“Surprise!”
She was beaming and I was speechless as she presented me with a long-sleeved dress of pale blue, with creamy white embroidery on the sleeves. The white ruffle on the collar of the dress was delicately embroidered to match the sleeves. The length was shorter, at calf-length, making it less formal than some of the dresses I wore to church.
“Oh, this is wonderful!”
“I’m glad you like it, Jane.”
“Oh, but is it too fancy? All the Amish girls wear white or black aprons with solid colored dresses. Hannah’s the only one that I’ve seen wearing a calico, and this isn’t even calico—it’s very different.”
“This will look beautiful with your hairstyle. And don’t worry about it being too fancy—Elijah’s mam helped me to choose the material at Fork’s General Store. I’m certain Elijah won’t find it too fancy either,” my mother said.
I hugged her excitedly, but her kindness confused me a little. It was strange having her as a mother again. For several years, I had taken care of her—and now, she was taking care of me—and I liked it.
I studied her for just a moment.
My mother was really a very beautiful woman—not just on the outside anymore. Her eyes no longer carried anger in them. I could almost see a hint of chocolate in her brown eyes that smiled with contentment. Her long, auburn hair was pulled up neatly in the front exposing rosy cheeks where dullness used to dominate her face. She looked younger and happier than I’d seen her in a very long time, and that made me smile.
****
The noon hour finally arrived and it was a good thing because I had all but worn a path in the wooden floor of my room. I grabbed the suede vest that Mitchell had given me, suddenly wondering if I should leave it behind and show up without a gift. Instead, I had a sudden idea, and pushed open my jewelry box, removing my silver peace-sign necklace with the brown, leather lanyard and shoved it in my apron pocket. After pacing for nearly twenty minutes in my room, I stole a final glance in the bathroom mirror and headed down the stairs on shaky legs.
Why am I so nervous? I can do this. I’ve spent a lot of time with Elijah. This time is no different.
I tried taking a deep breath, but that didn’t work.
Yes it is. Who am I kidding? What if he kisses me? I guess I’ll have to just kiss him back.
The clip-clop of Eli’s hooves sent my heart fluttering. My hand shook as I reached for the door handle. I paused for a minute to gain some control over my emotions, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to force my hand to turn the handle. When a knock came at the door, I nearly lost my breath with the heavy gasp that escaped my lips.
The door opened and Elijah poked his head in. I didn’t move from my spot until he caught sight of me cowering behind the door. The look on his face, and the mist in his eyes made me want him to sweep me into his arms. Instead, he offered his arm to escort me out to his waiting horse.
Before boosting me up on Eli, he pulled his other hand out from behind his back to reveal the bouquet of wild flowers he had picked for me that were tied together with a yellow ribbon. I recognized them as the same flowers from the trail beside his field.
“Wild flowers for my little wild flower,” he said as he handed them to me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
The bouquet was full of multi-colored cosmos, daisies and black-eyed Susans, which were all my favorite flowers.
Elijah assisted me in mounting side-saddle on the horse that had a blanket draped over the saddle. He scanned the area for onlookers, then, settled in his usual spot behind me on Eli. Thankfully, my mother was preoccupied with my younger siblings. After we were a safe distance into the thick of the trees away from my house, he gave me a quick squeeze and nuzzled his face in my neck to whisper in my ear.
“Blue is definitely your color, and your hair is beautiful up. Thank you for such a wonderful surprise.”
Mission accomplished. He likes my dress and my hair.
I felt so beautiful.
I kept my thoughts to myself and just smiled. Nadine told me that Elijah would not like me if I was vain. He didn’t even know we had mirrors in our house. My father told us the Amish see vanity as a sin and won’t hang mirrors in their homes. It was my opinion that everyone should be able to enjoy seeing how God made them, but Nadine would probably say that way of thinking was a sin in their eyes, too.
With a click from Elijah’s heel, the horse walked slowly toward the creek. When we reached the special spot we’d planned for our picnic, he halted the horse but made no advance toward dismounting. I suddenly felt the shock of the gentle sweeping of his mouth across the back of my neck and close to my ear, and realized he was kissing me softly. It was both scary and wonderful at the same time.
My first instinct was that anything this wonderful had to be wrong. Second thoughts allowed me the luxury of being held by the one I loved and experiencing my first passionate kiss. I contemplated turning my head to kiss his lips but decided against it. These thoughts caused me to become rigid enough to signal to Elijah to cease his actions. He stopped kissing my neck and held me close to him. Being in his arms felt so natural, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else at the moment. He hopped down from the horse, and held my hand while I slid gracefully toward the ground.
Once my feet touched the ground, I stood facing Elijah.
Neither of us spoke.
