Once the chicken was roasting, I poured lemonade for everyone and went out to the porch to get a little cool, fresh air. After serving the lemonade to the children, a worn out Bradley joined me on the porch swing as we sipped a glass of the tart refreshment.
“Thanks for playing ball with the boys,” I said, breaking the silence.
“It was my pleasure, Jane. I haven’t had a chance to play in such a long time, I nearly forgot how,” he chuckled.
“Well, by watching you with them, you’d never know it. I think they liked not having to fight for all the attention the way they do when my brothers play with them. Their own sons cause my boys to feel some jealousy sometimes when they all play together.”
“I enjoyed playing with them. Anytime they need a man to spend time with them, I hope you’ll think of me. Since I don’t have any children of my own, I think it would do me some good too. They seem to need a friend just as much as I do,” he chuckled further.
“I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t want to take you away from your duties as a doctor.”
“Nonsense! I’ve got plenty of free time—almost too much sometimes,” he stated.
“Well, then, I suppose it’ll be okay,” I choked.
The wind teased the curls alongside of my face, causing them to sway in the breeze. Bradley looked at me for what seemed to be a long time, then spoke softly.
“I think you are more beautiful now than you were when we were kids,” he said boldly.
I blushed deeply at his statement, not knowing whether he was paying me a compliment or getting fresh. I didn’t dare look at him, fearing that my embarrassment would show in the deep red hue that heated my cheeks.
“This entire week has seemed like a dream to me. I still find it hard to believe that I am sitting next to you after all these years,” he said excitedly.
“It is truly a miracle from God himself,” I said, not looking up.
“Do you remember our little wedding ceremony we had as kids?”
I dreaded him bringing that up, but now that he had, I felt determined to change the subject.
“We were just kids; and it was only for fun, you know. Do you remember the first time we met?” I asked, trying to redirect the subject.
“Yeah. I remember you making fun of my southern accent and the way I dressed,” he laughed.
“I’m sorry. I was such a rude child,” I admitted.
“I knew it wasn’t your fault. How is your mamma these days?”
“She accepted Jesus right after that last summer I saw you. I used the Bible you gave me to read her the scriptures. I still have that Bible, you know.”
“You do?” he asked, his deep southern drawl prominent in his tone.
“Jah, I’ve kept it at my bedside all these years. It’s getting pretty worn, but I still use it,” I confessed.
He smiled and I smiled a full smile back at him—the first since we were kids. I excused myself to put the rest of the food on the stove, and he resumed his play with the children. I watched again from the kitchen window as they played tag. Bradley picked up Eva so she wouldn’t be tagged, which made the other children yell “no fair” at them. When it was Bradley’s turn to be “it”, he tossed aside his cane and hobbled around, favoring his right leg. He managed to get around surprisingly quick when it was to his advantage, and the children seemed to enjoy the challenge. I smiled as I watched them play happily for the first time since their father’s death. Perhaps Bradley had been correct in saying that it would be good for them to have him around.
While I waited for the food to be ready, I set the table. At the head of the table, at Elijah’s place, I put a child’s sized glass, intending not to put another man in my deceased husband’s place. It seemed foolish, but I wondered if the children might see it as a betrayal to their father, and I wasn’t certain I was ready to see a man sitting there. I placed a large glass in my usual place, and set a place for Bradley beside me. It seemed to be a no-win situation no matter where I put him, so I left it the way it was and left the dining room.
When I went out to alert Bradley and the children that it was dinnertime, they were nowhere to be seen. I clanged the dinner bell and they all walked up from the path beside the barn. Each one, including Bradley, had fresh picked flowers in their hands, which they handed to me before entering the house.
“I thought it would be nice to have fresh flowers to set on the table,” Bradley said as he handed me his handful of the colorful blossoms.
“Thank you for the flowers,” I said to each of them as I placed a vase containing the flowers in the center of the dinner table.
I showed Bradley to his place next to me, while Eli took his father’s place at the head of the table. None of the children questioned the seating arrangement, but seemed to enjoy sitting out of order for a change. Our normal places were youngest to oldest, with the boys on one side of the table, while the girls and I sat on the other. In the past, I normally took the seat next to my husband, but for this dinner, no one sat in his or her usual spot.
“May I have the honor of blessing the food?” Bradley asked politely.
I glanced at Eli in time to catch the look of surprise on his face at Bradley’s request, but I nodded my consent.
“Dear Lord, I am grateful for your many blessings, including finding my friend, Jane,” he began. “Thank you for the fun that I have had with her children, and thank you for this wonderful food that is before us. Please bless the hands that have prepared it, and bless our fellowship time this day. In Jesus precious name, Amen.”
