Hearts Aglow (12 page)

He grinned. “Well, consider this. Your sister-in-law is only about four and a half months along, but in the last month she’s grown considerably in size. The nausea has been more severe than most women and even now is extreme. I’m thinking she might be carrying twins.”

Deborah’s mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. “Twins?”

“Don’t say anything just yet. We should have a better idea tomorrow.”

“Oh, there’s Mother with our dishes,” Deborah said, pulling Christopher along. “We have a plate and silver for you, as well.”

Christopher liked that he’d been included in the family. When he’d first arrived in the community, few wanted to associate with him, much less allow him to practice his medical skills on them. Now more folks openly allowed his care – and his friendship.

“Well, you two look like you could use a good meal,” Mrs. Vandermark said, holding a plate out to Christopher.

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m quite happy to put a dent in the food.” Christopher glanced at the vast arrangement of dishes on the food table. “Where are yours?”

Deborah’s mother laughed. “Why, do you plan to avoid them?”

“On the contrary, I intend to start with the best.”

She smiled. “In that case, I’ll let Deborah point them out. She knows exactly what we brought. Be sure you get a piece of her butter cake before it’s gone.”

He looked at Deborah in surprise. “You baked?”

Her right brow arched slightly. “Indeed, I did, and if you don’t mind your manners, I won’t tell you which cake is mine.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, nodding. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Euphanel laughed and handed her daughter a plate. “You’ve got him well trained already.”

Deborah rolled her eyes. “It’s all just a show for you, Mother.

Dr. Clayton has never listened to anything I’ve had to say. He thinks he already knows it all.”

Christopher laughed and nudged Deborah forward. “What I really know is that I’m going to starve half to death if I stand around here waiting much longer. Come on.”

Rob eyed Mara Shattuck trying to balance her plate and parasol and sauntered up to her as if he did this kind of thing every day.

“Can I be of service? Carry your plate?”

“Perhaps if you took the parasol,” Mara said with a grateful expression.

Rob looked at the lacey pink thing and nodded reluctantly. No doubt he’d hear about this later if his brother caught sight of him toting the fancy umbrella around.

“Thank you.” Mara handed him the parasol and focused on her choices of food. “Everything looks so good; it’s hard not to take some of everything.”

“I tried that once,” Rob said, trying to decide if he should hold the parasol over Mara or just let it hang to the side. “It didn’t work out so well. I got so stuffed, I was pert near sick.”

“Gluttony is a sin, you know,” she said sweetly.

“I suppose I do. Guess I’m just a regular old sinner.”

“We all are sinners, Mr. Vandermark.”

“Call me Rob. Mr. Vandermark is too uppity for me.”

She looked at him, narrowing her eyes slightly. “It’s a matter of etiquette and proper behavior, Mr. Vandermark. I am a single woman, and you are a single gentleman. We’re only newly acquainted, and it would be unacceptable for us to pretend otherwise.”

He looked at her and shook his head. “We might only be newly acquainted, but I’d like it well enough if we got to knowin’ each other a whole lot better.”

She stopped and turned. “To what outcome, Mr. Vandermark?”

Rob was momentarily stumped. “I . . . well . . . that is . . . I reckon I’d like for us to be . . . friends.”

“I see.” She shifted the plate from her left hand to her right. “I believe I’d like for us to be friends, Mr. Vandermark.” She smiled. “Would you care to sit with my father and me at dinner? We’re set up just over there by the church.”

Rob followed her gaze and could see that Pastor Shattuck was already busily eating. He grinned. “I’d be mighty glad to join you.”

She reached out to take hold of the umbrella. “Wonderful. I shall see you there.” She walked away, parasol blocking any view of her face.

Rob smiled to himself and quickly retrieved a plate for food. He was making progress with Mara Shattuck, and it wasn’t turning out to be as difficult as he’d thought it might. Joining the Shattucks on their blanket, Rob plopped down and extended a hand. “Pastor. Good to see you again.”

“Rob, I’m glad you could join us. Mara said you were quite helpful to her just now.”

He flushed slightly. “I don’t know how helpful I actually was, but I have to say it was my first time to hold a parasol.”

Mara’s father laughed. “Oh, the things we men do for women.

I was just commenting to Mara that she shares a resemblance to your sister.”

“Deborah?” Rob questioned, shaking his head. “G.W. mentioned some likeness, but they don’t look alike to me.”

“Well, of course they don’t look alike, but both have dark eyes and dark hair. They’re even similar in size.”

Rob glanced around as if looking for his sister, then settled his gaze back on Mara. “I reckon lots of folks can have some things in common. I think Miss Mara is much prettier than my sister, but don’t tell Deborah.” He grinned and picked up his fork. He quickly stuffed his mouth with some potato salad just in case someone wanted to ask him something else. This way he’d at least have a few moments to consider his answer.

“So tell me, Mr. Vandermark,” Mara began, “where is God taking you on your life journey?”

Rob was momentarily mesmerized by the question. He finished chewing and swallowed before giving a shrug.

“I don’t reckon I know for sure. I’ve been working in the family business since I was a small boy. My pa loved the forests, and logging became a way of life for our family.”

“And now?” she asked, delicately picking at the food on her plate.

“Well, I guess there have been a few changes. My brother, G.W., got hurt last year. He took a fall out of a tree and injured his leg.

