Sarasota Dreams (17 page)

Mary slowly shook her head. “Nothing that matters.”

“If it doesn’t matter, then I need you to come help me in the kitchen. I’ve been waiting for you. I expected you home a while ago. You were supposed to drop off the food and come right back.”

“Mr. Hoffstetter said his wife might eat a little if I took it to her, so I did. Then she asked me to make some lemonade with some lemons Abe dropped off earlier, and—”

“Stop.” Grandma held up her hand. “I get the picture. You helped the Hoffstetters, which was the right thing to do. Now let’s get moving so we can get supper done with before it gets dark.” She issued a stern look before going back to the kitchen.

Mary sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. She hoped she could get through the evening without losing her composure. Until seeing Abe, she hadn’t realized just how much she’d begun to think something might work out between them. He’d made it clear he wanted to advance their relationship, and it was starting to sound mighty good. But now that he was buddying up with Jeremiah, there was no way she could trust him.

The tiny houses rented by the Mennonite and Amish families in Pinecraft were wired for electricity, so most of them, even those from the Old Order, used it sparingly. But Grandma and Grandpa preferred not to any more than necessary, which was why they tried to eat dinner before it got dark. They occasionally used candles, but with the large picture window across the back of the wall in the kitchen, it generally wasn’t necessary.

Mary went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face, hoping to cool off. By the time she joined Grandma in the kitchen, she was able to think more rationally. Grandpa was out in the backyard, surveying his tiny garden.

“Crumble up that sleeve of crackers, Mary, and sprinkle them over the casserole. We can stick it back in the oven for a few minutes and have a nice crust.” Grandma stirred something on the stove then turned down the burner. “Oh, by the way, we’re having company for supper, so you’ll need to set an extra place.”

“Company?” Mary asked. “Who?”

Grandma’s lips twitched into a smile. “Abe.”

Mary’s arm stilled, and her ears rang. “Abe is coming over for supper?”

“Ya. Your grandfather saw him after closing the restaurant, and he invited him to come eat with us. I thought you’d like that.”

What could Mary say? She forced herself to continue preparing the cracker-crumb topping for the casserole.

“We have a special key lime pie for dessert. I thought that would be nice to serve company,” Grandma said.

“Yes, it’s very nice.”

“Mary, turn around and look at me.”

Slowly, Mary did as she was told. She tried hard to wipe any expression from her face, but she didn’t think she succeeded.

“What are you so unhappy about?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I enjoy spending time with you and Grandpa—just the three of us.”

Grandma scowled. “Stop being selfish. Abe goes home to an empty house every night. He appreciates having a good meal with a family. Maybe someday soon he’ll have a wife and then a family of his own.” The harshness on Grandma’s face softened.

“Maybe.” Mary couldn’t tell Grandma about the shock and the emptiness in her heart after seeing Abe with Jeremiah. She wouldn’t understand.

Not much surprised Abe, but when Jeremiah had come to his house and asked what he could do to get back into the church, he was taken aback—particularly after the comments Jeremiah had shouted from his car. When Abe cornered him about that, Jeremiah seemed sincerely sorry for acting out in such a childish way.

“I guess I’ve formed some bad habits that I’ll have to break,” Jeremiah had explained.

“Ya, I guess you have.”

Jeremiah had talked for more than an hour about his life outside the church. He said it was fun at first. Someone gave him a job, and shortly after that he’d learned to drive. When he had enough money saved, he bought his automobile. With the freedom of his own wheels came some things he said he was ashamed of.

“I don’t think I need to go into the details,” he admitted, “but I can tell you it’s not anything that made me a better man.”

Abe asked why he wanted to come back to the church if being on the outside was so much fun. The look of anguish on Jeremiah’s face touched Abe.

“It’s really not as much fun as I originally thought. There’s a lot of trouble and insecurity in this world.”

“Ya. There is that, but you won’t be able to completely get away from it. Even if you come back to the church, you might still see it.”

