“Yeah. I like them.” She leaned closer. “Get tired of pasta every day.”
“Last night Dad said that Joy Ann resigned from her secretary duties. Ruthie did, too. And guess who’s going to be the new secretary?”
“Not you?”
“No. Barbara.”
Lil smiled. “That’s perfect.”
“I know. At least it’ll keep her from weeding Brother Troyer’s grave plot.”
“She still does that?”
“Mm-hmm. And I think they’ll make a great team.”
“I hope it works out for him. Maybe Barbara will put in a good word for you.”
Megan sighed. “Let’s not go there.” Everybody wanted to match her up with Micah. No one understood how numb she felt. Even if she grew interested in the preacher, there was no way that he would forget how she’d cried over Chance.
CHAPTER 29
The next week sped by because both Megan and Paige had more than their normal amount of work to do with both Chance and Randy out of the office. Megan was glad because it helped her not worry about Great-aunt Louise’s scheduled visit that weekend.
After lunch on Saturday, Mom replaced the tablecloth on the dining-room table three times, finally settling on the antique white with the scalloped edges. The center of the table bore a beautiful bouquet of lavender and roses that Megan had refreshed. “It’s beautiful,” she tried to reassure her mom. “But she probably won’t even remember anything about our house. She’s coming to look at us.”
Her hand going up to her hair, Mom gasped. “I see a car in the drive now. It must be her.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be all right.”
Only moments later, their aunt had swept in and taken control of the get-together. “Louise means warrior, you know. But don’t let that bother you. I’m a warrior for the real King.” She pointed toward the sky.
“I’m happy to hear that,” Mom replied, but Megan could tell that she wasn’t happy at all. Mom was pure nerves. Megan herself wasn’t much better off.
Seated together on the sofa, they faced their warrior aunt, who leaned forward from the edge of the chair that was a garage-sale purchase. Louise had short, bottle-blond hair and bright blue eyes, which openly studied them. “I suppose you’re wondering why I waited all these years to contact you?”
Mom’s hand fidgeted with the sofa pillow. “You mentioned something about my grandmother passing.”
“Yes. My sister, Mary, rest her soul. A good woman.”
Things were not going at all as Megan had envisioned. Warrior for God? Good woman? Where were the wild ancestors? Surely she hadn’t conjured up that vision? No, Aunt Louise hadn’t mentioned Mom’s birth mother yet.
Mom placed both feet firmly on the floor and leaned forward. “You don’t know what it feels like to be given away. It doesn’t seem like something a good woman would do. In my church, we take care of our own.”
Her finger dancing through the air, Louise said, “Mary knew that the Mennonites were good people, and that’s why she allowed them to adopt you. About the time you were born, there was so much strain between Mary and her daughter. Janice broke Mary’s heart when she left the church and rebelled against all she had been taught. Mary was going through a bit of depression herself at that time. Then when Janice and your father were killed, Mary grieved because she wished they hadn’t broken ties.”
“Yet she was willing to break ties with me.”
Louise flicked her tongue in and out as if it stoked her thoughts. “She regretted it once the depression lifted. It was a sad time. Mary and I were close as two sisters could be.”
“We wouldn’t know,” Mom quipped.
Louise tilted her head and glanced at Megan with confusion.
“Mom was an only child. I am, too. But I have two close friends so I understand the type of relationship you are describing.”
Louise looked back at Mom, who finally shrugged.
“I’m here for Mary. I want to bring a piece of her to you. So I’ve collected some things that I thought you might want to keep.”
“So Mary didn’t really set these aside herself?”
“Now, Anita, your grandmother didn’t want to bring you pain by stirring things up and thought it best she not contact you. But I found your address among her belongings. I’m sure she put these things together for you.”
“She sounds like you, Mom,” Megan noted. “Not wanting to stir things up.”
“But not me.” Louise thrust her fist into the air. “I forge ahead, and I felt God tugging at me to do this, so here I am.” She settled her gaze on Megan. “You resemble our family.”