Since then he’s stayed at home to handle the office side of things.

’Course, he had to learn to read better. So my sister has been helpin’ us both.”

“So you’re learning to read?”

He stiffened. “I could already read some; I’m just learnin’ to do it better.”

“But why?” she asked.

Her father saved him from having to answer. “Mara, I’ve never known you to be quite this inquisitive.”

She shrugged. “People do not make changes without a good reason. I simply wondered what had prompted Mr. Vandermark to desire such skills.”

Rob shrugged. “I don’t rightly know. Strange as it sounds, I guess I just felt it was the right thing to do.”

“God sometimes works like that,” Pastor Shattuck said, nodding. “God will lay a matter on our heart, and we will find it impossible to rest until we act upon that urge.”

Mara looked at Rob. “Was that how it was?”

He thought about it for a moment. “I suppose it was that way. Now I’m mostly readin’ the Bible, and it’s got me thinking more and more on God and what He wants from us.”

“And have you learned what He wants from you?” she asked, her voice soft and appealing. “Did you try asking Him as I suggested?”

Rob contemplated the matter for a moment. “I’ve asked, but I don’t reckon I’ve figured it all out just yet.”

“But you do believe God has a specific plan for you – for each person?”

“Of course. I reckon I’ve known that since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.” He grinned and picked up a piece of white bread. “Doesn’t mean I know what it is – but I know He’s got a plan.”

“That’s a good start,” the pastor told him. “Some folks don’t even know that much.”

“What are you doing to figure out what it is that God wants of you?” Mara asked. Both Rob and her father looked at her in surprise. She smiled. “I’m sorry. Have I made this conversation too personal?”

“No, I don’t reckon you have,” Rob said, giving her a lazy smile.

“I just don’t have an answer for you. I guess I’m not sure how a fella goes about figurin’ out what God wants.”

“There is always prayer and meditation on the Word,” Pastor Shattuck told him. “Psalm 119:105 speaks to God’s Word being a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It’s not that you have a light the size of the sun showing all the details of the journey.

Sometimes just a portion of the path is revealed at a time.”

“That’s good to know, Pastor. I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way before, but I can see where it would make a good amount of sense.” Rob stuffed some more food in his mouth, hoping it would signal that he was done answering questions. He wanted to get Mara to talk about herself so he could get to know her better.

He couldn’t very well do that if they just kept talking about him and what God wanted him to do with his life.

“Pastor, could I have a word with you?”

It was Zed Perkins. He stood directly behind Rob and nodded when Rob looked up. “Good to see you, Rob. I was just speakin’ to your mother. Miss Shattuck, I hope you won’t mind me borrowin’ your pa for a minute.”

“Not at all, Mr. Perkins. I assure you, I am in good company.”

Rob smiled at this and tried not to act too pleased. Hopefully with her father gone, Mara would be willing to share something about herself. At least he hoped.

“So, tell me about your life in New Orleans,” he said just before popping a piece of pork into his mouth.

Mara put her fork down and seemed to think about the question 104 for a moment. Rob was about to give up on getting an answer when she finally began to speak.

“My father thought it important that my brother and I be raised with a woman’s influence after our mother died. He sent us to New Orleans to live with our grandmother.”

“I forgot you had a brother. How old is he?”

“He’s four years older than me,” she replied.

Rob shook his head. “That doesn’t help me much. I don’t know how old you are.”

She smiled. “I suppose that was rather remiss of me. He’s twenty-eight. We were both very young when we went to live with Grandmother. She was quite strict with her religious beliefs and saw that we received a complete education in the Bible.”

“Did you go to a university like my sister?” Rob asked.

Mara shook her head. “No, I was never that good at my studies, and frankly, I had little desire to further my learning. I’ve known for some time what God’s plan was for me.”

Now the conversation was finally headed somewhere that Rob wanted to go. “And what’d God tell you?”

“Well, one of the most important things is that He wants me to share His love with the people I come across, so that they might know who God really is.”

Rob didn’t mean to, but he gave a bit of a chuckle. “Don’t you think most folks already know about God and His love?”

“I suppose most everyone knows about God, Mr. Vandermark. But I sometimes wonder if knowing about Him is the same as knowing Him personally.”

Rob considered her words. “I reckon there are folks who never really cared to know God.”

“I’ve certainly known that to be true,” she said softly.

“Well, what is it you think can be done?”

She appeared to consider this for a moment. “I think we should be a willing servant. Learn His Word – truly learn the Scriptures and what they mean. Know God in a more intimate way. As I do these things, I can better share His truth and love.”

“And what will you do when you learn all of this? Ain’t gonna work for a little gal like you to be a preacher. How can God use a woman, if you don’t mind my askin’?”

She smiled. “God can use anyone, Mr. Vandermark. Even so, that’s between Him and me for the time. When I feel He would have me share it with you, I assure you that I will.”

Her response left him rather confused. Why had she been insistent on knowing what God wanted him to do, but when it came to returning the same information, she took quiet and refused to speak? Women were such queer creatures. Who could know their minds – much less their hearts?

Lizzie waited rather nervously for Dr. Clayton to finish his exam. She’d been terribly worried about her condition ever since their conversation the day before. She had fervently hoped he would tell her that there was nothing to worry about.