The Selfless Act (11 page)

Joel’s breath caught in his throat. “I’ll bet these beauties are worth millions!”

Yelling for Elsie, he dashed out of the barn.

Humming to the tune of the song playing on her car radio, Kristi turned off the freeway in the direction of Charm. She wasn’t sure if Elsie and her family still lived in Eustace’s old house, but she had something for them and hoped to deliver it today. If they had already moved to their new home, then Kristi didn’t know what to do, because she did not have their new address.

“I should have thought to ask Doris,” Kristi muttered. She would have liked to have brought this love gift sooner, but it had taken a few weeks for donations to come in after she’d gotten the word out to church members about the fire that had destroyed the home of Joel’s sister. Even though Doris had said she and her siblings would receive an inheritance from their father, Kristi didn’t know how much it was or whether they’d gotten the money yet. She wanted to do something to help out. In addition to several boxes of food, the church had collected over a thousand dollars in cash. It wasn’t an enormous amount of money, but it would help with some of their expenses. Kristi felt grateful for the congregation’s generosity to a family they’d never met.

That’s what all churches should do,
she thought, turning on the road that led to Eustace Byler’s house.
Helping people in need, regardless of whether we know them or not, is the Christian thing to do, and it’s a testimony of Christ’s love for us.

When she pulled into the yard a few minutes later, Kristi noticed a teenage Amish boy wearing a straw hat, carrying a cardboard box over to a truck parked near the house. Her heart began to pound—it was the truck Joel used for work, which meant he must be here. From the looks of the boxes stacked on the front porch, this must be moving day for Elsie’s family. As much as she dreaded facing Joel, Kristi wasn’t leaving here until she’d seen Elsie and given her the church’s gifts.

Turning off the engine, she stepped out of the car. When she approached the young man, she asked if Elsie was there.

He pointed to the barn. “Joel’s there, too—looking at the new cars he just got. He says they’re worth a whole lot of money, so now Uncle Joel has a big collection of cars.” The boy bobbed his head, grinning widely. “My uncle is rich!”

Kristi’s spine stiffened. Apparently Joel had not changed at all. His emphasis was still on money, and now he’d bought more cars.
Won’t he ever get his priorities right?

“Would you please get your mother?” she asked. “I have some things in the car I want to give her.” With any luck, only Elsie would come out, and she’d avoid seeing Joel at all.

The boy nodded and headed for the barn. A few minutes later, Elsie appeared…and Joel was with her.

Joel halted when he stepped out of the barn and saw Kristi standing beside her car. He had no idea what she was doing here, but the sight of her beautiful face and auburn hair made his heart race. If he hadn’t known she had a new boyfriend, he would have dashed over to her, explained that he’d become a Christian, and begged her once again to take him back. He’d never loved another woman the way he did her. Even though he didn’t deserve a second chance, if Kristi would forgive Joel for his past mistakes and agree to become his wife, he’d spend the rest of his life trying to make her happy.

Heart thumping so hard blood pulsated in his head, Joel approached Kristi. Before he had a chance to say anything, she smiled at Elsie and said, “Doris told me about your house burning down, and I’ve brought you a little something from my church.” She opened her trunk and pointed to several boxes full of food. Then she reached into her purse, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to Elsie. “Please accept this love gift and use it in any way you need for your new home.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.” Elsie’s eyes filled with tears. “Thanks to the inheritance I’ve received from my dad, my husband and I have all the money we need, so I don’t feel right about taking this.”

Kristi glanced briefly at Joel, then looked quickly back at Elsie. “I would like you to have it. I’m sure you can use the extra food, and if you don’t need the money, feel free to pass it along to someone else in need.”

“That’s called paying it forward,’” Joel spoke up.

Without looking at him, Kristi nodded.

Elsie hugged Kristi. “Please tell your church people I said thank you.” She gave Joel’s arm a little nudge. “I’ll leave you two alone so you can talk. I believe you have some catching up to do.” Without another word, she hurried into the house. Joel’s nephew removed one of the boxes from Kristi’s truck and followed his mother inside.

Palms sweaty and heart still beating hard, Joel cleared his throat. “Umm…there’s something I’d like you to know, Kristi.”

“Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You’ve gotten a huge inheritance from your dad, so you’ve purchased several more cars, which you are keeping in his barn.”

He shook his head vigorously. “No, it’s not like that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How is it then?”

Joel quickly explained how he’d accidentally found the secret room in his dad’s barn, and was surprised to find the old cars. “At first I couldn’t figure out why they were there or how they even got in the hidden room behind the barn.” He paused and drew in a quick breath. “Then my aunt came out, and after I showed her what I’d found, she informed me that a long time ago, when Dad was a teenager, he’d had his own car. It was during his running-around years, when he’d been allowed to experience some things outside the Amish world.”

Kristi stared at him with an uncertain expression.

“Anyway,” Joel continued, “Aunt Verna said even after Dad sold his car and joined the church, he often talked about his interest in classic cars. Nobody had any idea his interest went further than merely talking about cars.” He motioned to the barn, slowly shaking his head. “Apparently over the years, Dad bought several old cars and snuck them in a room behind a secret door. So now…”

“I know—your nephew told me—you’re rich.”