“Amen,” we said in unison.
I stood up to serve the food, and Eli suggested that we could just pass the dishes around the table for a change. I thanked him for the generous offer and sat down instead of serving everyone as I usually did. I was a little tired, and was grateful that Eli had suggested I sit and relax. Though I had become more accustomed to serving everyone, it made the dinner somehow just a little more enjoyable for me to be able to participate as freely as everyone else.
After dinner, Abigail put a fresh pot of coffee on the stove that was still warm from cooking dinner. Eli ushered Bradley and me to the porch swing so the table could be cleared. It felt a little awkward to allow Eli to take charge the way he had, but I was too nervous about being alone with Bradley to say anything to my son about it. I suppose in most ways he was becoming a grownup before my eyes. After all, I was courting his father when I was his age, but Eli seemed much more mature than I had been at his age. I assumed it was because of his continued education in the public school system. Attending the public high school and taking over his father’s role on the farm had made him a man before I was ready for it. In only two short years, he would be away at a college preparing to be a doctor just like Bradley. The two of them talked some at the dinner table about the teenager’s future, which made me realize that he would very soon stop being just my first born child, but a grown man. With his sixteenth birthday being only a few weeks away, I was beginning to feel the strain of being another year older myself in just a few short months.
“You look deep in thought, Jane,” Bradley interrupted my worrying.
I hadn’t realized that we had been sitting in silence for several minutes, until he brought it to my attention that I’d been quiet.
“I was just thinking that Eli’s sixteenth birthday is coming up. I can’t believe that he is that old—it sorta makes me feel old. My father wants to give him one of his ’66 mustang convertibles. He wants to fix it up with him, so that they’ll have it finished by the time Eli goes off to college. Where has the time gone?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Your oldest son seams really determined,” Bradley stated.
“He has made me proud,” I countered.
“He seems like a wonderful young man. I would be proud, too if he were my son.”
His statement took me by surprise, leaving me wondering if he were inadvertently looking to be his father. He turned to me an
d looked me in the eye for a moment, then, dropped his head for a moment before speaking to me.
“May I ask you a question?” His eyes held a sort of hopefulness that made me feel uncertain about what he would ask me, but I nodded my consent.
“Would you consent to having me call upon you?” he asked in a straightforward manner.
“Why?” I asked, feeling a bit shocked by his request.
No sooner had the word left my mouth, than I wanted to take it back. I knew my tone had been a bit abrupt and I momentarily felt he would retract his question if I didn’t say something to change the look of hurt on his face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask ‘why’,” I struggled to say.
“No, no, I understand. I hope you don’t think I am taking pity on you because you’re a widow, and all.”
“No. That never crossed my mind—well, yes it did, sorta. I guess I need to know what your overall plan is. I mean, do you just wanna get together sometimes for dinner with us, or were you looking for something of a commitment with me?” I asked slowly and cautiously.
“Both,” he said, a smile bursting forth. “I have enjoyed this time with you and the children and I know that I want more of it. I think you and these children are what’s been missing from my life up until now,” he said happily.
I nearly choked on his bold statements, but they caused my heart to flutter with excitement. Before I could say anything to him, Abigail pushed open the screen door with a tray filled with pie and coffee. Bradley smiled and thanked her as she served us the treats from the tray. I sipped the black coffee, hoping to stall for something to say. Instead, Bradley spoke up while he poured a little cream in the hot beverage that sat on the white, wicker table in front of us.
“I know it may seem sudden to you, but I haven’t stopped thinking of you and these children since last week when I was treating their chicken pox. I understand that Amish tradition calls for a formal courting period before consenting to marriage.”
“Marriage?” I interrupted him. “You do realize I’m not Amish—though my appearance might tend to say different,” I chuckled.
“I am only proposing a courting period so we can get to know each other again. I am asking your permission to court you—and the children,” he said all with one breath.
“You mean you want to court me, and spend time with my children too?” I asked, surprised.
“I want to get to know them too. It isn’t quite the same as it was when Elijah courted you—now there are children involved in the process. I look at your family as a packaged deal, so I wouldn’t want to exclude them. If you will consent, may I get the children’s opinion, too?” he asked.
After pondering his unusual request, I decided that it would be nice to have the affection of such a handsome gentleman and he had always had a place in my heart. Besides, I knew my children already liked him, and would most assuredly be open to the idea of having him around on a regular basis. Still, he wanted to consult them, so I called them from the kitchen duties to join Bradley and me on the porch. Once they had settled onto the rail of the porch, Bradley formally addressed them.
