Uncle Plats

by Aqua Allsopp

  One day while praying by the creek, Becca got the answer she needed. “I’ll write to him. Once he reads my letters, he will come back and we can continue to build a relationship that would be worthy of the love God has shown us.” She nodded her head and went home to set about the task.

  She wrote at least twice a week, sometimes more and sent them to the firehouse as she didn’t know where Cameron lived. There was never a return letter from Cameron, but that didn’t deter Becca from her goals. She just kept on writing and waiting for a response.

  The chief noticed that when mail call occurred, Cameron would take the letters from Becca and throw them in the garbage, unopened. Being a bit of a matchmaker, Chief discretely rescued the letters and kept them in a box on the counter in his office. They were basically in plain sight, but no one really took notice of them.

  The end of summer came. The days began to cool down and the local farmers brought their produce into Manheim to share with the community. Besides vegetables and fruit, the Amish women would sell their famous pies, pastries and jams. Everyone benefitted from the bounty of the land. The fire house sponsored their annual Labor Day pancake breakfast and craft fair to benefit their equipment requirements. Cameron put on a good face, entertaining the crowds with his quick wit and charm. The chief deliberately put him out front so that he would have to mingle with the people in an effort to encourage Cameron to come back to his former self, pre-Becca. It worked on the surface, but not much further to the chief’s dismay.

  Once thousands of pancakes had been consumed and the crowds had dispersed, clean-up commenced throughout the fire house. This was also a tradition, where all the junk that had been collected over the past year was disposed of along with the excess of trash the pancake breakfast had amassed.

  The chief had one more tactic up his matchmaking sleeve. He assigned Cameron to his office, instructing him to clean off that big shelf that stood next to the door.

  “You have to go through here, look everything over carefully, and dump whatever is outdated, not used or generally collecting dust. Be sure to look before you throw, though. Don’t want to lose anything important.” Chief patted Cameron on the back and left him standing there wondering how he had gotten so lucky.

  Taking a deep breath, he started in. “No time like the present. It will continue to grow if I remember the last time we cleaned out this shop. Seemed like the junk cloned when we turned our backs,” Cameron thought to himself as he grabbed the first box.

  He had worked up to the third shelf when a box caught his eyes. It actually was the lid of a paper box, and was filled with envelopes that had never been opened. “This should be fun,” Cameron groaned to himself as he took the lid down. He set it on the shelf he had just cleaned and picked up the first envelope. It was personal letter. He almost dropped the envelope when he took a look at the address: “Mr. Cameron Lowell, c/o Manheim Fire Department, Manheim, PA.” What blew him away was the return address: Ms. Becca Geist, Rural Box 136, Manheim, PA.” He opened it slowly and pulled out the letter. It was dated three weeks past and was written in a flowing script, very feminine and neat.

  Dear Cameron,

  I trust this finds you well. I have put much thought into writing to you. This is the only way that I can contact you. I hope that your employer does not think me too forward by sending the letters here. I had no other way to contact you.

  I have prayed fervently to the Lord for guidance. I believe that the answer lies in scripture. The Bible tells us that we must believe unfailingly in His divine understanding and not our own. You have heard these things through our prayer time together.

  I tremble with emotion as I write this, knowing I am entering into unfamiliar territory by my confession. I love you, Cameron Mitchell. I have missed you terribly and long for the simple touch of holding your hand. Please understand that I have gone out of the boundaries of my simple life to confess this. I await your reply with an anxious heart.

  Sincerely,

  Becca Geist

  The paper dropped out of Cameron’s hand as his mind went crazy over the words in the letter. He stood there for minutes as his mind scrambled to make sense of what he had just read. “She loves me. All this time wasted by her putting her beliefs in the way of how we felt about each other. I knew all along that she cared, but I couldn’t believe it till now.” Cameron reached for the nest letter devouring the words she had written. She spoke in one of the walks by the creek holding his hand, feeling his gentleness through their touch. Snippets of their time together, how he helped her through the pain by focusing outside of herself, his laughter and antics with the dogs and the boys, his willingness to carry her when she had pushed herself too far. The love poured out from the pages and filled his heart. He stood there after reading the last one with tears in his eyes.

