Frowning at her reflection in the tiny mirror that hung on the bathroom wall, she tucked a loose lock of brown hair back inside the gauzy white fabric of her prayer kapp. For the first time, she wished she had another color to wear, something other than dull, boring brown. But, when Luke left, the life had gone out of her. She dressed to reflect the way she felt, like a plain, boring old house wren. Brown and drab. The same as her life. When she’d first met Joshua, she’d wanted him to notice her. She still did. But men like him didn’t go for plain, brown girls from Seymour. That didn’t keep her from wishing she had a pretty, vibrantly colored dress—maroon, maybe, or lavender or green. Something, anything, to keep Joshua’s attention on her, instead of on the other girls. Maybe she could borrow a dress from her sister, Cathy. After all, she’d given Cathy all of her old clothes. As quickly as the thought had come, though, Annie dismissed it. She wouldn’t succumb to vanity for the purpose of impressing Joshua.
