She had spent every possible moment of the last two days with Levi in the hospital, watching him grow stronger, feeling happier than she ever had in her life. Levi’s mother had no objections once she saw that Rebecca returned Levi’s affection. The three of them spent visiting hours making plans for the future and joyfully anticipating becoming a family.
Rebecca and Levi decided that Levi would petition Rebecca’s fater as soon as he got out of the hospital. After that, he wanted to take Rebecca to see his new property.
“I’m seriously considering not letting you come to the house until I’ve fixed it up,” he had said. “If you see it in the condition it is now, you might reconsider our engagement.”
Rebecca smiled in anticipation. Levi didn’t know about the work the community had done on the house. The surprise would bowl him over.
Levi’s mom drove the buggy, because Levi was under strict orders to limit his activity. Rebecca knew how it galled him to be forced to bring his mom along for such an important visit.
Levi gingerly lowered himself from the buggy. His mom stayed put, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He took the steps in slow motion but grinned with excitement when he finally reached the porch.
Rebecca smiled back at him. She wasn’t as nervous as she probably should be. Fater might not give his approval, but she was determined to marry Levi with or without it. Arranged marriages had never been the Amish way, and Fater didn’t have power to keep her from marrying the man she loved to distraction, especially since Levi was a fine, upstanding Amish man with a newly renovated house.
He moved close to embrace her, but she stepped back slightly and took his hand.
His eyes twinkled. “You are holding my hand in public.”
“This is not public. This is my porch.”
“It’s still progress, kid.”
“Dream on, lung boy.”
Levi laughed and immediately groaned and wrapped an arm around his rib cage. “I’m not supposed to laugh. But I don’t know how they expect me to keep from laughing. I’m so darn happy.”
“Are you nervous?” Rebecca said.
“Terrified,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter what Fater says.”
“It does to me. I want to start off on the right foot.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“Probably.”
Rebecca led Levi into the front room, where Fater sat in the rocker reading
Die Botschaft
, the Amish newspaper. He looked over his glasses and made no secret of his displeasure at who stood in his front hallway. Frowning, he glanced at their hands, still clasped, and wadded his paper into a twisted mess before trying to refold it and then giving up altogether and tossing it onto the sofa.
“What does he want?” Fater said.
His tone of voice summoned the agitation that Rebecca hadn’t experienced earlier. Better explain before her airway closed. “He wants to talk to you, Fater.”
Fater removed his glasses and eyed Levi with distaste as he lifted his chin and dared Levi to make a friendly overture. “Sit down, then.”
Levi cleared his throat and sat, his back as rigid as a board.
Rebecca gave him one last resigned look and tiptoed out of the room. She should have gone straight to her bedroom to give them some privacy. Instead, she ducked around the corner into the kitchen and stood with her ear to the wall. Mamm sneaked up behind her, laid both hands on her shoulders, and leaned close. Rebecca gave her a look of shock, and Mamm put her finger to her lips to hush her.
In unison, Danny, Max, and Linda appeared from nowhere and gathered quickly and quietly around Rebecca. Rebecca wanted to shoo them away but couldn’t manage it without making too much noise. Danny smiled sheepishly, shrugged his shoulders, and knelt on the floor. He put his ear to the wall. Linda and Max leaned in to hear what was going on in the other room.
They stood in complete silence, straining to hear the conversation in the front room.
Levi got right to the point. “I have come to ask permission to marry your daughter.”
The ensuing silence grew thick.
“I am baptized,” Levi said. “I have employment, and I bought some property next to the old highway. I will take gute care of Rebecca, and I love her as if she were already flesh of my flesh.”
Rebecca’s heart fluttered. It was a good strategy to quote Scripture. Fater loved to quote Scripture.
“She will marry Marvin Yutzy,” Fater said.
“She wants to marry me,” Levi insisted. “We love each other. We would really like your permission.”
Again Fater drew out the silence. “I do not give it. Rebecca will marry one of our boys.”
“I know I am an outsider,” Levi said with calm humility. “But I have made my commitment to God.”
“You will decide you are tired of the Amish life and leave the community. I will not take that risk with my daughter’s heart. I do not give my permission.”
