Jenny's Choice (Apple Creek Dreams #3) Read online

  Jenny stood silent for a moment and then picked up her suitcase, turned, and left the room. She went into Rachel’s room, gathered up the few remaining things that were still unpacked, and laid them in her daughter’s suitcase. Then she took Rachel’s hand, and together they walked down the hall, through the empty front room, and out onto the porch. A buggy waited for them in the driveway. She boosted Rachel up as Lem put the suitcases in the back, and then she climbed in. She nodded to the driver, who clicked his tongue and set the horse in motion.

  The buggy rolled slowly down the driveway. Jenny looked straight ahead. She would not look back. But then just as the horse turned onto the main road, her resolve crumbled, and she turned. The blue two-story house stood in the middle of the harvested fields. As she looked she could see Jonathan behind the plow, waving to her as the rich soil turned and broke beneath the sharp blade. She could see his smile and his blue eyes. She could feel his strong arms around her as they stood together on the porch, looking out over the land—their land—in awe of the blessings of God. She put her face into her hands and silently began to weep. The clopping hooves beat out a slow and mournful cadence—“He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Journey

  SIX MONTHS EARLIER

  IT WAS EARLY SPRING IN Paradise, Pennsylvania. The plum trees were clothed with the first blossoms of the year, and the pink blaze of color added the promise of new life to the otherwise still-dreary landscape. The fields lay fallow around the blue farmhouse, awaiting the cut of the plow and the planting of the seed. The snow had melted only a week before, and patches were still here and there where the shadows kept the sun at bay. The grass in the front yard still wore winter’s brown, and the flower beds around the house had not yet felt the touch of Jenny’s loving ministrations.

  Jonathan stepped out onto the porch, his breath frosting as he walked. The sun peeked up over the eastern hills, and the few songbirds that had bravely returned to Paradise lifted a hopeful melody, urging on the warmth of spring. Jenny followed Jonathan out the door, her best woebegone expression still masking her lovely face.

  “Why must you go, husband? Is it really so important to you? We haven’t been apart in all the ten years we’ve been together.”

  Jonathan turned and smiled at Jenny. “God is giving me this opportunity to be a strong witness to my parents. It’s a miracle that they even asked me to come. And with Dad so ill, this may be my last chance. If I’m to see him, now is the time. Besides, if I wait, I’ll have to delay my planting. I’ll only be gone a week. I’ll be home before you know it.”

  Jenny added petulance to her woeful countenance, and Jonathan laughed. “One more expression on your beautiful face and you’ll twist it beyond all recognition.”

  Jenny laughed and gave up trying to win him by that means. Instead she moved closer until Jonathan put his arm around her.

  “If it was summer, I’d take you and Rachel with me, but I don’t want to take her out of school. If we wait till summer…well, Dad may not be alive by then. So if I’m to see him I must go now.”

  “Oh, I know, Jonathan,” Jenny said softly. “But ever since the letter came, I’ve had a strange feeling. What if something happens to you? What would we do without you?”

  Jonathan pulled her even closer. “Nothing will happen. I’m going to take a train ride to Long Island, visit my parents for a week, and then come home. I’ll be here in time for the planting, and hopefully my dad will see how my faith has changed me for the better. If he dies without Jesus, he will…well, he’ll be separated from God forever, and yet it’s God’s will that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. I have the truth, and I believe it’s in God’s timing that I should share it with Dad.”

  “But he’s been so judgmental since you converted,” Jenny said.

  “Yes, in the beginning he thought I was just on another ‘hippie trip,’ but as the years have passed and after he met you and Rachel and watched my life change, I believe he’s softened. In one of his recent letters he said that my religious affiliation seemed to have changed me for the better. He actually said he was proud of me. That was a first. I’m hoping that with his illness, Dad has begun to think about his own mortality.”

  Jenny knew she wouldn’t change his mind, so she let it drop. But she still couldn’t get over the uneasiness she felt. All she knew was that the day the letter came, a warning bell rang inside her. Still, she trusted Jonathan to do the right thing, so she did her best to hear what he was saying and accept that the Lord had arranged this visit home.

