The Prodigal's Welcome
Page 31
“As soon as I can. I don’t know how much longer I can keep that promise to your mother.”
They both laughed as they walked hand in hand back to the house. When they reached the kitchen, Grace’s mother was busy preparing fresh vegetables.
“I can’t wait to prepare a good meal for your father. And for you, Jonathan,” Elizabeth said, smiling at him. “But first, Grace,” she turned to look at her daughter, “your father wants to visit with you for a few minutes. He’s resting in his bed.”
“Of course.” She looked at Jonathan.
“I’ll stay here in the kitchen and see if your mother needs me to sample anything.”
Grace laughed and left him settled at the table. She flew up the stairs to her parents’ bedroom. Her father was not in bed, as she had expected. Instead he was seated in a rocking chair by the window. While her first impression of him had been that he was very thin and very tired, she knew when he turned his face to her and smiled that he was also very happy.
“Father, I’m so glad you’re home.” She ran to his side, throwing her arms around him and hugging him gently. She could feel his shoulder blades jutting out beneath his cotton shirt, but she knew between her mother and all the vegetables they had, he would soon be in good health again.
“Daughter, you can’t possibly know how glad I am to be home.” He turned and looked out the window.
Grace followed his gaze and saw that he was looking out on the cotton fields.
“You’ve done an amazing job, Grace. Jonathan has told me everything,”
“We have a wonderful overseer, Father. Isaac has accomplished miracles. Oh, I’m so glad you’re here.”
He looked at her, smiling affectionately. “There were times I wondered if I would ever see you and your mother again.”
“She never stopped believing you would come home, Father. She never stopped looking and waiting for you. She always knew you would return. She has remarkable faith, and she has taught me a lot about waiting and trusting.”
Grace paused, wondering how much Jonathan had told him about what they felt for each other.
“Pull up a chair,” her father said, tilting his head back to study her thoughtfully. “You’ve turned into a beautiful woman, but then I always knew you would. And now I have something to ask you. How do you feel about Jonathan?”
Grace hesitated. She longed to tell him all that was in her heart, but she didn’t want him to worry about her leaving. Now that she was sitting with him talking about Riverwood, she had begun to wonder if she could leave, even though she knew she was desperately in love.
“Speak up,” he encouraged. “Are you half as smitten as he is? It’s easy to see he is very much in love with you, Grace.”
“And I’m that much in love with him, Father.” She sighed, looking at her hands. “I just don’t know what we can do about it.”
“What do you mean?” He watched her closely, and she was certain she couldn’t bear to hurt him. He had just come home to them; how could she tell him she wanted to leave?
“Well…he won’t stay here, Father. I already asked him before.”
“Of course not,” her father readily agreed. “He has a farm in Kentucky, and he’s long overdue to go see about it.”
“But Father, he asked me to marry him,” she blurted out. “He asked me to go back to Kentucky with him, and I can’t do that.” She was fighting not to cry, and she kept her head lowered so he wouldn’t see the tears once they started rolling down her cheeks.
“Why can’t you?” her father asked quietly.
For a moment Grace wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly. Then slowly she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. When she did she saw the sheen of tears veiling his eyes.
She caught her breath. “Oh Father, I won’t leave you. Please don’t be sad. I would never make you sad after what you’ve been through.”
He shook his head and reached for her hand. “These are tears of joy. Grace, when I think of how blessed I have been to have a woman like Elizabeth, it chokes me up. I hate to think how empty my life would have been without her. As much as I love this farm, it would have meant nothing if I hadn’t had Elizabeth as my wife, as the mother of our children. The joy and happiness of a good marriage is one of God’s greatest gifts. Don’t throw away that opportunity.”
She stared at him, wondering if he understood that if she married Jonathan she would be leaving him and her mother.
“I would never want you to miss out on the happiness that your mother and I have known. Jonathan Parker is one of the finest men I have ever known. I would be proud to welcome him into our family.”
“Father, I love him with all of my heart,” she said, “but to marry him and move to Kentucky would be—”
“Would be what? Seems to me the man is planning a good life. He has talked to me a great deal about his ideas, and I can see that he’s as crazy over horses as you’ve always been.”
“Yes, he is.” Grace laughed. “There’s nothing I would rather do. But—Oh Father, do you really think it would be all right for me to leave?”
He reached for her hand and held it against his chest. “Grace, no one could have been more brave or more conscientious than you have been in carrying on my work here. I’m not so selfish that I want to hang onto you for the rest of your life though. And neither is your mother. We feel you deserve to be happy, and if you choose to find happiness with Jonathan, then you have our blessing.”
“Oh Father!” Grace leaned over to hug him as tears began to roll down her cheeks in spite of her efforts.
She knew she could wait no longer to tell Jonathan. All the sadness in her life had been magically wiped away, and she had been given an opportunity to live with Jonathan as his wife.
“Just be sure this is what you want,” her father said, squeezing her hand.
She spoke slowly, confidently, for her words came straight from the heart. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“Then I guess you and your mother had better get busy planning a wedding.”
“I guess so.” She laughed, then ran out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen, wondering how to break the news to her mother. And what would Jonathan say when she told him she was going to accept his proposal?
Grace found them both in the kitchen, and her mother smiled at her, but there were tears in her eyes as well.
“You know?” Grace asked, looking at her mother carefully.
She nodded. “I’ve known all along.”
Grace laughed and turned to Jonathan, who wrapped his arms around her. She thought she saw a light mist in his eyes as well.
He smiled and said, “The question is, do you know what you want to do?”
A lazy smile settled over her face. She took a deep breath and thought about their life together. “I know exactly what I want to do,” she said, staring dreamily into his face. “I want to go to Kentucky as a bride, and I want to spend my life with you—and your horses,” she added. They all broke into joyous laughter.
“Let’s walk down to the garden,” Jonathan suggested, glancing back at her mother. “I’m afraid if you start talking like that, it will be hard for me to keep my promise to your mother.”
Grace laughed and nestled against his chest. “Soon you won’t have to.”
She could hear her mother’s laughter following them down the hall as they went out on the front porch to gaze across the lawn. Twilight was settling over the land, and Grace could hear the whippoorwill starting its night song from the oak tree.
“I’ve waited here with Mother for what seems like an eternity,” Grace said. “I’ve waited for you, Jonathan. I prayed for you to come back to me. And now you have.” She shook her head in amazement. She still couldn’t believe all that had happened.
“Yes, now I have,” he said, wrapping her in his arms again. “And I never want to leave you again.”
She smiled as he lowered his lips to hers. “I won’t let you leave
me.”
She knew she sounded a bit sassy, but she could feel her teasing spirit surging forth again. She felt something else, though, something much stronger. She felt the deep abiding love that she knew her parents shared. With that knowledge, like her mother, she would always be waiting for Jonathan to ride home each evening, to take her in his arms, and to share the rest of their lives together.
Peggy Darty authored more than thirty novels before she passed away in 2011. She worked in film, researched for CBS, and taught in writing workshops around the country. She was a wife, mother, and grandmother who most recently made her home in Alabama.