Page 417 of Conveniently Wed
Aunt May had said to read the book of Ruth. She opened the Bible with care and turned to the contents. There it was, tucked between Judges and First Samuel, so few pages she almost missed it.
She was supposed to keep the similarities of their two stories in mind, so she’d brought both pen and paper. It wasn’t long before she found her first similarity and started writing.
Ruth suffered loss, the death of her husband — I lost my brothers and Charles.
Ruth traveled to a strange land with strange customs — Coming from my humble roots, yes, this life is strangely different.
Ruth worked to support her mother-in-law — I married Josiah to support my family.
There were more similarities in this one story than she had thought possible.
Ruth was a beautiful woman who needed the protection of Boaz — I need the protection Josiah provides.
As she wrote that last line, the words jumped off the page. Josiah did make her feel protected and accepted for who she was. Now, after finding out the full truth, he was gentler than ever. She read on.
Boaz was a wealthy older man — Josiah is the same, though I’m not seeing him as what I would call old these days. The more I get to know him, the younger he seems.
Ruth was instructed by Naomi to go to Boaz at night and offer herself in marriage —
Katie’s pen paused on the page. An ink blot stained the spot. Was she to go to Josiah? Was this what Aunt May was getting at? Well, that would be where the similarities stopped.
Ruth became a wife and mother — but I am a coward.
As she penned the wordcoward,a heaviness came over her soul. She slapped the book shut with far less reverence than she had opened it.
With a flick of her head to send her heavy braid to the back, she picked up her candle and the paper and went up stairs, her heart as heavy as her steps.
Josiah pushed his empty plate aside and pulled his weary body up from the table. He would pay a price, but he had to offer anyway. “Would you like to start learning the bookkeeping?”
The smile Katherine tossed him quickened his sorry heart.
“I sure would. But are you sure you’re up to this after a full day of work?”
“You’ve been after me for weeks now, saying you need something to do. Do you really want to talk me out of it?”
“Certainly not.” She jumped to her feet, a new light shining in her eyes.
He turned down the hall toward the library and puffed out a deep breath.God, help me.Ever since she’d spent that night in his arms, he could think of little else. Either he was battling anger at the degenerates who damaged her, or he was the one wanting the same thing they’d wanted. Neither scenario felt good or right.
Sure, he and Katherine were married, and he shared everything he owned with her. But why had he married her? He’d convinced himself it was noble and kind to help her family out of a tough spot and offer his protection. But when he looked deep inside where the whole truth lived, had he been any different than the rest? Absolutely, her wit and intellect were part of her attraction, but her beauty had stirred him, and her plight had made events simple to manipulate.
“Where do we start?” She waved her hand over the desk. “Are you sure you’re not too tired?”
He didn’t even remember sitting in his chair behind the desk. “No, I’m fine.” But he was anything but fine, staring off into the distance like a lovesick idiot.
He opened up his black ledger book and began explaining the columns and rows. A faint smell of lilacs stole his concentration as she bent close. “How is your addition and subtraction?”
“Give me something to calculate and you can double check.”
He stood and waved her to sit in his chair. In quick order, she added up the sum of three credits and subtracted five expenditures with a correct balance.
“I can see this won’t be hard for you to learn. I’ll look forward to handing this job off to you in no time.”
She beamed at his praise.
Her pleasure sent a warmth through him. “Would it be too forward to say I married both the most beautiful and the smartest woman in the valley?”
She tipped her head to one side and pressed the pen to her lips. “Hmm. Would it be too forward to reply that I married the kindest and most generous man in the valley?” She pointed to the ledger. “You’ve helped Ma and Pa way more than you made out.”
