All Roads Lead Home. Christine Johnson

Felicity chuckled. “I’m sure he hasn’t. Give them time.”

       “I hope you’re right.” Mariah tugged on a lock of hair.

       The fact that Felicity couldn’t know the reason for her trip made this parting more difficult. Mariah had to bury any misgivings and pretend the drive would progress without a hitch, but she knew Gabe was right. A host of problems could derail her effort.

       By the time Hendrick parked the Overland in front of the parsonage, her anxiety level had escalated. It got even worse when he unfolded his lean frame from the driver’s seat. The sun accentuated his broad shoulders and muscular arms. She would have to be close to that, to him, every day for the next month.

       “Doesn’t Hendrick look handsome?” Felicity said.

       Mariah did not need her sister-in-law’s observations. The sight of him made her tremble. “He’s changed.”

       Felicity nodded, a knowing smile on her lips. “He studied the last two years and received his high school diploma. Jack Hunter taught him drafting so he could make blueprints for his engine designs. Jack says he’s brilliant and could go far.”

       Mariah couldn’t take another minute of Felicity’s glowing accolades. She grabbed her valise. “It’s time to go.”

       “I’ll fetch Gabe and Luke.” Felicity headed for the kitchen.

       Mariah wished she could leave without the heart-tugging farewells, but Felicity would have none of it. While her sister-in-law vanished into the kitchen, Mariah carried her valise onto the porch.

       “Mariah, Mariah!” Anna leaned out the backseat window. “Can you believe we’re actually going? I can hardly wait. Will we see Lake Michigan? And Chicago? Hendrick says it’s a huge city with buildings so tall you can’t see the tops.”

       Anna rattled off her questions so quickly that Mariah had no hope of answering, so she nodded and smiled and let Hendrick take her valise. Their hands brushed, and the same electricity coursed through her. Hopefully, he didn’t notice.

       “Sis.” Gabe hefted a small crate down the porch steps. “Thought you’d sneak away, did you?”

       “What on earth are you carrying?”

       “Provisions. Tins of food, matches, a hatchet, everything you’ll need for camping.”

       “But I already have supplies and a tent.” Mariah pointed to the half-full backseat. “There’s no room for more.”

       “I’ll make it fit.” Hendrick lifted the heavy crate from Gabe’s arms like it weighed no more than a sheet of paper.

       My, he was strong. Mariah fanned her suddenly hot face.

       Hendrick unpacked the crate and somehow wedged the contents into the backseat without forcing Anna out.

       Meanwhile, Gabe pulled her aside. “My prayers go with you.” He held her face in his hands. “Find the truth.”

       His eyes looked tired, and the lines around his mouth had deepened.

       She hugged him. “I won’t fail you.”

       The dreaded round of farewells began when Felicity and Luke joined them in the yard. Mariah managed to say goodbye without shedding a tear.

       “When are you coming back, Aunt Mariah?” Luke solemnly asked.

       “Soon,” she said, praying that her return would not be to take him west.

       Gabe gave her a bear hug. “Godspeed, sis. May He guide your every step.” Though he didn’t say more, both knew where they wanted the Lord to guide her.

       “I’ll let you know where you can reach us when we arrive.” She pretended to smile even while choking back tears. “Call or cable if the baby comes early.”

       “Of course.”

       Then she had to walk away. How she loved them all. They stood together, Gabe’s hand on Luke’s shoulder, confirming to the world that Luke was his son. Felicity waved, and Mariah lifted a hand in response before heading to the driver’s-side door.

       She reached for the handle at the same time as Hendrick. Their hands met, generating another jolt of electricity.

       “Thank you,” she said stiffly, “but it’s not necessary to open the door for me.”

       He flushed. “Uh, I thought…that is, I assumed…”

       “Thought what?”

       Felicity laughed and motioned her to the passenger seat. Apparently, she wasn’t supposed to drive. But this was her car. She always drove. Why must she turn over control simply because a man was in the car? She started to protest but then decided, in the interest of peace, to relinquish the wheel.

       “For now,” she explained. “We will share driving.”

       Before Hendrick could protest, she walked around the car to the passenger side, but he’d scrambled to get there before her and, by virtue of his long legs, managed to pull the door open just before she arrived.

       Anna groaned. “I hope you’re not going to be like this the whole way.”

       “I can’t imagine what you mean.” Mariah took her seat with regal formality.

       “Goodbye,” Felicity called out again as Hendrick got into the car.

       At last they were ready to go. Hendrick set the spark and throttle levers in preparation for starting the car.

       Mariah pushed the throttle back a bit. “It doesn’t need that much.”

       Hendrick glared at her. “I think I know how to start a car.”

       She crossed her arms. “I think I know my car better than anyone else.”

       Anna groaned again. “What is wrong with you two?”

       Neither of them bothered to answer the preposterous question. Hendrick started the car, and Mariah stared straight ahead. His elbow practically butted into her side. No more than six inches separated them on the seat. She couldn’t last two thousand miles that way. At the next stop, she’d drive and insist that Hendrick sit in the back.

       She plastered herself against the door and kept her gaze straight ahead while they drove through Pearlman and past Hendrick’s garage. Mrs. Simmons waved to them from her yard.

       “Goodbye, Mama,” Anna called out.

       “God be with you,” she called back, and Mariah hoped she didn’t know the true reason for their trip.

       She glanced at Hendrick. “Does she…?”

       He must have understood, because he shook his head.

       Soon they left town, driving up the little rise before passing through a tunnel of ancient maples that had somehow missed the lumberman’s ax. On this warm July morning, the dappled shade created an oasis of coolness in the midst of the hot fields.

       “Isn’t this wonderful?” Anna mused, her chin on the back of the front seat between Mariah and Hendrick. “Hendrick comes here all the time. It’s his favorite spot in the whole world.”

       Anna pointed out every barn and unusual tree. Ordinarily the chatter would have driven Mariah to tears, but today it passed the miles and ensured that she didn’t have to talk to Hendrick. Though they couldn’t go much over thirty miles an hour on the rutted road, within a couple hours they reached the West Michigan Pike, the highway that ran along the shore of Lake Michigan.

       “Can we stop to see the lake?” Anna queried from the backseat.

       “May we,” Hendrick corrected.

       Mariah lifted an eyebrow. Hendrick Simmons correcting grammar?

       “May we stop?” Anna sighed.