  Jonathan finished packing the last of his clothes in the suitcase. He closed the lid and looked around the room. Jenny’s words had given him a sense of uneasiness he couldn’t quite shake off. But he had prayed about this decision when he got the letter from his dad, and his course seemed set. He sighed and shut the suitcase as Jenny came into the room.

  “Did you pack some long underwear and extra socks?” Jenny asked. “It’s still cold and wet out on Long Island.”

  Jonathan heard the note of uncertainty in her voice, and he did his best to present an assured front.

  “Yes, dear,” he said, “I have everything I need. My plain clothes are going to look a bit strange to my folks, but they’ll have to put up with it. I know my mom will try to take me shopping for something she thinks is more suitable to Long Island, but it’s not going to happen.”

  “She won’t make you shave your beard, will she?” Jenny asked.

  “No, but if she tries, that won’t happen either,” Jonathan answered with a laugh. “Where my parents live, there are a lot of sailors with beards, so I should be able to blend in without too much trouble. Hopefully we’ll be spending most of our time at home. Mom says Dad has good days and bad days, so I don’t expect he goes out much.”

  Jonathan took Jenny by the hand and led her out to the front room. He set his suitcase down by the door and looked around the room. As he did, he remembered the early days when they had first come to Paradise to live with Grandfather Borntraeger.

  He thought back to those wonderful days when he had convinced Jenny they should take over running the farm, much to Grossdaadi’s relief. Together they pitched in and spruced up the old place with a fresh coat of paint and some new furniture, and soon Jenny had put her own stamp on the house.

  Jonathan looked around the room that held so many memories. He thought of all those nights he had studied the Bible late into the night as Grandfather had helped him to discover the wonder of God’s Word. When Grossdaadi passed five years ago, he left everything to Jenny and Jonathan, and gradually the place had become the Hershberger farm. Jonathan’s favorite times had been spent in front of the huge fireplace, sitting with Jenny before a roaring blaze and reading the Bible or just being together after Rachel was in bed. There were so many things about the farm and their life there that had impacted him deeply. He recalled the day he had taken Lem Borntraeger on as a partner, and from that day, the two of them, with help from the community, had made the farm prosper.

  As he stood in the room with Jenny, a strange feeling came over him, as if he were seeing this place for the last time. Without thinking, he pulled Jenny close to him and held her tightly.

  “What is it, Jonathan?” she asked.

  He couldn’t voice his fear without alarming her, so he pulled her close and held her.

  “I love you so, dear Jenny. You’ve been proof to me that there is a God and that He loves me very much, for He gave you to me for a wife. I will always love you.”

  Jenny’s arms slipped up around Jonathan’s neck, and she held him as though she would never let him go.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Homecoming

  JONATHAN WATCHED THE COUNTRYSIDE ROLL BY. He had left Paradise on Monday morning, endured the long bus ride from Lancaster to Penn Station in New York, transferred by subway to the Hunters Point station, and from there boarded the Montauk train. Now the coach rumble
d up the south shore of Long Island, headed east.

  When he stepped on the train, he felt out of place among the hundreds of commuters in their suits and ties, so he tried to read his Bible and blend into the background. The train was crowded, and several young kids were running up and down the aisle while their parents slept, so he gave up and watched the fields and towns roll by. After a while he remembered that New Yorkers kept pretty much to themselves, so he put aside the fact that he was dressed in Amish clothing and began to take in the surroundings outside. It was planting season, and trucks, tractors, and other pieces of farm equipment were out preparing the land. When the train passed Hempstead, something caught his eye that made him sit up and look. Out in a large field were a group of Amish men on a horse-drawn planter. They had cultivated a large part of the field and were planting something. Jonathan looked closer.

  They’re planting potatoes!

  Somehow it was very comforting to Jonathan to catch even a glimpse of them as he passed, and after that he relaxed a little.

