At last she stepped away, breaking the embrace. Arm in arm they strolled through the orchard. Their individual sides of the story tumbled out, leaving Merry shaking her head in wonder. Somehow God had orchestrated matters to see them reunited, their pain mended.
The sun flared as it touched the rim of the horizon.
Graham started as if waking from a dream. “I forgot why I’ve come.” He smiled so warmly that something fluttered in her belly. “There is a ship in port. It will head for England before the month is out.”
The sun must have plummeted from the sky. The world seemed immediately colder and darker. She tried to keep the regret from her voice. “You are leaving then?”
“I don’t think so. Not yet at any event. I thought you might wish to return home.” He leaned nearer. “To be honest I find myself enjoying the colonial life. There is an abundance of opportunity here for a man with initiative.”
“Then you intend to stay?” She could not keep the note of hope from her voice.
“For a while at least. After your experiences, however, I thought that perhaps you might wish to return to England as quickly as possible.”
The notion of returning home felt curiously flat. What was there for her? Her mother cared not a whit for her welfare. There was no position waiting. What claim did England truly have on her? “I thought I wished to return to England, but now I find that the prospect holds little charm. I could make a nice life for myself here. Abigail or Sarah might agree to help me start a tearoom.”
“Not tea.”
She glanced up at him. “Pardon me?”
“Be a mantua maker or a milliner or open a coffeehouse, but do not go into the business of tea at a time like this.”
“Why ever not?”
“Have you not heard of Parliament’s Tea Act? People throughout the colonies are abstaining from drinking tea because of the duties imposed upon it, and I hardly blame them.”
“Coffee then.” She smiled at him. “Do I detect a note of sympathy for these colonists?”
He shrugged, but could not quite conceal his smile at having been caught. “I have been talking to young Raleigh. Though I don’t agree with everything his Mr. Henry espouses, it appears that the colonists do have basis for their grievances.”
“It sounds as if you propose to become one of these colonists yourself.”
He stopped, halting their progress, and looked down at her for a long moment. “I suppose I do. Opportunities abound in this new world. Why should I not grasp mine? I could make a difference. I could fight for justice, for a better system of governance in this land.”
Merry nodded. His passion conveyed through the pressure of his fingers on her arm and the smoldering heat in his eyes.
“Your case, and Jerusha’s, have opened my eyes to much that is wrong with the current system. Why should people not be accorded the dignity of being presumed innocent? Surely it should be the government’s duty, with its greater resources, to prove guilt, rather than for the individual to prove innocence. For an unlettered layman to be forced into proving a negative—it seems more than unfair when I consider the evils it has wrought.” He sounded almost angry as he ticked off his points.
“You can do it. With such passion driving you, you’ll be able to help shape the course of the colony.”
His hand moved to caress her cheek. “Then you believe in me—” His voice choked off, and he groaned, drawing her close.
“Merry. Merry,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair. “I have not spoken. I feared you could never be brought to bear any affection for me, but now …”
She turned her face up to his. He gently cupped her face in his hands and lowered his lips over hers. She sank into the kiss, a thrill swirling down into her belly. He drew her even closer, and she went willingly, wrapping her arms about him.
When he at last broke away she was breathless, her knees as wobbly as a new foal’s.
“Can you … Is it possible that you could have feelings for me?” His voice was raspy, as if he, too, was a bit short of breath.
“I’ve loved you since I was a girl and you helped me rescue that bird with the broken wing.”
He laughed and pulled her close to him again. “You were so worried about that sparrow.”
Her head fit perfectly in the hollow of his shoulder. She could stay like that forever. Safe and secure and … loved. Realization swept over her. God had seen that sparrow fall, and He had made provision for it through her. How much more did He love His children? All the time she had wallowed in the certainty that He and Graham had abandoned her, He had been working matters around to this place. She blinked against tears. No longer fettered, her heart seemed to swell in her chest, ready to burst with blessings. “I’m so unworthy.”
Graham stepped back slightly to look in her face. “Not you, my gallant Merry. You are everything I could ever desire in a woman. If anything, it is I who am unworthy.”
He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand. “We can stay mired in our pasts, or we can look to the future.”
Merry tipped her lips up for another long kiss. When she pulled away again she was trembling.
Graham took hold of both her hands. “Merry, will you join your future to mine? I think we can make a real difference in this land. Change other futures, too. Will you become my wife?”
Merry’s heart stuttered to a halt. Had she heard rightly? Could God truly be pouring out such blessings on her despite her many mistakes? Her gaze sought his, and the tender sincerity she found there warmed her to her toes. “Yes. Oh yes. Together we can do anything.”
Lisa Karon Richardson is an award-winning author and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Influenced by books like The Little Princess, Lisa’s early books were heavy on creepy boarding schools. Though she’s mostly all grown-up now, she still loves a healthy dash of adventure in any story she creates, even her real-life story. She’s been a missionary to the Seychelles and Gabon and now that she and her husband are back in America, they are tackling new adventures—starting a daughter-work church and raising two precocious kids.
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