A VOW for ALWAYS (11 page)

Bird-in-Hand

“What are ya doin’ out of bed?” Elam asked Sadie as she stood in front of their bedroom
window, staring into the darkness.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she replied, turning to face him.

“How come?”

“I was remembering the day Luke and Meredith got married. It wasn’t that long ago,
but it seems like forever.”

Elam stepped up to Sadie and slipped his arms around her waist. “It’s hard not to
look back and remember our youngest child’s wedding day. Especially since this is
the eve of Meredith and Jonah’s wedding.”

“Jah. Levi is a part of our Luke, and I know Meredith and Jonah will make sure Levi
knows his father, even though he never had the opportunity to meet him.”

“Meredith and Levi are lucky to have Jonah in their lives.” Elam paused. “I’ve seen
with my own eyes how Levi looks at Jonah and wants to be held by him.”

“You’re right. It’s hard not to see and hear the love Jonah has for Meredith and Levi.”
Sadie sighed. “It couldn’t have been easy for Jonah to come here and approach me about
his feelings for Meredith and Levi some months ago, but I saw right then that Jonah
was a sincere, genuine person. How could I fault him for loving Meredith, or deny
her and Levi the happiness they deserve?”

Elam gave her a hug. “Luke would be happy to know that his wife and son will be well
taken care of. Tomorrow, when we go to the wedding, let’s make sure we let them know
how happy we are for them, okay?”

Sadie nodded and leaned into her husband’s embrace. For the first time in a long while,
she felt a true sense of peace—like everything was right in the world.

L
ying in bed that night, Meredith was having a hard time falling asleep. Was it the
anticipation of tomorrow? Was it from all the week’s activities? Her whole family
was exhausted, but everything was ready for tomorrow.

So why wasn’t she asleep? Was she getting cold feet? She didn’t remember feeling this
way the night before she and Luke got married.

“Stop it,” Meredith murmured into the darkness of her room. “I can’t compare the way
things were with Luke to how they are now; it wouldn’t be fair to Jonah.”

But could she extract Luke from her heart, even now on the eve of her marriage to
Jonah, and go forward? While Meredith wouldn’t admit it to Jonah, deep down, she knew
she’d never love another man like she had Luke.

After what seemed like hours, she felt her eyelids growing heavy.
Please Lord
, she silently prayed.
Please let this be right, and help me not to be afraid
.

Afraid of what?
she asked herself. She knew the answer but couldn’t say it out loud.
You’re afraid of making the wrong decision
.

She rolled over and punched her pillow.
I will not let my doubts get in the way of my happiness—or Levi’s. Tomorrow morning
I will marry Jonah, and that’s the end of it
.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

The ride to Lancaster went faster than Luke imagined it would. As they got closer,
Henry and Norma became more talkative. Listening to them gave Luke a reprieve from
practicing what he would say to Meredith. He still didn’t know how he would explain
everything.

Soon, they were pulling into the driveway. “This is my house,” Luke said, opening
the car door and getting out. He could hardly believe it, but he was finally home!

“After I speak to Meredith, I’d like you to come in and meet her,” Luke said, leaning
in the open window of the driver’s side.

“Take all the time you need,” Henry assured him.

Norma and Susan nodded their agreement.

Luke didn’t want to scare Meredith, so he knocked softly on the door. Even so, he
expected to hear Fritz bark, like he always did when someone came up to the house.

He was surprised, when a middle-aged English man answered the door.

“Can I help you, sir? Are you lost?” the man asked, looking at Luke with a dubious
expression.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so. This is my home.”

The Englisher shook his head. “My wife and I have been renting this place for a couple
of months, so you must have the wrong house.”

Luke was completely baffled. Why would Meredith rent out their house, and where was
she now? Something wasn’t right. Maybe he did have the wrong house. He quickly thanked
the man and headed back to Susan’s car.

“My memory must not be as clear as I thought it was,” he said, opening the car door.
“I’ve gotta be at the wrong house.”

“When we pulled in, you said this was your home,” Susan said.

“It’s the middle of the night,” Norma interjected. “Luke, maybe you mistook the place
for your own.” She motioned to the house. “We saw you talking to a man. What’d he
say?”

“Said he and his wife are renting the place.”

“Now what? Where do we go from here?” Susan questioned.

With the dome light on in the car, Luke could see how tired she looked.

“Let’s head up the road a ways,” he said, getting back into the car. “My folks don’t
live too far from here. At least, I’m pretty sure this is the road their place is
on.”

After they’d driven past a few homes, Luke pointed to a mailbox up ahead. Susan pulled
over, and Luke got out. It was hard to see in the dark, but using the flashlight Henry
had brought along, he was able to see the name on the mailbox: S
TOLTZFUS
.

It was after midnight, and Luke was anxious to see his folks. He didn’t want to scare
them, yet by the time he got to the door, he was almost desperate. He needed to see
someone from his old life—family, friend, anyone.

Luke removed his ball cap and pounded on the door.

After a few minutes, his dad answered. He looked at Luke as if he were a complete
stranger.

