Planted with Hope (29 page)

Dear Hope,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus who blesses us with family and friends who help us wait out every winter and rejoice with us in spring's return.

It was so
gut
to receive your note. I am sorry that it took so long to respond. When I first received your letter I was going to write you back immediately and tell you to come. Roy and I had just been talking about my need for extra help, but when I showed him the letter he said that we had to wait. He'd just received news at work that there would be layoffs coming. If you remember, Roy works at one of the trailer factories in town and because of the economy their company has been facing hardship. I was disappointed by the news, but I understand the need to wait. I understand we must be frugal during these times. I wouldn't want to do that to you Hope—have you move all the way up here only to have Roy lose his job—and have us be unable to offer you a wage.

Roy did say that by spring we should know more. I will write you again in April or May and tell you if things have changed at his work.
I would like to see you and all your sisters again. I miss quiet days like the ones we spent at the creek as children—Lovina making mud pies, you pulling up small plants and studying their roots, and Faith drawing sketches of the creek. When I was cleaning out my hope chest a few weeks ago I found a dandelion crown that Joy had woven together. I had dried it, and it has held up amazingly well. Also tell Grace hello too. I do enjoy the letters that she writes for
The Budget.
If Grace's plan is make everyone wish for a visit to Pinecraft—to escape winter's grasp—she's doing a wonderful job.

As for us, the snow keeps coming and the world around us is dusted with white. I haven't been out much since Baby Katie's birth. She has a more delicate health than my others. I even had to miss church last week. Spring cannot come soon enough.

Know, cousin, that you will be hearing from me again in April. Give everyone our love.

Your dear cousin,

Eleanor

Hope released the breath she'd been holding. She'd prayed for an answer—for God to make things clear—and in a way He had. He'd asked her to wait.

“Hope, it's not time to leave,” she felt the stirring inside her say. “Not yet.”

For this season of her life she was needed in Pinecraft. Children from the school needed her. Emma did too. And maybe Jonas? Was it too much to hope for?

So instead of packing, Hope rose with new determination. She had to make a plan for her garden, and she had to think of a way to have the children help. Even though opening up her garden would be hard, Hope had peace knowing it was what God was asking her to do.

Chapter Twenty-Two

True worth is doing each day some little good, not dreaming of great things to do by and by.

A
MISH
P
ROVERB

H
ope turned off the sprinkler that had been watering two of the long planters. She gathered the hose, coiling it by the faucet. She had to get the last details organized. The kids would be there before she knew it. She held the sprinkler head in her hand, and a lightness filled her chest remembering Jonas's excitement when she'd told him that she'd like to work with him—that she had some ideas for working with the children in the garden. His eyes had been so bright. His toothy smile so large. He'd seemed like a different person, and she got a glimpse of the young man he must have been before dealing with the long illness and death of his wife.

The faucet dripped in a steady rhythm, and Hope pictured Jonas jumping off rope swings and climbing to the tops of hay wagons as a young boy. She pictured life in his eyes, not just loss, and it was more attractive than she could have imagined.

A dog's bark somewhere in the next neighborhood broke her trance, and Hope's foot felt cold. She glanced down to notice that
cool water from the sprinkler head had been dripping water on her foot. Her mind had been so lost with thoughts of Jonas she hadn't noticed. She dropped the sprinkler and placed a hand over her heart. Was this what it was like to be attracted to someone? It had come on so fast, so unexpected. Or had it?

Hope heard the chatter of voices even before she saw the children. Then a loose train of bouncing bodies rounded the corner. Hands pointed to the long boxes filled with soil. A bee buzzed by and a few of the children shrieked. The younger
kinner
—not just Jonas's older class—had come today too.

A little girl ran over to her pot of marigolds and plucked off two heads. She turned to Hope with wide eyes and beamed, as if she'd just done something wonderful.

“Oh no, Andrea. We look at the flowers. We don't pick them,” Jonas said.

Andrea's smile faded, and then her lower lip puckered. Tears welled up in her eyes and her whole body slumped.

Hope hurried over to her. “Oh, it's all right, Andrea. You didn't know, but Brother Sutter is right. We just want to
look
at the flowers and all of the plants.”

One boy ran up to her and placed a hand on her arms. “Can I help you pull weeds?”

“
Ja.
” Hope nodded, and she held up her hand. “But not yet. Today we're going to look at the different plants. We're going to learn which are vegetables and which are weeds. Then we're going to play a game to see who remembers.”

Emma's hand shot into the air. “I want to play a game!”

Hope laughed. “Of course, everyone will play.”

“Even Brother Sutter?” an older boy asked.

Hope turned to find Jonas's face. His eyes were already on her. His smile was large.

