Hopeful Read online

  Dedication

  To anyone who has ever volunteered to help someone

  learn to read. I hope you found, like I did, that it was

  time well spent.

  Epigraph

  Having hope will give you courage.

  Job 11:18

  It is far more important to be the right person than to find the right person.

  Amish Proverb

  Contents

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Epilogue

  P.S. Section

  About the author

  About the book

  Read on

  Also by Shelley Shepard Gray

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  chapter one

  September

  She was late.

  Holding her canvas tote bag in one hand and a box of oatmeal-raisin cookies in the other, Miriam Zehr exited her house, darted down her street, turned left on Main Street, and almost ran down old Mr. Sommers.

  With a grunt, he stepped to the side, his garden hose spraying a good bit of water onto her skirts before settling back onto his daffodils.

  She skidded to a stop. “I’m sorry, Eli.”

  He merely raised one eyebrow. “Late again, Miriam?”

  “Jah.” As discreetly as possible, she shook her blue apron and dress a bit. A few drops flew from the fabric, glinting in the morning sun.

  He shook his head in exasperation. “One day you’re going to injure someone with your haste.”

  She winced. “I know. And I am sorry, Eli.”

  Looking at the box in her hand, his voice turned wheedling. “Those cookies?”

  “They’re oatmeal-raisin.” When his eyes brightened, she set down her tote and carefully opened the box. “Care for one?”

  After setting the hose down, he reached in and pulled out two plump cookies. “Girl who cooks as gut as you should be married by now.”

  She’d heard the same refrain almost as often as she’d run late for work. “I’ve often thought the same thing,” she said as she picked up her tote again. “But for now, I must be on my way.”

  “Have a care, now.” He shook one arthritic finger at her. “Not everyone’s as spry as me, you know.”

  “I’ll be careful,” she promised before continuing on her way to work.

  Once at the Sugarcreek Inn, she would put on a crisp white apron. Then, she’d divide her time between baking pies and serving the restaurant’s guests. The whole time, she’d do her best to smile brightly. Chat with customers and her coworkers. And pretend she didn’t yearn for a different life.

  But first, she had to get to work on time.

  “Going pretty fast today, Miriam,” Joshua Graber called out from the front porch of his family’s store. “How late are you?”

  “Only five minutes. Hopefully.”

  He laughed. “Good luck. Stop by soon, wouldja? Gretta would love to see you.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Now that the Inn was finally in view, she slowed her pace and began to stroll to the restaurant, trying to catch her breath.

  As she got closer, she forced herself to look at the building with a critical eye. There were places where it needed some touching up. A fresh coat of paint. One of the windowsills needed to be replaced.

  The landscaping around the front door was a little shaggy, a little overgrown. It needed a bit of sprucing up, a little bit of tender loving care.

  Kind of like herself, she supposed. Now that she was twenty-five, she was tired of biding her time, waiting in vain for something new to happen.

  Perhaps it really was time to think about doing something different. Going somewhere new. For too long now she’d been everyone’s helper and assistant. She’d watched her best friends be courted, fall in love, and get married. Most were expecting their first babies. Some, like Josh and Gretta, already had two children.

  Yes, it seemed like everyone had moved forward in their lives except for her.

  The sad thing was that there was no need to stay in Sugarcreek any longer. She had plenty of money saved and even her parents’ blessing to go find her happiness.

  So why hadn’t she done anything yet? Was she afraid . . . or still holding out hope that a certain man would finally notice her and see that she was the perfect girl for him?

  That she’d actually been the perfect one for years now?

  Pushing aside that disturbing thought, she slipped inside the Sugarcreek Inn and prepared to offer her excuses to Jana Kent, the proprietor.

  Her boss was standing by a pair of bookshelves, unboxing more of the knickknacks she’d recently started selling in an attempt to drum up a bit more business and profit for the inn.

  Jana paused when she walked by. “Cutting it close today, Miriam.”

  Glancing up at the clock over the door, Miriam winced. It was ten after nine. Jana had long since given up on Miriam getting to work early or even on time. Now she merely hoped Miriam wouldn’t be too late. “I know. Sorry.”

  “What’s today’s excuse?” Humor lit Jana’s eyes, telling Miriam that while she might feel exasperated, she wasn’t mad.

  Usually, Miriam came up with an amusing story or fib. Over the years, earthquakes had erupted, washing machines had overflowed, ravenous dogs had invaded her yard.

  Today, however, her mind drew a complete blank. “Time simply got away from me this morning.”

  Jana looked almost disappointed. “That’s it?”

  Miriam shrugged weakly. “I’ll come up with a better excuse tomorrow, I’m sure of it.”

  “Miriam Zehr. You are one of my best employees and one of my hardest workers. You always offer to help other people, and you never mind staying late. Why is it so hard for you to get here on time?”

