by Laura Hilton
He rose to his feet but still hovered near the door, to discourage Annie from bolting. His hands, still gripping the pillow, had begun to shake. Must be from nerves. He loosened his grasp a bit, but the quivering persisted.
He had to fix this. Right now. He couldn’t allow things between them to remain so unsettled.
He closed his eyes briefly. Lord, give me wisdom. Help me to know what to say. When he opened his eyes again, he aimed a steady gaze at Annie. “First of all, we’re married, and you will sleep with me. Nein other option there.”
She fixed him with a rebellious glare, one that clearly conveyed the message “In your dreams.” And her hands wrung the front of her apron as if she wished it were his neck.
He had to formulate his thoughts or their marriage would end up being only in his dreams. “Second, jah, I lied. And I’m sorry. But I lied only about intending to stay in Missouri. Not about loving you. Not about wanting to marry you. Nothing will change that. Ever.”
Her face expressed a mixture of confusion and hope. At least, he thought it did. So, he plowed on. “Third, I’m not a player. You should know that by now. If I was, I wouldn’t have married you. Absolutely no one could have made me. I would have been objecting loudly. Did you hear me refuse? Nein, Annie. I married you willingly. And there’s no one else I would rather have married.”
She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand to stall whatever she was about to say. “And, four, you are going to Pennsylvania with me.” When her rebellious glare returned, he tried to soften his voice. “But whether we stay there or not is negotiable.”
Okay, not really. But perhaps they could work something out. Whether he could handle two farms, one in Pennsylvania and one in Missouri, was questionable. He was very doubtful anyone could do it.
Better not to lead her on, get her hopes up. “Somewhat negotiable,” he muttered.
“Somewhat?” She sounded broken. Skeptical.
At least she’d accepted the rest of his conditions without question. That was assuming he’d correctly interpreted her silence as consent.
He dared to take a step toward her, still holding the pillow. “I’m the only child. The only son. Daed is leaving the farm to me, and I want it. But my two best friends live here now, near your friends and family. There are going to be times when we’re free to leave Pennsylvania. We can kum to Missouri then, for a month or two, to see your family and our friends. I know family is important, Annie. And you can write.”
She stared up at him, tears glistening in her eyes.
He tossed the pillow onto the bed beside her.
She snatched it up and hugged it to her chest. “So, really not negotiable at all.”
His mouth quirked. “Nein. I guess not.” He crossed the room and fell to his knees in front of her, bowing his head. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Annie. More sorry than you’ll ever know.” Tears sprang to his eyes and quickly overflowed. He buried his head in her lap and cried, feeling the coarseness of the brown material against his skin.
Lord, I truly am sorry, he prayed silently. Please forgive me. Help me to resist any temptation to lie from now on. And forgive me for my sins—all my sins. I’m so very sorry.
Peace flooded through him.
Danki, Lord. Danki.
He pulled in a shuddering breath. “Ich liebe dich, Annie. I really do.”
He felt the pillow brush against his head as Annie laid it aside. Then, her fingers filtered through his hair, tousling. Feathering. He was afraid to move. He managed only to inhale and exhale, feeling the dampness of his tears on her dress. Lord, help me not to hurt her again. Let me know how to win my frau’s love. Her trust. Her forgiveness.
“But what about Mamm?” Annie asked quietly. “I can’t go until she’s healed. And Cathy…it’ll be six weeks before she’s out of the cast.”
He didn’t dare say anything. Her fingers caressing his scalp felt good, so good. Besides, he didn’t know what to say. Her touch erased every thought from his head.
Finally, Annie spoke again. “I guess Daed could get someone to help. And Bishop Sol did say they’d be taken care of.”
He swallowed. Hard.
“‘Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
His breathing caught as he recognized the Scripture verse from the Bible. The book of Ruth. He wanted to ask if she meant it.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so immature. I think I have a lot of growing up to do.”
“Me, too,” he whispered, his voice thick.
They could grow up together. Grow old together. Ach, Lord. Danki.
“Ich liebe dich, Joshua.”
A fresh round of tears filled his eyes, and he raised his head. “Annie?”
She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and drew him to her. Pressed her lips to his.
She tasted of tears and spearmint. Of hopes and dreams.
Of forgiveness.
He moved into the kiss.
She welcomed him, her arms going around his neck.
She tasted of love.
Chapter 28
At the sound of gravel crunching in the driveway, Annie looked out the kitchen window. She heard Mamm huff. “Ach, the therapist is early. Cathy, run back to my room, if you would, and get the folder he left the last time he was here.” She wheeled into the living room, where she’d left her walker.
