A VOW for ALWAYS (10 page)

Luann glanced out the window. The sky was gray, threatening to unleash the drizzle
that had been predicted. She hoped the weather would clear by Thursday.

“I just need to relax and stop fretting about things,” she murmured. “Meredith’s life
is in God’s hands, and so is the weather. May His will be done.”

Darby

Luke sat up in bed with a start. He remembered his phone number. After quickly writing
it down, he hurried to get dressed, anxious to tell the Baileys this good news.

“Guess what?” he shouted, sliding across the kitchen floor in his stocking feet a
short time later.

“What’s up?” Henry asked from his place at the table, where he sat drinking coffee.
“You look like George when he’s swiped some seed from one of our birdfeeders.”

“I remember my phone number,” Luke said excitedly.

“That’s wonderful, Luke,” Norma said, joining them at the table.

“Are you going to call your wife or just surprise her by showing up?” Anne asked,
placing a cup of coffee in front of Luke.

“I don’t know. What do you think I should do?” Luke didn’t know why he felt so confused.
Everything seemed to be happening so fast, and yet he still couldn’t quite remember
some details—like how long he’d been gone or what he’d been doing at the bus station
in Philadelphia. Maybe it wasn’t important. Maybe he should just find a way home to
Meredith as quickly as possible. But he couldn’t really do that until he remembered
exactly where he lived. All he knew was that he lived in Lancaster County, and he
wasn’t even sure what town.

“I think you should call your wife right away,” Susan said, entering the room. Her
eyes were red and swollen. Luke wondered if she might have been crying.

“Are you all right, dear?” Norma asked. “You look as if you’ve been—”

“I’m fine.” Susan moved over to the desk, picked up the cordless phone, and handed
it to Luke. “You’d better make that call now, don’t you think?”

Luke slowly nodded. A chill of nervous anticipation ran through him as he quickly
entered the number. It rang several times, then a recorded message came on, saying
the number had been disconnected. He hung up, feeling defeated. He’d thought sure
the phone number had to be his, but his memory was still sketchy about certain things,
so maybe he’d been wrong. “All I got was a recording,” he mumbled. “The number’s been
disconnected.”

“Maybe you dialed incorrectly or had the wrong number in the first place,” Henry spoke
up. “Why don’t you try again?”

Luke dialed the number once more and got the same message. “It’s no use,” he said
with a groan. “It can’t be my phone number.”

Norma stood in front of Luke and put her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t worry, Luke.
Once you remember your address, you can surprise your wife in person. It might be
better that way.”

“Let’s have breakfast first,” Henry said. “Then we’ll get things figured out. You’ll
be home before you know it.”

The Baileys’ optimism gave Luke a sense of hope. Maybe by this time tomorrow, he and
Meredith would be reunited. Of course, he first had to remember exactly where he lived
in Lancaster County.

A
s Jonah prepared for bed the night before his wedding, he prayed that all would go
well and that the weather would turn sunny. It could rain all it wanted tonight, but
hopefully by morning it would clear out and start to dry things off so that his and
Meredith’s wedding would be perfect. Of course once tomorrow arrived, he probably
wouldn’t care what it was like outside.

All Jonah wanted was to begin a new life with Meredith and Levi, and even though the
house he’d wanted to buy had suddenly been taken off the market, he’d be content to
live with his folks a bit longer until he found another place. Meredith got along
well with his parents, so he didn’t think she’d mind living here awhile either. They
could move into the house Meredith had shared with her first husband, but that wouldn’t
seem right—at least not to Jonah. He didn’t think Meredith needed the reminders from
her past, and living in the home she’d shared with Luke might come between them. Maybe
after he and Meredith were married she would decide to sell the house. After all,
there wasn’t much point in keeping it. She’d probably make more in the long run by
selling the place than if she kept renting it out.

That can all be worked out down the road
, Jonah told himself as he climbed into bed.
What I need now is a good night’s sleep so I’ll be well rested in the morning
. He turned down the gas lamp and closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered before
drifting off to sleep was a vision of Meredith standing beside him, responding to
her wedding vows.

Darby

Luke had spent most of the day trying to remember his address. He’d almost given up
when, shortly before bedtime, it came to him. “I know where I live!” he shouted, dashing
into the living room, where the Baileys sat, drinking hot chocolate.

“You do? Where?” Henry asked, rising to his feet.

“It’s crazy how it all of a sudden came to me,” Luke said in amazement. “I was flipping
through the pages of a tree magazine you got the other day. You know—the one that
also has flowers and vegetables you can send off for.”

“Yes, I’ve ordered a few things from that catalog over the years,” Norma said. “But
tell us, Luke, how did that help you remember your address?”

