Changing Traditions, A Christmas Novella (3 page)

Bethany hardly knew how to
respond, “Understand what? I know you love your traditions, but is
there something more going on here? Maybe you should try listening
to Laura’s reasons too.”

“
I tried! Laura just
wasn’t reasonable.” Carolyn stood, ignoring Bethany’s questions.
For a moment, Bethany thought she would walk away.

Quickly she reached up and
grabbed her hand, “Please don’t go. I didn’t come out to fight with
you. Actually, I needed your advice.”

Carolyn sat back down, “Of
course, Bethy. I should have been thinking of you. What can I
do?”

Now that the attention was
back on her, Bethany wasn’t quite sure she wanted to talk about it.
“It’s really not that important…”

“
Out with it, Bethany
Woodsmall. You have something on your mind and it is
important.”

Bethany sighed, “Very
well. I ran into Jeremy, literally, while I was in town
today.”

“
Oh?”

“
I was checking for a
letter…” Her voice trailed off and Bethany really didn’t want to
break down in tears.

“
From Albert? Oh Bethy, I
wish…”

“
Don’t. It hurts worse,
you know, than actually losing him in battle. I lost him to a city,
a job. Not that he was really mine though.”

Carolyn grabbed Bethany’s
arms and forced her to look up, “He was yours if you were courting
and I can’t tell you how sorry I am that it didn’t work out. It
just wasn’t meant to be.”

“
And if Scott didn’t come
back, was I supposed to tell that to you? It wasn’t meant to be?”
Carolyn looked horrified and Bethany regretted saying that, but she
plunged on ahead. “Anyways, I didn’t come out here to say all that.
I came to say — ask you — Jeremy asked to court me.”

Carolyn’s eyes lit up,
“What? This was not what I was expecting. The two topics have
nothing to do with each other.”

“
They have everything to
do with each other! I still care about Albert, but I consider
Jeremy a friend. Albert…is not…here, but Jeremy is.”

“
Well it sounds as if
you’ve made up your mind.”

“
No, I haven’t and that’s
why I wanted to talk to you. What should I do?” Her attempt to not
get emotional was fruitless as she swiped away some tears that had
already begun to slip down.

“
Well, if you promise to
listen without shouting at me, I’ll do my best.”

“
Carolyn, please, I didn’t
mean what I said about you and Scott. Honestly. I love Scott like a
brother and can’t image anyone else for you. But you have to
understand, that’s what I thought about Albert too.”

“
Okay, Bethy, I know you
were upset. Now, all that to say, I agree with you.”

Bethany could hardly
believe what she was hearing. “But I told you that I didn’t know!
You’re supposed to help me decide.”

“
Calm down. It had seemed
to me that you were right when you said that Albert is gone, but
Jeremy is here. I think you should give Jeremy a chance. Albert has
had plenty of time to come back, let alone write! I’ve been a
foolish sister not to see how sad you’ve been all these months
since his last letter.”

“
You didn’t know, plus you
were happy Scott was back.”

“
But I should have. It’s
time for you to move on, Bethy.”

“
What if I
can’t?”

Carolyn wrapped Bethany in
a hug, “You will. You pulled me through my heartache during the war
and now I can pull you through after. But you also have to rely on
God though.”

“
But what if he does come
back? How will I decide then?”

“
Bethany, you don’t have
to think about that now. Albert hasn’t contacted you since the war
ended in April. What if that’s God’s sign for you to move
on?”

Bethany took a deep
breath, “Okay, I guess so. I’m still going to pray about it before
I decide for sure.”

“
I wouldn’t want you to do
anything else.”

Scott sat down beside them
and Bethany suddenly realized how dark it had become. “If you girls
don’t mind, I believe it’s time to be getting my wife
home.”

Carolyn laughed and
swatted his arm, “Scott! Very well. You good, Bethy?”

Bethany smiled and gave
Carolyn a quick kiss, “Of course. Thank you.”

Carolyn nodded and Bethany
watched the two of them walk away. How much things had already
changed since the war! Was it really only three months since she
had been living with all her family? Now Carolyn and Scott had
their own house and Jesse and Heather got their own house back too.
Those changes were good, maybe Christmas traditions could change a
bit too.

But before she could even
contemplate Christmas, Bethany had a more pressing matter on her
mind to deal with.

Waking
up was supposed to be a pleasant thing, instead Bethany found
herself with the feeling that she had slept on nails. Laura had
come home late last night and didn’t want to talk to Bethany about
anything that had gone on the night before.

Not that Bethany could
blame her. In truth, she probably wouldn’t have been a very good
listener since she kept going back and forth between Jeremy and
Albert in her mind. Part of her wanted to court Jeremy and the
other wanted to go find Albert.

Seeing no way of solving
this on her own, she decided to take Carolyn’s advice and read the
Bible. Climbing down from the loft as quietly as she could, Bethany
held the big Bible atop the fire place. How was she possibly to
know where to read from?

Bethany opened and found
herself in Proverbs. Chapter 3 verses 5-6 seemed to practically pop
off the page to her:
Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
If God wasn’t speaking to her through that, she
surely didn’t know what to expect.

Instead of spending half
the night up, worrying about what she should do, she should have
just trusted that God would take care of her like he always had.
Maybe Carolyn was right. Perhaps God was telling her to accept
Jeremy’s courtship since she hadn’t heard from Albert.

And it wasn’t like Albert
was injured. He had been writing his family almost regularly and
Nettie would often tell Bethany how he was. Albert was prospering
and he seemed to have forgotten about his small town
sweetheart.

Perhaps just like Laura
proposed a change in traditions, Bethany should give Jeremy a
chance.

