A Life of Joy

by Amy Clipston

  “Did you make any plans for when you’ll travel?”

  Lindsay placed the lantern on the table next to her. “I said I’d check the bus schedule and see about traveling on Tuesday. That way I’ll be there soon after Trisha comes home. Would that be okay?”

  Rebecca patted Lindsay’s arm, silently marveling at how thoughtful her niece was. “That sounds like a wunderbaar idea.”

  Lindsay bit her lower lip. “I guess I need to start making a list of what I need to take. I’ll have to get a ride to the bus station to pick up a ticket.”

  “Daniel can call the driver for you in the morning,” Rebecca said.

  “Okay.” Lindsay stood, yawned, and stretched. “I think I need to call it a night. Are you coming in now?”

  “Ya.” Rebecca stood.

  As Rebecca followed Lindsay into the house, she hoped that someday soon she would sit out on the porch, welcoming Lindsay back home and listening as she shared stories from her trip.

  “I have something to tell you,” Lindsay began, her hands trembling as she fingered the ribbons of her prayer covering. She faced her friends while they stood in Elizabeth Kauffman’s pasture the following evening.

  Samuel and Matthew looked curious, while Lizzie Anne’s and Katie’s expressions were filled with worry.

  “I’m leaving Tuesday,” Lindsay said. “I’ll be gone for a while.”

  “Where are you going?” Katie asked, her eyes wide.

  “Virginia,” Lindsay said.

  “Why?” Lizzie Anne asked.

  “My aunt Trisha needs help. She was in an accident and broke her beh. I’m going to help out until she can walk again.” Lindsay lowered herself onto a tree stump. “I feel like God needs me to do this. I prayed about it, and I feel His answer speaking to my heart.”

  “It sounds serious.” Katie sat on the grass across from her, and Lizzie Anne sank down beside her. “When did she get hurt?”

  “She fell Wednesday morning. She stood on the railing of her deck and slipped while trying to water a hanging plant. She’s coming home from the hospital on Monday. It was a really bad break and she had to have surgery.” Lindsay glanced up at Samuel and Matthew, who were standing behind the girls. She wished she knew what Matthew was thinking. All she could read was disappointment, or perhaps sadness, in his eyes.

  “That’s dangerous,” Lizzie Anne said. “She’s lucky she only broke her beh. My onkel fell off a ladder several years ago, and he broke his back. He’s still in bad shape.”

  “I remember that,” Samuel said, lowering his lanky body onto the grass beside her. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

  Matthew leaned against the tree next to them. His expression was unreadable as he pushed his hat up higher on his head and squinted in the sun.

  “We’ll miss you,” Lizzie Anne said. “It won’t be the same without you at services and singings.”

  “Mammi will miss you at the bakery,” Katie added. “I’ve heard they’ve been very busy.”

  “I won’t be gone too long,” Lindsay continued. “I just need to help out Aunt Trisha and Uncle Frank for a while and then I’ll be back.”

  “When are you leaving?” Matthew asked.

  “Tuesday afternoon.” Lindsay smoothed the skirt of her purple dress.

  Matthew glanced down and fingered the bark on the tree.

  “You’ll have to write us letters and tell us everything that you’re doing,” Katie said. “Trisha lives on the beach, right? Isn’t her house right on the sand?”

  “Ya,” Lindsay said. “You can hear the waves inside the house.”

  “I bet that’s nice for sleeping at night,” Lizzie Anne said. “That will be different than waking up to the sound of a rooster.”

  Samuel laughed. “That’s for certain.”

  “I bet you miss Virginia sometimes,” Lizzie Anne continued. “You’ll get to see your old freinden from school too.”

  “I suppose.” Lindsay shrugged and then stood. “I really don’t keep in touch with anyone anymore. Besides, they’re all graduating this month, and I bet they’re getting ready to leave for college. I don’t think I’d have much in common with them anymore.”

  Katie stood and wiped the grass off the back of her dress. “We’ll miss you.” She hugged Lindsay.

  Lizzie Anne hopped up and hugged Lindsay too. “You better come back soon. Don’t forget about us while you’re living at the beach and listening to the waves.”

