Leah took off her shoes and placed them neatly on the shoe rack and slowly
made her way towards the stairs. However, on the way there, she saw Dr.
Barlow sitting at the dining table reading the Sports section of the
newspaper. "Hey Doc. So did the team win?" She knew that the Doc was a
hockey fanatic and was always up-to-date with all the scores, standings,
schedule, and anything else you needed to know about the game.
He looked up, surprised to see her but smiled, "Do you see me pouting? We won, of course! 3-0... Pretty good if I don't say so myself... The shutout is a plus too! This will help us in the standings. So... how was tonight? Any history repeats?" He folded the paper and placed it neatly on the pile.
"Fortunately, everything went well and I didn't come close to losing my temper!" She smiled and took a seat across from the Doc. "Well... we talked... pretty casually! And I told him that I was glad he still cared for me and how the letters was the closure I needed to move on and it is."
"That's good. And are you two... friends? Or is everything just over and done with?"
"I told him that our worlds were just too different and it would be best to stay on our own different paths. Then I also told him, even though we couldn't have what we had before, we could still be friends and I can visit him and Charity once in awhile. And yeah..." She felt good that she had this talk with Ethan. Now, she felt... less burdened, in a way, free. She had always had so many questions about her future and about Ethan and now it seemed as though everything was falling in place and she was given the answers she had been looking for – about time! She was confident that everything would work out for the best.
"That's good. But the big question is, how did he take it? Is he okay with the idea? Guys tend to hide their feelings, it's an odd thing they do sometimes but it still happens."
"Well... Ethan's usually quite honest with his thoughts and feelings and he seemed fine when I brought up the friends part. He seemed pretty accepting of the idea so I think he's happy about it, we both are. So everything will work out... just give it sometime to adjust." So this is what it's like to be a responsible and mature adult, she thought. She realized she had grown up more over the last few days than she has in the last few years.
"Well in that case I'm glad everything is good. You should probably go upstairs, knowing Max, she'll be in your room again waiting for every little detail of tonight. Hopefully she hasn't fallen asleep again."
She smiled and went to her room, where she found Max lying on her bed. She was reading this month's Seventeen magazine but it was obvious she was on the brink of falling asleep. Her eyelids with heavy and slowly drooping lower and lower but when she heard Leah walk in, she suddenly sat up with such speed you might have thought someone had yanked her up. "Leah! You're home! Come, come! Have a seat!" She patted the bed, gesturing for her to sit down beside her.
"Hey. So what's in this month's Seventeen magazine? 10 ways to wear pink?" She smiled, teasing her friend, knowing fashion was the last topic on Max's mind – she wanted to scoop!
"Ha Ha! Aren't you just the funniest thing! Now, come on, tell me what happened tonight! And don't leave anything out." She beamed brightly as her eyes widened with curiosity.
"Alright! Alright!" She replayed every detail, every single small detail and paused once in awhile to answer Max's question and after a long hour, she was finally done explaining her night to an inquisitive Maxine.
"Well... you had quite a night. But I'm glad everything worked. Everything DID work out, right?"
"Yes it did. You have nothing to worry about!" She laughed and threw a pillow at her friend, who quickly retaliated with force.
For the next half an hour, the house heard nothing but the loud giggles and screeches coming from Leah's bedroom as the two girls fought with their pillows.
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Leah was busy filling out some paperwork left over from the morning appointments during her lunch break. Dr. Barlow had gone back to the house to pick up some of his files he had forgotten to bring with him. Belinda had not returned from Indianapolis yet and it seemed unlikely she would anytime soon. It turned out that her mother had fallen ill and Belinda needed to take care of her. So, Leah became the only nurse there. While she was finishing up one of the last pieces of paperwork, she heard the bell chime as someone entered the office. She looked up and saw a young man, around her age that was obviously Amish by his plain attire. "Hi, may I help you Sir?"
He looked down on her and smiled and began to laugh. He began to shake his head as if he was in disbelief as Leah got out of her seat and walked towards him.
