by Gail Sattler
Leonard turned to Chad. “These words are for you, my son. Do not ever forget them, and do not ever forget to praise the Lord for His promises.”
Chad gulped. All he could do was nod.
Leonard continued with his lesson as if he’d been prepared for it. At the end, all the men stayed in the living room and all the ladies disappeared into the kitchen to bring out the food. For this, he had to release Anna’s hand.
As she walked away, he felt he was releasing more than her hand. She deserved better than him. He loved her so much—he had to let her go.
Putting the call on hold, Anna nearly spilled her coffee. It had been a long week, and she had felt Chad’s tension and something else she couldn’t name all week long. He’d been different, quieter, even rather introspective, which for Chad was unusual.
But she couldn’t wonder about Chad’s moods now. This was the call from Dr. Friesen Chad had been waiting for—early. He’d been told he would have the results on Monday, but today was only Thursday.
She didn’t know if that meant the results were very good or very bad.
Either way, he needed to take this call.
She hurried to his office and stood in the doorway. When he saw her, he put the person he was talking to on hold and turned to her. “Yes? Do you need something?”
“It is Dr. Friesen, on line two.”
All the color drained from Chad’s face. His hand shook as he pressed the button to speak to the caller on line one and told the man he would have to call him back.
Anna turned as Chad touched the button for line two.
“No. Anna. Please stay with me. I need you to be here. He’s calling early, and it makes me nervous.”
She walked behind his desk and rested her hand on his shoulder. He reached up and covered her hand with his, then answered the call.
“This is Chad,” he said. He nodded, then shook his head and nodded again. “I understand. Yes, I can come in at 1:15 p.m. on Monday. See you then.”
Anna’s heart pounded in her chest. “Would he not tell you on the phone?” Surely that was a bad sign. Her stomach churned, and she wondered if she would be sick. She didn’t know how Dr. Friesen could make Chad wait so long. usually Dr. Friesen was a kind and compassionate man.
He turned to her, smiled, stood, and grasped both her hands in his. “I’m fine. All clear. Well, maybe not all fine. He said while he had so much of my blood, he made the testing worthwhile. He reminded me that I haven’t made an appointment for a complete checkup since I’ve been here and took the liberty of using all the samples I provided. He says everything is good, except my cholesterol is a little high and he wants to talk to me about my diet.” Chad grinned. “Maybe I’m eating too many good eggs. I don’t know. Right now, I don’t care.”
Anna grinned ear to ear. “That is wonderful!” she squealed, and she pulled her hands out of his grasp, threw her arms around him, and squeezed him so hard she felt him exhale.
Slowly, his hands rested on her back, and he returned her embrace.
She squeezed him again, her heart racing with the relief that he was fine. With the good results, this day would be the start of a new life for them together, and it was now time to tell him of her decision.
Anna cleared her throat. “As you know, in two more weeks I will have finished my courses.”
He squeezed her a little tighter. “Yes. I know that.”
She nodded with her cheek pressed into his chest. “I have made a decision. I have decided that when I am done, I am not going to leave Piney Meadows. I want to stay here.”
His body stiffened. In the blink of an eye, he pushed her away. “Excuse me?”
The separation felt like he had tossed a bucket of ice water at her. “I said I have decided to stay in Piney Meadows.”
He shook his head. “But you can’t. What about all your hard work? All your classes?”
“They are good for me here, for working at the factory. Now I can do so much more. I am a better secretary, I mean, a better administrative assistant. This is good for the factory, good for the people of Piney Meadows, and good for me. I have decided to stay.”
He backed up a step. “I thought your dream was to find a nice church in Minneapolis, get settled in a new community, and find a good job.”
“I have a satisfying job here, and I could never find a better group of people with whom to share my life. I need nothing more.” Nothing, with the exception of Chad. Except, she could see him slipping away from her before her very eyes, and she didn’t know what she’d done.
She stepped forward; he took another step back. “Why are you doing this?” he stammered. “What’s going on? Why have you changed your mind?”
All she could do was stare at him. “Why is this bad? I thought you loved it here . . .” She felt her heart slowly ripping in two as he continued to back away. “and me . . .”
His face paled. “It would never work. I was wrong about this place. I need some time to think. I need to be alone.”
Before she could open her mouth to ask what had changed and what had happened, he was gone.
31
Instead of waiting in the living room, where her papa would see her reddened eyes, Anna sat on the edge of her bed, waiting, even though she knew her hopes were in vain.
Since it was Thursday night, they should have been going to the young adults’ group. However, it was now half an hour past the time the meeting started, and Chad hadn’t come for her. Instead, her mama said he’d arrived home from work in the middle of the day, gotten in his car, and driven away.
He still hadn’t returned.
She didn’t know where he’d gone. Neither did her mama.
A light rap sounded on her bedroom door. “Anna? Brian is here for you.”
She opened her mouth to ask Brian if he’d seen Chad, but his narrowed eyes and tight lips silenced her.
“What is it you have done?” he ground out between clenched teeth.
