The Promise of Palm Grove (3 page)

And smile right back.

A
lmost a minute had passed and the blond still hadn't said a word.

Which meant that Zachary Kaufmann was beginning to feel more than a little awkward.

Studying her face, he inhaled, and started wondering what he should say next—which was something that didn't happen often. It was also something that his friends and neighbors would have said had likely never happened to him.

He'd lived in Sarasota, Florida, for most of his life. His family had made the decision to move to Pinecraft from Lancaster County when his mother's parents had opted to retire there. Though he'd been only six, he vividly remembered his first winter spent in Florida. Instead of it being snowy and cold, the sun had been shining. Instead of breaking the ice on their horses' troughs, his chores had consisted of keeping his mother's flower bed watered and weeded.

He'd taken to life in Florida without hardly a skip in beat. As had his parents. His father found work with a local contractor,
and his mother got right on as a teacher's aide at a local school, Pinecraft Elementary. His older brother and sister had settled into their new school easily, too. His
grandmommi
and
granddawdi
had loved having their grandchildren close by and spoiled them often. Over time, he'd made some good friends, Jeremy and Danny.

He'd led a charmed life and felt more than a little blessed. The only problem he had wasn't a problem at all, but something that, in the back of his mind, he was always focused on:

His little sister, Effie, and her disease.

When she turned ten, she'd been diagnosed with Perthes disease. When the doctor had first told them about this childhood disorder that usually affected children's hips and legs, they'd all stared at him in shock. The diagnosis had come completely out of the blue.

Though it was a rather mild condition and she functioned better than many other children in her situation, she'd still been in a lot of pain and had spent most of the first year in a wheelchair.

She was a strong girl at heart, however, and was determined to do anything the other kids her age could do. She worked hard with her special teachers and therapists and now spent many of her days on her own two feet.

Though the rest of them were mighty impressed, Effie took it all in stride. She would be the first person to tell anyone that she was just as capable as anyone.

Zack knew she was, too, but she did have special needs. And he wasn't really sure why or how, but over time, he'd become her primary caregiver. They were close and their temperaments meshed well. Besides, she was important to him. So important that he couldn't imagine ever not being a part of her life.

And though he wouldn't exactly tell this to anyone, he had a strange feeling that the reason he was suddenly thinking about Effie as the blond girl held his neighbor's cat was because he knew that she was a tourist.

Which meant she probably lived far away.

Since he was always going to want to live near his sister, it was likely he was always going to live in Sarasota.

And that meant, of course, there could be no future between him and this girl. And that, he decided when she returned his smile, was a real shame.

When she still said nothing, merely petted the cat, he knew he had to say something.

“It seems Serena likes you,” he said as he walked to her, concentrating on keeping his voice casual and ignoring the punch he'd felt in his stomach when he noticed that she was pretty. Approachable, too. Like she could be anybody's friend if they gave her just a couple minutes of their time.

She raised her brows. “Serena?”

“It's the cat's name.”

“Ah. She's pretty. Is she yours?”

“No way. She's my neighbor's. Mrs. Sadler loves her.”

Danny came up to his side and smiled at the girls. “Zack is Winnie Sadler's go-to guy. She calls him to rescue cats, get her mail from the post office, grocery shop—”

“It's not that bad. I'm simply available.”

“Or an easy mark,” Danny teased, his eyes turning warmer. Immediately, Zack felt a surge of jealousy and glanced at Danny. Then, when he noticed that Danny wasn't looking at the blond but at the green-eyed girl with the freckles dotting her nose, he calmed down.

The girls looked at each other and giggled in the way only
girls in groups could. Then the blond smiled at him. “So you're name is Zack?”

“
Jah
. I'm Zachary Kaufmann. And this is Danny, and the guy over there by the church entrance is Jeremy.”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Leona. Leona Weaver. And this is Mattie and Sara.”

Jeremy joined them, and they all began their round of introductions again.