He was somehow holding both my hands and used them to draw me to him. I felt soft lips touch mine, as my eyes closed.
The kiss was unexpectedly long, and passionate.
Happy birthday,” he whispered, allowing the corners of his mouth to give way to a full grin.
The kissing continued, and would have gone on forever had I not gathered my wits about me. I pulled slightly away, giving him the message that the all-too-wonderful kiss was over for now.
“Shall we eat?” he asked awkwardly.
“I’ll spread the blanket near the slope of the crick bank,” I offered, as he grabbed the leather satchel containing our food that was fastened to the saddle.
We both picked at our lunch, while making small talk. For some time, we steered clear of the subject of romance. But Elijah finally brought it to light—as though he just couldn’t resist.
“Is it true what they say, about ‘sweet sixteen—never been kissed’?”
He emanated a smile.
“Well, actually,” I said slowly, “I’m afraid Bradley, a boy from Texas, has already beaten you to it.”
I laughed nervously, but he seemingly shrugged it off.
“I’ve never been kissed like that before—I mean, the way that you kissed me. Bradley’s kiss was just a childhood crush; like puppy-love.”
He took my hands in his and looked very seriously into my eyes.
“I don’t care if this wasn’t your first kiss. I love you, Jane.”
“You do? I love you, too,” I said. “With all my heart.”
“May I call on you?”
I sucked in a deep breath. “What?”
“I would like to court you, Jane.”
Tears welled up in my throat. “I’m not allowed to court ‘till I’m seventeen.”
I choked back tears while making the confession.
His blue eyes sparkled in the sun, inviting me to be nearer to him. I leaned over bravely and kissed him. He returned the kiss gently and lovingly, then, held me away from him.
“I will just have to ask your father for your hand,” he said in between kisses.
“What do you mean you’ll ask my father for my hand?”
I was unsure of his declaration, and I definitely needed to be clear on this account.
“I love you!” he said with a raised voice, then, his resonance quieted. “I want to marry you someday. I have from the moment I laid eyes on your beautiful face—from the very first time I heard your sweet voice. I am committed to making you happy for the rest of our lives.”
I was too stunned to speak. Tears rol
led down my face as I leapt into his arms.
After a few minutes, I faced him with a serious look on my face.
“Elijah, I want to marry you, too.”
He held me close, kissing my neck and whispering how much he loved me in my ear.
After a few minutes, he stopped abruptly. “What’s in the paper bag you brought with you? Is it birthday cake?”
I leaned over and picked up the bag and set it in his lap.
“It’s actually a gift for you.”
His eyes widened with surprise, but I was nervous about what was in the bag, fearing he wouldn’t like it. Before I could change my mind, he opened the bag and pulled out the vest. He unfolded it carefully, examining the stitch-work.
“This was made by hand. Did you make this yourself?”
I giggled slightly, remembering my conversation with my brother.
“No. Mitchell cut the tag out of it for me. He said it would make it look homemade.”
He pulled his shirt from the waist of his trousers, then, began to unbutton each button slowly as I watched.
I felt my face heat up. “You can wear the vest over your shirt.”
He ignored me and continued to unbutton his shirt. He smiled at me as he removed the shirt. I smiled back, though I could feel my cheeks burning with shyness. I knew I should have looked away, but I couldn’t help but stare at his washboard stomach and slightly muscular chest.
“I saw a kid in town wearing a vest like this, but he wore it without a shirt. He also wore a necklace made of shells. How do I look?”
I pulled the “peace” necklace from my apron pocket and placed it around his neck.
“Now you don’t look Amish anymore. You look like a hippie.”
He pulled me close to him and kissed me like he never wanted to let me go, but he did finally.
“I have something for you, too.”
He picked up the leather satchel and grabbed a clump of material from the bottom. When he held it up, I could see that it was a scarf for my hair. It was pale pastel stripes of color with tiny beads and bells that jingled from the fringe that hung from the ends.
“It’s very pretty. Did you make this?”
“I wish I could say yes, but I purchased it at the flea market in Shipshewana.”
“Help me unpin my hair so I can try it on.”
Together, we pulled the bobby-pins from my hair. I combed through the hairspray-laden strands with my fingers to flatten it out, then, tied the scarf around the front.
I turned to Elijah. “How does it look?”
He put his hand to his chin as though he were studying me. “I think it’s missing one thing.”
He picked up the bouquet of flowers he’d given me and plucked a daisy from its stem, then, placed it carefully behind my ear.
“That’s perfect. Now we both look like hippies.”
“What do you know about hippies, Elijah?”
“I’ve seen them around town. I’m not blind.”