Hearing that her family
was beginning to wake up, Bethany put the Bible away, just as Rosie
tumbled down the ladder. Seeing Bethany, she ran into her arms.
“It’s new day, Bethy! Momma always says that this is a new day from
the Lord and we should make the most of it.”

“
How true, Rosie. Would
you like to help me start breakfast?”

As Rosie hurried ahead,
Bethany stopped to thank God for his sense of clarity in Proverbs
and also through her little sister. Every day was a new day and
Bethany should learn to make the most of it, whatever may come her
way.

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With the weather as
finicky as ever, Bethany drove into town to pick up Laura at the
doctor’s office. Laura was helping Dr. Luke and his wife, Nurse
Katie, more than ever and she was indeed thriving. Never would
Bethany have thought that her younger “farm-loving” sister would
grow up to become a nurse and work in town of all
places.

As she began to reach the
edge of town, Bethany caught sight of Jeremy walking toward her.
Well, he wasn’t originally, but now that he saw her, a smile lit up
his face. Bethany had come to peace with her decision, but she
wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to tell Jeremy her answer
yet.

“
Bethany, hello! It’s nice
to see you again.” Jeremy had stopped by the wagon and was looking
up at her. It seemed he wanted to say so much more, but began with
pleasantries all the same.

“
And you as well, Jeremy.”
The words couldn’t formulate at what else she wanted to
say.

Thankfully though, Jeremy
didn’t let the silence prolong. “Might I talk to you for a bit?
Perhaps we could walk around town?”

“
Very well.” Jeremy helped
Bethany down from the wagon, and after the wagon was secured, they
began their walk. While Bethany began to work up her courage,
Jeremy was talking small talk with her about the weather and the
upcoming Christmas season. Bethany could hardly make sense of what
he was saying and she could only hope that her responses were
coming out clean and formulated.

“
You see, Beth, I was
actually planning on coming out to your place today.”

That stopped her rambling
thoughts, “You were?”

“
I’ve been waiting in pure
agony these past few days wondering what your answer to my question
could possibly be. I didn’t see you in town, so I thought I might
as well go and ask you again.”

“
I see…actually, Jeremy,
I’m glad I met up with you today.” Jeremy stopped, forcing Bethany
to do the same. He turned her to him then and waited for her to
continue. “And I well, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what
you said to me. You know I consider you a dear friend and these
past couple years have been rather difficult on me, and I’m sure on
you as well coming back from the war and all. I can only imagine
what you saw…”

Jeremy grasped her hands,
“Beth, please, don’t keep rambling. If your answer is
no…”

“
No, it’s yes. How did you
say it? I’d love to be your girl.”

Bethany wasn’t quite sure
what to expect, but she was beyond pleased when Jeremy pulled her
into a crushing hug. All, well most, of Bethany’s doubts began to
fade away then because suddenly, it felt so right being in Jeremy’s
arms.

“
I hardly know what to
think, Beth. I mean, I wanted this, but I wasn’t sure if you were
ready.” Jeremy pulled away from her and began to study her
face.

Bethany gave a slight
smile, “As you and my sister kindly pointed out, it has been eight
months. I can’t spend the rest of my life mourning and
unhappy.”

Jeremy could only smile
because at the next moment Laura was bounding toward them.
“Bethany! Oh how glad I am to see you.”

Bethany exchanged a look
with Jeremy, “And when she says that, I’m not entirely sure if
that’s a good thing.”

Laura was soon beside
them, “Listen to this? Dr. Luke just hired another assistant
doctor! And here I thought that I was going to be trained as his
assistant doctor, but no, I’m a girl.” Her eyes suddenly turned to
Jeremy, “Oh Jeremy, I didn’t see you here with…Bethy?” Laura looked
from Bethany and back to Jeremy, “I see you have much to tell me as
well.”

Jeremy chuckled while
Bethany grasped Laura’s arm, “Not until you tell more about this
new doctor. Did he arrive?”

Laura crossed her arms,
“Not going to work, Bethany Woodsmall. Older sister privileges for
secret-spilling.”

Jeremy was the one who
finally spoke up, “Since you both are obviously too stubborn and we
will get nowhere with this. Laura, I asked your sister to court me,
and she said yes.”

“
Oh! How wonderful!” Laura
grabbed them both in a hug. “Everyone will be positively thrilled,
I’m sure.”

Jeremy squeezed Bethany’s
hand, “I’m glad you think so, Laura, now please, don’t spread it
through town quite yet. You are the first person to
know.”

“
And I am oh-so-thrilled
by that…”

“
Laura, shh. Everyone can
hear you and look, some are starting to stare.” Bethany stepped
away from Jeremy and closer to Laura. “Now, are you ready to
go?”

“
Certainly, but the better
question is, are you?”

Bethany offered a small
smile to Jeremy, “I’m afraid I must. Carolyn and Heather are
expecting us back to figure out some Christmas
decorating…”

“
What?” Laura took a step
away from Bethany and suddenly her light-hearted mood vanished.
“You all started planning Christmas without me and are doing
Carolyn’s ideas?”

“
You weren’t home, dear,
and that’s why we were waiting for you. We wanted to ask you what
your ideas were so we could begin to incorporate them.”

“
I can’t believe this.
That you would go behind my back! You of all people, Bethany?”
Laura turned and began walking away.

Bethany could hardly
believe how fast this was spiraling down, “It wasn’t like that.
Laura, wait. Where are you going?”

“
I’m walking home” and as
if to prove her point, Laura picked up her pace.

Bethany watched Laura and
then turned to look at Jeremy, “I’m sorry, Jeremy, truly. We’ve
been having some arguments at home between us girls about Christmas
and Laura seems more determined than ever not to budge.”

Jeremy took Bethany’s hand
and squeezed it again, “Hurry and catch up to her. It might snow
soon and I don’t want you caught out in it.”