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gone.”
    “And keep it that way,” I snapped, feeling very grouchy at his big, wide smile.
    “You know we can’t do that,” he protested.
    “Of course you can,” I said. “At least put me on the bottom of the list. There will be plenty of girls. There always are.”
    “A nice girl like you shouldn’t be sitting the evening out alone,” he said, writing my name down. I knew I was a cooked goose. Sure enough, they paired me up with some visiting boy from Holmes County—David Yoder, who is a cousin or some relation to Richard.
    He wasn’t too bad, I guess. At least he didn’t slobber or chew with his mouth open. I’m just kidding, of course, but I did find out more about Holmes County than I really wanted to know. Mostly about the tourist traffic and how hard it is for the locals to get around during certain times of the day. So there, I’ve told you, and that’s the end of it. It should have been you who was by my side. But it couldn’t be helped, I suppose.
    A couple of people mentioned how much Julia and Martin hit it off Thursday night. Martin took her to the table, so that was the local buzz. I hope they do turn into a real couple. Both of them are nice people.
    By the way, about the lady who doesn’t tell her husband how homesick she is but does tell others. I don’t approve of that at all. Even if she does keep it from her husband, she shouldn’t go telling other people what she doesn’t tell him.
    Well, I’d better get going.
Sunday afternoon…
    I have to leave soon for chores, and then there is the hymn singing at Nathan’s tonight. I don’t feel like going, but I suppose it will cheer me up. I will gird up my strength and attend. Don is riding with me because he doesn’t have a steady girl yet—and shouldn’t have one either, as young as he is.
    Oh, I forgot to write yesterday in the midst of carrying on about my own woes that Don took the youngest of Harvey’s girls, Diane, to the table. He must have pulled something with one of the matchmakers. He’s sweet on her, I think, but they don’t always pay a whole lot of attention to such things on wedding nights. Maybe Don bribed one of them with a piece of gum. Now that’s funny. More than likely he had a conversation with one of the matchmakers early on out in the barn and got his place secured.
    If you have ever wondered how we girls deal with the matchmakers on wedding nights, we simply take the first boy they offer to us. So I hopeyou never read too much into such things. It keeps it simple for us girls, and we can continue living at peace with each other.
    I’m sitting on a lawn chair, and the sun is hanging low in the sky. The Englisha neighbors across the road, the Thermans, have visitors, and it looks like everyone at the Normans’ is at home.
    Your mom said today at church that we could all come over to your place afterward, but Dad didn’t want to go. So we have ended up back here for the afternoon. After dinner I said, “If everyone gets out of the kitchen, I’ll do the dishes alone.” Did the girls ever whoop!
    Larry wanted something to do after I was done, so I walked down to the bridge with him—the one with the memories—taking my shoes off and splashing around in the water. It wasn’t much fun without you there, so we came back home fairly quickly.
    Afterward, we all settled in the front yard, enjoying the warm afternoon. I got our colt, Laddie, out of the barnyard. Mom, Larry, Rosanna, and Betsy were on lawn chairs, while I sat on the grass holding Laddie with a strap. We all ate popcorn. Laddie tries to bite sometimes, but usually he just sniffs me. So the sniffing started on my back, and I did nothing until he calmly took a nip. I yelled “Ouch!” even though it hardly hurt. Larry went into hysterics, laughing so hard he practically fell off the lawn chair. I guess it was pretty funny from his point of view.
    Did you hear that Wayne Helmuth is planning on building a dawdy haus on their side of the road, back