“You tourists?”

Leona nodded. “We just arrived from Ohio today. What about you?”

“We're some of those rare people in Pinecraft who live here year-round.”

One of the girls sighed. “You are so lucky.”

“We think so,” Zack said. “It's a nice place to live.” Then, before he thought better of it, he reached close, intending to grab the cat and lift it out of Leona's arms.

Serena, contrary as ever, squirmed and fussed. So he had to stand a little closer. Of course, that meant he got way too personal with Leona. She blushed as he attempted to get hold of Serena without brushing his hands across places he shouldn't.

And her blush made him feel even more awkward. Something he couldn't remember feeling in ages.

The cat made her displeasure known by releasing an especially irritated meow.

“She's mad now, Zack,” Jeremy pointed out.

“Yeah. I had better go return her to Mrs. Sadler.” Bracing himself to be clawed, he grabbed Serena out of Leona's arms as quickly as possible.

Luckily, it was less awkward than it could have been. Serena
gave in gracefully. After swiping at him in a halfhearted way, she relaxed in his arms.

When he sighed in relief, Leona giggled. “It was nice to meet you, Zack.”

“Same here.” He nodded. “Bye, now.”

Then he turned away and started walking. Behind him, Danny and Jeremy were saying their goodbyes to the girls. Knowing that they were only seconds away from giving him all sorts of grief, Zack picked up his pace.

He didn't slow down or look back toward the church until they'd walked almost a full block. Only then did he dare to glance at the church's front yard. The girls were long gone and the yard was completely empty now.

The only thing that caught his eye was the church's cross.

Which was fitting. Once again, the Lord was directing things His way. Here, He'd given Zack an absurd situation, a wayward cat, and the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.

And Zack had lost his heart that quick.

He had no idea how it was going to work out. All he knew was that the Lord had seen fit to show him a hint of everything that could be. The promise of a future.

The promise of what a life with the right woman could be like.

W
ITH A SENSE
of accomplishment, Beverly sealed the top of the second envelope, then flipped it over, carefully wrote her sister's name and address on the front, and finally placed a stamp on the upper right-hand corner. She'd done it. She'd written another letter home.

Around two years ago, after she'd been in Pinecraft for seven or eight months, she'd stopped ignoring all the phone
calls and letters she'd received and started writing people back. At first, she had been overwhelmed with the number of people who'd contacted her. It seemed as if her parents had practically given out flyers containing the address and phone number of her new home, which was her Aunt Patty's bed-and-breakfast.

When everything fell apart, Beverly had asked her Aunt Patty if she could stay with her for a while, and since they got along so well, Patty invited her to stay on. A few years after that, Aunt Patty passed on into heaven, leaving the inn in Beverly's capable hands.

Though Beverly hadn't been in a hurry to answer any of their phone calls, she had kept a log of everyone who had left her a message. She'd also kept everyone's letters in a pretty white wicker basket. When she felt ready to start returning their notes, she'd begun picking out two a week and writing to them.

It had been a slow yet cathartic experience, but, to her surprise, it had also begun to be rather enjoyable. It turned out that she liked telling people about life in Pinecraft. She liked describing the things she'd been learning about running an inn. She enjoyed relaying stories about guests who'd stayed with her.

Most of all, she liked telling everyone that she was okay. Because she was okay. Little by little, she'd stopped thinking about Regina and Marvin and how disappointed her family had to be, and started thinking about her plans for the upcoming week. She'd stopped reliving painful conversations, trying to figure out what she'd done wrong with Marvin, and started trying out new recipes for afternoon teas.

Most of all, she began to actually look forward to the mail coming each day, because the notes she received had little to
do with the wedding that never was and were more often filled with daily news and questions about life in Florida.

So even though she still wasn't quite ready to return to Sugarcreek, not even for a visit, and she'd so far successfully pushed aside her sisters' and parents' wishes to come to Pinecraft, Beverly knew that life had gotten much better.

