I gave the floor a final sweep and surveyed the living and kitchen area. Sparkling. Pride welled up in me at the sight of my clean home. My home. How easily those words came to me! I smiled. It truly was home.
Laughing, I danced around the room with the broom. My heart soared. I had not ever been happier.
I was startled by a floorboard creak. I spun around. Jacob stood on the threshold, a bouquet of daisies in hand. We stood in silence, watching one another. Then I took a step toward him. I held out my hand.
"May I have the pleasure of a dance?"
"I–I–I haven't danced since–"he stuttered, "I don't remember."
"I can show you. It is simple."
I took his hand, so large and rough compared with my own. He stood stiff, unsure, for a moment. I smiled encouragingly and he relaxed. I placed his hand around my waist then rested my hand on his shoulder.
"Just follow me. Side, together. Back, together. Side, together. Forward, together. That's it!"
I could easily imagine Ellie falling in love with a younger Jacob as he waltzed her across the dance floor as he waltzed me around the kitchen. He was a natural. I had read somewhere once that the dance floor was where couples fell in love. Perhaps that's true for some. For me, it opened my eyes to what was already there. The longing to dance through life with Jacob was overwhelming. Emotions I had never felt before filled my heart until I thought I might burst with joy.
Jacob suddenly halted. Our gazes locked as my heart beat sped up like a butterfly's wings. We were a mere inches apart.
"Sarah, I–" Jacob whispered.
"They're coming!" Caleb burst into the house.
Jacob lept back. He tugged at his hat, his face glowing tomato red.
"Alright. Th–that's fine," he mumbled.
He thrust the crumpled looking bouquet of daisies at me, "For you."
"Thank you, Jacob. They are beautiful."
He gave a curt nod, spun on his heel and departed. I stood, bewildered, for a moment. Caleb had followed his father, so I stood alone. I pressed my hands to my hot cheeks. What had just happened? What would have happened?
YOU ARE READING
A Yellow Bonnet
FanfictionI'm Sarah, a simple woman from Maine, who answered a lonely farmer's ad for a mail-order bride. Leaving behind the sea and my old life, I journeyed to the vast, unfamiliar prairie, where the sky seems endless and the land stretches far beyond the ho...
