But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Luke 6:35
With her family and Adam at the dinner table, it felt like old times. Dinner was cabbage casserole, shepherd’s pie, corn on the cob, and vegetables.
Grace had to force herself to eat because her stomach was squirmy. She noticed that Adam kept looking at her, and when she caught his eye, he smiled. He still gave her butterflies inside even after so many years had passed. Could things between them be restored and become what they should’ve been before Marlene had interfered?
Grace looked up at Marlene when her father said, “You're very quiet tonight, Marlene.”
Marlene puffed out her full cheeks. “I'm feeling unwell, so if everyone will excuse me, I’ll go to my room.” Without waiting for any response, Marlene pushed out her chair, stood up, and then walked out of the room.
Matthew looked a little disturbed, excused himself, and then followed her.
“Did I say something wrong?” Grace's father whispered.
Then they heard Marlene’s raised voice coming from the bedroom upstairs. To cover up, Grace’s mother began talking about the quilting circle that Mrs. Schwartz ran and how she thought Grace should join. “Grace has made a lovely dessert.”
Grace giggled. “I've made dessert, but I can't say that it’ll be lovely. I made shoofly pies and cheesecake, and I haven't made them for years.”
After dessert, Grace and Adam were told to sit out on the porch and wait for hot chocolate.
When they were both seated Grace rubbed her arms. “It’s a bit chilly to sit out here.”
“I think they got the idea we wanted to be alone. I hope me being here isn’t upsetting Marlene.”
“Nee, it wouldn’t be. Why would you think that?”
“I was a little harsh on her this afternoon. With all the trouble she caused between us she must feel pretty bad now.”
“I don’t know if she does. Maybe. I do know that right now she’s upset about things that have nothing to do with you or me.” It was a strange idea of her mother’s to sit them out on the cold porch. The one advantage was the chill in the air was taking her mind off her unsettled tummy. “Do you still come here for dinner as often as you used to?”
He shook his head. “Every now and again I do, but not as often as when you were here. Grace, I want to spend the day with you tomorrow if you aren’t doing anything. That is if you’d like to.”
“Really?”
“Jah, really. I want to get to know you again. I want to hear what life has been like for you. I know you must’ve changed from the girl I once knew. You're older now, so you must have changed in some ways.”
“I'm not so different. I think I'm just the same, maybe wiser, that’s all. I appreciate what's important in life now. Also, I’m not impulsive like I used to be.” She wanted him to know that she regretted her rash decision to run away with Jeremy.
“Can I come and collect you at nine in the morning?”
Grace could barely keep the smile off her face. “Nine will be good. Adam, I want you to know that I regret that I didn’t stick around when things erupted between us years ago. I was so hurt that you chose to believe Marlene over me. I want you to know that…”
“Shh. You don't have to tell me anything right now. We have to leave something to talk about tomorrow.”
“I'll look forward to it.”
“Me too.”
They were interrupted by Grace’s mother bringing them out two mugs of hot chocolate.
“Denke, Mrs. Byler.”
“Jah, denke, Mamm.”
“You're most welcome,” she said before she disappeared inside.
For the second time in her life, Grace felt things were finally turning out right. The first time she’d felt like that was when she’d married Jeremy, but that had been a total disaster. She knew no relationship with Adam would ever be like that. Adam was reliable and trustworthy, and she knew he wasn’t putting on a good show like Jeremy had before they’d married.
He took a sip from his steaming mug, and then he looked across at her and smiled. “I’ll look forward to tomorrow.”