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MARIAH MOORE
Hope twisted her apron skirt in her hands nervously. She and Rachel had both been courting men lately. Oh, how they had fallen in love. They had agreed to invite the men over for dinner on the same night. As Hope thought of her courting man, she smiled unconsciously. His deep brown eyes, his tanned skin, and his sand-colored hair all indicted a couple of things. One – that he wasn’t from this part of the area. Two – he probably got lost the first time she met him.
Their community wasn’t easy to find. It required a good hike up what was probably considered a mountain, but most here considered it a rolling hill. Then, one made a hike into the forest on the mountain side. It started about halfway up the side, and the community was about three-quarters of the way up the side.
The point was that it wasn’t easy to find. They didn’t want to be found.
She softly started to walk around the room. It was getting late, and he hadn’t arrived yet. Oddly enough, Rachel’s date hadn’t arrived yet either. She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. She didn’t need to freak out over the fact that neither of the men had arrived yet.
There was a knock at the door. She pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure what to do. Was it Richard, or was it someone else? As the time seemed to tick away from where she was needed it, she found herself walking towards the door.
“Who is it?” She tried to hide her anxiety, her nerves. She took a deep breath, and slowly let it out, trying to hide it from whoever was on the other side of that door.
“Hope, it’s me. It’s Rachel. Can I come in?” She relaxed a little bit at her sister’s voice.
“Yeah. Come on in.” She sighed softly. At least this meant that her sister was still single for the night. The door opened, and she moved away to let it swing open and shut softly as it needed to. Rachel walked in, her long hair braided tightly down the back of her neck and to her waist. She had always loved the way Rachel could wear her hair without worrying about what the community would say about it.
Hope typically wore her own hair in two thick braids, one going down each side of her head. She loved the way it looked when it rained – how the rain would sleek the sides and calm the frizz of the jungle’s humid air.
“Is your courtier here yet?” She furrowed her brows. Rachel seemed just as upset as she was, and the question wasn’t any indication that it would change soon. Hope shook her head.
“Yours?” She frowned. This wasn’t going to go anywhere if their dates, for lack of a better word, didn’t show up soon. When Rachel shook her head, her frown deepened. This wasn’t going to end well for either of them. Their parents were already suspicious of what was going on, but if they didn’t show up, this was going to get even worse.
“What are we going to do? They’re already skeptical because we’re both dating outsiders.” Rachel’s own frown deepened. Despite being twins, they didn’t look alike. Her sister’s hair was dark and long. Her own hair was a little shorter, but still just as long and much thicker than her sister’s. It wasn’t nearly as dark, either.
“I don’t know. I wish we had another way to talk to them besides letter or in person, but we don’t. Unfortunately.” Hope sighed deeply. “What did you say his name was?”
“Richard. Why?” Rachel furrowed her eyebrows, as if she wasn’t convinced that there was something wrong yet. “What are you thinking, Hope?” Her sister walked closer to her, but didn’t come close enough to touch her.
“What if...what if we have been courting the same person? We haven’t met each other’s courting matches, and both our dates are late tonight.” She tried not to cry, or to let her whirl of emotions show through. “I mean, it’s the only thing that really makes sense, isn’t it?”
“Are you sure you want to go through that door, Hope?” Her sister, always the skeptic, tried to find a loophole, some shred of doubt. “I really think they’re two different people. What’s the name of the man you’ve been courting?”
“Richard.” She sighed. Her sister did have a point. The name had been rather common among men lately. Well, men that they had met. How many men had they courted with the name Richard before this point? She had courted at least two others in the community alone.
“See? We’ve both courted men named Richard before – and this has happened once before. So, let’s give them a little more time.” Her sister took her into a hug. It was something soft, sweet, and needed. She hugged back softly, trying not to struggle with the idea that they might be unable to find out what was going on.
“Alright.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Is mother done with dinner?” For some reason, their mother had asked that the younger siblings help today, but not her and her sister.
“Yeah. She said that she would call us down when the men arrived. Remember?” Rachel pulled away, still trying to give her sister some shred of something to hold onto. She nodded slowly. “Good. So, let’s wait right here.”
“Hope, Rachel. They’re here.” Before Hope could say anything else, their mother poked her head into the door. A soft frown graced her face. Hope simply shot a look over to Rachel. This did not bode well for them. At all. “And I think you have some explaining to do. Come on.” She left, leaving the door wide open.
“That wasn’t good.” Rachel frowned. “Maybe you were right, Hope. But, we won’t know until we go down there.” She took in a deep breath. Maybe her sister was right. They wouldn’t know what was going on until they went downstairs to see what was going on.
So, they walked down the stairs, arm in arm. Rachel stood to the left, while Hope was against the wall to the right. If they were going up, they would have been on the opposite sides – Rachel against the wall and Hope against the railing with the banister. Not that it really mattered to her, anyway. She managed to get all the way down the stairs before both she and Rachel saw the problem.
There was only one man in the room. She recognized him; it was Richard.
“Richard.” She looked to Rachel. They’d said his name at exactly the same time. There wasn’t much surprise to either of them. Her sister pulled away from her softly. She’d been the one that had been courting more seriously lately out of the two of them. Hope, herself, had some interest in Richard, but she wasn’t sure she approved of him anymore. He was courting both of them, but seriously, he could only court one of them.
“Oh. This is awkward.” He laughed softly. “Rachel. Hope.” He greeted them kindly. He was one for the kind approach, the sweet approach. “I apologize for the confusion, but I did not realize you were sisters when both of you asked me to dinner for the same night. I came to tell you that I had a prior engagement come up that I thought had canceled and I’d have to cut dinner short.” He took Rachel’s hand first, and kissed it softly. Then, he took her hand and kissed it.
“Did you two realize you were courting the same man?” Their mother smiled a little as he pulled away from Hope. There was a hesitance in his voice, in his face, that made it clear he hadn’t realized what was going on.
“No. We did not, mother.” Hope spoke first. “But it’s alright. Rachel has gone more with him than I have.” She laughed a little bit and went to go sit down at the table. “I don’t want to cause trouble.”
“Hope, it’s alright. You don’t have to leave.” Richard came over to her. “I actually wanted to talk to you. May we talk outside?” He motioned towards the door. She pursed her lips a little. There was something different about the way he approached this one. He wanted her to follow him, but it wasn’t in a loving manner. She wondered if something had happened for her to earn his scorn.
