Ready well before nine the next morning, Jane was extra nervous. In her life, things had never happened the way she wanted them to and for that reason she half expected Matt to not show up at all.
She sat in the living room wearing one of her best dresses. Sadie was sitting next to her with Mr. Grover nestled firmly on her lap. The clock over the mantle told Jane it was three minutes after eight. The more often she kept looking at the minute hand, the slower it stubbornly moved.
“What is that?” Jane pointed to red and green fabric at the end of the couch.
“Christmas decorations for charity.”
“They look interesting.” Jane was trying to make conversation to fill the time. She stared at the tiny red jackets with dark green edges.
“Everything has to be in red and green. That's what they said.”
“What is the charity?”
“I'm not even sure which one it is this time. One of the ladies is organizing it. I'm just one of the helpers, the seamstresses. I just do what I’m told.”
“I'd love to help while I'm here. I left so fast that I didn't pack any of my needlework. Most nights I sit and sew.”
“I'd be delighted if you would do some. I was wondering how I was going to get through it all.”
Sadie pointed to two large black plastic bags in the corner of the room.
“What are they?” Jane asked. “Is that all red and green fabric?”
“That's right. Some of the ladies cut out the pieces already and I … we have to put all the pieces together.”
“I'm so happy. I love having projects. I may not be here for very long, but I'm looking forward to helping all I can.”
“Don't worry, the ladies and I will put you to good use while you're here.”
Jane giggled, pleased now that she hadn't brought her own work.
“I hope you have a nice day today, Jane,” Sadie said.
“Denke, I do too.”
“He told me he had something important to discuss with you.”
Her gaze swept to Sadie. “He did?” Jane studied Sadie’s face to see if it gave any clues to what she knew of Matt’s intentions.
“Jah, that’s why you’re here.” Sadie wore a smug grin.
If Sadie didn’t already know something, she’d guessed what was on Matt’s mind. It was obvious why he wanted Jane to come all that way, but Jane was doing her best not to get her hopes up until she heard the words out of Matt’s own mouth.
Jane smiled. “That’s what he said to me, too. 'Something important.’”
“Soon, you’ll know what it’s all about and then you can both come back and tell me.”
There was a definite sparkle in Sadie’s eyes. There was no mistaking what Sadie thought her son was going to ask.
Jane’s heart skipped a beat and then took off racing when the rumble of a horse and buggy sounded in her ears. While she sat there frozen to the spot, Sadie jumped to her feet leaving Mr. Grover to leap to the floor. Sadie looked at Jane, and then Jane stood too.
“That’s him.” Sadie pulled aside the heavy living room curtains.
Jane took in a sudden breath to ready herself to see him after too many long years apart. With shaky legs, Jane got herself to the front door. By this time, Sadie was also there and had pulled Jane’s black coat off one of the pegs by the door.
“Don’t forget this. It’ll be frosty out there today by the look of the sky.”
“Denke.”
Sadie helped Jane into her coat and then she opened the door.
When Jane stepped onto the porch, she looked up and saw Matt jumping down from the buggy. He stood staring at her for a moment while their eyes locked.
“Gut mayrie,” Sadie shouted in her usual booming voice.
“Morning, Mamm.”
“I’ve got things to do.” Sadie announced as she patted Jane’s arm. “I’ll see you later, Jane.” No sooner had Sadie spoken than she disappeared back into the house.
Matt walked toward Jane and she walked down the two porch steps to meet him. He had barely changed. The years had only served to make his features more manly. When he got closer, she saw the tiny lines that fanned out from the corners of his eyes.
He stretched out his arms and she didn’t know what to do. As much as she wanted to hug him and be held in his arms, they’d never hugged before and she wasn't ready for it now. Not yet. She reached out her hand and he looked down and took hold of it with both hands. When she looked back into his face, she saw his lips turn upward into a smile. “You look good, Jane.”
“So do you. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Let’s go. I’ll take you back to my house where we can talk.” He walked over and opened the buggy door for her.
She climbed in and waited for him as her heart pounded in her chest. When he was seated, he picked up the reins and smiled at her. “Denke for coming all this way.”
“Of course I would. It sounded important and I’m always there for my friends.” She was not going to admit her feelings until he did.
He gave a small nod, then moved his horse and buggy back down the driveway. “It is important. I think through our letters we’ve grown even closer since you left.”
“I’d say that’s true.” Nervousness kept her talking. She didn’t want him to know that she’d guessed he was going to propose. “While I’m here I’m hoping to see a lot of Jessica. It’s been years since I’ve seen her and she’s got two kinner that I’ve never met.”
“That’ll be good. I don’t want to take up all your time. You should enjoy yourself while you’re here.”
While you’re here? She analyzed those words. If they married, wouldn’t she be staying here with him forever?
From the tone of his voice and his words, it sounded more like she was only there for a vacation. She quickly berated herself for letting her mind travel to the very worst possibility.
He hasn’t even said why he wants me here. I've got to be more positive. He wouldn’t want me to come all this way for nothing, she told herself.
“As you can see, nothing much has changed around here since you’ve been gone.”
She looked out at the fields they were passing. “I know. I was thinking that on the drive to your mudder’s haus yesterday, in the car from the bus stop.” A moment later, she said, “You never told me you took over your old family home.”
He glanced over at her. “Didn’t I mention it?”
“Nee.”
He chuckled. “I’ve told you nearly everything else going on in my life.”
