Homespun Bride

Please.” Tears stood in her eyes, as if refusing to fall. “I told you. You can’t turn back time. Not even God can do that. It’s too late.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong, darlin’.” He pressed a brief kiss to her fingertips. Tenderness took him over, and it made him stronger. Better. “It’s never too late for God’s greatest blessing. So, you can’t turn down my proposal over it. It’s because I left you once, and you’re afraid I’ll do it again. Isn’t it?”
    “Why didn’t you come to me instead?” Rain trickled down her forehead. “You didn’t love me enough, that’s why. You cared for me, I know that, but I loved you more.”
    “Not a chance, darlin’. Everything has changed these past five years except one thing. My enduring love for you. That’s something that will not end.” Another drop of rain trailed down her forehead. The tears standing in her eyes still did not fall.
    His heart was breaking for both of them, but this had to be said. So he said it. “I didn’t realize why I left without a word, even with your father’s threats, until years later. But you’ve gotta understand. I was young and down deep, I was afraid your father was right.”
    “Right that you didn’t love me enough?”
    “No, darlin’.” Tenderness, unmistakable tenderness, made those words intimate and sincere. “I was afraid that one day down the road, the shining way you looked at me would dim. Life is tough, and hardship might rub off that shine. You might get tired of long days of working this hard land just to try to prosper.”
    “You think I cared about those things?”
    “No. Fear isn’t rational. You just don’t know what’s up ahead in your life, or which way the weather will blow. Down deep, I was afraid things might not work out. That we’d be scraping by just like my parents had, running short and losing hope. And that would be the day you would look at me as a failure.”
    “You think I would have stopped loving you?”
    “Maybe. I didn’t know. What if I was the reason you wound up losing all of your dreams? What if that day came and the comfort of your parents’ fancy home and privileged lifestyle would lure you away from me?” He stopped, his voice raw with emotion. “I can see how the thought of losing you that way hurt more than leaving you for good before you had more of my heart. I don’t know if you can understand that, darlin’.”
    “A little.” Tears fell in a slow hot roll down her cheek. “A lot.”
    “But I promise you this. I’ve matured. I’ve been out in the world. I’ve earned my experience the hard way, and I know my worth.” Truth rang in his voice, was granite-solid on his face. “I’ll stand by you no matter what. I’ll never stop trying for you, never let you down and never stop loving you. If only you will give me this chance. This one precious chance to marry you. Please, don’t say no.”
    “I h-have to.” She choked on a sob. “You look at the past when you see me. You’re trying to fix what hurt you so much. I understand that. But look at me now, Thad. I can’t be a rancher’s wife. I can’t be what you need.”
    “You are what I need. Why can’t you see that?” His honest words tempted her. How they tempted her. Another sob wrenched up from her soul. His face was warm against her fingers. She could feel the faint rasp of his day’s growth of beard along his jaw and the set of his jawbone. He meant what he said. At least, he thought he did.
    If only she could make him understand. She struggled for air and still she could not speak the truth—she had to say the whole and terrible truth. “Can’t you see I’m afraid now? Love just isn’t enough. Can’t you see that?”
    “Real love is always enough, darlin’.”
    “I’m not the woman I was. I can’t do most of the work around a ranch house by myself. I’m not whole. I don’t want the day to come when you look at me and see a burden. You’ll realize all that I’ve cost you. You’ll stop loving me.”
    A muscle jumped along his cheek. He breathed in air with one long inhale. She trembled in the cold and the uncertainty.
    At last he broke the silence. “Fine. Let’s say you’re right. You say yes to me. We get married. Down the road, I’m working with a new horse and I get kicked hard, just like your uncle did. Let’s say I don’t wake up right away, but when I do, I can’t move my legs. Are you going to stop loving me?”
    Tears burned as they