“To me, those were just words from the Bible before, words maybe written for someone else. But now they’re the reality of my life. I’m standing in my home because you have been the hands and feet of Christ to me. I am overwhelmed by your kindness, and I vow… I vow I will find a way to pass that kindness on to someone else.”
When she’d finished, Jim stepped forward. “I invite you all to join with me in the dedication of this home.”
CHAPTER 52
Jim had met with their group before leaving the day before, and he asked each person if they would like to participate in the blessing of Alice’s home.
Of course they had all said yes.
Joshua stepped forward now, and read from the slip of paper Jim had given him. The verses were from the Book of First Peter. “ ‘Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling… ’ ” as he finished the passage, Alton stepped forward and read from his slip of paper.
“We dedicate this home to love and understanding… ”
“We dedicate this home to work and leisure,” the group responded.
The words splashed over them, sanctifying the home, the work they had done, and all of those involved in its building. In ten minutes it was done, but as Jim closed with a final prayer—a final blessing—Joshua realized that Alice’s life in her new home was just beginning. As he bowed his head, he prayed that the years ahead would be filled with joy for her and the children.
When the prayer was ended, Sarah, Becca, and Nancy stepped closer together and sang “Surely Goodness and Mercy.” Joshua had heard the hymn dozens of times, but still he found himself humbled by the words of the psalmist.
The gift-giving came next. Jim gave Alice a copy of the book, The Hammer Rings Hope. One of the other work crews stepped forward and offered her a quilt made in a log cabin pattern. Joshua recognized the pattern because it was so similar to the one on his own mother’s bed. Lastly, Alice was given an envelope which contained money to help her get started—mainly it was one, five, and ten dollar bills, but everyone had donated something.
Alice was speechless, but C.J. wasn’t. He tugged on her arm until she knelt down and whatever he whispered to her caused a smile to replace her tears. She nodded and said, “C.J. wants to know if it’s time to play basketball.”
Everyone began talking at once then. Several of the volunteers, men and women, followed C.J. outside, and soon Joshua heard the sound of a basketball on concrete.
Becca and Sarah had moved to the front of the room and were speaking with Alice and with little Shelley.
Joshua realized that he felt very close to these people, all of them, even his brother.
“It’s been a gut trip. Ya?” Alton leaned against the wall, and though he was talking to Joshua, his eyes were on Sarah.
“It has. I’m glad we came.”
“Me too.”
“Sarah seems like a special girl.”
“She is. No doubt, she is.”
But he didn’t elaborate, and before Joshua could respond he turned and walked out of the house. Still, at that moment Joshua had hope for his brother, more than he’d had in a long time. If he could fall in love with the right girl, perhaps he would settle down.
Fifteen minutes later, he wasn’t so sure. Sarah was cutting cake and serving it with ice cream. She had saved back a piece for Alton. “See if you can find him, will you? Otherwise the ice cream will melt.”
So Joshua had walked around the outside of the house, and indeed he had found Alton, standing with his back against the garage and smoking a cigarette.
He shook his head and reminded himself not to judge his brother. Had he actually thought that all of his behavior would change right away?
Alton studied him, as if waiting. But Joshua resisted the urge to lecture and instead set the paper plate on top of the hood of Alice’s car.
“Sarah wanted you to have that.”
“Danki. I was—” The chime of a cell phone interrupted him. Alton pulled his phone from his back pocket, read something, and then answered quickly, typing with his thumbs. “Surfing is on for tonight. Sure you don’t want to come? Could be your last chance.”
“Nein. I know nothing of surfboards.”
“You’re not as ancient and decrepit as you were pretending to be a few minutes ago. You could learn.”
“I could—”
Their conversation may have turned into an argument, but C.J. had darted around the corner of the garage.
“There you are.” He stopped short, staring at the cigarette in Alton’s hand. “Nana says she used to smoke, but she gave it up.”
“Smart woman,” Alton continued to type on his phone.
“Are you gonna play with us?”
“Sure. Give me a minute.”
C.J. rolled his eyes and walked away.
“That kid looks up to you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t you want to be a gut example?”
“I’m not his father, Joshua. I won’t even be here a week from now, and he’ll forget me a week from that.”
“I doubt it.”
“Well, I have to live my life, and I think C.J. will be fine in spite of my rebellious ways.”
“What’s wrong with you, Alton? No. Don’t even think of arguing with me. Since the police incident, you’ve been calmer, more like your old self. Now all of a sudden you’re back to smoking, phones, and rudeness.”
“I didn’t mean to be rude.” Alton dropped the cigarette to the ground and ground it out with his foot. “And I’m stopping those as soon as we start home. I just wanted to use up my last pack.”
Joshua nodded, wanting to believe him. “So you’re surfing with Spider?”
“Nah. He can’t make it. Has a last-minute thing with his girlfriend.”
“Then who—”
“Dax and Zach, and before you say anything, I spoke with Zach and he’s completely innocent. He thinks somebody framed him. Someone who doesn’t like him, obviously.”
“Framed him?”