"Umm... are you alright Sir? What's so funny?" She became tremendously confused as the mysterious man continued to smile and shake his head.
"Leah... Leah Lewis-Hall. You don't recognize me at all? Come on!" He looked at her, waiting for her to realize who he was.
"No sorry. Do I know you, Sir?" Who is this guy? And how does he know my full name? This is freaking me out, she thought to herself.
"It's me! Jonas!"
Her mind and body froze as she suddenly realized she was staring at Charity's fiancée and soon-to-be husband and calling him 'Sir'. He laughed at her shocked reaction as he smiled and tried to knock her out of her stunned trance. "Leah? You alright? Come on, it's just me Jonas!"
He snapped his finger and she was finally taken out of her daze. "Whoa! Jonas! It's you!" She found it hard to believe how much he had grown up since the last time she saw him. He definitely looked much more mature, surprisingly. "Wow! You've grown up so much since the last time I saw you! I barely recognize you!"
He laughed. "Yeah, I can tell. So how are you doing? I hear you want to be a nurse."
"Yeah, I have one more semester and I'll be a fully qualified nurse! But you... you're finally engaged to Charity! That's wonderful news! Congratulations!" She was very surprised to meet Jonas like this... but she was even more shocked by the way they both talked to each other. Before, he made it clear that he didn't approve of her dating Ethan, but now, he seemed so friendly. Wait, I forgot, Ethan is with Martha now, his sister, no wonder he's friendly now! Should have thought of that before!
He reddened with the mention of the engagement but quickly returned back to normal. "Thank-you! You're very kind. I'm suppose to keep it quiet... you know the Amish ways but I must say that I'm very excited. Charity's been the only girl I've truly cared about."
"She's lucky to have someone who cares about her so much. So what are you doing here anyways? It's not normal for you to be visiting the doctor's. You should be as healthy as anyone else."
"Oh I came to see you actually. Charity told me that you were back in town and working here. She actually sent me here. She wanted to invite you to come over this Friday for dinner. She even mentioned two other people, she said they were the children of the doctor you were working for – they're friends with Elizabeth and Simeon."
"Oh Maxine and Brian!"
"Yes, that's their names! Memory slipped away for that moment. But can all three of you come to dinner? Martha and I will also be there too. Sort of a big get together, you may say."
Martha's going to be there? Oh no, that can't be good at all! I'm definitely bringing Max with me then! "This Friday... sure. We'll be there."
"That's great! Oh and Ethan told me about what you said to him. I'm glad you two have settled everything out. You were right in deciding just to be friends. Our worlds are just too different. Well, I better be off now. Lots of work to do still! I guess I'll see you Friday then!" And with a quick nod, he turned and walked out of the office.
"Err... right. Friday it is..." Why do I get myself into these sticky positions? I always create trouble for myself! She sighed and finished up the remainder of her paperwork.
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The day quickly ended and Leah was running late when she went to pick up Maxine and Brian at school while Mrs. Barlow had to attend a meeting at her library. She rushed to arrived on time, hoping they didn't have to wait long for her. She had patiently waited all day to talk to Maxine and tell her about Friday night dinner. Her anxiety grew as she drove along the curves of steady dirt road. Finally, she arrived at the school just as the bell rang, dismissing the day.
She quickly spotted them walking out the building and honked to get their attention. Brian smiled and waved as they swiftly walked to up to her red convertible. "Hey guys! How was school?" For a moment, she thought back to the days when she was in high school and sometimes wished she had a more stable childhood, without the frequent moving of houses and schools, even new stepfathers.
"Don't even ask. I'm suppose to be taking a second language course for one of my compulsory credits but when I registered, all the French classes were full so I had to take German and I'm doing horrible in it! Mom and Dad are going to be fuming when they see my progress report!" She let out a big sigh as she closed the door to the passenger seat as her little brother took his seat in the back.
"Well... when do you get your report?" She grinned as a light bulb lit up in her mind as an idea began to formulate but she would keep it to herself... for now.
