m not exaggerating,
I promise.”
“It must be crazy wunderbarr—most people want to do it,” Bonnie conceded. “But life can be gut even without marriage and a
mann and the whole kit and kaboodle. Gott’s plan is Gott’s plan.”
Her words sounded so faithful. God would be justified in smiting her on the spot. Fortunately, He was merciful and gracious.
The sheer enormity of her happiness when Elijah had kissed her—and she kissed him right back—couldn’t be denied. She wanted
it. She wanted the whole kit and kaboodle. What did God have in mind for her? Could I get a hint, Gott?
“I think I might know the feeling you’re talking about soon.” Carol lowered her voice so much that Bonnie and Sophia had to
lean forward to hear. “I think Ryan is going to ask me to marry him.”
“I knew it.” Sophia squealed. “I knew it.”
“You did not.”
“Did too. I saw him staring at you during church last week. He had that hang-hund expression on his face. He’s a goner.”
“Did not. Is not.”
“Then what makes you think he’s going to pop the question?” Bonnie inserted the question before the two friends could squabble
more. “How could you even tell?”
“He wants to go for a buggy ride tonight, even though he got up before dawn to help set up here. When I told him I might be too tired, he said it would be a short ride, just long enough for us to talk about... things. That’s how he put it: ‘things.’ His face got all red, and he kind of stuttered.”
Another wedding loomed around the next curve. Happiness for her friends enveloped Bonnie. God was good and wise. Especially
wise. He would do what was best for her friends and her—whether she liked it or not. She stifled a sigh. “That’s wunderbarr.
I can’t wait until tomorrow. You can tell us all about it at the store.”
The door opened. Sophia’s mom stuck her head out. “There you are, Sophia. Your mann is sitting at the eck all by his lonesome.”
Despite her words, she smiled. “They’ll be serving your table first. Get a move on. You maed too. Your seats are waiting for
you.”
“On our way.” Carol grabbed her crutch. “Hold the door for us.”
Bonnie moved aside to allow the bride to go first, then Carol.
“Bonnie, wait.”
At this rate all the dishes from the first round of meals would be washed before she made it to the kitchen. It sounded like
Elijah, just for a second. She swiveled, midday sun shining in her eyes. She squinted and put her hand to her forehead. Theo
strode toward her. A younger man with the same lanky frame and loose-jointed gait accompanied him. “You’re back.”
What a silly thing to say. Stating the obvious.
“I’d like you to meet my suh.” Theo mounted the steps. “This is Noah.”
“You’re here.” Seriously. Get a grip. Noah had his dad’s teak eyes and tanned face, but his was clean-shaven. His lopsided smile matched his father’s without the
lines. Bonnie nodded in his direction. “Bewillkumm to Lee’s Gulch.”
“Danki.” Noah cocked his head toward Theo. “Dat has nothing but gut things to say about folks around here.”
How much had Theo told his son about Bonnie’s mother? About the farm? About Bonnie? The questions buzzed around her head like
riled-up wasps. “We’re a friendly bunch. Are you here for a visit or coming to stay?”
“That depends.”
Bonnie waited for Theo to explain. The three-syllable response hung in the dank air. The pause grew awkward. “It was nice
to meet you. I should get inside. The dirty dishes are piling up as we speak.”
“Wait.” Theo glanced around. He came a step closer. “Where might I find your mudder?”
In the kitchen filled with gossipy women or in the crowded living room serving plates mounded high with food. “She’s serving
today.”
“Ah.” Theo got her drift. “Are you hungry, Suh?”
Noah shrugged. “I could eat.”
“We’ll find a place to sit inside.” Theo reached past Bonnie and pulled the door open. “We should all go inside before the
folks out here spin an entire yarn around what we’re talking about here on the porch.”
Bonnie surveyed the yard. Men had gathered around picnic tables under the elms and oaks that shaded the house. Teenage servers
placed pitchers of water, along with silverware rolled into paper napkins, on the tables. The hum of conversation had died
down. The quiet was unsettling. “I guess folks don’t have enough to do that they have to worry themselves about something
that’s none of their business.”
“Some things never change.” Theo chuckled. “They’re probably already planning another wedding.”
“Yours or mine?”
The question came out before Bonnie’s brain bothered to examine it for pitfalls. A single Plain woman did not have this conversation
with a Plain man and his son. “Es dutt mer. Don’t answer that.”
This time Noah chuckled. He sounded just like his dad. “You certainly are direct. I like that. But I’m spoken for.”
Relief whooshed through Bonnie. “I’ll just go inside before I put my foot in my mouth again.”
She scooted away as fast as her rollator would allow. The Beiler men’s soft, kind laughter followed.