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statement had the opposite effect than what she’d no doubt intended. It made him remember just how awkward it was going to be when he saw Miriam later tonight. If Joe was right, she had no idea he was going to visit merely to get help with another girl. When she realized that, her feelings were certainly going to be hurt.
    Giving his sister a little pat on her back, he said, “I’ll stop by the school tomorrow afternoon. Try not to worry, Kay. We’ll get things figured out.”
    After a brief hug, his little sister went back to the house. He took the opportunity to spend a few minutes by himself. To figure out how he was going to set things right with Miriam.

chapter five
    “Where are you and Junior planning to sit when he comes over? It’s a little too chilly to visit outside, don’tcha think?” her mother asked as she entered Miriam’s bedroom.
    “I guess I’ll bring him into the living room.” Miriam shrugged, pretending his visit didn’t matter to her all that much. Though she’d been staring at the same page of her novel for the last fifteen minutes, she certainly didn’t need her mother discovering that. Her mamm would become even more excited about her caller. Miriam had purposefully gone into her bedroom to read in an effort to appear nonchalant.
    “ Jah , I suppose that will be the best spot for him,” her mother agreed, looking distracted and a bit anxious. “Just so you know, I put some of the cookies you made this morning on a plate.”
    “ Danke . We have tay and lemonade, too. I’ll ask Junior if he wants anything to drink.”
    “I’ll get out the glasses. Should I make kaffi ?”
    Getting up from her rocking chair, Miriam shook her head. “ Nee , Mamm. And please, don’t do anything more. I’ll take care of the glasses and such. Junior’s only coming over for a bit. It’s nothing to get too excited about.”
    The look her mother gave her said she disagreed with that statement. Completely.
    “Miriam, I know it’s been a while, but a man expects to be welcomed into a house when he goes courting.”
    She would have laughed if her mother’s words weren’t so expected or so serious. “Everything will go fine, Mamm. Besides, he didn’t act like he was planning to stay long. Only that he wanted to talk to me about something.”
    “And we both know what that ‘something’ must be, don’t we?”
    Miriam said nothing, but she had a feeling her mother was right. She could only imagine one reason for Junior Beiler to talk to her in private, and at her house, no less! Feeling some of the same restlessness that her mother did, she carefully took off her kapp and took down her hair.
    Her mother crossed her arms over her chest and watched her, a winsome expression playing across her face.
    Now she was starting to feel a bit foolish. “I’ll be out soon.”
    Her mother’s lips curved as she watched Miriam brush her hair, then repin it neatly under her white kapp . “I have to say that I’m mighty happy for you, dear. For years I’ve been waiting for you to have callers. I was starting to wonder when that day would come.”
    Years! Nothing like a mother’s honesty to put things into perspective! “Me, too, Mamm.”
    After another meaningful look her way, her mother pattered back down the hall, finally leaving Miriam alone with her thoughts. Her jumbled, silly, exasperated thoughts.
    She did love her parents so much. But she was a late-in-life child, born almost ten years after her brother and sister. She’d barely started school when they’d been in the midst of their rumspringa . She’d been struggling with her cursive when they’d both become baptized and engaged.
    Now each had families of their own. Her sister, Teresa, had four children, and her brother, Nolan, had two.
    Over the years, her parents had been spending more and more time with Teresa and Nolan and their families. Now that they were retired, it wasn’t unusual for them to spend a week with Nolan in Medina and then