Sarasota Dreams (15 page)

Abe stood with both mugs in his hands as he watched Jonathan pull away from the house. After the car disappeared from sight, he headed inside to wash the mugs and get ready to go to town. David was supposed to pick him up at nine, and he’d overslept. He’d spent a good hour chatting with Jonathan, touring the farm, and discussing cows and citrus, and it was already a quarter to eight.

Mary had just served a large party of ten when she spotted Abe walking through the restaurant door. Grandpa pointed toward her and said something to him.

Her heart fluttered as Abe got closer, but she forced herself to glance away. She took her time making her way to him. He’d turned down the menu enough times she knew he didn’t need one.

“What would you like this morning, Abe?” She had to take a deep breath to steady her nerves and keep her hand from shaking as she held the pen above the order pad.

“What do you think would be good for me?” he asked with a teasing tone.

“It’s up to you. Would you like a boiled egg, oatmeal, and some fruit, or do you prefer ham, eggs, and fried potatoes?” She scrunched her nose as she finished the question.

Abe leaned back, folded his arms, and smiled as their gazes met. “I’ll take the healthy breakfast … that is, if it makes you happy.”

She tried to keep her emotional balance as she jotted that down on the pad and stepped away. “Good choice,” she said as she left and walked toward the kitchen.

“You look good when your eyes twinkle,” Shelley said.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mary refused to look directly at Shelley, who was obviously having some fun.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how much you light up whenever Abe’s around.”

“He’s just another customer.” Mary couldn’t prevent the grin that tweaked her lips.

Grandpa chose that moment to round the corner and walk toward them. “I’m glad Abe is here. I was beginning to wonder when he’d come back after he said he wanted to court you.”

Mary kept her focus on her task. “He’s just hungry.”

She heard Shelley snicker as she brushed past to get the next order up.

Abe’s food was ready a couple of minutes later. Shelley had returned to the kitchen, and she gestured toward Mary’s kapp. “You might want to straighten up a bit before you go back out there.”

“I’m fine,” Mary said, determined not to do anything different just because Abe was there. If he wanted to get to know her better, he might as well get used to the fact that her kapp was often at an angle. Even after all this practice, she still struggled with getting it just right on her head.

She pulled the plates from the counter and carried them to Abe. “Here’s your fruit,” she said as she placed the bowl filled with strawberries, blueberries, and cantaloupe in front of him. “Be careful with the oatmeal.” She put that down beside the fruit bowl. “It’s very hot. I’ll have your boiled eggs right out.”

“No hurry,” he said. “Are you able to take a break and join me?”

Mary quickly shook her head and spun around to get the rest of his meal when a little boy running past tripped her. Embarrassment flooded her when suddenly she felt herself being scooped up by a firm, strong arm.

“Whoa there, Mary.” Abe caught her and set her back on her feet. “You okay?”

She took the opportunity to straighten her kapp and run her hands down the sides of her full skirt. “I’m just fine. Thank you for catching me … again.”

“Children need to be taught manners before they’re allowed out,” Abe said. “When I have my own, that’s one of the first things I’ll teach them.”

“I–I’m sure you will.” Mary allowed a brief sidelong glance in Abe’s direction before she scurried toward the kitchen again.

“If Abe hadn’t been there, you might have been hurt.” Shelley handed Mary a glass of water. “You’ve been working so hard, Mary. Why don’t you sit down for a little while? I can handle the crowd.”

“I can’t do that to you, Shelley. I’m fine.”

Grandpa handed Abe’s boiled eggs to Mary. “Take these over to Abe and have a seat at his table.” He leveled her with a firm gaze. “I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“I—”

He tilted his head forward and gave her an even sterner look she couldn’t argue with. She carried Abe’s eggs to him. “Is the offer still open to join you?”

Abe gestured to the seat across from him. “Ya. I’d be honored for you to sit down with me.”

Mary had only been seated about a minute before Grandpa came over with a cup of coffee and a bowl of fruit for her. “Would you like some oatmeal?”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

“I’ll have Shelley bring you some. Why don’t you relax for a while and enjoy Abe’s company? I’m sure Abe wouldn’t mind, right?”

“I would love that, but I can’t stay long. I have a new worker coming out to the farm tomorrow, and I have to get everything ready for him.”

Grandpa seemed pleased. “It’s nice to hear that you’re doing well enough to hire more people. Isn’t that right, Mary?”

“Yes.” She fidgeted with the napkin in front of her.

“Shelley will be right over with your oatmeal.” Grandpa turned and headed back to the kitchen to turn in her order.

“You seem rather glum today, Mary.” Abe cracked his egg and began to peel it.

Mary didn’t know what to say. Her crazy, mixed-up feelings for Abe were enough to send her to the funny farm, as Mama used to tell her. “I’m not glum.”

“Good. I was worried I might have said or done something to upset you.”

“No, you’ve been very kind, Abe.”

He put down the peeled egg, placed his forearms on the table, and leaned toward her. “Then what is going on? Just when I thought we were getting along—as friends, of course—you started acting strange.”

A
be watched Mary as she fidgeted with the napkin. All sorts of thoughts flowed through his mind.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?” he asked. “You’re confusing me, Mary. I tried very hard to show you how much I care, and I think you know I’m willing to be your friend even if you don’t want more.”

