The front door opened again just as Patience bent down to pick up a little carved horse. It was Naomi’s, and Patience had made her promise to take it home and not bring it back to school again. But she hadn’t confiscated it. She wanted to give Naomi the chance to do the right thing.
“Patience?”
She froze at the sound of Thomas’s voice, and then looked up, breathless. Thomas stood in the doorway, then the door swung shut behind him, leaving them alone. She held the little horse in the palm of her hand, and she put it down on the top of Naomi’s desk.
“Hi...” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know,” Thomas said. He wound his way through the desks toward her, and when he got to her, she felt the tears well up inside her. She’d pushed her heartbreak back all day for the sake of the kinner, and now facing him...
“This isn’t fair, Thomas,” she said. “I’m trying to be strong—”
“Patience, let me tell you about something, and then I promise that I’ll leave you be. But hear me out.”
Patience nodded, sucking in a stabilizing breath.
“I want to marry you,” he said.
She shook her head. “But we’ve been over this—”
“I had a bit of an epiphany today,” he said quietly. “It had to do with Toby the rooster and Ben Smoker’s turkey, and...”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she said, a smile toying at her lips.
“Long story short, my daughter needs love,” he said. “She needs real, honest love. She doesn’t need a perfect Amish setup, she needs to see her grandmother loved in spite of a difficult history, and she needs to have a ratty rooster that is part of the family just because she loves it. I’ve been seeing this all wrong, Patience. A family’s love isn’t purer for the number of kinner born to it, and a child doesn’t feel more loved because of a wealth of siblings. Love is...love! It’s a mother finding a place with her family, even after years of heartbreak. It’s two brothers who look up to a man like a father, even though he is no blood relative. It’s a man and a woman who love each other so deeply—” he reached out and caught her hand “—that they choose to face whatever Gott brings them side by side, shoulder to shoulder.”
“Is that me?” she whispered.
“Yah.” He tugged her closer. “I want that to be you. I’m not going to regret anything, Patience. I believe Gott brought us together for a reason. How many women would be able to love my little Englisher girl the way you do? How many would be wary of her influencing the other kinner? But you’ve loved Rue for the little person she is right from the start. I want my daughter to grow up with you as her mamm. And I want you as my wife.”
“Even with no other kinner?” she asked.
“That is in Gott’s hands,” he replied. “Maybe we’ll adopt. Maybe we won’t. But Gott started something in us, Patience, and I believe this is something...” he touched her cheek with the back of one finger, the scent of wood shavings close and comforting “...this is something wonderful.”
She nodded slowly, and she thought of the Kauffmans with their devoted marriage and their life of loving the ones who needed a mamm and daet, even for a little while. A life together, finding a way to love those around them, raising one little girl with love and purpose and direction...
“Patience, I love you,” he added pleadingly.
“I love you, too.” She lifted her gaze to meet his.
“Enough to marry me?” he asked hopefully. “Enough to trust me to never look back, never look to the side... Enough to be ours?”
“Yah.”
Thomas slipped his arms around her and lowered his lips over hers. He pulled her in close, his stubble tickling her chin as he kissed her. His arms were strong and she let herself melt into his embrace.
The door opened just then, and Patience startled. She pulled back, instinctively putting her hand up to her kapp to make sure her hair was in place.
“Teacher?” Naomi said uncertainly.
“Naomi!” Patience laughed breathily, tugging herself out of Thomas’s arms. She went to her desk and picked up the toy horse. “You forgot this, didn’t you?”
“Yah...” Naomi looked over at Thomas uncertainly, and Patience brought her the toy.
“You run along home now,” Patience said. “And no more bringing toys to school, okay?”
“Okay.” Naomi headed back out, and Patience nearly wilted when the door closed once more.
“You said yes, right?” Thomas said. “You’d just agreed to be my wife?”
“I said yes,” she confirmed, and a smile spread over her face.
Thomas crossed the distance between them and kissed her once more. “I’ll talk to the bishop today, then, because I have a feeling the rumors are about to explode around here—starting at that little girl’s house. He’d better be in the know.”
Patience couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you’re right.”
And this time when Patience looked around the schoolroom, she saw more than a chance at a life where she could contribute, she saw a future with a husband by her side and a little girl who’d call her Mamm. A family of her own—maybe not the most traditional in appearance, but purposefully pieced together by Gott’s own hands.
And when Gott brought a family together, let no man put it asunder.
Epilogue
The wedding was held in late October after all the harvesting was done and the community was free to celebrate. Patience’s family came for the wedding, and the community of Redemption pulled together to cook and prepare for the only wedding that fall.
Thomas rented a house on another Amish family’s property. It was a little house originally meant for some farm employees to live in, but it was just perfect for their little family—three bedrooms, a large kitchen, a small sitting room and a
