Two months later
Amos yanked on the collar of his white shirt as he stood in the living room. Despite it being January, the room felt hot. Stifling. That was a new word he learned from Dinah last week. He liked that word. Stifling.
Dinah called her mamm and told her they were getting married. Then Dinah went back to New York. She was gone for two weeks. That was hard, not seeing her for that long. Then she came back with her belongings, including a cat named Fido. “I couldn’t leave him behind.” She and Fido now lived in Judith’s old house. After today it would be his house too. A wedding present from Judith.
He looked around the room, which was filled with people. Dinah’s brothers and their families took up most of the space. He liked her brothers, even though they teased Dinah. But Dinah didn’t seem to mind anymore. She barely stuttered in front of people now. Her father and mother had said she had changed, and he was glad. Last night her daed had thanked Amos for making his daughter happy.
Amos didn’t need to be thanked. He wanted to make Dinah happy. God knew she made him happy. She had taught him so much in the past few months. He was reading a lot better now, and not just poetry, although poetry was his favorite. She helped him learn how to budget money. How to pay bills. He found out that she knew everything there was about running a household. She knew a lot of things, and he wanted to keep learning from her.
He looked at Jeremiah, who was standing next to him. His brother grinned. Both he and Anna Mae had come. Anna Mae was with Judith upstairs, helping Dinah. Jeremiah and Anna Mae had worn their Amish Sunday clothes. Amos didn’t know they even had them anymore. He was glad they had decided to dress Amish today.
Jeremiah had talked to him right before bedtime. He had explained to Amos what happens after the wedding. How children came into the world. Amos didn’t have the heart to tell him he already knew. Dinah had explained all that to him too.
He heard movement on the top of the stairs, and a few moments later Dinah showed up. She was beautiful. So beautiful. None of the poetry he’d read or artwork he drew could compare with how she looked right now, wearing a dark blue dress, black stockings, and a black bonnet. She smiled, and he stopped breathing. At one time he had wondered if he would ever find love. If he would ever marry. It had seemed impossible. He should have known better. Nothing is impossible with God.
He and Dinah proved that.