Sarasota Dreams (11 page)

Before he was finished, he called David and asked if he could pick him up in ten minutes. David said that would be fine since he had some other people to pick up and drop off not far from the Glick farm.

After Abe paid, Joseph Penner approached him and put his hand on Abe’s shoulder. “I’m happy to hear that you’ll be back to see Mary later. I told her she could leave at two thirty if that’s better.”

“Neh, three o’clock is fine. I have to do some things on the farm, and that gives me just enough time to get back to town.”

“I’ll tell Mary,” Mr. Penner said.

Abe saw David pull into the restaurant parking lot. “I gotta go. My ride is here. I look forward to seeing Mary this afternoon.”

A couple of people were in the back of the van, but they were engrossed in conversation. Abe hopped into the front passenger seat.

As soon as Abe clicked his seat belt, the questions started. “Well? What did she say?”

“I’m coming back this afternoon and taking her out for ice cream.”

“Good job, man. It won’t be long before you’re announcing your engagement.”

“That would be good, but one thing I know about Mary is that she can’t be rushed. I have to let her get used to the fact that she and I are meant to be together.”

David snickered. “You’re pretty sure about that, aren’t you?”

“Never been more sure of anything in my life.” Abe paused and faced David. “How about when you met your wife? Weren’t you sure?”

“I knew I loved her, but the thought of it being a forever kind of relationship sort of scared me.”

“What’s to be scared of?” Abe asked. “Marriage is a sacred commitment between a man and woman.”

David cleared his throat. “I think that’s what scared me the most—that sacred commitment thing.”

Abe shook his head. “Commitment is a good thing. It keeps us focused on the Lord’s will.”

“I wish I could be more like you, Abe. Your life is so simple and easy to figure out. I bet you don’t have any debt, do you?”

“Neh, I only buy what I can afford. Why? Are you in debt?”

“Oh yeah. To the max.”

“But why?”

David shrugged. “I dunno. It just sort of started with us wanting a car we couldn’t afford, then it progressed to other things.”

“You can do something about that if you want to.”

“We’re working on it. It took some doing, but I finally got my wife on board with the concept of following the biblical financial plan they offer at our church.” He turned onto the shell road and pulled to a stop in front of Abe’s house. “After she dragged me to church, I found the one thing that interested me was the financial program they offered.”

Abe got out, reached deep into his pocket, and handed David a few extra dollars. “Add this to your fund, David. Get out of debt as soon as you possibly can, and you’ll be much happier.”

“You don’t have to do that,” David said as he looked at the wad of bills in his hand.

“I know I don’t, but I want to.”

“You’re a good man, Abe—a very good man who will make some woman a wonderful husband. I hope things work out between you and Mary.”

“I have to trust in the Lord’s will. If Mary and I are meant to be together, it will happen. See you this afternoon around two thirty?”

David nodded. “I’ll be here.”

Abe closed the door, turned, and walked toward the house. He heard David’s van heading back toward the highway.

As Abe walked up the path to his front door, one of his workers ran up to him with a question. The rest of the morning and early afternoon seemed to fly by, which suited Abe just fine. It kept his mind off Mary.

David arrived at two thirty, only this time he was in his car. “Where’s the van?” Abe asked as he buckled his seat belt.

“The wife has been after me to hire someone to help me branch out and increase business, so I finally did. He has the van.” David looked over his shoulder as he backed up to turn the car around. “I’ve found that my wife is generally right, but when you meet her, don’t go telling her I said that.”

Abe laughed. “It might be a good idea for you to tell her that.”

“What? And let her think she can win all the arguments? Where’s the fun in that?”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to argue. I find it very upsetting. When I get married and my wife tells me something that helps, I will tell her.”

“I’m sure you will.” David focused his attention on the road until he was about a mile from Penner’s. “Wanna call me when it’s time to pick you up?”

“Neh, I’ll be ready around four thirty.”

“See you then,” David said as he pulled to a stop in front of the restaurant. “If anything changes, you know how to get ahold of me.”

