Planted with Hope (28 page)

Poppy Seed Chicken

6 cups cooked and deboned chicken, cut into chunks

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

12 ounces sour cream

2 heaping Tbsp poppy seeds

2 sleeves crackers, crushed

½ cup butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Spoon chicken into bottom of 9×13-inch baking dish; set aside. In a large bowl, mix soup, cream cheese, and sour cream. Pour over chicken. Mix together cracker crumbs, butter, and poppy seeds. Sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake for 45 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Chapter Twenty-One

The best way to succeed in life is to act on the advice you give others.

A
MISH
P
ROVERB

H
ope walked to the Golden Coast Amish School with quickened steps. She paused as she neared the door to Jonas's classroom. Excitement and nervousness knotted together in the pit of her stomach. Taking a deep breath Hope knocked, but no one answered. Tentatively, she turned the knob. It was unlocked. She peeked inside. The lights were on.

Hope walked into the small schoolroom, guessing that Jonas had just stepped out for a minute.

The room was neat and orderly. Twenty wood and metal desks were lined in rows. The metal part of the desks was painted pink, and Hope was sure the Amish school had bought them from a public school sale sometime in the past. She turned a slow circle, taking it all in. This was where Jonas worked, yet this wasn't his life. His life was different. He was a farmer, and soon he'd be returning to his real place on earth.

She closed her eyes and pictured Jonas plowing behind a team of horses, turning the earth into rich brown furrows. She pictured
Emma barefoot in the garden, her small footprints showing up beside Hope's larger ones. She imagined the soil soft underfoot and warmth from the sun on her shoulders.

She pictured Kentucky, and this time she pictured herself there with them. Hope opened her eyes, gasping at the possibility. Then she crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't know if Kentucky was going to be possible. She didn't know if Jonas did indeed care for her and wanted things to move that direction, but she didn't need to know that now. Today she had something else on her heart. She looked to Jonas's desk and then to the smaller ones. She'd sit in one of the student's desks and wait.

The school was both similar and different from the schools she had attended in Walnut Creek and the one where Lovina had taught for two years. Drawings and paintings from the children decorated the walls. On the white board someone had written a prayer. It wasn't the typical, perfect script that her teacher used to write in, but rather it was written in printed blocky letters—a man's handwriting. Hope's heart warmed thinking of the rugged farmer taking the time to write the prayer in such neat letters. As she read it, she recognized it as one of the songs of the Ordnung—songs from their ancestors that had been passed down for generations.

Copy the Lord Jesus like a mirror,

And also live without evil craftiness,

Slander you shall avoid.

Keep yourself pure, undefiled, chaste, and clean,

Turn everything into the best.

Also abstain from all appearance of evil.

Let the kindness of the Lord

Be known to everyone.

What you desire from me,

You shall also do to another.

Out of the whole song one line was underlined: “Copy the Lord Jesus like a mirror.” There was an arrow away from that line and Jonas had jotted more notes, as if they were written in the midst of a class discussion:
forgiving, compassionate, pure, kind, loving, gentle,
and
truthful.
Ways they must live to follow Jesus.

Hope smiled seeing that. She thought back to her teachers growing up. They were all female and all young. As a class, they had said morning prayers and had memorized Scripture passages, but from looking around at that song on the whiteboard—and on other Scripture passages that the children had written out and posted around the room—Brother Sutter put more attention to the children's spiritual growth than most. It seemed the widower taught much more than reading, writing, and math. Ruth Ann had made a good choice in asking her brother to teach. Perhaps because of what Jonas had gone through with his wife's sickness and death he'd grown deep in his relationship with the Lord.

As Hope considered that, a new emotion filled her. An empty longing overtook Hope at the thought of Jonas returning to Kentucky. Many people came and went in Pinecraft, and while she missed some of her friends, an ache had already begun at the thought of his leaving… and he was still here.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and Hope turned as Jonas stepped through the door. He wore a soft grin on his face and a Bible was tucked under his arm. His smile widened upon seeing her.

“Hope, what a pleasant surprise this morning!” The grin on his face told her that he meant those words.

She stood from the desk. “Jonas, I want to talk to you. I… ” She let her voice trail off, and doubts rose up in her mind. Hope took a deep breath. “Jonas, I want to know… ”

He lifted his eyebrows and waited. “
Ja
, Hope? What do you want to know?”

Hope's eyes darted around the room, as if she were searching for an answer in the children's artwork.

“Do you like teaching?”

Laughter burst from his lips. “Hope, is that really what you were going to ask? Because in the last thirty seconds all the color just drained from your face. It seems a pretty serious response for a question like that.”

