Joyful by Shelley Shepard Gray Page A

yet.”
    Levi rolled his eyes. “I already made it.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œDon’t you get it, Randall? As much as you seem to believe you’ve got the whole family’s burdens on your shoulders, you don’t. Once more, you never have.”
    Only when he was alone again did Randall dare admit that his little brother was right. He had always been happy, because he had been thinking only about himself.
    And yet again, here he was, thinking only about himself. He was focusing on how much he still wanted Elizabeth in his life. Secretly admitting to himself that he still loved her. But instead of doing something about it, he was behaving like a teenager, finding fault with her instead of himself.
    No, he corrected, thinking of Levi and his words, he was behaving worse than a teenager. He needed to go apologize to her as soon as possible.
    And, he realized with a sense of dismay, there was no better time than the present.
    After all, it seemed that his little brother was taking care of everything else.
    L ess than an hour later, he was riding his bike to Elizabeth’s house. His mind was blank. He truly had no idea how he was going to find the words to apologize to Elizabeth. Or how he was going to be able to convince her to come back to work.
    He hoped the Lord would take pity on him by the time he got to her front door and knocked. It was obvious that, left in his hands, things were going to go just as poorly as ever.
    â€œPlease, Got, help me out here,” he murmured to himself as he knocked, then waited for Elizabeth to answer.
    Then was caught completely off guard by her grandmother instead. “ Gut matin , Anna Mae.”
    She stepped back to let him inside. “And the same to you, Randall. What brings you by here so early this morning?”
    â€œI was hoping to talk to Elizabeth. Is she here?”
    â€œShe is, though I doubt she wants to talk to you.”
    â€œI bet she doesn’t—which, of course, is the exact reason I need to talk to her.”
    â€œOh?”
    Randall was becoming uncomfortably aware that Anna Mae was in no hurry to get Elizabeth—or to let him off the hook. “I messed up things with her yesterday.”
    â€œShe told me that. Matter of fact, she said she weren’t real happy with you.” With a look of distaste, she added, “And that your haus was a mess.”
    â€œOur haus is a mess. But I’m hoping to one day get better. And I’m trying to work out things with her, too.”
    When it was obvious that Anna Mae wasn’t the least bit impressed, he shrugged. “I don’t know what else I can tell you. It’s obvious that I need Elizabeth’s help. At least, it is to me.”
    At last, her eyes sparkled a bit. “Why don’t you go take a seat in the kitchen? I’ll tell Elizabeth that you’ve come to grovel.”
    While she walked down the hall, Randall struggled to keep a straight face. She was exactly right; he’d come to lay his ineptitude in front of her with the hope that she was going to take pity on him.
    He wandered into the kitchen. It looked just as it had when he used to come calling. It wasn’t a fancy kitchen, but perfectly suited to Elizabeth. She was a unique combination of traditional Amish values with just a splash of modern sparkle.
    They’d spent so many evenings simply sitting on the kitchen stools next to the counter sipping hot chocolate, and talking. Being in the room again fairly took his breath away. The walls were painted a butter yellow. The cabinets were old, but had been painted a soft blue. The counters were made of white tile. The floor was highly polished cherrywood. Pots and pans hung from a large iron holder above the butcher block in the center of the room. All of the pots and pans were stainless steel and sparkled like they’d just come from the store.
    He knew, however, that they were years old. Elizabeth merely cared for them just