To Rebecca’s horror, Mamm sprang from her hiding place and stormed into the front room.
“Amos, I will not allow this,” she said. Her voice was strong and clear. Mamm could muster incredible courage in an emergency.
“Erla, this is a private conversation. Go back to bed.”
“You will not sabotage our daughter’s happiness,” Mamm said.
“I am not—”
“Husband, do not interrupt your wife.”
“Let me speak before—”
“You will listen to me,” Mamm said.
Fater sighed in frustration, but he kept quiet. Rebecca could only imagine what Levi must be thinking.
“Levi is a gute boy who has stuck by Rebecca for many months. They love each other. Don’t you dare separate what God has joined together.”
“The Almighty has nothing to do with this.”
“If you do not give permission for this marriage, I will pack up the buggy with the children and stay with my sister Emma. She has three extra rooms in that house, and she said I could come anytime my husband decided to be unreasonable. Are you eager to cook your own meals and wash your own clothes?”
“You wouldn’t do that. What will people say?”
Mamm’s voice increased in volume. “What will people say when it gets around that you think our daughter is too good for Levi Cooper? You have already sent the message that you are too good for their help. How much pride can you shoulder, Amos?”
Rebecca could imagine her fater squinting his eyes and lifting his chin in indignation. “That is not how I feel.”
“Make your decision wisely, Amos, or you will be living like a bachelor.”
Again, the quiet in the front room proved deafening. Levi was probably racking his brain desperately for something appropriate to say.
Fater finally spoke. “It is hard for a father to let another man take his daughter. He wonders if she will be treated well and taken care of. Little Becky is my jewel, and you are asking me to hand her over to you as if it were as easy as whistling. What you want requires a great deal of trust on my side. This is not a minor request.”
“I will never hurt her,” Levi said softly.
“We used to do everything together—fishing, chores, gardening. Then Dottie Mae died, and I got discouraged when I couldn’t make it better for her. I hope you will do better than I did.”
Rebecca felt the tears slip down her face. Her fater still loved her, as best he could.
Fater paused. Rebecca wished she could see what looks passed between them before he spoke again. “You have my permission to marry my daughter.”
Linda involuntarily let a soft squeal escape her lips. The four siblings looked at each other then tiptoed out the back door and sprinted to the front of the house where Levi stepped through the door with a big smile on his face.
Danny ran up the steps and threw himself into Levi’s arms. Levi grunted in pain but kept smiling so as not to discourage Danny’s enthusiasm. They walked down the stairs with Levi’s arm around Danny’s shoulder.
“We spied on you,” Danny said, unable to stop giggling. “We heard every word. I almost cheered out loud when Fater said yes.”
“Me too,” said Levi.
He shook Max’s hand and gave Linda a brotherly hug, his face starched into a permanent smile amd his movements slow and deliberate. With a wink, he wrapped his arm around Rebecca’s shoulders and squeezed her tightly when she tried to pull away.
Oh, very well. Let the whole world see.
Two people as in love as they were couldn’t be expected to act rationally. Engagement was the perfect excuse to throw caution to the wind.
“When will you be married?” Max said.
Linda’s cheerful expression faded. She slumped her shoulders and sank to the porch step. “I’ll be stuck doing all the chores, won’t I?”
Levi put a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Max and Danny know how to be men. They’ll pull their weight.”
“I guess,” said Max with a groan, but then he grinned, and Levi nodded back with unspoken understanding.
“I can be here several times a week to help with Mamm,” Rebecca said. “I’ll be married, not dead.”
“I want to show Rebecca my new house,” Levi said. “Well, my very old house. More of a shack, really. Do you all want to come? My mom said she could take us as soon as I secured your fater’s permission.”
“She was confident, then?” Rebecca said.
“No, she honestly didn’t think she’d ever be taking you to see the house. She was even less confident than I was.”
“So, in the depths of despair, basically?”
“Basically.”
“Five o’clock would be a good time to go over there,” Max said.
“It’s about four thirty. Let’s go now,” Levi said.
“Five o’clock is much better,” Max insisted. “You don’t want to rush anything.”
Levi raised an eyebrow. “What am I rushing?”
“You want to enjoy the first time Rebecca lays eyes on the house.”
