The Promise of Palm Grove

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  “I’m sure.” Giving him a tremulous smile, she murmured, “Danke, Zack. Today was . . . well, it was wonderful.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Now keep walking forward and then turn right.”

  She giggled.

  And he thought about that giggle the whole time he ran home, making it to Effie’s stop just in time to see the bus turn the corner and pull forward.

  That’s when he decided he and Effie were going to have to take a walk in about an hour.

  Just to make sure Leona had made it back safely.

  SARA WAS SITTING on a wicker chair on the front porch of the Orange Blossom Inn when Leona walked up. Before Sara saw her, Leona peeked once again at her palm and gave thanks that Zack had seen fit to write the cross streets on her palm. She’d made it, no problem. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t checked and double-checked several times, just to be on the safe side.

  What she should have been doing was reminding herself to try to get better at following directions, but the truth was she was hopelessly navigationally challenged. She was always getting lost or turned around. It had annoyed Edmund something terrible. He’d even accused her of getting lost deliberately, out of some misguided need for attention.

  She’d been so embarrassed by his statement that she hadn’t bothered to correct him.

  Leona knew that she didn’t get lost on purpose. That definitely wasn’t the case at all. She’d just been that way all her life. No matter how hard she tried to remember the right way to things, nine times out of ten, she would become sidetracked and get lost.

  Her mother had a whole cupboard of stories about how Leona had gotten lost in stores, restaurants, just about anywhere. But neither of her parents had ever gotten mad at her about it. They knew she lived much of her life with her head in the clouds and there wasn’t much she could do about that.

  Now she simply closed her palm around Zack’s writing and held it tight. Even if she never saw Zack again, she knew she’d always remember that moment when he’d written the streets and his phone number on her palm. It had been a sweet gesture. Cute, even.

  She wondered how long she could keep that ink on her hand without anyone else seeing it.

  Actually, she was wondering if she was going to give in to temptation, write his phone number on a sheet of paper, and actually call him.

  That was doubtful.

  “Leona, are you going to stand there staring at your palm, or are you going to come up the steps anytime soon?” Sara called out.

  Leona popped her head up. “Oh. Jah. Of course.” Closing her palm again, she trotted up the stairs and took a chair next to Sara.

  “What’s wrong with your hand?”

  “Hmm? Nothing. Why?”

  “I thought maybe you got a blister or a splinter or something.”

  “Nee. No blisters.” Taking care to keep her hand in a fist, she tried to shrug it off. “You know me, always daydreaming about something.”

  “Well, that is true.” Looking at the front of the house, she said, “Where’s Mattie? Did she grab an ice cream cone?”

  “She is still at Siesta Key.”

  Sara set her library book on the small wicker table between their chairs. “You left her there?”

  “Of course I didn’t leave her. We simply met up with a couple of Zack’s friends and she wanted to stay behind. I left because Zack had to go home to watch over his sister.”

  “I can’t believe you left her there alone. What if those kids aren’t nice?”

  “I promise, they’re plenty nice.”

  “But—”

  “Sara, it’s all right. She’s with Danny. Remember we met him the other night? In front of the church?”

  Sara scowled. “He’s still a stranger.”

  “Not anymore. We all spent the day together. I think she kind of likes him, too.” Feeling the worry and tension rolling off Sara, she reached out and squeezed her hand. “You should have come with us.”

  Sara shook her head. “There was no reason.”

  “Sara, we were at the beach. There are signs everywhere saying it’s the best beach in the whole country. You should have felt the sand, it was super soft. You’ll be glad you went next time.”

  “Next time? Does that mean you’re planning to return to Siesta Key?”

  “Of course. It’s a beautiful beach. Don’t you want to go?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Sara, I thought you didn’t want to go with us today because you were ready to spend a quiet day with yourself. I understood that; each of us needs some time to ourselves, I think.” She paused, debated whether to speak her mind, then decided she had nothing to lose. “Now, however, I’m starting to think that maybe there was another reason. Are you mad at me?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Truth?”

  Sara glanced at Leona again, her light brown eyes looking troubled. “I’m not mad at you. But I have to admit that I’m pretty troubled by the fact that you could break up with Edmund one night and go to the beach with Zack the next morning.”

  “You know it wasn’t like that. I’ve been really stressed out about all of this. I never intended for Edmund and I to break up.”

  She slumped. “I know. It’s just, well, I’m sure everyone at home is in an uproar.”

  Sara’s mother was Leona’s mother’s older sister. And though Leona loved her Aunt Jo a lot, she would be lying if she were to say that she thought Aunt Jo was as easygoing as her own mother.

  She had a feeling that as soon as word got around Walnut Creek about what had happened between her and Edmund—no doubt taking about two hours, at the most—Sara’s mother would have something to say about it.

  “Sara, I already talked to my mother. My mamm didn’t sound all that surprised. Actually, I think she might even have been a little relieved.”

  “And your daed?”

  “She said she’d talked to him, but Mamm assumed he’d feel the same way. I did promise to pay them back.” With a sigh, she added, “I’m sure my mother has probably gotten an earful from Naomi and Rosanna, too. I called them after I got off the phone with my mother.”