“Alright. If you’ll excuse us, mother.” She nodded her head curtly, and followed him out into the hallway, and then the entryway. He opened the door for her, and they both walked outside onto the porch. The porch itself was a bit of a mosh-posh of her mother’s generation and her generation. The couch was old and falling apart. The rockers, on the other hand, were newer. They had been crafted only a couple of years ago.
“I don’t mean to be brisk or rude, Hope.” Richard sat down on one of the rockers. She sat down on the porch swing, not wanting to make him feel any worse about what he was probably going to do. “I just...I don’t feel like we connected as well as I connected with Rachel.”
“I figured as much by how few and far between we were together.” She put her fingers around the pole that helped the bench swing on its base. Her nails grazed her palm; they probably needed a trim. She frowned a little. “But, why are you beginning here? Why now? Why on my porch?”
“Because I didn’t realize how awkward it would be to do it tonight. Hope...I want to stop courting you, or whatever it is you Amish people call it. I just, I don’t know how else to tell you that. You don’t have the kind of spunk I want in a woman. Rachel does. That’s all.” He stood up, sighing softly. “Please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
“It doesn’t have to be all that hard if you’re only going to take a couple minutes to do it.” She stood up again. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Richard. And, I’m sorry this is going to be a very awkward dinner tonight.” She smiled, laughing a little. “But, tell me this. If I don’t have what it is you’re looking for, what makes you think Rachel has it?”
“There’s something different about her that I like. That I don’t see in you. Don’t get me wrong, you are an amazing woman in your own right, but you have nothing on your sister in this area.” He walked over to her, and softly took her hands. “You’ll find your own way in the world.” He kissed her hand again.
“Thank you, Richard.” She took in a deep breath, trying to avoid the lump that was rising in her throat. There was something funny about the way this was going. She wasn’t in the mood for this kind of a day, but this was something different. She felt...upset. Disappointed. This wasn’t the way she wanted to feel. She didn’t want to feel as though this was destroying her life.
“And, I hope that you’ll be able to find someone that’s right for you.” He helped her stand up. There was something even odder about this part. “I think I have fallen in love with your sister, so please, let’s not let things got awkward. I think it really could work out between Rachel and me. Please, let me pursue that if I can.” He let go of her hand before starting to turn away.
“Richard, I can see the way you look at her.” She didn’t want to sugarcoat things. “I think you have very much fallen in love with her, but you have no idea how to show that you have. You’ll lose her if you don’t show her something spectacular.” She spoke out of memories, out of experience. Many a man had fallen in love with her sister, and had lost her sister because they didn’t know how to show it in a way she understood.
“What do you mean by that, Hope?” He sat back down. Her words seemed to have suddenly intrigued him. “How do you know that?” His brows furrowed in the middle of his forehead.
“I speak from experience, Richard.” She sighed softly and sat back down on the swinging bench. “Rachel doesn’t like to stay with men that don’t show that they appreciate her. She wants a husband, a man, that will do some of the things she routinely does for everyone – you know, give her a break?” She wasn’t sure what, exactly, they had been doing for when they had been going out. They would often be out for hours on end.
“I have tried. She seems to approve of it.” He smiled softly. “I do not think I’m in any danger of losing her. Of finding our courtship broken over something I never knew about.” He laughed a little at this. “Please, do not try to meddle into our relationship just because I broke it off with you. I don’t want this to become awkward between us.” He pursed his lips.
“Well, it became awkward when Rachel and I were courting the same man. Your pleas not to make it awkward are only making it more awkward for me, Richard. In all honestly, I’d rather you left us both alone now.” She got up. “But if you insist on seeing Rachel after you have so rudely broken off our courtship before realizing that you were dating both of us, I want you to know that I will be watching out for her.”
Hope walked back towards the door. She had to walk past Richard to do that, and she knew exactly how strong he was. He could easily pull her back and down into the seat beside him if he wanted to continue this conversation. If he wanted to risk her raising her voice.
He didn’t pull her aside to continue the conversation. Instead, he got up, and walked in after her.
“Alright.” He smiled a little at her, and then dropped the conversation for the rest of the night. However, something else bubbled and roiled inside her. This strange hatred of the affection that he showed Rachel the rest of the night surfaced.
She nibbled at her food. Her mother seemed to notice that something was off, that the air between Richard and herself was cold and harsh now. She didn’t make eye contact with him at all the rest of the night, and when he left, she offered him a handshake instead of a hug.
Then, she started to clean up the dinner from that night. The mashed potatoes were put into a large bowl to be stored in the coldest place in the house. There was meat leftover to go out to the pig slough. Most of the leftover vegetables and things would end up out there too.
As she started to gather dishes to clean, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“I’ll do it. You need to go calm down, Hope.” It was Rachel’s voice. “Richard told me what happened when you went to the porch together. I never meant for this to affect you like this. I’m sorry.” She turned to face her sister.
“Rachel, he dumped me because he likes you. There’s no shame in that.” She managed not to frown deeply at her. “I’m fine. I’ll do the dishes; it’s my turn anyway. You go to bed.” She picked the dishes up again and took them towards the sink. She heard Rachel following her.
“Hope, I was going to call it off with him after that, but he didn’t give me a chance to tonight. I plan to call it off soon.” She took her sister’s hand softly as Hope put the pile on the counter. “Let me at least help you with the dishes, Hope. Please. I don’t want this to ruin our sisterhood because of what happened.”
“Rachel.” She turned to look at her sister. “I don’t want this to do it either, but I need to think about what just happened. Please. Leave me alone to do that. I want to think about it doing the dishes, but I want to do it alone.” With that, she turned back to the hollowed out sink and the pool of water inside it.
She started to wash a large pot that her mother had used to make the mashed potatoes. As she scrubbed at it, she thought. How could Richard have not realized he was dating twins? While she and Rachel didn’t look completely similar, she and her sister looked enough alike that it should have been easy enough to piece together on his own. He shouldn’t have needed to wait until they were in the same place to see it.
If he had realized it earlier, he could have broken it off with her without her ever being the wiser about it. Especially since this hadn’t been Rachel’s idea. This dinner tonight had been Hope’s idea. She had wanted an excuse not to climb down the mountain for once.
How it had backfired on her today.
She slammed the rag down on the counter, letting it make a soft thunk-thud as it landed. He wasn’t worth the troubling thoughts that she was having. Yet they refused to leave her alone. Maybe being an old, bitter maid would be okay. She wouldn’t be mad if that happened to her. He deserved the feeling of regret, of betrayal, that ought to come with breaking off a courtship.
