Planted with Hope by Tricia Goyer Page B

me to talk to.” How could he explain to an eight-year-old that he needed to have the conversation to put a halt to Ruth Ann’s idea before she talked to anyone about it? If Ruth Ann was anything, she was persuasive. And if she wanted something it usually happened.
    â€œDo you want to have a garden here at the pie shop?” Emma eyed him curiously. Then she scratched her head, looking through the window at the display case. “Vegetable pie doesn’t sound good.”
    â€œIt was just an idea—that your aunt had. There’s a nice piece of land in the back, but I’m sure that it’ll be too much work to follow through with. Especially with us leaving.”
    â€œHope is a gardener.” Emma pointed to the flowers that filled the planter and spilled over. “She planted these.”
    â€œShe did?” Jonas looked at the pot closer. It was a perfect mix of color and fragrance. There were no shriveled flowers or dry leaves. If Hope tended these flowers she clearly took pride in her work.
    â€œ Ja . Hope said she’d liked vegetables more than flowers, and she’d like to be a gardener again.” Emma shrugged. “I think it’s sad that she can’t be.”
    â€œHow do you know this? When did you talk to her?”
    â€œLast week—the day we got to town.” Emma swung against his arm, pulling gently from side to side as she talked. “Aenti Ruth Ann took me for pie, but I wanted ice cream. It was melted all over my hands, and Hope cleaned it off. She was taking care of her flowers.”
    â€œSo when you were at the creek, that was the second time you saw Hope?”
    Emma nodded. “ Ja .”
    â€œAnd Hope told you the first time that she wished she had a garden?” Jonas pushed back his hat and rubbed his brow where the brim had rested. “Do you know if Aenti Ruth Ann heard her say that?”
    Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. I had two scoops and it was too big. And too sticky.”
    Jonas nodded, pretending to be interested in Emma’s ice cream but mostly wondering if his sister had something up her sleeve with this garden idea. Was Ruth Ann trying to play matchmaker? He wouldn’t put it past her. But the truth was, hearing that Hope wished for a garden made him reconsider his conversation with Lovina.
    He’d planned on presenting the idea of a garden to Lovina, and then he’d back himself out of the commitment. After all, he was a busy man. But Emma’s words made him wonder. If he did help start a garden, would Hope Miller want to get involved?
    A garden was a lot of work, but it wouldn’t be without benefits. He could use it for his classes, and if it helped him to get to know Hope Miller better, why, that would be a bonus. And there’d be produce for the community.
    Something inside Jonas told him he had to try. It would be a good project for Emma to be involved in while she was in Pinecraft. And if nothing else came of it, he’d have some time with his daughter—time he never seemed to get while tending the farm back home.
    Jonas walked into the pie shop and found a booth. When the waitress came by he ordered a slice of old-fashioned cream pie to split with Emma, and then he asked if it would be possible to talk to Lovina Miller.
    The waitress smiled. “Lovina’s busy but I’ll see what I can do. Can I tell her what it’s about?”
    â€œIt’s about a garden!” Emma blurted out. “Dat wants to grow one here in the back.”
    The young waitress lifted an eyebrow. “A garden?”
    She looks familiar, Jonas thought. In fact, she looks a little like Hope.
    He squirmed in his seat, wondering if she was one of Hope’s sisters. Worried that she was. Word spread quickly in Amish communities. Many times an idea became a solid plan when passed along by excited lips.
    Just as they finished their last bite, the owner of the pie shop, Lovina Miller, walked