Candlelight Sweethearts by Kelly Irvin

Author:Kelly Irvin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2020-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Most people would consider laughter wafting from the open windows of their home a pleasant sound. In Esther Marie’s case it could only mean one thing. A setup. Esther Marie slowed her brisk pace along the sidewalk and up the steps. Her mother’s determined chortles sent dread spiraling through her. Laughter usually was a sign her mother or her father or both had invited someone to supper. A man-someone. They meant well.

The result for her generally ranged from severe indigestion to a pounding headache. The desire to please the two sweet people who gave life to her vied with the certain knowledge that she would never find a husband who wanted to permanently yoke himself to a woman who needed five minutes to finish a sentence.

Maybe if she were more pleasing to the eye. Plain men didn’t attach as much importance to looks, but they would be lying if they didn’t admit that looks played a part in that mysterious attraction called love. She had never experienced it, yet she knew exactly how it would feel. Warm, sweet, all-encompassing, a falling into a place where time had no meaning and the lines between two people blurred until they became one.

The desire of her heart was to encounter that place, but cold, hard reality muttered in her ear daily: God’s will might be for her to be alone.

Why? Wasn’t it enough that she was scrawny and pock-faced and she mangled two languages? She’d prayed and prayed for her stuttering to be cured. And yet, it persisted. God ignored her prayers for healing.

Why?

Her mother said God’s plan was still unfolding. In His time, not hers.

But the facts spoke for themselves.

Most of the men her age in this district were already married. Three older widowers had already been duly invited to the Shrock house and gone on their way, never to return for supper. They knew what Isaiah and Martha Shrock were trying to do and, for the most part, seemed willing to spend an evening trying to make conversation with Esther Marie over Nadine’s barbecued ribs, spicy barbecued beans, coleslaw, dill potato salad, and scrumptious lemon bars.

It never went anywhere. The store remained her domain. The one thing she was good at. And now Jasper had taken over that domain. No one expected life to be fair, but sometimes, it rubbed her nose in its determination to be unfair.

Maybe that’s why her parents didn’t give up. They knew how much she wanted what every Amish woman wanted—a husband and children. They turned a blind eye to the sad fact that this dream had passed their daughter by. They couldn’t fix it for her, no matter how hard they tried.

Maybe she still had time to turn around and sprint the other direction. She could go to The Malt Shop and eat a banana split instead. The library on the high school campus had closed for the day. Maybe she could simply walk along the road, enjoying the gorgeous Mission Mountains until the sun went down and darkness hid her face as she slunk into her bedroom.

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