  Brad happened to walk by looking for him when he noticed Cameron just standing there staring at the wall.

  “Hey, man, you okay?” Brad asked as he laid his hand on Cameron’s shoulder.

  Startled out of his thoughts, Cameron turned to Brad, his eyes still glistening with unshed tears. Cameron didn’t say anything, just handed Brad the letter in his hand. Brad frowned as he took it from Cameron. He read the first paragraph and understanding dawned.

  “I knew it!” Brad exclaimed as he patted Cameron on the back. “You’ve been like a sick dog, slouching around here with your head hanging. Lovesick, that’s what it was all along. And looks like Becca’s got it as bad as you. Whatcha going to do about it, man?” Brad was smiling from ear to ear as he handed the letter back.

  “She’s Amish, Brad,” Cameron said sadly. “Her family would shun her if they knew that she wanted to be with an English. She would lose her whole life because of me. I can’t do that to her and pretend to be happy. She would be miserable. It just wouldn’t work.”

  Brad shook his head. “Well, we’ll just have to find a way to make everyone happy, right? I mean, you’re both miserable and life is too short to walk away from love. But for now, we’d better get this mess cleaned up before chief gives us both more grief than we can handle.” Cameron nodded, put the letters back in the lid and set it aside to re-read them later at home where he could think clearly. Both men picked up the trash and headed out to the dumpster. Cameron was glad for the days off as he read his letters and pondered the whole mess. He realized that he loved Becca, had loved her from the moment he saw her struggling to help her brother despite the odds being against her. Loved her while he watched her fight the pain of injury and loss of her family, struggled with her growing doubts in her faith, watched her pull herself back up and join in community life again.

  “It’s so complicated. I just can’t ask her to give up everything to come with me. I don’t think she realizes what she would lose to do that.” Cameron decided to write her himself and tell her that she needed to move on, find a nice Amish man and get married, grow old with someone of her faith. As he put pen to paper, his heart felt like it was breaking in two. It was a deep hurt that just didn’t get better. Each word tore at him. He knew it was the chicken’s way out, but he couldn’t look in those beautiful blue eyes and tell her face to face. His desire would overtake his reason and leave them both in worse shape.

  In the meantime, Brad had also been thinking. He pulled all the guys together to think this problem through. The chief just happened to hear them talking as he walked through the common area the next day.

  “You know there is a simple solution, don’t you?” He looked around the room as the men were trying to follow his train of thought. “Go and have a talk with her family, help them understand where these two are and come to a compromise.” The men nodded their heads as Brad got a big grin on his face.

  “That sound great, Chief. We nominate you to lead the group effort.” All the guys cheered as the chief realized that he had put himself right into their trap. He just smiled and nodded his head.

  So, the next day, Brad, the chief and several of the others headed
out to the Geist farm and spoke to Lyle and Mary about the situation.

  “I told that boy there would be nothing come of this but bad. He came the other day though and I saw the look on Becca’s face. It was love, easy to see. She has to set her own path, one that will give her happiness. I do not see Cameron coming to the simple life. We will lose Becca if she goes to him, but if God wills, then we must obey.” Lyle spoke his peace, nodding his head in understanding.

  Mary patted him on the hand. “We have seen this before in our community. It has caused much heartache, but I know that Becca loves her Cameron and has tried to help him find his way. They are good for each other. Love will out, one way or another.”

  With mutual understanding, the groups came to an agreement to let love take its course. So, a tryst was arranged for the following Saturday where the two would meet, but they would be kept in the dark until they saw each other. Everyone involved hoped and prayed for a good outcome.