"Any day now! I'm going to be grounded and I won't be able to do anything!" Max began to panic and continued to ramble on. "What am I going to do? I won't be able to go out! I'll be stuck at home. I'll become a hermit. I won't have a life! I won't --" Brian rolled his eyes as he eyed his overly dramatic teenage sister and distracted himself with the fields outside.
Leah quickly interrupted her before her friend passed out from panic. "Alright, first thing you're going to do is breath!" They both took in deep breaths and let them out slowly. After a few minutes of breathing, the height of drama slowly lowered as she spoke, "Okay. Now that you've calmed quite a bit, you're going to study harder and don't think about anything else until your mark is higher, you understand?" Man, I should like a mother! What's wrong with me!
"I'm trying really hard already but German just doesn't stay in my head. In one ear, out the other! Plus, how can I study from my textbook if I don't even know how to read it in the first place!"
"What about a tutor? You can find someone who knows how to speak fluent German and maybe they can help you with it."
"A tutor? Where am I going to find someone who's willing to teach ME? I'm sorry but have you met me? You don't understand how bad my German is!"
She laughed at her theatrical friend and smiled. "Let me worry about that. Just focus on trying your best and I'll find a tutor, I've got a person in mind, a few actually..." She grinned and quickly steered the conversation towards Friday night dinner.
"So the Longacre family invited us to dinner this Friday?"
"Wait... invited US? Who's considered 'us' exactly?"
"Us, as in you, Brian, and me. The three of us..."
"Oh really?" She smirked at the thought. She remembered when she was at the farm last time, when Leah first bumped into Ethan after the four years 'break'. She reminisced about Ethan's younger brother, Simeon, who was also her age and was quite good looking.
As Max entered her fantasy world of a giddy teenager, Brian began to join the conversation. "I'm invited too! Cool! Last time I went, their cow gave birth! I hope another one gives birth again! It was so awesome!" A huge smile swept across his face as he thought back to that night.
Leah laughed as she glanced beside her and saw a dreamy-eyed Maxine and stared into her rear mirror and saw a fascinated boy who seemed worlds away from reality. She continued to drive back home and wondered what would happen this Friday.
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Ethan was pitching hay from the loft of the barn in the late afternoon. It had been a long day and the weather didn't help, it was sticky and humid. He was sweating all over by the end of the day's work. He was finishing up with the hay when Martha came in to visit him. "Hi Ethan. Can you come down?" He looked down and smiled. He quickly finished up with the hay and descended down the stairs.
He gave Martha a quick hug and a peck on her cheek. "Hi Martha. I didn't know we were going out tonight." After talking to Leah, he had come to the conclusion that marrying Martha might just be the right path to go down. It was obvious to him that there was no future with Leah and there was no point in hoping for something that would unlikely happen. He decided he would stick it out with Martha and convinced himself she wasn't as bad as he thought. He led himself to believe that many of his negative thoughts were shallow excuses for pushing her away, trying to justify his hope for a future with Leah but now he knew what his path was to be laid.
"Oh we're not. I just came here to talk to you then I have to go back home. Jonas is with Charity right now." He nodded as she continued, "Look, Jonas told me about Leah visiting you. I want to hear this from you, are you sure that nothing is happening with you and her? Because I can't lose you to her again, I won't let it happen." She lad always felt threatened by Leah because she was English and had no limits, which made her seemed so much more courageous and free-spirited than her.
"Look. We did talk but nothing is going on. We've both decided that nothing will happen again and we're just going to be friends and nothing more. Don't worry! I'm not going anywhere." He smiled and held Martha in his arms, trying to comfort her insecurities.
She sighed and questionably asked, "Are you sure Ethan?"
"Yes I am. We're just friends." He looked deep into her hazel eyes and endearingly smiled and nodded.
"Promise?" She knew Ethan never made any promises he could not keep.
There was a moment of hesitation but Ethan held her again and placed a gentle, soft kiss on her forehead. He then turned and walked towards his desk full of his tools. "So Mama told me you're coming to dinner on Friday."
"Err... yes. It was actually Jonas' idea." And with the mention of his name, Jonas and Charity, arm in arm, walked into the barn.