“Brother Sutter is actually going to help me teach you about the plants. He's a great gardener too.” She pointed. “Jonas, why don't you take those rows and I'll take these closest to me, and then we'll meet in the middle and trade.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Hope. I'd be happy to help.”

Hope moved to the first row of plants, and the children gathered around her. She wanted to reach out and touch each one. They were focused and quiet. They were also excited—she could see it from their smiles. Joy lifted and flooded her heart, and she wondered why she'd pushed this away for so long. Could it be that God had been wanting to bless her with the very thing she'd been pushing away?

Jonas had walked all the children back to the school just in time for the day to end. Emma went home with Ruth Ann, who promised that they would head back to the house and make ranger cookies. After watching them walk away, Jonas headed back to Hope's garden. And with every step the questions he had earlier about Hope faded. She was wonderful with children, tender and thoughtful. And as she helped them with the raised beds, she also talked about the gardens in the north too. She'd talked with longing in her voice, and seeing that—hearing that—made up his mind. He wanted to pursue Hope for more than a friend. He wanted more.

Jonas walked around to the back of the pie shop and smiled when he saw that Hope was still there.

Jonas strode up to her. “I think the garden is a success.”

“Already?” Hope smiled. “But we haven't even had a harvest yet. And I'm still not sure I trust most of your students to be able to know the difference between a vegetable and a weed.”

He chuckled. “I'm talking about my daughter. You should have heard Emma at dinner last night. Ruth Ann served carrots but Emma called them ‘yummy orange roots.' She has already learned so much. I know the other kids will catch on too.”

“They should make me a banner.” Hope winked at him, and emotion flipped in Jonas's stomach. “I'll forever be known as the woman who taught an eight-year-old that the carrot is the root of the plant.”

Jonas laughed, and his heart felt light and happy. “All the children had a
gut
time in the garden today. Thank you so much for agreeing to this. I know Emma will be even more excited about our own garden when we get back to Kentucky.”

The brightness in Hope's eyes faded at his words, and she looked away.

“But we're not leaving for a while yet,” he quickly added.

Hope gave him a tender smile, yet there was hesitation in her gaze. “Oh, I'm glad to help, but anyone in Pinecraft could do the same. I'm sure that anyone you stop on the street could tell you about their favorite plants to grow and their best tips. What I've done is nothing special.”

Jonas took a step forward. He wanted to reach for her hand but then changed his mind. He balled his hands into a fist instead, wishing he could share his true heart without scaring her away. “There are many gardeners, Hope, but only one who I know who comes alive when she digs into the soil. Before I met you I thought a garden was about the end result—about having a stocked pantry before the first snow fell. Until I knew you, I didn't know such joy could be found in the process. I didn't know that I'd get so excited to see the first sprouts of new growth. I haven't treated my own garden very well back home, but that's going to change.”

She smiled at him, broader this time. Her gaze softened and
became wistful. Was she thinking about his garden—trying to picture it? More than anything he wanted to show her. He wanted to take her to Kentucky and show her who he truly was there. Yes, he enjoyed teaching, but that job was only for a season. Who he was in Kentucky was who he was for a lifetime.

“When I look at you, Hope, I appreciate the cycle of life that we all take for granted. I know you probably don't realize this, but there are a least a hundred expressions that cross your face in one afternoon. The way you look at the plants, at the children, at Emma, and… ” He was going to say
and me
, but Jonas stopped short.

Her cheeks turned pink under his gaze. “What do you mean?”

He chuckled. “Don't be embarrassed. It's a good thing.”

“I do love this.” She swept her arm around the garden. “And I love having a garden even more after not having it for a year. The move to Pinecraft was harder than I thought.” She shrugged. “And this isn't all that I want—I hope that doesn't sound greedy—but I'd love a garden up north. A real garden that I can walk around in barefoot and line up row after row.” Her voice filled with so much longing that the last words came out in a whisper.

Jonas couldn't help but again think of her in his garden. And when he did he pictured Emma by Hope's side. He'd come to Pinecraft to see Emma smile again, but her smile was never brighter than when she was with Hope.

“You know what I see when I look in your eyes?”

She shook her head and lowered her gaze to the bright green grass under her feet.

“I see gentleness and dedication. Intelligence and an eye for the simple things that most of us forget to pause and wonder at. I see a little girl, like Emma, who wasn't content sitting in a sewing circle and just listening to the latest chatter. I see a daughter and
sister who loves her family and walked away from where she felt comfortable and safe to be with them. I see a woman who is going to make a fine wife someday for the mere fact that she rejoices in new life and new seasons. And I see someone who is going to teach her children that it's okay to be different and to trust who God made you to be.”