Woodlands

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “That’s right, your situation was a little different, wasn’t it?”

  “But I know what you mean. Even though I was the responsible one toward the end, I still felt my parents didn’t trust me to figure things out or to do things the right way. The day before my mother passed away, she asked me if I had filed my income taxes yet because April 15 was just around the corner.”

  “And had you worked on your taxes yet?”

  Leah nodded. “I had done mine and theirs by February 15.”

  “My mom would have been impressed. As a matter of fact, I’m impressed. It’s taken me a while to feel independent of my parents.”

  “I thought you said you’ve been on your own since high school, when you went to Sweden.”

  “I tried to pretend I was on my own. My mom sent me underwear in Sweden.” Seth glanced at Leah with a grin.

  She laughed. “Did she think they didn’t sell underwear in Sweden?”

  “Something like that. But we had a good talk last night. I think my parents understand why I’d like to stay here and turn the next corner of my life.” Then, as if on cue, Seth turned the steering wheel and headed down a narrow, country road. Leah recognized it. It ran along the perimeter of Camp Heather Brook. She hadn’t driven on that road for years, and she was amazed when they came around a bend and were met with a row of trees in full bloom.

  “Look at those trees!” Leah exclaimed. “I don’t know what kind they are, do you?”

  “I have no idea.” Seth slowed the car and looked out his window.

  “They’re gorgeous! And so old. Look at the blossoms. They’re almost a pale lilac.”

  “Really? I’d call that a light pink.” Seth stopped the car. “Come on, let’s check them out.”

  Leah clambered out of the car and walked over to one of the trees. She reached up and pulled down a low branch to sniff the blossoms. It gave off the faint scent of vanilla. “This is beautiful,” she said.

  “Come on,” Seth invited. “Let’s explore some more.”

  “On foot?” Leah asked, when Seth took off walking into the woods behind the blooming trees.

  Seth stopped and looked back at her. She had worn a black skirt with a white cotton blouse and black linen blazer to the memorial service. It wasn’t her nicest outfit, but for her it was dressy. She wore practical, flat shoes simply because she always wore practical, flat shoes. That’s all she owned. They were suitable for a jaunt in the woods.

  Seth had on dark slacks and a light blue Oxford shirt with a tie, which he had loosened but left on. Nothing was fancy about his shoes, either.

  “Aren’t we a little dressed up for a hike?” Leah asked.

  Seth looked at his outfit. “I thought maybe our professional appearance would frighten away the bears. They’re only used to scruffy looking campers. They won’t know what to do with us.”

  Leah laughed. This man was like medicine for her. He didn’t care about dress clothes getting dirty; he always was up for an adventure; he cared about her enough to take her away from Franklin’s house so she could breathe again and stop being responsible for everything. Suddenly she felt natural and easy following this man into the woods—and anywhere else he wanted to lead her.

  He wasn’t able to lead her very far because they hit a huge patch of what Seth called “blasted brambles.”

  “They’re wild berries,” Leah told him. “Probably blackberries, but they could be raspberries. I don’t know my early spring berry brambles very well.”

  “Or your blooming trees,” Seth added.

  “Or my blooming trees,” Leah repeated with a laugh.

  “Why don’t we venture on down the road and see if we can find a trail?” Seth suggested.

  They returned to the car and drove for a long while down the bumpy road until they came to a turnaround at a dead end. Instead of heading back, Seth stopped the car and got out again.

  “That looks like a trail to me,” he said, leading Leah to a place where the tall spring grasses were flattened slightly. A trail did appear to lead into the woods.

  “A deer trail,” Leah said.

  “Let’s see where it leads.” Seth pulled back some low branches of a cedar tree and welcomed Leah to go first.

  “Since when did I become the trailblazer?” Leah asked, standing her ground with her hand on her hip.

  “Fine, I’ll go first.” Seth let the branch sway back, just missing Leah by a fraction of an inch.

  “Thanks a lot!” she spouted.