  “What do you think they told her?”

  “There’s no telling. Neither of them seemed terribly upset or surprised, but we didn’t talk very long. They might be waiting to lecture me when I get home. Or they’ll write me some long letters.”

  Sara treated Leona to a weak smile. “At least they didn’t yell at you on the phone.”

  “At least.” Well, Leona was pretty sure that Naomi and Kevin, her husband, were going to be pretty relieved, too. Kevin hadn’t been afraid to let everyone know that he wasn’t too thrilled about Edmund being his future brother-in-law. Kevin was definitely a man’s man. He liked to chop wood. He liked to fix things himself. He was an easygoing, even-natured kind of person.

  Edmund was none of those things.

  Naomi, on the other hand, had been concerned when Leona had never seemed anxious to be alone with her fiancé.

  As for her other sister, Rosanna? Well, Rosanna would no doubt simply shake her head in mild frustration. She’d always thought Leona was flighty and more than a bit impulsive.

  But that said, even Rosanna had come over after Leona announced her engagement. She’d poured them both big mugs of hot tea and then proceeded to ask Leona all sorts of questions about her relationship with Edmund. Now that everything with Edmund was over, Leona remembered how concerned Rosanna had been about Edmund’s opinions on marriage. Edmund had been fairly vocal about how Leona was expected to always follow his advice and directives.

  “My mamm is surprised,” Sara blurted. “I called her today.”

  “Oh? What did she say?”

  “About what you would think. That maybe you’ve let the sunshine and palm trees get to your head a little bit.”

  Leona was a little hurt by that remark. “How did you respond to that?”

  For the first time, Sara looked a little embarrassed. “I told her it
was fairly obvious that you and Edmund weren’t a gut match.” Reaching out, she clasped Leona’s hand. “I meant what I said last night, Le. I always am on your side.”

  “I really did try to make it work, Sara. I wanted to be happy with Edmund. At first, I thought I really could be.”

  “I know you did. And I’m sorry I sounded so judgmental. It’s just that I don’t understand what you are doing here in Sarasota with Zack. Are you sowing wild oats or something?”

  “I’m simply having fun.”

  “But why reach out to a man like Zack?”

  “Why wouldn’t I want to reach out to a man like him? He’s pretty wonderful.”

  “He also lives in Pinecraft. Nothing can come of you two becoming close.”

  “You don’t know what the Lord has in store for us,” Leona reminded her cousin. “I tell you what, I’m glad we’re talking, and you’re feeling free to be so honest. I really am glad about that. But I hope you aren’t planning to be mad at me for the rest of our trip.”

  Immediately, Sara looked ashamed. “I’m not.” Then she whispered, “I think I’m jealous.”

  Leona was stunned. “Jealous of what?”

  “Of you.”

  “Me? Oh, come on, Sara. My life is obviously a mess.”

  “Nee, I’m serious. People like you, Le. They always have.”

  “They like you, too.”

  “I know. But they don’t gravitate toward me like they do to you. Listen, girls always want to be your friend. And boys, well, they always think you’re cute. Your parents only want your happiness. The first night here, why even a cat ran to you! You had a perfectly good fiancé and you were willing to risk that relationship . . . and here you’re already thinking about a new boy. It’s never been that way for me.”

  Leona knew it hadn’t. Sara was reserved and smart. Really smart. Because of that, she didn’t always have patience for schoolgirl silliness or grown-woman silliness, either.

  But she was pretty, too. While Leona’s blond hair, brown eyes, and average figure made her look like everyone’s next-door neighbor, Sara was pretty in a way that made people look at her twice. Her hair was dark, almost black, and she had light blue eyes, creamy skin, and a delicate frame. Leona and Mattie used to tease Sara, saying she looked like one of the girls on the covers of the Amish romances.

  They’d thought it was a great compliment.

  Sara had not.

  “Sara, you are really pretty and really smart. I’ve seen many a man look like he was preparing himself to talk to you, then chickening out.”

  “Why would they chicken out?”

  “Because if they said something dumb, there was a mighty gut chance that you would look at them like they were foolish.”

  “I don’t do that.” Her voice was full of protest, but there was a high note at the end of it, which led Leona to believe that Sara knew exactly what she was talking about.

  Deciding that they should definitely be done with this conversation, Leona chuckled. “Can we go inside now and eat a scone or something? I’m starving.”

  Sara grabbed her arm. “They have lemon meringue tarts.”

  Leona groaned. “I love it here. I could move in here,” she said as they walked through the front door.

  “If there was a chance that I’d eat food like this at every meal, I could, too,” Sara said with a laugh. “Of course, I’d probably be as big as a whale.”

  After Leona ran to her room to get cleaned up, she felt light on her feet again.

  At least it looked like things with Sara had been smoothed over. Now all she had to do was figure out what to do with the ink on her hand. She was pretty sure Sara wasn’t going to think it was adorable.

  Actually, she was very sure about that.

  Chapter 18

  Danny knocked on Zack’s front door at a quarter to seven. The moment Zack opened it, Danny strode in, his expression serious.

