MENDING FENCES by Brooke Williams Page A

than she usually made it to the shed.  Eldon was likely working on his latest table creation, wondering where she was.  The last thing she wanted to do was break his heart, but she knew she couldn’t see him again until she had a more distinct answer about how their future might take shape.  When she didn’t show up by afternoon, he would assume she returned home and he would be happy for her, even if he was sad for himself.
                Though Maria hated the idea of leaving him waiting, she felt that she was doing the right thing.  She would go home, talk with her parents, straighten things out, and then return to him with the good news.  He could come back and they could be together.  It was the only path that made sense.
                Maria waited patiently at Cooper’s store, watching the street until she saw a horse and buggy make its way down the highway and stop in front of the store.  She could tell from a long way off that the man in the buggy was not her father.  It was not his turn to make a supply run and he would not have traded in time from the field for very many occasions.  He had dropped her off and that had been enough.
                Maria raised a hand to wave to her uncle.  Since he was along in his years, he was often sent to get supplies because he could no longer handle the backbreaking fieldwork.
                “Ah, Maria,” he said with a pleasant smile on his face.  “I have a few items to get and then we can head back home.”
                Maria liked the way the word “home” sounded coming from her uncle’s mouth.  He embraced her tightly on his way into the store and Maria placed her small suitcase in the buggy and climbed in after it.  She looked down the street, almost hoping to catch a glimpse of Eldon near the furniture store.  By now, he surely would know that she wasn’t coming.  She prayed that he didn’t think he had scared her off.  It was too late to change her mind, Maria realized, as her uncle returned to the buggy with a large box and directed the horse to begin its walk.
                Silence permeated the buggy as Maria and her uncle hit the highway.  She knew that her uncle would listen if she wanted to talk about her Rumspringa, but the tradition was to talk to one’s parents and siblings about the experience first and Maria did not want any details to slip out to anyone but them.  They deserved to hear about her journey and her love directly from her and they deserved to be the first to know.
                Maria listened to the buzz of the cars as they raced past and she remembered what she had felt on her way into town for the very first time.  Every little detail had overwhelmed her.  The TV…the mirror…the boys on the sidewalk.  But all of those things seemed so long ago and so insignificant compared to what she found with Eldon.  Maria spent the rest of the trip in prayer, her head bowed and her hands folded in her lap.  She prayed for their future and she prayed for a quick resolution.  She also prayed that God give her the words to correctly explain everything so that things could be set in order.
                When Maria arrived home, she was graced with the sights and smells that were so familiar to her.  The air felt different around her as she smelled freshly baked bread and the dirt that was being turned over in the fields.  She saw familiar, friendly faces and issued excited waves to many of the people she missed so much.  As she passed each person on the way to her house, she only wished that she could add one more face to the community.  Eldon needed to be where he belonged.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
     
                Maria walked through the front door of her house with a smile on her face.  She enjoyed the greetings from her fellow community members as she rode past, but there was