  “Well, what’s it going to be? Do you want to make the first move, or should I?”

  Leah couldn’t help but wonder if his question had a double meaning. “You,” she said quickly. “You make the first move.”

  Seth smiled at her. “Okay. Got it. This way, if you please.” He took off at his brisk hiking pace, and Leah had to work her short legs hard to keep up with him. She had left her jacket in the car this time and was glad because she warmed up quickly.

  “Hey, aren’t you supposed to take it easy after your surgery?” Leah asked.

  “I’m feeling okay. The stitches give me grief every now and then when I turn the wrong way. But I’m doing pretty well.”

  “So where are we going?”

  “Onward,” was Seth’s answer.

  They followed the narrow trail through the heart of the ancient woods. The new leaves on the trees formed a fragrant, lime green canopy over their heads. Then they came into an open area where the sunlight shot through the trees like iridescent, bronze javelins thrown from the heavens.

  Seth stopped. “Here,” he said. He stood in the center of the woodlands, with his hands on his hips, face toward the sky, daring the golden javelins of sunlight to spear him through the chest.

  Leah drew in the fragrance of the wild violets that laced the air around them. “This is amazing!” At her feet lay an endless carpet of rich lapis-shaded bluebells and deep green moss. High overhead, brightly-colored blue jays squawked at the intruders in their enchanted world. Two squirrels sprinted across the ground about ten feet from Leah and Seth and then scampered up a tree, with their fluffy gray tails waving good-bye.

  “Let’s build a house right here,” Seth said after several long, silent minutes.

  Leah chuckled. “On our Easter hike you only wanted to build a bench at the top of the hill. Today it’s a whole house! Next hike you’ll envision an entire resort.”

  Seth stood still, studying her. Finally he said, “Exactly what is it that you don’t like about me?”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Leah was stunned by Seth’s question. Was it true that she was standing in the woods with this wonderful man and that he was telling her he wanted her to like him? “I like everything about you,” she assured him.

  Seth studied her expression. “I have something to tell you.” He moved over to a fallen log and sat down. Patting the space next to him, he invited Leah to sit beside him. The rotted log provided a soft, level seat. She drew near but not too close.

  “I looked up your name in the Bible,” Seth said. “I read everything I could find on Leah.”

  She felt a pinch in her stomach. “So you know I’m named after a woman who was a big disappointment.”

  Seth frowned and paused. “Oh, you mean how Jacob ended up marrying Leah first when he thought he was getting Rachel?”

  “Genesis 29:25. ‘Behold, it was Leah,’ ” she repeated solemnly. “My father used to say that was the saddest verse in the Bible.”

  Seth looked down and rubbed his eyebrow. “That’s only one small part of a verse. Many verses talk about Leah. She gave Jacob six sons and a daughter. And you know those sons became six of the twelve tribes of Israel.”

  Leah didn’t know that. She probably should have. But, as a child, she had tuned out any Sunday school lesson when Leah was mentioned. She hadn’t thought the biblical Leah had ever amounted to anything.

  “The fourth son of Leah and Jacob caught my attention as I was reading,” Seth went on.
He reached over and took Leah’s hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. This time she didn’t pull away.

  “Their fourth son was Judah. Leah named him that because Judah means ‘praise.’ The line of Christ comes through Judah, you know.”

  Leah nodded and thought about this revelation. All her life she had thought of her biblical namesake as unwanted, unloved, and unimportant in the great scheme of things. Yet Leah, the wife of Jacob, was a great, great, many times over great-grandmother of Jesus Christ. And Leah’s more desired sister, Rachel, wasn’t.

  “I found out something else I thought was pretty interesting when I was reading,” Seth said.

  She didn’t know if she could process any more. The sensation of his holding her hand and speaking to her with confidence was overpowering. Leah found herself ready to believe anything he said.

