Free MB02 - A Noble Groom by Jody Hedlund

Pastor.

    “I’m Pastor Loehe.” The man leveled a serious look upon Carl as if trying to peer past him into the deep places inside.
    “I’m Carl,” he said hesitantly, wondering if the pastor could see the deception written there.
    “Well, Carl, I’ll be praying you’ll see what a treasure you’re getting today.” He smiled at Annalisa, and the kindness in the man’s eyes seemed to melt her reserve for a brief instant.
    She nodded at the pastor and her eyes filled with gratefulness.
    “Let’s start,” Peter called from behind them. “I’m not like Laban with his daughter Rachel. We don’t need to wait seven years.”
    The cabin had somehow become crowded with more people, and in the jostling Carl’s arm brushed Annalisa’s shoulder. He leaned into her and whispered, “I don’t think he’ll starve if he has to wait seven minutes, do you?”
    She looked straight ahead at the pastor and didn’t reply, but the corner of her mouth twitched.
    “Quiet!” Peter’s command brought the chattering to an abrupt halt.
    Pastor Loehe opened his Bible and began flipping through the worn pages.
    “Make it short, Herr Pastor,” Peter said. “We don’t need this to be fancy.”
    Carl glanced around at the smattering of faces in the small room only to find that they were all looking at him—and Annalisa.
    Unease made a knot around his hungry stomach. Something wasn’t right.
    The pastor cleared his throat and began reading, “‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.’”
    What was going on?

    “‘Love keeps no record of wrongs,’” the pastor continued. “‘Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.’”
    Carl’s mind whirled with dizzying speed, and he tried to make sense of what was happening. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost guess he was at a wedding ceremony.
    He stiffened. Was he at a wedding?
    Annalisa’s fingers gripped the edge of her apron so tightly they’d turned white. Was Annalisa getting married? Was she the young widow Matthias had told him about?
    The pastor closed his Bible and looked at him directly. Admonition gleamed in the man’s eyes, warning him, censuring him, and pleading with him all at the same time. “I hope you’ll take these verses from Corinthians seriously and faithfully practice them every day.”
    Certainly they didn’t think he was the groom Matthias was sending, did they? “No. No, I cannot practice them every day.”
    The pastor’s eyes widened, and Annalisa sent him a sideways glance.
    “I mean, I can practice them. I want to practice them. . . .” The room felt suddenly hot and stifling. He reached for his cravat and tugged it away from his heated skin.
    “What are you babbling about?” Peter’s thunderous voice came from behind him.
    “I think we’ve had a misunderstanding.” Carl glanced at the open door. Never before had running away sounded as pleasant as at that moment.
    “There’s no misunderstanding .” Peter tripped over the word, as if it was too big for his limited peasant vocabulary. “Pastor, let’s cut out all the talk about love and get to the important part.”
    The pastor’s whiskery brows furrowed together. “Love is important too, Peter.”

    “Not today. Not now.” Peter’s big hand landed on Carl’s shoulder. “Not when Annalisa’s farm is at stake.”
    As if sensing Carl’s desire to flee, the burly man squeezed him and held him in place. “We better do the vows, Herr Pastor. I think our guest is as ready to be done with this as I am.”
    One of the pastor’s hairy brows rose. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God and in the face of this company . . .”
    Inwardly Carl groaned. He had to put a stop to this charade now, before he ended up married.
    “. . . to join together this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony, which is an honorable estate, instituted of God.”
    The