A Life of Joy (13 page)

“No.” She held out the flower. His hand brushed hers when he took it, and warmth ran up her arm. Overwhelmed by the feelings he conjured in her, she bit her bottom lip and hugged her arms to her chest.

“Danki.”
He tied in the last dandelion and then held up the chain. “What do you think?”

“It’s
schee
,” she said with a grin. “You’d be a
wunderbaar
jeweler. Perhaps you missed your calling.”

He gave a bark of laughter as he leaned over and dropped the chain over her head. “You think so? Maybe I should quit my job at the furniture store and go to jeweler’s school.”

“Do you think the bishop would approve?” She stifled a chuckle while playing along with the banter.

“Hmm.” He tapped a finger to his chin. “Possibly not.”

She glanced down and touched the necklace. “It’s beautiful. I’ll be the envy of the girls at the singing tonight.”

“And you thought your sister was having fun going to bars in New York. She’ll never get a dandelion chain there.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Lindsay said, her smile fading at the truth in his words. “No, she won’t.”

He stood and then held out his hand. “Hungry?”

She took his hand, and he lifted her as if she were weightless. “Starved,” she said.

While they strolled side by side back toward the house, Lindsay kept her hand on her necklace. She glanced up at his smile and contemplated his thoughtful words. No, Jessica wouldn’t ever spend an afternoon like this, nor would she have a handsome young man like Matthew create a dandelion chain just for her.

Thursday evening, Lindsay washed the dishes while Rebecca bathed the children. She’d offered to do both the dishes and the
bathing, but Rebecca insisted she would handle the children, even though she looked exhausted. Lindsay worried that Rebecca was doing too much, but her aunt refused to slow down.

“Lindsay!” Rebecca called from the bathroom.

Lindsay dropped the dish she’d been scrubbing and rushed to the bathroom, where she found Rebecca sitting on the cover of the commode while the children splashed and laughed in the tub. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry for startling you.” Rebecca yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. “I’m fine. Would you mind checking the messages for me? I forgot to do it earlier, and I’m too tired to walk out there.”

“Of course.” Lindsay grinned at the children and then headed through the kitchen and out the back door toward the phone shanty. She pushed the door open and sat on the stool while dialing.

After hearing that there were four messages, she began listening to a message that had arrived earlier in the day. She sat up straight when a vaguely familiar voice rang through the receiver.

“Um, this message is for Lindsay Bedford,” the masculine voice said. “This is Frank McCabe in Virginia.”

Lindsay’s eyes widened with surprise — it was her father’s best friend! She hadn’t spoken to him or his wife, Trisha, in a few months. Normally Trisha called, so it was unusual to hear Frank’s voice on the message.

“Lindsay, would you please call my cell phone as soon as you can,” he said.

She scrambled for the pen and paper sitting on the little desk and wrote quickly while he rattled off the number.

“Thank you,” he said. “Bye.”

Wondering what Frank could want, she deleted the message and then played the next one.

“Linds,” Jessica’s voice was rushed. “It’s an emergency. Something’s happened to Aunt Trisha. Call me as soon as you can.”

“Oh no,” Lindsay groaned. She hit the keypad, and Jessica’s voice rang through the phone again. “Lindsay? Please call me, okay? It’s important. Bye.”

The last message was from Dr. Fitzgerald’s office, reminding Rebecca of an appointment next Monday.

With concern filling her, Lindsay dialed her sister’s number.

Jessica answered on the second ring. “Linds!” she yelled into the phone. “I’ve been waiting for you to call. I tried to reach you at the bakery, but you’d already left for the day.”

“What’s going on?” Lindsay asked.

“Uncle Frank called me earlier,” she said. “Aunt Trisha had an accident.”

“What?” Lindsay bit her bottom lip. “What happened?”

“She fell and broke her leg,” Jessica continued. “It’s pretty bad.”

“But she’s going to be okay, right?” Lindsay confirmed.

“Yeah, she will. Eventually.”

