Seasons of Tomorrow by Cindy Woodsmall

Author:Cindy Woodsmall [Woodsmall, Cindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-72999-6
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Published: 2014-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

Jacob pushed the swing, and Casey gave a delighted squeal. Was he really heading back to the farm later today? He wanted Phoebe well, but, man, everything in him rebelled against the idea of returning.

Casey giggled. “Higher!”

“To the moon, little one.” Jacob responded as if there weren’t a miserable weight sitting on his chest.

If Esther had been who she’d pretended to be, he might consider calling her. He certainly needed to talk about having to return to the farm and what was happening with Phoebe. But he wasn’t so desperate for a friend that she could lie to him and he’d come back for more. Besides, friendships weren’t really all that important. He knew lots of men who had no real friendships, only coworkers. What was so bad about that?

He took a deep breath of the crisp spring air.

Sandra sat in a lounge chair nearby, watching Casey and sipping on hot tea. She caught Jacob’s eye and smiled. Her regimen of meds seemed to be working well, and she had a steady job as a receptionist at a medical office. When Casey started preschool this fall, Sandra was going to enroll in classes to get certified in medical billing and coding. If she passed, she’d almost double her current hourly wage. Moreover, it’d be a good boost to her morale.

At least he’d done one thing right lately. Sandra had needed this extended visit. While he was working on the play set, she had spent time outside helping him and had met several neighbors.

How different the past two weeks had been, him meeting neighbors and being able to hold conversations with them without fearing they’d learn his secrets. But as long ago as his secretive days felt, they’d been behind him for just a little more than a year.

Jacob continued pushing Casey.

“Jacob, I want down now!”

Jacob didn’t flinch. “Casey, doodlebug, I want to be asked nicely.”

“Mom!” Casey yelled.

Jacob held up his index finger, telling Sandra to stay where she was. He pushed the swing again. “If you’re too tired to be nice, you can go inside and sit. No toys, no television.”

Casey didn’t say anything while Jacob continued to push her. She finally glanced over her shoulder. “Dear Uncle Jacob, would you help me stop swinging now, please?”

Okay, so it was overkill laced with teasing, but he slowed the swing. “Why, yes, little doodlebug.”

Despite having referred to him as dad, according to Sandra’s text message, Casey was now calling Jacob uncle, thanks to Sandra’s prompting. Casey managed to say the word uncle only some of the time, but the title had been necessary as he and Sandra met her neighbors. Everyone used a specific connection when introducing one another: spouse, partner, roommate, son, daughter, or, in his case, uncle.

Visitor. Stranger. Those were the words that described him to the people he lived with when moving from one Amish community to the next to work. But he enjoyed going up and down the East Coast, even when traveling by bus and train. Where others found it exhausting, he found it invigorating.

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