“Leave your sister alone,” Mom said, shaking her finger at Martha. “When you find a fellow you like more than your dogs, you’ll turn red in the face whenever his name’s mentioned, too.”

“How are things going with the new house?” Grace asked.

“Everything was fine until I nearly got hit in the head,” Ruth said as she removed a jug of iced tea from the refrigerator.

Mom gasped. “Oh, Ruth, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. It just shook me up a bit.”

“How’d it happen?” their English neighbor Donna Larson questioned.

“A hammer tumbled off the roof. It could have hit me if Martin hadn’t shouted a warning.”

“Was it Martin’s hammer?” Cleon’s mother, Irene, asked.

“No, it belonged to Luke.”

Mom pursed her lips. “Luke Friesen’s here today?”

Ruth set the jug of iced tea on the counter and turned to face her mother. “He and his boss both came to help.”

“Your daed’s not going to like that. He doesn’t trust Luke, and if he thought for one minute—”

“Ach, Mom, surely you don’t think Luke would intentionally let his hammer fall.” Martha’s face had turned red as a pickled beet. “I think Dad’s still angry because Luke’s not working for him anymore.”

“Luke was fired, and you know it.”

“That was only because he didn’t see eye to eye with Dad on everything.”

Mom squinted at Martha. “Luke came to work late on several occasions, and he thought he knew more than your daed about things. And don’t forget about those sunglasses of Luke’s that were found near my clothesline after it had been cut.”

Martha stared down at the table. “That doesn’t prove he cut the line.”

“Toby says Luke’s been acting strange for several months,” Sadie put in. “He thinks Luke hasn’t been right in the head since he started running with some rowdy English fellows.”

Ruth was glad Luke’s mother hadn’t come today. It wouldn’t be good for her to hear such talk about her son. In fact, she didn’t think they should be having this conversation, especially not in front of Donna Larson.

Martha shot Sadie an exasperated look. “You can tell your boyfriend that he’s done some strange things, too. Does that make him a suspect?” Sadie opened her mouth as if to comment, but Cleon’s mother spoke first. “It’s not our place to judge Luke or anyone else. It might be good if we change the subject.”

“I agree.” Ruth headed back to the refrigerator for a pitcher of lemonade. “I’m taking this outside. If some of you would like to bring out the coffee and cookies, I’m sure the men would appreciate it.”