  *****

  Saturday bloomed brightly with a crisp fall feel to the air, but warm enough by mid-morning to feel comfortable. Brad had rounded up the boys for a fishing jaunt to their favorite hole, which happened to be about a mile from the Elijah Geist farm. They packed a nice lunch and a cooler of soft drinks for a relaxing day. Cameron came along as usual, feeling somewhat better after writing Becca the letter. He hadn’t mailed it yet because he still really wasn’t sure he should. Maybe he was just hanging on a little longer thinking something might change.

  Lyle and Mary told the family they were taking a day off after morning chores were done before winter set in and traveling became restricted. Everyone loaded up and the buggy drove out past his brother’s farm and down a small rutted road toward the creek. They stopped when the buggy could go no further and took their lunch down to the creek, the boys chasing each other through the tress as the adults casually walked the path. When they came to the clearing, the group saw the firemen standing there fishing. Lyle walked up to Brad and Cameron, greeting them with a handshake like they were old friends.

  Cameron and Becca glanced at each other, trying not to stare. Mary tugged on Becca’s arm and nodded to the basket. Becca opened it up and set things out like she was a robot, casting furtive glances back toward Cameron as the men talked and laughed. When she looked at Mary with her eyebrows raised, Mary just smiled back. Everyone set about getting lunch ready, the firemen adding their meager supplies to Mary’s fried chicken and potato salad, fresh bread and cheese. They were a bunch of bachelors so their mouths were drooling in anticipation of the feast. Everyone sat down, then looked at Lyle because they knew the Amish would want to pray over their food. Lyle asked all present to take hands and everyone bowed their heads. Lyle thanked God for the feast for the stomach and the pleasure of trusted friends and family. The eating began. Casual chatter and talk of various things was bantered around. The boys ate quickly and asked to be excused to go explore. Cameron kept his eyes primarily on Becca the whole meal, answering questions when specifically asked, but not adding much to the conversation save for an occasional grunt in response. Becca nibbled at her food, too nervous to eat.

  “What were these people all thinking, bringing us together like this? Don’t they know it’s breaking my heart to see him?” Becca suddenly got to her feet. Conversation stopped as the group looked up at her.

  “I’d better go check on those boys. They might get in to trouble on their own.” She hurried off toward the woods. Cameron got up right behind her.

  “I’ll go help.”

  And he hurried off in the same direction. Everyone else just watched as they disappeared into the woods.

  “That went well,” Brad said as he took a drink of cold cider.

  “Only if they don’t beat on each other,” Lyle muttered under his breath.

  Everyone had a laugh at the joke while they cleaned up the food. The men headed back to do some fishing and left Mary to sit on the blanket in the sun, embroidering a scripture quote for one of the upcoming fall weddings.

  Cameron’s wide steps caught up to Becca quickly. He grabbed her arm and spun her around toward him. Those blue eyes were sparkling mad as he looked down into the porcelain face.

  “And, what do you think you are doing? Let go of me!” Becca jerked out of Cameron’s grasp.

  Cameron grabbed her again and spun her to him, holding her with both hands so she couldn’t slip away. “I’m doing this,” he said in a husky voice as he lowered his face to hers and gave her a gentle kiss. As he pulled away, he noticed that her hands were resting on his arms lightly and her eyes were still closed.

  “Oh,” Becca sighed, breathing out. She slowly opened her eyes. “That was….”

  “Amazing?” Cameron smiled.

  “Yes, yes it was. But I am so poor at kissing. I have never done it before,” Becca hinted.

  That booming laugh of his burst from deep in his chest, scattering the birds close by.

  “Well, let’s try again to see if we got it right, shall we?” Cameron pulled her closely to his chest, staring into her upturned face with those deep brown bottomless eyes of his. He leaned down and put his arms around her gently and leaned in for another kiss. This one lasted a bit longer. They both were smiling as they pulled back to look at each other.

  “I’m not sure, yet,” Cameron mused. “We may have to have more practice sessions in the future.” They both laughed that time.