Now all she had to do was hope it would continue.

T
he hard plastic braces that supported her legs were starting to dig into her skin, but Effie Kaufmann pretended everything was fine. And it actually kind of was, because she wasn't in a wheelchair today.

That meant, at least for a while, that people would notice her first and not the chair. Maybe they'd see that she was wearing one of her new dresses that her mother had sewn for her on a break from work over Christmas.

Maybe if they noticed her new dress, someone would also notice that it was almost the exact shade of her blue eyes. And if they did that, it would be pretty amazing, because hardly anyone ever noticed that she had pretty eyes. They were her best feature, and she didn't even think she was being prideful for admitting that she had a best feature.

As far as Effie was concerned, she'd been dealing with people overlooking everything about her—except for her bad legs—for two years now. She'd learned pretty quickly that life for a girl her age wasn't real easy when folks looked at the wheelchair first and her second.

But even though she was wearing a new dress that covered her braces and matched her eyes, and she was standing instead of resting in her wheelchair, she still wasn't feeling great. That was too bad, because she was standing in line at Yoder's, which was the very best place in Pinecraft for pie. She didn't get to go there all that often, either. Which was another reason she should have been smiling.

But she wasn't. Standing in the long line for almost thirty minutes was putting a strain on her legs. This was longer than she'd ever stood without taking at least a five-minute break. If the wait was much longer, she was going to have to swallow her pride and tell her brother, Zack, that she had to sit down.

As if he could read her mind, he leaned down next to her. “Not too much longer now, Eff. The hostess just seated that group of four, so there are only three more couples ahead of us.”

“That's
gut
. The line was longer than I thought it would be.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Looking apologetic, he added, “I promise, if I would have known the wait was going to be this long, I would have suggested we go someplace else.”

He would have, too, Effie realized. He always put her needs first. “I'm glad we didn't.”

“Sure?”

Zack really was the best brother in the world. He was handsome and easygoing. He took time with her and never acted like he wished he was doing anything else. “I'm fine.”

But she mustn't have sounded all that fine because his eyes scanned her face for about the twentieth time since they'd gotten in line. She knew what he was doing; he was looking for signs of strain. Signs that he needed to escort her to a bench or a chair immediately.

And he would do that in a heartbeat. He absolutely would.
And though her legs would be really grateful for the break, the rest of her would feel completely embarrassed.

“Sure?” he asked again.

“Positive.” She started to smile, but it faltered when she saw two girls from her class sitting at a table with their moms. They were the popular girls, the girls who everyone wanted to be around. The girls who were invited everywhere.

The opposite of her.

Zack noticed her glance and her subsequent frown. “Do you know those girls?”

“
Jah
. They're Melanie and Jennifer C.”

His lips twitched. “Jennifer C.?”

“We've got three Jennifers in our class.” But only one Effie, she thought with a grimace. She loved her parents, she truly did. But sometimes she surely wished they'd given her a less weird name.

Okay, she wished that a lot.

“Do you want to go over and say hi? You can if you want.”

“That's okay.” Her muscles were so sore, she knew that her gait was going to be even more uneven than it usually was.

“Are they not nice?”

“They're fine, Zack. Don't worry about it.” And that was part of the problem, Effie thought. It would almost be easier if they were the type of girls who were mean all the time. But they weren't. Sometimes, Melanie would seem almost friendly—but then, when she was surrounded by her friends, she would whisper mean comments about someone just loudly enough to be heard.

Luckily, Effie had never been one of Melanie's targets. Usually, she ignored Effie or smiled in a distracted way before passing her by.

Effie didn't care for girls who did that sort of thing, which was why she'd never been too disappointed that they weren't better friends.

But she knew if she walked over there, both Melanie and Jennifer would act like she was their long-lost friend. They'd talk to her as if they actually all talked together when they were at school, which they did not. They were really good at being nice in front of a lot of people.

