A Christmas Bride in Pinecraft (13 page)

“Yeah. And I thought about it, too.”

“What did you decide?”

“I want to come, Eric. If you're sure you want to be together again.”

“I'm sure.”

“Well, in that case, Florida sounds great.”

“It
is
great. What date do you want to arrive? Any day or time works for me.”

“Let's make it from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-sixth, just like we talked about.”

“You can stay longer if you want,” Eric offered. He was pretty sure Jack would have to make at least one connection in order to get to Sarasota. That meant he'd be spending a good amount of time flying on both Christmas Eve and the twenty-sixth.

“No, I think this will be good.” His voice turned hesitant. “E, are you sure you don't mind paying for the ticket?”

“I'm positive. I want to pay for it.” Eric opened his iPad, ready to start looking up flights, when Jack spoke again.

“Hey, Eric? One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Does, ah, your Beverly know I'm not like you?”

Even though their lives had veered in different directions, Eric knew they were essentially the same as they ever were. “What are you talking about? We might have different types of jobs but we're still a lot alike where it counts.”

“Don't play stupid. You know what I'm talking about. I mean, does Beverly know about my past?”

Eric wasn't going to let Jack take that burden solely on his shoulders anymore. “You mean
our
pasts? Yes, she knows.”

“You can pretend we're the same, but we're not. You went to college, Eric. I went to prison. That's kind of a big difference.”

“You kept me from going down that path.”

“You made choices, too, Eric.” Before Eric could argue, Jack blurted, “Are you sure she's okay with having an ex-con in her home?”

“She's more than okay with it.” That lump that he'd been pretending hadn't been about to choke him was threatening to block his whole throat. “Okay, before we get all sappy, give me your email address. Do you have one?”

“Of course I have one.”

After writing it down, Eric smiled. “Great. I'll make a reservation right now and then email it to you. I'm really glad you're coming here, Jack. It's going to be a great Christmas.”

When Eric finally disconnected, he breathed in deeply and exhaled. He felt like he was finally moving forward. At long last.

After he made the flight reservation and sent the confirmation to Jack, he looked for Beverly and found her sitting on the
front stoop, sipping coffee and watching a trio of hummingbirds flit around a feeder.

He sat down next to her with a sigh.

“How did it go?” she asked.

Glad that his earlier misgivings had disappeared, he grinned. “He's coming. I booked his flights after we talked.”

“I'm so glad.” She smiled. “I hope you two have a nice visit together.”

“Me, too.” After debating whether or not to bring it up, he ventured, “I've kind of noticed that you don't seem so bothered by my past anymore. Is that the case?”

“I suppose.” She kicked her feet out straight in front of her. Today she was wearing a red dress. It had short sleeves and shiny black buttons running down the length of it. Matching red flip-flops were on her feet. After setting her coffee cup down, she rested her hands behind her. “Eric, I finally realized that I couldn't fault you or Jack for your pasts. Not when I've had something in my own past to overcome.”

“Our pasts are a little different, Beverly. Jack and I broke the law. You suffered a broken engagement.”

“That is true, but I let one very bad experience become the focal point of my life. The first couple of years here, I kept being jilted a secret. But then, when I finally started talking about it, I realized that I've been giving it too much power over my life. Yes, it was painful, but it doesn't define me. And it was wrong of me to let some poor decisions you made as a teen define you for me.”

He was speechless. He'd never expected her to accept his past so easily.

“Sorry. I guess I sound a little preachy.”

“No, you don't.”

Looking back his way, she reached out and touched his sleeve. “Please know I'm not suggesting that what happened to me can compare to what you went through.”

“Yeah, you haven't gotten arrested.” Even though he tried to make light of it, he knew his voice was bitter.

She shook her head. “Eric, I've always had people in my life looking out for me. That's what I meant. I wish you and Jack had had the same thing.”

“I did have that. Jack looked out for me. He made sacrifices for me. The older I get, the more I realize that, too.”

“Then it's good you called him. Ain't so?”

Hope and relief and well,
love
, flowed through him as he stared at her. “You really mean that, don't you?”

“
Jah
, Eric. I really mean it.” Then, as if she couldn't resist teasing him a bit, she added, “Besides, it's your inn, you know.”

Though he was tempted to take the bait and roll his eyes, he resisted. What they were talking about was too important to him. And maybe to her, too. “Bev, what if it wasn't? What if it was still your inn and we were just friends? Would you want Jack to stay here then?”