“I know, and I you.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t mention it. Perhaps I wanted to show it to you as a surprise, but there aren’t many surprises when my mudder is around. She does like to talk.”
Jane smiled. “She doesn’t talk too much.”
“She does. It’s true.” He grinned. “Anyway, I didn’t want you to come all this way to talk about her. We were always close even as children and here we are still friends in our thirties.”
“We were best friends right up until we were twelve, or so, and then people were worried about us being too close.”
He chuckled. “We were encouraged to keep away from each other for a few years there. Then you moved away and we started writing. They never could keep us apart, not really.”
She didn’t correct him, but she hadn't moved away until she was a grown woman of twenty five. He’d ignored her for those last few years before she left, when she was in her late teens and early twenties. He spoke as though she’d moved away as a young teenager.
As he chattered about times gone by, she wondered if he was driving to his home to propose to her this very day. That was how she’d always pictured it in her mind. Not exactly in his old home, but exactly which house he proposed in didn’t matter. What mattered was he realized they were meant to be together, and finally he was doing something about it.
When they drove down the long driveway, the sprawling farm house appeared. It was almost as she remembered it. The only difference was, all the pretty and colorful gardens were gone.
“I’ve always loved this place.” Jane sighed wistfully, hoping that one day soon she’d have the gardens to work on. She’d bring them back to how Sadie once had them.
“I feel the same about it, and that’s why I had to buy it when Mamm was talking about selling it to buy a smaller place. Come inside and I’ll show you what I’ve done with it. There’s still so much more to do. Mamm would never allow any of us to work on it after Dat died and the place fell into disrepair.”
Jane nodded, wondering why Sadie would have done that.
“I didn’t realize just how large it was until I started work on it,” he said as he brought the horse to a halt.
They stepped down from the buggy and headed to the house. He pushed the front door open for her.
“This door was dark red or brown wasn’t it?” She stepped into the house recalling he’d never once mentioned in his letters that he’d been painting. He had written mostly about their mutual friends, she realized at that moment, and what they were doing.
“It was. Nearly everything inside and out has been painted. I hope you’ll like it.”
The words send a thrill throughout her entire body. All she could think was that he’d fixed the place for her. “I don’t know where you found the time with your horse-food business keeping you so busy.” He laughed. “Mamm calls it my 'horse-food business.’ You’ve been listening to her. It’s a produce store.”
“Ach. I’ll remember that.”
He proceeded to show her around. “I lifted up the old, gray linoleum not knowing what I’d find, but do you know these are the original timber floorboards from when the place was built in the 1800s?”
“They are beautiful.”
“Denke. It was a chore getting rid of the glue. Someone had glued the linoleum right onto the wood.”
“That would’ve been hard to remove.”
“It was, and it took a long time because we were being careful not to damage the boards. I used the same workers to fix the barn with mortise and tenon joinery.”
Jane didn’t know what that was, but it sounded impressive. He continued the tour, showing her the changes he’d made.
“There are six rooms in this place, and thanks to my vadder there are two bathrooms so far. With some careful replanning, I could make each so that it would have its own bathroom.” He rubbed his chin. “I’ll let you in on a secret I’ve been tossing around. I could make this into a bed and breakfast.”
“That’s why you wanted this place, all the rooms?”
“Nee. I love it here, and it’s my family’s home where I grew up. I’ve been thinking about it these last couple of days. I won’t need to grow crops. I could lease the land—part of it to one of my brothers. One of them is looking for land. I’d be much more suited to running a guest house than trying my hand at farming. I could even increase the guest capacity by transforming the attic into a large room, even fit in another bathroom up there.”
“And, three of the bedrooms have fireplaces. Ohh, that would be so cozy. What about your horse feed business? Oh, I'm sorry, I mean your produce store.”
“I can put in a manager to run it. I hardly need to be there as it is. The place practically runs itself. I can see myself playing host to all the tourists and guests who’d stay here. I’d make sure their stay was a comfortable one, and the cooking would be wunderbaar.”
“You could use your mudder for the cooking.”
Matt laughed. “I don’t see things that way. Now, I have something important to say. Sit down with me.”
“At last. I’ve been dying to know why I’m here.”
He pointed to the couch in the corner of the living room. She sat, smoothing down her apron as she did so. He then sat down next to her, but not too close. Then he twisted to face her and she did the same, mirroring him.
“Jane, I have the utmost respect for you.”
“And I feel the same about you. Even when I moved away I was so happy we came back together through our letters.”
“That’s right and out of anyone apart from my mother and my siblings, you know me best and it’s because of that I need to ask you something very important.”
This was the big moment.
A lump formed in the back of her throat and her head swam a little. If she’d been standing, she’d surely have needed to sit. Not wanting to forget any second of the next few moments, ones that she wanted to treasure for the rest of her life and tell their kinner, about she pulled her mind to attention. “You … you have something to ask me?”
“Jah.” He smiled. “You know I do. That’s why you’re here.”
“What is it?”
Everything inside him wanted to ask her to marry him. But, what if she said no? The word no was so final, so brutal. His best chance was sticking to his original plan. “I need your help with something very important.”
Jane stared at him and blinked a couple of times. It was an unusual approach for a proposal. He wanted her help—as in—he wanted her to be his ‘helpmeet?' He wanted her help with starting a marriage and then a family? “Of course I’ll help you. What do you need my help with?”
“Marriage. I want your help in selecting a bride.”
She replayed the words in her head. Had she heard right? The word 'marriage' had been one of the words she’d been waiting to hear, but ‘selecting a bride?’