Sara soon filled her apron with limas and had to return to the house for a basket for them and a second bucket to hold the weeds. When she returned, she brought a quart jar of lemonade to share. Katie and Ellie stopped work long enough to enjoy it before taking up their task again.
“I had a letter from one of my former clients in Wisconsin,” Sara said when they’d reached midrow. “Dora Ann Hostetler.”
“Do you know her, Ellie?” Katie asked, remembering that Sara had told her that Ellie had come from Wisconsin, too.
Ellie slapped at a hovering horsefly and shook her head. “Ne, but Wisconsin’s a big state. A lot more Amish communities there than here.”
“Anyway,” Sara continued. “Dora Ann was a widow with three little girls. A plain woman, but steady, and with a good heart. I found just the man for her last year, a jolly widower with four young boys in need of a mother. She wrote to say that she and Marvin have a new baby boy. She also wanted me to know that her bishop will be visiting in Dover next month, and he’ll be preaching here in Seven Poplars. She likes him and assures me that he preaches a fine sermon.” She looked at Katie. “Will you be coming to church with us, or going home to your family’s church?”
Katie paused in her weeding. “I think I’d like to come with you while I’m here,” she said. Sara’s mention of the letter from her friend reminded her of the one that Sara had received from Uriah’s aunt. “You started to tell me earlier about the note from Uriah’s family,” she reminded.
“Yes, but...” Sara hesitated. “Would you rather discuss that in private?”
“Ne, I don’t mind.” Katie chuckled. “Actually, I’d like to hear Ellie’s opinion.”
Sara placed her basket, now nearly full of lima beans, on the ground. “Katie has an interested suitor,” she explained to Ellie. “A young man who used to be a neighbor to her family here in Kent County.”
“Uriah, his parents and brothers and sisters moved to Kentucky years ago,” Katie said as she tamped down the weeds in the bucket to make room for more. “Uriah is the oldest.”
“The family has a farm and a sawmill in Kentucky,” Sara added. She continued searching for ripe beans. “Uriah’s father made initial contact with me a few weeks ago about the possibility of making a match for his son with Katie.”
Katie threw Ellie a wry look. “It was the father who asked about me, mind you, not Uriah.”
Ellie sat back on her heels and glanced from Katie to Sara and back to Katie. “So you know Uriah from when you were younger?”
Katie nodded. “They left when we were twelve, maybe thirteen. He was in the same school year as I was. They come back every year or so to see family so I’ve seen him a few times over the last few years.”
“Then you must have some idea of what you think of him,” Ellie 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