A Starling's Redemption

A House, or a Home?

By the next morning the rain had stopped, and the clouds had departed. The sun was shining brightly through the front windows. While we were eating breakfast, I was looking out at the backyard through the sliding glass door. I commented on how 'ruggedly beautiful' it was.

We were surrounded by a mixed forest of conifers, and deciduous trees. There were ferns and low brush, with trails forged by wildlife. Neighboring properties had homes, forest, and farm fields. A few of those places had livestock for at least part of the year. It was so quiet most of the time that Josh would do homework outdoors on nicer days. I commented on how different everything looks when it's not manicured, like it is at my parents' home.

After we'd finished breakfast, Josh announced, "I really need to visit the neighbors I've been neglecting since Friday afternoon." He had called them, so they knew he was coming a couple of days late.

It was still quite wet out, and muddy in places.

Josh asked Helen, "Would you be willing to let Amanda borrow your rubber boots?" She said yes. I was shocked.

"You want me to go with you?"

"You are coming with me, Amanda. I want them to meet the reason I was delayed." Helen gave him a dirty look. We still hadn't discussed our past with his family.

I was wearing a pair of Josh's sweatpants, wool socks, long sleeve flannel shirt, and a coat I borrowed from Robert. I put on Helen's rubber boots. I'd never worn anything like them. They felt extremely awkward, so watching me trying to walk in them was almost comical to Josh, and his parents. After a few minutes I felt a little more confident, so we walked out to Josh's pick-up.

We arrived a few minutes later at our first stop, Mrs. Richardson's. She's a widow who lives alone on the farm where she and her husband had lived for many decades. They had raised their family, along with various crops, and her sons still farm the land. Her kids don't live too far away, but they don't visit as often as they should.

When Mrs. Richardson saw us pull in, she stepped out onto her front porch. She appeared to be quite excited. She assumed Josh had a new girlfriend, and wanted to boast.

"Wow, Josh! She's gorgeous! How long have you two been a couple?"

"Mrs. Richardson, I would like you to meet Amanda Talmage. She's not my girl, just a classmate who stayed with us the last couple days. She'll be going home soon."

"That's a real shame. I mean, the two of you are such a handsome couple, and you'll make the cutest babies!" Josh and I both blushed.

I addressed her, "Mrs. Richardson, Josh and I are merely friends, and barely that. His family was kind enough to allow me into their home in my time of need, but that's all. We are not romantically entangled."

Mrs. Richardson replied, "Well you should be! I see the way you're looking at him. I know that look. You two belong together. If you don't at least try, you will be missing out on the best boy in the whole valley, and you'll regret it!" I looked at Josh, and rolled my eyes.

"Okay, Mrs. Richardson. We'll talk seriously about dating."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. And Josh does, too."

He unloaded the stuff he had for her, and made sure her firewood bin was full. We said our goodbyes. Mrs. Richardson's parting comment was presumptuous:

"Don't forget to invite me to your wedding!" Once we were in Josh's pick-up, I commented on how badly Mrs. Richardson wanted us married. All Josh could do was agree. We moved on to our next stop.