"Yeah, I think so. I mean, Aunt Vivian did not have a ladies' meeting tonight. At least, it came up really suddenly, since I left earlier this afternoon."
"Yeah, that does seem a little suspect. And why wouldn't she eat before she left?" He sighed. "I guess I should just say that I got a phone call from my siblings today."
"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked, wondering whether she needed to brace herself or not.
"Kind of. I guess... What I really wanted to talk to you about was my intentions and ask you about yours, but the phone call wasbasically my siblings reminding me that I had brought them up to not kiss before they were married, unless they were sure that they were getting married, because if you kiss someone that you're not planning on marrying, then you're basically kissing someone you know is going to be someone else's spouse, and isn't it just better to not do that?"
"I can't argue with that logic. Was that your rule?"
He nodded. "And my parents' before that as they were raising me. That, and also kissing leads to other things that the Bible says you're not supposed to do before you're married, so it's just a very good idea to not engage in that type of activity unless you have solid plans towards marriage. And even then to proceed with caution, because until you’re actually married, a lot can happen."
"I see," she said. She wasn't exactly sure where this was going, and she was a little afraid that he was going to tell her that he wasn't ready to get married. Or didn't want to.
She tried not to hold her breath.
"So I guess that is why I felt like I needed to declare my intentions and ask you what yours are."
"All right. You first or me first?" She thought briefly about the letter on the desk. Maybe she should tell him about that. It might change things. But... It didn't really change anything for her. The more she thought about it, the more she knew exactly what she was going to do. No matter what Noah did or wanted.
"I guess I wouldn't have kissed you if I hadn't thought that you were the one. I don't go around just kissing anyone. I don't necessarily agree with the way modern society just acts like that's an expected part of any relationship, no matter how brief. I consider kissing an intimate thing that I only want to do with one person, and that's the woman who is, or is going to be, my wife. So I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't have strong enough feelings for you to think that we could possibly get married." He gave a little bit of a self-deprecating smile. "I suppose I was afraid that I would scare you off if I told you that I wanted to marry you before I'd even kissed you.But that's on me. I let fear keep me silent, instead of having this discussion a while ago."
"All right," she said, a little uncertain. "So... You're saying you eventually want to get married?"
"To you. And 'eventually' sounds like sometime way far down the road. I suppose... I would get married this evening if we could. I'm not sure." He blew out a breath. "I've prayed about it a lot. I've been asking God to bring the right woman in, and you've felt right since the moment we met. But again, I didn't want to scare you."
"I was in a precarious mental situation when you first met me, so I appreciate your consideration. I also agree with you about kissing. It isn't something that I would do casually with just anyone. I'm not interested in casual dating or relationships. I never have been. I guess being an only child, I always thought I was a little bit too serious, and my friends teased me about it, but that's just the way I felt."
"So we agree?" he asked, and there was a note of hope in his voice.
"Yes. I'm the same as you. I wasn't thinking that we would get married tonight, but I was definitely thinking that we were serious about each other. I'm serious about you. And when you said that we would have children together someday, I assumed that that's what you meant too. That you were serious."
"All right. That's all I needed to hear. Actually, I feel like jumping up and running around the table a few times."
She laughed, but she thought he might've been serious about that, too.
"I actually do have something I wanted to share with you, but... I just got it today, and I didn't want you to think I was keeping anything from you."
"All right?" he said, his brows coming down, like he couldn't imagine what in the world.
"I got a job offer from a very prestigious music academy in the city. It's a really good job offer, great pay,benefits, a prestigious teaching position, my students would be the very best of the best, but I'm going to turn it down. Unless—" she paused for a moment. "Unless you wanted to move to the city and pursue your dreams of becoming a professional musician. If that's the case, I will take this job, and you'll be set. You can pursue your dreams and not worry about having to make money while you are doing it."
His brows went up, and then at the last, they came back down.
"Wow. That's very generous of you."
"When we're married, my money is your money, and vice versa, I assume?"
"I suppose we hadn't talked about money, other than the fact that I don't have any. But yes. That would be the way I would want to do it too. Although while we're talking about things, I suppose I ought to put one more card on the table."
"You're holding cards?" she asked, surprised.
"Just one."
"Right," she said, waiting.
"I had an investor—a representative of Moondoe's Coffee—visit me. Oh goodness, weeks ago. And he made me an offer. It's a good offer. He wants to buy the building that my store is in, then he's going to demolish it and put in a Moondoe's Coffee shop. It's a chain coffee store, no character, and—" he laughed a bit. "All right. So I have a bias against it. Sorry."
"I was reading that. But go ahead. I can divorce your bias from your information and make my own determinations."