Cathy nodded and got up, while Daed went to greet their visitor.
But it wasn’t the therapist’s small hybrid car. It was Tony’s minivan. Annie turned to Joshua. “Your parents are here.” She wiped her suddenly sweaty hands on her apron, feeling not at all prepared to face them. Would they like her? And what did they think of her for snaring their only son barely four months after his arrival in Missouri?
If she were in their shoes, she wouldn’t like her. She’d be upset. Angry. And probably suspicious, just like everyone else. Instinctively, she lifted a hand and smoothed the fabric over her flat stomach.
Well, whether they liked her or not, she would not allow them to see the haus a mess, no matter that they’d just finished lunch. She gathered up the dirty dishes from the table and piled them neatly in the sink.
If only the tension that had resulted from the exposure of Joshua’s lies could be cleared away just as easily. Fortunately, Daed was still talking to him, but the easy camaraderie they’d established was gone. Daed no longer joked with Joshua. Annie prayed that their friendship would return, given time.
Joshua moved to the doorway and put on his shoes. Then, with a quick nod to her, he stepped outside. While she finished wiping the table, she watched through the window as he enfolded his mamm and then his daed in a hug. He favored his daed.
Swallowing her fear, she put down the dishrag, slipped on her garden clogs, and stepped onto the porch. It would be best to meet her new in-laws before they came inside. Otherwise, they might think she didn’t want to meet them, or that she was standoffish. She was halfway to the van when they noticed her.
Joshua reached for her. “Annie, these are my parents. Mamm, Daed, this—”
With a cry, Joshua’s mother engulfed her in her arms.
Annie tensed, feeling caught off guard. After a moment, though, she forced herself to relax and returned the embrace.
“I was so excited when Arthur told me Joshua had fallen in love. I always wanted a daughter. I’m sure we’re going to be great friends.”
Annie hoped so. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Esh.”
“If you’re comfortable, call me Mamm. If you’re not, I answer to Lavina.”
Annie glanced at Joshua. Maybe, once she got to know his mamm, she could do that. The woman had unusually kind eyes.
They drew apart, and Annie turned to face Joshua’s daed.
He surveyed her in silence for a moment. Then, he smiled, nodded at Joshua, and stepped forward to pull her into his arms. She knew now how Joshua had come by his de
monstrative tendencies. “Welkum to the family, Annie Esh.”
***
Later that afternoon, Joshua sat on the dirt floor of the shop, reassembling another lawn mower, while his daed worked on winding up a string inside a weed eater someone had brought by. The two of them talked—well, Joshua did most of the talking, filling his daed in on why he and Annie had been forced to marry, as well as why they wanted to return to Pennsylvania sooner rather than later, due to the possibility that Luke might do something drastic.
Isaac was talking on the wall phone in the shed with another customer about a chainsaw when a shadow fell across the machine shop doorway. Someone cleared his throat.
Joshua looked up and froze when his eyes met those of Luke Schwartz. Speak of the devil. He pulled in a deep breath and stared, unblinking, at his rival—well, former rival. And maybe his current enemy.
For a moment, everything seemed suspended in time. Then, the phone receiver clicked back into its base, snapping Joshua out of his trance. He brushed off his hands and rose to his feet. Without turning around, he knew that Isaac had come to stand beside him.
Luke studied the floor. “Can we talk?”
Somehow, Joshua managed a curt nod.
“Bishop Sol came by my haus earlier.” Luke looked from Joshua to Isaac to Joshua’s daed. “Uh, can we talk privately?”
Joshua hesitated. He glanced at Isaac, then nodded. “Jah.”
Luke stepped back outside, and Joshua followed him. He turned just in time to see Isaac shut the door, leaving it open a crack.
Luke scuffed his feet. “I’m sorry. For everything. Please forgive me. I was so wrong to treat you like I did. Wrong to talk about Annie the way I did, to discuss the horrible plans the bishop overheard.” He bowed his head. “I just want you to know that I fell at the foot of the cross.” His voice broke. When he looked up, Joshua saw tears brimming in his eyes.
Joshua swallowed hard. He could relate. He’d fallen there, himself, only two days earlier. There was no better place to land when you had to hit bottom. He stepped forward and wrapped Luke in a bear hug. “I fell there myself, and I forgive you, just as the Lord forgave me.” He wasn’t quite sure he completely meant it, but simply saying those words was freeing.