“I don’t think so,” Levi said. “Better to get the horror over with sooner than later.”
“Danny, go ask Mamm and Fater if they would like to join us. We will hitch up our buggy,” Rebecca said.
“That will take a few minutes,” Max said.
“And Linda will want to fix her kapp, and I must find my green shawl and freshen up.”
“Hurry it up,” Levi said. “The sooner we get there, the more time you’ll have to get over your disappointment.”
Rebecca smiled to herself and bounded up the porch steps to show Levi that she was properly motivated. Mamm and Fater sat together in the front room. Mamm’s eyes were moist, and Fater looked as if he’d eaten something that disagreed with him.
“Your fater has agreed to find a work crew closer to home,” Mamm said.
Fater chewed on his words before he spit them out. “Now that you will be married.”
Rebecca didn’t know whether to rejoice or mourn at that decision. She felt sorry for Linda and the boys, but Mamm would have more help and Rebecca wouldn’t feel so bad about leaving. And perhaps Fater would not have so much to criticize once Rebecca was gone.
“We are going to see Levi’s house,” Rebecca said. “Would you like to come?”
“Your mother has had a long day,” Fater said.
Mamm laid a hand on Fater’s knee and patted twice. “We would be pleased to see it. Max has done so much work on it.”
Fater looked at Mamm’s hand then up at Rebecca. “I will hitch the buggy.”
“Levi doesn’t know about the work on the house. Don’t tell him anything until he sees it.”
Rebecca slowly washed her face and fixed her kapp just so. They needed to stall for a good fifteen minutes before getting underway. Fater helped quite a bit by taking his good time in hitching up the buggy—clearly a last-ditch effort to exert control, as he must have sensed it slipping through his fingers.
Once Fater brought the buggy around, another five minutes was necessary to load Mamm and see that she was comfortable. Rebecca rode with Levi and his mom. The others followed in the Millers’ buggy. They had taken enough time to get moving that their arrival at Levi’s place would be exactly on time.
Rebecca could barely contain her excitement. She was going to her house—her very own house to share with her beloved husband, to bear and raise little ones, to make precious memories with the people she loved. Levi’s joy would make hers that much greater.
Buggies lined the old highway a quarter mile from Levi’s property.
“What’s all this?” Levi said. His jaw dropped lower and lower, the more buggies they passed.
Once they passed a stand of trees, Levi’s house came into view—as did dozens of people waiting in his front yard.
He looked at his grinning mother and then at Rebecca. “Why are all these people here? And why is my roof a different color?”
His mom guided the horse over the deep ruts in the front yard and halted the buggy in the midst of Levi’s neighbors and friends. Kate and Nathaniel King stood out from the crowd, as did cousin Miriam, Luke Miller, Levi’s grandparents, and the men from the wood shop, in addition to other Amish and Englisch neighbors. Rebecca jumped from the buggy first. When Levi emerged, the crowd cheered.
Levi was rendered speechless, but the shock on his face was plain enough. “I—I don’t believe this,” he said.
Nathaniel shook his hand. “We’ve been meaning to fix up this old place. Glad we could finally do it. We wanted you to have a place to bring your bride, if you are ever able to talk someone into marrying you.”
Levi’s smile was a mile wide. “I have managed to do that.” He stared at the freshly painted siding and new windows. “The Amish really are the best people in the world.”
“You are one of us, remember? So don’t get a big head about it,” Nathaniel said.
“I never dreamed…” Levi’s voice cracked, and he burst into tears. “Thank you all so much.”
Nathaniel laughed. “
Oh, sis yuscht
, I’ve never met a man who cries so much.”
Levi wiped his eyes. “And you never will. I am a baby.”
Several people laughed with them as Nathaniel opened the door and motioned for Levi and Rebecca to go inside. “You two can walk through by yourselves. If you want the grand tour, come get me.”
“I helped with the Sheetrock,” Max said.
Levi and Rebecca stepped over the threshold, and Nathaniel closed the door behind them. They found themselves alone in the empty front room, a refinished hardwood floor under their feet. The rich darker and lighter shades of wood formed an intricate lattice pattern, and Rebecca felt as if she had stepped into a mansion.