“Because of Princess Addie?”
Isaac didn’t mean to frown, but he did, and the girls were immediately at his side.
“Don’t be sad, Uncle Isaac. Princess Addie is so good, and she will marry you soon. I know she will,” Mina encouraged.
Lena nodded enthusiastically and put her arms around Isaac’s leg. “She loves you.”
“And we love you, too.” Mina hugged him opposite her sister.
Isaac had to fight to keep his balance, but the girls’ affections were like a balm on his tender heart. “Thank you. You are always so good to me.” He hugged them both. “But now you must go get your nap so that we can go hear the bells.”
The girls detached themselves and hurried toward the back porch steps. Isaac watched them go, almost sorry that he’d sent them away.
“They are the best of us all,” he told his sister.
“Yes.” She came closer to Isaac. “I’m sorry that lunch was difficult for you.”
He met her gaze and extended his arm. “Care for a turn about the gardens?”
“Of course.” She looped her arm around his and let him lead the way. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I just don’t understand what’s happened. Addie and I were so close, and she’s not unkind, but she’s acting almost as if it never happened.”
“But you said that you could see in her eyes that she still loves you.”
“She does. I know she does, but something is keeping her from allowing herself to act upon that love. She’s afraid, and I don’t know why.”
“You have no way of knowing everything she endured after you left Dawson City. Perhaps she gave up on ever finding you again, and now that she has, she doesn’t know what to do about it.”
“She can marry me. That’s what she can do about it.”
“Have you asked her to do that?” Elizabeth’s question came as a surprise.
“She knows that’s my intent. We even discussed it at lunch. The pastor’s wife asked if we’d set a date.”
“You did what? Oh, Isaac, please tell me you didn’t put that poor girl on the spot.”
Isaac hadn’t considered that it might have been uncomfortable for Addie. He knew it was awkward but thought nothing more. “She seemed almost embarrassed. I can’t explain it.”
“Of course she was. Such conversations are private, and you put her there in the middle of her friends and pastor and demanded answers she apparently cannot give. I’m surprised she didn’t get up and leave the room.”
“Was it really so wrong?”
“To put her in that position?” Elizabeth asked. “Yes, imagine how you might feel if the roles were reversed.”
“But I thought my enthusiasm would only prove my love hasn’t changed.”
“You’re thinking only of yourself, Isaac. Think of her. You owe her an apology. Then, after she has time to recover from all that happened at lunch, I think the two of you need to have a long discussion on the matter. You need to air it all out. The past and the present. Otherwise, I fear there will be no future for you.”
Isaac thought on that for a moment. What if there was nofuture for them together? He had never allowed for another dream—another possible result. He had determined to be a college teacher of history, and that was about to happen. He had determined to marry Addie after he graduated and took a good job, and now that the opportunity was before him, shadows were cast over those plans.
“I don’t want a future that she’s not in,” he admitted. “From the first moment I met her, I knew she was the one for me. She makes me whole.”
“Then give her time, Isaac. Give her time and love, and be gentle with her.” Elizabeth paused their walk and turned to face her brother. “If she had a broken leg, you wouldn’t expect her to get up and run. Something in Addie is broken. Give her time to heal. Don’t push her. Let her know that you’ll give her all the time she needs.”
He hadn’t thought of it like that. “I guess I just figured seeing me again—being reunited would heal the past and the long separation between then and now. But now I see that’s not the case. I know she hasn’t had an easy life. People have really hurt her, and I don’t want to be one more of those.”
Elizabeth gave his arm a pat. “Taking extra time for something you truly want isn’t always bad. You came to your position with the college only after spending time teaching elsewhere. You graduated from college only after a lot of hard work and time.” She turned back and started them walking again. “And Isaac, don’t forget to pray about this.”