  Seth continued, “Leah’s first three sons were all named to reflect the state of her relationship with Jacob at the time they were born. Each time she was hoping she would gain her husband’s favor because she had given him a son.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “For instance, Levi means ‘attached.’ When Levi was born Leah said, ‘Now my husband will be attached to me because I have borne him three sons.’ ”

  Leah knew all too well what it was like to try hard to win the approval and favor of others. She understood what the biblical Leah must have been feeling.

  Seth held Leah’s hand tighter. “Then something must have happened in Leah’s heart because when her fourth son was born, all she said was, ‘Now I will praise the Lord.’ It was as if she stopped striving and started praising God and being thankful. And that was the son on whom God chose to place his blessing. Not the firstborn son, or the second or the third. But the one Leah named ‘Praise.’ The lion of Judah.”

  Leah had so many thoughts at once. She wanted to tell Seth about her early morning encounter with God last week, how the verse Seth had left on her windshield had showed her the winter was past, and how God had been plowing up her heart to plant new seeds.

  This fresh account of the biblical Leah resonated deeply within her.

  “I needed to hear all this,” she said softly.

  A hint of bashfulness washed over Seth’s face. “I hoped you wouldn’t think I was lecturing you.”

  “No, of course not. Not at all. I want my life to change like that, too. I want to start praising God and being thankful for what he brings into my life. I’ve spent too many years trying to prove myself.”

  Seth drew her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers softly. “You don’t ever have to prove anything to me, Leah.”

  After all Leah’s tearful outbursts in the past few weeks, she was startled to find that now, when she really wanted to cry, she had no tears. Only amazement.

  “Seth, I don’t know what’s happening, but something definitely is changing inside me. It’s as if you marched into the garden of my heart, and with one mighty slash of your truth sword, you’ve slain the dragon that has breathed down my neck my entire life.”

  Now Seth looked as if he might cry. With a catch in his voice, he said, “I’ve never been anyone’s dragon slayer before.”

  Leah smiled. Overhead a blue jay let out a series of sharp, squawking calls.

  “Someone doesn’t like us being here,” she said.

  “I suppose we should get back before my mother decides to send out a search party.” Seth rose and drew up Leah with him.

  Since she didn’t consider herself to be good with words, she impulsively decided to express what she was feeling with actions. She wrapped her arms around Seth’s middle and gave him a hug.

  “I meant it when I said something is happening in my life. In my heart. Thanks, Seth.”

  He circled her with his arms. Leah let her head rest on his chest, and he drew her close. Never in her life had she felt like this.

  “You know,” Seth murmured, his lips lost in her hair. “You don’t have to do anything for me. You don’t have to give me anything. Just be who you are and let me get close to you.”

  “Okay,” she whispered. “I will.”

  “I mean it,” he said. “This is for real. I’m not playing games with you, Leah.”

  “I know. And I don’t want to play games with you. It’s just that it’s hard for me to believe you truly could be interested in me.”

  Seth pulled away so they could look at each other. Leah let go. His expression was tender. “I am very interested in you.”

  “Why?” Leah said. “I mean—”

  “Do you want a list?”

  Leah shrugged.

  “First, you have a long-standing relationship with the Lord, and you’re interested in that relationship growing. Second, you attract me. You’re beautiful.”

  “No, I’m not,” Leah said quickly.

  “Hey, this is my list. Do you mind? According to what I find attractive and desirable in a woman, you are so high, you’re off the chart. Your hair is beautiful. You’re just the right height. You have a great laugh. I’ve never gone hiking with a woman who could keep up with me. Not only do you keep up with me, but you also seem to enjoy the hike as much as I do. You fit me, Leah. You’re just right in every way.”

  Leah felt as if her insides had turned to mush. “I think you’re just right in every way, too.”

  Seth reached over and tilted Leah’s chin up. “I’ve been meaning to tell you that you left something at my house the other day.” A mischievous twinkle appeared in his eye. It reminded Leah of Franklin’s look when he said he was making plans.

  “The spinach pan? You can get that back to me any time.”