Mary’s gaze locked with his. She slowly shook her head. “No, Abe, that’s not what I want. I guess I’m just skittish because I never understood why you would want to court me in the first place. Surely you could do much better than me.”

“I don’t know about that.” He sighed. Mary’s tight grip on her past still frustrated him. “There isn’t any reason, besides the fact that I like you, Mary—very much.”

“But why?” She tilted her head and gave him a look that broke his heart.

“Why wouldn’t I? You seem faithful to the Lord and to the people you love. I always see you in church, praying and helping others. The look on your face when you worship is pure. You never fail to do whatever your grandparents need you to do. You’re sweet beneath that shell you use to hide your heart.”

Her eyes fluttered closed, then they instantly widened, sending a bolt of shock through him. There was something else between him and Mary—something he couldn’t explain because even he didn’t understand it.

“Why do you pay so much attention to me in order to know all this?” she asked. “What have I done to deserve your attention?”

Abe lifted his hands in surrender. “I have no idea. Maybe it’s just a feeling I have.”

“There are some things …” She met his gaze as he lifted one eyebrow. “Some things you don’t know about my past.”

When she stopped talking, he urged her to continue. “I’m willing to listen if you want to tell me, but I doubt there’s anything that will make me change my mind.”

“I saw some very bad things before I came here, Abe.” She lowered her head as if in shame. “Bad things I can’t talk about to anyone. I suspect no one in this community has ever experienced what I did at a very young age.”

Abe reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. “That was something you couldn’t help, Mary. And I believe others here might have had some bad experiences they don’t talk about, too. I want you to trust me.”

“I’m not completely blameless, either. I lied my way through life many times.”

“You were a child, Mary. You did what you thought you had to do. No one is holding that against you.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Even if you don’t want more than friendship, I still want you to trust me.”

Mary licked her lips and looked him in the eye. “I want to trust you, too.”

Abe took a deep breath, glanced around the room, then turned back to Mary and exhaled. “The Lord brought you here nine years ago, and I felt something then, but I was too young to know what to do. After all that time, I aimed to find out if I was in His plan to be a part of your life, now that we’re adults. I’ve never been interested in any woman besides you, Mary. I wanted to get to know all about you and what makes you the person you are.”

A tiny smile tweaked the corners of her lips. She put down the napkin she’d shredded.

“I’m very happy to be with you, but I don’t understand so many things about myself, I can’t imagine you ever figuring them out.”

“Oh, but I’m willing to try.” Abe didn’t add the fact that her challenging ways intrigued him even more. He didn’t want to say anything that might be misconstrued. “As a friend, of course.” Abe still wanted more, but he knew it was out of his hands.

Shelley arrived and placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Mary. “Topped with brown sugar and apples, just the way you like it.”

“Thank you, Shelley.”

After Shelley left, Abe leaned forward and inhaled the aroma wafting from Mary’s bowl. “That smells delicious.”

“It is.” Mary lifted her spoon and swirled the fruit into the cereal. “Mama used to eat her oatmeal this way.” She closed her eyes to say a quiet blessing.

Abe studied her face until she opened her eyes. “You don’t talk much about your mother, Mary. I’d like to know more about her.”

She frowned. “Like what? If all the rumors about her are true?”

“No, I’m sure most of the rumors are just that. Rumors. But I would like to know what the two of you did together and where you lived.”

Mary shrugged. “Mama and I mostly just found ways to survive. After she left here at sixteen, she didn’t know what to do. At least that’s what she told me later. It wasn’t easy, being a teenage mother with no one to help her.”

“I’m sure.”

They sat in silence as Mary lifted a spoon half filled with oatmeal to her mouth. Abe didn’t want to push, but she’d told him just enough to create more questions in his mind.

“What?” she asked after her next bite. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

This obviously wasn’t a good time to ask questions. “I’m sorry if I upset you. It’s just difficult for me to know what to say to you sometimes.”

“Maybe it’s best not to say anything.” She put her spoon into the bowl and stood up. “I better be getting back to work now. I’ve taken enough time off already.”

Abe stood until she left, then he sank back down into his seat. Just when he thought he’d made a step forward, he said or did something that made him slide back. If he didn’t feel called by God to continue, he would consider backing down. But every time he thought he might be better off with someone else, something happened to pull him back in Mary’s direction. The memory of Mary demanding a kiss brought a smile to his face and joy to his heart.

Mary managed to finish her shift without crying, but it hadn’t been easy. After Abe brought up her mother, that familiar lump formed in her throat, and she wanted to run out of the restaurant and hide.

As sweet as Abe had been to her, Mary couldn’t push her mother’s words from her mind. If she hadn’t seen her grandmother’s anger firsthand, she might have thought her mother’s words were childish rebellion. But after Mary moved in with Grandma and Grandpa, she’d overheard some conversations between them that made her think she wasn’t wanted. Their talks late at night when they thought she wasn’t listening used to worry her, but she eventually became numb to comments about how unexpected her arrival had been and how difficult it was to raise a child at their age. Mary felt secure as long as she stayed on their good side, and now she wondered if Grandma and Grandpa had taken her in to try to redo the mistakes they’d made in the past.