Free Faith and Hope in Lancaster (The Amish of Lancaster County #1) by Daisy Fields Page B

here. I may not agree with everything, but at least I know what our values are.”
    Stephen gazed out into the night, and a few minutes passed before he spoke. Then he squeezed her hand and smiled. “I’m so glad you came home, Annie. God brought you back to me, to us. In fact, there’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now, and now is the perfect time.”
    Annie gasped. She’d known this was coming, but she hadn’t thought it would be today . . . Her heart thudded in her chest, and her belly twisted nervously. “You do?”
    “Annie Stoltzfus, don’t answer before you pray about it, but once you have, will you be my wife?”
    “Yes,” Annie said, her heart glowing and her cheeks splitting into a huge smile, “yes, of course I will!”
    “You weren’t supposed to answer until you prayed about it!” Stephen said, laughing.
    “Fine,” Annie said. She bowed her head and put her hands together before her face. Dear God, tell me, is this the step I should be taking? Is Stephen the man for me?
    A thought flashed in her head, a memory she’d thought long buried. Jacob, her older brother Aaron’s best friend. Before she’d gone on her rumspringa , Jacob had occasionally walked her home from meetings. Aaron was always nearby, but somehow Jacob still found opportunities to tell Annie how beautiful and smart and kind she was. Her sewing and quilting were the best he’d ever seen, he whispered shyly, and maybe one day, she would make something for him.
    Annie had daydreamed about him, little fantasies in which they ran away together and explored New York City. They left her flushed and curious. It was a good feeling. So one afternoon, when the sun was bright and the fields in full bloom, she pulled him under a tree and put her arms around him. It was only meant to be a hug, but somehow their lips met, and neither pulled away.
    If they hadn’t heard rustling in the fields, thought Annie, who knew how far it might have gone?
    Shame filled her, and she ran away, ignoring Jacob’s calls after her.
    By feigning illness, she managed to avoid Jacob as much as possible for the two months left before her rumspringa . Then she packed her bags for New York, determined to put everything behind her and become an actress.
    Annie’s cheeks burned, remembering how foolish she’d been. But it was all in the past now. Surely God thought so, too.
    So why did she still feel a little nervous at the thought of marrying Stephen?
    She looked at the man before her now, solid, stable, loyal. She couldn’t do better than Stephen, and surely God thought so, too.
    “Yes,” she told Stephen, beaming, “I’ll marry you!”
    * * *
    “ Mamm , Daed , we need to speak with you,” Annie announced. Hannah didn’t miss the way Stephen and she kept shooting each other secret, happy glances. She had a strong feeling she knew what this was about.
    “I would like to request your permission to court and wed your daughter,” Stephen said. He couldn’t suppress the grin that spread over his face.
    “Stephen will keep up his farm, and I’ll do my sewing,” Annie declared, blushing like a schoolgirl. She looked as joyful as Miriam had that morning.
    A knot inside Hannah dissolved, one she hadn’t known she’d had. She couldn’t do anything about Miriam, but at least Annie would be settled and well cared for. Hannah turned and met Thomas’s gaze, saying many things to him through that one look.
    Thomas nodded in response. “You’re a fine young man,” he said to Stephen. “I’d be pleased to offer my consent to your courtship.”
    “Hmm, where’s Aaron?” Annie asked, breaking free of her blissful cloud long enough to realize her brother was missing. “Shouldn’t he be here for this?”
    “I believe he went over to Jacob’s house,” Thomas said. “We’ll tell him in the morning. And,” he added, a playful grin tugging at his lips, “perhaps he’ll realize that it might do him good to find a wife,