Chapter 24 #2
Joanna was too, but Nehemiah would be hard to stand up to.
“You have a connection with Joanna.”
Adam stared into his grandfather’s blue eyes—eyes just like his own.
Just like, he’d been told, his father’s.
“You have years of knowing each other, of friendship. Believe me, that means something. You’re still young—you might not think it does.
But connections that last over the years are hard to come by. ”
Dawdi was right. Of all the girls Adam had known over the years, Joanna was the only one he still wanted to talk with, to be close to, let alone court. Not to mention marry.
“All I’m asking is that you’re honest with yourself—and her,” Dawdi said.
Adam started to speak but his voice caught. He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I’ll scare her away.”
“Well, at some point you’ll have to choose between scaring her and losing her. Take it a step at a time, but don’t be afraid to talk to her soon. You’ll know when the time is right.”
Adam gave his grandfather a nod. It was a lot for Dawdi to come out to the pasture and talk. Clearly, he wanted Adam to understand his message.
Adam wasn’t sure what to do. Should he tell Joanna how he felt? Should he reveal he’d written the letters—and admit he’d lied to her? He couldn’t confess in a letter, but he had one more verse he wanted to share. He’d head to the warehouse after he finished his chores.
On the way back to the house from the warehouse, Adam noticed a patch of lawn daisies.
He picked several and then tore a piece of waxed paper from the roll in the kitchen, positioned them on the paper, and folded it in half.
Before putting the copy of Persuasion in the pocket of his jacket, he slipped the daisies into the pages of the book.
Once he had the horse hitched to the buggy, he pushed the book under the seat.
Then he headed to the church service at Tim’s parents’ farm.
He searched Lu’s property as he drove by, but didn’t see anyone. The morning was warm, and a hot wind rustled through the trees.
Everyone had already filed into the shed when Adam slipped inside and sat on the bench with the single men, scooting in to leave a couple of open seats.
The congregation was singing the second song, “Dos Loblied.” The service in Pinecraft was much shorter than anywhere else Adam had ever attended church.
It was a mix of Mennonite and Amish who worshipped together in a meetinghouse and not in someone’s home or shed.
He needed to get used to the three-hour services again.
Tim slipped in next to him. After Daniel closed the singing he said, “As you pray this week, please keep Ike Slaybaugh in your prayers. He’s recovering from quadruple bypass surgery.
And keep Becky in your prayers too. She was in the ER yesterday and is doing better.
” Mammi would be embarrassed to know Daniel was asking for prayer for her too.
Next, the preacher stepped to the front and started the first sermon.
It took Adam longer than it should have to register the topic was friendship.
First the preacher read Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Next he read Ecclesiastes 4:9–10, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
Adam shivered. Thank God he and Mammi and Joanna had been with Dawdi when he had his heart attack. What if Dawdi had died? As much as he loved Mammi Becky, he wasn’t sure he could be the support she needed.
And as much as he hoped he could be Joanna’s friend, he wasn’t sure if he could give her what she needed either.
Jah, if she was interested in him, he could.
But what if all she ever wanted to be was just friends?
It would be easier to leave than to spend the rest of his life being her friend when he wanted more.
He’d been right all along—he couldn’t just be her friend.
The preacher spoke about the example Jesus was of being a friend. “He always spoke the truth but in a loving way,” the preacher said. “We need to follow His example in friendship.”
Adam hadn’t spoken the truth about the letters, but he hoped he’d spoken in a loving way to Joanna the night before. He stole a glance across the aisle. The single women were behind the single men by a row. Joanna sat by the aisle. Was she looking at him?
If he loved Joanna, wouldn’t he stick around and be her friend? If he loved his grandparents, wouldn’t he stick around and be the son they no longer had?
After the second sermon and a time of prayer, Daniel returned to the front. “We have a wedding to publish,” he said.
Adam glanced around. It was traditional for the couple not to attend the service their wedding was announced at. Who was missing?
Jacob was missing. But that didn’t mean anything. He glanced down the single men’s aisle again. Adam wasn’t sure if anyone else was absent.
He couldn’t turn and search the row of the single women as much as he was tempted to. He did turn his head enough to see Joanna. She stared straight ahead.