“Oh, Dad, it’s so good to be home.” Luke could hardly hold back from throwing himself
into his father’s arms. He needed to be held, comforted as if he were a little boy
again.

Dad pointed the flashlight he was holding at Luke and said, “Who are you?”

“It’s me, Luke.” Luke knew his voice had taken on a raspy sound from the injury he’d
sustained when he was hit in the throat by the mugger, but he was sure his own father
would know it was him.

“You’re not Luke. Who are you, and what kind of a trick are you playin’ on me? My
son is dead.”

“I’m not dead, Dad. It’s really me—your son Luke. I was beat up real bad at the bus
station in Philadelphia, and I didn’t know who I was until recently.” Luke stood,
squeezing the red ball cap in his hands.

Dad took a step closer to Luke, studying his face. “Ach!” he shouted, with a catch
in his voice. “You’ve got turquoise eyes just like my son.”

“That’s right, Dad. I do have turquoise eyes, and I’m telling the truth. I am Luke
Stoltzfus, and I’m very much alive.”

Dad’s eyes widened as though seeing a ghost. Finally, he reached out and grabbed Luke
in a hug.

From behind his father, Luke heard a gasp. Mom stepped onto the porch, threw her arms
around Luke, and sobbed. “Praise be to God! Our son has been brought back to us!”

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here in my kitchen with my son and husband on one side
of me and the wonderful people who took my boy in and nursed him back to health on
the other side,” Sadie said, dabbing at her tears. “It’s a miracle beyond belief.”
She could hardly pull herself away from touching Luke’s arm and making sure this was
real. Luke was really sitting beside her.

For the last hour, they had listened as their son told of his ordeal—getting mugged,
never making it to Indiana, and being in the hospital all those months with no memory
of who he was. Susan, Luke’s nurse, explained about the surgeries he’d had and the
weeks of rehab in the hospital and as an outpatient.

Sadie quickly realized that Luke had been in good hands, treated as if he were part
of the Baileys’ family. She and Elam owed them a debt of gratitude for taking such
good care of their son.

Then Sadie and Elam explained to Luke what they had endured since he’d left. They
said the bus he was supposed to have been on had crashed and that all the bodies were
burned in the collision.

Henry remarked that the mugger who’d assaulted Luke at the bus depot may have died
on that bus, since he’d taken Luke’s clothes and his wallet, which held Luke’s bus
ticket to Indiana.

Elam described the memorial service for Luke and how everyone in their Amish community
had grieved, especially Meredith.

Luke nearly jumped out of his chair. “Meredith thinks I’m dead?”

Sadie nodded. “We all thought that, Luke.”

“Oh, no,” Luke groaned. “I went to my house to see Meredith and was greeted by an
English man who said he and his wife were renting the place. Did Meredith move out
after she got the news that I was dead?”

Elam shook his head. “Not right away. She had a hard time financially and has been
living with her folks for the last couple of months.”

Sadie clasped Elam’s arm and mouthed something Luke couldn’t understand.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is Meredith all right?”

Sadie swallowed hard. “Do you want to tell him, or should I?” she asked, looking solemnly
at Elam.

He shrugged. “Whatever you think’s best.”

Sadie moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “A few hours from now, Meredith
plans to be married.”

Luke’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean, Mom? She’s already married—to me.”

Sadie drew in a quick breath and started again. “As we said, Luke, Meredith believed
you were dead, and she grieved for many months until a man named Jonah Miller came
into her life. Now she’s—”

“Meredith’s planning to marry this man?” Luke shouted.

Elam and Sadie nodded. She glanced over at the Baileys and could see the shocked expressions
on their faces.

“Luke, you’d better get over to the Kings’ place right away,” Dad said. “You’ve got
to tell Meredith you’re alive!”

L
uke couldn’t believe it. Meredith, believing him dead, was on the brink of marrying
another man and starting a new life with him. Even though it was the wee hours of
the morning, he had to get to his wife!

Dad offered to hitch his horse to the buggy and take Luke to the Kings’ house, but
Susan said she would take Luke, as it would be faster by car.

Luke’s mother had insisted the Baileys stay with them for the night, and his dad was
quick to agree. So while Norma and Henry were shown to their room, Luke and Susan
headed to the Kings’ place.

Luke was excited to let Meredith know he was alive, yet he was fearful of her response.
What if Meredith loves Jonah now? What if she loves him more than me?

When they arrived at Philip and Luann’s place, Susan said, “Luke, there’s something
I need to say.”

“What’s that?” he asked, turning to look at her.

“I want you to know that I’m happy for you—happy that you’re getting your life back.”

Luke was tempted to give Susan a hug but thought better of it. Instead, he touched
her arm and said, “Thanks, Susan. You’ve become a good friend, and that means a lot
to me.”

She smiled and motioned to the house. “You’d better go now. I’ll see you before we
head back to Darby.”

Luke hesitated a moment, then he opened the car door, raced up to the house, and pounded
on the door with all his might. “Wake up! Somebody, please answer the door!”