Part 3

Anna didn't get a chance to see Alex until church the following Sunday. All the way to church she practiced what she would say to him over and over again in her head. She would just walk right up to him and....

"She placed her feet on the ground just as he stepped out of the church. Everyone was inside, leaving them this moment in time. He came and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "I have been waiting to talk with you." His lips barely moved.

"Anna," her father's voice brought her back to the present reality. "Anna we are here, are you coming?"

"Yes," she answered, gathering her best dress up in her hands as her father helped her out of the back of the wagon.

While seated in the pew Anna tried to discreetly look for Alex in the pew his family sat in. When she didn't see him there she began scanning the other pews. She was very much into her search when she felt her mother shove her elbow into her ribs. "Anna, who are you looking for, " she whispered way too loudly, " Are you looking for that Draven boy? You are going to break your fool neck!" Anna closed her eyes and fought the redness she could feel creeping up her neck, why couldn't the floor just open up right then and swallow her?

"Momma!" she whispered. "I am not looking for anyone." She sat straight beside her mother, embarrassed to the point of tears.

"He was outside talking to Polly Whitaker," Rosemary Draven said from behind them. "I don't know what he sees in that girl. You are so much prettier Anna, There really is no comparison. I am going to have to talk to that son of mine," Rosemary went on to tell mother exactly what she thought of her son and Anna laid her too warm face in her hands.

She inhaled deeply, wishing she were somewhere else, anywhere else. If I ever have a daughter, she thought to herself, I will never, ever...

"Hello Mrs. Vander, Mother." And all of a sudden there he was. Anna was just too embarrassed to look up at him. Please don't let them say anything, please, she pleaded silently to herself. I promise God, if you just do this one thing for me I will never daydream during service again, please, please, please. "Anna? Is there something wrong?"

"Well she has been looking for you all morning!" And there it was, her whole world fell apart. She would never be able to show her face again. She had always wondered what it would be like to be a nun. The church would be her only husband. She would never know what it felt like to hold her own children, to have her first kiss, to...

"I have been kind of looking for you too." He whispered it close to her ear.

Did she hear him right? Was she dreaming again? Dare she look at him? She peered at him out of the corner of her eye, just to see if he really was talking to her. "You were?" She asked softly.

"Yeah," he answered almost as softly. It was in that small moment that Anna knew she would one day marry him.

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The following months flew by, rarely seeing the two apart. Alex found every excuse he could to leave his chores and Anna suddenly found that going on a walk was the most exciting thing in the world. He told her of his dreams and for the first time Anna realized that there were other people in the world like her. People that were not happy with the life they were born too.

"He is just so stuck in his ways Anna!" Alex was obviously upset. They sat at the foot of their favorite tree. Days before Alex had shyly carved their names with a heart around them.

"Does he still not want you to move to the city?"

"He says I need to stay here, where I have a future" He stood up and began to pace. "What kind of future is this?"

"There will always be farms."

"You know what I think?" She shook her head, her eyes wide. He was so smart and knew things about the world that he shouldn't, having lived in the small farming community his whole life. "I think that once our children get older, there won't be much left in farming. The city is the future." He knelt down in front of her, eager for her to share his vision. "They drive cars in the city Anna. I am going to have a car one day. I am going to the city and making a name for myself there. I will make fine furniture and one day....." H trailed off and bit his bottom lip. He stared at the ground, seemingly not sure what to say next.

"Aren't you afraid to leave what you know?"

"You never get anywhere being afraid." he took her hand in his and took a deep breath. "Anna would you ever...I mean will you...it's just that I was thinking...."

"Yes! I will marry you and move to the city with you!" she laughed and threw her arms around his neck. He fell off balance and tumbled to the ground with her on his chest.

He laughed against her hair. "I was just wondering if you would be my girl?" He chuckled as she pushed against his chest. "I take that as a yes?"

"Oh, you!" Her face was burning bright when she looked at him. "You don't want to marry me?"

His smile was bigger than the sky above them. "Of course," He pushed her hair back behind her ear and touched her lip softly with his finger. "We have to do it right though. I need to ask your papa if I can take his daughter to the city."

She sat up and looked down at him with her lip jutted out. "What if he says no?"

"Maybe it would be best if I went first and made some money first. I could..." She put her hand over his mouth.

"Don't even finish that thought." She looked off across the fields. "I won't wait for you, so don't leave me!" With that she jumped up and ran home.

"what did you want to talk about" She asked quietly, almost afraid to speak. Her breath came out in rapid short burst.

"Come away with me. Marry me, move to the city with me. I have always loved you."