"I appreciate that. I'm sure Karl will as well."

"I've been talking to businesses around town," Hayes said. "Every day more people are on the fence. If you wait much longer, you won't have the help you need."

"We must wait for Karl," Rufus said firmly. "I gave him my word we would work together."

"That was before the explosion. Do you really think he expects the entire town to wait for him?"

"I don't presume to know what he expects," Rufus said. "I only know what I promised."

"The window is going to slam shut," Hayes said. "I'd hate for the whole project to go bust after all the hard work that has gone into it already."

"I hope that does not happen." Rufus picked up his sandpaper.

"Rufus," Tom said, "perhaps you should reconsider. There's a lot at stake."

"Talk to Karl," Hayes suggested. "It's your project more than it is his. Maybe he'll understand."

Rufus tilted his head. "I don't think we should be bothering Karl right now-certainly not to ask him to back out."

"He wouldn't be backing out so much as stepping aside. If he really cares about the project, he'll want it to move forward."

"When the time is right, it will move forward."

Hayes shook his head. "Okay, but don't be surprised if it's you and Kramer carrying the whole load."

"Thank you for the conversation, gentlemen." Rufus touched the brim of his hat.

The men drifted back down the aisle.

Tom pushed the cash register drawer closed. "Are you sure, Rufus? This is no time to be stubborn."

"Gottes wille," Rufus said softly. God's will. He picked up his sandpaper and stepped out into the sunlight.

A flash of Amish black caught his eye, and he blinked in the direction of the moving form.

Joel.

Rufus made up his mind in that moment. Joel was not his son, but someone had to talk to him.

Rufus moved quickly down the sidewalk. Only when he was close enough that Joel could not claim not to have heard him did Rufus call out his brother's name.

Joel stopped and turned.

"I did not know you were planning to come into town," Rufus said. "I would have asked you to make a few purchases and spared myself the trip."

"I didn't plan," Joel said. "Something came up."

"Oh?" Rufus wrinkled his forehead. "Is everything all right in the fields?"

"The fields are fine." Joel shifted his weight.

"Is everything all right between you and Daed?" Rufus nudged Joel a few steps down a side street.

"Of course."

"Daed has been very patient with you." Rufus crossed his arms over his chest. "Perhaps even to the point of indulgence."

"I get my work done." Joel moved his brown eyes to scan the street in both directions.

"What are you looking for, Joel?" Rufus did not waver.

Now Joel's eyes fastened on Rufus. "It's nothing."

Annie left the shop mumbling, Demut, demut, demut. She had finally convinced Mrs. Weichert to send her weekly ad to the newspaper in electronic format, and now the editor claimed the file had corrupted and insisted Annie must come to the publication's office and straighten things out. She tucked a printed copy of the ad in a folder just in case and set out down the block.

Two black hats, brims nearly touching to form a single platform, made her stop. She took two steps back and pressed herself against the brick wall of a shop to listen.

"It's nothing," Joel said.

"It does not seem like nothing, Joel," Rufus said. "You miss a lot of meals. You go into town without telling anyone. You don't seem interested in the farm. I see the looks Daed and Mamm give each other at dinner."

"It's nothing," Joel repeated. "Everything is under control."

"What is it that you have to control?"

Annie inched closer. Rufus had asked the question that haunted her. She felt the outside of her jeans pocket for the shape of Rufus's tiny chisel.

"I'm sure you have things to do." Joel was made of rock. He was giving his brother nothing to speculate about.

Now Annie's hand slid into her pocket, where her fingers gripped the chisel's handle.

"You're right. I do have things to do," Rufus said. "But we will finish this conversation later."

Annie had never heard Rufus be so firm with Joel. As she saw Rufus's shoulders turn, Annie ducked into the shop whose wall she had been holding up. She turned her back to the front window, busied herself looking at a row of mismatched teacups, and waited for the brothers to walk their separate way on the street. When she stepped back onto Main Street again, she headed to the newspaper office with the ad.

Then she would find Joel.

As she expected, she solved the technology glitch at the newspaper in a matter of seconds. She left the print copy of the ad as a backup. The whole transaction took no more than four minutes. Joel could not have gotten far.

In jeans and sneakers, it was simple enough to power walk a few blocks, detouring down a side street to avoid passing Mrs. Weichert's shop for the time being. She caught up with Joel as he ducked into the coffee shop.

This was the place where the puzzle pieces had fallen into place just a few minutes too late only four days ago. Annie tugged on the glass door and followed Joel in. A moment later she touched his elbow.

Down the block, Rufus set the packets of sandpaper under the seat of the small buggy. Only then did he remember his promise to his mother to bring home coffee beans. He glanced toward the coffee shop, smiling at the notion of taking his mother the gourmet beans she would never buy for herself.

Outside the plate glass window a few minutes later, Rufus paused. Shielding his eyes from the sun's glare, he peered through-and saw Joel.

