Sarasota Dreams (25 page)

He pulled up in front of the Burkholders’ house, stopped, and said a prayer for guidance. His hands were damp and a little shaky as he got out of the car and walked up to the front door. After a brief pause, he knocked.

The silence gave him the impression no one was home, so he turned to leave. The sound of the door opening behind him caught his attention. He turned around and saw Mrs. Burkholder glaring at him.

“What do you want, Jeremiah?”

“I’d like to talk to you, if you’re not too busy.”

The woman tightened her jaw and narrowed her eyes. “Shelley isn’t here right now.”

“I know. That’s why I came. I’d like to talk to you alone.”

She continued to scrutinize him, making him feel small and weak. Finally, she nodded. “I suppose you can come in, but not for long. I have chores to do.”

Grateful for an opportunity to talk to Shelley’s mother, Jeremiah followed the woman into her tidy little house, which was almost the exact same layout as the one he’d grown up in. She led him to the kitchen, which overlooked an equally well-kept backyard.

“Would you like some coffee?” she asked.

“No thank you.” He gestured toward the kitchen table. “Mind if we sit?”

She looked at the table and then took a step toward the chair. “I hope you realize I’m not in favor of you seeing my daughter.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that, but I’d like to find out if there’s anything I can do to prove myself.”

“You’ve already proven yourself, Jeremiah, and I don’t mean that in a good way.”

“I’m working hard now, Mrs. Burkholder. Abe has given me a job on his farm, and I’m back in the church now. What else can I do to show you I’m sincerely repentant of my indiscretions?”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do for my husband and me to give you our blessing to see our daughter.”

That was what Jeremiah had been afraid of. He hung his head and sent up a prayer. Finally, after a few more minutes of quiet, he stood. “I better go pick Abe up from the restaurant. I told him I wouldn’t be long.”

“You know your way out,” Mrs. Burkholder said.

He nodded and turned to leave when the sound of someone knocking at the door echoed through the house. Mrs. Burkholder jumped to her feet and ran along behind him.

When Jeremiah opened the door, he found himself face-to-face with a sheriff’s deputy. “Officer,” he said in greeting.

The deputy leaned around Jeremiah. “Mrs. Burkholder, we just got a call that your son, William, has wandered off from the school. A deputy has been dispatched to search the area, but I wanted to let you know.”

“I’ll help,” Jeremiah said without a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll go get Abe, and we’ll get right to work.”

Mrs. Burkholder was right behind him. “I’m coming with you.”

The officer stepped up. “Someone needs to stay here in case William comes home.”

Jeremiah looked at the woman, who now looked frail. “Why don’t you wait here? I have the car, so we can cover a larger area.”

Her forehead crinkled in concern, and she nodded. “I don’t have any way of communicating.”

Jeremiah pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I’ll find a phone and call you if—when—we find him.”

She hesitated before nodding and accepting the phone. “If I don’t hear from you soon, I’ll walk over to Penner’s.”

“Please stay right here, ma’am,” the deputy advised. “Someone needs to be home if he decides to return on his own.”

Jeremiah scooted past the deputy and ran out to his car. By the time he arrived at Penner’s, another deputy had stopped by and made Abe, Mr. Penner, and Shelley aware of what had happened. Shelley was beside herself.

“Any idea where he might have gone?” he asked Shelley.

“He wanders from home sometimes,” Shelley replied. “But I can’t imagine why he left the school. He loves his teacher. I’m worried that something terrible has happened to him. Someone needs to let my father know.”

The deputy nodded. “We’ve sent someone to his workplace to tell him.”

Jeremiah shook his head. “I have a feeling we’ll find him, but we shouldn’t wait too long. Why don’t you come with me?”

Shelley turned to Mr. Penner, who nodded. “Okay.”

“Oh, I gave your mother my cell phone, so I’ll need a way to stay in touch.”

Shelley reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a phone. “I have mine.”

“Then let’s go. We don’t need to waste any time.”

Jeremiah and Shelley ran out to Jeremiah’s car. “Let’s swing by the school and drive around the block. We can widen our search as we go.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “My little brother is so trusting. I sure hope he didn’t go off with someone.”

“Who would he go off with?”

Shelley shrugged. “Maybe someone offered him something he wanted.”

“How old is William now?”

“Seventeen,” she replied. “Almost eighteen.”

“It’s not like he’s a little boy someone would want to abduct. He’s almost as tall as me, and he looks strong, so I doubt anyone could force him to do anything.”

“Ya, he’s very strong.”

“Then let’s not worry. We’ll find him.”

There was no activity in the school yard. “Looks like the teachers are keeping the kids inside.” Jeremiah circled the block then turned down another street to widen their search. “Any thoughts about where he might be?”

Shelley tapped her chin with her index finger. “He loves ice cream, so he might have gone to one of the ice cream shops.”

“Does he know how to find them?”

“I’m not sure. One of us is usually with him.”

“Let’s check out Slater’s Creamery. That’s the closest to the school.”

“Good idea,” Shelley said. “He likes their vanilla bean.”

Jeremiah pulled up in front and waited in the car while Shelley ran inside to ask if anyone had seen William. Hope welled inside him until she came back to the car shaking her head.

“Neh, they said they haven’t seen him since we were there last week.”

Jeremiah drove to a few more places Shelley suggested, but they continued turning up empty. “He can’t have gone very far since he’s on foot.”

Shelley’s chin quivered. “But what if he’s not on foot? What if he got into someone’s automobile?”

“He wouldn’t do that, would he?” Jeremiah asked as he continued driving slowly and looking down the side streets. “I mean, you and your parents have taught him it’s not safe to wander off with strangers, right?”

“Of course, but he’s still so trusting. William is one of the sweetest people in the world, so if someone said the right thing, he might have gone off with them.”

