He grinned at her, and they shared a laugh.
"That's it. I pretty much was going to dismiss it out of hand. Although our conversation about you having money and me not made me think about it. Is that really that important to me? Am I embarrassed to be married to someone who makes more money than I do? After all, I could sell the business, and I might not have more money than you—not that it's a competition—but I at least wouldn't be in poverty anymore."
"What about your parents? What about your siblings?"
"I know my parents would tell me to sell the business if I wasn't making money at it anymore. Or if I wanted to. I know they wouldn't want it to be a ball and chain around my neck. I'm just not sure about my siblings... I don't know. I was kind of surprised when they all called me and gave me a hard time. I kind of thought they had forgotten they even had an older brother."
"I'm sure they didn't forget. And I'm sure the older they get, the more they will appreciate the sacrifices that you made."
She believed that with all her heart.
"I don't know. I guess I don't really care whether they appreciate them or not. I didn't make them so that someone would appreciate it. I did it because it was the right thing to do."
"That's one of the things I admire about you. And that's one of the reasons that I don't hesitate to say that I'm comfortable making our relationship as serious as it needs to be so soon. Because you are a man who keeps your word and who takes your responsibilities seriously and who takes care of people. I couldn't ask for more, other than that you love Jesus, and to me that underlines everything you do."
He smiled, though her words pleased him.
"I don't know if anyone's ever given me a better compliment in my entire life."
"It was sincere, and every word was true."
His hand moved, and it covered hers where it sat on the table. Their fingers twined together, and they squeezed.
"I suppose because your siblings were harassing you, it means that I'm not getting kissed anymore."
"I think 'anymore' is a pretty strong word. I also don't think that I should allow my siblings to dictate my life."
"All right. I agree with both of those statements."
"But I do think that it might be a good idea for us to... Talk about how soon we want to get married. I feel like I'm pressuring you if I say that. Because... It really is kind of soon in our relationship."
"I guess sometimes we feel like our relationship needs to take thedirection that everybody else's relationship does. Society thinks if we do this, or if we do that, it's terrible, and we're too young, we're too old, it's too soon, we're engaged too long. Like, let's just do it the way that we know God wants us to do it and not worry about what the rest of the world thinks."
"I agree with that completely." He squeezed her hand. "So what do you think God wants us to do?"
"I told you. I'm comfortable with whatever you want, whatever you feel like God is leading us to. I'm comfortable going along with it."
She didn't want to be the one in charge. She didn't want to be the one calling the shots. She didn't think that was the way God wanted relationships to work, and she figured that it probably wouldn't be a very good way to start out their relationship.
"Christmas?" he suggested with a lifted brow.
"Well, Pastor Johnson might not want to work on Christmas."
"My best friend happens to be a pastor, and I'm pretty sure he'll marry us whenever we want him to. But I don't want you to rush into something. Is that enough time for you to be ready?"
"Plenty of time. Unless you wanted me to organize some kind of fancy extravagant thing."
"I just want you. Although... I guess none of my siblings are coming in. They might not get to go to my wedding."
"Maybe they'll decide that they're able to make it in for Christmas after all," she said with a twinkle in her eye.
He had to laugh at that.
"I guess it's enough to know that we're thinking about it within the next couple of months."
"Yeah. Or sooner. We could get married before Christmas."
"So you're gonna turn the job down?"
