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When the clerk excused herself to answer the phone, Wendy whispered, “Evan, I can’t make a choice until I know how much you can afford to spend on a ring.”
“So far, she hasn’t shown us anything I can’t afford. My family isn’t rich, but we have some money. I keep all the computer data for our farm operation, and I get paid for that. If you find a ring that you like, we’ll put it on layaway until we have time to talk to our parents.”
Evan was trying to soothe Wendy’s fears, but he had a few of his own. What if his parents were troubled over his choice of a bride? He didn’t want to do anything to worry them, but he couldn’t take back his proposal. Wendy was a sensitive woman, and he wouldn’t hurt her by admitting that he’d been hasty in asking her to marry him. Wendy didn’t talk much about her family, but he’d learned enough to know that her childhood had been unhappy. One thing he looked forward to, as Wendy’s husband, was giving her the opportunity to share the warmth and love of a Christian family.
When Evan’s cell phone rang, he said, “I’ll go out in the corridor to talk. Go ahead and look over the selection.”
He stepped outside the store and touched the talk key on his phone.
“Oh, hi, Mom,” he said when he recognized the caller as his mother, Hilda.
Without any preliminaries, Hilda said, “Son, I have bad news. Your father is sick.”
“Daddy’s sick? You’ve gotta be kidding. He hasn’t even had a cold in years.”
He could sense his mother nodding her head in agreement. “That’s true, but Karl is sick now. We brought him to Holzer Hospital this morning. He’s had a stroke, and the prognosis isn’t good.”
Fearful images formed in Evan’s mind, and he almost dropped the phone. He leaned against a wall to support his trembling knees. “He isn’t going to die, is he?” he whispered.
“Lord willing, he won’t, but the doctors haven’t ruled that out yet,” Hilda said grimly.
“I’ll come home right away,” Evan said.
“Have you finished everything for this semester?”
“Not completely, but I can probably continue the work online.” If he had to make a choice between joining his family in a crisis or finishing the work for his Ph.D., his family would always come first. “I’m coming home.”
“We want you to be here. But, Evan…” Hilda hesitated for several seconds. “Your father’s left side is paralyzed. Even if he lives, it will be weeks, maybe even months, before he’s able to resume working. You’ll have some difficult decisions to make.”
“Yes, I know. I’ll leave right away.”
“Drive carefully. Bye.”
Evan sank down on the nearest bench, his head in his hands. He couldn’t comprehend his mother’s message. Karl Kessler was in the prime of life—only fifty-two years old. Evan couldn’t envision his brawny, strong father dying or, even worse, being an invalid for the rest of his life.
When Evan didn’t return to the jewelry store, Wendy thanked the saleswoman for her help. “We’ll make a decision later,” she said.
She stepped out of the store and looked around, startled to see Evan’s dejected figure on the bench. His chin had lowered to his chest, and his fingers threaded his heavy blond hair.
Rushing to Evan, Wendy sat beside him and took his hand. “What’s wrong?”
He lifted his tear-streaked face. The golden freckles across his cheeks and nose stood out in sharp contrast to the pallor of his skin.
“My father’s in the hospital. I have to leave for Ohio right away.”
“I’m so sorry, Evan. What happened?”
He briefly related the conversation he’d had with his mother. “I can’t believe this happened to Daddy. He’s always been so strong.”
Evan’s words aroused old fears and insecurities that Wendy hadn’t experienced since she’d met Evan. Panic, strong as a snow blast, froze her heart. Evan had been the best thing that had ever happened to her. When he’d asked her to marry him, she’d felt secure, believing that his love would enfold her forever. Why was she so fearful? Was it because she couldn’t understand why Evan would shove his plans for the future on the back burner to rush home because his father was in the hospital?
Panic-stricken, she wondered if Evan ever had to choose between his family and her, would she be in second place? Wendy could hardly bear the pain of it all. For a couple of hours, she’d had a glimpse of paradise. Now in light of Karl Kessler’s illness, paradise was only a dim shadow.
Ashamed of putting her own wishes ahead of Evan’s sorrow, she said tenderly, “I’m so sorry, Evan. What can I do to help?”
He started to say, “Pray for me,” but he doubted that Wendy ever prayed. “You can go with me to my apartment and help pack. I’ll take everything with me, since I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
Although annoyed because she was thinking about herself when Evan was so upset, his words startled Wendy like the passage of a fire truck in the middle of the night. But Evan needed her compassion now, so she lifted his hand and kissed each finger.
“Sure, I’ll help you pack. And don’t worry. Your dad will probably be better by the time you get home.”
“Did you choose a ring you like?” Evan asked, trying to change the subject.
“Not really. Let’s forget about the ring until you come back,” she said, refusing to believe he wouldn’t return to Florida.
