Love Finds a Home (Anthologies) (11 page)

As they stepped down from the wagon, a short, middle-aged man with a balding head came bounding out of the church. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he extended one hand toward David. “So you’re the new preacher.” He looked Glenna up and down, then nodded in apparent approval, grinning at her, too. “This must be the little woman. A bit younger than we expected, but I’m sure she’ll fit in with some of our ladies.”

David shook the man’s hand. “This is my wife, Glenna. And you are—”

“Deacon Eustace Meyers,” the little man said with a flutter of his eyelids. “You need anything done around the church, and I’m your man. You need a meeting called, and I’ll get the word spread, quick as a wink.”

Glenna bit back the laughter threatening to bubble up from her throat. She had no doubt about the ability of Deacon Meyers to get something done.”

“I’ll show you the house first,” Eustace said, nodding toward the smaller building. “I’m sure you’re wantin’ to get settled in and all.”

David grabbed two suitcases from the back of the wagon, and Eustace carried one of the supply boxes. Glenna followed, wondering if all David’s church members were as friendly and helpful as the deacon seemed to be.

Once inside, Glenna wandered from room to room, inspecting her new home. It was small but quite serviceable. Besides the living room, there was a homey little kitchen, one bedroom downstairs, and a modest loft overhead. This would no doubt serve as David’s office or perhaps be used as a guest room, should they ever have overnight company.

As David and Eustace talked about the church, which members he should get to know right away, and how many places of business were in this mining town, Glenna relished her new surroundings. She sent up a silent prayer, thanking God for being so good as to give her a place to call home. Her only concern was whether she could be the kind of wife David needed. As long as she harbored resentment toward Daddy, Glenna knew her ability to minister to others would be impaired.

“I’ll leave you two to get settled in now,” she heard the deacon tell David. He moved toward the front door, then just as he was about to exit, he turned back around. “Oh, I almost forgot to give you this.” He reached inside his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “It’s a telegram … for you, Mrs. Green.”

“For me?” Glenna couldn’t imagine who might be sending her a telegram.

“Are you going to read it, or should I?” Eustace asked, stepping up beside her. “I’ve had an eighth-grade education, you know.”

“I can read it myself, thank you,” Glenna replied. The deacon nodded and stepped outside. Glenna’s hands began to tremble as she studied the telegram.

David pulled her to his side. “What’s wrong? Is it bad news?”

She shook her head. “No, quite the contrary, it’s good news.”

“Are you going to share this good news?” he prodded. “The telegram says there’s money waiting for me … at the bank here in town.”

“Money? From whom?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just says I should go to the bank and ask about a bank draft made out in my name.” She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Do you think it’s a joke?”

“I don’t know,” David replied. “I guess the only way to find out is to make a trip over to the bank. Would you like to go right now?”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

The bank president greeted them enthusiastically, stating that he and his family attended David’s church and would be at the service on Sunday morning. When Glenna showed him the telegram, Mr. Paulson beamed. “Yes, indeed. I have a bank draft in my safe, made out for quite a tidy little sum. There’s a note attached to it as well.”

Glenna and David took seats, while Mr. Paulson went in the back to get the money in question. When he returned, he handed the legal paper to Glenna, along with a handwritten note. It was Daddy’s handwriting! She’d have recognized it anywhere. But how? When?

“David, this draft is from my father,” she squeaked. “The letter’s from him, too. Daddy says he was once a God-fearing man. After losing Mama and my little brother, Daddy walked away from God and turned to whiskey bottles and the gambling table for comfort.” She swallowed against the tide of tears threatening to spill over. “Daddy says he kept Mama’s dowry all these years. He never spent any of it … not even when he’d gambled everything else away. When Daddy left the hotel in Granger, he decided to wire Mama’s dowry money here, knowing this was where I’d be living with you.”

David lifted a finger to wipe away the tears streaming down Glenna’s cheeks. “There
was
some good in your father. It could be that he turned back to God before his death, too.”

David’s tender words and warm smile made Glenna’s heart beat so fast she thought she might fall right out of her chair. She smiled through her tears. “I was Daddy’s girl all my life. Now Daddy’s gone, but my true Father is God. I know you’re not in love with me, David, but I believe God sent you to me.”

As they left the bank, Glenna leaned into David. “I love you, Pastor Green, and I’m going to try to be the best wife I can.” She moved to stand in front of David, then boldly wrapped her arms around his neck. With no thought of their surroundings or who might be watching, she kissed him full on the mouth.

David responded by returning her kiss, sending a cascade of glorious shivers down her back. “I probably haven’t shown it too well, but I do love you, Glenna,” he whispered. “I’ve been asking myself for the last several days why God put us together on the same train. The answer He put in my mind kept coming back the same—we were meant for each other.”

Glenna released a sigh of relief. Until this very moment, she’d never felt more loved or cherished.

“I found you, and you found God,” David whispered against her ear.

“Yes, and since God is my Father, I’ll always be Daddy’s girl.”

