Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two (38 page)

Matt was the picture of the Good Shepherd, right here in Titus’s pasture. After a
few moments he gently set the lamb on the ground, and it bounded over to its mother
as though nothing scary had happened to it.

Rosemary sighed. It took a special sort of man to be a shepherd, just as it took a
special sort of man to be a dat. And it seemed, as Matt closed the pasture gate and
then opened his arms, that he was indeed a most special man. He took to her daughter
better than a lot of natural fathers related to their children. Plain men were known
more for their discipline than for their affection, yet Matt Lambright had just demonstrated
the perfect combination of both. Katie sprang from her stump and rushed toward him,
aglow in the forgiveness she sensed in Matt’s smile.

“You did real gut, Katie,” he assured her as he swung her up to his shoulder. “Your
mamm will be glad to see you’re safe and— Ach, there she is now, come to look for
you, no doubt.”

Katie swiveled. “Mamm!” she cried. “Matt fixed the lamb! He fixed me, too, so I’m
a big girl now, ain’t so?”

As Rosemary closed the distance between them, she considered her words carefully.
“So what does it mean that you’re a big girl, Katie?” she asked pointedly. “You look
the same to me as when I left you at the table eating your fried pie. And when I looked
again, you were gone. Do you know how scared I got when we couldn’t find you?”

Katie’s finger went to her mouth, but then she perked up again.
“I won’t go again, Mamm. Me and Matt decided,” she declared with a nod.

Me and Matt decided.
Rosemary couldn’t miss all the situations that phrase might apply to. As they walked
toward the house, she let the emotions of the moment carry her—relief, because Katie
was safe…hope, for she realized her little girl was indeed maturing to meet the challenges
of this move to Cedar Creek…contentment, because walking alongside Matt as he held
Katie to his shoulder felt so right. She could even chuckle at the folks who had come
outside to find them. Titus, Dylan, and Mose had stopped carrying furniture while
Beth Ann had come downstairs. Every one of them looked so pleased right now.

“Got the lost lamb back in the fold, I see,” Titus remarked. Then he focused on his
granddaughter. “And what do you say to Matt? He kept you from getting hurt pretty
bad, ain’t so?”

Katie beamed and threw her arms around Matt’s neck. “I love you, Matt!”

“And I love you, too, Katie. Awful much,” he replied without missing a beat.

Yes, Rosemary thought, this moment was about gratitude and growing up, but it was
mostly about love. It was something special indeed that Matt Lambright broke the mold
of most Amish men when it came to saying how he felt.

And didn’t Matt’s response say more than mere words? Maybe this incident, and his
response to it, could be a springboard for the big leap of faith everyone had been
encouraging her to take.

Rosemary gazed up at him, noting the color that crept into his cheeks. “Maybe we can
talk sometime soon, jah?”

Matt’s face glowed as he handed Katie back to her. “Jah, we can, Rosemary. Anytime
you’re ready.”

As Matt helped the other fellows heft the rest of the bedroom furniture up the stairs,
the dressers and wooden chests felt weightless.
He floated along, carried on a stream of ecstatic thoughts. Rosemary wasn’t the only
one who was ready to talk, however. As Titus helped Matt put her bed together, a grin
flickered on his lips.

“Figured I might was well save us all a lot of trouble,” her father-in-law began as
he fitted the metal frame into the simple wooden headboard. “Knew it was only a matter
of time before you and Rosemary tied the knot, so here’s my offer. You kids can live
in the main part of this house, like it was your own place—if you want to,” he added.

Matt rocked back on his heels, grabbing the edge of the headboard to steady himself.
“That’s mighty generous, Titus. But maybe you want to settle in first and then think
about—”

“It worked for Paul, staying in the dawdi haus, and it’ll be fine for me, too,” his
partner insisted. “Keeps me fed and dressed, gives Beth Ann a gut home with a woman
to help her grow up—and it saves you the trouble of squeezing into a room at your
dat’s place as newlyweds, ain’t so?”