Jeremiah folded his hands on the table. “The difference is with the church, you know there’s hope.”

“Have you prayed about this?” Abe asked.

“I tried. But it felt awkward.”

Abe led Jeremiah in prayer then told him it was time to go see someone from church who could counsel him. But first he had some work to do on the farm. Jeremiah offered to help. After they finished, they went back into town to see one of the church elders.

The initial meeting with Franz Bartel, the church elder, had gone much better than Abe had expected. In fact, Franz said the folks at the church had been praying for Jeremiah.

“But I hope you understand that we must be very cautious about proceeding,” Franz had explained. “We don’t want our members to think we have a revolving door that you can come and go through on a whim.”

“Yes,” Jeremiah said as he hung his head. “I understand.”

“Are you willing to answer questions?” Franz asked. “Some of them may be quite personal, but we want you to repent of all the sins you’ve committed during this … extended rumspringa.”

Jeremiah nodded, but the pain on his face was evident. Abe didn’t feel sorry for him, though, because he’d made the choice while others remained faithful to God.

After they left the Bartels’ house, Abe asked Jeremiah if he’d like to have some coffee at Penner’s Restaurant. “They shouldn’t be crowded since it’s still about an hour before people arrive for dinner.”

“Sounds good,” Jeremiah said. “I can take you back home afterward.”

As soon as they walked into the restaurant, Joseph Penner greeted Abe but gave Jeremiah a curious look. When Jeremiah got up to use the men’s room, Joseph made a beeline for Abe’s table and asked what was going on. Abe explained Jeremiah’s desire to return to the church.

“Praise the Lord,” Joseph said, “but be very careful. The serpent knows the Gospel as well as you and I do, and he’s not afraid to use it to his advantage.”

“Ya, that I do know,” Abe agreed. “Mr. Bartel already explained that it will take some time for people to accept him back.”

“Would you like to join my family for supper tonight?”

Abe wanted to jump at the offer, but he still needed a ride home, and he wasn’t sure David was available. Before he replied, Jeremiah came back to the table.

“Hello, Mr. Penner. Good to see you again.”

“Ya, son, it’s been a very long time.” Joseph placed a hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder. “I’m happy to see you, too.”

Abe cleared his throat. “I have a special favor, Jeremiah. Would you mind picking me up at the Penners’ after supper?”

“Or you may join us for supper, if you like,” Joseph added. “Sarah and Mary always make plenty of food.”

Jeremiah grinned. “I think it would be best if I didn’t surprise Mary just yet, so I’ll take a pass on supper. But I’ll be glad to pick you up afterward, Abe. What time?”

Abe glanced at Joseph, who shrugged, then he turned back to Jeremiah. “Mind if I call you?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

Joseph left the table. Shelley stopped by to refill their coffee. At first she didn’t look Jeremiah in the eye, but then Abe mentioned that Jeremiah was trying to come back to the church.

“That’s nice,” she said.

To Abe’s surprise, Jeremiah spoke up. “I heard about what happened with Peter. He made a very big mistake.” Shelley gasped. “I … uh …”

“I’m sorry,” Jeremiah said. “I guess I shouldn’t have been so direct. It’s just that I always thought you were very sweet.” He paused before adding, “And I … when we were younger, I wanted to be your boyfriend.”

After Shelley recovered from shock, with cheeks still tinged pink, she smiled at Jeremiah. “Thank you.” She held up the pot of coffee. “I’ll check on you in a little while, in case you want more coffee.”

Abe’s heart went out to Shelley. Even he was surprised at Jeremiah’s audacity to be so outspoken about his childhood feelings. “I think we’ve had enough coffee.”

After she left, Abe snickered. “Did you mean what you just told Shelley?”

“Absolutely. In fact, one of the reasons I went so wild was from jealousy of Peter. I never could understand what she liked about him.”