DEAR
TEACHER

DEDICATION

To Mrs. Rueger, my favorite schoolteacher,
who encouraged me to believe in myself.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths
.
P
ROVERBS
3:5–6

Dear Reader
,

I have always appreciated teachers, but when I began doing research for this book, my admiration for those who taught in one-room schoolhouses increased a hundredfold
.

Teachers who taught in one-room schoolhouses during the 1800s and early 1900s served not only as instructors but also as janitors and disciplinarians. They averaged working as many as ten hours a day and were expected to see that the building was clean and orderly at all times
.

Education has changed a lot from the years of the one-room schoolhouse. The buildings are bigger, the classes are larger, and discipline is no longer of a physical nature. However, some things haven’t changed—the basic curriculum of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the need for qualified teachers
.

During the days when the canals and other waterways were actively being used to transport coal and other items, the children who traveled and worked with their parents always had some time for fun. They played games such as marbles, dominoes, and checkers. Many had homemade toys, such as a spool with four nails used to weave a rope. Some little girls played with corn-husk or apple-headed dolls. Most of these children never had much more than a fourth-grade education, yet those who went to Sunday school or learned about God through their parents received a religious education that carried into their adult lives and gave them hope for the future
.

Wanda

CHAPTER 1

Parryville, Pennsylvania—1890

J
udith King pushed her trunk to the foot of the four-poster bed and closed the lid. She would sleep in this cozy room tonight and every night for as long as she remained in Parryville as schoolteacher at the one-room schoolhouse near the Lehigh Navigation System.

Judith walked around the side of the bed and placed both hands on the thick mattress. Giving it a couple of firm pushes, she soon discovered it was soft and bouncy.

“Nothing like the thin straw mattress I used to sleep on as a child,” she murmured. Nor did it compare to the hard bed she had shared with young Ellie Miller, the storekeeper’s daughter, when she’d taken her first teaching position in northern New York.

Judith took a seat on the bed. She was pleased that during her stay here in Parryville she would room with the Reverend and Mrs. Jacobs and their twin daughters, Melissa and Melody, who were ten years old. The girls’ bedroom was on the same floor as Judith’s, and she could hear their laughter floating across the hall.

Starting Monday morning, I’ll be Melissa and Melody’s new teacher
, she mused.
I pray things will go well
.

With a feeling of contentment, Judith gazed around the small, cozy room, noticing the blue and beige braided throw rug in the center of the floor, the oak dressing table and looking glass positioned along the far wall, and the colorful patchwork quilt spread across the bed. Then she stood and moved to the window, pushing the curtain aside so she could view the street below.

A little boy with shaggy brown hair and tattered overalls ran up and down the walkway in front of the parsonage. It was a blustery day, yet he wore no coat or hat. Judith noticed the slingshot hanging from his back pocket and a scruffy-looking dog nipping at his heels.

Will that child be in my classroom on Monday morning? Will he and the other children be agreeable and easy to teach, or will many be full of mischief, the way my brother Seth used to be?

She let the curtain fall into place and meandered across the room to check her appearance in the mirror. A lock of curly blond hair had come loose from the bun she wore at the back of her head, and she reached up to tuck it in place. Her cheeks looked pale, probably because she was tired from her train trip that morning, so she pinched them until they turned pink.

Judith tipped her head to one side as she studied her reflection.
Sorry to say, but there is nothing I can do to make my eyes look any better
.

From the time she was a little girl, Judith had been teased about having one brown eye and one blue. That and the fact that she was taller than most girls her age had made Judith believe she was unattractive, and nothing had happened during her twenty-six years to change her opinion of herself.

“Judith the odd one. Judith with the creepy eyes.” She’d been called so many names when she was growing up.

Children can be cruel
, she thought ruefully.
And that is one thing I won’t tolerate in my classroom. No teasing or making fun of someone because they’re different or don’t have as many nice things as someone else
.

She returned to her seat on the bed. There was no point thinking negative thoughts or expecting trouble. No point feeling sorry for herself because she was an old maid who in all likelihood would never fall in love or get married.

“Who would want a tall woman with eyes that don’t match?” she muttered. “No one ever has before.” Besides, as a child of God who had confessed her sins and accepted Christ as her Savior, she knew that her heavenly Father cared for her just as she was—no matter what she or others might think of her appearance.

A knock on the bedroom door startled Judith. “Yes?”

“Supper’s ready, Miss King,” one of the twins announced.

“Mama said we should let you know,” the other twin said.

Judith stood and smoothed the wrinkles in her long gray traveling dress. She had planned to change into something more presentable before joining the family for the evening meal, but there wasn’t time now. “Tell your mother I’ll be right there.”

Judith heard the shuffle of the girls’ feet as they headed down the hall, then the louder
clomp, clomp, clomp
as they descended the steps.

She drew in a deep breath and sent up a quick prayer.
Help me to fit in here, Lord, and bless the Jacobs family for offering me such a fine room
.