Yet she had given him no reason to feel those things when she had left him on the porch. Unless, of course, by walking away, she had kept him from obtaining the true purpose of what he had come to do. If by walking away, she had given him some reason to suspect that she still loved him, that she still wanted something to do with him, she had managed to give him the remorse, the regret he deserved to feel.
The thought of having done it simply by ending the conversation made her feel better. If she really had given him that remorse, that regret that he deserved, he wouldn’t be coming back around here anytime soon.
She picked the rag up from the counter, and continued to scrub away at the pot. There was really very little left on the pot to scrub at, but some of it had burnt on in years past. She was making good progress on getting it up and off the pot. So, using her slightly longer nails, she continued to pick at the burnt-on food.
Picking at the food made her feel even better. Like she had control of something again, as if she were able to pick up and start all over. Eventually, she had to put the pot into the water and actually wash it. With soap bubbles and everything. Her mother wouldn’t be happy to know she had spent so much time on one dish.
As she washed the dish, her anger began to fade away. She thought of how she had to move her hands in a circular motion to simply wash the soap over the dish. Once the pot was soaped up and full of soapy water, she dumped the soapy water into the sink.
She continued her routine for a few more minutes before someone else walked into the room. As much as Hope wanted to be alone right now, she didn’t want to yell at whoever had walking into the room.
“Are you alright, sweetie?” Her mother’s voice entered her ears. She sighed. “Alright. Put the dishes down. What’s on your mind?” Her hand trailed up Hope’s arm, as if she was waiting for something to happen. As if there was something funny going on about what was happening. She sighed again.
“It’s just...this whole thing with Richard. I can’t believe he was courting myself and Rachel. How could he not realize he was courting twins until tonight? And what’s up with the courting two people at once thing? I really don’t understand it.” Hope sat down beside her mother at the table.
“Neither do I, but I think it was a very dumb way to handle the situation. What did he tell you when he took you out to the porch?” She took her mother’s hand softly as she spoke. Hope let out a short, but deep, breath.
“He broke it off with me. We’re not courting anymore. I’m angry. I’m upset, mother. I have no idea what to do, and I think I yelled at Rachel for the first time.” She sighed deeply this time. With no idea how to handle anything, she was all on her own. Or so she felt. She had a feeling her mother was about to rectify that.
Her mother – a wonderful woman named Faith – patted her hand softly, chuckling. There was a story coming, probably one that had to do with her courting her father. Hope didn’t know a lot about her father; he had died shortly after she and Rachel had been born.
“Have I ever told you about how your father and I met, Hope?” She smiled softly. Hope shook her head. “Well, he was a local boy, came in twice a week from the town at the base of the mountain with milk. He was a sweet man, grew up into a strong man over the years.” Her eyes teared up softly, as if she still missed him. She probably still did miss him. Hope knew how much her father had meant to her mother; she had never remarried. “Back then, outsiders weren’t given such a favorable eye. While Richard’s chances of being accepted by the community have pretty much been shot when this gets out, there are plenty of other young men in that village. Maybe you should take a day and go down there. It would mean you stayed a couple of days, but that could be very powerful.”
With that, her mother excused herself, and went up to go to bed. She sat at the table as her mother’s footsteps plodded away. Going down to the town at the base of the mountain is what typically passed as a rumspringa here. There wasn’t a lot to explore here. Even if people made it further, they typically came back because they lived as boring a life down there as they did up here.
Hope slowly got up, turning the idea over in her head again and again. She wondered if her mother was serious. The idea of taking an early rumspringa, or even just a day trip to the town down there, was unheard of here. They lived by very strict rules. Then again, her mother had broken the rules as a young woman. Why wouldn’t she continue to break rules as an adult?
She giggled softly to herself. The thought of her mother breaking a ton of laws didn’t suit her. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman that you would expect to be a lawbreaker. Her mother’s hair sat plaited in two simple braids that ran down the sides of her body. Her hands were worn with years of providing for her and Rachel. Her eyes held the wisdom of someone decades older than she was.
Which is why Hope thought she might just be onto something. Something took over her, and she was quick to finish the dishes. The pots and pans, the plates, the cutlery, everything was finished within an hour. She then hurried up to her room. They were lucky enough that she and Rachel didn’t have to share a room.
As she shut the door to her room, so that she could peel off her dress and climb in bed in her shift, she started to wonder if her mother would have to help her pack up and leave. That is, if she even decided to go. There was a good chance that, after a proper night’s rest, she wouldn’t feel so vile towards Richard. She hated to admit it, but there it was.
She took in a deep breath. There was no need to get all uppity about it now. The deed was almost done. As she let the breath out, she found the idea of leaving the community much more appealing.
She had already had a rumspringa. She’d gone to that town before, but she hadn’t stayed long. She’d explored beyond it, living alone for most of her rumspringa. Maybe this time, she could make it work for her. Make the town part of her home. The best part would be coming back with a man courting her – make Richard jealous.
Her smile dropped. Is that who she was? Some woman who would make men jealous if they dumped her? That wasn’t the kind of woman that she wanted to be, but it was the kind of woman she was turning into. Or, at least, the kind of woman that she seemed to be turning into.
The more that she thought about it, the more she thought she needed to get out of the community. This wasn’t doing her any good. If she stayed here, she feared she would only get worse. That she would become what was once her worst nightmare: the bitter spinster lady that lived off to the side of the community.
She took her dress off, and cast it aside, not caring if it wasn’t hung up or put away properly. Then, she took off her petticoats. She had two of them, and wore at least one regularly. Those she didn’t cast aside quite as carelessly. Instead, she folded them up gently and placed them on top of her dresser.
In just her slip and her knee-high socks, with the garters undone, she walked over to the bed. She slid under the covers, trying to ignore the feeling of pleasure she felt from the fact that she would be leaving the community tomorrow. Even if she had to fight the bishop on it, she would be leaving again tomorrow.
It was better than being an old spinster on the side of town.
She slept well that night. No tossing. No turning. Maybe it was a good thing that Richard was out of her life.
The next morning, she woke up to the sunlight outside, streaming through her windows and the curtains. Things were boiling downstairs; she heard bubbles popping and things being sloshed. Someone was cooking breakfast. She wondered if it was her mother; certainly smelled like her mother’s cooking.
She got off her bed, and got dressed. First the petticoats and her garters. Then, she pulled a dress on over it all. This dress was blue, soft, and lighter in color than the one she had been wearing the day before. She had been fine in that one for a couple of days, but she needed a better look if she was going into town.
“Hope? Are you awake?” Her mother’s voice came into the room. “Hope?”
