A Wedding for Julia (9 page)

“They tried, but my
mamm
wasn’t able.”

They reached the creek, where Aaron had placed a bench beneath a tree. Julia sat down when he gestured to it, and he sat beside her, leaving a respectful distance between them. It reminded him of their time sitting beside her garden on Tuesday, and that made him smile.

“Does Pebble Creek make you laugh?”

“
Nein
, and I’m not laughing. I was remembering Tuesday.”

“What could you possibly find funny about that?”

He took off his hat, knocked it against his leg, and then set it back on his head. “I had no idea what I was walking into, is all. Sometimes your life takes a turn and you have no clue it’s about to happen.”

She turned to face him now. “And how did your life change?”

“I don’t…I don’t even know yet. It’s only that it feels different. Does that make any sense?” She nodded slightly, so he kept going. “I’m trying to understand myself, but I won’t lie to you, Julia. I don’t understand. I walked out to the garden with a glass of water and left your house with a dozen questions, none of which I’ve found the answers to.”

“So why did you ask to speak with me?”

“Maybe because I needed to.”

Her brown eyes stared into his blue ones for the space of a heartbeat. Had he been too honest?

When she smiled, freckles popped across the bridge of her nose. “I’m glad you’re not asking me for answers, because I’m fresh out. I don’t have any left at all.”

“Sort of like your vegetables.”

That started them both to laughing, and Caleb realized the knot that had been in his stomach was gone—finally it was gone. Was it because he was with Julia? Or was it because he’d stopped worrying?

They sat for a few moments, listening to the creek running languidly by.

“The sound of the water is soothing,” she admitted. “I should walk down to the bank behind our home more often. I used to, before my mother became so ill.”

“That must be hard.”

“Actually, it’s probably an excuse. We have a bell, and
mamm
would ring it if she needed me. It’s easy to forget what things relax you, and easier still to crowd them out of your day.”

Caleb had always thought sitting in the shade near a creek was restful. It helped to calm his emotions.

“I suppose I should go back,” she said.

“Have you…have you given any thought as to what you’re going to do?”

“I’ve thought of little else.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper, so that he had to bend his head closer to catch her words.

“And?”

“And I don’t know.” When she raised her eyes to his, something hit Caleb in the chest with the force of a baseball driven for a homerun.

“Maybe I can help,” he murmured, reaching out and touching her face, trailing his fingers down her neck.

“And how would you do that?”

The words almost didn’t come out. He tried once and again a second time. His throat was so dry he had to swallow in order to find his voice. His mind and his heart filled with images of men crowded around Julia’s table, men standing between him and her. Then that was replaced by Julia sitting next to him in her garden, her eyes red but smiling as she waved him over. Finally, all he could see was Julia, waiting next to him right that moment.

That image gave him the courage to say, “We could marry.”

Chapter 8

J
ulia stared at Caleb. She tried to think of a response, but her mind had gone completely blank at the word “marry.”

When Andrew Miller had offered to stop by and help her with her fall garden work, she’d been surprised, but this? She gawked at Caleb in amazement and leaned closer because she was sure she had heard him wrong.

“It’s not such a crazy idea, Julia. There’s no need to look at me as if I asked you to run off to Hollywood to join the circus.”

“Did you ask me to marry you? Is that what you just did?”

“
Ya
. I suppose so.”

“You suppose. So you’re not certain.”

Caleb removed his hat and combed down his hair, an expression of confusion replacing the hopeful one he had been wearing. “I’m certain—”

“Because I wouldn’t want someone asking me to be their
fraa
, to join them in sacred union for the rest of our lives…” Julia sprang up from the bench and began pacing in front of him, “…if he wasn’t exactly sure of what he’d asked.”

“Julia—”

“One of these days, you might wake up and find yourself married if you’re not careful, Caleb Zook. It could be quite a shock.” Julia heard her voice rising as a sort of nervous hysteria took over, but she couldn’t stop herself.

A little ways from where they sat, Clara and Seth were walking. As Julia’s voice rose, Clara turned to look at her. Seth tugged on her hand, and they continued around the bend of the river.

Caleb stood, blocking the route she had been pacing. “If you want to walk, we can. Or maybe you could sit down and we can talk about this.”

Looking into his eyes—which were calm and amused—settled her, reminding her of the time she’d seen her father speak softly and settle a young colt. Julia closed her eyes, pulled in a deep breath, and nodded. She sat down.

“I do know what I asked you, but I didn’t know I was going to ask in exactly that way. So I surprised myself as well as you.” Caleb pulled her hand away from her lap and held it in both of his. “I’m sorry I’m not very
gut
with words, Julia. I suspect you already know this about me, but it won’t change if we do wed. I trip over what I mean to say much as a child stumbles over his first steps, especially if I’m a little nervous. I always have.”

