Plain Paradise (12 page)

“They will love whatever you made. They will love you.” He kissed her on the lips, then pulled away when they heard a knock at the door.

“They’re here.”

7

J
OSIE HAD BARELY ADDED THE EXTRA PLACE SETTINGS
when Robert opened the door.

“Carley, Noah, so nice to see you.” Robert stepped aside so the couple could enter. Josie joined them in the foyer, and she tried to mask her disappointment by forcing a smile. Good thing she’d chosen her good china.

“This is my wife, Josie.”

Josie extended her hand to Carley, then to Noah. “So nice to meet you both.”

Robert motioned everyone toward the living room, and he wound his way around the wet bar in the corner. “Can I get anyone a drink before dinner?”

“No, we’re fine,” Noah said as his eyes scanned the room. “This is a beautiful home you have.”

“It really is.” Carley smiled at Josie.

“I’m still unpacking boxes. I should already be done.” Josie waved her arm around the room where a few boxes were still pushed up against the walls.

“It takes time.” Carley smiled warmly. “But you’ve done an amazing job so far. It’s really pretty.”

I want our home to be perfect for Robert after I’m gone
. “Thank you.” She paused. “Robert said you have a daughter?” Josie walked toward the couch, sat down, and motioned for Carley to do the same. Robert and Noah sat down in high-back chairs facing the couch. “I thought he said her name is Jenna? How old is she?”

Carley’s face lit up at the mention of her daughter, and Josie could certainly understand that. “Jenna is nine, and we’ve had her for four glorious years. We adopted her when she was five.”

“Really?” Josie crossed her legs and leaned forward. “From an agency?”

“No. Actually, Jenna’s parents died and her older sister, Dana, had been raising her, but when Dana went off to college, she asked Noah and I if we would like to adopt Jenna. Noah was a good friend of their family before he and I got married.” Carley paused. “I couldn’t have any children, so we felt very blessed to be able to adopt Jenna.”

“Josie recently reconnected with her daughter that she gave up for adoption,” Robert said, much to her horror. How could he possibly bring up something so personal to these people she didn’t even know? She cut her eyes at him in a way that told Robert he’d messed up. “She was very young,” he added, as if that would make up for his blunder.

“Well, we are big advocates of adoption,” Noah said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing you did. You said you recently reconnected?”

Even though Noah directed the question to Josie, Robert stepped in once more. “The main reason we moved here is so that Josie could find her daughter. She’s seventeen now. This is where Josie used to live, in Lancaster County.”

“It was an open adoption,” Josie added. This was not how she had envisioned her night at all, sharing something so personal with total strangers. She’d looked forward to a quiet dinner with Robert and an opportunity to share everything with him about her day with Linda. To make things even worse, a knot was building in her throat, and she choked back tears. She could feel Carley’s eyes on her.

“Josie, I’d love to see your house.” Carley stood up, and Josie stood up beside her.

“Sure.”

“You girls go ahead,” Robert said. “Okay with you, Noah? I’ll show you around later.”

Noah nodded, and Carley followed Josie around the corner and down a hallway lined with four bedrooms. “This is our bedroom,” Josie said as her emotions about everything continued to build.

Carley didn’t seem too interested in the bedroom, but instead stood staring at Josie, and then did the most unexpected thing. She walked toward her, grabbed her hand, and said, “You looked like you were about to lose it in there. Are you all right?”

Josie clutched this stranger’s hand. Shallow gasps escaped, she bit her lip, and shook her head. As a tear fell, she let go of Carley’s hand and wiped it away. “I’m so sorry. I’ve just had a very emotional day, and I just didn’t expect Robert to bring up the subject of Linda.”

Carley’s eyes were kind and sympathetic. “Yes, I could tell that it bothered you. You don’t even know us. Is that your daughter’s name? Linda?”

“Yes. I spent the day with her today for the first time since I gave her up for adoption seventeen years ago.”

“Oh my gosh. We shouldn’t even be here.” Carley shook her head. “I’m sure you want to spend time with your husband and tell him all about it.” She smiled. “Instead, Robert drags in dinner guests.”

“No, no. It’s fine, really.” Josie was starting to feel somewhat comfortable around this woman. “It’s just very—very personal.”

“Of course it is. We don’t have to talk about it at all. I just thought you might want to get away from the men for a few minutes. Men. They’re so insensitive sometimes.”

“Yes, they can be.” Josie appreciated Carley’s attempt at lighthearted humor.

“When we adopted Jenna, I worried about so many things. I know that I was on the other end of the spectrum, but if you ever want to talk, please call me. I know that tonight, Noah wants to talk with Robert and you about a specialist at Lancaster General who deals with the kind of tumor you have.” Carley took a deep breath. “Wow. You have a lot going on, huh?”

Josie smiled. “You could say that. But I know everything is going to work out fine.”

“I will pray for you, Josie. For you. For Linda. And for good news from this new doctor.”

Josie smiled and thanked her, even though she knew prayers would go unanswered. Why would God possibly help someone who’d turned away from Him a long time ago? Josie could recall a time when she had a closer relationship with God, before she married Robert. But Robert didn’t believe in God, and slowly over time, Josie’s own beliefs had veered to questioning whether or not such an entity existed.

But with little time on her side, she couldn’t help but speculate about God. And the possibility of heaven. Or hell.

After dinner, Josie served everyone coffee in the living room. Noah said Dr. Phillips had agreed to meet with Josie on the following Thursday at Lancaster General to evaluate the tumor growing inside her brain stem.