“
Ja.
” She nodded. “I've been curious.”

Jonas shrugged. “I do like it, and it would be better if it weren't for all that book learnin' stuff.”

His words surprised her and laughter burst from her lips.

“If only it weren't for that.” The laughter caused some of the tension to release from her chest.

“The way I see it, it's my job to bring some Amish culture into our school day too,” said Jonas. “We've been whittling, and the other day I spent an hour talking about crop rotation. It doesn't seem right for these children to be raised so far from Amish farms. They know how to push
walk
buttons and cross busy streets, but they don't know how to milk cows. They buy their vegetables at Yoder's Produce Stand… ”

Jonas let his voice trail off then, and she knew what he was getting at. But then he closed his lips, pressing them tight. She had to give it to him, Jonas wasn't going to pester her. He wasn't going to ask again.

“That
is
a shame that all the vegetables the children eat are from a market. I've been thinking about it—I told you I would—but I'd like to come and have the children work in my garden. I'd like—”

A whoop erupted from Jonas's lips, and then he'd wrapped his arms around her and swung her once around. Then, as if realizing
what he was doing, Jonas quickly set her down. Hope struggled to catch her breath and try to remain on her feet—not just because he'd just spun her, but because of his closeness.

Jonas released his grasp and he took a step back. “I—I'm so sorry.”

Hope reached out her hand and clung to his arm, holding herself steady. “Well, Brother Sutter,” she said, using the name his students called him. “I have to admit I never expected
that
reaction.”

He looked away, but redness crept up his neck.

“The students can come and start tomorrow,” said Hope. “I think by then I can ask around and get some garden tools donated. I'll ask my sister Grace to help. It's the perfect type of task for her.”

“Really? That would be wonderful!”

She took a step back, chuckling. “You're not going to throw me into the air now, are you?”

“
Ne
, Hope.” Jonas shook his head. “But I will thank you.” He reached forward and took her hand. “And I will admit that I'm going to enjoy spending this time with you. I—”

The sound of the classroom door opening caught their attention. Jonas quickly released Hope's hand and turned. Hope followed his gaze. Emma stood at the door.

Emma wore a big smile. Without hesitation she raced toward Hope, wrapping her arms around Hope's legs.

“Hope, are you going to be my new mem?” Emma asked.

This time it was Hope who felt the heat rising up the back of her neck. “I… I think… ” She carefully avoided looking at Jonas. “Maybe we should just focus on spending time together in the garden,
ja
?”

Hope only had to ask once for Grace's help. Two hours later her industrious sister had returned with two buckets filled with garden tools. Hope looked into the bucket and found hand trowels, hand weeders, soil scoops, and more.

“Oh Grace, these are wonderful! I didn't realize there were so many hidden treasures around Pinecraft.”

“Everyone was eager to donate.” Grace went to the kitchen sink, washed her hands, and then wiped a wet towel over her face and neck. “It is warm out there though, and it seemed everywhere I went people either wanted to hear more about the garden or wanted to offer me their gardening advice. Since I don't know much about either I just said a little and moved on. I wouldn't be surprised if you have a lot of folks coming by to watch.”

Hope nodded and sighed. “It wouldn't be Pinecraft without that, would it?”

“Oh!” Grace reached into her apron pocket. “There's something else. I have a letter from Eleanor.” She pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Hope. “I hope she's doing well. I haven't heard much from her since she had her newest baby—although I suppose that is to be expected.”

Hope's hand trembled slightly as she reached for the envelope. She thought back to the goals she'd written at the beginning of the year: move away from Pinecraft and grow a garden. The latter had happened in an unexpected way. And only a month passed and suddenly the former didn't seem as important. In fact, she hoped that Eleanor was writing to tell her that she
didn't
need help—at least not until Hope could sort out her feelings for Jonas.

She took the envelope and tucked it in her apron pocket. “Uh, thank you.”

Dat eyed her curiously. “Well, aren't you going to read it, yet?”

Hope nodded. “I will. I'm going to pour some lemonade and
sit in the back. There's an ocean breeze blowing and I thought I'd enjoy it.”

“Makes sense,” Dat said, but his eyes still held worry. Grace watched her too as she escaped to the yard. It wasn't until she was outside that Hope realized she'd forgotten her lemonade.

“Oh well,” she mumbled. She'd rather stay parched than fall under their questioning gazes again.

Instead of walking to the swing where she'd be in full view of the kitchen, Hope walked around the side of the house to the little garden table and chair that the last owners of the house had left behind. They were dirty, but at least they were in the shade. She brushed the seat off with her hand and then sat.