“Saul builds these specialty carriages himself,” Matthias murmured when he noticed Rose gazing at the interior details. “Truth be told, his work’s as gut or better than any I’ve ever seen.”
Rose nodded. Then a girlish grin brightened her face. “I was asking you about selling the place in Cedar Creek,” she reminded him. “I can’t think having an auction will be worth the preparation time or the expense, considering how—except for our clothes, the dishes, and a few items I want to keep—all the furniture’s seen better days.”
“I’ll contact the real estate fellow who helped me find my house,” he said softly. “He’ll be able to help you with those sorts of details. And I was asking you where you were going to live, honey-girl.”
Rose’s face turned a pretty shade of pink—or maybe she was reflecting the interior of the coach, but Matthias couldn’t stop gazing at her. Would it be appropriate to propose to her now? Would Rose think he was pushing her, or that he could choose a more romantic place and a time when they were completely alone? He could hear Saul and Gracie chattering about the pool hall and the car dealership they were driving past. They were paying no attention to their passengers, so if he kept his voice down—
“Sherrie has given us that apartment at the senior center for as long as we want it,” Rose replied with a lilt in her voice. Then she smiled shyly. “Or . . . maybe you would consider, um, taking us poor girls in.”
Matthias’s pulse galloped. “Are you saying—I don’t want to rush you while you’re in mourning for—”
“Life is for the living, Matthias,” she whispered. She gazed steadily at him with her glimmering green eyes. “Ask me. Ask me anything.”
Matthias pulled her close, reveling in the way she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back. He swallowed hard, wondering why it wasn’t any easier to get a proposal perfect than it had been when he’d asked Sadie—
But Sadie said yes, and so will Rose. Don’t sweat the small stuff, Wagler. He let out the breath he’d been holding so he could gaze into Rose’s wide eyes. What had Nathan said to her to win her heart?
You’re obsessing again. Just do it!
“Rose, I love you so much,” he murmured, running a finger along her silky cheek. “Will—will you marry—”
“Jah, I will, Matthias!” she replied, beaming at him. “I want to tend to the farm—or at least get it up for sale—first, but then I’d be silly not to hitch up with you. I’ve loved you for a long while—”
Matthias kissed her gently, gazed at her, and then kissed her for a long, lovely time while everything else around them disappeared. She felt so perfect in his arms, in his life, that he wanted nothing to disrupt this moment when she was his entire world.
“What a beautiful day it’s been,” Rose murmured as she hugged him again. “Saul has reconciled with my mother, and Martha Maude accepts us, and now I have you, Matthias.”
“And we have cake waiting for us whenever you two lovebirds are ready to go.”
Matthias gasped, turning quickly. Somehow, they had returned to the carriage shop and parked without his being aware of it. Saul was gazing through the open window at them, holding Gracie as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. Gracie’s eyes were huge with curiosity—and hope—as she gazed from Matthias to her mother.
“Whadaya doin’, Mamma?” she asked softly.
Rose blinked back a few tears, but her smile rivaled the sun. “I’ve just told Matthias I would marry him, sweet pea, so—”
“Yay!” Gracie blurted, clapping her hands. “I told you he loves us! Now we gotta go eat that cake, likes it’s a birthday. A birthday for us bein’ a family!”
“I’m honored to be the first to hear, and to congratulate you two,” Saul said, sticking his hand through the window to shake Matthias’s. “This princess carriage must be a magical place where dreams come true—right, Gracie?”
“Jah! Now we gotta go home and tell Mammi and Martha Maude,” she replied. “Everybody’s gonna be really happy!”
* * *
That evening after Matthias had driven them back to the senior center, Rose delighted in his strength, his joy, as he lifted Gracie to his shoulder and then hugged them both. “What a great day,” he murmured as he bussed the little girl’s cheek. His smile made Rose shimmer inside. “Maybe while I’m helping you with your farm sale, you can help me get my house ready for a wife and a child.”
“Can I have a pink room, Mamma?”
Rose laughed along with Matthias as she tweaked Gracie’s nose. “If we tell your new mammis that’s your color, I have a feeling they’ll want to help you decorate it—maybe with a quilt for your bed and curtains.”
“It’ll be beautiful,” Gracie said with a happy sigh.
“It will be,” Rose agreed.
Later that evening, after she’d tucked Gracie into bed, Rose gave thanks to God that her entire life had been beautiful. Thanks to the love of two mothers—the one who’d given her life, and the one who’d blessed her with the bedrock foundation of faith she’d relied upon—Rose had come through a tough year.
She’d come full circle, too, back to her birth mother and into another family who’d welcomed her and Gracie—and Matthias as well. Saul was extremely pleased that his partner would soon be his son-in-law. Anne and Martha Maude were overjoyed that Rose and Gracie would be living in Morning Star, just a short walk away from their home. It had been a Mother’s Day none of them would ever forget.
“Only You could’ve made it all work out, Lord,” she murmured as she stood in the moonlight coming through the window overlooking the garden. “Denki for standing by me, for seeing me through—for every gut and perfect gift.”
When Rose went into the bedroom to stand beside Gracie’s bed, her little girl stretched up her arms in the darkness. “I love you, Mamma,” she whispered.
“And I will always love you, sweet pea,” Rose said. She kissed Gracie’s cheek, and as she left her daughter’s bedside, her heart overflowed with love and joy.
Love and joy, she thought as Matthias came to mind. Love and joy—and a happy family—make life worth living.
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