Matt’s cheeks went hot. “There’s that, jah. But it all depends on Rosemary, what she
wants.”

Titus’s eyebrow rose. “You’ll want to be careful about giving her so much say-so,
son. Once a woman gets a taste of having her way, there’s no end to it. Just ask my
brother, Ezra, or Abe Nissley,” he said. “Adah Ropp’s another one who takes it upon
herself to rule the roost, and that’s not the way nature intended. God created the
man first for a gut reason.”

Matt had heard this sort of logic all his life, and he sensed it was a fine time to
keep his opinions to himself. Far as he was concerned, everything did depend on Rosemary—and
for all of Titus’s insistence on the Old Ways with the man running the house, he probably
wouldn’t have kept up with his sheep, much less entered into this business partnership,
had Rosemary not gotten him through the winter.

“We’ll work that part out,” Matt replied as they positioned the
box springs on the frame. “But I appreciate the offer, Titus. Having us live here
makes a lot of sense for you and me as partners, too. And it saves me the expense
of getting a house built.”

“But anytime you wanna do that, it’s fine by me,” Titus insisted.

As they positioned the mattress, Matt’s thoughts were spinning. While it would be
very convenient for all of them to live here, maybe Rosemary was fed up with looking
after Titus…She had made plans to build a house with Joe, after all. And she would
be starting up her baking business, so maybe he and Titus were putting the cart before
the horse, assuming she’d marry him anytime soon. Could be, when Rosemary wanted to
talk, she would thank him for keeping Katie out of harm’s way rather than encourage
his attention.

There was only one way to find out.

Somehow Matt made it through dinner, with everyone chatting at the table as though
they had nothing pressing to do, nothing twitching in their minds. Soon they would
be packing up another trailer load, but he sensed an important moment might be lost
if he returned to Queen City with Titus and Dylan.

“I’m going back over to make up the beds, in case Katie’s ready for her nap,” Beth
Ann said as they rose from the table. “Can you help me unpack your clothes and toys,
Katie?”

“Jah, I’s a big girl,” the toddler declared as she scrambled to the floor. “Unpack.
No nap.”

As everyone laughed, Matt silently thanked Beth Ann for opening this conversational
door. “I’ll get this morning’s boxes rearranged so we’ll have places to put all the
stuff that’s still to come over,” he said.

“Jah, and we’d best get moving, too,” Titus replied with a knowing smile. “Dylan and
I can handle this load, and that’ll still get him home before dark.”

As Matt took his straw hat from its peg behind the door, it occurred to him that someday
he would be hanging his hat in a different spot.

Are you sure about that? She hasn’t said yes yet.

His dat and Abby headed down Lambright Lane to the mercantile, chatting with Beth
Ann and Katie. Rosemary and the other women began to redd up the kitchen, so amid
the clatter of their dishes and chitchat, Matt slipped out the back door. From the
swing in the yard, he often gazed out over the pastures, keeping watch. Whenever he
needed to gather his thoughts, this was the peaceful place he chose.

Last time he’d sat here with Rosemary, she’d run off because he kissed her.

He settled into the slatted seat and began to rock, letting the familiar creak of
the wood and the chains soothe him. The rolling pastures glowed a lush green, and
the clusters of grazing ewes and lambs helped his tired body relax. Carrying furniture
up the stairs was harder work than tending sheep, but it gave him a sense of hope.
For even if Rosemary didn’t give him an answer today, she would be living across the
road. He would have the chance to truly court her then—and maybe that would be the
better plan. She had a hundred things on her mind right now, and if he waited for
a quieter moment, maybe when they were alone in the buggy…

“Hope you don’t mind if I join you,” Rosemary murmured as she slipped into the swing
beside him. “Seems your mamm and sisters don’t want my help with the dishes, so they
shooed me out. I suppose I could go back to the house and empty those boxes in the
kitchen—”

“Rosemary.” Matt took her hand, pleading with his eyes.

