“Wait a minute,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “This can’t be a coincidence! You didn’t just happen to show up here, did ya?”
Arden was grinning, as though also remembering what she’d said at the bookstore.
“Are you following me?” she asked.
“Jah, as a matter of fact, I am.” He was chuckling now. “And if ya don’t mind, I’d like to stay around for a while . . . spend some time with you, Lena Rose.”
She was dumbfounded. “What about your—”
“During the weeks and months after ya left,” he said, stepping closer, “I began to realize something.”
She held her breath.
“Honestly, Leacock Township didn’t seem very much like home anymore. Sure, I loved everything about it, but . . .” He paused.
She bit her lip, measuring the moment and her own feelings.
“You see . . . my home is with you, Lena Rose.”
Her heart swelled with love for this unpredictable man. Oh, if only she could say the right words, words that showed her appreciation for his long journey here. Yet she must be calm, too, though her heart would not permit it, drumming as it was.
He was close enough to touch. “Ach, how I missed you,” he said, eyes bright.
She found herself moving closer to him as Arden reached for her hands. “I’m thinkin’ of renting a place near the RV factory in Middlebury, Indiana, not far from here,” he said. “I’ve heard there are openings for employment in the cabinetry department.” He looked quite serious. “And while I’m here . . .”
“Jah?” she asked, ever so hopeful.
“I’d like to court ya.”
It was the second time he’d asked, and now she did not hesitate. “I would love that,” she said, smiling up at him. And, ever so curious about what he’d just said, she asked, “How’d ya hear about the openings?”
Arden led her outside, where they stood on the schoolhouse porch, watching a shower of colorful swirling leaves as breezes trembled the trees. There, he unraveled the news she’d somehow missed: Emma had written as much in a long letter to Eli. “In a roundabout way, you’ve got yourself a matchmaker for a sister,” he said, adding earnestly, “I’m lookin’ forward to thanking her someday . . . and to meeting all your siblings, too.”
Lena couldn’t help but laugh. “That Emma. I should’ve suspected she’d get up to somethin’ like this!”
The autumn days that followed became some of Lena’s happiest as she looked forward to spending time with Arden. That first weekend, he was able to get a driver to drop him off at Preacher Yoder’s house, where he embarked on his ambitious plan to meet all of Lena’s brothers and sisters, starting with Chris.
As they walked to see Chris and Lena’s grandparents, Arden told her how hard it was not to reach for her hand. “It’s surely known that we’re a serious couple now,” he said with a hopeful smile at her.
“True, but I never see any other couples holding hands in the daylight,” Lena told him.
Arden sighed and said he guessed he’d have to stick around till after nightfall for sure, then, and she understood what he was hinting at.
“By the way, Emma wants us to double-date with her and Ammon real soon. All right with you?”
“That’d be perfect, ’cause I have somethin’ to tell Emma, actually,” he said.
“Oh?”
“You’ll see.” He winked at her.
When the next Sunday came, Arden returned to Centreville for the Preaching service and sat with Wilbur on the side with the menfolk. Lena was glad to see him getting better acquainted with Wilbur at that evening’s Singing. But the best moment was when Arden shook Emma’s hand as she entered the barn.
“Thank you for getting word to me about the openings at the RV factory,” he said.
“It was the least I could do,” Emma said, glancing at Lena with that twinkle in her eye, as if to add, “For Lena Rose.”
Later, while they both sipped some cider, Emma confided to Lena how much she liked Arden. “He’ll fit well into our family when the time comes.” Lena blushed happily and agreed, nudging her sister to look across the haymow, where Arden was talking and laughing with Wilbur. Clearly, both of them were enjoying each other’s company.
That night, Lena was thrilled to sit beside Arden in the second seat of Ammon’s new courting buggy. Arden reached for her hand, and for a moment, she thought her heart had flipped upside down.
“Wilbur has a great sense of humor,” Arden said.
“Didn’t I tell ya? He gets it from Dat.”
“That’s for sure,” Emma said, glancing back at them from next to Ammon in the front seat.
Lena was surprised her sister was listening in, but she didn’t mind. She had no secrets from Emma. At least not anymore, she thought, looking fondly at the man beside her.
“Wilbur wants me to go hunting with him before Thanksgiving,” Arden said. “Maybe we’ll each bag a turkey.”
“Like you and Eli last year, remember?” Lena said, conscious of how close she was to Arden, there in the darkness of the open buggy, the stars their only light.
“I haven’t forgotten,” Arden whispered, leaning closer and kissing her cheek.
Lena hadn’t expected it and smiled at him, wondering if he was going to kiss her on the lips, too. But then he released her hand and slipped his arm around her, and they rode that way until they reached Preacher Yoder’s house, where Arden walked her to the back door and said good-night. “My ride will be here soon, but I’ll see ya again next week.”
He reached for both of her hands. “Until then, I’ll write to you. Maybe every day.”
She nodded. “I’ll look forward to it.”
“That’s not too often, is it?” he asked, grinning.
Never, she thought and laughed softly.
He kissed her cheek again and walked slowly backward, his gaze still on her as she waved and reluctantly made her way inside.
As Thanksgiving Day approached,