We laughed and kissed again, then, leaned back on the blanket that was spread for our picnic. Since neither of us felt like eating any more, we remained quiet in each other’s arms enjoying the late afternoon sun. I was in shock at how the day had turned out—certainly not how I had expected it to. I had to admit, I couldn’t stop thinking about his proposal, or his bare chest. The only thing that was on my mind was how to break the news to my parents about the proposal, and how they would take it. My mother would probably smile, but sternly remind me of the rules, while my father would be very tough to convince.
When the sun began to blend into the horizon, we knew we had over-stayed our allotted time. I couldn’t bring myself to leave until I was ready, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to leave his side. I didn’t readily care that I could risk being grounded for life by staying. Even then, it felt as though the time had traveled too fast, and it didn’t seem fair. Elijah pulled a pocket watch from his trousers and showed me the time. It was nearing six o’clock, and we were expected at the family gathering for our birthday dinner. The reluctant look in his eyes as he put his shirt back on and placed the vest over the shirt made me feel sad. Once we mounted the horse, Elijah gave me a squeeze and kissed my neck softly. We both understood it would need to last us until we could be alone again. Elijah allowed Eli to walk with a slow trot, making our ride home last a little longer than usual.
After the quiet ride, we left Eli in the Zook’s barn and began to walk over to my house where everyone was waiting for us.
“Wait here. I forgot something.”
Elijah ran across the length of the properties to his house. I waited on the steps for him, mostly because I didn’t want to walk in late for dinner by myself. When he returned, he presented me with a package wrapped in plain brown paper with twine wrapped around it.
I placed a hand on the scarf on my head. “You already gave me a gift. What’s this?”
“Just open it.”
Inside the packaging was a hand-crocheted shawl of pale blue and creamy white. Elijah gently wrapped it around me, lifting the waves of hair we’d unpinned that had fallen across my shoulders. The colors matched my new dress perfectly. I found it tough to speak, but after a moment of admiring my gift, regained my countenance.
“Thank you so much,” I said softly, lifting my eyes to meet his.
“Mam showed me how to crochet so I could make it myself. Do you really like it?”
My eyes filled with tears of joy. I swallowed hard around the lump that had found its way into my throat, then, kissed him with quivering lips.
“The fact that you made it yourself makes it the most incredible gift I’ve ever gotten,” I managed between tears and laughter.
We held each other tight; consequently, neither of us heard the squeak of the screen-door until it was too late. My father and Abraham were standing on the porch and had observed our lengthy embrace. Panic overtook me as I stepped away from Elijah. We both stood at attention while the two adult men remained silent for several minutes, staring us down.
Just when I thought I couldn’t stand the silence any longer, Elijah’s voice startled me.
“Mr. Reeves, I would like permission to court your daughter. I love Jane, and would never do anything to break her heart. I fully understand the meaning of commitment, and I intend to prove myself worthy of her hand.”
“I believe you, son,” my father spoke authoritatively. “But you need to understand that I set some rules down for my girls, and that includes no dating or courting until they turn seventeen.”
I began to shake and my palms nearly dripped with perspiration. Elijah reached a hand out to me and I instinctively took it.
“I understand that you have rules, sir. However, if I may be so bold, I would like you to consider changing your mind for Jane and me.”
Elijah spoke bravely, and with authority—like a man. He held my trembling hand even tighter, as though he were determined not to give up.
“We have discussed in great length the relationship that the two of you have developed,” Abraham spoke. “It has been our determination through the close observance of our children, that you have shown that you are no longer children. You may have my blessing to court, if it pleases Jane’s parents also.”
I turned to my father with a pleading look on my face. “Daddy, please?”
He smiled in defeat and nodded his consent. I felt so overwhelmed with love for both my father and Elijah that I didn’t know which one to hug first. It was Elijah who decided for me, for he was holding me tight before I could gather my wits about me. The two men went back in the house, leaving Elijah and me alone. We stayed outside so long that our families ate dinner without us, but I didn’t mind—my stomach was too full of butterflies, and my heart was full of love for Elijah.
As the great harvest moon peeked up over the horizon, I felt a chill in the air. This didn’t concern me, for I had the warmth of a shawl made with love and the strong arms of the man I loved around me. Both of these would
keep me, and my heart warm for a long time to come.
SIX
A TIME TO PREPARE
November arrived with bone-numbing sleet, creating icy patches along the hibernating soil. Gray clouds pushed their way across the frigid sky as though they were in a hurry, but the days seemed to stand still. It felt odd to be preparing for a wedding when winter storms were such a strong possibility this time of year. It was already so cold that Elijah hadn’t taken me to the creek since our birthday. Instead, we would meet secretly in the loft of his barn. We were both still so unsure of our family’s position on our relationship that we decided it best to keep a low profile.
Little Wild Flower, Amish Romance/Amish Fiction/Christian Romance Page 9