More than once that day, I thought of my mother and how much I wished she could have been at the wedding with us. But I had a peace about it, thanks to the legacy she had given me, the legacy of an Amish life.
For months I had saved the letter she’d written to Sarah, never quite feeling led to give it to her prior to now. But something told me this would be the day, especially given the sad moment she and I had shared together at Anna’s wedding the year before. Perhaps now Sarah could finally find some peace.
This time, I was the one who found her at the fence, focused on the horses.
“Missing your best friend?” I said, coming to a stop behind my aunt.
Sarah startled, and then she smiled when she turned and realized it was me. Her smile faded away just as quickly.
“Best friends don’t leave,” she said, shaking her head. “They don’t just run off without a word.”
Stepping closer, I pulled the letter from my pocket and handed it to her. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said. Then I explained how I had found the item she was holding and that it was an unfinished letter to her, one that my mother had started writing the day before she died.
Sarah’s face grew so pale that I took her arm and led her to a nearby stump, where she sat. As she unfolded the pages with trembling hands and began to read, I gave her shoulder a pat and then went in search of her husband.
I found Jonah in the barn and pulled him aside, telling him that his wife needed him out back.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, and for a moment, as I looked into his eyes, I felt a surge of bitterness. If not for the persistence of his affections, she would never have had to leave here in the first place.
Then again, I realized, had she never left, she never would have met my father—and I never would have been born.
“Just go to her,” I said, forgiveness surging in my chest as I realized God’s hand had been in all of it, every step of the way.
When I once again reached Rachel’s side, she gripped my hand under the table and held on tight.
“Where were you?” she whispered, a flash of fear in her deep blue eyes. “Not having second thoughts, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“No whispering to you from the outside, pulling you away?”
Looking back at her, all I could do was smile. “Oh, Rachel,” I said, holding her hand even tighter. “If you only knew. Trust me, I am exactly where I want to be. From now on, the only whisper I’ll be hearing in my ear is yours.”
She smiled back at me, the twinkle returning to her eye. “For the rest of your life?”
“For the rest of my life.” And then, in a very non-Amish display of affection, I kissed my new wife.
Afterward, I looked around the room at all who had gathered there, my mind returning to the words my mother had said that first time she’d told me about the pond on her parents’ farm.
There’s always another place besides the one where you are.
For such a long time I thought I had no place, neither here nor there. Now I knew that nothing could be further from the truth.
I had a place, all right. It was here in Lancaster County, right here amid my community, my family, my loved ones. Right by Rachel’s side.
Right where I had been all along.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. The pond at his grandparents’ farm holds a special place in Tyler Anderson’s heart. What are some of the reasons he is drawn to it?
2. What do you think the pond symbolizes? Is there a place or object at your childhood home that affects you in a similar way?
3. Was Duke’s decision to leave his son in the care of his grandparents the right thing to do? How might Tyler’s personality and character have been different had his mother not died? How about if Duke had kept him instead of sending him away?
4. Tyler’s little brother felt cheated of a relationship with his big brother. How valid are Brady’s feelings? Would you have felt the same way? What has been the influence of sibling relationships in your life?
5. When Tyler arrives in California, he is intent on fitting in and masking his Amish upbringing. Why do you think he felt the need to do that?
6. Tyler made a list of distinctions that were true of the Englisch world as he saw it. If you were to make a similar list about the non-Amish world, what would you include?
7. Had you been in Sadie’s shoes, would you have told Sarah the full truth about why you left Lancaster County? Why or why not?
8. What was Rachel afraid of when Tyler returned to Lancaster County? To what degree do love and trust work together?
9. Do you think Tyler’s Englisch family will continue to visit him in Lancaster County? Do you think Tyler will still have an influence on them even after he takes his membership vows?
10. Where do you see Rachel and Tyler in ten years? Do you think Tyler will still be drawn to visit the pond, or has he found peace at last?
The Amish Blacksmith
CHAPTER ONE
The muscles under the horse’s chocolate-brown flank rippled like wheat in wind as I pressed my hand against his warm side.