“Yeah, I’m awake, and dressed. So, the idea you came up with yesterday...about me going into town... do you want me to act on it?” She turned to face the door as it opened. Her mother came in, and quickly smiled.
“If that’s what you want to do, of course you can act on it. I’ll gladly let you.” She smiled a little wider. “Here. Let’s get you packed up and ready to go. If you leave before Rachel wakes up, I doubt she’ll ask about it.”
With that, her mother helped her pack up the few clothes she had. She put the rest of the dresses in the bag. Her mother went down to the kitchen and returned with some food and water. When she gave her a questioning look, she saw that it wasn’t just any food. It was her mother’s recipe for one of her favorite foods that packed easily. She’d had the same thing on her first day of the rumspringa.
The bag felt heavy on her back. Maybe it was the burden of knowing that she was leaving, and possibly for good this time. Maybe it was the fact that she knew that she was breaking rules that made the bag feel heavier to her this time. She didn’t know why. It was the same amount of stuff that she had packed for her rumspringa. Then, it hadn’t felt nearly so heavy to her.
“Thank you, mother.” She smiled softly. Her mother nodded, holding her hand.
“Be safe, honey, and make it there quickly. I know the trails get a little soggy and muddy at this time of year, but I want you to be careful and make it to town as fast as you can. You don’t have to come back until you’re ready to come back. I’m okay with that. I know what challenges you face, and oh, I wish I could help you more.” Her mother hugged her tight. “Now go. I love you.”
“I love you too, mother.” Hope smiled softly at her. “Thank you, again.” With that, she hurried to the front door.
She didn’t remember a lot about how to get down to the town. What she remembered was that someone – years ago – had planted wooden markers all along the trail from their community to the main trail that led to town. She had to follow those now overgrown, leafy, and hard to spot markers for a good five or six miles down the mountain. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. If she felt up for that particular part of the journey yet.
It didn’t matter if she was up for it. As she walked down the road, with the sun only beginning to crest the horizon, she realized she had to do it. She continued walking, her boots plopping in the mud. It must have rained the night before.
As Hope walked, she listened to the sounds of the nature around her. She heard the birds beginning to chirp, and the flip-flap of their wings as they opened and closed, getting ready for the day. She heard the crickets chirping, singing their last notes for the night. The cicadas had already become quiet, leaving an empty void in the chorus this morning.
She saw the first sign. They were every mile or so. She’d already walked a mile from the community, sharing her thoughts with no one but herself. She reveled in the quiet. It didn’t happen often enough, in her opinion, the quiet.
The sun began to filter in through the leaves, illuminating her path. She played a game of stepping stones, stepping in the patches of light and shadow alternatively. First, the light patch, the one of warmth and coziness. Then the patch of shadow, the one of cold feeling and hard shivers.
As Hope walked, she began to work out what she was going to do while she was in town. If she remembered correctly, she had not met many people from the town the first time. No, it had only been a quick stopover for the night with a friend of her father’s. She had only met him, and his family. He had a lovely wife and three lovely daughters. No sons. Not that she had met, anyway.
After that, she had left the town, early in the morning. So early, in fact, that she hadn’t had a chance to stop at the grocery store or anything. She’d almost stayed to get some more supplies, but decided against it. She didn’t have any money, anyway.
The trip went quickly this time around. Maybe that was because she already knew the way down to the town. Around the large tree – which acted as the halfway mark – and then down the rest of the trail from the community. Once she hit the main trail, it was marked out nicely and had little dips from years of being walked up and down.
This part of the trip was harder. She had to be careful; a single misplacement of her foot would send her tumbling down the mountain, possibly into the forest that surrounded her on all sides. That wouldn’t be good at all. People from her community didn’t come to this trail often. Those from the town at the base of the mountain didn’t come this far up the mountain.
There was a good patch of orange trees that ripened around this time of year in the middle of the forest. The townspeople would come up and pick them to take back down the mountain. She’d picked the same patch the year she had gone on her rumspringa. She had enjoyed those oranges; every now and then, she’d be able to sneak away when they were ripe and pick them from the trees.
She recognized the area now. She was near those orange trees.
She broke off the main trail, and started on the rugged trail to those orange trees. Maybe having a couple of these citrus fruits would help her feel better, more at ease about the whole thing. If that was so, she didn’t want to take a chance without it. If it didn’t work, she hadn’t lost anything but her breakfast.
There was a sudden rustling in the forest. She turned to look around her. Maybe one of those other people from the town was here.
“Hello?” She called out. Maybe she was just hearing things. Or maybe it was an animal.
“I-Is someone there?” Another voice echoed in the area nearby. “I’m stuck.” She held back a giggle. “Hello?!”
“My name is Hope. What’s your name?” She used the echo, or tried to use it, to find where he was stuck.
“David.” Each time he spoke, she managed to find another foothold to hold onto as she looked. “That’s a pretty name, by the way. I like it.”
“Thank you.” She felt a blush on her face. “How did you get stuck up here?” She found where he was; stuck in a ditch. “Or...down there, I guess?” He laughed a little. It must’ve been a funny story for him to be laughing.
“I tripped over a root.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you think you can find something to lower down so I can climb out?”
She got down on her stomach and offered him her hand. He managed to grab it.
“Alright. On the count of three, I want you to jump as hard as you can. That should give me leverage to pull you out with. Sound good?” She grabbed onto his hand with her free one. He nodded slowly. “Okay. One...two...three!” He jumped hard, and she pulled on his hand as hard as she could. They both ended up back against a tree.
She was between him and the tree, her dress and petticoats flung over her knees from the force.
“Thank you, Hope.” David smiled at her widely. “I’ve been stuck in there for two days. Do you know of somewhere I could rest while I recover?”
“Yeah, but neither option is rather close. We can go up the mountain, or down it. I think you’d rather go down, isn’t that right?” She helped him stand up.
“Yeah. If possible. I know of somewhere we can stay in the town down at the base of the mountain. I think there’s an Amish community up there...they probably wouldn’t give us shelter; we’re outsiders.” He smiled at her a little more. “You heading home, then?”
“Yeah. You could say that.” She smiled back just a little more. “You could say that.” Then, they began down the mountain, arm in arm.
bonus story:
Ruth smiled as she stood beside the front door of the schoolhouse and watched her students file out one by one with their parents in tow. Another year and another successful Parents Day. She couldn’t help but feel proud of herself, especially after spending most of the week tending to every minor catastrophe that threatened to derail the event. Some were under her control, but others, like the impending snow storm, were not.
