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hear joyous
     sounds of laughter coming from the yard, where her younger brothers raced through
     the fallen leaves, chasing each other, as well as the dog they’d recently acquired.
     He’d been abandoned at the schoolyard, and the boys had brought the mutt home. Of
     course, Mom couldn’t say no to their sad looks, so now Freckles, the brown-andwhite
     mixed terrier, had a new home.
    Meredith’s thoughts went to Fritz. When she and Levi moved here, she’d have to bring
     the dog along. She wondered how well he’d get along with Freckles. If it turned out
     to be a problem, she might have to ask Luke’s folks to take Fritz. That had been his
     home before Luke and Meredith got married, so maybe he’d be happy there.
    Meredith was glad Luke’s parents had been invited to join them for dinner. Since none
     of Luke’s siblings had been able to come for Thanksgiving, Sadie and Elam would have
     been alone today if Mom hadn’t extended the invitation.
    Meredith had been feeling a lot better about things since Sadie now accepted the idea
     of her being courted by Jonah. She hadn’t said anything to Mom or anyone else in the
     family, but she had a feeling Jonah would ask her to marry him sometime in the spring.
     She’d begun praying about what her response should be. She cared deeply for Jonah
     and was sure he would be a good father to Levi. But did she love Jonah enough to be
     the kind of wife he deserved?
    Pushing her thoughts aside, Meredith noticed the low-hanging clouds that threatened
     to unleash the drizzle that had been predicted for Lancaster County. That was okay
     with her. She was never disappointed when Thanksgiving Day was overcast or even snowy.
     It was sort of a prelude to the Christmas season.
    Continuing to stare out the window, as her breath steamed the glass, Meredith looked
     beyond the yard into the fields, catching sight of the baled hay that was ready to
     be brought into the barn.
    Suddenly, an image of Luke came to mind, and she was reminded of last Thanksgiving,
     when they’d had the meal at their house. They’d invited both of their families to
     join them for the feast, and everyone had been in good spirits throughout the day.
     Even though Meredith had been a bit frazzled getting everything ready that morning,
     the meal and all the trimmings she’d prepared had turned out quite well.
    Meredith rested her forehead against the cool window glass and sighed. When she’d
     first learned that Luke had been killed, she’d felt guilty for all the times they’d
     disagreed on things and thought she could never be happy again. Now, just ten months
     later, she felt a sense of peace, and a reason to go on living. Not only had God blessed
     her with a precious son, but now she had Jonah and his friendship.
    Soon everyone would be sitting around the tables. It would be wonderful to enjoy Thanksgiving
     with those who meant so much to her.
    My son is blessed, even though he doesn’t know it yet
, she thought.
If things work out between me and Jonah, Levi might end up having three sets of loving
     grandparents instead of the normal two. Well
,
I shouldn’t let my thinking get carried away; Jonah hasn’t asked me to marry him yet
.
    Meredith headed back to the kitchen to help with any last-minute tasks. One thing
     she wanted to make sure was that when all the family sat down to dinner, the bowl
     of mashed potatoes would be sitting right next to her plate. Everyone knew Meredith
     got first dibs on her favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast.

CHAPTER 4
Bird-in-Hand
    W here’s Dad?” Jonah asked when he stepped into the living room and found his mother
     on the sofa by herself. “We need to leave now if we’re gonna be on time for Laurie
     and Kevin’s wedding.”
    “He went out to the buggy shop. Said he wanted to check on something before we left,”
     she replied.
    Jonah grunted. “He picked a fine time to be doing that. We should be on the road already.”
    Mom flapped her