A Searching Heart by Janette Oke Read Free Book Online

Luke—or any other member of their small community. Even her concern over the dreary weather was forgotten. She could not remember a single line of her carefully prepared speech. Frantically she grabbed up the well-fingered note cards for one more perusal. She was sure she would never be able to deliver the address in any kind of coherent fashion.
    And Jenny? Would she really dare to present some of her outrageous material? Suddenly Virginia did not care. If Jenny really, really made a scene, perhaps folks would forget that she, Virginia, had disgraced the family name with her faltering presentation.
    She bundled up in the coat she had earlier declared she would not wear for fear it would crush her dress and gloomily followed her parents from the safety of her home.
    â€œI will arrive there dripping wet,” she mumbled to herself. “My hair will be a sight, my dress all wrinkled, my stockings splashed with dirty rainwater and my shoes soppy. I will likely catch my death of cold.”
    Her final regret was that the cold would not develop quickly enough to rescue her from her present dilemma.
    But none of the dreadful predictions came true—thanks to the care of her father, who managed to deliver her in a dry and unwrinkled condition. Her mother reached out to do a last-minute pat of her hair—more because she was a mother than because the hair needed it. “We’re proud of you,” Belinda whispered and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. Virginia felt a spark of confidence being reborn.
    The ceremony proceeded in accordance with their program. Jenny’s father had printed up the sheets as his contribution to the community and the special event. The principal included thanks to the local newsman in his opening remarks.
    Jenny gave her address. It contained some bits of humor but nothing that brought embarrassment to anyone. Virginia heaved a sigh of relief when it was over, and Jenny cast a glance of victory her way.
    A group of junior students sang a song dedicated to the graduating class, and the principal exhorted the graduates about reaching their full potential.
    Then it was Virginia’s turn. She walked to the podium on trembling legs, but once she began, she forgot her nervousness. Looking out into the audience and seeing the proud grin on her grandfather’s face and the quiet nodding of her grandmother in agreement gave her added confidence. She finished to a fine round of applause.
    And just as simply as that, it was over. She was no longer a student in the local town. She was a graduate. An adult. She thought she should feel something. Older. Wiser. But she felt nothing but a strange emptiness. An inner knowledge that she was now on the edge of the nest, ready to try her own wings. That she would need to find her own place in the world. Reestablish herself in some way that she didn’t yet fully understand. It was a bit frightening. She felt a sudden thankfulness that college would wait for a few months. She needed some time to make the adjustment. To discover, like Rodney, just who she was and how to establish her identity before becoming a responsible adult and leaving the safety of the home she loved.
    She thought she might understand—just a little bit—about what her mother had said about changing. College would change her. Would force her to change. She would never be a child again.
    â€”——
    Jenny found a summer job and began to tuck away money for the upcoming college year. Her father would be paying her tuition and board, she told Virginia, but she intended to make sure that she would also have money for clothes and parties. She was sure her father would not be providing adequately in that department. And Jenny intended to do a good deal of partying.
    Virginia knew there would be no summer job for her. Clara’s baby was due any day, and as things now stood, no one could expect Clara to take over immediate care of the newborn.