The Promise of Palm Grove (21 page)

A
nother day, another bus gone,” Sadie announced as the crowd started to break up. “I have to tell you that I'm going to miss those girls from Walnut Creek. Having them around certainly livened up the place.”

Beverly smiled in agreement. “I'm going to miss them, too. There's something about a trio of girls laughing and staying up all hours of the night that makes me happy. They were noisy and full of spirit, and they practically cleaned me out every teatime! Did we ever eat so much?”

Sadie winked. “I think I still do.”

Beverly grinned as they started down the sidewalk toward their homes. “Yesterday, I even made an extra chocolate-cherry pound cake. Those girls sure loved their chocolate.”

“You do make a
gut
chocolate pound cake, Beverly.” After they walked another block, Sadie added, “Maybe when we see those girls, we remember how we used to be.”

Beverly thought about that. “Maybe so. Gosh, I wonder if we were ever that lighthearted?”

“Speak for yourself, Beverly,” Sadie said. “I know I was. Why, I'm still lighthearted. And I've been known to eat you out of house and home at teatime.”

Sadie did, indeed, have an appetite, though Beverly would never tell her such a thing. “I'd be lost without friends like you, Sadie.”

“I feel the same way.”

They were almost back at the inn when Beverly noticed Zachary Kaufmann standing alone against a fence. She knew people often congregated there to watch the buses parade down the street.

But noticing he was staring down the street with a lost expression, she felt compelled to speak to him. “Sadie, I'll see you later. I'm going to go talk to Zack.”

Sadie's gaze warmed on the boy. “That's a
gut
idea. Poor guy.”

Beverly smiled at her friend, liking that they were of the same mind. Then she walked to Zack. When she got just a few feet away, her approach seemed to push him out of his reverie.

“Hi, Beverly,” he said politely.

“Hello, Zack.”

He pushed back from the fence. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Not at all. I just happened to notice that you, too, came to see off the bus. I bet this is a hard day for you.”

He nodded. “I guess it's no secret that I've become pretty close to Leona.”

“Not a secret at all.” If all their togetherness hadn't been enough of a hint, the rumor of them almost kissing on her front porch would have been a sure sign.

“Do you two have plans to see each other soon?”

He shook his head.

“I'm surprised about that.”

“I thought I had better give her a little bit of time. She wants some, too, I think,” he said after a thoughtful pause. “She just broke up with another man, you know.”

“Yes, I heard about that.” She tilted her head to the side. “Are you afraid she's going to go back to him?”

His eyes widened. “Actually, I never even thought about that. Do you think that's a possibility?”

Oh, but she could have bitten her tongue. “I have no idea, but based on the glow of happiness she wore whenever the two you were together, I'd be shocked if she did. She really seemed to like you, Zack.”

“I've been more worried that when she gets back to her normal life up in Ohio, she's going to imagine that what she had with me was just a vacation romance.”

“There's only one way to keep that from happening. You'll have to make sure Leona knows she means more to you than that.”

“Matter of fact, when you walked up, I was just standing here, thinking about when I should visit her.” He shook his head. “I'm embarrassed to tell you that I was even thinking about going to Walnut Creek at the end of the week.”

“Nothing embarrassing about wanting someone to know they mean a lot to you,” Beverly said gently, realizing that she meant every word she said.

It was what Ida and Jean had done, after all. They'd made all kinds of attempts to see her despite the fact that Beverly had been sure that they didn't want to know her anymore.

“As someone who has been the recipient of other peoples' efforts to stay in touch with me, I can tell you that reaching out to others is well worth it.”

“You think so?”

“I promise you that, Zack.”

His shoulders relaxed as his lips curved up. “You're right. I'll call her when she gets home and go from there.”

“That sounds like a perfect plan.” Worried that she was about to step over the line between being a concerned friend and a nosy neighbor, she said, “Well, I should get back to the inn. I have guest rooms to prepare, you know. I really came over here to tell you that if you ever need someone to talk to, or even if your family needs help with Effie while you are away, please don't forget about me.”

“I won't.
Danke
.”

She waved a hand. “Have a
gut
afternoon.”

“Wait. Hey, Beverly?”

“Yes?”

“How hard was it for you to move away from Ohio to Florida?”

She swallowed, thinking about how lost—and betrayed—she'd felt and how terribly kind Aunt Patty had been. Then she remembered her fascination with the foliage and her love of the citrus trees. The constant sun. And the way people arrived all the time from Holmes County, so it wasn't like she'd ever completely left behind the things she remembered.

And that was why she smiled softly and was able to say with complete honesty, “It wasn't hard at all, Zack.”

“Really?” He looked stunned.

“Really. See, for me? Well, it was the right decision.”