Ruth leaned to her right and looked out the doorway and upward to the sky. The temperature had dropped considerably since that morning and gray clouds continued streaming in from the west. The snow wasn’t due to arrive until the weekend, which gave her and the other residents in her small Amish community only three days to prepare. Thankfully though, it was the last day of school before the two-week Christmas break, and she could breathe a little bit easier, knowing her students would be safe at home with their parents and not traipsing back and forth to school.
“I would bet one of my sweet potato pies that will never happen.”
The statement was followed by giggles, and Ruth strained an ear to listen in on the conversation between two of her students’ mothers, who were standing near the end of the line. She would recognize Abigail Gandy’s voice anywhere, and she was intrigued over what she was betting against one of her pies, which were talked about around their town almost as much as old man Brennan’s famous peanut brittle.
“Yah, if it does happen, it will be a miracle,” Abigail continued. “Time is certainly not on her side.”
Hmm...interesting.
“I thought she might have a chance when she dated Amos Wright,” the other woman, Naomi Simmons, added. “But he said she was too set in her ways to marry anyone.”
Ruth inhaled sharply. Amos Wright had dated only one woman she was aware of and that woman was her.
“Yah, I suppose she will be an old maid to her dying day,” Abigail replied.
The realization they were talking about her made Ruth’s blood boil from anger, but worse than that, it embarrassed her. She shouldn’t have been surprised, since Abigail and Naomi were two of the worst gossip mongers in town – a fact that hadn’t changed since the three of them attended school together many years prior.
Their attempt at whispering was juvenile, at best, and they were so loud she was certain the other parents were overhearing the conversation. As the heat rose to her cheeks, Ruth bit her tongue to keep from lashing out.
Lord, please give me strength and please keep my temper in check.
When the two women finally caught up to her in line, Ruth held her head high and mustered as big a smile as she could manage.
“Ruth, it was so good seeing you,” Naomi gushed. “I hope you have a wonderful Christmas holiday.”
She returned the sentiment, and when Naomi held out a hand to shake hers. Ruth tried not to squeeze too tightly, although she would’ve given anything to see the look on her face if she cut off the circulation to her fingers. It would serve her right.
Ruth took a deep breath. Come on, Lord...teach me to show these women some mercy or I’m going to do something I’ll regret.
No sooner had Ruth let go of Naomi’s hand when Abigail was wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. “Have a blessed Christmas, Ruth.”
The fact that they were gossiping about her just minutes before their boisterous display of affection left a bad taste in her mouth, and Ruth pushed her away as gently as she could.
“Denki. I hope the two of you have a happy Christmas too,” she replied.
The two women couldn’t leave the schoolhouse fast enough, and as soon as they crossed the threshold, Ruth closed the door and locked it securely behind them. Leaning against it for support, she took another deep breath and fought back the sudden urge to cry.
Old maid.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time she’d heard someone refer to her by that phrase. Being thirty years old and unmarried in their community was very uncommon, but it wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried to find a suitable husband. Perhaps if there weren’t such slim pickings amongst the men in her town, she would’ve had better luck.
Ruth took one last stroll around the room, straightening desks and gathering papers that needed storing until after the Christmas break. Despite the joy that came from celebrating the Savior’s birth, she couldn’t help but feel a small sense of dread too. The holiday brought along with it a multitude of different emotions, including loneliness, since she had no family to spend it with.
Ruth sat at her desk and mindlessly thumbed through the mail she’d brought from home. She knew she should be on her way, especially with the temperature dropping so quickly, but she just couldn’t make herself rush toward a house where there was no one to greet her. At least at school, she felt some semblance of belonging.
A bright yellow envelope addressed from a Keith Avery in California caught her attention. Ruth furrowed a brow. The name wasn’t familiar, but she received several pieces of junk mail every week, mostly from people and companies trying to sell her school supplies, so it wasn’t uncommon to see a name she didn’t recognize. As Ruth tore open the envelope, she was delighted to discover it wasn’t junk after all – it was an actual handwritten letter.
Dear Miss Drennan,
Hello. My name is Keith Avery, and I’m an elementary school principal from Pasadena, California. I received word from our mutual friend, Nicole Turner, that you were in search of a new teaching position. We have two Amish children in our private school system, and I would love for you to visit and see if this job might be of interest to you. Enclosed you will find my business card. If you are interested, please contact me by calling the phone number provided on the card so we can discuss the details. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Keith Avery
How strange. Nicole never mentioned anything about a teaching job on Ruth’s last visit to Lancaster, where Nicole, the only English woman she referred to as a close friend, operated a high-end clothing store.
Ruth turned the envelope over and a blue business card tumbled out onto her desk. Although she’d never considered leaving town, the invitation couldn’t have come at a better time. Ruth picked up the card and twirled it around with her fingers, going over every pro and con she could think of. The thought of flying to California was both terrifying and exciting, since she’d never flown before or stepped across the Pennsylvania state line.
Ruth thought back to the conversation between Abigail and Naomi and her resolve strengthened. Why not? It wasn’t as if she had a reason to stay in Lancaster anyway, other than her teaching job, and her assistant, Paige, could take over that position with no problem. There were no close friends or family members to tie her here either.
Ruth tucked the card inside her dress pocket and stood to leave. Perhaps a change of scenery was exactly what she needed, but there was only one way to know for sure. She placed a hand against her chest as the realization made her heart race out of control.
She was going to California.
* * * *
Keith craned his neck for the hundredth time as he waited for Ruth Drennan to make her appearance in the airport waiting room. The small space was filled to overflowing with people waiting for passengers, and Ruth was one of the last to walk through the doorway. She was the only person in the room wearing a long blue dress and bonnet, so there was no mistaking her.
Keith waved his hand in the air as he struggled to get to her through the mass of people hugging each other. She looked out of place and very frightened, and her “deer in the headlights” expression tugged at his heart.
“Miss Drennan?” he called.
She smiled as he approached her, and he was instantly struck by the way her blue eyes sparkled. Her long blonde hair was tied with a ribbon at the nape of her neck, and she had the most flawless complexion he’d ever seen. Nicole once made a comment about Ruth’s “understated beauty”, but it wasn’t understated at all. She was downright beautiful.
“Please, call me Ruth,” she replied, as she held out a hand to greet him. “Are you Keith Avery?”
Her skin was soft to the touch, and he didn’t want to let go, but he felt like he should show her some type of identification. He was, after all, a stranger, and the last thing he wanted to do was spook her. Keith pulled his wallet from his back pocket and opened it to reveal his driver’s license. She glanced at his picture on it and nodded.