“
Jah
. Because he is
your brother
, Eric. I would want him here because
he matters to you
. And, well, because everyone needs a chance to begin again.” With a sigh, she leaned against him, so her shoulder was resting against his arm. “I'm happy Jack is going to join us for Christmas, Eric. Mighty happy.”

He curved an arm around her shoulders and held her close.
Right there, out in the open. Smack in the middle of the front porch of the inn.

For a split second, there was so much pain and hope in his heart he felt like it was on the verge of bursting.

Or maybe he would simply break down and cry.

After a few minutes, Beverly rested her head against his chest. He thought about how right she felt. How right they felt together.

How much it was going to hurt when she realized that she could do much better than him.

W
hen Mark walked into the Quick Stop at ten minutes to five, he expected to see Laura looking as eager to see him as he was to see her. After all, they had something pretty big planned for later: Her mother was allowing Laura to spend the evening with him.

First he was going to take her home to the farm to have supper with the family, then the two of them were going to go hang out at Pinecraft Park. More and more Amish had arrived from up north and Mark was pretty sure two of his buddies from Charm had arrived earlier in the day. He was as anxious to see them as he was to spend time with Laura.

But before they did any of that, he needed to figure out what
was wrong. Instead of greeting him with a smile, she looked as if she was on the verge of tears.

“Mark, I'm so glad you're here!” she called as she walked out from behind the counter. After giving a small wave in her manager's direction, he put an arm around Laura's shoulders.

“What's wrong?” he asked. His imagination started going crazy, and every bit of it settled on something bad. “Laura, are ya hurt?” He scanned her face, her simple white blouse and jean skirt, looking for any sign that could give him a hint of what had made her so upset. “Did someone bad come in here and scare you?” He always worried about her safety, working in a convenience store like she did.

“
Nee
, it's nothing like that. I'll tell you when we leave.” Looking over her shoulder, she said, “Scott, its five to five. Can I go ahead and punch out?”

Her boss walked over to a machine on the back wall. “That's fine, Laura. You go ahead and punch out.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure. But don't forget what we talked about.”

“I won't forget. Thanks.” After grabbing her backpack from a closet near the back, she followed Mark outside.

Though Laura no longer looked as shaken up as she had when he'd entered the store, Mark was still concerned about her. “Where do you want to go?” he asked easily, just as if he were still thinking about nothing but taking her out on a date. “We'd talked about me taking you to our farm. Do you still want to do that?”

“I'd love to do that. But I . . . I think I need to go to the police station first. Will . . . will you go with me?”

The police station? “Of course I will,” Mark replied as they walked out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk. “But how about you tell me what's going on first? You've got me pretty worried, Laura.”

“I know. I'm worried, too.” She tucked her chin to her chest and sighed, the movement causing a piece of her long, honey-golden hair to cover her cheek.

Mark thought she was so pretty. Before he thought about how she might react, he slipped his hand around hers. When she lifted her chin and met his gaze with a grateful smile, he knew he'd done the right thing.

“Can we go sit over there first?” she asked, pointing to a bench in front of a casual seafood restaurant.

Keeping her hand in his, he led the way.

The moment they were sitting down, she continued. “Mark, Peter Yoder came back today.”

Mark was really surprised that Peter was the source of her anxiety. “What's wrong about that?”

“He bought a bunch more stuff.”

“Isn't that why people come in?”

“Yeah, but like I've told you before, no one buys that much. It's usually just a couple of things. Items people don't want to go to the big markets for. Anyway, Mark bought a bunch of groceries again and then he paid for it all with a fifty-dollar bill. And he looked real nervous the whole time.”

“What did you do?” he finally asked.

Laura grimaced. “Honestly, I shouldn't have said anything. But, well, I teased him about buying so many groceries here again. And then I said something like, it must be nice to have so
much cash. And that I'd have to tell my girlfriends that he's the boy to like because he could take them out for pizza.”

Mark moaned. “Laura.”

“It was stupid, I know. But I was just teasing.”

“What happened next?”

“He got all nervous and scared. And then he told me that I had better not tell anyone that he'd been spending so much money. He pretty much acted like he'd been shopping at the Quick Stop when I was working because he knew I wouldn't question him.” She frowned. “I couldn't believe it. I mean, I know I'm only sixteen, but I'm not stupid.”