“You can’t blame someone else for your indiscretions, Jeremiah.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. What I did was my own fault.”

After they finished their coffee, Abe paid Joseph on their way out. Abe and Jeremiah went out to the parking lot. “Mind if I make a couple of stops?” Jeremiah asked. “They’re on the way to the Penners’.”

“That’s fine.”

After pulling through the teller window at the bank and dropping off some mail at the post office, Jeremiah turned to Abe. “Why don’t you bring some of this fruit to the Penners? I can’t eat it all.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I gave it to you.”

“Take it. It’s the least I can do for someone who’s going to all this trouble to help me win favor with the people I never should have left.”

“Ya, that would be good then. Mrs. Penner can certainly use some of it in her cooking.”

“Now I have a favor to ask of you,” Jeremiah said. “Would you mind talking to Mary for me? I want to apologize, but I doubt she’ll even give me the time of day.”

“You’re right,” Abe said. “And I can’t say I blame her. Good thing I’m not a fighting man, or you would have had your face rearranged.”

Jeremiah let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I knew that, which was one of the reasons I was so brave.”

“Not so brave,” Abe corrected.

“You got that right. More like stupid.”

Jeremiah drove toward the Penners’ house, but Abe asked him to stop a half block away. “I don’t want to alarm Mary before I have a chance to talk to her.”

“Good idea.” Jeremiah pulled up to the curb. “There’s a bag in the backseat. We can transfer some of the fruit to that for me, and you can take the box with the rest of it to the Penners.”

After Jeremiah pulled away from the curb, Abe stood with his hands on his hips for a moment as he considered how he’d bring up the subject of Jeremiah. It wouldn’t be easy after some of the comments Jeremiah had shouted from his car.

Finally, Abe lifted the box and went to the Penners’ front door. Before he had a chance to knock, Joseph came around from the back of the house and called out his name.

“Abe, I’m glad you could make it. Sarah was happy when I told her you were joining us.”

“Good. I don’t want to go where I’m not wanted.”

Joseph opened the door and walked inside. Abe followed.

Mary appeared, but she wouldn’t even glance at Abe. He watched as she scurried around the kitchen, working around her grandmother, filling serving bowls and setting them on the table.

Joseph came up beside him. “Let’s go outside for a moment, Abe.”

Abe followed the older man out the back door and into the yard. “Nice garden.”

“Ya, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s Mary. I don’t have any idea what’s gotten into her. She’s acting very strange.”

“I think there are quite a few things about Mary that we may never understand.”

“I know.” Joseph kicked his toe on the ground. “It’s difficult watching her deal with her problems. I wish I could fix everything for her.”

“That most likely wouldn’t be good. Mary needs to learn how to fix her own problems.”

Joseph pursed his lips and nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. Just don’t let her mood tonight bother you.”

“Trust me,” Abe said. “I’ve seen her in much worse moods than this.”

“Why do you bother with her, Abe?” Joseph narrowed his eyes and gave Abe a piercing stare. “There are plenty of young women who would be happy to be courted by you.”

Abe chuckled. “I’m not so sure about that, but even if that’s the case, I’ve always had a soft spot for Mary.”

Joseph folded his arms, never averting his gaze. “But why? Is it just a physical attraction, or do you really care about her?” Before Abe had a chance to answer, Joseph continued. “Mary is very special, but she’s been through more in her short lifetime than many other girls in our community. I don’t want her to get hurt. Can you be there for her, even when she doesn’t want you there?”

“That’s a lot of questions,” Abe said.

“Then just answer the first one. Why do you have a soft spot for Mary?”

“I sure wish I could tell you. I’ve often wondered that myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about all the things she says and does, and I try to come up with reasons to move on and look for someone else. But when I wake up the next morning, I’m that much more determined to do whatever it takes to make Mary trust me.”

“She trusts you as much as she has ever trusted anyone. And I think she might even love you, Abe.” Joseph relaxed his position slightly.