“Thank you for getting here so soon,” he remarked. “Nicole has told me some wonderful things about you.”
She looked genuinely surprised, and when she blushed, he felt his heart pitter-patter a little more rapidly.
“Denki. I’m happy to be here.”
After spending most of the night studying a crash course in the Pennsylvania Dutch language, he understood denki to mean “thank you”, and he smiled as he motioned toward the exit that would lead them to the baggage claim area.
Nudging his way through the throng of people, who were headed in the same direction, while also trying to keep from losing Ruth in the crowd, was quite the task. Christmas music blared from the overhead speakers, and with the holiday less than a week away, the airport was busting as the seams with people arriving to spend the holiday with family and friends.
“I’ve never seen so many people in one place,” she said.
Her eyes were as big as silver dollars as she took in the sights around her, and her sense of wonder and innocence was endearing. It was rare for him to come across someone in his line of work who wasn’t loud and overbearing, so her presence was certainly a welcomed change of pace.
“I wish I could tell you it’s just because of the holiday, but I’m afraid it’s always this way.”
She smiled at his remark, and they spent the next few minutes in silence while Keith retrieved her luggage and helped guide her toward the exit that would take them to the parking lot. When they stepped outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air before showing her to his vehicle.
“It’s really beautiful here...and a lot warmer than Lancaster.”
Keith opened the trunk and placed her bags inside. “Our winters are pretty mild. You’ll probably see a lot of palm trees decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments while you’re in town.”
His comment made her laugh and the soft sound of her laughter made his heart race again. When they got inside the small car, he was suddenly very much aware of how close they were, and he swallowed past the lump in his throat to keep from clamming up.
“Nicole said you were in for some rough weather this weekend. I’m glad you were able to make it out in time.”
He put the car in reverse, and he couldn’t help but notice the way she gripped the seat. He knew she probably wasn’t used to riding in anything other than a horse and buggy, so he went slower than usual and tried not to scare her.
“Yah. I am too. It was just starting to snow when I boarded the plane,” she replied. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask...how do you and Nicole know each other?”
Keith chuckled as he steered the car out of the parking lot and into the oncoming traffic that would take them east toward the hotel where Ruth would be staying.
“Her husband, Dan, and I went to college together. We were roommates for a couple of years before we graduated. He met Nicole while he was working as a security guard at a fashion show in Los Angeles, and he went with her back to Pennsylvania. We’ve kept in touch ever since, and I try to visit them at least once or twice a year.”
He stole a glance in her direction, and he saw the way she nibbled on her lower lip while he drove. She stared straight ahead and he could tell she was nervous by the way the vein throbbed on the left side of her neck. He was overcome by the urge to reach out and hold her hand, but he shook his head fervently to clear his thoughts.
Stop being stupid, Keith. You just met her.
“Do you want to go straight to the hotel or would you like to visit the school first?” he asked.
That seemed to relax her somewhat. “I would love to see the school, if you don’t mind.”
Keith nodded and moved over to the far-right lane so he could take the next exit, while Ruth kept her eyes shut tightly the whole time. She gripped the seat so hard her knuckles turned white, but he didn’t say anything. She was obviously terrified of the traffic, and he couldn’t blame her. If he’d been a stranger to their state, it would’ve scared the daylights out of him too, so he kept quiet. She didn’t open her eyes again until he’d taken the exit onto a two-lane road that was practically deserted.
“I didn’t consider until after I mailed the letter that you might not have a way to contact me, but Nicole said you have a...community phone? I believe that’s what she called it.”
He felt embarrassed asking such a question, but the Amish way of life fascinated him, and he wanted to learn more about it if she would allow him the opportunity. When Ruth smiled at him, he gave her a tentative smile in return.
“We don’t have cell phones or landline phones in our homes, but we have one community phone that everyone uses. It’s located in the middle of town in a little building called a shanty that keeps it safe from the weather.”
She said it so nonchalantly, as if everyone had a phone shanty, and her innocence tugged at his heart once more. She finally let go of the seat and flattened her palms against her legs, and he was happy to see some color had returned to her cheeks. As he pulled into the drive at the school, her face lit up in the biggest grin he’d seen since her arrival.
Keith brought the vehicle to a stop in front of the building, and Ruth leaned forward and stared out the front window. She was speechless at first, but it didn’t take long before her excitement took over. “I’ve never seen such a huge building before. How many children attend school here?”
They got out of the car and Keith locked the doors behind him as they walked over to the sidewalk in front of the building. “This building houses kindergarten through sixth grade, and I believe there are roughly seven-hundred students enrolled. Seventh and eighth grade were moved to the high school building a couple of years ago. It’s located about a mile from here.”
Her jaw slacked but no words came out. The building was set apart from the other structures around it, including the gymnasium, playground, cafeteria, and the football field across the road from the school. Ruth made a complete circle as she tried to take it all in, while he stood by and enjoyed watching her reaction.
“Are we allowed to go inside?” she asked.
Keith dug through his front pants pockets and removed the set of keys that would unlock the building, and when he opened the door for her and turned on the overhead lights, Ruth gave him a shy smile before entering. When she walked past him, the faint scent of lavender drifted past his nose and made him weak in the knees.
“Could you please remind me what grade I would be teaching?”
It was one thing to try and get used to her stunning beauty, but quite another to get used to her friendliness and down-to-earth personality. The women he usually dealt with were rude and high-maintenance, so being with a soft-spoken woman wasn’t something he was familiar with. Keith started walking down the long corridor toward the sixth-grade classrooms, and Ruth fell in step beside him.
“Our sixth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Moore, retired a couple of weeks ago, and we need someone to fill her spot. I’ll show you to her classroom. It’s at the end of this hallway.”
He didn’t get in a rush, as he enjoyed watching Ruth admire everything around her. She stopped every so often to peek inside a classroom and her whole face would light up. It was like watching a child open presents on Christmas morning.
“Do you have family back home in Lancaster?” he inquired.
Ruth stuffed her hands inside the front pockets on her dress and for the first time since she stepped off the plane, he detected a bit of sadness in her beautiful blue eyes. He immediately wanted to kick himself for asking such a personal question.
“Neh. My parents passed away a few years ago, and I have no brothers or sisters to speak of. The few extended family members I have live in Ohio, and I rarely see them.”