She twined her fingers between his. “Jah, Matt?”

Oh, but there was no getting around it, was there? Mamm and the girls were probably
peeking out the kitchen window behind them. But if he walked Rosemary over to the
other place, they might get interrupted by Katie or Beth Ann—and those piles of boxes
would compel Rosemary to unpack. She was never idle—always a willing worker, a woman
who served the Lord and everyone around her with gladness.

The freshness of her pretty face, and the way she looked ten years younger wearing
purple instead of black, encouraged him. Changing out of her widow’s clothing was
a big signal, and if he didn’t follow up on it, he might go a long while before he
found another opportune moment.

Matt cleared his throat. Maybe he was making this way too complicated. “Will you marry
me?” he asked in a strained whisper.

Rosemary clapped her hands together. “Oh yes. Yes!” Then she drew in a long breath
and sat back. “But, Matt, I want to be courted a gut long while,” she began, as though
she’d been thinking about it more than she’d let on.

His heart throbbed hard. “I—I can understand that, jah.”

“And meanwhile, I’ll be baking pies for Aunt Lois and setting up my business.” When
her hand found his again, her grip was as firm as her voice. “It’s only fair to both
of us to know how that part of my life will work out before we jump into being married.
You might change your mind about having a wife who spends a part of her days working
at something for herself. And we need to court long enough that you know I’m not perfect.
I’m sure to have habits that will aggravate you—and you’ll do things that irritate
me, too.”

Matt felt light-headed. He had hoped her answer would be an immediate yes…and yet
she spoke wisely. “Truth be told, while I’m best at tending sheep, I might have to
help Dat more while he’s learning to be a preacher,” he murmured. “But I won’t change
my mind, Rosemary. I want you for my wife.”

“Jah, Matt. I want that, too.”

Applause and squeals came from the kitchen.
Jah, the window was open, dummy. It’s June, after all.

But he had to make the situation perfectly clear so Rosemary would have no regrets.
She had opened her heart to him, and he wanted nothing to stand in the way of her
complete love and acceptance. Matt kissed her with great restraint, so he would have
concentration enough to continue. “What would you say to us
living at Titus’s place?” he asked her in a low voice. “He’s offered it to us—”

“So that’s why he wanted the dawdi haus!”

“—but I can see why you might rather have a home of your own, like you were planning
with…Joe.”

Rosemary’s face resembled one of the roses about to burst into bloom in the flower
bed beside them. Her deep green eyes made him think of the cedars along the creek,
ageless and peaceful. “What I had with Joe is a wonderful-gut memory now,” she whispered.
“What I can have with you, Matt, is a whole new life. A whole new world.”

He liked the sound of that. A lot.

“And if you can stand to live with a grumpy old fellow, a teenage girl, and my runaway
toddler—”

“Ah, but Katie’s a big girl now,” he corrected her.

“—and you can tolerate me riding herd on all of them—”

Matt shrugged. “I have two border collies. Herding is an everyday thing.”

“—then I—” Rosemary stopped short. Her eyebrow rose into a distinctively independent
angle. “Puh!” she declared. “You and I will decide what we want and where we’ll live,
in our own gut time. Everyone else can fall into step and find their places, ain’t
so?”

As more applause and female laughter came through the kitchen window, Matt’s heart
thumped like a drum. “Jah, you’ve got that right, Rosemary. You see life pretty much
the same way I do…and I can’t wait to see our life now that we’ll be together.”

I
t finally struck Rosemary then: she was getting married! And on her own terms, too.
She was wildly, deliriously happy. She had loved her Joe truly and deeply, but this
time around she was much more aware of the commitment she had agreed to. She knew
for sure and for certain that along with Matt providing a good home, he would bring
joy
into her life. The women in his family rushed out into the yard to congratulate them,
full of ideas about their future in the home across the road.