“It was nice of you to invite us to join your family for Thanksgiving dinner,” Megan said as she filled the water glasses. “Frank’s been excited about coming here ever since you extended the invitation.”
Regina removed a tossed green salad from the refrigerator and placed it on the table. “We wanted to give Will the chance to spend time with his father and get to know him again, and we thought he’d be more relaxed sitting around the table with all his favorite foods.”
Megan smiled. It was obvious that Regina was a mother who knew her son well. “Despite Frank’s excitement about coming, he’s been a ball of nerves ever since you responded to the notice I put in The Budget on his behalf.”
“Nervous about seeing Will?”
“Yes. At first he was afraid no one would respond to the notice, and then after you did, he was upset because Will didn’t want to talk to him.”
Regina glanced at the clock above the refrigerator and grimaced. I’m afraid the reason Will’s late is because he doesn’t want to see his daed.
CHAPTER 30
As Will and Karen headed toward Will’s house, his heart began to race like a runaway horse. His palms grew so sweaty he could barely hang on to the reins. He didn’t know how he was going to face his dad or what he would say. What could he say, really—that he still felt resentment because Pop had left him with an Amish couple he’d barely known? Should he say that he was angry because Pop never came back or contacted him until a few weeks ago? Should he tell Pop how he’d cried himself to sleep for weeks after he’d left, or should he pretend that he didn’t care about any of these things?
“How come we’re going so slow? Aren’t you worried that we’ll be late for dinner?”
Karen’s questions drove Will’s thoughts aside, and he turned to look at her. “I’m…uh…being careful so my horse doesn’t slip on the ice.”
Karen’s forehead wrinkled. “The road doesn’t seem icy to me. Blazer hasn’t slipped even once.”
“That’s because he’s been going slow.”
She reached across the seat and touched his arm. “Are you okay? You seem really tense.”
Will loosened his grip on the reins a bit. “I am feeling tense, and it isn’t just my concern that the road might be icy. I’m worried about seeing my daed again.”
“I figured as much.”
“I’m glad you’re with me though. I don’t think I could do this on my own.”
She smiled. “I’m confident that you’ll have the words to say when you see your daed.”
“Sure hope so, because we’re here.” Will guided his horse and buggy up the driveway, and his heart gave a lurch when he spotted a light green minivan parked near the house.
“Looks like your company beat us here,” Karen said, pointing out the front buggy window.
“I’ll bet Mama Regina is fit to be tied because we’re late.” He halted the horse in front of the hitching rail. “If you’d like to go inside, I’ll get my horse put away.”
“I’d rather wait with you, and we can walk in together.”
“Jah, okay.” Will had a hunch that Karen figured if she went in alone he might decide to hang out in the barn until their company left. Truth be told, he wished he could do just that, but he knew it not only would be rude but would upset Mama Regina. Besides, once Karen went inside, if Will didn’t come in soon after, Papa Mark would probably come out to the barn looking for him.
As if Karen could read Will’s thoughts, she smiled and said, “Everything will be okay; you’ll see.”
When a young, red-haired man wearing Amish clothes stepped into the living room, Frank’s breath caught in his throat. It had to be Will! Except for the clothes he wore, he looked just like Frank had at that age. A pretty, blond Amish woman stood beside Will, and Frank figured she must be Will’s fiancée.
“Sorry we’re late, Papa Mark,” Will said, looking only at Mark. “I was worried that the roads might be icy, so I took it slow.”
Frank winced when he heard Will call Mark “Papa,” although he realized that for the last sixteen years, Mark had been Will’s only real father.
“I’m glad you’re okay; I was starting to worry.” Mark moved over to Will and motioned to Frank. “In case you don’t recognize him, this is your daed.”
“I figured as much,” Will mumbled, making no eye contact with Frank.
An empty feeling settled in the pit of Frank’s stomach. Wasn’t Will happy to see him? Didn’t he care at all?
Resisting the temptation to grab Will in a hug, Frank stood and held out his hand. “It’s really good to see you, Will.”
An awkward silence filled the room as Will shifted from one foot to the other. Finally he gave a curt nod and shook Frank’s hand.
“This is Karen Yoder, Will’s fiancée,” Mark said, looking at the young woman beside Will.
She smiled and shook Frank’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Frank motioned to Carrie and Kim, kneeling on the floor with the coloring book Regina had given them. “These are my daughters, Carrie and Kim.”
Will only grunted when the girls looked up at him, but Karen squatted beside them. “You’re doing a nice job with those pictures you’re coloring,” she said.
Carrie smiled. “Thank you.”
“My wife, Megan, is in the kitchen with Regina,” Frank said.