Abe waved to David then turned around and found himself about three feet from Mary, who had an amused look on her face. “Good to see you again, Abe. Now let’s go get some ice cream.” Without another word, she reached for his arm and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow.

It took all of Mary’s self-restraint not to laugh at Abe’s reaction. His eyes widened, and his chin dropped. “So how’s the farm? Anything new?” she asked.

“Ya. Just this morning one of my workers told me about a new bull that’s for sale. I told him to look him over and buy him if he thinks it’s a good deal.”

“A new bull, huh? How about that?”

“We just cleared the land for some more grapefruit trees, too.”

Mary smiled. Abe’s dedication to his farm was admirable.

The blaring sound of a honking horn snagged their attention. Mary scrunched her eyebrows. “Is that Jeremiah again?”

“Afraid so.” Abe shook his head. “Ever since he left the church, he’s been sort of wild.”

“Sort of?” Mary snorted. “He came into the restaurant with some of his friends earlier. Grandpa had to ask them to quiet down or leave.”

“He used to be such a good guy, but I do remember him talking about outsiders and how much fun they seemed to be having.”

Jeremiah pulled to a stop beside them. “Hey, Abe. Wanna go for a ride in my new wheels?”

“Neh.” Abe glanced down at Mary. “I’m on a date.”

Mary started to grin, but Jeremiah’s hoot cracked her joy. “Can’t say I blame you. She’s hot.”

“Don’t talk about her like that, Jeremiah.” Mary saw Abe’s jaw tighten. “She’s a nice girl who deserves respect.”

“Did you ever ask her about what she did before she joined the plain clothes brigade?” He cackled. “I bet she saw some action that would make you a very happy man.”

Abe started to advance toward Jeremiah, but Mary held him back and walked up to Jeremiah alone. “You’re a terrible man, Jeremiah. Just because you turned your back on God doesn’t give you the right to try to pull someone as nice as Abe away.”

“Wait, Mary, I can handle this,” Abe said as he gently took her hand then stepped between her and the car. “Jeremiah, you better move along. You know I can’t fight you, but I can contact the authorities.”

Mary held her breath as she watched Jeremiah’s expression go from jeering to acceptance. Finally he nodded. “I’ll talk to you about it later, Abe. I don’t want you missing out on a golden opportunity, now that you’ve got yourself a live one.” He sped away, hooting and hollering and saying disrespectful things.

“I’m so sorry, Mary. You should never have to hear such words.”

She flicked her hand. “It’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”

“In your past?” he asked softly.

“Well, yeah, then, but I still hear things that you wouldn’t believe. People come into the restaurant and say all kinds of things.”

“Surely not from Pinecraft people.”

She shook her head. “No, not from any of the Mennonites or Amish. Mostly just rude outsiders.”

“That’s terrible. Maybe you should put a sign on the door telling people to leave those things outside.” He offered a teasing grin. “Think that’ll work?”

She tilted her head back and laughed. “About as well as telling Jeremiah to behave. You know he’ll do that again.”

“Of course he will. And I’ll just have to be ready for him next time.”

“What can you do about it?”

Abe shrugged. “I’ll search through scripture and come up with some verses to put him in his place in a God-pleasing way.”

Mary thought for a few seconds, then nodded and laughed. “If nothing else, he’ll stop just to shut you up.”

A woman on a three-wheeler bumped up on the lower part of the curb in front of them. Her skirt barely covered her knees, and the ties on her kapp lifted with the breeze. The basket in front of the handlebars was laden with bags from various stores and behind her rolled a wagon filled with jars. The final bump sent a couple of the jars flying off the wagon and crashing onto the sidewalk.

She got off her three-wheeler, extracted a bag from the side of the wagon, and picked up some of the broken pieces. Mary and Abe ran up to her and helped.