Then things would be even more awkward, because Zack would remember their comments. He'd remember their names, too, and then he would start asking if she had plans with them.

Which she wouldn't, of course.

The hostess sat another table and they moved up again in the line. Then at last, five minutes later, they were seated, too. Of course, they had to walk right by Jennifer C. and Melanie. A walk, unfortunately, that was really slow, because she'd been standing in one place for so long.

When the girls looked up and smiled, she smiled back. “Hi.”

“Hi, Effie,” Jennifer C. chirped. “Did you come for pie or supper?”

“Both,” she replied, because it wasn't like she could ignore them. Then she noticed both of their eyes kept darting her brother's way. “This is my brother, Zack.”

“Hey,” Zack said.

And both girls blushed and giggled. “Hi.”

After their
mamms
said hi, too, Effie followed her brother and the hostess to the table. But just as she was walking, a man in front of her abruptly scooted back his chair and got to his feet.

His motion meant she had to sidestep in the crowded, narrow space between two tables, putting even more pressure on
her already tired legs. The muscles in her legs twitched. She shifted her hips in an attempt to support the weight.

But it was too much. Her left leg buckled. Right there, in front of Jennifer C. and Melanie.

Instinctively, she reached out for the side of a table. A chair. Anything to help prevent her from falling completely on the ground.

And in that split second, her embarrassment reached a new level.

Next thing she knew, a woman about Zack's age leapt out of her seat and wrapped a reassuring arm around Effie. Immediately, her muscles righted themselves and she regained her balance.

Just in the nick of time.

“Easy now,” the woman said with a reassuring smile. “Don't rush yourself.”

Effie was breathing hard, both from the effort of holding herself stiff and from the awful knowledge that half the people in the place were now watching her fight to stay on two feet. “
Danke
.”

“You okay?” the woman whispered. “You didn't fall, but I fear you might have pulled a muscle or strained yourself.”

The lady really was very kind. “I'm
gut
.
Danke,
” Effie said again. “I'm sorry for the trouble.” With effort, she pulled herself away from the woman's grip and righted herself—just as Zack reached her other side.

“Effie, you good?” Zack asked, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the lull of conversation.

“
Jah
.” But she wasn't. She wished she could run to the bathroom or right out of the restaurant. Or rewind the last five minutes.

“
Gut
.” He smiled.

Effie returned his grin. And then, just like that, everyone in the restaurant went back to their private conversations.

Happy the drama was over, she breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't making a big deal out of what had just happened. “I think your legs are getting much stronger,” he murmured. “Used to be, you could never have righted yourself so quickly. All that swimming the doctor recommended really has been helping.”

As nice as it would be to take that credit, Effie knew she couldn't. “Zack, actually, it was this lady's quick reflexes which saved the day. I would have fallen if not for her.” Effie looked to her right, intent on showing Zack who had been so kind.

But it turned out that she didn't need to say anything at all . . . because Zack was staring at the woman with an almost starstruck expression.

“Leona?”

“
Jah
. And you are Zack, right?”

“I am.” His chest puffed up a bit.

Leona smiled brightly. “I can't believe that we ran into each other again. What a small world.”

“Well, this is Pinecraft,” Zack replied. “It is a rather small world. I'm sure we'll run into each other all the time. That said, I can't believe you're lending a helping hand again. First you helped me with Serena, and now here you were, just in time to help my sister.”

“I'm glad I could give you that hand.”

“This is my sister Effie. Effie, this is Leona. She's the girl who caught Serena last night.”

“Hi.”

Leona inclined her head in a friendly way. “Nice to meet you.”

Feeling awkward, all of a sudden, Effie stumbled over her next words. “Thanks again for helping me out.”

“Again, it was nothing. I'm glad I happened to be sitting close by.” Her gaze darted toward Zack, hesitated, then she smiled at Effie again. “Well, I should go sit back down. It's pretty crowded in here. Enjoy your meal.”