  “Zack, we have to talk about something.”

  “You look so serious, I guess we do,” he replied as he led the way into the kitchen. “We’re going to have to talk in here, though. I was helping Effie with her homework and we’re not finished yet.”

  “Hey, Ef,” Danny said, plopping down in a chair next to her. “What are you working on?”

  She frowned. “Long division.”

  “Ugh.”

  “I’m not real fond of it, either, but I’m getting better at it. Plus, I’m almost done.” Looking Zack’s way, she said, “You know, I can finish my problems on my own. You don’t need to sit with me.”

  “Nope. I promised Daed that I’d double-check your answers.”

  She sighed and started scribbling on her paper again.

  After sharing a commiserating look with Danny, Zack motioned toward the back porch. “Let’s sit out here.”

  “Perfect,” Danny said.

  Before he joined his friend, Zack said to Effie, “Bring me your paper when you’re done.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t argue. I told you I wanted to do something tonight, which means we’ve got to get your homework done first.”

  “What do you want to do?” Danny asked from his seat outside on the patio.

  “He wants to go see Leona,” Effie called out before Zack could answer. “Even though they saw each other at the beach today.”

  Zack said nothing, wishing he’d acted just a little bit more reserved the first few minutes after Effie had gotten off the bus. Instead of keeping his thoughts to himself, he’d been practically grinning like a fool when he’d said hello to Effie.

  Now he was going to hear about how foolish he was acting from his best friend.

  But instead of bursting out in laughter, Danny looked relieved.

  “Effie, do your homework,” Zack said, before leading the way outside.

  After the door closed, Danny said, “I don’t know how you do it, looking after your sister all the time.”

  “She’s a good kid. It’s not hard.”

  “She’s great. And she’s tough, too. I read up on Perthes disease once and the books said it can be really painful. But she never complains.”

  “She never complains about her legs and hips. About long division and her spelling words? She complains a lot.”

  Danny grinned.

  “So what brought you over here? We saw each other at the beach today, too.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about Leona’s friend Mattie.”

  “What about her?”

  “I think I really like her. When I walked her back to the Orange Blossom Inn, it felt like we’d only been together an hour instead of all day. I actually told her I wanted to see her again soon.”

  “Oh. That’s all?”

  “‘That’s all?’ Ah, Zack, Mattie lives in Ohio.”

  “Believe me, I know exactly how you’re feeling. I feel the same way about Leona.”

  “Are you two serious?”

  “Of course not. I mean, we just met.” However, it was becoming pretty obvious to him that he already was serious about her. His heart didn’t especially seem to care that falling in love with a recently engaged girl who lived almost a thousand miles away was a really bad idea.

  Danny kept staring, looking skeptical. “So are you going to tell me the truth, now? I’ve never seen you act this way about any woman. Are you two serious?”

  Zack squirmed under his scrutiny and realized that he was going to have to be completely honest. “We could be.”

  Danny nodded. “Gut.”

  “Gut? This isn’t gut. I have responsibilities here.”

  “Maybe she’ll want to live here. Or maybe you’ll want to leave some of those responsibilities and think about moving to Ohio.”

  “I couldn’t do that.”

  “Zack, I’m not trying to kick you out of my life, but what, really, is keeping you here?”

  “My sister, this family. I have obligations.”

  “Everyone is leaning on you, but I can promise that your parent
s didn’t decide to have four children so one of you could take care of everything.” Lowering his voice, he said, “It’s time, Zack. It’s time to realize that you can’t live your life by putting everything you want on hold. Not even Effie would want you to do that.”

  “What would I not want you to do?” Effie asked from the doorway, startling them both.

  Danny kept his back to Effie but closed his eyes in silent mortification as Zack got to his feet. “Nothing. Danny and I were just talking.”

  She stepped forward. “Are you talking about you having to live here?”

  “We were just talking,” Zack replied. “You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping. Everything that happens in this house isn’t your business.”

  Hurt shone in her eyes. “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was coming out here to tell you that I finished my math problems.”

  “Okay.” He held out a hand. “Give your paper to me and I’ll look over it in a minute.”

  “You know, it’s okay if you don’t look it over, Zack,” she replied. “I never asked you to give up your life for me. I can’t believe you’re using me as an excuse to keep from doing what you want.”

  Zack could feel the muscles in his jaw jump. “We’ll talk about this later, Effie.”

  But instead of answering, she turned and walked to her room. And though her steps were stiff and ungainly, Zack couldn’t help but notice that she was pretty steady on her feet.

  When she was out of sight, he sighed. “Great.”

  Danny looked behind him. “How about I go talk to her?”

  “No. I’ve got this.”

  Danny shook his head slowly. “You know what? I don’t think you do. Let me go talk to her. I have four sisters, remember? I won’t mess this up.”

  Because he was suddenly tired—really tired—Zack nodded. “Fine. Go ahead.” Then he sat down as Danny strode inside, walked down the hall, and knocked on Effie’s door.

  When he heard his sister let him in, Zack thrust out his legs and tilted his head back.

  It looked like he was going to need to stay home instead of visit Leona. Once again, he needed to put his family first and his wants second.