“Thank you for setting up this appointment.” Robert took a sip of his coffee. “We really appreciate it.”

“Yes, we do,” Josie echoed to be polite. She’d enjoyed meeting Noah and Carley. Dinner conversation had been light and engaging, but she was ready to spend some quiet time with Robert, fill him in about her day with Linda.

“We’d like to put you on our prayer list at church,” Noah said. “There’s nothing like the power of prayer.”

“That would be great.” Josie glanced at Robert, who merely smiled. “We’d appreciate that.”

“I don’t know if it’s ever come up, but I grew up Amish.” Noah pushed back dark wavy locks, and Josie tried to envision the doctor with a bobbed haircut and sporting suspenders and a straw hat.

“Really?” Josie’s eyes grew wide. “What happened?”

Noah set his coffee cup down on a coaster on the coffee table. “I had a strong calling to become a doctor.” He paused. “If I’d made that decision before I was baptized, things would have been a lot easier. Instead, I was baptized into the faith, then chose to leave, and I was shunned by my family.”

“Oh, no.” Josie said. “I remember when I was growing up here, I heard of a man getting shunned. I didn’t know him very well, but I just remember that he couldn’t have anything to do with his family, not even sit down and have a meal with them.”

“I had a terrible time understanding the whole shunning process,” Carley chimed in. “But, luckily for Noah, his family eventually came around, and the bishop has pretty much looked the other way and allowed members of the community to visit his clinic.”

“So, you have a good relationship with your family now?” Josie took a sip from her own cup of coffee.

“Yes, I do. But it took a while. My brother, Samuel, had a really hard time accepting me back into the family. It’s a long story. I ended up giving my nephew one of my kidneys, and I think everyone had to take a good long look at the whole issue of shunning.”

“Wow. That’s amazing,” Josie said. “How is your nephew now?”

“David is great. He’s had no trouble since the transplant.” Noah paused, glanced at his wife. “We’ve all been very blessed. My other brother, Ivan, and both my sisters eventually came around, and we don’t flaunt it in front of the bishop, but we all spend time together. My sister, Mary Ellen, was sort of the cheerleader, pushing everyone to play nice.” He chuckled. “And my niece, Linda, even worked for me for a couple of weeks a year or two ago, doing some filing for us. So, we’ve all come a long way.”

Josie’s heart began to thud against her chest. She glanced at Robert who had begun to squirm in his chair, then Robert stood up, and offered to pick up everyone’s coffee cup, almost a rude gesture that the night should come to an end. Josie knew he didn’t mean it that way, and she could tell by her husband’s worrisome expression that he was fearful Josie had heard Noah loud and clear.

“Linda is your niece, and Mary Ellen is your sister?” Josie stood up when Carley and Noah did.

Robert set all the dishes haphazardly down on the coffee table, spilling coffee out of one. “We’ll have to do this another time,” he said smiling. “This has been great getting together like this.”

Carley and Noah began to move toward the door. “It really has been fun.” Then Carley turned to Josie. “Oh, and yes, Linda is the name of Noah’s niece and Mary Ellen is his sister.”

The two women locked eyes, and Josie knew her own eyes were big as golf balls. As if connecting to Josie’s thoughts, Carley’s bulged too. “Linda . . .” she whispered. “
Your
Linda?”

Josie nodded to Carley.

Friday morning, Mary Ellen was busy deep cleaning the downstairs in preparation for worship service at their home on Sunday. Abe and the boys were at her brother Ivan’s house, helping him paint his fence, and Linda had gone along to visit with Katie Ann. Mary Ellen knew that Katie Ann was lonely, no children to take care of. No one was quite sure why they hadn’t been able to have children. Once, Mary Ellen mentioned the possibility of adoption to Katie Ann, but Katie Ann wouldn’t hear of it. “The Lord will bless us when He’s ready,” she’d said. Ivan and Katie Ann certainly knew that Linda was adopted, so she didn’t understand why they wouldn’t mull over the possibility, but it was not her business.

Her thoughts drifted back to Linda and Josephine as she finished up dusting, giving the mantel a final swipe, when she heard a knock at the door.

She saw Noah at the screen door. “I needed a break.” She pushed open the door to the den. “Come in,
mei bruder
.” She narrowed her brows. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the clinic?”

Noah blew out a heavy sigh and scratched his forehead. “Yeah, but I need to talk to you about something.”

Mary Ellen stuffed her cleaning rag in the pocket of her black apron. “You look so serious. Everything is all right, no? Jenna, she is okay? Carley?”

“Yes. Everyone is okay.” Noah sat down on the couch. “Do you remember when I told you that I’d recently met an attorney that I was helping find a doctor for his receptionist?”

Mary Ellen sat down on the couch beside Noah and thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so . . .
Ach
, wait, the girl with the disfigured lip?” Mary Ellen recalled a conversation she’d had with Noah a few weeks ago at his office. She’d taken Matt to see his uncle for a deep cut he’d gotten while working out in the barn. As Noah stitched up Matt’s arm, he’d told her about the lawyer he’d met who offered to help his receptionist. “I remember, you said you thought a lot of this man.”

“Yes, I do. He seems to go out of his way to help others, often without taking any money for his services. I admire his work ethics.” Noah sighed. “Carley and I dined with him and his wife last night.”

“That’s nice,” she said hesitantly. She knew Noah well enough to know that he was trying to get to a point, and it must be an important point to cause him to leave the clinic on a Friday morning to come talk to her.

Noah blew out a long breath. “Samuel told me about Linda, about her being adopted. He didn’t want me to find out from someone else, since her birth mother has come looking for her.”