A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn(59)

Sweet and kind didn’t necessarily sum up the person she wanted him to think she was. “I hope it’s that easy.”

“It will be if you allow it to be. Don’t make good things difficult, dear. We all have enough troubles, you don’t need to go borrowing them.”

“You might be right about that.”

“I know I am.” Shifting, she rested one of her hands on Emma’s lemon-and-blue log-cabin quilt. “Now, how is your family taking it?”

“They don’t know. I only asked my parents to watch the girls for a few hours this evening.”

“They’re going to be here when Jay comes over?”

“Oh, nee! I asked if I could bring the girls over to their haus.”

Dorrie tilted her head. “And they agreed without asking the reason why?”

“I’m sure they’ll ask.” Thinking of how difficult navigating that conversation was going to be, she murmured, “I’m sure they’re going to ask a lot of questions.”

“They are. And I know you won’t like me sayin’ this, but they’re going to try to convince you that you’re doing the wrong thing.”

“They may be right.”

“They aren’t, Emma. Even if you and Jay Hilty realize that the Lord only wants you two to be friends and nothing more, it is important that you take this first step. You need to open your heart to the possibility that you could find love again. And what’s more, Sanford would want you to.”

“Do ya really think so?” Emma wanted to imagine that Sanford would be happy for her, but she just wasn’t sure. She sighed. “I’ve tried to imagine what he would say if I told him that I was doing this.”

“I know what he would say, and I think you know, too.”

“And what is that?”

“That it is about time you allowed a man to take you to dinner.” She wagged a finger. “It’s been three years, Emma. Three years is a long time to be alone.”

It had been. “Our families are going to worry about me.”

“I am sure they will.” She pursed her lips, then added, “Forgive me, but I think they are also worrying about themselves.”

Dorrie had lost her. “That makes no sense.”

“Of course it does. Change is hard, Emma. If you move on, that means they’ll have to move on, too. They’ve already had to adjust to Sanford leaving this earth so quickly. They’re going to fight tooth and nail if you make them adjust to something else.”

She was starting to think that Dorrie made a good point. Emma’s parents had told her that they would be happy to take care of her and the girls for the rest of their lives. At first, she’d been so grief-stricken that she’d clung to their promise and hadn’t dared to think that anything could possibly be different. But now, with the girls all in school and her having more time on her hands, she’d started to feel that she needed something more than they could give her.

Of course, until Frankie had found Jay and his boys, no other man had made her even contemplate falling in love again.

“Change is hard.”

“Jah. But change is a part of life. We grow older in spite of our best intentions. And with that age, it’s best to become wiser, too.”

Emma nodded. “Danke, Dorrie. I knew going to find you was the right thing to do.”

“See, you’re already getting wiser!”

“And you are getting prideful,” she teased. “Thank you for your help.”

“It was nothing.” Standing up, she pointed to the tangerine dress lying on the quilt. “Wear the dress and take the girls to your parents early so that whatever they tell you can roll off your shoulders before Jay comes over.”

“I’ll do that,” she promised, though she didn’t think her parents’ criticisms were going to roll off her shoulders at all. No, they were going to remain firmly settled there like a twenty-pound flour sack.

Heavy and burdensome.





Chapter 20


As Jay drummed his fingers on the hard plastic seat of the SCAT shuttle, he couldn’t help but reflect on the path the Lord had shown him. Here he was, sitting beside his eldest son near their new home, on the coast of Florida. Furthermore, they were both on their way to go courting. Courting by his son’s side!

Jay had never pictured that happening. Ever.

As the shuttle made its way through the streets of Sarasota and people got off and on, he glanced out the window and tried to tell himself that he had no reason to be nervous. He was a grown man. He’d survived all kinds of things, from Evelyn passing away to all three boys having chicken pox together to Mark breaking his arm when he was thirteen.