L
EONA
'
S PALMS WERE
damp with worry when they stepped off the Pioneer Trails bus in front of the Alpine Village shops in Berlin. During the last hour, as the bus had traveled closer
and closer to home and the landmarks became more and more familiar, she'd become more and more agitated.

What if her parents yelled at her? What if her sisters lectured her, reminding her that she was very far from perfect and a true disappointment to them all?

Worse, what if Edmund had had a change of heart and met the bus, too?

Imagining the scene, Leona had an idea of how he would handle it, too. He would claim that he'd met the bus to greet Mattie, but she would know that he'd come to take a good, long look at her. Almost as if he'd come to see a fallen woman.

Both Sara and Mattie had shaken off her concerns.

“You're getting yourself worked up for nothing,” Sara had said. “First of all, your parents would never embarrass you by creating a scene in the parking lot. Secondly, I know your
mamm
. She's a nice lady, and a very honest one, too. If she was still mad at you, you would know about it.”

“Maybe.”

“And you shouldn't worry about Edmund, either,” Mattie said. “I can't imagine him meeting the bus. Plus, if he is mad and hurt, he's not going to want everyone to see him like that.”

Feeling a little bit better, Leona had nodded. “You're right. I'm overthinking things.”

Sara had clasped her hand. “It's going to be a hard couple of days, but you'll get through it.”

“You sound so sure.”

“I am. The Lord wouldn't have put you in this situation if He didn't think you could handle it.”

That reminder had meant the world to Leona, because it was so true. She did have His blessings on her side. And with His help, she knew she was going to be able to handle anything.

Lord, I could sure use your strength right now
, she silently prayed as they scooted up the aisle, then finally walked down the steps and planted their feet in the parking lot.

Immediately, a burst of February wind stung her cheeks.

“Hello, winter,” Mattie muttered behind her. “I haven't missed you one bit.”

Looking around, Leona noticed that large mounds of snow had been plowed into different sections of the parking lot. As was the norm, the sky was a dismal pale gray, diligently reminding them that even on clear days, the sunny days of summer were still months away. Funny, she'd been so wrapped up in her worries, she hadn't given much thought to the weather.

All she'd thought about was that she was going back home. Almost a thousand miles from Zack Kaufmann.

“Leona!” her mother called out, rushing toward her with a tender expression in her eyes. “It's so good to see you.”

“Mamm, it's
gut
to see you, too,” she said as her mother enfolded her in a long hug.

That hug was everything she'd ever wanted. And exactly what she needed right that very minute. Her mother might be disappointed in her, but this hug told her that she was still loved and cherished.

And that meant everything to her. So much so, that tears filled her eyes. Yet again.

When they separated, her mother noticed her tears right away. “No reason to cry, dear. Everything will be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am,” Naomi said as she pushed her way through the crowd to join them, Rosanna just steps behind.

“Naomi? I can't believe you came to meet the bus.”

“Why wouldn't I be here?”

“I thought you might be upset with me,” she admitted softly.

“I'm never too upset to welcome you back home,” she teased as she wrapped an arm around Leona's shoulders and squeezed tight. “Leona, you always did bring a lot of drama into our lives. And now, here you are, doing it again with this broken engagement of yours.”

“Some things never change,” Rosanna said, enfolding Leona into a hug of her own. As Leona wrapped her arms around her eldest sister, Rosanna pressed her lips to Leona's cheek. “It will be okay. I promise.”

She was so relieved, the tears started falling harder.

Suddenly, a tissue was planted in her hand. “
Danke
.”

“Blow your nose. We're going to get your things together, then take you out for sandwiches.”

Leona wiped her tears. “Is Daed here, too?”

“
Nee,
” Mamm said. “He thought you might need your sisters right now.”

“We all thought that,” Naomi said. “David and Michael are home with Daed.”

“So come on, dear. Let's get your bags, load up the buggy, and get some lunch.”

“Okay. Let me just say goodbye to Mattie and Sara.” She found them in the crowd. Both pulled away from their parents and hugged her tightly.

“I miss you already,” Mattie said. “I'll come see you in a day or two.”

“Me too,” Sara said. “I promise.”

Leona promised to make an effort to see them soon, too. She knew she was going to need their support while she at last dealt with the consequences of her broken engagement. Then
it was time to hurry back to her sisters and mother. They had found her bags and were wheeling them to their waiting buggy.

As she rushed to catch up, she whispered, “
Danke,
” to the Almighty. Once again, He'd shown that she was always on His mind. She was ever so grateful to Him.

Z
ack waited two days before calling Leona. He had actually considered waiting another day before picking up the phone. He didn't want to rush things, scare her off, or overwhelm her, especially when she was probably busy reuniting with her family and getting back to work.

But as his every thought seemed to be centered around her, and because, since she'd left, he'd felt as if he were missing a limb, he knew he couldn't wait another day. Waiting even another hour to hear her voice was going to be an impossibility.