“Hello, Abe. Thank you.” The woman nodded and darted her gaze toward Mary. Her eyebrows lifted, but she didn’t address Mary. “Nice afternoon for a walk.” She tucked the bag filled with broken glass into the side of the wagon and hopped back up on her three-wheeler.

“Yes, Mrs. Troyer, it’s a very nice afternoon.” Abe wanted the woman to acknowledge Mary, but he wasn’t sure what he could do to make that happen.

“Looks like you have quite a load there, Mrs. Troyer,” Abe said. “Would you like me to take the wagon somewhere for you?”

Mrs. Troyer looked flustered but finally relented and nodded to Abe. “That would be nice….” She tentatively glanced at Mary. “That is, if you don’t mind. I’m having a very difficult time.”

“No problem at all,” he said. “Mary, you don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not.”

Abe untied the wagon from the back of the three-wheeler. “We’ll follow you.” As they fell in behind the woman, with Abe pulling the wagon behind him, he winked at Mary. “As soon as we deliver the load, we’ll go get our ice cream.”

Mary’s opinion of Abe soared even higher. The man was kind to everyone, smart, educated, handsome, and tenacious. To top it off, each time she was with him, the fluttery feelings in her tummy increased.

They arrived at the woman’s house, where she hopped off her three-wheeler and pointed to a patch by the door. “Just leave the wagon there. What do I owe you?”

Abe’s forehead wrinkled. “Nothing. It was our pleasure.”

She grinned. “You are a very sweet man. Thank you.” Then she glanced at Mary. “I hope you realize what a fortunate young woman you are to be with a man like Abe.”

“I’m the fortunate one for Mary to be with me,” Abe said. “If you don’t need us anymore, we’ll be on our way.”

Mary and Abe walked in silence until they came to the end of the block when Mary turned to him. “You didn’t have to say anything.”

“I know I didn’t, but I felt it was the right thing to do.”

“I’m used to it, though. In fact, I’ve come to expect people to think the worst of me.”

“That’s not right, Mary. Maybe she doesn’t think badly of you. Some people simply don’t say much.”

“Or they want to shun me for what my mother did.”

“Mrs. Troyer wasn’t shunning you, if that’s what you’re implying. She is just one of those quiet, shy women. I saw her look at you, and there didn’t seem to be any animosity in her eyes.”

“So what are you saying, Abe?”

He squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds as though he might be sending up a brief prayer. Then he looked directly at her. “Perhaps you’re the one holding on to the grudge. It’s not like your mother was the first to leave the church.”

Mary shook her head. “I don’t feel like people respect me around here, no matter what I do.”

“I think you’re a wonderful woman, and I’m sure others do, too.” Abe stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned her around to face him. “You should never be treated with anything but the utmost respect.”

“Thank you.” Mary gulped as she looked up into Abe’s eyes, which flickered from the reflection of the afternoon sun. He lowered his head toward her and looked like he was about to kiss her, making her heart hammer so hard she feared Abe would hear it.

But he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he took her hand and turned her back around. “I’m hungry for some ice cream. Let’s go.”

At the moment, Mary didn’t care if she never saw ice cream again. She’d much rather have a kiss. Disappointment rolled through her.

When they arrived at the tiny ice-cream shop, Abe asked her what she wanted. “I’ll just have whatever you’re having.” She folded her arms and tried to hide her feelings.

He squinted as though confused by her answer, then turned to the woman behind the counter. “We’ll have two double vanilla cones please.” After she scooped the ice cream and Abe paid, he handed Mary one cone and licked the other. “Mmm. This is good.”

Mary turned her cone around and studied it before tasting it. A tiny drop of ice cream splashed onto her hand, and she licked it off. “Yeah, it is good. Perfect, in fact.”

“What just happened back there, Mary?” he asked as they ambled down the street. “You suddenly acted strange.”

She paused mid-lick. “Strange? How so?”

“After that conversation when we left Mrs. Troyer, you gave me an odd look. Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Abe,” Mary said slowly, wondering if she should leave it at that or explain. “It’s just that … well …”