And Annalise. They stood close together, their faces somber.

And Annalise was holding the tiny chisel from the set he had lost weeks ago.

Slowly, Rufus opened the door and stepped into the coffee shop. He approached Joel and Annalise.

"Tomorrow." Annalise thrust the chisel toward Joel. "Period. No discussion. Or I use this."

Joel turned, met Rufus's eyes, and strode out of the shop. Rufus did not try to stop him. It was Annalise he wanted to talk to now.

She looked shocked to see him and shoved the chisel into her pocket.

"That looked like a serious conversation."

"Yes, it was."

Rufus sucked in his bottom lip then pushed it out. If Annalise had been wearing an Amish dress, she would not have been able to hide anything from him. Did she understand the isolation that came with keeping a secret?

"Annalise, why do you have one of my lost chisels?"

She puffed her cheeks as she blew out her breath. "Rufus, can you trust me for one day?"

"And my chisel?"

"I promise you will have the whole set back tomorrow. Just trust me."

He did trust her. He was less sure about Joel. The two of them were up to something.

"Tomorrow, then."

At four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Annie shoved a rake into the garden soil Rufus had tilled for her two weeks earlier. Nothing was planted yet. She was not accomplishing anything in particular, other than keeping herself distracted.

Four o'clock. If Joel thought she was going to wait until the stroke of midnight before taking action, she would not hesitate to straighten him out. She pounded the points of the rake into the ground three times with particular fierceness.

Two more hours. That was the absolute outside limit.

Annie did not hear the car pull into her driveway in front of the house, but she did hear the doors slamming. Joel would have a lot of gall to show up in a car. She let the rake drop and stormed around the side of the house. Her parents' silver Toyota was parked in the driveway.

"Mom! Dad!"

"You scared us half to death with that note." Myra charged toward Annie and gripped her around the shoulders. "We came as soon as we got your letter."

"I'm sorry. I was trying not to scare you." Annie stepped out of her mother's grasp and lifted a cheek to her father's kiss.

"You used to be familiar with an invention called the telephone." Myra inspected her daughter from head to toe. "Surely getting caught in an explosion qualifies as an emergency."

"I know. I'm sorry. I should have found a phone." Annie wiped her hands on her jeans.

"You should carry a phone."

"Daddy, isn't this your golf day?"

"I was headed to the golf course when your mother showed me the note."

"I ruined your golf game. I'm a crummy daughter."

Brad Friesen shook his head. "No, you're not. Puzzling, perhaps. We're just grateful to see that you're all right."

Myra held out an envelope. "Liam-Ryder Industries is still after you."

Annie propped her rake up against the green shingle siding, brushed her gloved hands together, and took the envelope. She would open it later. At some point she would have to tell them with finality that she was not interested.

"Come on inside," Annie said. "Let me clean up and I'll tell you what happened-though I told you most of it in my letter."

While Annie washed up, her mother brewed a pot of coffee. Annie found a box of crackers in the cabinet and sliced up some cheddar cheese and an apple she had meant to eat two days ago and arranged everything on a platter. Then starting at the beginning, she told her parents about the day of the explosion. The task was more difficult than she imagined, since she decided to leave out information about her own suspicions or her deal with Joel.

"It's entirely unfair for anyone to accuse you." Myra was adamant.

Of course Annie agreed.

"Brad, perhaps we ought to drop in at the sheriff 's office. Where do you suppose that would be?"

"Mom, please don't. The police don't seriously suspect me. It's just rumor, and it will blow over."

"You can still come home for a while," Myra suggested.

"Mom," Annie said quietly, "I am home."

Mother and daughter locked eyes. Only a rap on the front door pulled Annie's gaze away. She got up to answer the knock.

"Franey!" Annie glanced over her shoulder at her parents sitting on her sofa. It would be rude not to invite Franey in. With an inward wince, Annie stepped aside. "Mom, Dad, you remember Franey Beiler."

Brad was on his feet and extended his hand, which Franey shook.

"I only just heard," Franey said, turning to Annie. "You never said a word, you sneaky thing."

"About what?" Annie asked.

"The baptism classes, of course." Franey pressed Annie against her chest. "I'm so pleased. I'm sure Rufus will be delighted, too."

Annie stepped out of Franey's embrace and smoothed her hair with both hands.

Myra cleared her throat. "Annie, perhaps we should offer Franey some refreshment. I'll be happy to help you in the kitchen."

"Please sit down," Annie said, gesturing to the chair she had vacated. "We'll be right back."

"Baptism classes?" Myra hissed in the kitchen. "When were you going to mention that?"

"I can explain, Mom. I went to see the bishop about something else, and everything got mixed up. I didn't know it was going to happen."

"You seem to have agreed to join the classes." Myra composed herself, swallowing hard. "I know enough about the Amish to know that baptism means you are joining the church."