  Maybe this won’t be such a bad trip after all.

  He read the signs for the towns they passed: Lynbrook, Rockville, Freeport, Merrick…

  Every town has a memory. How many times did I ride this train when I was a kid?

  He remembered visiting friends, going to the city to see a favorite band, or just jumping on the train to escape the monotony of his home. He remembered his family’s old house in Levittown and was immediately flooded with unpleasant memories of his absentee father and his alcoholic mother. No, he remembered his youthful home, but he did not miss it.

  The only place I’ve ever really felt at home is on the farm in Paradise with Jenny and Rachel.

  Now he was headed to the end of Long Island for what he hoped would be a short, uneventful visit. He just wanted to see his dad and mom for a few days and then get back home to Paradise. He thought about what he wanted to say while he was there, and as he did, he prayed a simple prayer.

  Lord, give me an opportunity to share the gospel with them before I leave.

  Two hours later the train rolled into Bridgehampton. A slight drizzle had misted the windows, and Jonathan had gone back to reading his Bible. As the train pulled to a stop, Jonathan stood up, grabbed his suitcase from the rack, stuffed his Bible in his knapsack, and headed for the exit. He climbed down the steps and looked around. At first he didn’t see them, but then, as his eyes swept the platform, he saw his mother waving next to his dad.

  “Johnny, Johnny, over here,” his mother called as she waved again.

  Jonathan debated for a moment whether he should ask his parents to call him by his real name, but he decided that was a battle he didn’t need to fight.

  Show them the love of Christ; let them see Him in me. Christus in mir, die Hoffnung auf den Ruhm.

  Jonathan walked up to his parents and let his mother enfold him in a hug. Right away he noticed that she didn’t exude the familiar sickly sweet smell of gin and vermouth. He looked at her face. The old anger was gone from her eyes, and she seemed genuinely glad to see him. He looked over at his dad.

  “Hello, Dad,” he said as he put out his hand. “How are you?”

  His father reached out and grasped Jonathan’s hand. “Hello…son,” he said. “I’m fine. I’m having a good day today.”

  He held onto Jonathan for a moment and then awkwardly took his hand away and let it hang by his side. The two men looked at each other, neither knowing what to say next. Jonathan’s mother jumped into the silence.

  “Let’s get your things into the car, and Gerald can drive us home.”

  “Gerald?” Jonathan asked.

  “Yes, he works for us. He helps your father, drives us when we need to go out, and runs errands for us. He’s by the car, over there.”

  She pointed to a tall, athletic-looking black man in a dark suit standing by a Lincoln Town Car. He waved to them, and they all started toward the car. Jonathan noticed his father had a slight limp and that the skin on the back of his hands had large purple bruises. When they came to the car, Jonathan’s parents climbed in the back, and Jonathan sat in the passenger seat next to Gerald.

  Jonathan’s mother filled the otherwise awkward silence with chatter about her club and their new home. As Jonathan listened, his thoughts drifted back to his childhood and the hours of his mother’s drunken ramblings.

  Not everything has changed, but at least she’s sober today.

  “I hope you brought some warm clothing,” his mom said.

  “Warm clothing?” he asked.

  “Yes, for the boat trip,” his mother answered.

  “Mom, you didn’t say anything about a boat trip,” he said.

  “Oh, we just decided yesterday,” his mother said. “Your father wanted to take you on the boat, and it’s a fairly short cruise down to the Outer Banks. Then we can stay in the condo at Oracoke Island for a couple of days. We already bought you a train ticket back to New York from there so you can catch your bus back to Pennsylvania when you’re ready to go home.”

  “I haven’t been on a boat since I was a teenager,” Jonathan said hesitantly.

  His father was dozing off, and his mother leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “Please, Johnny. Your dad really wants to take you, and it may be the last time you will ever be with him. And it would give us a chance to talk. I want to tell you about…well, about some changes I’ve made in my life since your father got sick. We have a great crew, and the boat is wonderful. It’s more than just a boat, it’s a yacht. You’ll enjoy yourself. Please.”

