The Matchmaker by Sarah Price

added, a disapproving look on her face. “I dare not think about how long and tedious your days would be. Why, we’d never get to see one another, I’m sure and certain! You’d be married to the farm as much as to Ralph!”
    At this, Hannah gasped. “Never see you? I never thought about that! Oh, Emma! I can’t imagine not being able to visit you on a regular basis!” She took a deep breath and tilted her chin, a fresh look of resolve on her face. “You are so right, Emma. I had not thought this through. I have no choice but to refuse his offer.”
    Setting down the needle, Emma smiled at her friend. “Well then, I reckon you should reply to him straight away, ja ? Best tell him immediately what your response is to his proposition.” Without waiting for an answer, she stood up and hurried over to the kitchen cabinet next to the refrigerator. She opened the drawer and withdrew a small, flat box.“I have stationery here, Hannah. You can sit at the table to write the letter, if that helps.”
    To Emma’s surprise, the color suddenly drained from Hannah’s face. “Please help me, Emma. I have no idea what words to use!”
    “Now, now,” Emma soothed. “As I already said, just be kind and gentle yet firm in giving your refusal. I suppose it shouldn’t be too long of a letter for fear that he will consider that a tease. You certainly have no need to fear your selection of words, Hannah. You are, after all, an intelligent creature.”
    Feeling more confident, Hannah nodded, an expression of determination on her face. She took the paper and a pen from Emma before bending her head down to begin drafting the letter to Ralph Martin, informing him that he dare not come courting her at Gladys’s house after all.
    After the letter was completed, carefully worded to avoid hurt feelings, or at least to lessen the blow, Emma inquired if she needed to return directly to Gladys’s home. When Hannah shook her head, stating that she had managed to complete all of the necessary chores, Emma was quick to suggest that they return to the living room to quilt. A distraction would do her friend good, and Emma knew that sewing could do just that.
    They sat by the quilting frame, the silence allowing time for meditation and reflection. Emma loved the sound of the thread poking through the fabric and sliding, ever so gracefully and smoothly, as she pulled it up from beneath the material. She could quilt for hours, she reckoned, but after a while her back would begin to ache just enough that she would have to set down the needle and thimble to take a moment to stretch her back. Blinking as she stood beforethe window, she felt a slow burning beneath her eyelids. It won’t be long , she realized, before I’ll be needing glasses .
    “How long until we are finished, you reckon, Emma?”
    Emma glanced over her shoulder at the quilt. In just a week, they had managed to quilt almost half of the quilt top. “Why, no more than two weeks if we continue to work at the same pace. Even less if we work harder. Mayhaps Anna might come visiting again to help a spell. Many hands make light the work.” The adage was core to the Amish belief system. When people volunteered their assistance, tasks were always completed faster, and the fellowship of working alongside others always made the work more enjoyable.
    “I was thinking,” Emma said cautiously, breaking the light silence that had befallen them. “I’m sure that you’d like to meet more people in Lititz, and I had an idea about how to do so.”
    “Oh?” To say that Hannah was intrigued was putting it mildly. She set down her needle and stared at her friend. “Please share it with me. I’d love to hear it.”
    “Well,” Emma started, her head dipped down as she pushed the needle through the quilt top. “You know I go visiting on Thursday mornings. I like to stop in at the homes of the widows in our district. Those are usually the days that their caretakers and family are busy at