Sarasota Dreams (53 page)

He quickly stood and grazed his head on the edge of the shelf. “Be careful when you come up from behind. You startled me.” His angry tone alarmed Ruthie, and she took a step back. Even if he’d slammed his head on the shelf, he didn’t typically get mad about something like that.

“I’m so sorry, Papa.” She reached toward him and gently rubbed his back.

“Neh, Ruthie, I’m the one who should be sorry. There was no reason for me to talk to you like that. What do you need?”

“I’ve shown Rosemary the sales floor, and now we’re going over the books. Is there anything else you wanted me to do with her?”

He shook his head. “I think that should be it for today.”

“How many hours do you want her to work?”

Papa rubbed his chin as he thought about it. Ruthie glanced around the shelf and saw Rosemary still sitting in the same position, still as a statue.

“All depends. I would like her to eventually be full-time, but not now. How about twenty hours a week until she’s comfortable working here?”

“I’ll tell her.”

“Have her come in five mornings a week and make sure Saturdays are included.”

“I’ll give her a schedule,” Ruthie agreed. She started to walk back to the office but paused a few steps away. “Papa, what is wrong?”

“I can tell you later.”

“At least give me a hint, okay?”

His jaw tightened before he finally nodded. “I ran into Howard Krahn at the bank. He said he and some of the others are going to see to it that the Polk family leaves the church.”

“But why would they do that?”

“He questions Jonathan Polk’s motives. Claims Jonathan is using the church.”

“What is there to use? It’s not like we’re giving them anything besides friendship.”

Papa gave her a half smile. “I know. But you know that the Krahns have quite a bit of clout, and Howard can be very convincing.”

“Ya, I do know that, but I think the people in the church are kind and loving enough to accept those who are sincere in wanting to be part of the fold.”

“Howard is coming here this afternoon to talk to me some more. I think it would be best if Rosemary left before that.”

“What time?” Ruthie asked.

“He said late, so tell her she can leave at two.”

“Do you still want me to take her to lunch at Penner’s?”

“Ya,” he said, “tell you what. Take her to lunch at one after the crowd has a chance to die down. I will pay her for the time since you will probably discuss the store and answer any questions she has.”

Ruthie brought the information back to Rosemary, who still hadn’t moved. Some of the fear appeared to have subsided, but she was still obviously nervous.

The bookkeeping system wasn’t complicated, so it didn’t take long for Ruthie to show her how to balance the numbers. “I can show you a couple of times; then we’ll work together before I turn you loose on it.”

Rosemary nodded. “I’m wondering something, Ruthie.”

“What’s that?”

“Since you have been doing this for so long, and you obviously know what you’re doing, why does your father want me to learn this?”

Ruthie wondered the same thing, but she wasn’t about to let on. “I think he wants backup, just in case something happens and I can’t do this anymore.”

“Oh.” Rosemary still didn’t look convinced.

“It’s never a bad idea to have more than one person who knows how to do a job. We also need more salespeople to work in the store during busy seasons.”

“I just hope I am able to help.” She glanced down shyly. “I’m not exactly the most outgoing person.”

Ruthie smiled. “After you learn the job, you will do just fine. Would you like to see the ordering process now? Papa generally handles it, but there are times when he’s swamped and I have to jump in and help.”

Ruthie went over how to do inventory and ordering. Rosemary didn’t say much, so Ruthie assumed she understood. By the time one o’clock came, Ruthie had shown Rosemary most of the operation of the store.

“Ready for lunch?”

Rosemary gave her a shy smile. “Ya, I am very hungry.”

Papa handed Ruthie some cash to treat Rosemary to lunch. “You don’t need to come back to the shop,” he told Ruthie. “I don’t expect a crowd.”

“Mr. Krahn’s coming,” she reminded him. “You might need me to tend the shop while you talk to him.”

“I don’t have anything to say to him. If I am alone in the shop, I will have work to do.” He fixed her with a firm gaze. “The more I think about it, the more I know it is wrong for him to do this.”

Ruthie could tell he knew what he needed to do. “Okay, I’ll go home and help Mother.”

Rosemary stood by the door watching. Ruthie joined her, and they walked to Penner’s in silence.

Charles kept watch for David while Pop packed their lunches. Mom had already left for her job, so the house was quiet. In the past, either Pop or Charles turned on the TV first thing just to have noise in the house. Over time since working for Abe, they’d gradually gotten out of the habit.

David showed up a couple of minutes early as usual. He said he’d rather wait than keep someone else waiting.

All the way to the farm, Pop and David discussed the various crops while Charles partly listened but mostly thought about something he’d been considering for a while. School had become less important to him, and he loved working on the farm. He wondered what Mom and Pop would say if he told them he wanted to quit his studies and work for Abe full-time. Abe could obviously use the help.

David occasionally glanced at Charles in the rearview mirror. “You okay back there? You’re awfully quiet.”

“I’m fine. Just doing some thinking.”

David laughed. “Sometimes my wife tells me I think too much.”

Pop glanced over his shoulder from the front passenger seat. “Are you worried about something, Charles? You’ve been awful quiet lately—even at home.”

Charles lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. He didn’t think this was the time or place to discuss his future.

“Not worried exactly,” Charles said slowly. “We can talk about it later.”