She cowered at Brian’s harsh tone. “I do not understand what you mean.”
Brian glanced to the kitchen doorway, where she knew her mama and papa were, probably standing next to the doorway listening to every word they said. “Let us go outside, where we may speak in private.”
She had no choice. Brian strode out of the door, forcing her to follow him.
He stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, so far from the house she knew something had to be very wrong.
“I have just received a telephone call from Bart. Chad has just left his home.”
“I do not understand. Why does this concern you?” Although she had no idea why Chad would have been at Bart’s home. Usually, as the owner, Bart came to the office once a month to go over the financial report she helped Chad prepare, and it had only been two weeks ago. Instead of being a reason for concern, their last month’s fiscal report was the best it had ever been.
“Bart has told me Chad has given his resignation. He has not found another job, but has agreed to stay at the factory until Bart can find a replacement for him or if he finds another job that will not allow him to give a longer notice. Why has this happened? Bart does not know and called me to see if I know why Chad is so unhappy. I thought he should not be unhappy. The things that have gone wrong in his life have reached a good conclusion.”
All the strength left Anna’s legs. She sank to the ground, to sit on the grass. “I do not know. He was very strange today. I told him that I have changed my mind about leaving, that I have decided to stay here. I was expecting him to ask me to marry him, but instead he left so fast I did not even get a chance to ask where he was going.” Suddenly she pushed herself to her feet. “We must check something.” She ran to Chad’s gate, pulled the chain to open it, and ran to the chicken hotel.
As she feared, there was a double portion of seed in the bowls.
Anna’s heart sank, and she looked up at Brian. “This is not good. This means he does not intend to be back tonight.” However, knowing he had thought ahea
d and left enough food for his chickens, she didn’t have to worry when she didn’t see him come home.
If only she knew why he’d gone.
Chad shook Anton’s hand. “Thanks for seeing me. I look forward to hearing back from you.”
As he turned and walked away, the smile he’d plastered on his face dropped.
Honestly, the response he hoped to hear back was that they had chosen someone else for the position, except the response he needed was an offer for the job.
Today, he’d seen five people from his contact list, and one of them was actually hiring. After crossing this one off his list, he got in his car and started driving to the next, but he only got a few blocks and pulled into the nearest parking lot.
He hadn’t realized how much he hated downtown traffic. He hated the crowds. He hated the smoggy air. He hated the concrete jungle. Inside the building, he didn’t even like the re-circulated air conditioning. He wanted to work in a building where you could actually open the windows.
He wanted to go back to the peace and tranquility of Piney Meadows.
He missed walking to work in the morning sunshine. He wanted to inhale the clean scent of fresh grass. He almost wanted to smell the manure the farms spread last weekend, but not really.
More than he expected, he missed Blinkie and Waddles.
Most of all, he missed Anna.
Instead of driving anywhere, Chad pulled at the tie threatening to choke him, and looked up at the tall buildings lining the congested street.
More than anything, he wanted to go back to Piney Meadows and pretend everything would be okay, but it couldn’t be.
He couldn’t work with Anna every day and then go out somewhere with her almost every evening, and not go home with her.
He loved her so much that he couldn’t taint her any more than he already had.
Because he’d already made the appointment, he refastened his tie and made his last stop on his list, again with the same no-win feeling—whether he got the job or not, it wasn’t what he wanted.
By the time he was back in his car, it was right on the starting edge of the evening rush-hour traffic. He hadn’t missed the grueling commute at all, and he didn’t need a reminder of what it was like to be stuck in it.
He really wanted to be back home, in Piney Meadows.
Leaving now, by the time he got back everyone would have finished their job at the factory, including Anna, and gone home. With everyone he knew gone to some Friday evening activity, including Anna, he could go back to work and catch up on everything he’d missed. One day wouldn’t make that much difference, but it would be better to be busy.
He cranked the music up loud and made his way home, stopping only once at the edge of the city to fill up his gas tank.
The closer he got to Piney Meadows, the more he could feel the tension draining out of him.
Rather than going straight to the office, he first went home to change into something more comfortable. Before heading to the office, he detoured to the yard to give Blinkie and Waddles a short pet.
Just as he closed the door to the coop, Peter’s voice came from over the fence.
“I see you are now home. Would you mind if I spoke with you?”
Chad cringed, knowing the accuracy of Peter’s words. He had no doubt of who would be doing all the speaking and who would be doing all the listening. He really didn’t feel like another lecture about his evil city ways, but the man was Anna’s father, and he could respect the man for raising a wonderful daughter.
He forced himself to smile. “I was just about to go to the factory, but sure, Peter, I’ve got a few minutes. What can I do for you?”
The gate between their yards opened, and Peter walked into Chad’s yard, motioning for the two of them to sit at the table on Chad’s patio.
Mentally, Chad cringed. The request to sit indicated this would be a longer lecture than he anticipated.
Peter cleared his throat and made eye contact. If it wasn’t Chad’s imagination, for the first time, Peter appeared nervous.