“What do you mean by ‘eventually’?”

“She was in surgery last I heard. She has to have a rod put in her leg or something and won’t be able to walk for a couple of months.” Jessica blew out a sigh. “I feel so bad because I’m so far away. She’ll be incapacitated, and Uncle Frank has to work. His construction firm has really taken off lately. They’re building condos on the Outer Banks, and he’s working long hours.”

Lindsay grimaced while thinking of how much pain Trisha must be in. “How long will she be in surgery?”

“I don’t know. Hang on one sec. Someone’s in my office.” She put her hand over the receiver, and muffled voices reverberated through the line. “Okay. Right. I’ll be right there. Sorry, Linds. It’s crazy here. Anyway, her surgery is probably over. I told Uncle Frank I would call him later.”

“You’re still at work?” Lindsay glanced at the battery-powered clock on the little counter in the shanty and found it was after six.

“Yeah,” Jessica said with a sigh. “It’s crazy busy.”

“But you’re an intern, Jess,” Lindsay continued. “Should you be working that much?”

“If they need me, I work. Anyway, back to Aunt Trisha. I’m really busy here, and I can’t get away. If I walk out of this place, I’ll probably lose my internship and not get a letter of recommendation. Do you think you can go to Virginia and help Aunt Trisha and Uncle Frank until she’s back on her feet?”

“What?” Lindsay asked with surprise. “What did you say?”

“You heard me,” Jessica said, annoyance ringing in her voice. “I can’t get away, but you can.”

“Wait.” Lindsay gestured with her hand, even though Jessica couldn’t see her through the phone. “I told you already that I have responsibilities here. Aunt Rebecca’s expecting a baby and needs extra help at home.”

“I understand that, but Aunt Rebecca has a big family, so someone else can help her in your place. Uncle Frank and Aunt Trisha need us. Remember all the times they helped when Mom and Dad were alive? Remember when Dad lost his job, and Uncle Frank hired him? Or when we had the flood after that hurricane, and Uncle Frank and his crew came and dried out the carpets? And how about after Mom and Dad were gone? They took us in and helped us. And they’ve always been there when we —”

“Okay, okay! I get it. You can stop lecturing me now.” Lindsay blew out a deep sigh. “I’ll call Uncle Frank and see what he needs.”

“Cool. Oh, I gotta go. Call me later.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Bye!”

“Bye.” Lindsay hung up the phone and stared at the wood grain in the desk. The weight of the situation caused her shoulders to hunch. Taking a deep breath, she lifted the receiver again and dialed Frank’s cell phone number.

“Hello?” Frank’s voice asked.

“Uncle Frank,” Lindsay said, her voice sounding small and strange to her ears. “It’s Lindsay.”

“Lindsay!” he said. “It’s good to hear your voice. I’m so glad you called me back.” She was almost certain she heard road noise in the background, and she imagined him driving his Chevrolet Suburban down the winding streets of Virginia Beach toward their house at Sandbridge Beach.

“I just got your message,” she said, winding the phone cord around her finger. “I talked to Jessica and she said that Aunt Trisha had an accident. How is she?”

“She’s doing okay,” he said. “She broke her leg pretty badly, and she needed surgery. But she’s awake and feeling pretty embarrassed about it now. She admitted she never should’ve stood on the railing to try to water that plant.” He snickered a little.

“What did she do?”

“She was trying to water one of her plants on the back deck, and she decided not to use a stepladder.”

“Oh no.” Lindsay shook her head, imagining Trisha standing on the railing while balancing a watering can. She cringed, remembering just how high that deck was on their oceanfront home. It teetered close to two stories. “What was she thinking?”

“I’ve been wondering that myself all day,” he said.

“Can I possibly talk to her?” Lindsay asked.

“Oh, not right now, sweetie,” he said. “I’m on my way home to pick up a few of her things. But how about you call me sometime tomorrow afternoon? I’m sure I’ll be up at the hospital. Just call my cell, and I’ll hand it over to her. She would love to hear from you.”

