will be worth being able to listen to the sermons for a change. I’m really looking forward to hearing you speak in person instead of just on a recording.”
He grabbed her hand as they walked toward the front door to the house. “I like the idea of you being in the congregation as I preach, but it makes me a little nervous to know you’ll be there, too.”
She looked at him, startled. “Why? I’ve only heard good things about your sermons. Everyone says you’re wonderful.”
He shrugged and looked down for a moment. “I’ve never had a girl I was interested in marrying listen to one of my sermons before. The idea is more than a little nerve-wracking.”
She swallowed hard. “We just met yesterday!” She wasn’t sure how many times she could say that in one day before her brain exploded, but it seemed she was going to test it.
“I know. I’m trying not to rush things too quickly. I don’t want to scare you off or anything.”
“You’re not scaring me. You’re just…surprising me.” She realized it was true. She was very attracted to him, both his mind and his heart. She wanted to spend her life with him. It just surprised her that they’d both come to the same conclusion about each other so quickly after meeting.
He stopped walking a few feet in front of the door and turned to her. “Really? So you wouldn’t freak out if I asked you to marry me?”
She stared at him with her mouth hanging open. “I umm…honestly? I don’t know what I’d say.” Yes, please, came to mind, though.
“But you wouldn’t run away screaming?” he asked with a grin.
She shook her head.
The front door opened, and her dad stepped out. “Evenin’, Pastor Dan. Anna.”
Anna walked to her father and hugged him quickly kissing his cheek. “I’m going to go and see if I can help Mom in the kitchen.”
She practically ran into the house, and Dan found himself watching her go with a huge grin on his face.
He held his hand out to shake Joe’s and said very calmly, “I’m in love with your daughter.”
Joe smiled. “Finally a man with good taste!” He led Dan into the house and out into the backyard where he was watering the flowers that Lee kept growing everywhere. “Have you told her yet?”
Dan grinned. “I haven’t. I told her I wanted to marry her, though.” He stuck his hands in his pockets as he watched her dad for his reaction.
Joe laughed. “I bet she just stood staring at you and sputtering. She wouldn’t have any clue what to say to that. Especially since you two just met. I was that way when I met her mother, though. I proposed within a week of meeting her.”
“Really? And she agreed that fast?” If she’d grown up with a story like that in her head, about how her parents had met and married so quickly, it should make convincing her a lot easier.
“Absolutely not. She told me I was crazy. Of course, I kept asking and asking. Finally, she agreed after we’d known each other for about a month. I never could talk her into eloping, though. She had to have a big church wedding. So we did.”
“Well, I think I’m going to propose to Anna. Soon. Do you have any objections to that?” Dan wasn’t really asking permission, but he was old-fashioned enough that he felt like he should at least talk to her father before asking her to marry him.
Joe shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’d be proud to have you for a son-in-law.”
Inside the house, Anna was chopping up the eggs for the potato salad her mother was making. Kermit the Dog was sitting at attention at Anna’s feet, hoping that a chunk of egg would fall his way. He knew that Anna was more prone to sneaking him scraps of food than either of her parents, and clung to her whenever she was around.
“So, did you go out with Pastor Dan last night?”
Anna flushed, but didn’t meet her mom’s eyes. “Yeah, we went and saw the new superhero movie that you wouldn’t go see with me.”
Lee’s whole face lit up. “Really? How was the movie?” She was happy to see her little girl finally getting some male attention. Anna wasn’t the most beautiful girl in the church, but she had the purest heart that Lee had ever seen. She knew that she would make a wonderful pastor’s wife.
Anna shrugged. “It was good. You know I love that kind of thing.”
“And why are we doing this tonight again?”
“He wanted to get to know me better but didn’t think we should spend a lot of time alone together. He’s being careful of my reputation.” Anna tried to act like it was no big deal, but to her it was. She’d always had a hard time with people gossiping about her every time she even looked at a member of the opposite sex. It was great that Dan was so proactive about protecting her.
“Am I going to hear wedding bells in the near future?”
Anna shrugged again. “He seems to think so. We just met yesterday, though. I don’t know.”
Lee turned from the potatoes she’d been chunking and looked at her daughter. “How do you feel about him, Anna?”
Anna blushed. “I’ve never met a more attractive man. I mean, he’s great looking. And he’s everything I could possibly want in a mate. I’m already half in love with him.”
Lee smiled. “Then everything will work out.” She turned back to the potatoes. “So did you watch the Proctor kids again today?”
They had a great time that evening. After dinner the four of them played some board games and laughed and joked. Anna loved how well Dan seemed to get along with her parents. He and her dad had made fast friends.
Dan watched the way Anna interacted with both her mother and father. He loved that she showed them absolute respect while feeling free to play around and joke with them.
On the drive home, he told her he’d had a great time.
“I did, too. Thanks so much for putting up with my crazy parents.”
“I like your parents,” he told her honestly. “I had a talk with your dad tonight.”
She leaned her head back against the seat and stretched. “Really?”
“Yeah. I told him I was in love with you and planned to ask you to marry me. I asked him if he had any objections.”
Anna blinked a couple of times. He certainly knew how to get to the point. Did they teach him that in seminary? “What did he say?” She knew that her father would approve of the match. Her mother’s reaction to their little talk in the kitchen had let her know that they were both firmly in favor of it.
“He said that he proposed to your mother after knowing her for less than a week. That’s when I knew that I fit in with your family just fine.” He pulled into the parking lot of her apartment and turned to face her. “I knew after having a thirty minute conversation with you that you are meant to be my wife. It’s as if God created you with me in mind. I love you, Anna.”
She stared at him as if she couldn’t believe her ears. She was Anna. She was the ugly duckling, the girl that all the boys had laughed at in school. She was the one who worked her fingers to the bone and didn’t care, because she didn’t have a husband anyway, and probably never would, so there was no one to go home to. Did he realize who he was talking to?
“Why?” she blurted out. She wanted to take the word back as soon as she’d said it, but she couldn’t. It was out there.
He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Why? Because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known inside and out. You make the people around you laugh and smile. Every person who has said your name since I came to the church has said it with a smile. Even Agatha told me she’d be lost without you. That you were the heart of the children’s ministry.”
Anna felt a tear spill out onto her cheek. “But there are so many pretty girls in the church. Why don’t you marry one of them?”
He took a deep breath. “There is not a girl in this church that is as pretty as you are, Anna. I don’t love any of those other girls. I love you. Will you marry me?”
/> She sat still for a moment thinking about his words. She wanted to marry him with everything inside her, but was it right for him? “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Please say yes.”
She slowly nodded feeling a glow spread through her body. “I’d like that a lot.”
He pulled her into a quick hug kissing the top of her head. “When?”
She thought about that for a minute. “Umm….maybe Christmas break? I’ll have some time off school then.” Would that give her enough time to plan a wedding? It was six months. With her mom’s help, she was sure they could pull it off.
He shook his head. “I was thinking mid-July.”
“July! How can I plan a wedding that quickly?” She started making mental lists of things that would have to be done to get a wedding together, and wasn’t sure she could do it. Of course, her mother turned into a general when there was any kind of planning to be done. With General King on the job directing the troops, anything was possible.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to wait. I want to get married before you go back to work. Please?”
She laughed. “You know, those big brown eyes aren’t always going to get you what you want with me.”
“But they are now?”
She nodded. “I’ll call Mom in the morning and we’ll start planning. You need to book the church for the first Saturday available in July. Who’s going to marry us, though? You’re the pastor!”
He grinned. “I think I’m going to call in a few favors from seminary. I have