Mandie had been a coward. She saw that as the weeks passed. Not just because she hadn't said anything to Joe before he left, but because for a long time she'd been too afraid to know her own heart and taken for granted that Joe would always be around.
But with these realizations came a window into a future of possibilities. Joe would need help with some of his cases, there would be mysteries to solve together, they would travel, they would live at her father's place, maybe build a bigger home on the land, so they could have guests and raise a family.
The following weeks passed in dreaming, with one hope sustaining it all—her trip to see her Cherokee kinspeople meant a stop at the Woodard's. This time she wouldn't lose her opportunity to talk to Joe.
The twins made traveling longer as they wanted to stop and explore whenever they saw a field or inviting path in the woods, but at last the Shaws pulled up to the Woodard's house late one afternoon. Mandie sprang down and greeted Mrs. Woodard with a hug.
"Joe will be sorry he missed your coming."
Mandie's heart felt as if an icy hand gripped it. The idea that he had packed off for New Orleans flashed through her mind. "What?"
"He left with his father. One of his patients needs a fence mended. She lives way out in one of the back roads, so I don't know when to expect them home."
Mandie covered her relief by hugging Carol who had run up. He hadn't left, there was just a delay.
Only the delay had been stretched for so long it seemed unbearable. More than once, Elizabeth smiled quizzically at her fidgety eldest as the family visited with Mrs. Woodard.
"My little blue eyes," Uncle John whispered at Mandie who sat next to him at the kitchen table. "If you want to take a walk, I'll send Joe after you when he gets back."
Mandie grinned at him. "Thank you, Uncle John!" She excused herself, hugged her uncle, then hurried out before the twins could volunteer to go with her.
Birds chirruped as they darted and swooped from tree to tree. Mandie walked fast to the cemetery, where fresh flowers were beside her father's grave. Dear Joe. She touched one of the wild aster's golden petals. He never forgot to tend her father's grave. Mandie smiled through a film of tears, but they were soft tears, without any sharp pain.
"I love him, Daddy. I want to marry him." She wished he could walk her down the aisle, but before the grief could turn the moment dark, she remembered Anna's words to Robin and let hope dull the ache. "I know you're happy right now, and I'll see you again someday, Daddy. I love you."
She added a few violets to the existing bouquet, then headed toward her father's house. A knocking punctuated the air the closer she came to the property. Both Uncle John and Dr. Woodard had been looking for a caretaker for the place but hadn't found one yet. She picked up her pace, gathering her skirt in both hands to lengthen her stride. The sound was coming from behind the house, near the chicken coop. She'd thought Robin was an intruder, but this time it couldn't be him. Mandie hurried to the house and peeked around it.
A man's back was turned to her. He had a flannel shirt on, rolled halfway up his forearms and a smattering of fence boards, both new and rotten ones were arrayed by his feet while he hammered a new plank to the top rail of the fence.
Mandie's pulse thrummed in her ear. She pushed strands of her hair off her face, trying to tuck them back into the French braid that hung down her back. With a little straightening of her red dress, she snuck a little closer under cover of his hammering. Hands on hips, she said, "Joe Woodard, why aren't you home to see me?"
He whipped around, a grin lighting up his face. "If I was home, how could I see you when you're here?"
"You didn't know I'd come here."
"I wanted to fix a few of these railings while I had all the tools. Dad was supposed to let you know where I was." Joe set down the hammer, keeping his head down longer than necessary. "How are you?"
"I missed you."
"Me too." His eyes met hers, and even from the distance between them Mandie could see the hurt in them. An irresistible pull propelled her toward him. As she navigated around a wooden plank, he stepped over it, so that they almost bumped into each other. The old shyness creeped in again at his nearness. She took a hasty step backward.
Thankfully, Joe spoke, "I decided not to take the New Orleans offer. I might be an itinerant lawyer after all."
"I'm glad!" There was an awkward pause that made Mandie almost stomp her foot in aggravation at herself. "Let's say our verse."
Joe's eyes widened as Mandie grasped both his hands and shut her eyes tightly. There was a questioning lilt to his voice, but he joined her in saying, "What time I'm afraid, I will trust in You."
"What's the matter?" He asked after Mandie sighed. He glanced around as if expecting to find some clue of trouble lying around.
"Joe. I have something to say." Mandie stared down at their hands still clasped together and spoke in a rush before she could lose nerve. "I've been afraid if I let you in closer, everything would change for the worse. That we'd argue, and it would hurt more than before, or something might happen to drive us apart. I've been afraid that all the good we have had would go away if we tried to complicate things."
He squeezed her hands and tried to get a look at her downturned face. "I'm not going anywhere. Mandie, I will always choose you, today and tomorrow."
A sob caught in her throat, but she pressed on, determined to say all she had in mind, wobbly voice or no. "I don't want my future to not have you in it. I want to share life with you, to be your best friend, to solve mysteries together, to embark on adventures. I don't want to live in the past anymore, Joe Woodard, afraid of change, I want to grow with you. I … I love you, and I want to marry you."
She looked him in the face then. Through the blur of tears, she saw his surprise give way to joy. His grin surfaced full force, and he let out a whoop. "I could kiss you!"
Mandie's eyes widened, but by that time Joe had tugged her into a hug that she melted into. Any last remnant of fear dissolved, replaced with an overflow of joy and trust. No matter what happened, with God and Joe by her side, she felt she could face tomorrow.
Still holding her close with one arm, Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box, which he opened. Inside nestled a ruby ring with a cluster of diamonds on either side. "I've not stopped carrying it around with me because it would have been like giving up all hope. It's the gem I found in Ruby's mine. I had it cut and polished for this moment. Amanda Elizabeth Shaw, will you marry me?"
She looked deep into his serious brown eyes, radiating love, and remembered all the times he'd proposed, contrasting how hard it had been to answer before and how easy it was now. "Yes, Joe, I'll marry you."
He slipped the ring on her finger, then cupped her face in his hands. "I love you, Mandie."
"I love you." The words seemed to hold more weight each time she said them, but also more joy.
He kissed her then—a kiss that held a promise of many beautiful tomorrows.
"Let's take a walk," Joe said, toeing one of the wooden planks. "I'll pick all this up later."
They stepped around the material and headed for the road with one lingering look at the house.
"I asked for your father's blessing when I was twelve," Joe said.
"You did?" Since he'd proposed to her when he was fourteen, somehow that didn't surprise her. "What did he say?"
"He smiled real big, said I had good taste and told me to ask him again when we were both a little older. And in the meantime, to concentrate on just being your friend. 'Joe,' he said, 'if there's one thing I've learned about marriage, is that it should be a partnership, and any good partnership starts with a solid ground of friendship. Be a friend to Mandie and the rest will come about naturally if it's to be.'"
"I bet he knew then we'd marry," Mandie said softly.
"I, for one, never doubted." Joe squeezed Mandie's hand with a grin, and laughing, Mandie bumped against him with her shoulder.
"Sure, you didn't, Joe Woodard. Where are we going?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
Mandie didn't care, either, so long as they went together. They walked down the road, hand in hand, their backs to the setting sun.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jermiah 29:11 NIV