“Well, I was reading about a beech tree, and I suddenly remembered the name of the
road where my wife and I lived. We live on a farm on Beechdale Road in Bird-in-Hand,
just off Route 340.” He started pacing the floor, nervously running his fingers through
his hair. “I need to go home now. Would it be possible for me to borrow enough money
from you for a bus ticket to Lancaster?” he asked, looking at Henry. “I’ll pay you
back as soon as I can.”

Henry shook his head. “No way, Luke. We’ll drive you home; we wouldn’t want it any
other way.”

“Really? When?” Even though Luke was excited to get home, he felt a touch of sorrow
in his heart that he would be leaving these wonderful people who had opened their
arms and shared a piece of their life with him.

“Let’s go tonight,” Susan said. “I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I can take you
there now.”

“You would do that for me?” Luke could hardly believe Susan would offer to drive him
home. They were a good hour and a half from Lancaster, and by the time they got there,
it would be midnight or later.

“Of course I’ll do it. That’s what friends are for,” she replied.

Luke noticed tears in Susan’s eyes. Could it be that she would miss him? Had she been
experiencing the same feelings for him as he had for her?

Good grief
, Luke thought, rubbing his forehead.
I’m a married man in love with my wife, yet I almost allowed myself to fall in love
with Susan. What would have happened if I had? What if I’d made a commitment to her?

“I start work early in the morning, so I can’t go along,” Anne said. “But I want you
to know that it’s been a pleasure to know you, and I wish you all the best.”

“Thanks. It’s been my pleasure knowing all of you.” After returning Anne’s hug, he
looked at each of them and knew this goodbye wasn’t going to be easy. The Baileys
were the “salt of the earth,” and even though he’d had a rough road for all these
months, Luke had been blessed with the friendship he’d found with the Baileys.

“I appreciate all of you and everything you’ve done for me these past several months,”
he said. “You’ll never know how much it’s meant to me. You’ve been the family I needed
all this time.”

Luke could see the gloom in everyone’s eyes and noticed how tenderly Henry took Norma’s
hand when her chin began to quiver. It seemed as though their feelings matched the
cold rain falling outside.

“Look,” Anne said, as if trying to lighten things up, “this isn’t going to be goodbye,
you know.”

“That’s true,” Norma said, wiping her nose with a hankie. “We won’t be living that
far apart. We can visit whenever we want, because Lancaster is only about seventy
miles from here and not even a two-hour drive.”

“Yeah,” Luke chimed in. “It’s not like I’m goin’ across the country. There’s a lot
to see in Lancaster County, too, so you might enjoy visiting sometime.” His eyes stung
with tears as he looked at everyone and said, “I have a home that I can share with
you now, and boy, does it ever feel good to say that.” A lump formed in Luke’s throat,
and he bowed his head as he tried to find his voice. Looking up, all Luke could do
was swallow and whisper, “Thank you, everyone. Thanks a lot.”

Philadelphia

The rain had stopped, and the roads were drying off. In less than two hours, Luke
would be in Lancaster. Although time seemed to drag, waiting these couple of hours
didn’t compare to the months he’d been away, trying to remember who he was.

Luke looked down at his jeans, along with the flannel shirt and his red baseball cap.
That hat had become part of his daily attire since he’d seen it hanging on the closet
door of his room when he’d first arrived in Darby. Luke had gotten used to the English
clothing that had been uncomfortable to him at first, but he couldn’t wait to get
back into his own Plain clothing. He realized that was why these other clothes had
never felt quite right.

Luke leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he remembered that he’d been
on the bus over a year ago because he’d been heading to Indiana to learn a new trade
from his uncle. By now Uncle Amos must have sold the headstone engraving business
to someone else.

I’ll worry later about how I’m going to support Meredith
, he thought.
Right now I just want to get home to her
.

Another thought popped into his head.
Will Meredith be happy to see me? Will she even recognize me in these clothes, with
no beard?

“I’d better pull in here and gas up,” Susan said, directing her car into a gas station.
“If anyone needs the restroom, now’s a good time.”

Norma and Luke stepped out of the car, but Henry had his eyes closed and appeared
to be asleep.

When Luke was about to leave the restroom a short time later, he stepped up to the
sink to wash his hands. He took a quick look in the mirror, and more memories came
flooding back. He remembered going to the restroom at the bus station in Philadelphia
and seeing a rugged-looking man approach him. The fellow had asked for Luke’s clothing
and then his wallet. That was the guy who had assaulted him and put him through months
of pain and rehab. In those few minutes, Luke’s life had changed. The only thing good
that had come from the attack was the new friends he had made during his recovery.

I wonder where the attacker is now?
Luke thought.
Guess I really don’t need to know, now that I’m finally heading home
.