"Did someone mention my name?"
Ethan turned around to look at his good friend, happily holding hands with his sister. "We were just talking about Friday's dinner. That's all."
Jonas nodded and said, "Oh yes dinner! Everyone will be here, your family, Martha and I, and Leah and her friends, Maxine and Brian. It'll be lots of fun!" He smiled and took a seat on one of the stools.
"It'll be good to see Leah again. It's been a long time since we've talked." Martha smiled, trying to seem innocent.
Charity frowned at Martha and questioned, "But Leah told me she bumped into you when she was driving up to the farm on Friday. She said you two talked for awhile, that's why she was late for dinner."
"Oh that's right! It must have slipped my mind. We didn't talk for very long though. Just 'hi' and 'how's it going' sort of stuff... nothing very long." She smiled and put her arms around a frowning Ethan.
Charity gave Ethan and quick suspicious, questioning glance at Ethan who shrugged it off. Jonas sensed that some tension was slowly building. He knew that his fiancée had some strong opinions about his sister and he always tried to be the conflict mediator and tried to lower the tension as much as possible. "Sister, you will be well-behaved this Friday at dinner! Leah is our friend now. You should be nice to her! She's done nothing wrong to you so she doesn't deserve any bad manners, nor do her friends!"
Martha pretended to act shocked by such accusations but deep down, she knew her brother was right. Leah had never technically hurt her directly. She took Ethan from her even before they met each other so it's not Leah's fault... exactly. But she couldn't help feeling hurt when she saw them at the carnival... at the dance... the Rink... and all the other places. "Don't worry, Brother. I'll be polite as I always am." She smiled and snuggled in between the gentle hold of Ethan's arms.
Charity tried to smile and seem content but deep down her mind was full of questions. She worried about what would happen at Friday's dinner. What if Martha and Leah fight? Do I side with Martha? She is Jonas' sister... But Leah is my best friend! I cannot turn my back on her. Oh, and what about Ethan! His emotions will be ever so tangled when he's with both girls! She tried to shake off her worrisome thoughts as Jonas caringly held her and gently kissed her on the soft curve of her smooth cheek and smiled in content. She would not worry... simply wait in anticipation for the arrival of Friday evening...
He looked up, surprised to see her but smiled, "Do you see me pouting? We won, of course! 3-0... Pretty good if I don't say so myself... The shutout is a plus too! This will help us in the standings. So... how was tonight? Any history repeats?" He folded the paper and placed it neatly on the pile.
"Fortunately, everything went well and I didn't come close to losing my temper!" She smiled and took a seat across from the Doc. "Well... we talked... pretty casually! And I told him that I was glad he still cared for me and how the letters was the closure I needed to move on and it is."
"That's good. And are you two... friends? Or is everything just over and done with?"
"I told him that our worlds were just too different and it would be best to stay on our own different paths. Then I also told him, even though we couldn't have what we had before, we could still be friends and I can visit him and Charity once in awhile. And yeah..." She felt good that she had this talk with Ethan. Now, she felt... less burdened, in a way, free. She had always had so many questions about her future and about Ethan and now it seemed as though everything was falling in place and she was given the answers she had been looking for – about time! She was confident that everything would work out for the best.
"That's good. But the big question is, how did he take it? Is he okay with the idea? Guys tend to hide their feelings, it's an odd thing they do sometimes but it still happens."
"Well... Ethan's usually quite honest with his thoughts and feelings and he seemed fine when I brought up the friends part. He seemed pretty accepting of the idea so I think he's happy about it, we both are. So everything will work out... just give it sometime to adjust." So this is what it's like to be a responsible and mature adult, she thought. She realized she had grown up more over the last few days than she has in the last few years.
"Well in that case I'm glad everything is good. You should probably go upstairs, knowing Max, she'll be in your room again waiting for every little detail of tonight. Hopefully she hasn't fallen asleep again."