  “How could she forget about us?” Samuel grinned as he stood. “We have these wunderbaar bugs here.” He held up a worm and jiggled it in front of Lizzie Anne, who shrieked and ran. He chased her toward the house while she continued to giggle.

  “They act like kinner,” Katie said with the shake of her head. “My brother flirts like he’s still on the playground, and Lizzie Anne seems to enjoy the attention.”

  Heading back to the house, Lindsay fell in step between Matthew and Katie. They passed a group of younger Kauffman children playing tag. One of the little boys fell, and when he began to cry, Katie took off running.

  Lindsay started after her but stopped when Matthew touched her arm.

  His expression was intense as he studied her face. “Don’t be gone too long.”

  He turned and headed toward the barn before she could respond.

  9

  I guess that’s my ride.” Lindsay pointed toward the large bus parked outside the station. “I have to go.” She looked between Rebecca and Katie, and tears filled her eyes.

  Rebecca wrapped her arms around Lindsay’s neck and squeezed her tight. “Call me and write me. I’ll worry about you every day.”

  Lindsay wiped her eyes. “Take good care of yourself and the kinner. Don’t overdo it.” She then hugged Katie. “Please watch out for Aenti Rebecca. Be sure she takes care of herself.”

  “I will,” Katie said. “And you’d better write me.”

  “I’ll definitely write.” Taking a deep breath, Lindsay hefted her duffel bag over her arm. “Good-bye.”

  She hugged each of them one last time and then hurried off to the bus. After checking her luggage, she climbed on and chose a seat near the back. Once she was settled in her seat, she closed her eyes and let her tears flow.

  “Do you think she’ll come back, Aenti Rebecca?” Katie asked while they sat in the back of Nina Janitz’s van on their way home from the bus station.

  Rebecca turned from the window and studied her niece’s pretty face. “You have doubts that she will?”

  Katie was silent for a moment, pondering the issue. “I believe in my heart that she will, but my mamm says that sometimes young people experience the English way of life and don’t want to come back. There are so many temptations out there, and they can be overpowering. Plus, my mamm says that since Lindsay grew up in the English world, she may become like her sister and want to run off and live in a big city, where there is even more temptation.”

  Rebecca resisted the urge to glower. It was so typical of Sadie, Katie’s mother, to think the worst of Lindsay and Jessica. After all, Sadie had contributed to the rumors that had painted Jessica as a detriment to the community.

  “I understand your mother’s point about temptation, but I don’t think we need to worry about Lindsay falling into something bad,” Rebecca said. “As for Jessica, she didn’t run off, as your mother said. She’s working in New York City and getting experience for college. She’s a smart girl too.”

  Katie nodded. “I’m going to miss Lindsay so much. She and Lizzie Anne are my best friends. It won’t feel right for Lizzie Anne and me to be without her.”

  Rebecca touched her niece’s arm. “I know. My kinner and I are going to miss her very much. But we’ll have a lot to celebrate when she returns.”

  “Ya, we will,” Katie said with a tentative smile.

  Lindsay’s stomach fluttered as the bus weaved through traffic in Virginia Beach. Familiar sights whizzed by — favorite stores, the car dealership where her mother got her last SUV, the ma
in library — and Lindsay felt transported to an alternate universe. Traffic was dense, and there were no horses or buggies in sight. Although she’d grown up in this city, she felt as if she didn’t belong here.

  A strange excitement gripped her as the bus steered into the parking lot at the station. Sitting up straight, she gathered her purse and small tote bag, which held her Bible and a notepad. While she’d spent some time reading the Bible last night, she hadn’t felt inspired to write a letter during her fourteen-hour trip. She’d slept little in the bus seats in between her stops and bus connections.

  When the bus came to a stop, Lindsay waited her turn before following the crowd out to the station. She felt eyes watching her as she exited the bus, and her hand flew to the ribbons dangling from her prayer covering. Her cheeks flushed with heat as she passed two girls about her age, who stared at her, wide-eyed. Both were dressed in denim shorts and tank tops, with their long, bleached hair falling in waves past their shoulders.

  With her eyes focused on the toes of her black sneakers, Lindsay kept moving, almost walking straight into Frank McCabe.

