A VOW for ALWAYS (5 page)

My son is blessed, even though he doesn’t know it yet
, she thought.
If things work out between me and Jonah, Levi might end up having three sets of loving
grandparents instead of the normal two. Well
,
I shouldn’t let my thinking get carried away; Jonah hasn’t asked me to marry him yet
.

Meredith headed back to the kitchen to help with any last-minute tasks. One thing
she wanted to make sure was that when all the family sat down to dinner, the bowl
of mashed potatoes would be sitting right next to her plate. Everyone knew Meredith
got first dibs on her favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast.

W
here’s Dad?” Jonah asked when he stepped into the living room and found his mother
on the sofa by herself. “We need to leave now if we’re gonna be on time for Laurie
and Kevin’s wedding.”

“He went out to the buggy shop. Said he wanted to check on something before we left,”
she replied.

Jonah grunted. “He picked a fine time to be doing that. We should be on the road already.”

Mom flapped her hand. “Ach, Jonah, just relax. You’d think you were the one getting
married today.”

Wish I were
, Jonah
thought. I’d give nearly anything to be marrying Meredith today. I just need to be
patient and wait till the time is right
.

“Think I’ll go out and see what’s taking Dad so long,” he said.

Mom rolled her eyes. “Go ahead if you must, but I think you’re being too impatient.”

As Jonah headed out the back door, he heard Herbie barking. Then he caught sight of
the dog running out of the buggy shop, yipping like his tail was on fire.

“What’s the matter, boy?” Jonah asked when Herbie dashed up to him and started pawing
at his pant leg.

Woof! Woof!
The dog raced back to the buggy shop, as though he was trying to coax Jonah to follow.

Sensing that something was amiss, Jonah quickened his steps. When he stepped into
the buggy shop, he found Dad trapped between a buggy and the floor.

“Dad!” Jonah hollered, rushing across the room. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Th–the buggy…slipped off the prop…and has me pinned,” Dad panted in raspy breaths.
“It’s…tight against my…chest and hard…to breathe.”

“Stay calm, Dad; I’ll get you out of there,” Jonah said, trying to compose himself.

Using strength he didn’t know he had, he lifted the buggy off Dad and put its frame
back on the prop where it had been.

Dad stood, but after a few seconds, he started to fall. Jonah was able to catch him
and help him lie on the floor. “It’s okay, Dad; I’ve got you.”

Dad’s breathing improved, and the color started coming back to his face. “Just stay
put,” Jonah instructed. “I’m going to the phone shack to call 911.”

Just then, Jonah’s mother rushed into the shop. “What happened?” she asked, with a
look of alarm.

“Go to Dad!” Jonah pointed to the spot where Dad lay on the floor. “He got pinned
under the buggy, but he’s breathing somewhat better now. Stay with him while I go
and call for help.”

Paradise, Pennsylvania

Meredith smiled as she watched Laurie and Kevin take their places at the front of
the Mennonite church, in readiness to say their vows. Joy radiated from both their
faces, and Laurie looked lovely, wearing a modest, beautiful, white satin dress. Kevin,
dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, looked equally handsome.

As the young couple looked lovingly into each other’s eyes, Meredith’s thoughts went
to Luke. It was hard to believe he’d been gone nearly a year. So much had happened
since then—Levi’s birth, putting their house up for rent, and now being courted by
Jonah, a man Luke had never met. But over the last couple of days, Meredith had sensed
that if Luke had known Jonah, he would have had a good opinion of him, just like everyone
else in their community did.

Continuing to watch her sister’s wedding, it was hard for Meredith not to think about
the day she’d wed Luke. Other than the birth of her son, her wedding had been the
happiest day of her life. She and Luke had been joyous, filled with dreams for the
future.

Things had changed the day Luke left for Indiana. No one planned for disaster. Without
warning, tragedy had ripped her heart out. But as much as she hadn’t wanted it to
happen, life had moved forward one step at a time.

Meredith glanced around the church.
I wonder where Jonah is
. He and his folks had been invited to the wedding, and they’d said they would be
here. It seemed strange that they hadn’t come. It made Meredith wonder if everything
was okay. Surely they hadn’t forgotten.

She closed her eyes and offered a prayer:
Be with the Millers, Lord, and if they’re on the road with their horse and buggy,
please keep them safe
.