  As his mother spoke to him, Jenny’s words came back. “Ever since the letter came, I have had a strange feeling. I don’t have peace in my heart. What if something happens to you? What would we do without you?”

  A chill swept down Jonathan’s back, and he recognized an unfamiliar sensation in his stomach—fear.

  The next morning dawned dull and gray. As they drove to the dock, Jonathan’s dad pointed out the boat. It was enormous. He noticed the name painted on the bow—Mistral. His father brightened noticeably as he surveyed the magnificent yacht.

  “Quite a boat,” he said proudly. “She can accommodate up to ten people overnight in four double staterooms and one twin cabin. She has three four-stroke engines that produce 2400 horsepower each, and her top speed is around 45 knots. She cruises at 35 knots.”

  Jonathan stared in awe. “Dad, this boat must have cost a fortune.”

  “Well, when I sold my business, we had quite a windfall. We moved out to the Hamptons, and then when I got sick I figured I might as well splurge and buy the one thing I’ve always wanted. So I got the boat at a distress sale. Some sheikh from Dubai needed some cash and let it go for a song.”

  They climbed on board as Gerald grabbed the suitcases and carried them aft toward the staterooms. Two men came out of the wheelhouse. One was tall and clean-cut, and the other looked more the sailor. He was shorter with a blond beard and wore a red striped pullover.

  “Johnny, this is Jack and Terry,” his dad said. “Jack’s the captain and Terry is his mate, mechanic, and cook. How’s the weather look, boys?”

  Terry started to reply. “Well—”

  Jack cut him off. “There’s some weather out to sea, but the Coast Guard says it turned south and headed toward Barbados. It won’t even make landfall in the U.S. If we stay close in, we should be down to Oracoke by about five tonight. Might be some onshore swells, but this baby cuts right through.”

  He turned to Jonathan, who had on a yellow slicker and a watch cap in place of his black jacket and broad-brimmed hat. Jonathan had made the concession at his mother’s urging when he realized that the first gust of wind would probably carry his hat away.

  “Ever been on a boat like this?” Jack asked.

  “No,” Jonathan said. “I used to do a little sailing when I was a kid, but nothing bigger than twelve feet. And for the past ten years I’ve been living on a farm where we don’t use any motorized machinery, so I haven’
t really been around anything like this before.”

  “No motorized machinery?” Terry asked. “Are you Amish or something?”

  “Yes, I am,” Jonathan said.

  The two men looked at Jonathan with surprise.

  “That’s interesting,” Jack said. “Your folks aren’t Amish.”

  “No,” Jonathan said, “but our family was originally Amish until the 1700s. My father’s great-grandfather left the faith to become a frontiersman. Eventually he married an Indian woman, and that’s where our side of the family comes from. I only found this out about ten years ago when my Amish wife helped me trace my roots back to the first Amish that settled in Pennsylvania. My wife and her family were instrumental in my coming back to the faith.”

  “Sounds like an interesting story,” Jack said. “Maybe you can tell us a little more about it after we get underway.”

  “I’d be happy to,” Jonathan said, casting a glance at his father. Sharing his story was something Jonathan had hoped for…especially in the presence of his parents.

  Jack grabbed Terry and pointed him aft. “Okay, let’s get the diesels fired up. I want to make sure that new crankshaft in number two is running smoothly.”

  He nodded to Jonathan, and the two men went inside. Gerald returned and helped Jonathan’s dad go aft, leaving Jonathan and his mother alone on the foredeck.

  Jonathan’s mother reached over and took her son’s arm and led him to a seating area on the front of the boat. A crisp wind was blowing in from the sea, and the smell of the salt water rode on it like the gulls circling above.

  “Johnny…Jonathan, I’ve wanted to tell you something for a long time now.” She seemed to gather her courage and continued. “Let me start by telling you how sorry I am—”

  “Sorry for what, Mom?” Jonathan asked.