When Winter Comes by Barbara Cameron

Author:Barbara Cameron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

REBECCA LOOKED STARTLED TO SEE HIM WALK INTO THE gift shop in the middle of the day. She hurried to his side.

“Ben! What are you doing here? Is something wrong with Daed or Mamm?”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” he reassured her. “I came into town for supplies and such. I thought I’d stop in and see if you’d like to have lunch.”

She glanced at the clock. “I’m not due for lunch break for another fifteen minutes.”

“That’s fine.” He glanced around and saw a woman he assumed was her boss looking over curiously. “I’ll wait outside.”

Even on a cold day—maybe because it was a cold day—there were some people out shopping, walking briskly along the sidewalks, going in and out of shops, eager for after-Christmas bargains.

Ben felt odd being in town in the middle of the day during the workweek. Even odder was thinking about having his midday meal at a restaurant instead of eating at home or with Amos and Naomi and sometimes Rebecca, if she were home. Or, if they were on a job site, sometimes he and Amos ate a packed lunch to save time.

A female tourist walked past, eyeing Ben’s Plain clothing. Her hand moved to the camera that hung by a strap around her neck. He frowned, and she apparently thought better of it. She smiled apologetically and hurried on.

Ben sat down on a nearby bench and idly watched people passing. Now that he’d decided to move forward, he wondered why he was feeling a little anxious. Maybe it was because it was unaccustomed territory. Once a man decided he wanted a woman for his fraa and he was assured that she was indeed interested in a serious relationship, there was no uncertainty. They got to know each other better in the months before their marriage and that was that. Occasionally a couple might decide not to proceed to marriage, but it didn’t happen often.

He didn’t know why things had to be so complicated with him and Rebecca. He knew how he felt about her, and he knew she was attracted to him. They’d been friends for years, and that was the best foundation for a marriage, wasn’t it? Long after that initial passion for each other faded to a warm glow, the love they’d shared, the friendship they’d nurtured, their strong faith in God guiding them . . . well, that would be what kept them together. He’d seen this in the many enduring marriages around him in the community.

As a practical man, he didn’t rush into things. But from the way his parents and his friends, even Rebecca’s daed, talked, he’d been dragging his feet. While he wasn’t going to allow someone else to influence him, he was tired of watching other men he knew marrying and starting families.

He knew family was important to Rebecca. But did she want a mann of her own? Kinner of her own? Or was she content to stay with her parents and her siblings?

What if he’d hung around all

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