Philadelphia

“I appreciate you coming with me today,” Susan said as she and Luke entered a furniture
store on the outskirts of the city. “Grandpa’s old chair is getting pretty worn, so
Anne and I want to get him a new one for Christmas.” She smiled at Luke. “I really
need a man’s opinion.”

He grinned back at her, and her heart nearly melted. Not counting Grandpa, she’d never
felt so relaxed and contented with any man the way she did with Luke.

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be,” he said, “but I can try out a few chairs and
let you know which ones feel comfortable to me.”

“That’s all I want.” Susan led the way through the store to the section where sofas,
recliners, and rocking chairs were sold. “Here’s a nice blue one.” She motioned to
a larger recliner. “Take a seat and tell me what you think.”

Luke sat down and stood back up almost immediately. “That one’s too big, and it wasn’t
very comfortable. The chair would swallow him up, I think.”

“Okay. How about that one over there?” Susan pointed to a tan recliner that also rocked
and swiveled.

Luke sat down, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. He stayed like that for
several minutes, causing her to wonder if he’d fallen asleep. Susan was about to give
his arm a shake, when his eyes popped open. “This chair feels good to me. I think
your grandpa would like it.”

Susan smiled. She hadn’t expected they would find one so quickly. “Great! I’ll talk
to the salesman and see if I can put some money down on the chair and then pay the
rest before Christmas. You can wait there if you like.” She giggled. “Just don’t fall
asleep.”

He wiggled his eyebrows playfully as he started to rock the chair. “I’ll try not to.”

Susan headed to the counter, where the salesman waited on another customer. When he
was done, it didn’t take him long to write up the paperwork for Susan’s purchase.
She returned to where she’d left Luke, but he wasn’t there.

Susan glanced around and was relieved to see Luke standing beside a beautiful oak
dining-room table that could have easily seated ten or twelve people. He was bent
over, looking closely at the table, and rubbing his hand over the wood grain with
an odd expression. “Luke, is something wrong?” she asked, approaching him.

He straightened and blinked his turquoise eyes. “I used to work in a furniture store.”

As they got closer to Darby, Luke stared out the window of Susan’s car, barely noticing
the snowflakes coming down. All he could think about was the fact that he’d remembered
having worked in a furniture store. But where was that store? Did he own it or work
for someone else? Had he been a salesman there, or was he a woodworker who built some
of the furniture?

Luke leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Why can’t I remember the details? Will my past ever come fully back to me?

“Are you okay?” Susan asked, reaching across the seat to touch his arm.

“I’m fine. Just thinking, is all.”

“About having worked in a furniture store?”

“Yeah. I wish the pieces would come to me. I’m tired of struggling to remember who
I am,” Luke murmured in frustration. “I know I should be happy that even a little
bit is emerging about myself, but I get discouraged when I can’t recall the rest of
it.”

“You know that your name is Luke, and I think you’re on the verge of getting your
memory completely back, so cling to that.”

Susan sounded so sincere, Luke almost believed her. Maybe these little flashes of
memory he kept having
were
a sign that he was on the threshold of remembering everything about his past.

“I can’t believe how hard it’s snowing; especially when it wasn’t doing anything when
we left home,” Susan said, motioning to the heavy flakes hitting the front window.
It looked as if they had the makings for a full-blown snowstorm. The windshield wipers
could hardly keep up.

“I love the snow, but I don’t like to drive in it,” Susan said, her knuckles turning
white as she gripped the steering wheel.

Luke wished he could offer to take over the driving, but he didn’t know whether he’d
ever driven a car. Besides, he didn’t have a driver’s license.

“I don’t think the weatherman said anything about getting a lot of snow this morning,”
Susan observed. “He did say a few snow squalls could move through our area, and sometimes
those squalls can give us a couple inches when all’s said and done,” she added.

Knowing she was nervous and wanting to keep the conversation light, Luke grinned at
her and said, “Hey, if the snow keeps up like this, maybe we can build a snowman when
we get home.”

She nodded and seemed to relax a bit. “That sounds like fun.”

Paradise

“Congratulations to both of you,” Meredith said as she greeted her sister and new
brother-in-law with a hug. “I hope you’ll both be very happy.”

“I know we will.” Laurie’s face beamed as she clung to her groom’s hand.

Kevin smiled down at her. “With God at the center of our lives, every day will be
an adventure.” He nodded at Meredith. “I want you to know that I’ll take good care
of your sister.”

She poked his arm playfully. “You’d better, or you’ll have to answer to me.”