said. “Is he someone you can imagine yourself married to?”
Katie sighed. “That’s the problem. I don’t know. I mean, I know he’s a good person and strong in his faith. He’s shy; he’s always been shy. I suppose that’s why his father made the inquiry. And there’s nothing wrong with him.” She sighed again.
“Well, is he hardworking? Does he have any bad habits? Those are the kinds of questions I think you need to ask yourself.” Ellie worked up the ground around the base of a plant. “But I guess the important thing is, do you like him?”
Katie thought for a minute. “I do like him,” she said, then she wrinkled her nose. “I just never thought of him as a possible husband. He was just sort of always...there.”
“So what you’re saying is what?” Ellie asked. “Boring?”
“Ellie!” Sara’s admonition was only half-serious. “What way is that to talk of a man you don’t even know?”
“No... I wouldn’t call Uriah boring,” Katie answered. “He’s serious, but not, you know, not deadly serious.” She thought for a minute. “And he likes dogs. He always had a dog.”
Ellie laughed merrily. “Now there’s a recommendation for a husband. Or it would be if you were a dog.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t sound as if you’re too excited about this offer. So there’s got to be something about him that you don’t like or you’d be more enthusiastic about the idea.” She hesitated. “I know looks shouldn’t matter to us, but...do you find him unattractive?”
“Ne,” Katie insisted. “It’s not like that. He isn’t...ugly. He’s...I don’t know...average-looking, I suppose, and he has nice teeth.”
Ellie giggled. “Nice teeth. There’s a plus.” She shook the dirt off a weed and tossed it playfully at Katie. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to contain myself. Not boring, nice teeth, and too shy to come and check you out for himself. Yup. That’s the man for you.”
Katie and Ellie both laughed.
“Put that talk by,” Sara chided, in earnest this time. “Uriah Lambright is a respectable candidate. I would have never brought him up to Katie if I didn’t think so. His aunt tells me that he’s building a house for his new bride, and that he’s well thought of in his community. Not every worthy bachelor is forward around the opposite sex. And since Katie says that she has no objections to taking inquiries further, that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“Could you do that?” Ellie asked Katie. “Marry someone that you weren’t strongly attracted to? I know I couldn’t. When I choose a husband, if I ever do, I want it to be someone I can love.” She wrapped her arms around her tiny waist. “Someone I just couldn’t live without.”
“Some marriages do start with romance,” Sara conceded, “but not all of them. I’ve arranged many matches between total strangers. There must be respect and liking, and then often, if both parties want the partnership to be successful, love follows.”
“My mother says the same thing.” Ellie got to her feet and brushed the dirt off the back of her dress. “She tells me that if I wait for romantic love, I may end up an old maid, caring for other people’s babies and sitting at other women’s tables.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Katie agreed. “That’s why I know I should take the Lambrights’ offer seriously. I want romance. I want love. But what if that’s not what God intends for me?” Without another weed in sight, she rose to her feet, too. “I’m not saying I’m ready to say ya to Uriah, but neither am I willing to just say no outright. What if he is the person God intends for me to wed? And so far, he’s the only one who’s shown any interest other than the occasional ride in a buggy home from a singing.”
“I don’t know.” Ellie turned thoughtful. “I understand what you’re saying, but I think I hear a but there.” She looked up at Katie. “You’re saying all the right things, but I think there has to be something about this Uriah that makes you cautious.”
“I suppose it’s that I’m not convinced that Uriah is interested in me,” Katie admitted readily. “He hasn’t written, and he hasn’t come to see me. What if his family is more interested in this match than he is? I know that his parents and his grandmother always liked me, but I wouldn’t be marrying them. What if Uriah’s being pushed into this match?”
“That’s always a possibility,” Sara agreed. “And if that’s the case, then I certainly wouldn’t advise you to accept his offer of courtship. But you don’t know the facts yet. Both you and Ellie are young, and the young tend to believe they have all the answers.” She met Katie’s gaze, waggling her finger at her. “I will tell you this. More than one young woman has broken her own heart waiting for the perfect man to appear from far off, while the one she should have chosen—” she pointed at Katie “—was standing right in front of her.”
There were no complaints from Freeman on the meal Katie cooked the following morning, and if not jovial, he was at least polite to her. Jehu had a third helping of bacon and toast, and Freeman did admit that her meal was an improvement over his grandmother’s oatmeal.
Ivy hadn’t come over to the big house yet; presumably, the older woman was enjoying a respite from the men and eating her preferred breakfast. Still, Katie missed Ivy’s cheerful presence at the table. She liked Ivy’s no-nonsense way of dealing with the men, especially Freeman, and she reminded Katie of her own grossmama, Mary Byler, who’d passed away several winters earlier.
Once everyone had eaten and the dishes were washed and put away, Jehu and the dog went to the mill and Katie turned to the laundry. “When is the last time those sheets of yours were washed?” she asked Freeman.
He scowled at her. “Not long.”
“How long exactly?” she persisted.
“Probably when I came home from the hospital.”
She sniffed in disapproval and pursed her lips. “It won’t do, you know. Lying on dirty linens.”
His dark eyes narrowed. They were still beautiful eyes, but the expression was peevish and resentful, like an adolescent who’d been told he couldn’t go fishing with his friends but had to stay home and clean the chicken coop. “And how do you suggest that I change and wash these sheets?”
“Don’t be surly,” she scolded. “I’ll do the washing, but you’ll have to get out of bed so that I can strip it.”
Freeman rapped on his cast with a fist. “Doctor says that the leg has to remain elevated.”
Katie sighed with impatience. “We’re both intelligent people. I think we can figure out a solution.” The previous day, when she’d first come in, she’d noticed a wheelchair folded up and resting against the wall, the packing strap still wrapped around it. Clearly, Freeman had never used the chair. Resolutely prepared for resistance, she approached the bed. “Are you decent?”
“I should hope so. I try to do the right thing.”
It took all of her willpower not to show her exasperation. He was wearing a light blue shirt, wrinkled but clean, rather than the sleeveless T-shirt he’d