Keith didn’t know what to say at first. His parents, sister, brother-in-law, and two nieces lived within driving distance of his home, and he couldn’t imagine being apart from them. He wanted to ask Ruth if she would be returning home in time for Christmas, but there was something inside him that told him not to. The last thing he wanted to do was make her upset, so he decided from then on to steer clear of subjects dealing with family.
Keith stopped at the last classroom on the right and opened the door to Mrs. Moore’s old classroom. Ruth clapped her hands together excitedly as she walked from desk to desk and looked at everything in the room. Thankfully, Mrs. Moore left her decorations, so the classroom was brightly lit in a myriad of assorted colors from the wall decorations to the painted tiles on the floor.
“What a beautiful classroom!” she remarked. “How many children would I be teaching if I accepted the job?”
Keith sat down on top of one of the desks and went over the numbers in his head. “There are four sixth-grade homeroom classes, with at least 25 to 30 children per class, so you would be teaching at least a hundred children each day. They reciprocate between English, math, history, and science classes all day, except when they’re in the cafeteria or at recess.”
He could see the wheels turning in her head, and he was worried he may have bombarded her with too much information at once, but she didn’t seem anxious at all. If anything, she seemed even more thrilled.
“Do you have children attending school here?”
A part of Keith secretly hoped she was asking because she was curious if he was single or married, but he tried not to get his hopes up. He hadn’t spent much time with the Amish, but he did know they rarely dated outside their faith.
“No children of my own. Just two nieces – one in first grade and the other in fourth.”
Ruth slid into one of the desks and made herself comfortable. “I’m surprised there are Amish children going to school here since our people don’t usually settle in California.”
Keith joined her, but he didn’t try to squeeze his 6’2” frame into one of the small desks. Instead, he leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest. “There’s only one family that I know of. They moved here last year and the parents manage a very successful furniture business. Their twin daughters are in sixth grade.”
She nodded and smiled, but she grew quiet for several minutes. Keith could tell she had a lot on her mind by the distant look on her face as she gazed around the room, but he didn’t interrupt her train of thought. He knew asking her about the teaching position would be a long shot, but he heard so many good things about her from Nicole, he had to at least give it a shot.
“Did the children have trouble fitting in here?” she asked.
There was a hesitant look in her eyes, and Keith couldn’t help but wonder if she was asking the question mainly to try and gauge if she would be accepted into the fold or not.
“The girls have done great since day one. The other children love them, and the teachers have a very good relationship with their parents too.”
That seemed to lift her spirits and she smiled as she looked around the room one more time before standing. “I guess I have a lot to think about.”
Keith stood too, and as they walked out of the room together, he tried not to get his hopes up. The double doors opened at the other end of the hallway, and he was caught off guard when Ruth suddenly grabbed his arm and held on tight. “Who is that?” she whispered.
He tried not to laugh, but it was hard not to. “It’s just our janitor, Mr. Owens. He comes every Saturday to mop the floors.”
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red when she looked down and realized she was holding fast to his arm, but she didn’t step away as quickly as he figured she would. Her body was soft and warm against his, and for a moment they simply stared at each other. When she finally let go and took a step back, the void he felt was unmistakable.
They walked the hallway in silence until they reached Mr. Owens, who stopped to introduce himself to Ruth. The fear he saw in her eyes just minutes before was replaced by a huge smile as she reached out to shake the old man’s hand.
Maybe...just maybe...she would say yes to California after all.
* * * *
Ruth stood on the balcony of her hotel room and sipped a cup of coffee while the sun made its debut in the east. Another day was dawning and she still hadn’t given Keith an official answer. He offered to take her on a tour of the county, and they spent most of the previous day traveling the coastline. Each destination left her more amazed than the one before it, but by the end of the day she felt something entirely different.
Guilt.
If her neighbors could see her riding in Keith’s car, listening to music on the radio, drinking lemonade and buying lunch from what he referred to as a “food truck”, they would be shocked. The interaction between the two of them was perfectly innocent, but she still went to bed feeling ashamed. Keith had acted like a gentleman from the very start, but she would be lying if she said her attraction to him was strictly platonic.
Ruth knew the feeling probably wasn’t mutual, but it didn’t stop her from daydreaming. Keith Avery was a handsome man, and it wouldn’t surprise her one bit if he had a slew of women at his beck and call. They’d had a wonderful time together since she arrived, and the conversation had never flowed more freely between her and another man, but she knew the possibility of them dating was highly unlikely. On the other hand, what did she have to return to in Lancaster? If Keith wasn’t in the picture, would she still want to stay in California?
Ruth sighed. The answer was a resounding yes. Everyone she’d been introduced to had welcomed her with open arms, and she could see herself teaching at the school. But did she want to risk being shunned by her community back home if she decided to live among the English?
A knock on the door stirred her from her reverie and Ruth’s footsteps – and heart – were heavy as she went to answer it. There were so many decisions that needed to be made, and it was her last day in California. Her time was running out.
Ruth looked through the peephole and her heart flip-flopped inside her chest when she saw Keith standing on the other side of the door. She smoothed her hair down with the palm of her hand and straightened the apron on her dress before turning the knob.
“Guder mariye,” she called. “I’m sorry. That means ‘good morning’.”
Keith laughed. “Good morning to you too. I’m sorry to bother you. I know it’s early.”
Ruth stood to the side and motioned for him to enter. “I’m usually up by five o’clock, so you’re not bothering me at all. Would you like some coffee?”
Keith stuck his hands inside the front pockets of his slacks before walking into the room. “Sure. That would be great. Thank you.”
Ruth hesitated. Something about his demeanor was...off. He seemed shy and apprehensive for some strange reason. Perhaps it was just being alone inside the hotel room with her that bothered him. Oddly enough, she wasn’t troubled by it at all. She could just imagine the look on Abigail and Naomi’s faces if they caught the two of them alone together, and the thought made her giggle.
While she went to the coffee maker to pour him a cup of coffee, Keith walked over to the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the balcony. He looked quite handsome in his dress slacks and blue dress shirt, and the masculine aroma of his cologne filtered through the room and made her sigh contentedly.
Ruth refilled her coffee and cautiously carried the two steaming cups to the balcony. When Keith saw her coming, he took one from her hand and moved over so she could stand beside him. Christmas was only two days away, but you couldn’t tell it by the temperature. Not only that but people were walking around in shorts, t-shirts, and sandals.
“I still can’t believe Christmas is almost here,” she said.
Keith took a sip of his coffee and followed her gaze to the family playing around the hotel swimming pool below them. “I might say the same thing if I was in Lancaster right now. I’d probably freeze to death.”
