A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn(5)

Little by little Jay had watched Ben, Mark, and even William raise their guards. Instead of being their usual open and chatty selves, they’d become withdrawn and wary. Instinctively, Jay had known that they weren’t simply grieving for their mother. Like him, they were becoming exhausted by attempting to move forward when practically everyone around them was determined to keep them in the past.

So, one night over supper, he threw out his idea about moving to Florida, just to see how the boys would react. For the first time since Evelyn had been diagnosed with cancer, new life had appeared in their eyes.

After that, Jay had begun making plans in earnest.

Now, in just a few days’ time, they’d be moving into their new house, connected to three acres of prime farmland. It was a small place, both the house and the land—he’d farmed almost sixty acres at home—but he had modest goals now. He wasn’t hoping to sustain everything his forefathers had built—Ben or Mark or even William could move back to Charm to do that.

Instead, Jay was merely hoping to occupy himself while William was in school. Maybe make a little money to add to his sizable savings. And, if by chance, his hard work enabled him to fall into an exhausted slumber before one or two in the morning? He would be grateful for that benefit as well.

Feeling restless, he walked outside, glad Beverly had mentioned that he should feel free to use the patio anytime he wished. It was still warm out, most likely seventy degrees. However, the humidity had increased, and the scent of Beverly’s citrus trees filled the air. He sat down in one of the chairs and stretched his legs.

And tried to relax.

“Hey, Daed?”

Jay started, unsure of how much time had passed. He looked across the darkened patio, lit only by some dimly glowing solar lights and a citronella candle burning in the center of the table, and saw his eldest. “Hi, Ben. I didn’t expect you home so early this evening.”

Ben walked to the wrought-iron chair beside him and flopped down with a grunt. “I was about to go upstairs, but I noticed you sitting out here.”

“And you thought you’d see how I was doing?”

“Maybe.” He cracked a grin. “You’d do the same thing for me.”

Jay couldn’t help but return the smile. “Indeed, I would. So, what did you do tonight?”

“I went to Pinecraft Park.”

“And how was that?” Jay knew most of the Amish in the area spent at least an hour or two there a day and often several hours there after suppertime. The park had everything from shuffleboard to basketball courts to a pavilion under which community members attended auctions, shared simple meals, or even listened to groups like the famous Knoxx Family speak.

“It was fine.”

“You don’t sound too enthused.”

“I was hoping to see someone there but I didn’t.”

“Tricia, perhaps?”

Even in the dim light, Jay could see that Ben looked a little self-conscious. “Jah.” He shrugged. “I guess that was obvious,” he said with a grin. “I mean, there’s not too many girls here that I know.”

“That will change, son.” Ben was a handsome, strapping boy who had helped farm fields for most of his life. He was also friendly and patient with other people. It would be only natural for the young girls to want to get to know him.

“Jah. Maybe.”

Jay knew a man liked his privacy, so he refrained from asking about Tricia though he was curious as to how their time at the pizza parlor had gone. Neither Mark nor Will had had much to say about Tricia, preferring instead to talk about their newfound love for pepperoni pizza with mushrooms and peppers.

So Jay just leaned back and enjoyed the warm evening air. Back in Charm, it was still too cold to spend much time outside at night.

“Hey, Daed?”

“Hmm?”

“When you were courting Mamm, did you know she was the one?”

“I did when I married her.”

“Well, of course you knew then. What about before then? What about when you talked with her for the first couple of times?”

Jay tried to recall a time when he hadn’t known Evelyn. “Things were easy for us because our parents—your grandparents—were friends. And we had been in school together, too. I knew her for most of my life. Eventually, people assumed we would become a couple.”

“Is that why you married her, ’cause everyone wanted you to?”

Jay had to think about that. “Um, I don’t think so. No one was pushing us at each other or anything, but we both knew that a relationship would make everyone mighty happy. I guess in some ways we fell in love because it would make so many people we loved happy.”