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| Photo courtesy melodi2, rgbstock.com |
Lydia
stood at the edge of the creek willing herself to look away from the preacher’s
bare back, but her gaze remained locked.
Only her older brother’s voice broke the spell.
Only her older brother’s voice broke the spell.
“Joshua,
you get yourself decent, there’s a lady present.” Frank said.
Lydia
felt the heat creep up her neck and spread across her cheeks as she whirled
around to put the scene behind her.
Frank
and Joshua had been friends for as long as Lydia could remember and Lydia had
been in love with Joshua for just about as long…though she’d never admitted that
to a living soul.
“Just
coolin’ off a bit,” laughed Joshua as he made his way to shore in his water
logged trousers. He slipped into his shirt and pulled on his boots. “You can
turn around now, Miss Lydia. I’m decent.”
Lydia
wanted to sink right down into the muddy banks of Carter’s Creek. She, Frank and
Joshua and most of the other kids in town had swam together in that creek many
times, but that was years ago - before they had grown up. Still, she didn’t want
Joshua to know that the sight had bothered her.
She
turned around to face the men, flipping her brown curls in the process.
“Decent?” she said, “Joshua, you’ve never been decent a day in your life. Not
since you chased me down the street with a garter snake when you were 12. You
were a scoundrel then and you’re a scoundrel now.” She put both fists on her
hips. “Why, I expect you’ll always be a scoundrel and how you got to be a
preacher, I’ll never know.”
Joshua
chuckled, “Well, I reckon the good Lord gets a kick out of turnin’ scoundrels
into saints, just so it’ll confuse people.”
“A
saint? A saint? Why Joshua Daws, if you think you’re a saint…”Frank stepped between his sister and the preacher.
“Will
you two never stop bickering?”
“I will
if she will,” Joshua grinned.
Lydia
raised her chin and squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” She said. “If you will
excuse us, Parson Daws, my brother and I were on our way to the mercantile to
pick up supplies for Mama.” With that she spun on her heels and marched herself
toward town. “Are you coming, Frank?” she threw over her shoulder.
Joshua watched the only
girl who’d ever caught his eye walk away. He turned and gave Frank a playful
slug in the arm. “My friend, that sister of yours gets prettier every
day.”
Frank
shook his head. “When are you two going to admit you like each other so you can
get on with the task of courtin’? You know you’re going to wind up my
brother-in-law sooner or later.”
Joshua
turned again to look down the path Lydia had taken. “From your lips to God’s
ears, my friend,” he said.
--Several
months later--
“I
reckon I’ll just have to up and marry you, Miss Lydia,” said Joshua, giving the
swing another push.
Lydia
squealed. “Joshua Daws, you stop this swing right now!”“Yes, ma’am,” he said. Stepping in front of the swing, he grabbed both ropes as Lydia swung toward him. The swing jerked to a stop, throwing the pretty girl right into his arms. He pulled her close. “Will you, Lydia?” His voice softened. “Will you marry me?”
Lydia’s
heart pounded in her chest, her face felt flush as tried to push him away. “Let
me go, Joshua.”
“Never,”
said the preacher, tightening his hold.
Lydia
looked over her shoulder at her family and friends, gathered on the church
grounds for a late summer picnic.
“Let
go,” she said, pushing herself out of his embrace. “Someone will
see.”
“Don’t
bother me, none,” he shrugged. “They know we’ve been courtin’ for a while. I
doubt anyone will be surprised when we get married.”
Lydia
narrowed her eyes and did her level best to look perturbed. “And just what makes
you think I’ll marry you, Parson Daws?”
Joshua
reached out and ran his finger down her cheek. “Well,” he said, “because I’ve
known from the first time I ever laid eyes on you that you were the girl for
me.”
Lydia’s
skin tingled where he’d touched her face. “Joshua, don’t be silly. I was only
nine years old when we moved to Carter’s Creek and you and Frank became
friends.”
“That’s
right, and I’ve waited 10 long years for you to grow up so I could make you my
wife. Besides that, you've got to admit…you and me would make the cutest babies
this side of the Rockies.”
Lydia
felt the heat rush to her face again. “You ought to be ashamed of
yourself!”
He
pulled her back into his arms. “Say I’m wrong, sweetheart. Say you don’t love
me. Say you don’t want to be my wife and I’ll walk away.”
With
that, he dropped down on one knee and shouted loud enough for the whole town to
hear, “Lydia Reynolds, will you be my wife?”
“Say
yes,” Frank yelled from up on the hill.
“Say
yes,” her father shouted from the bench under the oak tree.
“Say
yes! Say yes!” came more cries from the crowd.
Joshua
looked into her hazel eyes. “Say yes,” he whispered.
Lydia
was beat and she knew it. She threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, yes, yes, I
will marry you, Parson Daws.”
A cheer
rose from the crowd as their friends descended the hill to congratulate
them.
Frank
got to his sister first and gave her a big hug. “About time,” he said, “What took you so
long?”
Lydia
gave him a sly grin. “Sometimes you just have to let a feller chase you until
you catch him,” she said.If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!
(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)
Photo Credit: http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=15667
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