Wendy walked quietly beside Evan to his truck, still wondering why his father’s illness had shattered him. Evan was such an even-tempered man; hardly anything ever frustrated him. But in his concern for his father’s health, she sensed his total devotion to his family.
Wendy had rarely seen her father since her parents’ divorce when she was eight. So it was difficult for her to understand the close ties between Evan and his father. As they drove to the complex where Evan lived, he talked about growing up on the farm, and of the farmwork, the fishing and hunting trips he’d shared with his father. Wendy gained a vague understanding of what she’d missed by not having a father around while growing up.
Everything in Evan’s apartment was organized, so in less than two hours, his belongings were gathered into the boxes he’d saved when he’d moved into the apartment in August. As he’d hurriedly packed, Wendy had carried the lighter boxes down the single flight of stairs to his truck.
The empty apartment saddened Wendy because it seemed as if he was leaving for good. Evan’s rent was paid through the end of the school year, however, so maybe he would return after Christmas.
Evan’s lips were surprisingly gentle when he kissed her goodbye before they left the apartment. Tears trembled on her eyelids, and Evan wiped them away.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart, and make it worse for me. I don’t want to leave you, but I must be with my family when they need me. I may not be gone long.”
He gave her money to pay for a taxi back to her dorm. “If I leave from here, I’ll save an hour of driving time. You don’t mind taking a taxi, do you?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. You should get started as soon as possible.”
Wendy stifled her tears as she stood in front of the apartment building and watched Evan drive away. Once he was out of sight, she leaned against the building and tears of deep frustration trickled down her cheeks. Was this the end of her relationship with Evan?
Chapter Two
A mass exodus of students heading home for the Thanksgiving weekend had almost emptied the dorm where Wendy lived. She welcomed the quietness. Her thoughts still centered around her relationship with Evan, which, in a few months, had catapulted from friendship to a romance.
One of Wendy’s closest friends stuck her head in the door to say goodbye before she hurried to catch a bus to the airport. As Wendy gathered the items she’d need over the weekend, she wished she could be as excited as the other students about going home. Her four years at the University of Florida had been the happiest time of her life. Since she lived less than a hundred miles away, she went home at least once a month. If she saw her mother only once or twice during the school year, would she look forward to going home? Holidays at the Kenworth apartment weren’t joyous occasions. After her mother had spent long hours working in the department store during the Thanksgiving to Christmas rush, she spent most of her holidays in bed.
Noting that it was almost two o’clock, Wendy shouldered her backpack, picked up a suitcase and hustled to meet a friend who would drop her off at home.
Wendy’s friend was a fast driver. They arrived at the apartment building in Jacksonville before Wendy was ready to face her mother. Wendy’s excitement over Evan’s proposal had been dimmed somewhat by his rapid departure, but she wondered if her mother would sense her daughter’s heightened emotions?
Emmalee Kenworth was overly perceptive where her daughter was concerned, and Wendy knew it would be difficult to keep her mother unaware of her inner excitement and turmoil over the day’s activities. Evan had made such a difference in her life that Wendy was amazed she’d been able to conceal their relationship from her mother for the past few months. Now that Evan had asked her to marry him, she knew that she must tell her mother about him.
Hand on the doorknob, Wendy stopped and took a deep breath before she entered the combination kitchen-living room of their three-room apartment.
“Hello, dear,” Emmalee called. Wendy went into the kitchen area where her mother was placing silverware on the table.
Wendy had inherited her mother’s attractive features, but Emmalee Kenworth was only a shadow of the beauty she’d been in her youth. She was excessively thin, and her mouth had a perpetual droop. Emmalee’s expertly applied makeup did little to hide the unhappiness in her eyes resulting from her broken marriage. She worked in the women’s clothing section at a local department store, and she had her pick of fashionable clothes at a discount, so she and Wendy were always well dressed.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” Emmalee said. “I brought sweet-and-sour chicken with rice and salad from the deli. I’ll put the meat in the microwave to warm now that you’re here.”
“That sounds good. I’m hungry.”
Wendy brought a pitcher of tea from the refrigerator and poured a glass for each of them before she took her accustomed place at the small table. Emmalee served the food in the deli containers, saying, “We won’t have many dishes to wash.”
“Are you working tonight?”
“No, thank goodness. Our store has been a madhouse this week. I think people start their Christmas shopping earlier every year. I’m off tomorrow, but, as usual, the day after Thanksgiving will be the busiest day of the year at the store. It’s hard to tell when I’ll get home Friday night. I have to work Saturday and Sunday, too, so we won’t see each other much this weekend.”
“That’s all right. I have a research paper to finish, and I want to start studying for finals.”
Emmalee talked about problems at the store, and Wendy answered when it was necessary. With her mind full of Evan’s proposal, and his sudden trip to Ohio, she couldn’t think of anything else.