Though nothing was funny about their conversation, Mark struggled to keep from smiling. He really liked her spirit, even admired it. Even though she was sweet, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. “You're right, you're not stupid, Laura. Peter, uh, sounds like he was really worried about something.”

She nodded. “After he said all that, I just rang up his things and handed him the bags. He took them and left.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“No. He just looked sad.” She took a breath. “About an hour after Peter left, Scott came in. Even though Peter probably wouldn't have wanted me to, I told him about Peter's visits.”

“I'm glad you did.”

“Me, too. Well, I kind of am.”

“Because?”

“Because Scott listened. At first he looked kind of shocked. But then he asked if Peter might be the type of boy who would commit a crime for money.”

“What did you say?” he asked slowly.

“I said maybe.” Her brown eyes searched his face, obviously looking for reassurance that she'd done the right thing. “I mean, think about what happened at the Orange Blossom Inn. Everyone says that whoever broke in really only wanted the lockbox. I'm not saying that Peter did it. But couldn't you see that he might have?”

Mark wasn't sure. Yeah, everyone knew about the robbery, and because his father was friends with Officer Roberts, Mark even knew that the police suspected the robbers were teens. But that said, Mark felt it was kind of mean for Laura to assume so much about Peter. “I'm surprised you told Scott that. I thought you liked Peter.”

“I do. But he doesn't have much money, Mark. I'd heard his father doesn't work, and even takes off for weeks at a time. Like, he leaves him and his brother alone. Plus, you know how his clothes never look like they fit right.”

Even though he'd thought the same thing, he didn't know if it was right to jump to conclusions like that. “I didn't know all that,” he said.

“I'm really afraid he stole that money from the inn and is spending a lot of it at my store. It kind of makes sense.”

Though it was painful to admit, Mark had to agree with her. “Does Scott really think you have to talk to the police? I mean, it's not any of your business.” Of course, the minute he said that, he knew he was wrong. He knew Beverly pretty well. She'd been really nice to him and his brothers when they'd stayed at the inn. She'd even let William help her garden one afternoon. He couldn't simply pretend that her robbery wasn't his problem.

“Scott said he could call Officer Roberts and ask him to come to the store but that it might be better if I stopped by on my own. That way I would have more privacy.”

“I'm surprised he doesn't think it would be scary for you to go to the police station by yourself.”

“He knew I wouldn't be alone,” she said quickly. “I mean, he knew I'd be with you.” She stared at him with so much trust in her eyes, Mark felt she believed he could do anything. “Please don't be upset with me. I didn't know what to do.”

He reached for her hand again. “I'm not upset.”

“I don't want to accuse Peter of something bad, but I also don't want my boss to think that I know something but kept it to myself.”

She was still staring at him, still expecting him to reassure her and make everything all right—or at least give her the support she needed.

With some surprise, Mark realized that he was perfectly happy to do that, too. Funny, a part of him had never understood how his brother Ben had fallen in love with Tricia so fast, but now he was starting to realize that things could definitely happen out of a person's control.

“I think you did the right thing, Laura.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Positive. A hundred percent positive.”

“So, you think I should walk over to the police station?”

He looked in the direction of the station. It was only a couple of blocks away, an easy walk. His first impulse was to take her home and ask his
daed
and older brother for advice. But if they did that, it would be too late to go to the police station, and
Laura would worry about it all night. Plus, he was old enough to help Laura himself.

And that was what she was asking for, wasn't it? For him to help her take care of it. She wasn't running home to her parents; she had run to him.

“
Jah
,” he said at last. “I think we need to go talk to Officer Roberts. He's a nice man and friends with my
daed
. I, well,
my family
knows Miss Beverly pretty well, too. My brothers and Daed and I stayed at her inn for almost two weeks. If we even
think
we know who robbed her, I could never keep that a secret.”

Laura exhaled. “That's what I think, too. But I hope it's not a terrible thing to do.”

“Officer Roberts seems like the kind of man who will listen to you, Laura.” He shrugged. “And who knows? He might say that we're wrong and that they've already arrested somebody else.”

“I hope so. For the first time in my life, I really hope someone tells me that I'm completely wrong.”

Standing, he tried to give her an encouraging smile. “No offense, but I hope that happens, too. Let's go get this over with.”

“And then, if it's not too late, can we still go by your farm?”

“We can do whatever you want,” he said with a smile. As they walked toward the police station, he realized that was the complete truth.