"I do love you, Michael. But there is no future for us. I'm a christian, and you are not. I've already tasted marriage with an unbeliever. I can't go through it again. It hurts too much."

Michael grinned.

Luba grew angry and stood up. "I have more important things to do than be made a fool of!"

"Michael jumped up from his chair, and reached out to stop Luba. "Wait a minute. What did I do?"

"I pour my heart out to you and you think it's funny?"

"Funny? No. that's not it. I was just smiling because I have good news for you." He paused. "We aren't different anymore. I am a christian."

Luba didn't know what to think.

Michael continued. "After I talked to you in the village, I really thought over what you said. I've wondered about you through the years. You always seemed different... You seemed to possess an inner peace and an inner joy – qualities I've never had. I wanted to know what it was that made you different... I sat down and read my mother's bible. It's been packed away for years."

His eyes filled with tears as he fought to control his emotions. "God spoke to me, Luba. He did. I know him now." He wiped at his eyes. "it hasn't been long since Nicholas died, and I understand if you need more time, but I'm willing to wait – as long as it takes." He took Luba's hands in his.

She smiled. "I will marry you."

Michael pulled her back into his arms, kissed her gently, then whispered, "God is good."

Luba rested her cheek against his chest. As she listened to the sound of his beating heart, she felt warm and secure. She could feel the weight of her mother's walrus tooth necklace against her skin and reached up to touch it. "I want to go home to Unalaska." She looked up at him and whispered, "Let's go home."

Luba arose at the first light of the day. She'd had little sleep the previous night, for her mind was swimming with thoughts of her new fiance, Michael. She walked over to the crib where her daughter, Mary, lay and gazed down at her. Even she was not awake yet.

Wanting to find something to occupy her mind with, the native woman decided to start making breakfast. Once she'd mixed up some simple biscuits and placed them in the over, she heard Mary awaken and begin to fuss, so took a few moments to feed her, then continued her cooking, fixing up some scrambled eggs and bacon, as well as some fried potatoes.

Finally her mother, Anna, emerged from her bedroom, yawning. "You're up early."

"I couldn't sleep." Luba responded.

Anna chuckled knowingly as Luba set out plates of breakfast. "Is Michael coming over today?" the native woman asked.

"Yes, he's coming for lunch. We're going to talk about preparing for the wedding," Luba said, sitting down at the table.

"I'm glad that I'll get to be there."

"I'm glad too, momma. When I married Nicholas, I was wishing that you and daddy could have been there. But there were only two strangers, and it was a simple wedding. I did not even have a special dress." Luba looked down at her meal. "It felt...empty."

Anna nodded, remembering her own marriage. "When I married you father, the only people that I knew at the wedding at all, besides him and Iya, were Cora and Captain Bradley, and I'd only just met them. Everyone else was a stranger."

"Even that would have been better..." The two of them sat in silence for a moment.

"You're not eating," Anna observed.

"I'm not hungry." Luba's anticipation and nervousness forbade her from eating.

"You should eat."

Sighing, Luba hesitatingly picked up her fork, then forced herself to take a bite. Finally realizing how hungry she was, despite her anxiety, she found the appetite to finish her meal.

Anna cleared her throat. "Are you still planning to return to Unalaska?"

Luba paused, wanting to make sure she had her best answer. "Yes. I've thought more, and I miss everyone there, and I miss the simple way of life. And the children will need their teacher. I can't bear for the two of us to be away."

"I understand. I will miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Momma."