The barn door opened with a creak, and Isaac stepped outside. He came over and clapped Luke on the back. “I forgive you, too.” And then, he turned to Joshua. “And you, son.”
A wave of relief washed over Joshua, followed by a surge of hope that the strain between him and Isaac was going away for good.
After Luke left, Joshua turned to Isaac. “If it’s okay with you, we’ll stay.”
His daed stepped out of the shop, and Joshua looked at him. “At least until it’s almost time for the maple sugar harvest. Then, we’ll go home, as planned.”
He looked back at Isaac, who grinned. “That’s more than fine with me, son. More than fine.”
***
Later that evening, Annie helped her in-laws get settled in her old bedroom, making sure they had everything they might need. She liked them already, especially since they seemed to be getting along so well with her parents. Daed and Arthur, in particular, had laughed and joked a lot that afternoon.
Then, she slipped down the hall to her new room. For a moment, she stood in the doorway, just gazing in at it.
Annie glanced at the bed, still covered with the faded blue nine-patch quilt. She yanked it off, folded it, and set it on the chair. Then, she marched over to her hope chest and pulled out the quilt she’d sewn for her marriage bed—the green one with the double wedding rings. She spread it over the mattress, smoothing out the wrinkles with her hand. As she did, she remembered the last time she’d put it on the bed, when Joshua had first come to stay with them. Only in her wildest dreams had she thought she would share it with him someday.
Cathy came into the room, carrying an armload of garments. “Mamm made you a couple of dresses as a wedding present.” She dropped them onto the bed.
“These are beautiful!” Annie fingered a pretty pine-green dress, then a wine-colored one. “When did she find the time to sew? Or to buy new material?”
Cathy smiled. “She bought it before the accident and sewed while you were at school. She said she could tell that you were almost ready to move on from wearing only depressing brown. I hope she was right.”
Annie nodded, her heart melting with love for Mamm. She’d miss her. “She was. I’ve been thinking about going into town to get some material. I need to go downstairs and thank her.”
“She and Daed are already in bed. You can thank her in the morning.” Her sister gave her a hug. “I know I’ve been a real pest, but I truly hope you and Joshua will be happy together. I’ll miss you when you go to Pennsylvania.”
Annie sighed. “Jah. I’ll miss you, too.” She released Cathy as Joshua came into the room. “When do we have to leave?” she asked him. She still didn’t really want to go, but she was prepared to do whatever was necessary to be with him.
He hesitated, glanced at Cathy, and then looked at Annie. “Luke came by. And apologized, to both your daed and me. I figure we can stay here until it’s almost time for sugar season. That should give both your mamm and Cathy time to heal.”
“Really?” Annie could barely keep from squealing. “We don’t have to leave yet?”
“Nein. Not yet.” He walked over to the edge of the bed and fingered the quilt.
Cathy met Annie’s gaze and smiled. “Well, I’m glad we have some time together yet.” She turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Annie removed her kapp and reached up to pull out the pins holding her hair in place. Then, she stopped and studied Joshua. Her husband. Her heart swelled with love for him. For a lingering moment, he looked down at the double wedding ring pattern on the quilt. She watched him trace the colorful rings with a forefinger. “Pretty. I missed this quilt when you replaced it. Aaron told me it came from your hope chest.”
Her face heated. “Ach, silly thoughts.”
“Not so silly. I had the same ones for you.” He looked up, hesitated a moment, and then approached her. “Here, let me help. I’ve wanted to do this for you.” Facing her, he slid his fingers through her hair, pausing to remove each pin they came upon. “I love your hair. So long, so pretty.” Released from the restrictive kapp, her curls tumbled down her back. He walked around behind her, running his fingers down the length of her hair. Then, he pulled her against him, his arms across her chest, and nuzzled her neck, her ear. She shivered.
“I know I’ve said this before, but ich liebe dich, Annie Esh. And I will keep on loving you, forever and ever.”
About the Author
Laura Hilton graduated with a business degree from Ozarka Technical College in Melbourne, Arkansas. A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, she is a professional book reviewer for the Christian market, with more than a thousand reviews published on the Web.
Promised to Another concludes Laura’s first series with Whitaker House, The Amish of Seymour, which also includes Patchwork Dreams and A Harvest of Hearts. Previously, she published two novels with Treble Heart Books, Hot Chocolate and Shadows of the Past, as well as several devotionals.
Laura and her husband, Steve, have five children, whom Laura homeschools. The family makes their home in Arkansas. To learn more about Laura, read her reviews, and find out about her upcoming releases, readers may visit her blog at http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/.