  There were all kinds of reasons. Miriam wasn’t a morning person. She seemed to always sleep in. She hated to get to work early so she waited until the last second to leave her house.

  Unfortunately, though, she feared it was her somewhat irrational way of rebelling against the continual routine of her life. Sometimes her frenetic morning journey to work was the biggest excitement of her day.

  Inching away, she mumbled, “I’ll go put on my apron and get to work.”

  “Thank you, Miriam.”

  Hurrying toward the back, Miriam scanned the tables. Quite a few were empty.

  And then she noticed He was there. Junior Beiler. All six-foot-two inches of brawn. Blond hair and perfection.

  Junior, the object of too many of her daydreams. The boy she’d had a crush on for as long as she could remember. The man she yearned would truly notice her.

  Miriam kept walking, trying not to look his way. Trying not to stare. But she did. And as she did, she noticed that he was staring right back at her. More important, she was sure that something like interest glinted in his blue eyes.


  Feeling her cheeks flush, she darted into the kitchen. But the moment the doors closed behind her, she let herself smile.

  Maybe today, at long last, would be different.

  The moment Junior Beiler saw the kitchen doors swing shut, he grinned at Joe. “You were right, Miriam Zehr works here. I just saw her walk by.”

  Joe’s expression turned smug. “I told you she did.”

  “She just went into the kitchens.” Drumming his fingers on the table, he murmured, “I hope she comes out again soon.”

  Joe chuckled. “And when she does? Are you actually going to talk to her about what’s been on your mind?”

  “Absolutely.” Noticing that his buddy’s expression looked skeptical, he straightened his shoulders a bit. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Just about everything. You can’t simply go asking women about their best friends and expect to get information. It ain’t done, ya know.”

  “Why not?” It made perfect sense to him.

  “A woman isn’t going to give you information if she doesn’t know you.”

  Junior scoffed. As usual, Joe was making a big deal over nothing. “I’ve known Miriam for years. We both have, Joe.”

  “Jah, we went to shool with her, that’s true. And we’re all in the same church district. But let me ask you this, when was the last time you actually talked to her?”

  “I’m pretty sure I said hello to her at church last Sunday.”

  Joe tilted his head slightly. “Did you? Or did you walk right by like you usually do?”

  For the first time, Junior felt vaguely uncomfortable. He was one of eight kids, and he was sandwiched between two girls in his family. Because of that, he’d learned a thing or two about the female mind over the years. “I might have only thought about saying hello,” he said grudgingly.

  Joe looked triumphant. “See?”

  Okay, Joe probably had a point. But his inattentiveness didn’t mean he didn’t like Miriam. He just had never thought about her much.

  Until he realized she’d recently become good friends with Mary Kate Hershberger. Beautiful Mary Kate Hershberger, who had moved to Sugarcreek in August and had quickly caught his unwavering attention.

  Joe grabbed another hot biscuit from the basket on the table and began slathering it with peanut butter spread. “I still think you should get your sister Kaylene to introduce you. After all, Mary Kate is Kaylene’s teacher.”

  “Nee. Kaylene is having trouble in school.” Lowering his voice, he said, “Actually, I’m not certain Kaylene is all that fond of her new teacher.”

  “Don’t see why that matters.”

  “It does.” His youngest sister was eight years old and the apple of his eye. There was no way he was going to use little Kaylene in order to get a date.

  “Why?”

  Luckily, the kitchen doors swung open again, and out came Miriam. She now had on a white apron over her dress, and was holding a coffeepot in her right hand. Seizing his chance, he turned his coffee cup right side up, waited until she was looking his way, and motioned her over.

  Joe raised his brows. “Impressive,” he muttered.

  When she got to their table, her cheeks were flushed. “Kaffi?”

  “Jah. For both of us.”

  After she’d filled both their cups, Joe gave him a little kick.

  Thinking quickly, Junior asked, “So, Miriam, how have you been?”

  She looked a bit startled by the question. “Me? I’ve been gut. Why do you ask?”

  “No reason. It’s just that, well . . . I mean, I haven’t seen you around lately.”

  She looked at him curiously. “Where have you been looking?”

  “Nowhere. I mean, I guess I haven’t seen you anywhere but at gmay, at church. And here,” he added, feeling like a fool.

  Joe groaned as he took another bite of biscuit.

  “Why were you looking? Did you need something?” Miriam asked.

  His tongue was starting to feel like it was too big for his mouth. “Actually, ah . . . yes!” Seizing the opportunity, he added, “I’ve been wantin’ to talk to you about something.”

  She set the coffeepot right on the table. “You have?”

  “Yes. When do you get off work? Can I stop by?”

  “You want to come by my house? Tonight?” Her cheeks pinkened.

  “I do. May I come over?”

  “You may . . . if you’d like. I’ll be off work at four.”

  “Gut. I’ll stop over around six.”

  “Do you need my address?”

  “No, I know where you live. I’ll see you then.”