“I’ve arranged for you to work at the store during the Christmas holidays. I know you’d be bored staying home while I’m away, and we can use the extra money.”
Wendy’s thoughts strayed, remembering that Evan wanted her to come to his home during their Christmas break. But considering his father’s illness, the invitation would probably be withdrawn.
Realizing that her mother was staring at her, Wendy tried to keep her features composed. She knew she hadn’t succeeded when her face colored under Emmalee’s suspicious look.
“Wh-what did you say, Mother?” she stammered.
“I asked if you preferred to work in the lingerie or housewares department?”
“I don’t know much about housewares, but either place will be okay.”
They cleared the table in silence, and Emmalee carried a cup of coffee into the living room. Sitting in her lounge chair, she looked at Wendy, who had curled up on the couch, the television remote in her hand.
“Do you have anything to tell me?” Emmalee asked, an apprehensive look in her eyes. “You’ve been staring into space most of the evening.”
“No. Well, maybe I should tell you,” Wendy began uncertainly. Suspecting that her news would hurt and anger her mother, she hesitated, searching for an easy way to explain about Evan. There didn’t seem to be an easy way, so she tried a direct approach. “For the past three months, I’ve been dating a man at the university. He’s asked me to marry him.”
A groan escaped Emmalee’s lips, and her face turned the color of ashes. Alarmed, Wendy bounded off the couch, went to Emmalee and put her arm around her mother’s shoulder.
“Mother, are you all right?”
Slowly, Emmalee regained her composure, and shrugged off her embrace. When she looked at Wendy, her eyes were filled with anger.
“How could I be all right when you’ve sprung such news on me? Are you pregnant?”
The gasp that escaped Wendy’s lips sounded loud in the uneasy silence of the room.
“Of course not!”
“Well, what else can I think? You’ve been dating someone for months and you haven’t even mentioned him before this? Suddenly, he asks you to marry him. Who is this man? Why haven’t you told me about him?”
Wendy wanted to say, “Because I knew you’d react the way you are now.” Instead, she said, “I didn’t know how serious he was until today when he asked me to marry him.”
“Surely you didn’t accept his proposal!”
“Yes, I did.”
Emmalee lunged out of her chair as if a bee had stung her and she walked nervously around the room. Stark fear, mingled with anger, clouded her eyes.
“When am I going to meet my future son-in-law?”
“I don’t know. He’s a graduate student at the university, working toward his doctorate. He plans to teach agricultural studies in a college. His family lives in Ohio. His father is seriously ill, and he had to go home today. He doesn’t know when he’ll come back to Florida.”
Without a word, Emmalee went into her bedroom and slammed the door. Fighting back tears, Wendy turned on the television and stared at the screen the rest of the evening. She had no idea what programs she watched.
Although, at first, Wendy’s news had stunned Emmalee to silence, the rest of the weekend, during their time together, Emmalee grilled Wendy about Evan.
Did he have any money?
If they married, would she move to Ohio?
When did they plan to marry?
And what about me? Are you going to abandon me?
After two days of this, Wendy was in no mood to deal with Evan’s problems when he called at her mom’s apartment. She was more concerned with Evan’s feelings for her, rather than his family’s troubles, but she did ask immediately, “How is your father?”
“Not good,” Evan said grimly. “The doctors have told us he’ll live, but his recovery will be slow. He may never regain the strength he had before his stroke. It could take a year for his rehabilitation.”
“I’m sorry, Evan.”
“I’m sorry, too. Not only for Daddy, but for you and me.”
Wendy’s joy over his phone call diminished sharply.
“What do you mean?” Wendy asked, a chill starting in the pit of her stomach and pulsing rapidly through the rest of her body. Because of the continual animosity between Wendy and her mother during the weekend, Wendy realized that her love for Evan had taken second place to her reliance on him as a ticket to a way out of her present situation.
“It means I can’t come back to Florida next semester to finish my research for the doctoral thesis. I’ll have to take over the farm management—there’s no one else to do it.”
“But you’re already registered for next semester!” Wendy said, her body stiff with shock.
“I can probably handle most of the work online. If not, my Ph.D. will have to be postponed.”
“What about me?” Wendy’s heart seemed to shout as she voiced the question. But she’d lived with her mother’s possessiveness long enough to know what it was like to demand attention. Wendy had made up her mind years ago that she wouldn’t beg for affection from anyone, and she was irritated that she’d asked the question.
The silence that greeted his comment stabbed at Evan’s heart. “We can still be engaged, Wendy. And after you graduate in the spring, we’ll be married. You can come here to live.”
Live on a farm when she’d fleetingly envisioned being the wife of a college professor! Disappointment turned Wendy into the kind of shrew she despised.
“The Bible says that a man is supposed to leave his mother and father and stick with his wife.”
Evan laughed shortly, surprised that she knew anything about the Bible. “When did you learn that?”