Joel pulled his fingers through his thick hair. “If I sell them, I probably will get a lot of money, but I won’t keep it all. I’ll give a good chunk of it to someone in need.” He took a step closer to her. “You see, Kristi, after committing my life to God, I’ve come to realize how selfish I was, and I’ve changed.”

“He’s telling you the truth,” Aunt Verna said when she came out of the barn.

Joel was surprised his aunt had even heard what he’d said, but then he remembered her new hearing aids and figured she’d finally turned them on.

Aunt Verna stepped up to them and placed both hands on Kristi’s shoulders. “My nephew is not the same person he was before. He sold his first classic car to help his family, and now, thanks to my brother’s will stating that Joel should have the house, barn, and everything in it, he has more cars to sell so he can help others.”

Joel gave his aunt a quick wink. “If no one has any objections, I may keep one of the cars. It’ll be fun to fix it up. Then every time I drive it, I’ll think of Dad.”

“I think that would be fine, Joel.” Aunt Verna slipped her arm around his waist. “Your daed was a bit eccentric, which is probably why he bought all those vehicles when he knew it went against our church rules for a member to own a car. But given that he kept them in the secret room for his own amusement and didn’t drive them, I’m sure if anyone outside our family hears of this, they’ll understand.”

“I hope so, but even if they don’t, what’s done is done. We can’t go back and change the past.”

“No, but we can make the best of the here and now and plan well for our future.” Aunt Verna stepped aside and gave Joel a gentle push toward Kristi. “You two are obviously in love with each other. Don’t you think you ought to talk things through and begin again?”

Before either Joel or Kristi could respond, his aunt turned and headed for the house.

Trembling for fear of her rejection, Joel looked directly at Kristi. “Aunt Verna’s right. I do still love you, but I won’t try to get in the way of your new relationship.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “What new relationship?”

Joel explained about the day he’d shown up at church and seen her sitting beside a blond-haired man.

“That was Darin, our new youth pastor.” Kristi shook her head. “We’re not in a relationship. We’re just friends.”

Joel heaved a sigh of relief.

“But aren’t you in a relationship, Joel?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I saw you at the Farmstead Restaurant in Berlin a few weeks ago with the young woman you used to date. You were holding her hand.”

So it was Kristi I saw leaving the restaurant that day.
Laughter bubbled in Joel’s chest and spilled over.

She tipped her head. “What’s so funny?”

“Anna and I aren’t back together. We ran into each other by accident that day and decided to share a table. I wasn’t holding her hand, either. I only touched it when I was telling her I was glad to hear she’s being courted by a new man in her church district.”

Kristi’s cheeks flamed a bright pink. “So we both assumed the other was seeing someone else, when neither of us has ever gotten over the other.”

He reached for her hand and was glad when she didn’t pull it away. “Does that mean you still love me?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve tried to fight it and denied my feelings so many times I began to believe it was true. But the day I saw you with Anna, I knew the love I felt for you had never really died.”

Joel smiled with relief. “Can you ever forgive me for all the hurt I caused? Would you be willing to give me another chance?”

“Yes,” she murmured, tears shimmering in her eyes.

Barely able to speak around the lump lodged in his throat, Joel dropped to his knees. “Kristi Palmer, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“I will.”

Joel stood and pulled Kristi into his arms. Hoping no one was watching their display of affection, he kissed her gently on the lips. When the kiss ended, he smoothed Kristi’s hair back from her face and whispered, “When I finally realized that true compassion is feeling someone else’s pain and doing something about it, I wanted to do a heartfelt, selfless act and didn’t care about getting anything in return. When we raise our own children someday, I hope we can teach them that.”

Kristi pressed her head against his chest. “We will, Joel. That’s a promise.”

K
risti stood at the kitchen window, looking out at the flowers and trees in full bloom. After being married to Joel these past six months, and living here in his father’s old house, she still felt as though she were living a dream. Residing in Amish country and becoming part of her husband’s wonderful family had filled a place in Kristi’s heart she’d always felt was missing. To add to her joy, she’d been taking classes to become a midwife to the Amish and other women in the area. A week ago, she’d had the privilege of assisting the midwife when her sister-in-law’s baby boy was born. What a miracle it was that the Lord had given Doris a healthy pregnancy and a strong infant. She and Brian named their son Andrew Joel. He was a sweet little guy, and seeing him sleeping in Doris’s arms made Kristi eager to start her own family with Joel.

She glanced around the spacious kitchen Joel had remodeled to suit their needs. It wasn’t fancy by English standards, but he’d installed electricity and given Kristi two oversized ovens. She looked forward to entertaining here for years to come. This evening, Arlene, Elsie, Doris, and their families would be coming over for a potluck dinner. Since Akron wasn’t far away, her folks had been invited, too.

Turning her gaze back to the window, Kristi spotted Joel filling one of their bird feeders. These days, when he wasn’t working on some job site for his business, his energies were spent on getting things done around here. Tonight, as most evenings, they would leave their television set off and enjoy a delightful time with their families.

Joel might not be a member of the Amish church, but the love he’d shown for his family and, most of all, for God proved that he was Amish in his heart.