“I can tell.”
“You both do, but Megan even more so. You look like Janice.”
That would be the rebellious girl. And maybe she did carry some rebellious genes that had been handed down to her, but she’d already made her choice to resist them. “What about you? What’s your life like?”
“I am at that stage in life where I’m defying my age. I do that by traveling. I have a widow friend. We go to wonderful places. I even put my house up for sale. May I send you tokens from my future travels?”
“No! Yes!”
“Well, you’ll just have to share yours with your mother then, dear.”
Mom looked contrite. “You’ve come a long way. My manners have been poor. May I get you something to drink? I have cookies.”
“Oh, no. I’m fine on those accounts.” Louise stood. “Now, if you’ll follow me to the car, I’ll show you what I’ve brought.”
They followed Louise to her rental car, and she pulled a hinged velvet box out from the passenger’s seat, handing it to Mom. Then she riffled through her purse for paper and pen and jotted something on paper. “Megan, here’s my address. Let’s stay in touch.”
“I’d like that.” Megan didn’t dare glance at Mom.
“Good. Anita, I know that my sister would want you to have those things. Mary must be smiling from heaven even now.”
“She was a Christian?” Mom asked.
“Oh, yes. A Methodist!” Louise spread her arms to include their property. “This is a pretty place. God must have planned all this for you. Nothing gets by Him, you know.”
Megan admired the twinkle that brightened her great-aunt’s eyes when she spoke. She admired her zest for life and God.
“But I speak for the entire family when I say that without you, something was missing. We all missed you. And you’ll never know how much it blesses me to see you. If, after you look through those things, you have a change of heart, I’d love to stay in touch.”
Megan held her breath, hoping that her mom didn’t refuse to accept the box. More than anything, she longed to see what was inside.
“We have your address,” Mom replied. “Thank you for your good intentions.”
Louise smiled. “You’re welcome. Now, may I hug you both before I go?”
Reluctantly Mom allowed the gesture, but Megan meant hers. “Thank you for coming.” She wanted to say more, to say that having Louise contact them had changed her life. But it might be better to write her a letter instead. Tokens of affection seemed to matter a lot to this sweet little warrior woman.
They watched the car until it drove out of sight. “Did that really happen?” Megan ventured.
With a deep sigh, Mom said, “Let’s go inside and see what’s in the box. What she thought was so important that she had to cause all this trouble.”
Megan’s heart leaped joyfully. She hoped it would contain something that would ease Mom’s pain.
They took the box to the dining-room table. Mom ran a shaky finger across the stitched ribbon edging. Slowly she opened its hinges. The lid was lined in red velvet on the inside, too. The first thing she removed was a small Bible.
“It’s worn, like she used it,” Megan said hopefully.
“A Methodist!” Mom imitated Louise’s comment, and when they both laughed, some of the tension left the room.
“Open it
.”
Mom opened the cover and gasped. On one of the cover pages, Grandma Mary had made a hand-drawn family tree, and Mom’s name was there: Anita Mary Lintz.
“They gave me my dad’s name.”
“Mary never knew you, but she loved you,” Megan reminded her.
But Mom’s eyes darkened. “It’s just a name, says nothing about love. Love is what your Grandma Bachman did for me. For us.”
“I know that. But Grandma Witherspoon carried the loss in her heart. Surely, she did.” Megan examined some photographs of her mom’s parents. “They were so young.”
“Young and foolish, I suppose.”
They took turns studying the photographs, trying to decipher any resemblances.
“We should have asked about your dad’s family,” Megan said with disappointment.
“Please, don’t ask about that. I’m not ready for that yet.”
Nodding, Megan decided in her heart that someday she would ask Louise. She had a right to know, even if her mom didn’t want to deal with any more information.