Jeremiah pulled over to the curb. “Before we go on, let’s say a prayer.”

Shelley nodded as a tear trickled down her chin. Jeremiah put the car into
Park
and took hold of both of her hands. He prayed for William’s safety and that he’d be found soon so everyone could stop worrying. After he said, “Amen,” he opened his eyes and saw Shelley staring at him. Shortly after their gazes met, she lowered her head.

He reached out and tucked his finger beneath her chin. “Shelley, I want to be there for you—now and after we find William. Will you at least give me a chance?”

She opened her mouth but quickly closed it. A few seconds later she said, “I don’t know, Jeremiah. Everything is so confusing right now. All I can think about is finding my little brother.”

Yes, of course. What had Jeremiah been thinking? He wanted to kick himself in the backside for being selfish enough to turn things around to his feelings for Shelley.

“I’m sorry, Shelley. My timing was off. I just want you to know how much I care and that I have confidence we’ll find William.”

“What if we don’t this time?” she asked, fear evident in her expression.

“We will.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “We always do. We just have to trust the Lord.”

H
e’d driven a few hundred feet when Shelley’s hand flew to her mouth. “I think I might know where he is. Turn here,” she said, pointing to a narrow road to the right. “He has been asking me to take him to the park when he gets home from school lately, but I was always so busy.”

As soon as the park came into view, Jeremiah spotted movement near the flower garden. “That looks like him over there.”

“It is. Stop the car.”

As soon as the car came to a stop, Shelley handed Jeremiah her cell phone, jumped out, and ran toward the boy. Jeremiah placed a call to his cell phone, which Mrs. Burkholder answered on the second ring.

“We found him,” Jeremiah said. “He’s at the park. Shelley is talking to him now. We’ll bring him home in a few minutes.”

“Praise the Lord,” Mrs. Burkholder said breathlessly. “I’ll let my husband know.”

“I’ll call the police now,” Jeremiah offered. “Then I’ll call Abe, and he can tell the others.”

“What are you doing here, William?” Shelley asked as she approached her younger brother. “Everyone is so worried about you.”

William frowned before turning to pick another flower to add to the fistful he had in his left hand. “Mother is so sad. Pretty flowers will cheer her up.”

“I’m sure they will, but why didn’t you wait until I could bring you here?”

“I’ve been telling you I wanted to come here, but you never have time.” William leaned toward another cluster of flowers. “Look at those purple flowers, Shelley. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Yes, they’re very pretty, but you need to come with me right now.”

“But I want to pick more flowers to make Mother happy.” His eyes brightened as he looked at something behind Shelley. “Hi, Jeremiah. Look at the pretty flowers I picked for my mother.”

“Very nice,” Jeremiah said. “Your mother will be very happy to see you … and the flowers. Are you ready to go home now?”

William plucked one more bloom then walked toward Jeremiah. “I don’t want to be late for work, but I can’t remember how to get back to school where they pick me up.”

“I’ll take you to work,” Jeremiah offered.

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about work today,” Shelley said. “You’ll need to stay home after scaring Mother like you did.”

A look of alarm came over William. “Did something happen to Mother?”

Shelley glanced at Jeremiah, who offered her a comforting smile. “Yes, William, something terrible happened to Mother. She thought she’d lost her youngest child. You scared her and us half out of our minds by taking off like that.”

“Was I bad?”

Before Shelley had a chance to respond, Jeremiah spoke up. “No, William, you weren’t bad. But you should always tell someone where you’re going before you leave. People worry when they don’t know where you are.”

William hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Come on, William. Let’s get you home to Mother. She’s waiting for you.”

Shelley started to buckle William into the front seat with Jeremiah. He scowled at her.

“I can buckle my own seat belt,” he said. “Stop treating me like a baby.”

Shelley let go of the seat belt and got in behind him. As they drove toward home, she listened to the conversation between the two men and marveled at how sensitive Jeremiah was. She’d seen brief glimpses of this with Jeremiah in the past, but just when she’d thought he had a sweet side, he’d do something to quickly erase that impression. Now she waited for it to happen again.

He pulled up in front of the house, turned off the car, and came around to help with William. Mother came running outside, and the instant William was all the way out of the car, she flung her arms around him, alternately kissing his face and fussing at him for taking off without telling anyone.

Jeremiah stood to the side, watching and waiting—for what, she wasn’t sure. When they looked at each other, he tilted his head forward in acknowledgment, but he still didn’t say a word. She felt a flutter of something inside, but she wasn’t about to let this emotion-charged moment affect her thoughts.

“Thank you for helping, Jeremiah,” she said. “Mother, if it weren’t for Jeremiah, William wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“Well …” Mother’s lips formed a straight line, and she clearly didn’t know what to say or do.

Jeremiah lifted a hand in a wave. “I need to get back to work. I’m glad I could help. If you need anything, let me know.”

He’d gotten into his car and started it when Shelley’s mother spun and ran toward him. Shelley thought perhaps she wanted to thank him, but instead she held up a cell phone. “Don’t forget this.”

“Do you want to use it for a while?” he asked.

Her mother shook her head. “No, I prefer not having the intrusion, but I’ve decided I need to get my own.”

Shelley was disappointed that her mother didn’t thank Jeremiah for the phone, but she knew better than to say anything. Her relationship with her mother had been somewhat strained during the past several months. She wasn’t sure why, but her mother seemed to be sad all the time—until now.

“You had us worried sick,” Mother said over and over. “William, don’t ever run off like that again.”

William innocently held up the bouquet he still gripped, several of the more fragile blooms drooping. “I wanted to pick you some pretty flowers to cheer you up,” he said. “When you’re sad, I feel sad.”