Free Amish Circle Letters II: The Second Circle of Letters by Sarah Price Page B

arrangement would be too much of a burden on his parents. “I reckon I could speak to my parents.”
    To his surprise, she flung her arms around his neck and clung to him. “Oh danke , Steve! Danke !”
    Her immediate change of demeanor startled him. The tears had vanished and there was excitement in her voice. Hesitating for just a moment, Steve wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “Now, no one has said yes, yet,” he reminded her. “And you would need to talk to your father. He counts on your help in the store, I reckon.”
    She pressed her cheek against his shoulder and sighed, a surprisingly happy sound. “Oh , I know he’ll be fine. Mother can help him or he can hire one of the neighbors’ girls. They want me happy and being with you does just that!”
    Steve shut his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his. If something as simple as having Mimi live with him at his parents ’ farm could bring her such joy, he knew that he would have to try.
     
     
    By the time Mary Ruth drove the horse and buggy into the driveway, it was almost two o ’clock. She knew that Menno would not be home from the farm sale until later that evening. Her heart raced as she quickly unharnessed the horse and led him into the barn. Then, after putting away the harness and buggy, she ran into the house, the folded piece of paper still clutched in her hand.
    Immediately, she headed for the bedroom and threw open the door. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to imagine Menno walking into the room the other night and how, perhaps, he could have missed the note on the bed. Was it possible? She hadn ’t cleaned the room since that evening, yet everything was neat and tidy. The bed was made and the clothes hung from the hooks on the wall. Her eyes traveled across the room and fell upon the nightstand by Menno’s side of the bed. There was nothing there except a lantern and a box of tissues.
    Walking around the bed, Mary Ruth looked under the tissues but found nothing. She sighed, wondering what might have happened to that second note. Glancing down at the floor, she suddenly had an idea. Setting the first note on the pillow, she hurried back to the door and flung it open. Sure enough, it created enough air movement that the piece of paper fluttered off the pillow and onto the wooden floorboards.
    Mary Ruth dropped to her knees and lifted up the side of the bedcovers. And then she saw them: both notes on the floor, side-by-side and hidden from view. Quickly, she grabbed them and clutched them to her heart, tears of joy forming in her eyes. She lifted her head to look at the ceiling and said a quiet prayer of gratitude to God. Thank You, she prayed, for guiding me to find these notes. I am sure now that Menno does not know how much I love him.
    She sat at the edge of the bed, shutting her eyes and imagining how it would happen. She would leave the notes in the bedroom again, only this time she would make certain that they could not flutter away. When he would come into the room, she would wait until she was certain that he would have read them. Then, she would come to him and let him embrace her. He would kiss her like he had, that night of their wedding, before everything had started to go so terribly wrong. And then, he would make her his true wife, at last.
    She clutched her hands together and bit her lower lip. Oh, she thought, to make everything just perfect!
    She ’d have the children help with the evening chores so that, by the time Menno returned home, he would have nothing left to do. She’d have a lovely meal hot and ready and would wait on him tenderly and with a smile on her face. He’d notice the change in her and, the moment he saw those two Bible verses, he would know what she truly felt. Surely that would melt through whatever was bothering him!
     
     
    “Starting to snow really hard now!” Melvin cried out as he flung open the kitchen door. “Mayhaps we can go sleigh riding this