She smiled and went to her room, where she found Max lying on her bed. She was reading this month's Seventeen magazine but it was obvious she was on the brink of falling asleep. Her eyelids with heavy and slowly drooping lower and lower but when she heard Leah walk in, she suddenly sat up with such speed you might have thought someone had yanked her up. "Leah! You're home! Come, come! Have a seat!" She patted the bed, gesturing for her to sit down beside her.
"Hey. So what's in this month's Seventeen magazine? 10 ways to wear pink?" She smiled, teasing her friend, knowing fashion was the last topic on Max's mind – she wanted to scoop!
"Ha Ha! Aren't you just the funniest thing! Now, come on, tell me what happened tonight! And don't leave anything out." She beamed brightly as her eyes widened with curiosity.
"Alright! Alright!" She replayed every detail, every single small detail and paused once in awhile to answer Max's question and after a long hour, she was finally done explaining her night to an inquisitive Maxine.
"Well... you had quite a night. But I'm glad everything worked. Everything DID work out, right?"
"Yes it did. You have nothing to worry about!" She laughed and threw a pillow at her friend, who quickly retaliated with force.
For the next half an hour, the house heard nothing but the loud giggles and screeches coming from Leah's bedroom as the two girls fought with their pillows.
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Leah was busy filling out some paperwork left over from the morning appointments during her lunch break. Dr. Barlow had gone back to the house to pick up some of his files he had forgotten to bring with him. Belinda had not returned from Indianapolis yet and it seemed unlikely she would anytime soon. It turned out that her mother had fallen ill and Belinda needed to take care of her. So, Leah became the only nurse there. While she was finishing up one of the last pieces of paperwork, she heard the bell chime as someone entered the office. She looked up and saw a young man, around her age that was obviously Amish by his plain attire. "Hi, may I help you Sir?"
He looked down on her and smiled and began to laugh. He began to shake his head as if he was in disbelief as Leah got out of her seat and walked towards him.
"Umm... are you alright Sir? What's so funny?" She became tremendously confused as the mysterious man continued to smile and shake his head.
"Leah... Leah Lewis-Hall. You don't recognize me at all? Come on!" He looked at her, waiting for her to realize who he was.
"No sorry. Do I know you, Sir?" Who is this guy? And how does he know my full name? This is freaking me out, she thought to herself.
"It's me! Jonas!"
Her mind and body froze as she suddenly realized she was staring at Charity's fiancée and soon-to-be husband and calling him 'Sir'. He laughed at her shocked reaction as he smiled and tried to knock her out of her stunned trance. "Leah? You alright? Come on, it's just me Jonas!"
He snapped his finger and she was finally taken out of her daze. "Whoa! Jonas! It's you!" She found it hard to believe how much he had grown up since the last time she saw him. He definitely looked much more mature, surprisingly. "Wow! You've grown up so much since the last time I saw you! I barely recognize you!"
He laughed. "Yeah, I can tell. So how are you doing? I hear you want to be a nurse."
"Yeah, I have one more semester and I'll be a fully qualified nurse! But you... you're finally engaged to Charity! That's wonderful news! Congratulations!" She was very surprised to meet Jonas like this... but she was even more shocked by the way they both talked to each other. Before, he made it clear that he didn't approve of her dating Ethan, but now, he seemed so friendly. Wait, I forgot, Ethan is with Martha now, his sister, no wonder he's friendly now! Should have thought of that before!
He reddened with the mention of the engagement but quickly returned back to normal. "Thank-you! You're very kind. I'm suppose to keep it quiet... you know the Amish ways but I must say that I'm very excited. Charity's been the only girl I've truly cared about."
"She's lucky to have someone who cares about her so much. So what are you doing here anyways? It's not normal for you to be visiting the doctor's. You should be as healthy as anyone else."
"Oh I came to see you actually. Charity told me that you were back in town and working here. She actually sent me here. She wanted to invite you to come over this Friday for dinner. She even mentioned two other people, she said they were the children of the doctor you were working for – they're friends with Elizabeth and Simeon."
"Oh Maxine and Brian!"
"Yes, that's their names! Memory slipped away for that moment. But can all three of you come to dinner? Martha and I will also be there too. Sort of a big get together, you may say."