The hairs rose on the back of Chad’s neck. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be good.
“What I need to do is to apologize to you. I have never done this before, but today, I have heard the two of them talking in Anna’s bedroom. I had not meant to listen, but when I heard them mention your name, I found myself staying. I heard them talking about Anna’s plan to leave us and then to leave Piney Meadows. At first I was angry, hearing that you were helping her, but then I realized you were instead equipping her so people in the cities would not take advantage of her. Even though it is not what I would like for my daughter, I have realized by holding her as we have, we have only been pushing her away.”
Chad agreed. Anna had told him of her plan to leave Piney Meadows before he came to know her. Instead of saying so out loud, he nodded once, to encourage Peter to finish what he had to say.
“Listening to them talk, I realized I have been trying to make Anna into something she will never be. Yet she can still be a good wife for the right man who can accept that Anna will never be like her mama or her sesta. Even though I do not agree with your city ways, you are a good and fair man, and if you wish it so, I give you my blessing with my daughter.”
Chad’s head spun. While part of him was overjoyed that Anna’s father had just given him permission to court Anna, his reasons stung.
Chad stood, so he could purposely look down as he spoke to Peter. “Anna is a sweet young woman and has many, very good qualities. It doesn’t matter if her biggest strengths and talents are outside of your traditional boundaries. Being a cook and a good housekeeper isn’t what makes Anna happy. What makes her happy is to think and figure stuff out. To plan and organize. She’s smart, she’s strong, she has good judgment and a kind heart.” He wanted to point out to her father that Anna was pretty, too. In fact, if she ever wore makeup, even just a little, she’d be knockout gorgeous. But in light of all her other great qualities, it seemed rather shallow. Instead, he thought of the last time they’d spent time together outside of work, at Cass Lake, when she teased him about the bears. “She’s also brave and wears sensible shoes.”
Peter smiled. “Ah. I am right. I see that you have a place in your heart for Anna. She also has a place in her heart for you.” Peter stood, and extended one hand, so Chad automatically returned the handshake. “Make my daughter happy. May I call you ‘City Boy’?”
Chad’s mind spun. “Sure, you can. But I think I should tell you that I don’t plan to stay in Piney Meadows much longer. I might be getting another job offer, and if that happens, I’m going to take it.”
Peter’s smile faltered. “Then you must follow where God is leading you. I must go. I did not mean to interrupt your plans for so long. Goode nacht.”
Chad watched him go until the gate clicked shut. Where was God leading him? Until recently, he’d thought it was here. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
Before he could think too much more about it, he locked up the house, got back in the car, and drove to the furniture factory.
Anna couldn’t believe her eyes. Her papa had just gone into Chad’s backyard, they’d had what appeared to be a very serious conversation, and then they had shaken hands and gone their separate ways.
As her papa returned inside, she blocked him from going into the living room. “Where is he going? I must know.”
Her papa smiled a very strange smile. “He is going to the factory to work.” To her shock, her papa reached forward and rested one hand on her shoulder. “He is a good man, Anna. Go to him.”
Anna’s head spun. Until today, she’d only met with strong disapproval for spending time alone with Chad, even at work. If her father had changed his mind, she shouldn’t do anything to change it back. It would be dark soon, and she could be at the factory in only minutes if she rode her bicycle.
Unfortunately, her new fast bicycle was still in Chad’s garage. It took much more effort to pedal her old bicycle without the racing gea
rs, but she still made it in record time.
Seeing Chad’s car filled her with relief. She leaned her bicycle against the wall, tossed her helmet on the seat, and ran inside.
Obviously, he hadn’t expected her to be there. As she entered his office, he flinched when he raised his head at the movement and saw her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have come so I may speak with you. Brian has told me today you went to the cities to look for another job. I must know why. You have come to like Piney Meadows very much, and if you move to the cities, you will not be able to take Blinkie and Waddles.”
She noticed he cringed at her comment about losing his chickens. All was not lost.
Taking advantage of the moment, she walked behind his desk and rested one hand on his shoulder. “You cannot leave because everyone will miss you too much. Everyone has come to like your city ways.”
He shook his head. “Not everyone.”
“Everyone who matters. I had a very strange conversation with Papa today, and I have a feeling you did as well.”
He nodded, and his brows furrowed. “I did. I still don’t understand it.”
Anna hesitated. For now, Chad was relaxed and listening to her. She couldn’t live if he made a sudden retreat as he had yesterday. It was now, or never, and never was not an option she wanted to contemplate. “Papa has finally accepted you. But it would not matter if he did not. Do you remember what you asked me the last time we went to Cass Lake? I am now going to give you my answer.”
She felt his body stiffen under her hand. Anna cleared her throat, raised her hand from his shoulder, and then cupped his cheeks with both hands. “Ja, I would like to get married to you, only I do not know what you mean by 2.5 children. I would like to have at least three kjinza, children. I would also like to have a dog, because a dog would be good to help protect the chicken hotel. Also, I do not think I would mind the chickens in their box on the floor by the bed.”