  Miriam picked up the coffeepot, smiled shyly, then walked on.

  When they were alone again, Junior picked up his coffee cup and took a fortifying sip. “See, Joe? That wasn’t so hard.”

  “It wasn’t so gut.”

  “Really?”

  Joe leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “You, Junior, are an idiot.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m going to go over to Miriam’s house tonight and talk to her about Mary Kate. It’s a gut plan. Wunderbaar.”

  After making sure Miriam wasn’t nearby to overhear, Joe hissed, “Miriam doesna think you’re coming over to ask about Mary Kate. She thinks you’re going courting. How do you think she’s going to feel when she discovers that you only want her help to get Mary Kate’s attention?”

  For the first time, Junior was starting to realize that he should have thought things through a bit more. “Oh. Well, I didn’t think of that. I guess . . . the way I asked . . . It’s not going to go well, is it?”

  “Nope. You’ve truly made a mess of it. This is not good, Junior.”

  Warily, Junior glanced in the direction Joe was looking. Spied Miriam.

  Noticed that she was standing near the hostess station. Her light blue eyes were bright with happiness. She was smiling softly.

  Meeting her gaze, he felt his neck flush.

  He had a sudden feeling that Joe was right. And that was not good.

  Definitely not good at all.

  chapter two

  This had to be the best day of her entire life.

  After twenty-five years of hoping and praying for a change, of doing her best to be happy for her girlfriends when they’d fallen in love, after trying diets and hair tonics unsuccessfully to try to improve her looks, it had happened.

  The boy she’d always wanted had finally looked her way.

  God had finally answered her prayers! “Danke, Got,” she whispered. For a moment, she considered reminding Him that she probably hadn’t needed to wait quite so long for His blessings . . . but she decided against that.

  After all, anyone who was anyone knew that the Lord worked in mysterious ways.

  Standing behind one of the stainless steel counters in the kitchen, Miriam couldn’t stop smiling. She wasn’t sure what she’d done to finally attract the attention of Junior Beiler, but she wasn’t about to question her good fortune. After years of looking at him longingly, he’d finally looked back.

  And now he was coming to call that very evening!

  Across the vast commercial kitchen, her three coworkers kept glancing at her curiously. Finally, Marla spoke. “I’ve never seen you so happy to roll out piecrust. Why are you in such a wonderful-gut mood?”

  Miriam was tempted to share her news. Marla was a good friend, just a few years older than herself, and recently married. Miriam knew that she’d relish hearing about a new romance. But even more tempting was the chance to hold Junior’s sudden interest close to her heart.

  After all, there would be plenty of time for everyone to comment about their relationship when he took her out walking or for a buggy ride.

  “I’m frayt today, that’s all,” she said airily.

  Marla exchanged glances with Ruth and Christina. “Do you believe that our Miriam is simply happy, girls?”

  “Not even for a minute,” Ruth answered, even though, at fif
ty, she was far from a girl. Ruth had been married, widowed, and now worked at the Sugarcreek Inn beside them in a way that made Miriam forget that she hadn’t always been there. And even though Ruth was English and favored faded jeans and T-shirts instead of dresses, aprons, and kapps, she was definitely one of their gang. “Come on, Miriam, give us a hint. Jana is in quite the mood today. Every time she comes in here, she fusses. Tell us something good.”

  Miriam grabbed a handful of flour and took her time spreading it on the counter. “You all make too much of things. I’m merely happy, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “There is if it’s a plain old Thursday in September. Which it is,” Ruth declared as she poured three cups of cream into the electric mixer. “I know, you’ve finally booked one of those trips you’re always talking about. Which one are you going on? The weekend in Shipshewana? The bus tour to Colorado?”

  “My happiness has nothing to do with trips.”

  Christina Kempf, twenty-two and adorable, looked over her shoulder while she did the dishes at the sink. As usual, her white kapp and violet dress looked as neat as a pin. “Does it involve a boy?”

  Miriam wanted to continue to play it cool, but Christina’s question made her toss the rest of her resolve out the window.

  These were some of her best friends. If she couldn’t share her news with them, she didn’t know who she’d share the news with.

  “Yes,” she finally announced with a broad smile. “Yes, it does. The best thing just happened when I went out to the dining room to pour coffee. It was so wonderful-gut I can hardly believe it.”

  Ruth turned off the mixer. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Tell us!”

  “And be quick about it, Miriam,” Marla said with a broad grin. “I’m already imagining all kinds of things.”

  Miriam breathed deep. “Junior Beiler asked if he could stop by my house tonight,” she blurted in a rush. “He said he has something he wanted to talk to me about.”

  After turning off the faucet, Christina rushed to her side. “Oh, Miriam, he’s going courting!”

  “I think so,” Miriam agreed. “After all, why else would be want to come over to my haus?”

  “I certainly can’t think of another reason,” Ruth said.