  “Uncle Frank,” she said. “Hi.”

  “Lindsay!” Frank opened his big arms and swept her into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you. Thank you so much for coming to help us out.”

  “It’s really good to see you too.” Lindsay hiked her tote bag and purse up on her shoulder. “How’s Aunt Trisha?”

  “She’s doing all right. The doc gave her some good painkillers, and she’s feeling okay.” He nodded toward the baggage claim area. “Do you have any luggage?”

  “Just one duffel bag.”

  “Let’s find it and get on the road. I left Trisha home alone.” He started toward the baggage area. “She was snoozing in the recliner, so she should be okay for a little while.”

  Lindsay located her bag and tried in vain to ignore the curious stares while walking with Frank to his Suburban parked in the back of the lot.

  During the ride to his house, Frank prattled on about the humid weather. Lindsay gazed out the window, oblivious to what he was saying. Instead, she took in the scenery, feeling as if she’d been transported back to a former life. Yet, it didn’t exactly feel like her former life. She didn’t look the same or feel like the same person she was four years ago.

  “I really appreciate you coming here to help Trisha out,” Frank said as he steered onto Sandbridge Road. “I’ve been working long hours these days. We’ve got a big condo project going up down on the Outer Banks in Duck. Construction is finally moving again. We were dead for a long time.” He glanced over at her, his brown eyes full of concern. “You okay, Lindsay?”

  She forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  The truth was, she was drowning in memories of the thousands of times she’d driven out to Sandbridge Beach with her parents and Jessica to visit Frank and Trisha. They’d been her parents’ best friends since before Jessica and Lindsay were born. Since Frank and Trisha never had children of their own, they attended every birthday celebration, school function, and holiday gathering that Lindsay could remember. They were more like an aunt and uncle than family friends.

  “Must seem strange to be back here, huh?” Frank asked while motoring through the twists and turns of the winding Sandbridge Road. “You’re used to the countryside now and not as much traffic as we have here.”

  She cracked open the window, breathing in the humid ocean air. “It’s sort of surreal. It’s home, but it’s not home. I can’t explain it.”

  The SUV negotiated onto Sandfiddler Road, and Lindsay took in the view of the ocean. She’d almost forgotten how much she loved to watch the waves crash onto the beach and feel the warm sand between her toes.

  “Trisha is excited to see you,” Frank said. “She said it’s been too long since we came to visit you last summer.”

  Lindsay nodded while studying the beachfront homes whizzing by. “It has been too long.”

  Frank steered into the driveway of the three-story wooden home facing the oceanfront and Lindsay’s stomach fluttered. The last time she’d been in this house was four years ago when Jessica had run away and Lindsay, Jake, and Rebecca had rushed to Virginia to make sure she was okay. The house still looked the same with its two-car garage on the bottom floor and two stories of living space above.

  Slowing to a stop in front of the garage door, Frank poked the button on the controller attached to the visor above his head, and the garage door lifted. “Here we are.”

  Lindsay gathered her tote bag and purse and then climbed from the truck. She met Frank by the garage entrance and followed him into the house and up the stairs to the main level. Glancing around, she found the house looked the same. A large, open family room flowed into a spacious kitchen. Past the kitchen were a laundry room and two bedrooms. Upstairs were two more bedrooms and another den area.

  Trisha was lounging in the recliner with her eyes closed while the television played a movie softly across the room. She was pale, her brown hair looking darker than usual against her ivory skin.

  Frank crossed the room and stopped at the recliner. Leaning down, he kissed Trisha’s forehead. “Hey, sleepy head. Lindsay’s here.”

  Opening her dark brown eyes, Trisha glanced over at Lindsay, and a smile exploded across her tired face. “Lindsay!” she said, her voice gravelly. “How are you?”

  Frank smiled at her. “I’m going to take Lindsay’s bag to her room and check my voicemail. You two catch up.” He then disappeared through the kitchen toward the master bedroom.

  Trisha motioned for Lindsay to come over. “Get over here. Let me get a good look at you, sweetie. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Aunt Trisha.” Lindsay dropped her tote bag and purse and crossed the room. She cupped Trisha’s hands in hers. “How are you feeling?”