  “No. This was something you left on Friday after you brought me home from the hospital.”

  “Really?” Leah said, finding herself swimming in his deep blue eyes. “I didn’t think you would remember anything that happened on Friday.”

  “Oh, I remember this. You left it on my cheek.”

  With that Seth leaned over and offered a tender, first kiss to Leah’s unsuspecting lips.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Floating? No, that’s not it. Exhilarated? Maybe. Soaring? Yes, that’s it. Soaring.

  Leah was trying to describe to herself how she felt as she and Seth drove back to Franklin’s house. After Seth kissed her, he said he guessed she was changing her mind about always pulling away. Leah blushed, but she didn’t mind a bit. If Seth wanted to get to know her, this was part of her—the ever-blushing, candy apple cheeks.

  They had lingered for a few more minutes in a warm hug before Seth uncurled his arms from her. Then he offered Leah his hand, and they began their hike back to the car. She could feel her bare legs itching from bug bites she had received while they sat on the log—bugs and mosquitoes seemed to like to nibble on her. She forced herself not to scratch the bites with a vengeance once she was seated in the passenger’s seat of Seth’s Subaru station wagon.

  “If I still had my letterman’s jacket from high school, I’d give it to you,” Seth said. “Then we officially would be going together, wouldn’t we?”

  “What did you letter in?”

  “Track. The 440 was my specialty.”

  A smile played across Leah’s lips. “I still have my letterman’s jacket. Should I give you my jacket?”

  Seth laughed. “And what did you letter in?”

  “You’re going to laugh,” Leah warned him.

  “I’m already laughing.”

  “Discus. But mind you, it wasn’t a very competitive event for our school or our state, for that matter. Especially for the women’s event.”

  “Discus, huh? Remind me to keep my distance if you ever decide to throw things.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not the tantrum throwing sort.”

  “Would you be interested in going out to dinner with my folks when we get back? I’d sure like for them to have some more time with you.”

  “I’d be honored,” Leah said. “How long will your parents be here?”


  “They fly out in the morning. I had hoped they would be able to stay for the reading of the will, but the lawyer is out of town until Friday.”

  Leah wasn’t sure why, but she felt a little uncomfortable when Seth mentioned the will. She remembered Ida’s saying that Franklin had changed his will less than two weeks ago. It made Leah wonder if Franklin knew his life was coming to a close. She dismissed that thought when she remembered that he had planned for her to take him to the hot springs in three weeks.

  A wash of remorse came over her again, the way it had at the house when she said she wished she had brought the flowers by in the morning. Now she wished she had taken Franklin to the hot springs the very day he had asked her. Her argument to others all along was that she wanted to make an old man happy. Now it was too late. She wouldn’t take Franklin anywhere ever again.

  “I wish I could have taken Franklin to the hot springs,” Leah said, as Seth pulled up in front of Franklin’s home. Only a few cars remained out front.

  “It wasn’t meant to be,” Seth said. He took her hand as they walked up to the front door. “You were more considerate than I was. At least you were willing to take him. I knew he was frail, though.”

  “And you were right. The trip would have been too much for him.”

  “At least he knew you were willing to take him,” Seth said, opening the front door and letting go of Leah’s hand so she could go in first.

  “Is that you, Leah?” Ida asked as they entered. She was busying herself around the living room with a feather duster, which Leah thought was comical. The company was all gone, and no one would live in this house for a while. How funny that Ida felt she was helping by dusting. Or was she finding a way to kill time until Seth and Leah returned?

  “Are you all right, Leah?” Ida asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  Seth slipped his arm around her shoulders, as if offering a show of moral support.

  Seth’s mom came into the living room from the kitchen and appeared slightly surprised to see her son with his arm around Leah. She smiled at Leah and said, “We’re almost finished up here. Jessica is helping Mavis put away the last of the dishes. Seth, your father went on to the hotel in Edgefield. He asked us to meet him there at six for dinner. You will be able to take me, won’t you?”