“I would like to ask you children something of an unusual nature. Your Mam and I have discussed the possibility of my courting her, but I would like the permission of you children to court your Mam,” he said, using their name for me.
I watched as they all looked wide-eyed at each other, then, at me. Abigail and Elizabeth snickered, while Simon made the usual set of faces that he puts on when he doesn’t know how to react to a situation.
“Mam needs a husband, and we need a new Papa, since we lost ours,” Eli spoke up.
I momentarily wanted to protest, thinking his statements to be untrue, but I held my tongue. I didn’t feel I was in need of a husband. I thought that I had done well for myself and for the children without Elijah. Why he thought I needed a husband was something I wanted an explanation for, but not until later.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Abigail beat me by asking him.
“I don’t mean it in a bad way. It’s just that since Papa died, we haven’t been quite as happy as we have today with Doc Bradley here.”
He was correct in saying that. However, it still left Bradley’s question unanswered.
“I agree,” spouted Jakob.
“Me too,” Eva joined in shyly.
“Do we all want Doc Bradley to court Mam?” Eli asked the remaining children.
“Yes,” they practically shouted.
Smiles abounded on every face—especially Bradley’s. I still felt a little nervous, but if my children were that eager, I would put my fears behind me for their sake. I was attracted to Bradley, so I knew that having my old friend as a new friend could only be thought of as a blessing. The children asked to play a little in the yard, and I consented since they had worked in the kitchen for half an hour already.
“I suppose you want my answer now?” I asked quietly after the children were out of earshot.
“I’m praying it will be as positive as the children’s answer,” he admitted.
“I like the idea, and if my children are happy about it, then I am happy. I would never do anything that would upset them.”
“Nor would I,” he said sincerely.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t want to invite myself to dinner all the time, and I don’t want you thinking you have to cook for me all the time. So, I would like to cook for you and the children next time. I took cooking classes in college and haven’t had the chance to try my recipes on anyone other than my mother so far. Are you up to something like that?”
“It sounds wonderful! I like the idea of getting a night off from the cooking. Will you be able to work with the wood stove?” I asked.
“My buddies and I went camping during the summers, and I did the cooking over an open camp fire. It didn’t always turn out, but I was just learning then, so I think I can handle it just fine,” he said with enthusiasm.
“How should I bring this up to my mother?” I suddenly asked.
“They know I’m in town. Your mother even invited me to dinner on Tuesday evening because that is my short day of rounds.”
“Mam invited me to dinner on Tuesday also. She didn’t know that I was having you over today because I wasn’t sure how to tell her. I made Nadine promise not to tell her, so she probably thinks she’s gonna fix us up,” I giggled.
Bradley let out a hearty laugh as he took my hand and led me down the steps of the porch and into the yard where the children were playing. Eli playfully tagged him, and hollered that he was now “it”. Bradley, standing next to me, tagged my arm and said the same to me.
“That’s not fair,” I shouted. “I didn’t even say I was playing. You can’t tag somebody that isn’t playing, “I complained playfully.
“You’re “it” now, Mam,” Eli said. “So I guess that means you’re playing,” he laughed.
Bradley took off in a sort of half-skip run, so as to accommodate the braces on his legs. The children scattered, as they teased me from afar, saying I couldn’t catch them. Abigail and Elizabeth each took one of Eva’s arms and ran with her to get her far enough away from me that she could run on her own. I turned around to see where each one went before deciding which of them looked closer to me. Simon was the closest, and teasing the most, so I picked up the bottom of my skirt and ran after him until Bradley got a little too close, so I attempted to tag him back. Unfortunately, I had run so fast that I slammed into him, bringing us both to the ground. We stayed on the grass where we landed and I laughed until my sides were sore. The children came over complaining that we were too clumsy to play and Simon officially kicked us out of the game. We didn’t mind, we merely remained on the grass laughing, as we watched the children happily playing their game.
To finish reading
THE TAMING OF THE WILD FLOWER
It can be purchased at the same location this book was purchased, or log onto
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As always…Happy Reading!
THE TAMING OF A WILD FLOWER
BOOK THREE
Don’t miss the exciting changes in Jane’s life as she and Bradley pick up their friendship where it left off when they were children…perhaps there are some changes in store for them as well in THE TAMING OF A WILD FLOWER…BOOK THREE in the Little Wild Flower series.
Coming in 2012, Book Four, Little Wild Flower in Bloom…
Little Wild Flower Book Two Page 17