“Simply enjoy our engagement?” What exactly did he mean by that?
“Yes.” His eyes were bright with the kind of light only a youth with his whole life ahead of him could muster.
I leaned toward him, not certain I was someone who could live my life that way. Not anymore. “Without any thought of how it will end?”
He took my free hand in his. “Yes.”
I shrugged, trying not to notice how right my hand felt in his. I had no idea what he meant by “enjoy our engagement,” but I trusted the man before me more than I’d trusted anyone in a long time. “As long as we are both looking for a long-term solution for me and Mama, I see no concern with that.”
“Wonderful.” David squeezed my hand. “Sometime this week, we shall pack some baskets and visit the Walkers and the Smiths. They have both asked after you over the years.”
Eight years later and those families still remembered me too? I’d spent enough time with the Mortensens to know they would, but I’d gone to these other homes only a couple of times. “They asked about me?”
David’s eyes found mine. “Of course they did. You were only here for a summer, but you left quite an impression on every life you touched.”
It was an exaggeration, of course. There were plenty of families I’d met at church or who had dined with us who wouldn’t even remember my name. But it was a sweet exaggeration.
We spent the rest of the afternoon circling and underlining possible listings, and in the end, I wrote to only three. David and Julia crossed off several I wouldn’t have because of location or the work being too dull.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Julia asked after we set down our work.
I shook my head. “I should return home and eat with Mama.”
David leaned forward to say something, but then he must have thought better of it and stood instead. “I’ll call for the carriage to be readied.”
I thought about resisting, but if I did, David would most likely offer to accompany me on my walk home, and he’d already spent the whole afternoon working on my tasks. He must have other duties he needed to attend to. So instead, I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
Twenty minutes later, my arm was linked with David’s as he walked with me to the carriage.
“What should we do tomorrow?” he asked.
“Tomorrow?” My feet slowed in surprise. How many more nights would I be falling asleep with that word, spoken in his melodic tones, floating around me in my bedchamber? “Will we be spending every day together now that we are engaged?”
He turned his head toward me, his light-blue gaze dancing with mirth. “Do you have more pressing matters to attend to?”
“No, but I assume you do.”
“I will manage my work in the hours we aren’t together, or perhaps drag you along with me to some of it.”
“What kind of work would you need to drag me to?”
“The Walkers’ roof has been overgrown with some moss and lichen. I told them I would bring my thatching tools so we can clean it up. I know they would also like to see you.”
The Walkers were another family who lived on Lord Murphy’s land. I hadn’t visited them as often as the Mortensens, but we had grown close. “I would like to see them as well—no need to drag me.”
“Wonderful. As soon as we have a day of sunshine, I shallinviteyou to accompany me.”
We reached the carriage, and he held my elbow protectively as I climbed in and sat. When I turned to thank him, the sun, now low in the sky, shone through the carriage windows, lighting his face, making his eyes match the color of the fading sky behind him. My gratitude was caught on my lips, and before I knew it, he’d slowly closed the door and motioned for his driver to take me back to the cottage.
W
Chapter 9
“Sometimes I wonder how one person could have made such a change in me. But then, I remember the way she treated me. She asked my opinions, enjoyed my gifts no matter how paltry, and always braved ahead, unafraid of consequences. I think, perhaps, one person like that could make anyone’s world shine.”
—David Tate, 1845, Age 18
Over the course of the next few days, either David came to our cottage to visit with Mama and me, or he sent the carriage so we could visit him. I wasn’t certain engaged couples typically spent so much time together, but ours wasn’t a typical engagement.