His honesty was more than charming. It touched a place in her heart she had long kept guarded.

“Why would you suggest such a thing, Caleb? We barely know each other.”

He stared out over the creek, but he didn’t release her hand.

“In some ways that’s true. I don’t know what your favorite pie is or what subject you liked best in school.” He glanced back at her, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “But I know you plant flowers at the end of your vegetable rows, that you quilt with brighter colors than your
mamm
, and I would be blind not to see how devoted you are to her.”

She had to look away then.

How much more had he noticed? She’d grown accustomed to him delivering their groceries, but she hadn’t realized he’d become attuned to their lives.

She wished he would stop, but he pushed on, oblivious to her discomfort.

“I know how well you are regarded within your community, though I’ve been here only a year. It didn’t take long to understand that the people in our congregation think well of you.” Caleb laughed and resettled his hat on his head again, with his left hand because his right was still holding hers. “If Aaron’s word on my reputation isn’t enough, perhaps you’ll want a letter from my bishop back home, though Bishop Atlee has already spoken to him.”

“I’m flattered—”

“Don’t say that.”

“What?” She raised her eyes to his and thought to pull her hand away, but she couldn’t. How long had it been since someone had touched her this way?

“Don’t say you’re ‘flattered, but…’”

“I
am
flattered, but—”

“You don’t believe, in your heart, that you could learn to care for me in the way a
fraa
cares for her husband?” His expression grew somber as he studied her.

“How can I know, Caleb? This is all so sudden. Everything is happening so fast.”

He nodded as if he understood. The strange thing was, Julia sensed he did.

Would he be willing to give up his life as it was to marry her? Could he be the answer she had prayed for? He hadn’t said he loved her, but was it possible he might one day?

“I was thinking the same thing. Seems to me at times life moves slowly, like the waters of Pebble Creek at this moment. Other times, it speeds up and the details of our lives change quickly, like when the rains come and the water rushes down the creek. Remember earlier this year in the spring, when we had a long string of stormy days?”

Julia nodded, clueless as to why they were talking about the weather they’d had six months ago.

“The waters rose so fast and so high that they cut out a new bank on a portion of Aaron’s property. He feared it was a real tragedy at first, but now you should see it—better fishing, a cleaner bank, and a nicer spot all around.”

He glanced at Julia, squeezed her hand, and then released it.

“Our lives are like the river?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I’m stumbling over my words again. One thing I’m sure of—
Gotte
knew what He was doing then. I suspect He knows what He’s doing now.”

Julia shook her head. “I want to believe that, but this is such a big step. It’s a decision that will last the rest of our lives, all because of some decree my parents made years ago.”

“
Gotte
knows our past and our future.” Caleb stood and pulled her to her feet.

When she raised an eyebrow, he added, “Something my
grossdaddi
always says.”

They were quiet on their walk back, but Caleb stopped short of the group of families waiting at the picnic tables.

“You can tell me it’s none of my business, but…was Aaron asking you the same? Asking you to marry him?”

“Aaron Miller?
Nein
. He was offering to work in my garden.”

The smile that covered his face caused her pulse to race.

“Take your time deciding, though from what you’ve said it sounds as if you don’t have long. But there’s one more thing I wanted to tell you. I don’t know if it will make a difference. It’s what gave me the courage to speak to you today.”

Julia stopped fidgeting with the strings of her prayer
kapp
, and though she felt the eyes of some of her
freinden
on her, she stepped closer to hear what Caleb was about to say. He seemed more embarrassed even than when he’d first brought up the subject of marriage.

“I’m a believing man, Julia. I try to follow the Scripture, and of course I’m baptized and a member of the church. I don’t pray as I should, though. I can’t say I actually know how to do it well.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and stared down at the ground. “On the day I was delivering your groceries—”

“Last Tuesday?”

Caleb looked up now, directly into her eyes.

“
Ya
. Last Tuesday. As I was driving to your house, I was praying. Maybe because while everyone is very friendly…” he waved a hand to encompass the group of people milling about, “I haven’t made close
freinden
other than Aaron and David, and they are busy with their families. Whatever the reason, I clearly remember my prayer.”

“What—”

“I prayed for a
freind
. That was it. I told
Gotte
I needed a
freind
, and He led me to you, in the garden, with tears in your eyes and a burden on your heart. Maybe, Julia, maybe friendship isn’t a bad place for a marriage to begin.”

Squeezing her hand once again, he turned and walked away to his buggy.