A Wedding for Julia by Vannetta Chapman

maple tree that stood apart from the tables where they would eat. She’d hoped for some time alone and a moment or two of quiet, but she found she didn’t mind Grace’s company.
    “I know your mamm and dat . At least, I’ve met them before when they’ve visited our side of the district, but you’ve grown since then.”
    “ Ya . My grossdaddi says I’m growing faster than a fawn in springtime.”
    “Indeed.”
    They walked in silence until they reached the shade of the tree. All of its leaves had changed to a vibrant red, but they hadn’t fallen yet. Their portion of the state would be awash with tourists in the next few weeks, coming to see the beauty of a Wisconsin fall.
    “So how did you get out of serving?” Grace held up her pad. “Not that I mind helping when it’s my turn, but I’d rather be drawing if I have the chance.”
    “Oh. I see.” Julia didn’t answer immediately. When the other women had first pushed her away from the serving line, she hadn’t known what to do. Now she realized they probably understood she needed a moment to catch her breath. “It seems when you’re about to be married, you’re given the week off from helping.”
    “So everyone can talk to you and tell you how happy they are about your marriage?”
    “Correct.”
    The girl was observant, maybe because she watched what others were doing before she took out her drawing pencils.
    “I suppose that’s okay, but too much attention makes me squirmy.”
    “That may be why I decided to take a walk.”
    Grace’s eyes rounded. “Am I interrupting your alone time?”
    “ Nein .”
    “My mamm needs alone time every once in a while, especially now that Rachel is walking and into everything. Would you like to see a drawing of her?”
    “I would.”
    They sat down together under the tree, and Grace opened up her tablet and began turning pages, searching for a drawing of Rachel. She paused when she reached one of her mother. “I did this one last week.”
    The rendering was from the back as her mother hung laundry on the line. What was surprising was the detail in the drawing—right down to a rip in the cuff of a pair of men’s work pants drying in the sunshine.
    “May I?” she asked.
    “Sure.” Grace shrugged and handed over the tablet.
    Julia wasn’t sure what she expected to see. A child’s drawings, perhaps stick figures, with some shading if she were sophisticated. She certainly didn’t anticipate the type of artwork one might see in an Englischer ’s book sold at Amish Anthem. Had someone mentioned little Grace’s drawing ability? If so, Julia hadn’t paid any attention. She’d been caught up in her own life.
    She flipped through the pages rather quickly, and then she went back to the beginning and moved slowly from one drawing to the next. Julia finally stopped at a page which showed Aaron’s cabins. “This is beautiful.”
    “ Danki . I like catching the river in different lights. It seems…to me it seems like a living thing. Do you know what I mean? It’s like Rachel.”
    Grace reached over and turned the pages back to a drawing of her sister. It caught the back of the toddler as she attempted to climb up on a chair. “She looks different to me from one week to the next, though I know she’s the same. Parts of her are changed, though. When she was born I could hold her in my lap, and now she’s scrambling all over the place.”
    “You love your schweschder .”
    “I do, and I love Pebble Creek too. My dat and I lived in Indiana before, and that was nice. This is home, though, and Pebble Creek is one of the best parts. In some ways it stays the same throughout the year. Then again, when I look at it, I have the feeling it has changed from one moment to the next.”
    Julia glanced toward the tables. She saw Caleb shielding his eyes and looking for her. They were about to say the blessing, and she would need to sit with him today. It was, after all, the church service when they had announced their