Going Home by Wanda E. Brunstetter

and didn’t feel half as intimidated. I used to make an audience howl and beg for more, even when I was dying on the inside because of the way things were with Greg and me. Yet here, among my own people, I can barely crack a smile .
    Faith squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she remembered how to pray. If she could, she would ask God to calm her spirit.
    When the back door creaked open, Faith jumped. She turnedher head to the right.
    Noah stood in the doorway with an easygoing grin on his face.
    She swallowed hard. What did he have for her? What did he want in return?
    Noah closed the door and strolled over to the cupboard across the room. He opened one of the doors and took out a cake carrier, which he set on the table in front of Faith. “This is for you.”
    “You’re giving me a whole cake?”
    Noah nodded. “It’s a lemon sponge cake, and I made it with the idea of giving it away today.”
    “Why me?”
    His face flooded with color. “Just call it a welcome-home gift.” He pushed the plastic container toward her. “Sure hope you like lemon.”
    She nodded. “It’s one of my favorite flavors.”
    “That’s good. I hope you’ll enjoy every bite, as well as the verse of scripture,” he said.
    Verse of scripture? Faith’s gaze went to the little card attached to the side of the pan, and her heart clenched. She would take the cake, but she had no desire to read the scripture.

Chapter 6
    W hat have you got there?” Mama asked as Faith climbed down from the buggy behind Melinda and Susie.
    Faith looked down at the cake Noah had given her, hoping it hadn’t spoiled. She had placed a small bag of ice she’d found in the Troyers’ refrigerator on top of the plastic container, taken it out to the buggy earlier, and slipped it under the backseat. She still wondered why Noah had chosen her to be the recipient of his luscious-looking dessert.
    “Faith? Did you hear what I asked?”
    Clutching the cake in her hands, she faced her mother. “Uh. . .it’s a lemon sponge cake.”
    Mama’s eyebrows arched upward. “Where’d you get it?”
    Faith drew in a deep breath. She may as well get the inquisition over with, because she was sure her mother wouldn’t be satisfied until she’d heard all the details. “Noah Hertzlergave it to me.”
    Mama chuckled softly. “I thought as much. That young fellow is always handing out his baked goods to someone in our community. Ida Hertzler is one lucky mamm to have him for a son; he’s right handy in the kitchen.”
    “Is that so?”
    “Jah. From what Ida’s told me, Noah’s been helping out with the cooking and baking ever since he was a kinner.”
    Faith hadn’t known that. The only thing she knew about Noah was that he used to be shy and seemed to be kind of awkward.
    “Noah’s not married, you know,” Mama said as they headed for the house.
    Faith figured as much since she hadn’t seen him with a woman and he wasn’t wearing a beard, which meant he wasn’t married. It didn’t concern her, however, so she made no response to her mother’s comment.
    “Maybe after you’ve settled in here and have joined the church, you and Noah might hit it off.”
    Faith whirled around to face her mother. “Mama, Greg’s only been dead a short while. It wouldn’t be proper for me to think about another man right now, in case that’s what you’re insinuating.” She sniffed. “Besides, I’m not planning to remarry—ever.”
    Mama gave her a curious look, but Faith hurried to the house before the confused-looking woman could say anything more. She didn’t want to talk about her disastrous marriage to Greg or the plans she had for the future.
     
    Barbara Zook collapsed onto the sofa in her living room with a sigh. She’d just put her boys to bed and needed a little time to herself.
    “Mind if I join you?” her husband asked, as he stepped into the room.
    She patted the cushion beside her and smiled. “Not at all. I’d be happy for the company of someone old enough