Love's Dwelling by Kelly Irvin

Author:Kelly Irvin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2021-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Clouds stifled the moonlight. Darkness blanketed the house. The porch light was out again. Mason fumbled with the keys, finally unlocked the door, and stepped inside, glad to be out of the cold. Only the air was no warmer inside than it had been outside. He flipped the switch in the hallway. A tepid light bathed the decrepit area rug but not much beyond it.

“Welcome home, Mason,” he murmured and laughed. The sound reverberated in the empty hallway. More talking to himself. At least this time he hadn’t answered. He’d spent the last few hours driving around Wichita to Bobby’s favorite haunts. The skateboard park. The diner where he and his friends gathered after school for Cokes, fries, and clowning around, trying to impress the girls. The movie theater where he went to dollar matinees with his first girlfriend.

Nothing. He didn’t know Bobby’s friends. Had Bobby even stayed in touch with them after they were sent to live with Job and Dinah? He probably felt like he’d never see them again.

Mason walked through the house, turning on lights. It wouldn’t really make a difference. The little time Mason had spent in the Keims’ house had shown him the difference between a house and a home. The warmth and the light in their home had nothing to do with the propane lamp, the flames in the fireplace, or the cookstove in the kitchen. Love made it a home.

Family made it a home. Having someone to yell out, “Hey, I’m glad you’re here, glad you made it home.” The aroma of food cooking and the sound of dishes clinking and women chattering made it a home. Did all Plain folks have homes like the Keims’, or was it just them?

Mason would lay odds most Amish homes were like that. They had a way about them. A serenity, a calm, a peace that a person didn’t see every day.

At least he hadn’t. So get over it. With a groan Mason tromped through the dining room to the kitchen.

An empty cheese wrapper had been left on the counter next to a dirty skillet. Mason always cleaned up after himself after he cooked. Otherwise the cockroaches took over.

Bobby.

He hadn’t bothered to return the fake butter to the refrigerator. Or tie off the bag that held what was left of a loaf of white sandwich bread. The kid liked his grilled cheese sandwich, but he was in a hurry.

Bobby didn’t have a key. How had he entered the house? Mason strode to the back door. Cold air wafted through its single, now broken, window. Anger blew through Mason, warming him. “Just wait until I get my hands on you.”

He might have some old wood in the garage he could use to patch the hole. But first, what else needed fixing? What else had Bobby done while in the house? Mason made the rounds to the living room and then the bedrooms. They were already bare. Mason had taken most of their stuff to the Keims’ already.

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