No time for hesitation. Anna would be back any moment. “Are you still agreeable to me asking for your daughter’s hand in marriage?”
“Yes! You should know that, son.”
Joshua leaned forward and gripped the man’s outstretched hand. “Thank you.”
“Thankyou. But you’ve got to promise me something.”
“What?” Joshua prayed it wasn’t anything out of his realm of expertise. Mr. Lakeman had always been a dreamer.
“You have to take all of her. Not just her hand.”
They laughed together and Joshua shook his head. “You had me going, sir.”
“I know. But you looked entirely too stiff. First, Caleb’s return, then the doc’s offer, and now this!”
“What’s all this?” Anna walked through the door and her gaze shifted between them.
“Speaking of Caleb”—he placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward—“I promised that I would take him to repay some debts that he incurred when he ran away. I’m planning on taking him Saturday and Sunday, so I’ll miss working on the dig on Saturday, if that’s okay?”
She walked over and sat on the edge of her dad’s bed. “I’m glad you’re doing that. It will be a rich memory for him. Don’t worry about the dig. We’ll be fine. A day or two shouldn’t delay us much.”
Mr. Lakeman nodded. “You should go. And bring him back here so he can tell me all his stories. I need some entertainment. Tell him anytime he wants to come by and chat, I’d love to see him.”
Joshua laughed. “Sure thing, sir.” He glanced at Anna and then back to her father. “Would you mind if I take your daughter out for a quick walk? I know it’s late. I promise I won’t take up too much of her time.”
He held the older man’s gaze, hoping and praying that he would understand the underlying question.
“Go on, you two.” The lopsided smile on his face grew.
He knew.
Once they were out in the hallway, Joshua reached back for Anna’s hand and took it in his.
They walked out of the house and down the lane a bit before he got up the courage to go ahead and speak.
He stopped walking and turned toward her.
Her hair had come out of its confines and he reached forward to touch it. It was soft and smooth under his fingers. Her dark brown eyes searched his.
“Anna Lakeman...” He almost couldn’t breathe.
“Yes?” She bit her lip.
With a squeeze to the hand he held, he summoned all his courage and lifted his other hand to her cheek. “I have loved you since I first chased you in the schoolyard all those years ago. You’ve been my best friend and if the past three years have taught me anything, it’s that I don’t want to live without you. I know it’s a lot to ask you to wait until I’m done next year, but I want to marry you, Anna. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I adore you. I want to raise a family together, grow old together, argue and debate, discuss and learn, dig for fossils with you, and anything else that means we spend the rest of our lives together. I love you.”
Her eyes sparkled in the twilight.
“Will you give me the honor of being your husband? Will you marry me?” Holding his breath, he waited.
The seconds that passed felt like an eternity.
But then her eyes changed. Almost shuttered.
What was happening? He released his breath.
She squeezed his hands and then released them. “Could I have some time to think and pray about it?”
What? What was there to think about?