Ruth laughed out loud as she tried to imagine him trudging through the snow. They sipped their coffee in silence for a few minutes, but it was a comfortable quiet that sank in her bones and warmed her soul. She would certainly miss the sunny weather if she decided to return home. It was too bad she couldn’t bottle it up and take it with her wherever she went.
“I have something for you,” he said.
Ruth’s heart raced as Keith removed a small box from his pants pocket.
“It’s nothing big. Just a little something to remind you of California in case you decide to go back home to Pennsylvania.”
Ruth set her cup on the balcony’s brick railing and carefully removed the red ribbon tied to the box. When she opened it, and discovered a California-shaped refrigerator magnet inside, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Now every time you go to your refrigerator, you’ll have a little reminder of your time here, and you won’t forget me.”
Ruth smiled as she ran her fingertips over the magnet. It was such a sweet, endearing sentiment, and it was also the first gift she’d ever received from a man – besides her father.
“Denki, Keith,” she replied. “I love the thought behind it, but I could never forget you – even if I tried. That won’t happen.”
She wasn’t lying. No matter what her decision might be, she would always remember her first time in California with a smile – and she certainly wouldn’t forget him. From his black hair to his green eyes and muscular build, Keith Avery was impossible to forget.
“So, I’m guessing you’ve decided to decline the offer?”
There was no mistaking the sadness in his voice, and it gripped her heart and wouldn’t let go.
“I haven’t made a decision yet. This is a lot harder than I expected it would be.”
The sound of children laughing drifted up to the balcony and made Ruth wonder if she would ever be blessed to hear such a beautiful sound in her own home. She and Keith were from two different worlds and there was no one waiting for her at home either. She would lose no matter what she chose to do, and the realization was a bitter pill to swallow.
“Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?” he asked.
Ruth wished he could. “You’ve already done so much. You welcomed me here and treated me like family from the very beginning, but if I stay, I will never be able to return to my community, so you can see what I’m up against.”
Keith placed his cup on the balcony beside hers and leaned against the sliding glass door.
“Can I ask you something? If you stay here, will that change your faith in God? Will your relationship with Him come to an end?”
Ruth looked down and shuffled her feet against the concrete. “Of course not, but...what if being here changes me?”
When Keith moved from his stance by the door and grabbed her hands, the sudden movement caught her off guard. She took a step back, but when she bumped against the railing she realized there was nowhere else to go. His hands were hot and the warmth from them sent a chill up her spine. She couldn’t move – couldn’t breathe.
“We all face the same choices every day to follow the ways of the world or remain true to who we are. This world won’t change you unless you allow it to happen. No one can take your faith from you, Ruth. That’s something you will always have...no matter where you live.”
He spoke with such passion it was impossible not to feel it, and they stood so close she could see the rapid way his chest rose and fell with each breath. For a long while neither of them spoke, and his gaze was so steady she thought for a moment he might kiss her, which made her even more nervous. When he brought her hands to his lips and gently kissed them both, she thought for certain her heart had stopped beating.
“It’s your choice, and I will accept whatever you decide to do,” he whispered. “Now...I’ll leave you alone so can have some peace and quiet to think.”
Ruth sighed.
If only it was that simple.
* * * *
Keith wore a hole in his rug as he paced back and forth inside his living room that afternoon. He’d done everything he could think of to stay busy and take his mind off Ruth, but so far nothing was helping. He figured she would call long before now, but it was nearing six o’clock and all was quiet. Keith picked up his cell phone from the coffee table and checked to make sure he hadn’t accidentally set it on silent, but the volume was as high as it could go, so he hadn’t missed any calls.
He groaned as he flopped down on the sofa. He always considered himself a strong, independent man, but one tiny Amish woman from Lancaster, Pennsylvania had shown him in just three days how easily it was to bring him to his knees. He felt like a teenager again – waiting on a phone call from the perfect girl that might possibly change his life.
A loud honk outside caught his attention, and Keith scrambled to the foyer, ready to tell whoever it was to go away so he could be alone and continue pining for Ruth’s phone call.
Geez. It sounded pathetic even in his head.
Keith flung open the front door, and his heart fell to his feet when he saw Ruth standing on his doorstep. He caught the fading taillights of a yellow taxi retreating down his driveway, which surprised him.
“My first taxi ride,” she said. “I bet I won’t forget that either. Do they all drive like maniacs?”
He chuckled as he opened the door to let her in. He could just imagine her gripping the backseat of the taxi on the long drive from the hotel to his house.
“Some of them aren’t so bad,” he replied. “How did you know where to find me?”
As they walked to the living room, Ruth pulled his business card from her dress pocket, and he smiled, having forgotten he’d slipped it inside the envelope along with his letter.
“I was going to call you from the hotel, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized this should be done face-to-face.”
The tone of her voice made his spirits wilt. She sounded so serious, and that could only mean one thing – she’d decided to decline the teaching job. He gestured to the sofa, and his feet felt like lead as he tried to make the short walk so he could sit down.
Perhaps she was right. At least, with her coming to his house, they would have the opportunity to say goodbye in person instead of over the phone, which would’ve felt cold and impersonal.
She sat down beside him and he didn’t miss the way she took a couple of deep breaths before speaking.
He swallowed. This was going to be bad.
“I’ve thought a lot about what you said this morning and you’re right. Where I live doesn’t determine my faith...I do. I can worship God wherever and whenever I want to...and I want to do that here. Everyone is so nice, and the teaching position is a dream come true. I truly feel like this is meant to be my new home.”
Keith had never felt so relieved. He was overcome with the sudden urge to kiss her, but he also didn’t want to startle her by rushing, so he kept his place. When Ruth leaned into him and kissed him first, he was completely caught off guard...but in a good way. It was a brief kiss, but he felt the ripple of it from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I hope I’m not being too forward.”
He smiled before returning her kiss. Her lips were so soft, and when he deepened the kiss, he felt her body tremble. When they parted, he noticed her breathing was labored – much like his own.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you at the airport,” he replied. “I apologize if that’s being too forward too.”
They both laughed.
“Does your school board have rules against the principal dating a teacher?”
Keith kissed her forehead, nose, and then both cheeks before brushing his lips against her mouth. “No,” he answered. “But even if they did, I’m sure we could find some way around it...together.”
Ruth rested her head against his shoulder and he heard her sigh as he held her close against his body. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about the many things they would be able to experience as a couple now that she had decided to stay.
“Together,” she replied, softly. “I like the sound of that.”