  Trisha smiled. “Oh, I’m okay. Groggy.” Reaching up, she touched the ribbon hanging from Lindsay’s prayer covering. “You’re such a beautiful young lady. You’ve grown up since we saw you last year.” She shook her head and gave a little laugh. “We never expected this to happen. Thank you so much for coming to help us out. I feel like such a fool for falling like I did, but like the doctor said, it could’ve been much worse.”

  “I’m happy to come and help you, Aunt Trisha.” Lindsay lowered herself into the chair beside her. “I’m glad that it wasn’t worse. That deck is really high from what I remember.” She folded her hands in her lap and smiled. “So, how are you feeling? How did your surgery go?”

  “Oh, it went fine.” Trisha motioned toward her cast. “I have to wear this thing for eight weeks. Can’t wait until I get it off.”

  “How does your leg feel?”

  “It throbs.” She lifted a glass that looked as if it was filled with iced tea. She took a sip and then placed it back on the table. “I’m so glad you’re here. You’re all grown up. I can’t believe you’re eighteen and Jessica is going to be turning twenty next month. Where has the time gone, Lindsay-girl?”

  Lindsay smoothed her hands across the skirt of her purple frock and fought the lump in her throat. The only people who called her “Lindsay-girl” were her parents and Trisha and Frank. Hearing the nickname caused something deep in her soul to melt. “Yeah, time passes quickly. My little cousins are getting so big. It seems like yesterday they were just born.”

  “We have to visit more often,” Trisha said with a yawn.

  “I agree,” Lindsay said. “Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?” She glanced toward the kitchen and wondered if she could throw something together for Trisha to eat. “I could make you some breakfast. Have you eaten?”

  “I’m fine, but you should make yourself something. When was the last time you ate?”

  “Last night.” Lindsay covered her mouth to shield a yawn as the exhaustion of the trip suddenly drowned her. “I don’t remember what time it was when I ate.”

  Trisha gave her a stern expression. “You should make yourself a snack and then go take a nap. Y
ou look wiped out.”

  Lindsay wagged a finger at her. “You look like you need a nap too.”

  “I think you both need a nap.” Frank stood grinning in the doorway. “Lindsay, I put your bag in your room. How about I make you something to eat and then you go rest for a while?”

  Lindsay got to her feet. “I can make myself something to eat. I don’t expect you to wait on me.”

  “Okay.” He crossed the room and came to a stop behind Trisha. “But I want you both to rest. No more talking until noon.”

  Trisha grinned up at him. “Yes, sir.”

  He touched her nose. “You’re very smart to listen to your husband.” Leaning down, he kissed her forehead and then touched her shoulder. “Do you need anything? You haven’t eaten much.”

  “I’m fine.” Trisha glanced at Lindsay and held out her hand, taking Lindsay’s in it. “Thank you again for coming. I’m so glad you’re here, Lindsay-girl.” She squeezed Lindsay’s hand.

  “Me too,” Lindsay whispered. “It’s good to see you again.” After kissing Trisha’s cheek, she headed into the kitchen and made two pieces of cinnamon toast, which she ate at the table while flipping through the paper.

  Once she was finished eating, she cleaned up the kitchen and then headed to the guest bedroom. Moving through the den area, she found Trisha asleep in the recliner. She smiled, hoping Trisha was getting the rest she needed and having pleasant dreams.

  Lindsay stepped into the guest room and felt as if she’d been taken back in time to four years ago, when she and Rebecca had stayed in the room when they came looking for Jessica after she’d run away. The room looked exactly the same with its peach walls, white wicker furniture, and lighthouse and beach paintings. The colorful decor was a stark contrast to the plain white walls in Rebecca’s simple home.

  She found her duffel bag on the bed and unpacked, hanging her frocks and aprons in the closet and placing her pajamas and underclothes in the wicker dresser. She pulled out a cookbook that she’d borrowed from Rebecca and placed it on the dresser. She opened the side pocket of her bag and found her favorite photo of her parents and Jessica, taken during their last family vacation at Disney World, and placed it on her nightstand next to a digital alarm clock.