Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [132]
“Maybe I am.”
His work-roughened hand captured hers again. His calluses made her proud of him, of his hardworking attitude. They helped her accept her own work-worn hands. His husky voice turned her thoughts toward him again, “Come with me,” he urged.
Her heart swelled with affection. She wondered why he was taking her away from the house until she saw a circle of stones and a pile of firewood topped with tinder. “What’s this?”
He answered with a self-satisfied smile. “Do you remember the summer we went to camp?”
“Of course.” How could she forget about the vows she and her friends had made around the campfire? It was there that Katy had blurted out, I know who I’ll marry. Jake Byler. Later she’d found out that Lil had told Jake about it before they’d even left the campgrounds. And even though they’d been mutually attracted to each other for years, Katy had always surmised that his crooked grin had something to do with being privy to that information.
Her gaze next took in two lawn chairs, and she suddenly understood. The kissing tree. The campfire declaration. He was going to propose. She tried to pretend that bubbles of joy were not dancing inside her as she feigned ignorance. “The surprise is a campfire?”
He nodded, then released her hand and motioned. “Sit down. I’ll light it.”
She eased into the lawn chair and watched him stoop before the fire pit. As he struck the match, his muscles bunched his shirtsleeve. She felt flushed even before the flames leapt from the neatly arranged firewood. While he worked over the fire, a shrill bird cry broke the silence. Some crickets chirped from the direction of the weeping willow. When the sound of crackling wood joined the other night sounds, Jake stood and brushed his hands.
He strode back to her and settled into his chair with a wink that curled around her heart. His hand caressed hers possessively, but he looked into the fire when he spoke. “You had some dreams that year. When I heard about them, they ignited a fire inside me. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s been burning there ever since I heard you wanted to marry me.”
She stared at the growing blaze, aware of the burning desire he alluded to but wanting to hear more from him than a smug reminder of her own feelings. “That was a long time ago. I was just a little girl.”
He turned his gaze on her. The firelight cast golden glints of determination in his eyes. “I want you, Katy. I’ve always wanted you.” He leaned close and kissed her. “Marry me?”
Breathless, she touched his cheek. She wanted him, too. And he knew it. And she didn’t care if he was smug. His self-assurance was part of what she loved about him.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“I love you,” he breathed. He slipped his arm around her shoulders, leaned his head against hers, and whispered, “I don’t have much to offer you.”
Heads bent together, peace and contentment settled over her as they whispered their most intimate thoughts. After assuring him that he was more than enough to meet all her dreams, she asked, “Are you sorry you turned down the job in Texas?”
“Not at all. This is exactly where I want to be.”
CHAPTER 39
In Katy’s mind, one couldn’t have spring without doing some spring-cleaning, and she’d enlisted Lil and Megan to help her prepare the doddy house for her upcoming marriage. The wedding would be just before Megan left on her mission trip in June. Katy and Jake would live in the doddy house. The three friends had set up a tentative plan that by September, Lil and Megan would take over the doddy house. They hoped that was enough time for Katy and Jake to find a place of their own, for Megan to find a job, and for Lil’s mom to recuperate.
Now Katy stood on a small ladder she’d borrowed from Jake and handed dishes down out of the cupboards while Lil and Megan stacked them on the counters, the green sink hutch, and the kitchen table.
As Lil restacked plates, she announced, “I have news.”
“What?” Katy asked.
“I complained to my mom that I didn’t know how I was going to manage your wedding cake, that it was more than I should