Will nodded. “I see.”
Feeling the need to break the ice and hopefully put Will at ease, Frank motioned to the sofa. “Why don’t we have a seat so we can visit?”
Will seemed reluctant at first, but he finally took a seat on one end of the sofa. Frank sat on the other end, and Mark seated himself in the rocking chair across from them.
An awkward silence filled the room as they sat staring at each other. The only sound that could be heard was the steady ticktock, ticktock of the clock on the fireplace mantel.
Frank cleared his throat a couple of times as he searched for the right words to say to Will. “Mark and I were talking before you got here, and I understand that you’ve become quite the dairy farmer.”
Will shrugged.
“I’ll bet working with cows is interesting.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Maybe after we eat, you can show me the cows.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mark said. “We’ll be doing the afternoon milking at four thirty, so we can show Frank how it’s done then.”
Regina poked her head into the room. “I thought I heard voices in here.” She smiled at Will. “I’m glad to see you made it. I was beginning to worry.”
“Will thought we should go slow in case we hit ice on the road,” Karen explained from her seat on the floor beside the girls.
Regina smiled at Karen. “I see you’ve made a couple of new friends.”
Karen nodded. “I’m watching Kim color a picture of a cow.”
“And I’m coloring a horse,” Carrie put in.
“That’s real nice.” Regina looked over at Mark. “The turkey’s ready to be carved.”
“All right, then.” Mark left his seat and headed for the kitchen.
“I’ll go with you,” Karen said, rising to her feet. “I’m sure there’s something I can do to help get dinner on.”
Regina glanced down at Frank’s girls. “Why don’t you two come with us? Maybe there’s something you can do as well.”
Frank was quite sure Regina had suggested that everyone but him and Will leave the room so the two of them could talk in private. He felt grateful for the opportunity to be alone with his son and knew he’d better take advantage of this opportunity. It might be the only time he and Will were alone all day.
“Regina and Mark seem as pleasant as I remember,” Frank said to Will after everyone had vacated the room.
“Uh-huh.”
“It seems that they’ve done well by you.”
“They’ve been real good parents.” Will leveled Frank with a piercing look that went strai
ght to his heart. It was a look that let Frank know that in Will’s eyes he’d messed up as a parent.
“You seem to have adjusted to the Amish way of life.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you happy being Amish?”
Will nodded. “The Plain life suits me just fine.”
“I can see that. You look healthy and strong.”
Will fiddled with the piping on the small pillow lying beside him. “I understand you’re living in Harrisburg now.”
“That’s right. I have my own trucking business there.” Frank shifted restlessly, wishing he didn’t feel so nervous. Seeing Will again was bittersweet. Will had changed so much—they both had, really. They were like two strangers trying to get to know each other for the first time, even though neither of them knew quite what to say. Not that Frank didn’t have a lot he wanted to say; he just didn’t think he should say it too quickly. They needed the chance to get to know each other again—feel at ease in each other’s presence.
“Are you still driving a semi?”
Frank shook his head. “Only when one of my men is sick or we have a lot of deliveries to make and need the extra manpower.”
“So you never found another job besides trucking?”
“No, I—”
“How was your trip to Indiana?”
“The girls got restless, and we had to stop more often than I would have liked, but all in all, the trip went well.” Frank grimaced. If they kept up this idle chitchat, he’d never get the chance to say what was on his mind. He needed to find a way to bring up the past—explain to Will why he’d left and hadn’t returned.
“So how long have you been married to Megan?”
“Almost ten years.”
“How’d you meet her?”
“She was working as a waitress at a truck stop.”
“And now you have two daughters.”
“Yeah, Carrie and Kim are good girls.” Frank cleared his throat a couple of times. “There’s…uh…something I’d like to say, and I hope you’ll hear me out.”
Will shrugged. “That’s what you came here for, right?”
“Yes, it is. That and to get to know you again.” He moistened his lips. “I’ve really missed you, son.”
A muscle on the side of Will’s neck twitched. “If you missed me so much, then why’d you leave? You could have at least said good-bye.”
“I wanted to; believe me, I did. But I was afraid if I told you what I planned to do, you’d want to—”
“Regina wanted me to tell you that dinner’s on the table,” Megan said, stepping into the room. She looked over at Will and smiled. “You must be Frank’s son. You look so much like your dad—same red hair and blue eyes.”
Will gave a quick nod.
“This is my wife, Megan,” Frank said.
“Nice to meet you,” Will mumbled.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’ve heard a lot about you, Will.”
“We’d better get in there before the food gets cold.” Will stood and rushed out of the room.
