Chapter Two
After all of his years working in a town, Benjamin arrived back home. He nodded gratefully at the buggy driver. “Thanks for the drop off.”
“No problem. Good luck to you,” the driver said.
Benjamin looked around at the village. So much had changed, and yet it was still the same. As he walked up the dirt road, memories of growing up in this village crowded his mind and heart. He had been gone from the village for so many years that it felt strange to be back again. Yet after losing his wife to cancer a few weeks ago, he knew that he needed the kind of comfort he could only find in the familiar.
The weird thing was that he hadn’t brought anything with him, except the clothes on his back. He had left it all.
“Welcome back,” his uncle shouted from the front door.
Benjamin smiled at the old man as he walked up to the front porch. “Thanks Uncle. It’s good to see you.”
The two men smiled and embraced warmly as they hadn’t seen each other in many years.
“I thought you’d be driving down.” The old man said, looking around for his horse and carriage.
“No, I hitched a ride on a buggy,” Benjamin explained.
“Your aunt is inside the house,” Uncle said. “I figured you’d probably travel light but where is your luggage?”
Benjamin held up his one burlap sack and smiled, sheepishly. “This is all I’ve got, Uncle.”
“That’s it?”
Benjamin nodded.
Uncle Jacob took him inside where his aunt hugged him. It was a big, warm bear hug, one that he hadn’t had since his parents were alive.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said. “If only my brother could see you now.” Her eyes seemed to light up at the thought of it. “I want you to make yourself comfortable and you can stay as long as you like.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Benjamin said, but he had no intentions of being a burden on his elderly relatives.
“What about your daughter, Miranda? How is she holding up?”
“About as well as can be expected, I guess. She’s staying with her grandmother right now. With my busy work schedule at the restaurant… after Esther passed away, I…couldn’t keep up,” Benjamin explained.
“Well, you’re here now and I hope we’ll get to meet Miranda soon,” Aunt Miriam said.
“You have a nice little room; it was John’s room before he went off and got married,” Uncle Jacob said.
“How is he anyway?” Benjamin remembered that he and his cousin used to be close when they were growing up. “I’d like to see him.”
Uncle Jacob said, “Well, he doesn’t live far from us. I can tell him to come over later if you like.”
“That would be great,” Benjamin agreed.
“We were so sorry to hear about Esther.” Aunt Miriam said.
“Yes, it’s been very hard. But by God’s grace, I’m still here, holding on.”
“Amen,” Uncle Jacob said. “In time it will get easier, son. Time.”
Benjamin nodded. It had only been eight weeks since he’d lost his wife and an ache had just begun to set in. In light of his loss, he was glad to be surrounded by family.
He went up to his little room and settled in. Later his cousin, John stopped by to see him.
“It’s good to see you, cousin,” John said, embracing Benjamin.
“Same here,” Benjamin said.
John sat down on the bed. “So my dad tells me that you came with no bags at all. Not even a horse. Does that mean that you won’t be staying long?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure yet. I’m waiting for God to give me direction.”
John nodded. “Yes.”
“All I know is that I had to get out of that house. I couldn’t stand to stay there one more day. ” Benjamin sighed as he remembered the last days his wife spent in the house with the cancer ravaging her already frail body. “Not without my Esther.”
“I understand and I’m sorry about your loss. I can’t imagine what I would do without my wife. How long has it been?”
“Just eight weeks and two days. Long enough for the reality to set in but not long enough for the pain to fade out.” Every time Benjamin talked about her, he became numb.
“Must be strange being back here though, after being in a larger town like the one you were living in.”
“It does feel a little strange but in a good way. The slower pace is refreshing.”
John chuckled. “I can’t imagine how it would be to live in a town.”
“Very crowded and very loud.” Benjamin put his head in his hands. “I left my home and the restaurant, and here I am. I’m just trying to rebuild, to put the pieces of my shattered life back together. Problem is I’m not quite sure how to start. I am thinking of getting a job around here.”
“Well, if you remember anything about farming, maybe you can help out around here until something turns up,” John suggested.
“I’d love to do it. Just probably need a few reminders but I’m sure I’d catch on. Working outdoors with nature is probably just what I need right now. I have a feeling it’ll give me a peace of mind.
Benjamin’s first day out on the farm was a bigger challenge than he’d bargained for. He got kicked trying to shoe a horse, squirted while trying to milk a cow and pecked when collecting eggs from the chickens. Then when trying to build a birdhouse for his aunt, he hit himself with a hammer so hard that his uncle had to take him to a doctor. He began to wonder if coming here was such a good idea after all.
But at the end of the day, when everything was quiet and he sat on the front porch reading his Bible, listening to the soft breeze as it ran through the trees, he felt better.
He ate dinner, a delicious country spread, filled with potatoes and gravy, green beans, fried chicken and biscuits, with his aunt and uncle, and it was very comforting. But Benjamin knew he couldn’t stay with them forever. If he decided to stay, he would need his own place to live and a way to provide for himself and his daughter.
Moreover, he watched his uncle and aunt’s loving interaction, how they moved together, laughed together, and took care of each other. Benjamin thought about his wife and missed their relationship.
He remembered the previous day’s conversation with his daughter at his mother-in-law’s house. It was just before he was leaving. “Father, when will you come back?”
“I don’t know just yet, sweetheart, but it will be soon. I promise.”
“I will miss you,” Miranda had said.
“I will miss you too.”
Esther’s mother told him to return quickly. “Benjamin, I don’t understand why you’re going there but I do know that this child needs her father. She also needs stability because she’s already been through so much. I think it’s best for you to come back at the earliest.”
Benjamin told her that he would get back to her as soon as he could; and he meant it. He couldn’t bear to stay apart from his daughter, but he needed to start afresh. Even if it meant being away from Miranda.
Benjamin sighed. If only he wasn’t so lonely. He closed his eyes and prayed. Lord, please take away this loneliness.
A Second Chance Page 2