Martha's going to be there? Oh no, that can't be good at all! I'm definitely bringing Max with me then! "This Friday... sure. We'll be there."
"That's great! Oh and Ethan told me about what you said to him. I'm glad you two have settled everything out. You were right in deciding just to be friends. Our worlds are just too different. Well, I better be off now. Lots of work to do still! I guess I'll see you Friday then!" And with a quick nod, he turned and walked out of the office.
"Err... right. Friday it is..." Why do I get myself into these sticky positions? I always create trouble for myself! She sighed and finished up the remainder of her paperwork.
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The day quickly ended and Leah was running late when she went to pick up Maxine and Brian at school while Mrs. Barlow had to attend a meeting at her library. She rushed to arrived on time, hoping they didn't have to wait long for her. She had patiently waited all day to talk to Maxine and tell her about Friday night dinner. Her anxiety grew as she drove along the curves of steady dirt road. Finally, she arrived at the school just as the bell rang, dismissing the day.
She quickly spotted them walking out the building and honked to get their attention. Brian smiled and waved as they swiftly walked to up to her red convertible. "Hey guys! How was school?" For a moment, she thought back to the days when she was in high school and sometimes wished she had a more stable childhood, without the frequent moving of houses and schools, even new stepfathers.
"Don't even ask. I'm suppose to be taking a second language course for one of my compulsory credits but when I registered, all the French classes were full so I had to take German and I'm doing horrible in it! Mom and Dad are going to be fuming when they see my progress report!" She let out a big sigh as she closed the door to the passenger seat as her little brother took his seat in the back.
"Well... when do you get your report?" She grinned as a light bulb lit up in her mind as an idea began to formulate but she would keep it to herself... for now.
"Any day now! I'm going to be grounded and I won't be able to do anything!" Max began to panic and continued to ramble on. "What am I going to do? I won't be able to go out! I'll be stuck at home. I'll become a hermit. I won't have a life! I won't --" Brian rolled his eyes as he eyed his overly dramatic teenage sister and distracted himself with the fields outside.
Leah quickly interrupted her before her friend passed out from panic. "Alright, first thing you're going to do is breath!" They both took in deep breaths and let them out slowly. After a few minutes of breathing, the height of drama slowly lowered as she spoke, "Okay. Now that you've calmed quite a bit, you're going to study harder and don't think about anything else until your mark is higher, you understand?" Man, I should like a mother! What's wrong with me!
"I'm trying really hard already but German just doesn't stay in my head. In one ear, out the other! Plus, how can I study from my textbook if I don't even know how to read it in the first place!"
"What about a tutor? You can find someone who knows how to speak fluent German and maybe they can help you with it."
"A tutor? Where am I going to find someone who's willing to teach ME? I'm sorry but have you met me? You don't understand how bad my German is!"
She laughed at her theatrical friend and smiled. "Let me worry about that. Just focus on trying your best and I'll find a tutor, I've got a person in mind, a few actually..." She grinned and quickly steered the conversation towards Friday night dinner.
"So the Longacre family invited us to dinner this Friday?"
"Wait... invited US? Who's considered 'us' exactly?"
"Us, as in you, Brian, and me. The three of us..."
"Oh really?" She smirked at the thought. She remembered when she was at the farm last time, when Leah first bumped into Ethan after the four years 'break'. She reminisced about Ethan's younger brother, Simeon, who was also her age and was quite good looking.
As Max entered her fantasy world of a giddy teenager, Brian began to join the conversation. "I'm invited too! Cool! Last time I went, their cow gave birth! I hope another one gives birth again! It was so awesome!" A huge smile swept across his face as he thought back to that night.
Leah laughed as she glanced beside her and saw a dreamy-eyed Maxine and stared into her rear mirror and saw a fascinated boy who seemed worlds away from reality. She continued to drive back home and wondered what would happen this Friday.
