Page 21 of A Hidden Hope
As they walked toward the buggy, the awkwardness trailed along behind them like an unwanted shadow.
Not a word was spoken. Gus opened the buggy door for her with a polite nod, then paused.
“Let’s walk instead,” he said, as if the thought just struck him.
“It’ll give us more time together without—” He stopped mid-sentence, catching himself.
“My mother,” Annie finished for him, a smile tugging at her lips despite herself.
Gus smiled back, and just like that, the tension between them began to crack, the way ice splinters under the warmth of the sun.
Before long, the awkwardness melted entirely, and they slipped back into the easy rhythm they used to share—him talking about his EMT work, and her sharing stories of patients at Dok’s.
They walked along the road but soon decided to take a more scenic route, cutting through farms. Climbing over a wooden fence, they crossed through a horse pasture, the ground still soft and damp from the afternoon rainstorm.
The cool air gusted around them, carrying the clean scent of rain-soaked grass.
They passed Edith Lapp’s clothesline, where forgotten clothes hung heavy, still dripping from the storm.
A few cows at Jimmy Fisher’s farm grazed nearby, eyeing them with mild curiosity.
They skirted around a bright red barn, its paint vivid against the lush green fields.
When they reached the creek that ran along the edge of Beacon Hill, they rejoined the road, the field too mushy from the rain to continue.
“So, Annie, when do you want to go on the ride-along? My partner’s been asking.”
She looked away so he wouldn’t catch her cringing. “I’m sorry, Gus. I haven’t thought about it.”
“You haven’t thought about it?”
She glanced at him. “It’s just ... the office has been so busy.”
“What about this Saturday afternoon? Dok’s office is closed.”
“Well, you see, Saturday afternoon is my catch-up time.”
His brow furrowed. “Catching up with what? What’s more important right now than becoming an EMT?”
Getting over motion sickness , that’s what.
When she took too long to answer, he said, “You’d tell me, wouldn’t you, if you’ve changed your mind about becoming an EMT?”
She stopped abruptly, shaking her head, hard. “I haven’t.”
“If you’re waffling, I hope you know it’s okay. I get it.” His obvious concern for her was touching. “A lot of people can’t handle it. There’s dark stuff out there.”
“No, that’s not it.” She wasn’t afraid of dark stuff!
It wasn’t the thought of becoming an EMT that had her second-guessing everything.
It was the queasy, sickening, dizzying feeling that overcame her whenever she was in any vehicle going faster than fifteen miles an hour.
Such a small thing, and yet it was everything.
This simple issue had the power to turn all her big plans upside down—and worse, it threatened to steal them away completely.
She couldn’t tell him, not yet, not while she was still figuring out how to manage it. She just needed a little more time, a chance to get this under control.
Instead, she shifted the conversation to a different topic. One that would hook him, fast. “Gus, what is it you like most about being an EMT?”
“What do I like most?” He tipped his head. “It’s kind of a long story.”
Oh , perfect! A lengthy distraction. “I’d like to hear it.”
He pushed his hands down into his pockets, gathering his thoughts.
“When I was six or seven years old, I was helping my dad gather firewood and kindling out in the woods behind our house. I heard a crack, and suddenly a huge dead tree branch fell right on my dad, pinning him to the ground. He was knocked out cold. The branch was too heavy for me to lift to free Dad, but I remembered seeing him use wood as a lever once. I found a big stick and was able to move the branch off him.”
“Was he hurt badly?”
“Pretty bad. A concussion, plus a broken shoulder. Could’ve been worse, though.
” He shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. It was scary, seeing Dad like that, but I remember this total calm filling my mind so I could think clearly.
And when I got older, I realized that it was, well, kind of a gift.
Most people shrink away from emergencies, but I like to enter into the chaos and confusion.
Sometimes, staying calm, offering help .
.. it seems like a way to bring God’s presence into a person’s pain.
” He glanced at her. “I think you have the same gift, Annie. And God gives us gifts to use them.” A buggy was approaching, so he took her elbow to steer her over to the side of the road.
“A few minutes ago you said the dark stuff wasn’t it .
So what is it ? What’s making you so reluctant to finish the EMT training?
To even agree to go on the ride-along? Because I know there’s something that’s bothering you. ”
The look on Gus’s face nearly broke her.
He was so eager for her to finish the EMT program.
So eager for her to work with him at the fire station.
He’d been waiting patiently to start courting, always cheering her on.
Always rooting for her. How could she tell him the truth?
She couldn’t. This was her problem, and she had to find a solution.
Somehow, some way, she wasn’t going to disappoint Gus. “Like I said, it’s just been busy.”
Just then, the horse and buggy reached them, slowing down to pass. Hank Lapp’s voice boomed from the driver’s seat, through the open buggy window. “ANNIE! Sarah Blank told me all about your TERRIBLE CAR SICKNESS! How’re you ever gonna MANAGE running around in an ambulance ALL THE DAY LONG?”
Gus’s head whipped around. “Car sickness?” His eyes opened wide. “Annie, is that the it ?”