“Sorry for interrupting,” Megan said to Frank. “But I figured we should eat since Regina has everything ready.”
“It’s okay. Things are a bit awkward between Will and me right now, and we didn’t get very far in our conversation.” Frank slipped his arm around Megan’s waist. “I’ll try talking to him again after we eat. Maybe he’ll be more willing to listen when his stomach is full.”
CHAPTER 31
As Will sat at the table across from Frank, he was thankful Karen sat beside him. He needed her for moral support. It wasn’t easy trying to make conversation with someone he hadn’t seen in almost sixteen years. He and Pop were like two strangers, each not knowing what the other wanted him to say.
Will wished he could blurt out everything that was on his mind, and if he and Pop hadn’t been interrupted when Megan had come into the living room, he probably would have asked some of those questions.
“Do either of you girls like dogs?” Papa Mark asked, smiling across the table at Carrie and Kim.
They both grinned and bobbed their heads.
“We’re hoping we’ll get a puppy for Christmas,” Kim said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
“Will has a nice cocker spaniel, and she had a batch of pups several weeks ago,” Papa Mark said. “Maybe he’d be willing to take you out to the barn for a look-see after we’re done eating.”
The girls turned expectant gazes on Will, and their eyes brightened like shiny new pennies when he nodded. “I think you’ll enjoy seeing Sandy’s five squirming hundlin.”
“Who’s Sandy, and what’s a hundlin?” Carrie wanted to know.
“Sandy’s my cocker spaniel. Hundlin is the German-Dutch word for puppies.”
“What’s German-Dutch?” Carrie’s eyebrows furrowed as she tipped her head and stared at Will.
“German Dutch, or Pennsylvania Dutch, as some call it, is the language Amish people speak when they’re not talking English,” Pop said.
“Hmm…” Carrie reached for the plate of pickles then plunked one on her plate and one in her mouth. “Yum! This is good. I love dill pickles!”
“Everything tastes delicious,” Megan said to Mama Regina. “You really outdid yourself on this meal.”
“Thank you. Be sure to save room for dessert.”
Papa Mark nodded enthusiastically. “We’re having White Christmas Pie, and it’s one of the tastiest pies you’ll ever eat.”
“How come we’re havin’ a Christmas pie on Thanksgiving?” Carrie questioned.
“It’s a special pie my grandma used to make,” Mama Regina explained. “She used to fix it on Thanksgiving so we’d be reminded that Christmas was just around the corner.”
Kim’s freckled nose turned up as she looked at the kitchen door and squinted. “Christmas has corners?”
Everyone laughed, including Will. He was actually beginning to relax a bit.
“‘Around the corner’ means it’s coming soon,” Pop explained. He looked at Kim with such affection that it pricked Will’s heart. These two girls had been given the privilege of growing up with their real father. Will had been cheated of that opportunity.
“Do you fix White Christmas Pie again at Christmas?” Megan asked Mama Regina.
“Yes, it’s a family tradition.” Mama Regina looked over at Karen and smiled. “I’m hoping my future daughter-in-law will continue with the tradition after she and Will are married next month.”
“I’d be happy to keep up the tradition,” Karen said, “but I’ll need the recipe for the pie.”
Papa Mark chuckled. “My wife has made that pie so many times I think she knows the recipe by heart.”
Pop scratched the side of his head. “White Christmas Pie. Didn’t you serve that when Will and I spent Christmas with you sixteen years ago?”
Mama Regina nodded.
Pop looked over at Will. “Do you remember that, son?”
Will gave a quick nod. He may have been only six years old at the time, but he remembered eating the pie. He remembered a whole lot more about that particular Christmas, too.
“That was a tough year for Will and me,” Pop said. “Having just lost Will’s mom less than a year before and then struggling to find a job that wouldn’t keep me on the road all the time…” His voice trailed off, and he blinked a couple of times.
The room got deathly quiet. Will hoped Pop wasn’t going to break down and cry. It’s me who should be crying, he thought ruefully. It was me who got left behind. It was me who cried himself to sleep every night for days and days after Pop left. I’m the one who’s spent the last sixteen years wondering why my daed stopped loving me and didn’t want to be with me.
Pop reached for his glass of water and took a drink; then he looked over at Will again. “Sixteen years is a long time. I’ve really missed you, son.”
Will’s face heated up like an oven turned on high. “If you missed me so much, then why’d you leave?”
&n
bsp; “I had a delivery to make in Texas, and then I was going to look for another job—one that would keep me closer to home so we wouldn’t have to traipse all over creation in our home on wheels.”
“Too bad you forgot to tell me you were going.”
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