Next Mom drew out a lacy handkerchief. The antique was tiny and delicate. She unfolded it and smoothed out its creases. It looked yellow against the white tablecloth. The handkerchief was trimmed in blue and had hand-embroidered blue initials on it. Suddenly, Mom’s hand fluttered at the side of her face. “Do you see it?”
“What?”
“It has your initials.”
M.W. “It does.”
“You must have this. If you want it?”
“Oh, yes.” Mom handed it over, and Megan drew it to her face and took a deep breath, inhaling the musty sweet smell. “What does it smell like?”
Mom found a sachet and brought it to her nose. “Roses.”
“I’ll bet that’s hand sewn, too. I’m glad Aunt Louise brought these, aren’t you?”
Mom whispered, “Yes.”
“Do you think you’ll ever go to Pennsylvania?”
A sarcastic laugh quickly replaced the tender moment. “No. My family is here. This is all I need.” Then her hand went out to touch Megan. “But you may stay in touch with Louise. That would be nice.”
“Thanks, I’d really like to do that. But what is that bundle of papers?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to find out.”
“May I?”
Mom hesitated then nodded.
Megan removed the ribbon that bound a two-inch stack of stationery. She unfolded the top paper. “It’s a letter.” Silently she read then laid it down and took up the second. “Mom, they’re love letters between Mary and your grandfather. His name was John. They must have had some sort of long-distance relationship.”
“But we shouldn’t have those.”
“Why not?”
“Let me see it. I believe you’re right. Listen to this. ‘Dearest Mary, I can’t wait to see you in two weeks. I’ll take you for a ride in my convertible. I love to see the wind blow through your blond hair. You look like an angel.’ ” Mom stopped reading. “It doesn’t seem right to read this.”
“I’d really like to look through them.”
“Fine. You can have them. I need to go start supper.”
The next week Randy returned to Char Air. When Megan got to work the first day of his return, there was a note on her desk:
Come into my office.
Randy
Not knowing what to expect, she wasted no time, but grabbed a note pad and knocked on his door. “Come in.”
Megan stepped inside. “Welcome back. We missed you.”
“Oh. Did you?” He didn’t meet her gaze. Rather, he kept it averted to the legal pad on his desk—on top of the blank calendar that wasn’t on the right month because she’d wadded it up and destroyed it. “Chance left me some notes. Sit down and we’ll go over them.”
Sliding into the leather side chair, she felt her face heat at his rebuff. He went through the list so quickly, that she could hardly keep up, scribbling notes as they went. He never made eye contact until they were finished. Then he studied her. “Now that my playboy brother is gone, are you ready to get back to work?”
She met his gaze, feeling resentful because she hadn’t loafed, but carried a heavy load in Randy’s absence. Yet he made a valid point about her foolish behavior. “Yes.”
All week long, Megan was bombarded with an almost impossible workload, and she had to wonder if Randy was trying to break her, push her to quit. Or maybe it was Tina who wanted her gone. But she was determined not to give her boss another good reason to fire her. If she left the company, it’d be her choice.
In spite of his gruff behavior toward her, it was obvious Randy had missed, possibly even mourned, his job. His enthusiasm drove him to be everywhere at once, righting things and even pushing Paige harder to drum up new business. His thirst was unquenchable. Yet there were isolated moments when Megan caught glimpses of turmoil on his brow, sad determination in his eyes. Generally speaking, he’d aged. She had no idea if he was still with Tina.
Their most personal conversation had been minimal, when Megan had asked, “Did you enjoy your cruise?”
Randy had set his jaw and replied grimly, if not sarcastically, “Had the time of my life.” And the look he’d given her indicated the conversation was finished forever—unless she was masochistic, and she wasn’t.
There were no lunches with Lil. Megan dragged herself home every night, too tired to field any questions her parents or Micah wielded at supper. After helping with the supper dishes, she excused herself and went straight to her room. She wrote in her journal and read her great-grandparents’ love letters. She discovered that her great-grandfather loved to quote poets and well-known love sayings. Among her favorites was a quote from Elizabeth Bowen: “When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out.” Her great-grandparents’ letters were the bright spot of Megan’s existence.