“Yeah. The police didn’t find anything at his house, and they couldn’t arrest him for something that wasn’t in his possession. None of his fingerprints were on the stuff, either.”
“He could have worn gloves.”
“Or he could be innocent.” Alton stuck his phone in his pocket, picked up the paper plate with the cake and melted ice cream, and walked toward the front of the house.
Joshua followed in his wake and rounded the corner of the garage as Jim was leaving.
“I’ll come back for you two around six o’clock if that will work. Someone from the other group is going to pick up the ladies a bit earlier. Will that give you enough time to finish your game and clean up?”
“We’ll be ready,” Joshua said.
“Awesome. I can use your help picking up the pizza. I ordered quite a few.”
But instead of going across the street with him to their FEMA trailer, Alton stopped outside to shoot some baskets with C.J. There was something in the way that boy looked at Alton that bothered Joshua. He stared at him with a sort of hero worship. He supposed that was normal enough in one so young, but he wasn’t sure if his brother was quite ready for that level of adoration.
Joshua shook that thought from his mind. He needed to focus on tonight. He needed to think about how he was going to tell Becca about his feelings. He was going to tell her. They had one more week of work ahead, and he didn’t want to spend a minute of it worrying about their future.
CHAPTER 53
Becca enjoyed the evening at the beach. The sizzling hot dogs smelled and tasted delicious. The guys brought pizza and gallons of ice cream. Nicole from the other work group covered a table with all sorts of chips, sodas, and cookies. It was a lot of junk food and a ton of calories, but Becca finally understood that no one was watching her fill her plate.
She certainly hadn’t lost any weight since coming to the island, but she had learned to ac
cept who she was. For the first time she’d grown comfortable in her own skin. She no longer felt the need to count calories or berate herself for eating an entire hot dog.
She did groan after they had played a game of volleyball and Nicole set out fixings for ice cream sundaes.
“That looks so good, but I can’t possibly eat anything else.”
“Maybe you need another game of volleyball,” C.J. said.
The child seemed to have limitless energy. Becca flopped back in her chair and pretended to sleep, which caused C.J. to laugh before leaving in search of better prey. Shelley and Alice had stayed at the house. The little girl was enamored with her bedroom and claimed she needed to put all her dolls in their special place. Charlie had agreed to bring C.J. and take him home early enough for his bedtime.
“If you’re not actually asleep, a walk down the beach might energize you. Maybe even stir up an appetite.”
She hadn’t heard Joshua walk up behind her. His voice caused a flutter deep in her stomach, but it also made her inexplicably happy. Was that love? When being near someone, hearing them speak, caused a spark of joy deep inside?
“Are you asking me to go for a walk with you, Joshua Kline?”
“I am.”
“Then I accept.” Though the days were quite warm at Port A, the evening breeze over the water held a chill. “Let me find my shawl.”
They were walking down the beach a few minutes later. The sun was nearly at the horizon, but there was still light to see by—enough to avoid the jellyfish that had washed up on the beach.
Becca smiled ruefully and said, “There’s one thing I won’t miss when we go home. Guess what it is.”
“Jellyfish?”
“Ya. We’ve none of those in Oklahoma.”
“Are you ready to go home, Becca?”
She hesitated before answering. Was she ready? She certainly missed her parents, but a part of her had enjoyed the full days of doing things she’d never tried before.
“I am, but I’ll miss the work,” she answered truthfully.
“Life on an Amish farm isn’t busy enough for you?” His tone was light, but he reached over and snagged her hand.
“It is. Of course it is. There’s always laundry to do or chickens to feed or produce to sell at our little stand.”
“But… ”
“I don’t know. I was needed here, and that was nice. You know what I mean?”
“I do.”
“It’s very satisfying to help someone like Alice and her grandkids. People who desperately want and need our assistance.”
“So you’re saying you’d like to participate in another mission trip?”
“Yes! I’d love to.” The thought lightened her heart. In truth, she was rather dreading the return to her mundane life. Or was it just that she’d no longer be seeing Joshua every day? Which was ridiculous. He lived down the road from her.
Joshua motioned to beach chairs that had been placed a few yards from the surf. Becca nodded, but she was surprised when she sat down and he picked up his chair, turning it to face her.
“Don’t you want to watch the waves?”
“I’m looking at you, Becca. You’re more beautiful than the Gulf of Mexico.”
Heat soared into her cheeks, but she didn’t respond. What was a girl supposed to say to something like that?
The silence stretched until she finally said, “Back home you’re so… well, quiet. I don’t know what to think when you say things like that.”
“Maybe the salt in the air has given me courage.”
He wiggled his eyebrows, and she laughed, grateful that he had lightened the moment. But her heart continued to beat rapidly as Joshua studied her in the fading light.
“Do you want to know what I’ll miss most after we leave Texas?”
She nodded.
He reached forward and claimed her hand. “Seeing you each morning and each night. Sharing lunch with you. Watching you attempt to play volleyball.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“Hearing your laughter and knowing you’re in the room with me. It’s as if all of my senses are heightened when you’re around, Becca. Everything seems more vivid. The colors are brighter.” He shook his head, as if he had trouble believing what he was saying. “When you leave… well, I feel as if the world fades to black-and-white.”