“You too.” Zack looked like he wanted to say something more but he turned to Effie instead. Firmly wrapping an arm around her, he guided Effie to their table and held her chair out as she sat.

“I'm sorry, Zack,” Effie said, feeling her cheeks heat.

“For what?”

“Causing a scene.”

“You didn't cause a scene.”

Looking at him more closely, Effie realized that her brother was being completely honest. He hadn't seen anything wrong with his awkward sister stumbling in between the tables. He probably didn't have a clue that Jennifer C. was no doubt going to tell everyone how Effie couldn't even walk through a restaurant. And with her luck, their story would reach Josiah Grimm, the cutest boy in their class.

“Zack, I almost fell down in the middle of Yoder's. Your friend had to leap out of her chair to catch me. It wasn't one of my best moments.” She smiled at him before dipping her head to read the printed paper menu. Maybe she shouldn't have even said that much, but while she felt that it was best to show him she wasn't going to let it ruin her whole day, she also felt obligated to point out the extent of her flaws.

“Hey.”

She popped her head up. “What?”

“Don't worry about it, okay?” For once, even his eyes
weren't smiling. Instead, his whole expression was serious and solemn. “Things like this happen to everyone. I promise. It feels big because it happened to you, but everyone else has probably already forgotten it. It's only a big deal if you make it out to be.”

She knew he was probably right. But she also knew that he would never be able to understand what it felt like to be a twelve-year-old girl with a wheelchair and plastic braces attached to her legs. “I just wish I was normal.”

Something new entered his eyes and he leaned forward. “Don't ever say that again. You
are
normal. You are fine.”

“Zack, you're right. I am fine . . . but I'm not like everyone else.”

“Everybody's got something, Effie,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “You just happen to have some problems with your hips and legs. That doesn't mean you can't do things, because you can. It doesn't mean you're not as good as anyone else, you surely are.”

“Okay,” she whispered, hoping he would stop.

But her brother was on a roll. “You know, Effie,
Gott
doesn't give us anything He doesn't think we can't handle. He's given you this problem, but He's also given you a lot of gifts. Remember that.”

His voice was so intense, his expression so fierce, that Effie nodded. There was no way she was going to even think of arguing with him about this. Especially not in the middle of Yoder's. “I'll remember.”

“
Gut
. Now, let's have lunch, okay?”

She nodded, and when the server came, she ordered the special, which was barbecue chicken. Zack did the same. Just as she geared up for what was probably going to be round two
of the ‘Effie is normal' discussion, she noticed that he was looking beyond her. At Leona.

“Leona is really pretty,” she said. “She seems mighty nice, too.”

“Yeah.”

“How did you meet her?”

“Last night, Mrs. Sadler asked if I could try and get Serena out of the tree in the front of Palm Grove.”

Effie refrained from rolling her eyes, but just barely. “Serena doesn't need help getting out of trees. Especially not the ones in the front of the Mennonite church. She's up there all the time.”

“Well, I know that, and you know that. Serena probably knows that, too.”

“But?”

Slowly, his lips curved. “But Mrs. Sadler loves that cat. And she was fretting. When she knocked on our door, she was near tears. What could I do?”

Privately, Effie thought he could have told Mrs. Sadler that Serena had come down from the tree just fine the day before. But she wasn't Zack. And Zack always put other people first.

“Okay, now I get why you were trying to rescue Serena. How did Leona come into play?”

“She was walking by the church with her girlfriends and they saw Danny, Jeremy, and me trying to get Serena out. Actually, I was in the tree.”

She paused. “Wait a minute. You were climbing the tree?”

“Oh,
jah
. I was half stuck in there, too. We were laughing something fierce.” He leaned back and braced his hands on the edge of their table. “It was obvious that Serena didn't want anything to do with us. However, it was also becoming
obvious that some bees, ah, didn't appreciate us being in their space.”