“I will.” Lindsay cleared her throat. “Jessica mentioned that Aunt Trisha is going to be laid up for a while.”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “She will be for sure.”

“Will you and Aunt Trisha need help?”

“Yes, we’re trying to figure out what to do. I can’t stay home and take care of her because I have a big condo job down at
the Outer Banks. She won’t be able to get around on her own.” He paused for a moment. “Do you think you could come and help her? I know you’re busy with your aunt and family, but we could really use the help. What do you think?”

Lindsay bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath. She knew Trisha and Frank needed her more than ever, and her heart ached for their predicament. She thought about Rebecca and her pregnancy and remembered that her aunt had made it through her previous pregnancies without any problems. Surely Rebecca would be fine without Lindsay’s help. Trisha and Frank’s problems were much more serious.

“I’ll talk to my aunt Rebecca about coming down to help you,” Lindsay said. “I’m certain she’ll be supportive.”

“Thank you so much,” he said, sounding relieved. “I really appreciate it. I called Trisha’s older sister in Boise, but she’s really busy babysitting for her grandkids. She said it would be a hardship to try to find someone to help her daughter. I’m so glad you offered to come. I just don’t know how we’d manage. All of our friends are busy working during the day, and I can’t let this job in the Outer Banks go. I’m the boss, you know, and unfortunately, I have to be on the job site every day. You don’t know how much this means to us. Trisha will be thrilled when I tell her that you’re going to try to come.”

“I’ll talk to Aunt Rebecca tonight and get back to you as soon as I can,” Lindsay said. “Give Aunt Trisha my love.”

“I will, sweetie,” Frank said. “Thank you again for offering to try to help us. Take care.”

“You too. Bye.” Lindsay hung up the phone and rested her face in her hands while the reality of the situation soaked through her. A knock on the shanty door caused her to jump.

Glancing over, she found Daniel peering in at her. “Rebecca asked me to come find you. She said you’ve been in here for quite a while, and she’s worried.” His expression became concerned.
“Was
iss letz?”

“I just talked to Jessica and also to Frank McCabe, my parents’ friend.”

“Ya
?” He leaned on the door frame. “Is everything okay?”

“Aunt Trisha fell and broke her
beh
.”

“Ach.”
He rubbed his beard. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“She had to have surgery, and she’ll be unable to walk for quite a while.”

“That’s
bedauerlich
. Must be very painful.”

“Ya.”
Lindsay ran her finger over the small desk. “She’ll need some help at the house since Uncle Frank works a lot. His construction business has been very busy lately.”

“I see.” Daniel continued to rub his beard. “Do they have family nearby who can help?”

Lindsay shook her head. “No.”

“Do they want you to come and help?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to go?”

“Jessica thinks I should.”

He gave a knowing smile. “Jessica likes to tell you what to do and likes to make your decisions, but you’re a young lady now, Lindsay. You’re eighteen and should make decisions that feel right for you.”

“I know,” she said.

“And what do
you
think is right for you?”

Lindsay gestured in the direction of the house. “On one hand, I feel like
Aenti
Rebecca needs me since she’s expecting a baby and she’s been so tired lately. I worry that she’ll overdo it and not get the rest she needs. However, on the other hand, Aunt Trisha and Uncle Frank need me more. Aunt Trisha is going to need someone to take care of her, and in my heart, I feel like it should be me.”

He nodded slowly. “You’re a very thoughtful and caring
maedel
. I agree that my Becky does work too hard, and I know for certain that she’s stubborn. But if you feel that you need to go
stay with Trisha and Frank for a while, we can make do. One of our nieces will come and help us if we need them. And I agree with you—it does sound like Trisha is going to be in bad shape and needs someone to take care of her. You would be a
wunderbaar
help to her.”

“I feel bad leaving our family, but I know it’s the right thing to do,” Lindsay said.

He leaned down, meeting her at eye level. “Look at me, Lindsay.”

She sat up straighter on the stool. “Ya?”