Becca wanted to say she felt exactly the same. She wanted to smooth the worried look off his face. But she sat mute, frozen, unable to move with her heart beating so fast she had to pull in a ragged breath.
Then Joshua did what she’d been hoping for since the night he’d kissed her in their trailer’s kitchen. He leaned forward, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her gently on the lips.
“I need you in my life, Becca. I want you in my life. When I think of us together, I find myself excited about the next day, month, years.” He released her face and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over its palm. “When I hear Charlie talk about Madelyn, the love and adoration he had for her is still so strong. And that’s what I feel for you, Becca. Do you… is it possible you could feel the same?”
“I do!” The words slipped from her mouth like the breeze sliding across her skin.
Darkness had fallen, and she couldn’t see Joshua’s expression clearly. But then he was standing, pulling her into his arms, and all of the worries about her future fell away. She didn’t know exactly what lay ahead for them, but suddenly the details were not important. What mattered was that they had realized how much they cared for and needed one another. Funny that they hadn’t done that back in their small hometown. Instead, it had taken traveling nearly seven hundred miles to help people they had never met.
They had found their love for one another amid Orion’s wreckage.
CHAPTER 54
Charlie woke to Quitz’s barking and someone banging on his trailer door. At first he thought he was back in his house, the one he had built for Madelyn. Then reality crashed in on him, as it often did upon waking. He remembered Orion, the destruction, and finally the FEMA trailer he was sleeping in.
Same location, different building, he thought.
Throwing on some clothes, he hurried to the front door. He flipped on the light as he pulled open the door. Standing on his step in a late-night drizzle was Alice.
“Is C.J. here, Charlie? Please tell me he’s here.”
“What… no.”
All of the color drained from her face, and he thought she might collapse right there on his doorstep.
“Come in. You look as if you’re cold. Tell me what’s wrong. Something about C.J.? Have you checked his room and—”
“I’ve checked everywhere!” Alice’s shoulders shook with sobs.
Charlie guided her to a chair at the table. Then he pulled a throw blanket off the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. Before sitting down, he poured her a glass of water. “Drink this. Take slow, deep breaths, and then tell me what happened.”
Quitz settled at Alice’s feet, panting and looking worriedly from Charlie to Alice.
She nodded, closed her eyes, and attempted to sip the water, though her hands were shaking so badly that she spilled some of it onto the table.
“Don’t worry about it.” He mopped up the water with a dish towel. Sitting down next to her, he took her hands in his. “Now look at me, Alice. Slow and easy. What happened? The last I remember, we talked on the phone and you agreed C.J. could ride home with Joshua and Alton.”
Alice nodded. “That’s what he promised he would do. He wanted to stay a little later than you—”
“I came home earlier because Quitz’s hip was bothering her.”
“He wanted to stay and play a little more volleyball. But he promised, Charlie.” Alice’s gaze darted around the small kitchen, as if she might find C.J. if she only looked hard enough. “He promised he would come home with the boys, so I didn’t worry.”
“And he didn’t?”
“No. By then I was watching out the f
ront window, ready to ground him the minute I saw him. The clock inched past ten, and then nearly to eleven. A few minutes ago I heard Jim pull up in the van and then drive away again. I expected C.J. to come running into the house. I was so angry with him, but another part of me realized he’s just a boy. He was excited about the house and you know how he looks up to—” A sob caught in her throat, and she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “He cares about both Alton and Joshua.”
“What did Joshua say?”
“He said C.J. told him he was going to stay the night with you.”
Charlie was finding his keys, jacket, and cell phone. “What about Alton? Did Alton know anything about where the boy is?”
“He didn’t come home with Joshua. He had plans to meet some friends and go surfing.”
“Night surfing?” Charlie glanced out the window even as he asked the question. The full moon confirmed his fears. No doubt Alton had fallen in with another reckless group of boys. Some of the young men who worked down on the docks thought they were impervious to danger. They were into extreme sports—including night surfing. Their age and foolishness were a terrible combination, but he said none of this to Alice.
“Who’s with Shelley?”
“Nancy’s staying with her. I hated to wake her up, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I’m sure she didn’t mind.”
“We’ve checked the house, Jim’s van, and Joshua’s house.”
“All right. Let’s go back to where we had dinner tonight. I want to check out the FEMA trailer on the beach. I’ll drive. Call Jim and ask him to pick up Joshua. We’ll need whatever help we can get to comb the beach.”
“Should I call the police?”
“Yes. Tell them the boy has been missing… ” He glanced at the clock over his kitchen sink. It was eleven thirty. “He’s been missing three hours because I saw him right before I left at eight thirty. They may not start an official search yet, but they’ll alert any officers on patrol to keep an eye out.”
“Charlie, I can’t lose C.J.” Alice’s voice had been shaky, but now it took on a steely resolve. “I won’t lose him. Not after all we’ve been through. Not now, when things are finally starting to come together for us.”
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