David cast another quick glance in the mirror before changing the subject. “Looks like we might get some rain this afternoon. Want me to pick you up early?”

“I’ll call you if we do,” Pop said. “Abe might need us for some chores in the house or barn.”

Charles kept his eyes peeled on the farmland as they approached Abe’s place. The change in scenery—from touristy beach town to the farms and land waiting to be farmed—wrapped him in a sense of peace. He felt as though he’d been living in two completely different worlds since they’d been attending the Mennonite church. Eventually he’d have to make a decision between the two, and at the moment, the simple life won hands down. It was difficult to keep his eyes focused on the Lord when his schoolwork led him in a more worldly direction. He sometimes wondered how Abe had managed to go all the way through college without losing some of who he was.

As soon as they pulled up in front of the farmhouse, Abe walked outside and stepped down off the porch. He leaned over and chatted with David while Charles and his pop got out of the car. David pulled away, and the men went into the house to put their lunches on the kitchen counter.

“I told David to come early today. We will get as much work done this morning as possible; then you can go on home. I’m taking Mary and the baby into town, so I thought it would be a good idea to make one trip instead of two.”

Pop nodded. “I have plenty to keep me busy at home with some things Lori wants done around the house.”

“Have you decided what to do about your house yet?” Abe asked as they started their trek toward the barn.

“We have to get caught up before we make any decisions,” Pop replied.

“Ya, that is a good idea for business purposes. If potential buyers know you are behind, they might try to take advantage of you.” He unbolted the barn door and opened it wide. “We have been praying that you make a wise decision.”

“So have we,” Pop said as he cast a brief glimpse in Charles’s direction. “Lori and I pray about it every night. At first I was concerned she wouldn’t be okay with moving out of her dream house, but now she says her dream has turned into a nightmare.”

“That happens,” Abe said. “Particularly when we try to tell the Lord what we want without listening to what He wants for us.”

All morning Charles thought about Abe’s words. In the past, Mom and Pop spent all their time planning for a future filled with everything money could buy. They didn’t even bother waiting until they had the money either. Instead they charged everything to their credit cards, assuming the money would always be there. Although he hadn’t heard his parents fighting, he sensed their tension as their concern about making ends meet increased.

What he now found amazing was the way the heated discussions had subsided. They still disagreed, but instead of letting the arguments escalate, they turned to prayer. The problems didn’t disappear, but with God’s direction, they’d begun to take action in lowering their debt. And instead of turning Charles down as they once had when he offered his financial assistance, they accepted. Pop had once told him he had too much pride to allow his son to pay the bills. Charles appreciated being able to help out. It made him feel more like the man he knew he was.

They broke for lunch and headed down toward one of the lakes on the edge of Abe’s property. Some of the other farmhands chose to stay in the backyard, but Charles wanted to talk to Pop in private.

“What’s on your mind, Son?” Pop asked as he leaned against a tree, sandwich in hand.

Charles chewed his bottom lip then decided to just let his thoughts out. “I’m thinking about dropping out of school.”

Pop didn’t even flinch. “I thought you might wind up doing this.”

“Are you okay with it? We always talked about how important education was.”

“Education is important,” Pop said. “But that doesn’t mean you have to stay in a college program that doesn’t lead you to anything you want to do. You can’t keep taking classes without a goal in mind.” He turned and faced Charles. “So have you decided exactly what you want to do … besides being a clown?” A smile played on his lips.

Charles laughed. “That was a rather silly dream, wasn’t it?”

“Not really. There are plenty of clowns who do quite well.”

That was one of the things Charles always appreciated about Pop. Although in the past he’d stressed the importance of education, if Charles wanted to do something, he was able to do it without parental resistance.

“I love working on Abe’s farm,” Charles said. He finished the last of his sandwich and opened his bag of chips. “It gives me such a good feeling at the end of a long day.”

“Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. I like it, too.” Pop rolled up his empty chip bag and extracted a cookie from his lunch box. “Why don’t you finish the semester and take some time off?”

Charles didn’t want to finish the semester, but he understood what Pop was saying. “Okay.”

“After we sell the house—that is, if we can find someone to buy it—maybe we can think about buying some land.”

Charles thought about the bills they still owed. “Maybe we can live in town and continue working here until all the bills are paid off.”

Pop chuckled. “Good thinking. I like the idea of not having all those bills hanging over my head.”

“What’s your thinking about the church?” Charles asked. He’d been wondering about this, and now seemed a good time to bring it up.

“You do realize there are some people there who don’t trust us, right?” Pop said. “I don’t want to impose on anyone who doesn’t want me.”

“The Lord wants you,” Charles said, “and that’s all that really matters.”

Pop looked out over the horizon before turning back to Charles and patting his shoulder. “I don’t know how this happened, but my son is getting smarter than his old man.”

“That’ll never happen.” Charles closed his lunch box, stood, and dusted off the back of his jeans. “Let’s get back so we can finish up before David comes to pick us up.”

As they walked back to the Glicks’ backyard, Charles inhaled the fragrance of plants and fresh dirt. He couldn’t remember anything smelling this good.

An hour and a half later, they were in David’s van heading back to town. Mary spoke quietly with Abe in the middle seat, their baby in a car seat in the middle section, while Charles and Pop stared out the side windows.