After assuring himself that he had privacy in the kitchen, Zack unfolded the note card he'd been carrying around. The one on which she'd carefully written both her address and phone number. He didn't want to think about how many times he'd opened the card and looked at Leona's neat handwriting. If he dared to guess, it would be embarrassing.

Yes, his eagerness, where she was concerned, seemed to know no bounds.

Which was why he knew he should probably wait another day to call. The way he was feeling now might give too much away. He wanted her to know that he liked her, not that he was verging on becoming obsessed.

But, as if his fingers had a mind of their own, he punched in Leona's telephone number, then drummed his fingers on the kitchen counter as he waited for the call to go through.

After hearing three lonely rings but no answer, his high spirits deflated. It served him right, too. All he'd done for pretty much the last forty-eight hours was debate with himself about when he should actually call.

It honestly hadn't occurred to him that once he finally made this momentous decision, she might not answer.

He let it ring one more time. Then two. Then at last gave up.

“Hello?”

He blinked. He'd been such an arrogant idiot, it also hadn't occurred to him that there was a very good chance she wouldn't be the person to pick up the phone.

“Hello,” he replied quickly. “This is Zachary Kaufmann. I'm calling for Leona.”

“Hi, Zachary. We were wondering if you were gonna call. I'm Edie, Leona's mother.”

“Hello. It's nice to meet you.”

“I'll look forward to meeting you in person.”

He couldn't resist smiling in his empty kitchen. Her wanting to meet him in person was a
gut
sign. As was her comment about them wondering when he was going to call. “I, as well.”

“Leona said she enjoyed meeting your family,” she continued, just as if it wasn't a long distance call.

“I'm glad. They like her verra much.”

“And how is Effie? Leona mentioned that she fell and broke her leg.”

“Oh. Yes, she did. Effie, she's doing better,
danke
.” He paused, unsure whether he was supposed to let her continue to ask him questions or remind her that he'd called for Leona.

“Is Leona around, by chance? I was hopin' to say hello to her.”

Edie chuckled. “I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away. I just wanted to get to know you a bit. Leona is at work.”

“Oh.”

“She works five days a week at the notion shop in Berlin.”

“She mentioned that,” he murmured, now feeling embarrassed. “I guess I wasn't thinking about that when I picked up the phone.”

“Doesn't sound like it.” Again, she sounded amused, not irritated. “Does Leona have your phone number? I imagine she'll want to give you a call when she gets home.”

He remembered her saying she wasn't comfortable calling men. “She doesn't. But I can call back. What time do you think would be best?”

“She'll be home after six o'clock. But let me have your phone number, too. I know she'll be disappointed that she missed you.”

Zack figured if she was even half as disappointed as he was, he would consider himself lucky. “I'll give you my number, but please let Leona know I'll call her this evening.”

“You sound determined to do the calling.”

“I think she'd prefer if I did the calling,” he blurted out before he realized that Leona probably had no desire for him to be chatting with her mother about things like this. “I mean,
well, never mind,” he said. “I don't think I'm making much sense right now.”

“As a matter of fact, I think you are making a lot of sense, Zachary. Thank you for calling.”

After giving her his phone number, Zack hung up the phone with a sigh of relief. He had to get his act together. The sooner the better, too.

“C
LASS
, I
NEED
a volunteer to walk Effie down to the assembly,” Mrs. Bishop asked from her desk.

“I'll be fine, Mrs. Bishop,” Effie said. “I'm pretty good on crutches.” Actually having a broken leg and crutches wasn't such an unfamiliar situation. For most of the last two years, one or the other of her legs had needed special support.

“I know you can hop around on crutches like no other, Eff, but we're going straight to the buses after the assembly. That means someone needs to help you with your books.”

“I'll help Effie,” Josiah called out, already on his feet.

“That is very nice of you, Josiah. Thank you,” Mrs. Bishop said. “Uh, Josiah and Effie, you two may leave as soon as you're ready.”

Effie had learned to always keep her things in order, since needing help wasn't anything new, and now she plopped her backpack onto the top of her desk. Just as she was reaching for her crutches, Josiah bent down and retrieved them for her.

“Here,” he said without a lot of fanfare.

Which was a really good thing, because the rest of the class—Effie and Mrs. Bishop included—were staring at him like he'd just solved every problem in their math book.

“
Danke,
” she forced herself to say in a rather cool way.

In no time, he was holding their backpacks and she was crutching down the hallway.

The gymnasium was practically empty. The assembly bell wasn't supposed to ring for another eight minutes.

“It's nice getting out of class early,” she said, just so Josiah wouldn't think she thought he'd offered to help her because he liked her, or anything.

“Getting out of class is great. But that's not why I volunteered to walk with you.”

“Why did you?”

His lips twitched. “Maybe because you've been avoiding me since you've gotten back to school.”

“I have not.”

