“Do you come here a lot?” he asked once they got settled next to each other.
“I’ve never been here.”
“I’m surprised. You like peaceful places.”
Tricia smiled. She did like peaceful places, but what she really liked were peaceful places by Ben’s side. “I’m glad we’re here now,” she said simply.
Though she’d tried to hide it, he caught the note of melancholy in her voice. “Are you still fretting about what your aunt said?”
“Nee.” She swallowed, hating to fib. “I mean, maybe.” She shrugged. “Okay, jah.”
“What made you upset?”
She turned her head so she could see his face. He was tan now, his blond hair a little lighter. His blue eyes, of course, were exactly the same: light blue, framed by a dark blue ring and filled with as much compassion and sincerity as the first time they’d met.
“Everything. I didn’t like her bringing up a topic that should be a private conversation between the two of us. I was mortified,” she admitted. “Her insinuation that I was exaggerating how close we’ve become . . .” Just as soon as she spoke those words she was embarrassed. She didn’t want him to know just how worried she was that he, too, thought that she’d embellished his feelings for her.
“You didn’t exaggerate anything, Tricia,” he said as he reached for her hand. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think she was trying to be mean, she simply loves you.”
“Has your father warned you off?”
He chuckled as he squeezed her hand. “Nee.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, except that, well, my father knows better than to start trying to warn me off of you. He knows I’ve fallen in love.”
It took everything she had to close her mouth. “You have?”
“Uh-huh.” He raised her hand with his and rubbed it along his cheek. “Don’t worry, Tricia. I don’t expect you to feel the same way.”
“You don’t understand. I’ve fallen in love with you, too,” she blurted. “I didn’t want to tell you because I was afraid it might scare you away!”
“I’m not scared.” He smiled as he pressed her knuckles to his lips. “I’m mighty relieved, Tricia. I would hate to think I was the only one who felt this way.” After he kissed her knuckles again, he released her hand.
Tricia couldn’t believe it. Ben made falling in love seem so effortless and easy, as if he had no doubts about their future or his feelings for her. She wanted to feel the same way but her experiences made her not quite as trusting. “Do you ever wonder what will happen next?”
“Between us?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Jah.”
“Nee, I don’t wonder at all,” he murmured as he looked at the river flowing in front of them, the current lapping along the shore. “I have a plan, you see.”
There was no way he was going to keep that a secret! “What is it?” she asked, hating that her voice sounded as breathless as a child’s.
“Well, after I confess my love for you . . . And after you realize that you love me, too . . .”
Her pulse began to race. “Yes?”
“And then, when the time is right . . .”
“Yes?” She knew she was starting to sound like one of Emma’s little girls. But honestly, she was feeling so anxious. And excited. And almost sick to her stomach.
He turned to face her again. “I’ll ask you to marry me.”
She gulped. “And then?” she said softly.
Lines of humor fanned out from the corners of his eyes. “You tell me, Tricia. What will you say when I summon the courage to ask you to marry me?”
Ask you to marry me? She could hardly believe she’d just heard him say that. She felt like she’d jumped in the river and was floating along with the current, unable to stop. “I’d say yes.”
All traces of amusement vanished. “Will you marry me, Tricia?”
His voice was solid and sure, without a drop of indecision or worry, making her realize that they were certainly not speaking in abstract terms anymore. He was completely serious.
So she answered in kind. “I will.”
“You sure?” He stared at her intently. “Marriage is for a lifetime, you know.”
“Ben Hilty, I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life.”
He grinned broadly, and while she was still trying to come to grips with what had just happened—and what she’d just said—Ben folded her in his arms and hugged her. “You’ve made me mighty happy, Tricia.”