  “Becca,” Cameron began quietly. “I have something to tell you.” He took a deep breath. “I have loved you from the moment I saw you in that barn yard pulling on your brother. I saw your courage and determination, watched you go through unbelievable hardships over the last year, and yet you never lost your faith in God and his goodness. You have guided me to think about what it is I believe and where my life is going. I have found that there is a God and He loves everyone, including stupid me. I’m standing in front of you right now asking if you will let me into your life. We’ve got a lot of obstacles to overcome, but we will pray about it and figure it out. Your aunt and uncle bringing you here today shows me that they want our happiness, too. I believe we will manage to have that ‘happy-ever-after’. Are you with me?”

  Becca’s face lit up like a thousand candles. She flew into Cameron’s arms.

  “Oh, yes, my love! We will grow old together and sit on the front porch with our grandchildren as we watch them play.” Another kiss, this one quick and loud.

  Giggling and holding hands, the two found their way back to the others at the creek.

  Mary knew the minute she looked up that it was all going to be fine. She looked at their happy faces, the hands locked tightly together and felt the love radiating out from around them. The men saw it too. Maybe not as sentimental as Mary, but they also felt the love and were glad the fighting was over. The fire fighters knew Cameron would be easier to live with…well maybe. Now he’d have his mind on Becca all the time and still wouldn’t get anything accomplished. All of them knew that the road would take some sharp turns, but when there was a fire in the heart, each trial would be a little easier to bear.

  THE END

  Another bonus story is on the next page.

  Bonus Story 9 of 15

  In Good Time

  Description

  In this romance story, a corporate executive (who really loves watches and clocks) makes the purchase of a lifetime. He goes to his favorite timekeeper’s shop and is presented with a watch that is regarded as junk. Interestingly, it was mailed to the shop owner with no return address.

  He (Jeff) brings the watch home and tinkers with it because the watch isn’t working. He finally gets the watch to work, and it transports him to a future world that is corrupt and evil.

  Jeff loves his wife so much, and is heart-shattered to the extreme. He meets up with her in the future and sees that she’s remarried to another man, and has two kids with him. Even worse, he can’t get back to his original time period because he was mugged and the watch was stolen.

  C
an he find a way to get back to the present time? Or, will he spend the rest of his life being heartbroken and depressed?

  *****

  He brushed his hand over the scalp of his young, blond head of hair. His day wasn’t too bad – by his standards. One employee termination, one hostile meeting, and some commonplace drama. He pulled through the day, shrugging his shoulders at the normal tensions and problems.

  Welcome to Corporate America – where the days are often dramatic and tense. For a Vice President of Operations, Jeff’s vocational importance was great, and he handled it well. Sometimes, a rare bird enters the sky and flies through the scene beautifully. That was Jeff.

  His most notable accomplishment was the fact that he helped steer his troubled company – First Choice Savings and Loan – through the worst recession since the Great Depression. Like many other banks at the time, his ended up on life support after a wave of unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and economic collapse. He is the man. He made it work. To put it profanely, he kicks ass.

  He has an odd fetish, too. He really likes watches and clocks. His coworkers always joke about the fact that it must explain his near-fanatical obsession about punctuality. Nobody, including Jeff, can explain why he loves watches, but he just does.

  He shut the rickety door of one of his favorite stores. It made its standard, lopsided close. Jeff waved his single-watched hand at the shopkeeper of the ‘Time of Day’ store. “Hey Steve. How’s your day going?”

  Steve delicately removed a jeweler’s eyepiece from his old, tired eye and smiled over at his guest. “Ah, you know. Same old, same old.”

  Jeff offered a half-smile by curving his right, lower lip upward. “Got anything new I can look at?”

  Steve coughed and grossly gargled. After thirty years of smoking, virtually nobody would have a clear and relaxed cough. “Mostly just the standard stuff. I’ve got a few Timex watches, a grandfather clock in poor condition, and a broken watch.”