CHAPTER 30
Thursday evening on his way home from work, Fletch stopped at the Weavers on Lil’s behalf. He invited Megan to join them for a picnic and softball game at the doddy house. On Friday Megan held her breath, hoping that Randy wouldn’t ask her to work on Saturday. He didn’t.
Lil set up the picnic much like she had the one earlier in the summer. After the meal while the toddlers napped, Fletch numbered off the guests to form softball teams. Gleeful that it wouldn’t be like in grade school, when Megan was one of the last to be chosen, she joined Fletch’s even-numbered team. Ivan and Elizabeth were on her team. Each team had two couples and a single person. Micah joined the Yoders and the David Millers.
Lil was first up to bat. “Get it over the plate, chump,” she taunted her cousin.
“And what good will that do you,” Jake shouted back, “if you don’t know how to hold the bat?”
But Lil did know, and she met the ball with a loud crack. Her bat sailed through the air as she hastened to first base, nearly knocking Fletch’s feet out from under him. When she saw she was safe, she did the garbanzo dance to the amusement of everyone, even their opponents.
“You shouldn’t throw your bat like that, honey,” Fletch admonished, stepping up to take his turn.
“Sorry, sugar,” she replied with a sheepish grin.
He brought Lil in, and the score was 1–0.
Next, it was Megan’s turn. She warmed up her swing then waited for the perfect pitch. To her surprise, she connected and even sent it over Micah’s head at second base. When she saw Fletch go for home, she made a bad choice to try for second base. She heard her teammates’ groans, but there was no turning back.
“Run, Megan!”
She sped up, even though she saw she couldn’t possibly make it. Micah planted himself over the base, and she barreled into him.
“Oopfh!”
The man was a brick wall and had barely budged. His free arm had even snagged her and kept her from falling at his feet. When he saw she was steady, he lifted his glove and cried, “Out!”
Breathing hard from the sprint, she lo
oked up. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, but his lips quirked just before he repeated more softly, “Out.”
She jerked her arm away, wanting to wipe off his silly grin.
“Watch out how you act around the preacher,” Lil warned.
Megan sloughed it off and joined her on the grass. “Whose side are you on?”
“Yours. I missed you this week.”
“It was rough. Randy came back with a chip on his shoulder. I get the feeling he regrets hiring me. I’m not sure if Tina wants me out of there or what’s going on.”
Jake’s arm improved, and Ivan and Elizabeth both struck out. The girls pushed to their feet, and Megan walked toward the outfield. Beside her, Lil adjusted her glove. “I’d miss our lunches if you ever left your job, but sometimes change can be a good thing.”
Megan wasn’t so sure. She hated job hunting. “I’m all right. Since my great-aunt Louise came to visit, Mom’s back to her old self. I think her contentment is rubbing off on me.”
“Oh yeah? You looked pretty intense out there with Micah a minute ago.”
“He was laughing at me.”
“I know. We all were.”
“It’s just that he’s always so capable.” And she was always the needy one, hanging on his shirttail or using it to wipe away her tears. “Sometimes his perfection is just plain aggravating.”
“I know exactly how you feel. It gets even worse after you marry them. But loving Fletch is better than hanging on to my pride.” Megan was glad Lil was happy, until her friend put in a parting jab. “I see you and Micah drove separate cars. A waste of fuel, if you ask me.”
Megan rolled her gaze skyward, but she had to admit that she would’ve enjoyed riding over with him because they hadn’t talked all week. Unless you counted a few snippets over supper with her parents in the room. She hoped he didn’t think she was avoiding him. But if she recalled correctly, he’d missed a couple of meals, too. Her gaze traveled over the Millers’ yard until it located him, standing in the home team area, trying out various bats.
Plain City Bridesmaids Page 87