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Ethan was pitching hay from the loft of the barn in the late afternoon. It had been a long day and the weather didn't help, it was sticky and humid. He was sweating all over by the end of the day's work. He was finishing up with the hay when Martha came in to visit him. "Hi Ethan. Can you come down?" He looked down and smiled. He quickly finished up with the hay and descended down the stairs.
He gave Martha a quick hug and a peck on her cheek. "Hi Martha. I didn't know we were going out tonight." After talking to Leah, he had come to the conclusion that marrying Martha might just be the right path to go down. It was obvious to him that there was no future with Leah and there was no point in hoping for something that would unlikely happen. He decided he would stick it out with Martha and convinced himself she wasn't as bad as he thought. He led himself to believe that many of his negative thoughts were shallow excuses for pushing her away, trying to justify his hope for a future with Leah but now he knew what his path was to be laid.
"Oh we're not. I just came here to talk to you then I have to go back home. Jonas is with Charity right now." He nodded as she continued, "Look, Jonas told me about Leah visiting you. I want to hear this from you, are you sure that nothing is happening with you and her? Because I can't lose you to her again, I won't let it happen." She lad always felt threatened by Leah because she was English and had no limits, which made her seemed so much more courageous and free-spirited than her.
"Look. We did talk but nothing is going on. We've both decided that nothing will happen again and we're just going to be friends and nothing more. Don't worry! I'm not going anywhere." He smiled and held Martha in his arms, trying to comfort her insecurities.
She sighed and questionably asked, "Are you sure Ethan?"
"Yes I am. We're just friends." He looked deep into her hazel eyes and endearingly smiled and nodded.
"Promise?" She knew Ethan never made any promises he could not keep.
There was a moment of hesitation but Ethan held her again and placed a gentle, soft kiss on her forehead. He then turned and walked towards his desk full of his tools. "So Mama told me you're coming to dinner on Friday."
"Err... yes. It was actually Jonas' idea." And with the mention of his name, Jonas and Charity, arm in arm, walked into the barn.
"Did someone mention my name?"
Ethan turned around to look at his good friend, happily holding hands with his sister. "We were just talking about Friday's dinner. That's all."
Jonas nodded and said, "Oh yes dinner! Everyone will be here, your family, Martha and I, and Leah and her friends, Maxine and Brian. It'll be lots of fun!" He smiled and took a seat on one of the stools.
"It'll be good to see Leah again. It's been a long time since we've talked." Martha smiled, trying to seem innocent.
Charity frowned at Martha and questioned, "But Leah told me she bumped into you when she was driving up to the farm on Friday. She said you two talked for awhile, that's why she was late for dinner."
"Oh that's right! It must have slipped my mind. We didn't talk for very long though. Just 'hi' and 'how's it going' sort of stuff... nothing very long." She smiled and put her arms around a frowning Ethan.
Charity gave Ethan and quick suspicious, questioning glance at Ethan who shrugged it off. Jonas sensed that some tension was slowly building. He knew that his fiancée had some strong opinions about his sister and he always tried to be the conflict mediator and tried to lower the tension as much as possible. "Sister, you will be well-behaved this Friday at dinner! Leah is our friend now. You should be nice to her! She's done nothing wrong to you so she doesn't deserve any bad manners, nor do her friends!"
Martha pretended to act shocked by such accusations but deep down, she knew her brother was right. Leah had never technically hurt her directly. She took Ethan from her even before they met each other so it's not Leah's fault... exactly. But she couldn't help feeling hurt when she saw them at the carnival... at the dance... the Rink... and all the other places. "Don't worry, Brother. I'll be polite as I always am." She smiled and snuggled in between the gentle hold of Ethan's arms.
Charity tried to smile and seem content but deep down her mind was full of questions. She worried about what would happen at Friday's dinner. What if Martha and Leah fight? Do I side with Martha? She is Jonas' sister... But Leah is my best friend! I cannot turn my back on her. Oh, and what about Ethan! His emotions will be ever so tangled when he's with both girls! She tried to shake off her worrisome thoughts as Jonas caringly held her and gently kissed her on the soft curve of her smooth cheek and smiled in content. She would not worry... simply wait in anticipation for the arrival of Friday evening...