“I think differently. You talked to me a lot when I visited you at your house. But now that we're at school, you'll hardly look at me.”

“I didn't want to put you in an awkward position.”

Josiah frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Now she felt even more embarrassed. Did they really have to be talking about this? “I thought maybe you were only being nice to me because you felt sorry for me.”

He stared at her, his expression serious. Then, to her surprise, he suddenly smiled. “That wasn't the reason, Effie,” he said at last.

And when that smile finally penetrated, Effie realized he was telling the truth. She returned his smile. Because it was pretty obvious that nothing else needed to be said.

A
S THE CLOCK
'
S
hands moved again, proclaiming it to now be a quarter after six, everyone who was seated at the kitchen table stared at the phone expectantly.

But nothing happened.

Naomi leaned back in her chair. “This waiting is killing me. Leona, you need to get up and call him.”

“Nee.”

“Why not?”

“He wanted to do the calling,” Leona said.

“Actually, he made it sound like he was going to do the calling because you wanted him to call you,” her mother murmured. “Did you tell Zachary that you didn't call boys?”

“Maybe.” When the other four people at the table grinned at each other, she said, “What?”

“Nothing, dear,” her father said. His expression was the most composed of all of them, but that wasn't saying too much. Everyone at the table looked like they were on the verge of laughter. Even Naomi's husband, David, looked like he was having a grand time witnessing her embarrassment.

“Daed,” Leona said, “if I did say something like that, it was because we were in Pinecraft.”

“Though it ain't my business whether you want to call young men or not, I don't see how who calls who matters,” her father replied.

“It does to me.”

Naomi neatly stacked her bread plate onto her empty dinner plate. “I think you need to call him now. We're going to have to start the dishes soon.”

“Don't push, Ni,” David murmured.

“But—”

“I mean it,” Naomi's husband said. “Leona needs to do what she wants.” With a scowl, he added, “That Edmund hardly ever let her voice an opinion. He was
always
sure he was right. Now that he's out of the picture, I have to admit I'm
not sorry that I won't be sharing a bunch of meals with him in the future.”

“I couldn't agree more,” her father grumbled.

Noticing how the four of them didn't even attempt to shy away from bad-mouthing Edmund, Leona looked from one to another with a sense of frustration. “I sure wish all of you would have told me how you really felt about Edmund before now.”

Mamm shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “We didn't want to hurt your feelings. I mean, we weren't the ones who wanted to marry him.”

“Mamm!”

“I'm sorry, but that is the truth,” she said around a blush. “We all thought you loved him, dear.”

“We thought you thought his quirks were cute,” Naomi added. “Just because Rosanna and I didn't like him, it didn't mean that you couldn't.”

“Rosanna didn't like Edmund, either?”

David covered his bark of laughter with a napkin. “Sorry, Leona,” he murmured. “All I know is that Michael wasn't real eager to be sitting across from him too often, either.”

Leona inhaled, feeling like she should defend herself or her judgment . . . or something. After all, it wasn't like she'd gone into that relationship blind. She'd really thought she would come to love Edmund.

The ringing of the phone stopped all conversation.

Talk about divine intervention!

Her father glanced at the clock. “Might want to give that young man a lesson in telling time, daughter. It's now almost twenty after the hour. Best go get the phone before he hangs up.”

She scampered to the side of the kitchen and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Leona. You're home,” Zack said. His voice sounding smooth and perfect. Like butter.

And though it was foolish and a bit on the dramatic side, she felt like
she
melted right then and there. “
Jah,
” she replied, not even caring that she sounded breathless.

“Did you hear I called?”

“Jah.”

When she didn't say anything more, he added, “Your mother said you might call, but I'm glad I got to you first.”

“Me too,” she said around a sigh. “It's so good to hear your voice.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

She knew she was probably grinning like a fool, but she couldn't help herself.

Across the room, her family stared at her in silence, each person looking more intrigued and surprised than the next.

Then her mother abruptly stood. “Off we go. Into the hearth room.”

“Oh, hold on, Zack,” Leona whispered, then loudly she said, “You all don't have to leave.”

“Oh, yes, we do,” her mother replied. “Leona Weaver, you are my daughter, and I've seen you through all sorts of things: chicken pox, disagreements with friends, stitches on your hand. A broken engagement. But in all of your twenty-two years I've never, ever seen you look like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like you're the happiest girl in the world,” David said with a wink. Then, to Leona's amazement, her brother-in-law started leading the way to the hearth room, and everyone else followed on his heels.

And then she was alone in the kitchen with stacks of dirty
dishes and Zack on the other end of the line. “I'm sorry. My family said something . . .”

“I heard,” he said, his voice warm and kind. “Now, talk to me Leona, tell me how you are doing. I've missed you.”

She pulled the cord out, sat down on the wooden floor, and did just that.